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bobblybear

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    TBR Books You Have Been Putting Off Reading

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Thanks bree, I did suspect that it is one of those books that can only be appreciated while in a particular frame of mind. :smile: I can't remember much about Ayn Rand's philosophies but recall being impressed in my late teens and early twenties, and then pooh-poohing it all after that. I think it may be one of those books I will pick up when I've whittled down my TBR pile and am really scratching around for something to read....so probably when I'm in my sixties or seventies. :giggle2:

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Three Men In A Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

     

    It starts with the author having a moment of hypochondria in which he diagnoses himself with every illness from cholera to typhoid fever (except housemaid’s knee). He and his two buddies, Harris and George decide that their illnesses are brought upon by overwork and so decide to take a boat trip along the Thames.

     

    The opening chapters were the best, with some very funny moments such as packing for their trip, or the author’s recollection of transporting some smelly cheese. It slowed down a bit on the journey, where the author mentioned many historical details about the various places they visited. Apparently it was initially intended to be written as a serious travel guide. The book was more like a series of connected anecdotes, rather than a linear tale, and I found it a bit disjointed. The historical trivia about various points at their journey did have me nodding off a bit, as I didn’t have any interest in those places or hadn’t heard of most of them. I probably would have viewed these sections differently if I were planning to do a trip along the Thames. Having said that, there were still extremely funny parts along their journey, such as the Plaster-Of-Paris trout and the frustration of opening a tin of pineapples with no tin-opener.

     

    I rather stupidly didn’t realise the story was autobiographical, and I kept wondering if we would ever get to know the narrators first name. He was referred to occasionally as J., and I puzzled over it not putting together that he was Jerome K. Jerome until reading the Wikipedia page. Talk about facepalm. :doh:

     

    This was a Kindle freebie, and there were some formatting errors throughout. It was clearly based on an illustrated version, but though the illustrations were missing the description of them remained. So the beginning of some paragraphs have a little description, before starting the text, such as: “Man reading book I remember going to the British Museum one day….” It threw me to begin with, but after a while it stopped bothering me, though I think the illustrations would be quite nice.

     

    There is an illustrated version for the Kindle, which costs £1.32.

     

    It was written in 1889 and surprisingly the book comes across as quite current and undated. There are a few references which are obviously of that time, and not relevant now, but these are far and few between.

     

    3/6

    Your Book Activity Jan 2013

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Finally finished my second book of the year: Three Men In A Boat. I'm kind of glad to be finished with it actually, so I can get stuck into something else.

     

    I'm going to carry on with Homicide, until it gets too morbid again. Next on the fiction list are:

     

    Six Seconds - Rick Mofina

    The Drowning Pool - Syd Moore

    Elizabeth Street - Laurie Fabiano

     

    They all sound like my kind of books so not sure which one to start with. They are all pre-2012 purchases, as are the two I have read so far this year, so I'm feeling a bit better about my TBR pile. :reading:

    TBR Books You Have Been Putting Off Reading

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    I had this one on my TBR pile for quite a few years before I decided to tackle it (and only then because a book club TV show was planning on reading it). Despite it's length and subject matter, I found it quite readable and I read it extremely quickly (for me). :)

     

    I think I bought it after reading The Fountainhead in my angst-ridden youth. :giggle: I've just picked up Atlas Shrugged off the bookshelf to have a look at it, and not only is it huge, but the writing is tiny!! I think it may be a while before I get to it. :hide:

     

    A quick scan of my pile includes the following guilty titles:

     

    The Crimson Petal & The White

    The Beach

     

    These two are great reads, with The Beach probably being the easier of the two to read. I liked The Crimson Petal and The White a lot more than I thought I would. I was quite daunted by the size of it but the characters soon reeled me in.

    What's up in January

    in General Chat

    Posted

    My work has a great way of dealing with the snow. If you can't work from home (I can't, I need to be there) then we have to get to work or we don't get paid regardless of the efforts made to get to work. It's just a matter of time before someone has a serious road accident trying to drive in the terrible conditions. Last year we had a few people sleeping in the office on the floor over night because they couldn't get home.

     

    That's a shame. The company I work for is pretty good - if the weather is bad and people genuinely can't make it in, then you still get paid for the day.

     

    We had a bit of snow down here, and it was mostly slush by the time I headed out. It was a bit hairy driving on the dual carriageway, but most of it was gone by midday.

    Frankie reads 2012

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    The thing that combined all of the killers in the Dahlén book was that they get a lot of fan mail and that was also unbelievable. First of all, I'd be scared to write to any criminal in case they got out and got the idea to come and visit me. And second, how does a person become infatuated with a person who's killed people? And not only that, but had maybe mutilated the body/bodies, sexually abused them and even eaten them?! Of course these people can't be quite right in the head... but still, it's quite beyond me.

     

    It is very worrying - I do wonder what goes on in these people's heads that they can be impressed with someone who has done such things. And then I wonder if people like that have any friends. If one of my friends started talking like that, I think I'd have to take a step backwards. These criminals also get married while in prison, something that I just can't comprehend. What must be missing in someone's life for them to want to be married to a serial killer?!!

     

    Coincidentally I just watched this movie in December! I wonder if it's true, that all libraries keep some kind of record of books that are seen as of dubious nature and the people who borrow them. I remember when I was starting my first day at the library and I went through the rules and guidelines of employees with the boss and she said we aren't allowed to comment on what people read: that is, if a friend of mine would borrow a book that discusses motherhood and pregnancy, I'm not to make any comments and make any conclusions and start talking about her having a baby. I almost wanted to tell her not to worry: I've borrowed a few true crime books from the library and I know it doesn't mean I'm a blood thirsty killer in the making :D

     

    Most of the books I have read on true-crime and been purchased, but then if I have paid by credit card they could still have my details on some database somewhere. One never knows! :giggle2: That's quite interesting that you were told not to comment on what people read. I suppose when I think about it, I don't ever recall a librarian commenting on any book I was borrowing. It's probably something to do with over the top political-correctness, or that the library may get sued if you make the wrong comment!

     

    I have to confess, after our previous posts I googled him and saw the pics you must be referring to. Oh my... That was pretty darn bad! Also, the first picture that came up was a picture of Sagawa, crouching in the nude, having a fork and a knife in hand, as if he were just about to feast on something (and we can only imagine what...). That was bloody disturbing!

     

    Yeah, I'd love to know where that picture came from - it freaks me out. It looks like he's crouching over someone's legs, so I don't know if that was his victim (doubt it) or some pose he pulled for a magazine? Yes, those pictures were horrific; hopefully her family have never seen them; I think they are about as graphic as you could get. :7_mad:

    Your Book Activity Jan 2013

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Wonderful!

    (And now I hope you'll give Montmorency his due, and call it : Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog) :D)

     

    I didn't realise Montmorency was a dog until just now when I read about him pushing his wet nose into people's hands and killing lemons like they were rats. I had to re-read it to make sure I read it right. It's funny because when I started the book I noticed there were four characters, and I was bit puzzled because I was thinking there should only be three. My edition - which is the free Kindle one - doesn't have (To Say Nothing Of The Dog) in the title.

     

    I started Shoeless Joe by W. P . Kinsella last night

     

    Is this the book Field of Dreams is based on? Love that film. :smile:

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