vodkafan

They are mere pocketbooks for me dear

Ah you have me on the Dragon books. I never read any of them because the sight of the dragon on the covers always put me right off. I thought they were just fantasy. Not read "The Lathe of Heaven " either. Might look out for that one.

Sorry Frankie but your last statement started me in hysterical insane laughter that I could not suppress. The idea of you not buying books took me to the edge of madness please don't do that again. I don't even believe you will be able to get rid of any of the books you singled out. Hey I have an idea. Some of the Finnish translation books that you were going to get rid of but liked the covers....why don't you frame the covers maybe together like in a set and hang them on the wall? You said they were mostly charity books so no financial agony.

Oh man!! I need that as a big wall chart. Could spend hours looking at that.

Those are Anne Macaffrey's early books (Restoree was her first novel) she later went all "dragoney" and completely into fantasy. I second Steve's mention of The Forever war - great book.

Coach Carter. Hadn't watched that for ages. Enjoyed it. Oh and just the Trench Scene from Sucker Punch. That's the only bit of the film worth watching.

I know..I know....I am just a forum bunny fanboy

Hi Poppy if you are not into Photon Inducers and such like there was a lot of scifi written in the 60s that was very people based. Here are a few: The World Inside Robert Silverberg (overpopulation) Up The Line Robert Siverberg (time travel) Beyond The Barrier Damon Knight ( time travel) The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K Leguin The Cloud Walker Edmund Cooper (future where technology is not allowed) Farenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (future where books are not allowed) Restoree Anne Macaffrey ( Human woman taken to alien planet skinned ready for eating) The Ship Who Sang Anne Macaffrey (handicapped girl child's brain is implanted into a cargo ship so she grows up as a spaceship) I will try to think of some more. I have read all of the above.

It is a good read but I have to break it into little bits there is only so much race hate I can take in at one time.

We had a thread going somewhere about Aussie films. Yeah Glory is great brings a lump to my throat when I watch it. And the battle scene at the end! Denzel is pretty good in anything.

Hi Ooshie sorry to hijack I have read both the above books. In one way they are quite similar in that they are both dystopian visions of the future, although both very different books. Both are very very good. Both of them are books that stay with you long after you finish them. I think The Handmaid's Tale frightened me the most as it seemed totally possible .

Your books look interesting but all very serious June. Do you ever want to read for fun?

nah it's really self explanatory you won't have any trouble I promise. Hopefully the story will grip you like it does me!

Poppy you wouldn't believe how excited I am that you are reading The Blue World. At least a couple of times a day I think about what you will make of it. I have had to stop myself Pm ing you to pester you. And you probably haven't even started it yet.

Hi Charmer ! Welcome. Nice to have another scifi fan on here. Have you read any Jack Vance?

Hi Poppy I think it is quite funny that we liked and disliked the exact opposite parts of the book.

Struggling through The Autobiography of Malcom X. Hope to finish it today.

You have some good sci fi lined up Steve. Yes Cugel is a naughty boy.

Phew....I am so happy that you liked your first Jack Vance book Steve! I was holding my breath all this time. Now I am waiting to see what Poppyshake thinks of hers....

I can't resist film lists. Here is mine Ben The Good The Bad And The Ugly Blade Runner (director's cut) Mad Max 2 Dances With Wolves Muriel's Wedding Strictly Ballroom Platoon Kung Fu Hustle Raiders Of The Lost Ark Run Lola Run Saving Private Ryan The Warriors Fight Club What Dreams May Come In The Company Of Men Glory Bend It Like Beckham The Big Blue Get Carter (original Micheal Caine) Galaxy Quest The Shawshank Redemption Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bansali version) Rollerball (original 1975 version) Cross Of Iron Castle Keep Excalibur There's Something About Mary Raising Arizona I could go on.....

Good movie. Haven't seen that in a while. Kim Cattrell in a Chinese dress. Who can forget?

Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon This book starts off with 10 year old Daniel, who lives with his bookseller father in Barcelona after WW2. Of course for Spain the war started in 1936 with their own Civil War and everyone is exhausted and poor. Daniel is taken by his father to a special secret place- The Cemetery Of Forgotten Books- where he is allowed to choose one book to take away. All of us have had that feeling that sometimes a book chooses us instead of the other way around. And indeed it seems as if the story in this book is a mirror of Daniel's own life so far. The book is the only one left in existence. But Daniel soon finds that someone else wants the book...a character from the book itself...the Devil! I enjoyed this book even more than The Angel's Game. There are many similarities between the two stories. It is as if the writer had an idea which then split into two. But where TAG was dark and Gothic and you feel the protagonist is working towards his doom, SOTW is lighter and you feel Daniel can overcome everything if he can only unravel the mystery of the book. Daniel doesn't believe in the Supernatural. There are parallels between Daniel and the fated writer all the way along so you want for him to break out and not make the same mistakes. Zafon writes with a lot of humour but he can turn quickly to drama and tragedy. Some brilliant quotes and gems. It is fast paced and a fairly easy read, but not a lazy read; if you do not pay attention you will miss bits. Looking at the book from another angle, it brings up the question of whether the circumstances of our birth dictate who and what we will be and do, or can we change things? Are some people born bad or made to go bad?

Hi Kell, I really liked that Mira, Mirror illustration too. Gonna google the artist. You have so many good sounding books on your January round up I will no doubt nab a few for my wish list

Different stories. But sometimes the same characters will pop up, like Cugel the Clever. To be honest this series of books has been so chopped about , re-titled and re-packaged over the years it is hard to remember what is in what.

1. Who was your favourite character...? I liked Maria the best. I thought she was very realistically written. I imagined my own 10 year old daughter in Maria's place and she fitted perfectly. 2. ...and your least favourite? I disliked the Professor. He was too silly for words. Then we got to the Lord Lieutenant and he was even sillier 3. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I enjoyed the early chapters when she was exploring on her own, and her discovery of the Lilliputians. Also her strop at knowing she was wrong after the pilot got hurt in her flying experiments and taking a while to admit it. I also loved the ruined old house which (Impossibly) was a mile across and had rooms which had witnessed every event in English History. That is a fairy tale house to top them all. Wonderful. 4. Was this the first book you've read in this genre / by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? Yes the first. I would not go out of my way to read another. 5. Have you read Gulliver's Travels? ....... a. If yes, did it make this a more enjoyable experience? I read GT a long while ago and had mostly forgotten it. I don't think it matters at all if you haven't read it because the relevant events are explained 6. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? All the parts with the Professor in were deadly dull and I started to be bored. 7. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? When I finished the book I would have said it was only OK. But now looking back I enjoyed parts of it more than I realised. 8. Would you recommend the book and if so to whom? Well if my 10 year old picked it up I would not discourage her, I don't think it would appeal to anyone older than that, modern teenagers have moved on. (see next answer) 9. The book was first published in 1946 - has it stood the test of time? I think this is my main grumble. It has not stood the test of time in my opinion. Now the Latin references and all the History references in the house would just go over a modern child's head. That's hardly the fault of the author though. If a child makes the effort to read though there are some good moral lessons in the book, and although I found all the adults too silly, I know this does appeal to a 10 year old. 10. Maria treats the Lilliputians quite badly when she gets over her initial shock at finding them. Why does she behave this way towards them? Because she is young she sees them as toys, as Janet said, and is just not mature enough at the beginning to know that you should not do something just because you can 11. T H White was an atheist - do you think this comes across in his writing at all? This didn't occur to me when I was reading so I don't think it was much of a factor in his writing, but I can only judge by this book. Good questions Janet thanks!!