Steeeeve

Finished reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre. The main reason I chose it was because Alec Guinness was in the adaptation so I assumed it must be classy. It was. Annoyingly it's made me want to buy the other two George Smiley novels. Plus I'm thinking of getting the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Sigh. Money. Starting Sceptical Essays by Bertrand Russell now. Might watch Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy online though.

I think it depends where it is. If it's like a big supermarket where the end of the counter is at the bottom of a ramp and they just sort of slide the items down then it should be packed by the customer (although some places have the dedicated packers now). In those places the cashier never gets a let up. They don't have time to be packing people's food for them. Also I don't expect cashiers to be especially cheery. Nine hours of monotony for low pay where they get treated like **** by most people. I can't say I'd be all that happy doing that. In fact one thing that always bugged me is customers telling me to cheer up. Or anyone telling me to cheer up. I can't swear on here but I think everyone can guess what I feel like telling them to do. As if I'd be so happy at work I wouldn't be able to keep a smile off my face. Or as if when I'm not smiling I must be miserable!

Today I did bought myself: Has Man a Future? - Bertrand Russell The Language Instinct - Steven Pinker The Dreadful Judgement - Neil Hanson The Gods of the Greeks (I will never read this) - C. Kerenyi Arthur & George - Julian Barnes All for

Yeah in the main shop people have been known to donate dirty nappies. Thanks guys! I am going to risk getting a punch in the head now. I'd have to agree with the folk at Oxfam:blush:. I noticed the book I'm reading must have been donated to Oxfam first since it had the price written in. I thought I'd see if I could get rid of it so I rubbed it out and after I had you couldn't tell it had ever been written on. No indentations on the page, no marks left behind. I looked at it from every angle and couldn't see it at all. Maybe they don't use soft enough pencils or they press down too hard when they write in the shops you've been in. Just calmly explain what they're doing wrong and then give them a swift dig to the kidneys.

@Raven But after all those apologetics I can't say I care much about those little holes. I mean looking back on Doctor Who over the years I'm pretty sure I could find a lot bigger plotholes and mistakes than there were in that episode but it's never ruined it for me before. Especially in RTD's writing (I know I always have digs at him. I can't help it). Also the scene leading up to and on the tongue is possibly the funniest Doctor Who scene I've ever watched. "This isn't going to be big on dignity"

Possibly. I don't know how many people have heard by now that Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are trying to see if they can get the Pope arrested when he visits England in September. Snigger. It's a serious story but I can't help but laugh. Hitchens and Dawkins. What a crime-fighting team! Links! http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7094310.ece and http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/04/11/the-case-for-arresting-the-pope/ What does everyone think? Does the Pope deserve to get arrested for covering up child abuse? Since to me he's just a man who's tried to cover up horrendous acts of abuse I'm going to go with yes. He should be treated the same as anyone else who's done what he's done. Having said that I don't have all the facts. If anyone can point out that he was justified or that he hasn't done what's being claimed then fair enough. Edit: Whoops. Didn't notice that big old In the News thread. Should have put this there.

I'm glad I started this thread. It's good to know it's not just me! I'm terrible for doing that. Skimming over the end. Usually it's because I can't wait to finish and see what happens but sometimes I think maybe it's because all the dramatic stuff has happened so you just want to get past the boring wrap up and start a new book. Yes. I am shifting the blame again. And ruining the surprise for myself in an exciting chapter. Shame on me.

Ahh that's good to hear. I should really try to read one soon. Sounds like his stories are quite meaty which I enjoy...as long as I can concentrate enough to remember and understand everything that's happening.

I don't know if anyone else does this - maybe it just shows how bad my attention span is or how impatient I am but I find when I'm reading the last page of a book, or even a chapter sometimes, I have to cover the page with a bit of paper to stop my eyes flicking ahead and reading the last line. I have no willpower. I can't help it. My eyes just do it. Yep. It's my eyes' fault. Not mine. So am I the only one? Tell me it isn't so!

Any good? I seem to hear a lot of bad stuff on here about how he writes and how pretentious he is but I have Foucault's Pendulum and The Name of the Rose somewhere on my shelves waiting to be read.

