Little Pixie

Does your Mum not like it ?

The Returned ep 7 Sorry Steve, still loving it.

Book # 59, 60, 61 1Q84 Book 1, 2 & 3 by Haruki Murakami Synopsis from Amazon. The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way, doing something very dangerous. And in this world, there seems no way to save them both.Something extraordinary is starting. Quotes : A ragged line of sparrows sat on an electrical line, constantly switching positions like musical notes being rewritten. Everybody feels safe belonging not to the excluded minority but to the excluding majority. You think, Oh, I’m glad that’s not me. It’s basically the same in all periods in all societies. If you belong to the majority, you can avoid thinking about lots of troubling things. It`s difficult to know what to say about these books without giving away spoilers ; the books basically have chapters which alternate between the two main characters, and you gradually find out how the people and their separate stories are connected. The language is breathtaking ( he does love a simile ! ) and I kept having to go back and reread bits whilst thinking `wow`. Now that the books are finished, I miss the characters - they felt so real to me. One thing I particularly liked was the food descriptions and knowing what the people were listening to ; it really made things come to life. There were things which made me feel uneasy - the book deals with some big Adult Themes - though the characters also seemed uneasy about what was happening. Also, some of the descriptions didn`t work for me ... though again, the characters complained that they couldn`t work out what was going on either. I`m not sure that the synopsis does justice to the books : the sci-fi/fantasy/magical realism aspects seemed incidental to the real story of two people struggling to find themselves and each other. For anyone who`s read the books ...<< At the end, I was surprised that they didn`t go back to the original taxi with the sinfonietta playing. That, the Esso tiger facing the wrong way and the Little People still working to create a chrysalis from Ushikawa, suggested to me that there`s a Book 4 in the works ? << Hmm, that all seems a bit cryptic, but I think if I comment on the book more, it`d destroy the thriller-ish aspect of the books, and it was a proper page-turner for me, waiting to find out what was going on.

I`ve got other books by some of those authors ( I might have Quiet as a Nun, too ) - looks like a good selection.

Some great books there. Loved Blood Rain - Michael Dibdin.

The Big C 3 x 01, 02 Continuum 2 x something

The review I read criticised the lead but praised the rest of the cast, and I was quite excited that >> Eddie Marsan`s in it <<. Watched castle 5 x 18 last night, great stuff.

I heard the exact opposite but recorded it as well.

Panic buying in case books go out of fashion ? Sounds like a plan.

Aw, nice. And ditto. Devi, I bet you`d be there for your friends if they were experiencing something similar ; perhaps it would make them feel like they were doing something to help you if they visit ?

Just looked on IMDB and they also made some Sean Dillon TV movies with Kyle MacLachlan. Not sure that`s an improvement. We`ve got a few charity shops in town with book sections ( the Save the Kitties one is a personal favourite - they get great donations ) plus an Oxfam bookshop. A couple of second hand places have closed now, but there`re still a couple open in the Market Hall. The Town Square lets charities put out tables to raise money - often with a book section. Hurray, Amazon has delivered 1Q84 : Book 3 - yay !

Aw, poor things. Hope they both feel better soon. Xiao-Xiao had her vet`s visit today - worming, vaccinations for cat flu, enteritis and leukaemia, and she was microchipped. Back for more jabs next month. She wowled in the car on the way there and panted, which was a bit scary, but she`s fine now. She jumped off the examining table and inspected the room - so brave.

Defiance 1 x 09-12 - pretty good. Friday Night Lights 5 x 06

Ba-boom-tish. I`ve got books in piles in buying order ; I think I could grab a couple from each location to start a mini-TBR list. I find I do waste an awful lot of time perusing books to read next.

I`ve got Laurie R King`s The Pirate King to read, and I`m waiting for the current one to drop a bit in price - unless I`m desperate to read something, I`m happy to wait for the used books to get cheaper ( plus, so many times a used hardback in nice condition has been far cheaper than a new paperback version ). I do like magical realism - like Isabel Allende and Amy Tan - though was less keen on whoever wrote 100 years of Solitude and that cholera book - sorry, too lazy to look it up. I think Murakami might be in a genre of his own somehow. Not read a Sean Dillon for ages - they made some TV movies with Rob Lowe as the title character, which were set partly in Birmingham, about an hour from me ( I`m near Wales ) - they made it look really classy in the night shots, which I`m not sure is really Birmingham`s reputation.

I blame the Book Elves - they`re notorious for that sort of behaviour.

Fantastic ! * Drools shamelessly* I think that`s a description of my dream home. I`m more into the organic ` pile books on all surfaces and pretend it`s not that bad` mode of decorating. Suddenly my almost 700 TBR seems puny and I may not feel too bad in the future if ( if ?! ) I add to it.

You`ve probably already discussed this, but for someone too lazy to look back through your thread, how have you picked the books for your plan ? And has it made your reading faster `cos you don`t procrastinate as much in picking a book ? Just had Xiao-xiao on my lap - it does make typing problematic.

I`ve heard that too. I shall pass on everyone`s compliments ; I just had to go and check on her, `cos she was being unusually quiet and that can mean she`s plotting something. She vanished last night and turned out to be up on the kitchen workspaces, trying to gnaw her way into her kitty crunchies box.

The Returned ( Les Revenants ) ep 6 - great stuff.

Snowcake. Alan Rickman spends time with Sigourney Weaver ( who has autism ) in a small Canadian town. Sweetly touching.

I`ve not seen that version, though I really liked the Alec Guinness TV version of it. I read the book a couple of years ago ; thought it was well worth a read.

Aw, love all the animals ! Molly is so adorable. Oh, and I`m voting for Chica. So, this is Xiao-xiao ( `Little Sunshine`), pictured with her Winnie-the-Pooh placemat and her much used catnip toy. She`s been a family member for the past week ; she was living rough in a neighbour`s garden for 5 or 6 weeks and they couldn`t find her owner - took her to their vet and there wasn`t a microchip - their rescue cat wasn`t keen on the idea of another cat, so she was going to have to go to the rescue centre - we heard about her and went over to be introduced, and she accepted the offer of a new home. She`s a lovely little soul; runs up to you to greet you when she hears you, follows you around the house and is madly keen on laps. She`s a bit of a Cheshire Cat - suddenly appears next to you, or walks into a room 2 seconds in front of you and completely disappears. She`s also a bit of a naughty tortie, though apparently tortoiseshell with white is called calico, which I didn`t know.

As someone with a TBR list approaching 700, I don`t think I can appear to be shocked that someone else has unread books. The books look good : I hadn`t heard of Helen MacInnes until recently, and got a couple of her books to try ( or perhaps just to sit decoratively in the pile ).

Fingers crossed that the new meds can make a big difference to you. Erm, in a good way. I know what I mean.