vodkafan
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Posts posted by vodkafan
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How did you wind up liking the series? I'm anxiously awaiting the next season, but I watch on Netflix, so I'm always one behind.
Sorry dtr I only just saw your last post! Actually I still haven't bought it yet. I forgot about it for a long while then went to the website and grabbed a load of photos from the galleries only last week...I think I will soon buy it. There is going to be a third series but I am not sure BBC are doing it , they might have sold it on.
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Thanks Willoyd!
I defineitely want this year to nail those classics you have mentioned...very soon I will have to read Elizabeth Gaskill's North And South. I enjoyed the TV four part dramatization very much because it tackles so many political issues and also sympathetically shows both sides. It seems incredible that at the time Charles Dickens (her editor) hardly considered it worthy of publication at all!
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I haven't heard of the other two books.
If I like New Grub Street, then I guess I'll be adding the other two to my wishlist!Ooh I wouldn't have started with New Grub Street..the poverty is a bit unrelenting at the moment..he does like to put his characters through the mill and no-one is safe..which I do like because of the four Gissings I have read I could not predict how they would end.
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I got an idea for your TBR pile....do what the government does with unpleasant figures it wants to ignore...you can hide them like so:
Look through your pile and separate them into ones that have been on there only 1 year (jan 2014) and the rest from before 2014 don't count!
Another way is to look through nominate the ones you are really itching to get to (urgent must-read list) and relegate the others to "when I get to them"
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Good start Alex! Your blog is one that I learned to keep an eye on last year... what did you think of The Five People You Meet In Heaven?
I am half way through GOT book 1 by the way....
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Good luck on your reading this year!!
Some interesting reads on your TBR, especially Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Of Mice and Men.
I read Rebecca and really enjoyed it, the other two are on my TBR and I'm really looking forward to them
Thanks BSchultz...I am a bit nervous of Rebecca....
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Always great to see Ali Smith on someone else's TBR list!
It's just reminded me you PM'd me a while back, and I read it on my phone and meant to reply to and then completely forgot 
Sorry about that, I'll get to that soon 
Hope you enjoy your reading this year
Thanks Claire! That Ali Smith book is another I am half way through..it's in my locker at work.. be interested to hear your thoughts
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The Horse Whisperer, Perfume, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights are all great reads. I'm gonna particularly plug Perfume, because the writing is stunning and the book is weirdly wonderful, and also Earnest, because that often gets overlooked in favour of Dorian, though Earnest is actually my favourite Wilde story/play - it's HILARIOUS.
Thanks Noll I have actually read Perfume already years back but I bought another copy to read it again
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Wow, James, I didn't know your TBR pile had gotten so big! Are these mostly Kindle books?
Some of my favourites are:
The Diary of a NobodyOf Mice and MenRivers of LondonAdventures of Sherlock HolmesWuthering HeightsStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeMiss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar ChildrenI look forward to reading your thoughts on your various steampunk books. I love steampunk but haven't really done much reading in the genre yet.I bought Lady Audley's Secret and New Grub Street last year, and I'm intrigued by them both.Madame Bovary is also pretty good, and don't let Poppyshake and Frankie tell you otherwise! I will admit that the protagonist is very unlikeable though.Happy reading!
Hi Kylie, yes about 60% kindle books. I am actually half way through New Grub Street. At the moment the plot is still developing, but The Odd Women and The Unclassed by the same author will be hard to beat, they were so good. I haven't got to any of the steampunk books yet.
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Thanks everyone! I didn't realise people had been posting. It's really interesting to see that lots of the classics are very much liked by many.
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The Grand Budapest Hotel. More Wes Anderson brilliance, not my favourite but definitely in the top 3!
Seen this 3 times now. So quirky. Yet I could not even sit all the way through that Darjeeling Railway thing he did. So boring.
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The book is so much better. I read the book when I was like 14 and LOVED it. Absolutely loved it, and because the movie is like one of THE revered classics, I got so excited about seeing it, and it paled in comparison with the book. I'd never watch it again.