I love it! I think Matt Smith is absolutley perfect as The Doctor. I really hope it gets the viewing figures and support from the public so the Beeb doesn't try to get rid of either of them. And I don't know if I'm getting used to the theme music or if they've changed it but I was quite liking it. I wasn't sure if last week the music was muffled because the Tardis was getting knocked about. I'll have to go and check on iplayer. Oh it was nice to watch this episode on iplayer actually. No announcer talking over the end credits.

!!! Is working there changing your mind about second hand books? We get quite a lot of nice ones. I've had so many that are as good as new. Plus reeeeaaally old ones that feel like they have a history. The hardcover ones with just brown or red covers and black writing. Mmmm.

I've read 58 pages of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre. Very good so far. I'm trying to read it slowly since I think it's one of those stories where you need to really concentrate. I'll still probably forget who's who though.

Just finished Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov. I thought there was one more in the series (not including the prequels) but I was wrong. I can't believe he let it end that way!!!!!!!!!!! Such a cliffhanger. Ach. Asimov you git. I went to look on amazon for more sequels and the kindly website had recommended a book about Chris Morris to me. I'm not usually a fan of unauthorised biographies and such but...Chris Morris! It has been added to my wishlist.

Read 140 pages of Foundation & Earth by Isaac Asimov today. Will hopefully get through a bit more before bed. I had forgotten how easy the Foundation series was to read. Also bought Papillon by Henri Charriere Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson and Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester all for

I thought there was wonder in their meeting. It was obvious that she was the young girl grown up but the fact that the young girl was a red headed Scottish girl and the new assistant was a red headed Scottish girl made that kind of hard to hide. But their introduction when she was young and their re-introduction twelve years later felt incredibly satisfying to me. The plot...I enjoyed. It was nothing special but I don't think it was ever going to be. It was mostly used to introduce the new Doctor, the new Tardis, the new assistant and her backstory and generally set the mood for the series. It's quite a lot to juggle and I think they did the best job that could be done. As for RTD's twists I've already mentioned how much I hated those. To me they weren't twists in a good way. They were just things you could never have seen coming, even on rewatching the episode. Most people know the twist in The Sixth Sense is that . In that film you can actually guess what's going to happen if you watch close enough and if you rewatch it it all makes sense. I never got that from RTD's twists. It always felt like he'd just paint himself into a corner on each episode and then make something up to get out of it.

For me that was always the point of Doctor Who and something it had lost when Moffat wasn't writing for it. On all the nostalgia shows people always talk fondly of hiding behind the sofa and being terrified. I know that if I was younger the Blink episode would have scared me a lot (it creeped me out even as an adult) so I'm glad it was scary in parts. Which reminds me the fact the Doctor looks quite scared himself running around with the mirror in the new Blink episode has got me pretty excited about it. Only two things annoyed me really. The new theme music is cack and pretty much completely destroys the iconic tune and the score was a bit over the top and invasive. But overall I couldn't be happier. Moffat's writing is so good. Everything flows logically in the story. Or as logically as it can in a sci-fi story about a regenerating time travelling alien. Not like Davis who relied on deus ex machinas and just randomly making stuff up which had never been referenced in the history of Doctor Who (as far as I know). "Oh what's that? The Doctor's dying? Nah. Remember that hand he had lopped off? Yeah I'm just gonna make up some rubbish about energy being trapped in that that he can us to heal". Oh. One thing I hope they don't go too over the top with is the kind of all powerful Doctor aspect. I mean it's quite satisfying at times but it's no good when you feel like you have a character who can just win when he decides to.

Chicken and vegetable soup.

I want to control the fae and become an evil sorceror. It would be swell.

After picking up and discarding many books when they didn't feel right I have settled on Moondust by Andrew Smith for my next book. Yup. I'm having a bit of fantasy world withdrawal after finishing the Coldfire Trilogy. Damn the real world for not being magical.

The Book Thief is superb! That is all. Just finished Crown of Shadows by Celia Friedman, completing the Coldfire Trilogy. Mmmm. Satisfying. Now to decide what to read next! Yay. Oh I might just read Empire magazine first. And then decide! Yay.

So! I have finished the trilogy and really enjoyed it. Now back to the spoilers