sadya

Thanks for the very pleasant review. I saw this book in a bookstore this evening. It seemed interesting enough for me to go straight to the library to see if they had it. They're waiting it's arrival in the library collection so I have to wait a few weeks. I'm looking forward to this read. I'm going to enjoy it with tiramisu chocolate and tea, actually what I'm having right now.

"The prince of mist" has been translated in Dutch, there is a chance it might be available in libraries in Holland now. Meanwhile, here are the first three chapters in Dutch to get an idea of the sort of book it is, so far I'm enjoying reading it: http://yaboeken.blog.nl/files/2010/10/Zafon-De-nevelprins-Leesfragment-Hfdst1-3.pdf I'm looking forward to reading the entire book. :-)

I've recently finished reading the Sil to my children and we're about to start 'The Hobbit' now. I've read 'The Hobbit' to them a few years ago, they loved it back then. I'm curious to find out how they'll about it now, being much older (11 and 13). It's always such a pleasure to reread Tolkien.

My daughter is going to read 'Vlinders' right now, also by v/d Vlucht. She had to read 'Bastaard van Brussel' for school and enjoyed that so much, she read more v/d Vlucht books, such as 'De guillotine' and 'Zwarte Sneeuw'.

Probably 'Belledonne Kamer 16' by Anke de Vries. It's about a teenager who finds a diary of someone who lived during the Second World War. There is very few info in that diary, just a few names and the name of a village. He finds the hotel mentioned in the diary and then the story begins unraveling about what happened there decades ago. He was hoping to find the owner of that diary alive. It turns out he was apparently killed by Nazi's, but there is more to this crime. Very exciting book which I never forgot and recently reread.

I've enjoyed every Townsend book I've read so far. My daughter is 13 now and I wanted her to discover Townsend. I was a little older than her when I first read the Adrian Mole series. It was nice reading them to her, gave me a chance to rediscover that fun. I haven't read the 'Queen and I' yet, but it certainly is a must read for me. I'll have to make sure to read it only at home, because so far every single Townsend book, be it an Adrian Mole or Number 10, made me laugh out loud.

That's great, Library Nook. Congratulations! I hope you'll enjoy the work and achieve what you aimed for.

My notebook crashed because of the virus Personal Security. Everyone be careful when you download anything from internet. I downloaded a different program but Personal Security came with it. It blocks many webpages, I tried to download different programs which help uninstall Personal Security and those websites were blocked by Personal Security too, I can't even acces the programs any more to get rid of Personal Security virus. I had some e-books on my notebook which I have to download again on the computer of my daughter to finish reading them. Anyway, I've been reading what I had found in the library, so still plenty to read. (currently reading an Orwell book with his different stories in it, almost finished Animal Farm and about to start Burmese Days)

I hope you'll have better luck next time, Library Nook. Perhaps a better job is waiting for you somewhere. Sometimes something seems such a disappointment, but then later you realise it was better for you after all, a blessing in disguise so to speak.

You can like action and entertainment and still enjoy Proust, but if it's only solely action and entertainment, only the fast reads, then Proust would be too much because for long intervals nothing happens at all, then it's only theories, thoughts, descriptions, etc. I hope that if you do give it a try, you'll enjoy it. Whatever you decide, whatever book you take, have a great read.

Hey Univerz, nice to meet you, fellow kaaskoppie. (well, actually I'm a kaaskoppie with a chapati background to be more accurate)

I hope you will. Let us know how it went if you find the time.

I only came here to share opinions about the shortest short story of Carlos Ruiz Zaf

I haven't read all his work, but so far 'Open Window' has been my favorite Saki story.

It's one of my favorite pieces of literature ever. I've read it partly in Dutch translation and the rest in English. Some time ago I discovered one of the books in a jumble shop, it was from 1919 if I remember well and in the original language. It made my day. Anyway, it's difficult to say what exactly is the work of Proust. There is something of everything in it. Lovely descriptions (and I don't always like descriptions, quite often I don't read them, but Proust is wonderful), there is something religious in it, some philosophy, many interesting thoughts about life and people, why people behave the way they do, theories about the passing of time, various forms of art (painting, architecture, statues, etc.) the world viewed in ways you never thought possible. Some parts are almost like poetry. It does lack speed and there isn't too much of a plot, but in this case, it doesn't even matter. The thoughts, the theories, the observations are too interesting to even think much about a plot. Here are a few parts from the book: It is our noticing them taht puts things in a room, our growing used to them that takes them away again and clears a space for us. Space there was none for me in my bedroom (mine in name only) at Balbec; (a hotel at the beach) it was full of things which did not know me, which flung back at me the distrustful look that I had cast at them, and, without taking any heed of my excistence, shewed that I was interrupting the course of theirs. The main character tries to write, but it just doesn't work so he's disappointed and bored and thinks: Perhaps some of the greatest masterpieces were written yawning. While listening to a concert: And, just as certain creatures are the last surviving testimony to a form of life which nature had discardd, I asked myself if music were not the unique example of what might have been - if there had not come the invention of language, the formation of words, the analysis of ideas - the means of communication between one spirit and another. You probably noticed the very long sentenses as well. If I remember well, Proust has written the longest sentense ever in literary history. If you like action, fast reads, only entertainment, then this isn't your type of book. Otherwise, it's amazing and any words fail to describe accurately the experience of reading the work of Proust.

'The Sil' and 'LOTR' by Tolkien.

I was looking for 'Prince of the Mist' which seems to be translated in English. Has anyone read it? This year it's for sale in Holland for the first time, but not translated in Dutch yet, they're selling the English version. I'm thinking about buying it, since none of our libraries have it. But I hesitate, because I want to be sure that it's a great read before I buy it. 'Shadow of the Wind' and 'Angel's Game' were excellent books and the description of 'Prince of the Mist' sounds interesting to me, though it was written for children. I'd like to experience more of that special magic of 'Shadow of the Wind' and 'Angel's Game'. Our library had a copy of 'Gaud

Stories with only fighting in them, you know, like those action movies without a real story line in them. Murder stories too, there has to be something really really special about such books if I would ever read one. And cheezy love stories. If a novel about love is written very well, if it has something special, then I do read it, otherwise no. What comes in mind for example is the boring Bouquette-series we have in Holland, all similar love stories with only a few differences. If you've read one of those, you've read them all while in an excellent book like "Cartography" by Kamilla Shamsie the love story is enjoyable, it's written in magical prose, almost poetry sometimes and there is a lot more going on, that has become my favorite Shamsie book.

Most of the reasons why I love books, have already been given in this thread. Some in excellent words. From the moment I learnt to read, I loved books. As already stated in this thread, you can have many adventures, see all kinds of places and meet various people just by reading books. They also help to understand life better and sometimes offer solutions to problems you're having in real life. In addition to fiction, I like non-fiction as well, because it's such a joy to gain more knowledge about a subject which fascinates you. Non-fiction can be as addictive as fiction. I could live without television, dvd's, cd's and radio, even without human contacts, but not without books. Books have been the only reliable factor in my entire life. I can't imagine life without books. Library Nook, good luck with this and with everything else you need to do for your job.

Difficult to say, since like with music, my taste in books is broad so to speak. I like different kinds of books, both fiction and non-fiction. Style of writing draws me in, an excellent story or interesting topic of the book.

I think my Proust is from 1919, only one of his books 'Un amour de Swann'. I was surprised to find it in French in our local jumble shop some time ago.