Is it based on any true characters? Even a little bit?
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I saw The Godfather! I have always avoided watching any of those Italian/American gangster movies. But I turned on the TV and it was on and I quite enjoyed it. I didn't even recognise Al Pacino till half way into the film, he looked so young.
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Hi Kate . have a great reading year. I will look in and read your reviews
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Well that's it it's all over. Only 44 books read in 2014. I have shamefully neglected this book log to boot.
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Ok I guess I am open for business
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Ah here is a bit of a new thing (stolen from Willoyd)
It's an (edited) list of my top-rated books from the last two years.
Only two years because I didn't start rating books until 2013. I may cheat later on and weigh up my reads from previous years and grant them a rating in hindsight.
I felt I had to edit the list because looking back I could not understand why I rated one or two of them so highly; (the Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry springs to mind) and also I felt I can't be objective about Jack Vance ( as I am such a fanboy) so I took out all his. It pains me that some great books I rated just below top marks and so I couldn't include them when I feel now should have.
So, in the end I don't really know what point I am trying to make with this list ; but, you may hopefully agree with some of my choices as good reads .
Running With Scissors Augusten Burroughs (autobiography)
The Odd Women George Gissing
The Unclassed George Gissing
In The Year Of Jubilee George Gissing
How To Be A Victorian Ruth Goodman
1888- London Murders In The Year Of The Ripper Peter Stubley
The Book Thief
Girl Meets Boy Ali Smith
Girl, Interrupted Suzanna Kayson
Small Island Andrea Levy
Flowers For Algernon
Nineteen Seventy-Nine Rhona Cameron (autobiography)
London In The Nineteenth Century Jerry White
Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell
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My TBR pile
London The Biography Peter Ackroyd £2.81 incl. postage Amazon
Air Geoff Ryman 30p
Choke Chuck Palahniuk 30p
There But For TheAli Smith 30pNice To See It To See It Nice Brian Viner 30p
A Life's MorningThe Crown Of LifeEve's RansomOur Friend The CharlatonWill WarburtonThe Private Papers Of Henry Ryecroft
The EmancipatedThe WhirlpoolThe Paying GuestDenzil QuarrierThe Town TravellerBorn In ExileDemosall above byThe House Of Cobwebs and other storiesGeorge Gissing free for kindleThe Poor Gentleman Hendrick Conscience free for kindle
Two On A Tower
The Return Of The Native
A Laodician
A Pair Of Blue Eyes
Jude The Obscure
The Woodlanders
Far From The Madding Crowd all above by
The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy free for kindle
Post Haste RM Ballantyne free for kindle
Autobiography Of Anthony Trollope
Lady Anna
Miss Mackenzie 4 above by
The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope free for kindle
Twelve Years A Slave Solomon Northup 49p kindle
Letters Of Two Brides Balzac free for kindle
Birds Of Prey
Charlotte's Inheritance
Run To Earth A Novel
The Doctor's Wife
Lady Audley's Secret Mary Elizabeth Braddon free for kindle
It's A Small Medium And Outsize World John Taylor
Cut Like Wound Anita Nair (signed copy, paperback printed in India!)
Little Dorrit Charles Dickens
The Mill On The Floss
Madame Bovary
Connections
Rules For Virgins
Tess of The d'urbervilles
Lady Susan
Out Of Time-Five tales of Time Travel
The Life And Loves Of A She Devil
The Passion Of New Eve
The Haunted Hotel
Ten Interesting Things About Human Behaviour
The Diary Of A Nobody
Strange Loops
Equality
Looking Backward 2000-1887
The Time Travel Megapack
Thoughts On The Education Of Daughters
The Last Man
Maria, Or The Wrongs Of Woman
North And SouthElizabeth GaskillVindication Of The Rights Of Woman
The Perpetual Curate
The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
Slave Girl Sarah Forsyth (autobiography)
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman (biography of Paul Erdos)
The White Mists Of Power Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Blitz The Civilian War 1940-45 Jane Waller Michael Vaughn-Rees (war memoir)
The Martian Way Isaac Asimov
The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year Sue Townsend
Freedom (The Rake And The Recluse Part One)
I Think I'm OK
Undercover: The True Story Of Britain's Secret Police
Victorian Slang: Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping The VelvetUnder A Cloud-Soft Sky
The Singing Winds
Shelter From The Storm
Snow Angels
New Grub StreetKing Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine
A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark
Capital John Lanchester
Sweet Thames Matthew Kneale
Good Behaviour Molly Keane
The Green Brain Frank Herbert
The Steampunk megapack (26 stories)
Viridis
Lady Of Devices A Steampunk Adventure
Steampunk Erotica
The Siege Of Krishnapur J.G. Farrell
Miss Peregrine's Home For Unusual Children - Ransom Riggs
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
Balti Britain - Ziauddin Sardar
Stephanie Plum series 9-20 - Janet Evanovitch
Forgotten Voices of the Blitz Joshua Levine
One Day David Nichols
The Victorians AN WilsonVictorian LondonLiza Picard
Geisha Liza Dalby
In The Heart Of The Sea Nathanial Philbrick
Spycatcher Peter Wright
Best New SF 25
The Midnight Palace Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Ways Of Seeing John Berger
Gunners On Tour Maurice Court
Mother Tongue Bill Bryson
The Almost Moon Alice Sebold
Rivers Of London Ben Aaronovitch
The Horse Whisperer Nicholas EvansThe Women Who Lived For Danger Marcus Binney
The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer Michelle Hodkin
The German Invasion Of Norway Geirr H Haarr
Raj Lawrence James
Accidents In The Home Tessa Hadley
Devoted Ladies Molly Keane
A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Lord Of The Flies William Golding
Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
Untying The Knot Linda Gillard
The Picture Of Dorian Grey Oscar Wilde
Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow Washington Irvine
Meeting At Infinity John Brunner
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing,
Thursday Next First Among Sequels,
Something Rotten,
The Well Of Lost Plots,
Lost In A Good Book,
The Eyre Affair Jasper FfordeLife Of Pi - Yann Martel
The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
Pure - Andrew Miller
Who Dares Wins
The Age of Revolution 1789-1848
The Age Of Capital 1848-1875
The Age Of Empire 1875-1914
Shirley
Alone In BerlinPerfume
The Terror
Bleak House
The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
The Moonstone
The Woman In White
Ruth
The Importance Of Being Earnest
Basil
Les Miserables
Wuthering Heights
Mrs Oliphant
Shout At The DevilThieves' Kitchen
The Crowded Street
Round the BendA Special Relationship
Hayfever (Parragon health guide)
The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins
Two Eggs On My Plate Oluf Reed Olsen
Slavery A New Global History Jeremy Black
The Warrior Queens Antonia Fraser
Infidel Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Nerd Do Well Simon PeggMrs P's Journey
Forensic Clues To Murder Brian Marriner
Confessions Of An English Opium Eater Thomas De Quincey
Bad Blood Lorna Sage
I Know My Own Heart Anne Lister
The Voyage Out Virginia Woolf
D-Day Stepehen Ambrose
The Book Of The Dead
Of All Possible Worlds William Tenn
The Makeshift Rocket Poul Anderson
Life The Universe and Everything
More Than Super-Human AE VAN Vogt
Testament Of Youth Vera BrittainJourney Through A Small Planet Emanuel Litvenoff
The Other Side Of The Dale Gervaise Phinn
Foundation Isaac Asimov
The Naked Sun Isaac Asimov
The Road To Samarcand Patrick O'Brian
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Welcome to my 2015 reading blog, which you may notice is very much the same as last year. Like last year, no reading challenges just a mass of books on my TBR to get through. Reviews are found buried in the folowing pages: sorry if that is confusing to anybody, I haven't mastered the link thingy yet.
(k) denotes kindle ebook
® denotes book read primarily for research purposes
keeping the same simple rating system this year:
1/5: I didn't like it
2/5: It was okay
3/5: I liked it
4/5: I really liked it
5/5: It was amazingBOOKS READ IN 2015
January
She looks just like you Amie Klempnauer (re-read 3/5)
The Mangle Street Murders M.R.C. Kasasian 5/5
The Victorian Governess Kathryn Hughes 3/5
Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay John Lanchester 3/5 (k)
February
The Crimson Petal and The White Michel Faber 5/5
New Grub Street George Gissing 4/5 (k)
The Town Traveller George Gissing 4/5 (k)
Game Of Thrones George RR Martin 2/5
Will Warburton George Gissing 3/5(k)
March
The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher or The Murder At Road Hill House Kate Summerscale 4/5
Mrs P's Journey Sarah Hartley 4/5
The Whirlpool George Gissing 3/5(k)
Murder On The Verandah Love and Betrayal In British Malaya Eric Lawlor 3/5
The Emancipated George Gissing 2/5(k)
April
Thyrza George Gissing 3/5(k)
North And South Elizabeth Gaskill 2/5(k)
Ubik Philip K Dick 4/5
The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories Michel Faber 3/5
A Special Relationship Douglas Kennedy 3/5
May
The Women Who Lived For Danger Marcus Binney 3/5
The Paying Guest George Gissing 5/5(k)
The Victorian House Explained Trevor Yorke 5/5 ®
There But For The Ali Smith 1/5
Our Friend The Charlatan George Gissing 5/5 (k)
June
Victorian London 1840-1870 Liza Picard 5/5 ®
July
Thieve's Kitchen The Regency Underworld Donald A.Low 4/5 ®
A Life's Morning George Gissing 2/5 (k)
Eve's Ransom George Gissing 5/5 (k)
Hide In Time Anna Faversham 3/5 (k)
August
The House Of Cobwebs and other stories George Gissing 5/5 (k)
Denzil Quarrier George Gissing 3/5 (k)
Demos George Gissing 3/5(k)
September
Daily Life In Victorian England Sally Mitchell 5/5
A Brief History Of Time Stephen Hawking 4/5
A London Family 1870-1900 Molly Hughes 5/5
Mutants Armand Marie Leroi 3/5
October
Workers In The Dawn George Gissing 4/5 (k)
Born In Exile George Gissing 4/5 (k)
The Anome Jack Vance (k) (Re-read)
November
The Brave Free Men Jack Vance (k) (re-read)
The Asutra Jack Vance (k) (re-read)
The Lost City Of The Incas Hiram Bingham 3/5
Spunk Fakers, Slap Bangs and Tipping The Velvet Patrick Chapman 5/5 (k)
Life as A Victorian Lady Pamela Horn 4/5 (k)
December
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When I joined the site I was a crime drama fan, I enjoyed The Hannibal Films, CSI and Dexter. I chose dex as a user name as I identify with Dexter's feelings for the world around him.
Later after joining I found that a 3 letter, short user name doesn't search well. So I have had to add tags, so I can find my own stuff. Othrewise I have found my un describes me well and have no wish to change.
Should we be worried you identify with Dexter's worldview?
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I thought it was a mishmash of a story and really not very good at all, and once again too much about Clara Oswald and her romantic life. I was very disappointed.
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P.S. I've removed your double post in case you wondered why it disappeared.
Thanks! I tried to delete one of them but it didn't work for some reason
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Guardians Of The Galaxy. Just a remove -your -brain and enjoy entertainment. I thought Karen Gillan was pretty cool.
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Wow that's a pile of heavy reading...
Vodkafan's 2015 reading list
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Where am I at the moment.....I am half way through at least five books....I stopped reading Game Of Thrones because my friend hasn't been reading Lyonesse, which was his end of the bargain. He told me yesterday he was going to start reading it again so I may finish GOT soon..still reading New Grub Street and a couple of others too