Alexi Posted April 18, 2014 Posted April 18, 2014 Great news on not repeating the class Frankie! Good luck on thesis ideas - my thesis was a bit different to yours - more a project than an essay - but I think the key for any sort of thesis is an idea that your passionate about and want to explore further. Whether you love or loathe it! Quote
Kidsmum Posted April 18, 2014 Posted April 18, 2014 Uh oh Are you looking forward to the task? I like cataloguing books and doing lists and stuff, I wish I could come over and help you with yours That is, unless you really want to do it by yourself and would hate do delegate the task to other people. It's such a pain in the ass having to have books in two rows, and not being able to easily look at all of your books. Some books one forgets about I really can't wait for the day when I can have many, many bookcases and have all my books in single rows, and I can see them all, and I have easy access to them all. I think it might be a good idea to sometimes rearrange all of one's bookcases. Put the front row books in the back and the back row books to the front. Equality to all! I think i would probably look forward to it being done rather than actually doing it so i would love you to come round & help me with it, if you did the cataloguing i would make us some lunch & there would definitely be cake for afterwards It is a nuisance not having enough space but i kind of think even if i had more bookcases i'd still end up with books in boxes as i can shop faster than i can read Someone needs to invent a rotating bookcase so all books get there day in the sun Quote
frankie Posted April 18, 2014 Author Posted April 18, 2014 Great news on not repeating the class Frankie! Good luck on thesis ideas - my thesis was a bit different to yours - more a project than an essay - but I think the key for any sort of thesis is an idea that your passionate about and want to explore further. Whether you love or loathe it! I think it varies between different departments what kind of thing you have to do as your final 'thing'. Us English students can choose between a linguistic seminar and literature seminar. I chose the latter. That's why my thesis has to do with English literature. But yeah, I agree: I really want to come up with a idea I'm passionate about. I never was passionate about my current subject and I grew to dislike it Although my 'opponent', the student who had to read my proseminar and seminar pieces said that it shows in the text that I like my subject I had to keep a poker face... I think i would probably look forward to it being done rather than actually doing it so i would love you to come round & help me with it, if you did the cataloguing i would make us some lunch & there would definitely be cake for afterwards Haha, well I kind of know what you mean... I used to be more keen on arranging my shelves, but these days I've gotten lazy I guess it's because I don't have enough shelf space. Some of my books are in a cupboard Oooh cake... Is it too demanding if I say I want cheese cake? It is a nuisance not having enough space but i kind of think even if i had more bookcases i'd still end up with books in boxes as i can shop faster than i can read That's true! I didn't think of that Someone needs to invent a rotating bookcase so all books get there day in the sun Yes, you are right on the money on that! I'd love one of those... But it would take a lot of space, I think... Quote
frankie Posted April 18, 2014 Author Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) I had an interesting evening today. One of my closest friends gave birth to a baby boy in February, and I haven't seen said friend since right after last Christmas. She and baby and hubster came to town to meet friends and tomorrow they have the name giving event with relatives (it's not a christening because there will be no ministers or anything, the baby is not christened, he's only given his name ). So I've just been to another mutual friend's apartment to see my friend and the 2 month old baby. Awww Such a well behaved, easy going kid. And he didn't even start to cry when I held him! (I was afraid I would get all emotional and I would tear up, but I didn't... Maybe if it had been just my friend, the baby and me. I'm more reserved in bigger crowds. And rather oddly I didn't get a hankering for a baby of my own... I'd still rather get a dog, first ) It was very convenient that we gathered at that particular mutual friend's apartment, because she is a bookworm to the fullest! I haven't been to her place in a few years, so I was looking forward to checking out her new books. She has a lot of bookcases, the shelves full of books. And rows of books on top of the bookcases. It was so weird, seeing some of the same books I own, next to books that didn't look familiar. The baby also got a good look at books, hopefully he'll become a bookworm, too (his Mom is a reader, yes) Edit: Forgot to brag: said mutual friend was getting rid of about 50 books, I took a look at them and coveted at least three titles but didn't take them off her hands Edited April 18, 2014 by frankie Quote
Kidsmum Posted April 20, 2014 Posted April 20, 2014 Oooh cake... Is it too demanding if I say I want cheese cake? Not demanding at all...... cheesecake it is Forgot to brag: said mutual friend was getting rid of about 50 books, I took a look at them and coveted at least three titles but didn't take them off her hands I think that's very restrained of you Frankie..... well done Quote
Athena Posted April 22, 2014 Posted April 22, 2014 I'm glad you had fun with your friend . Other people's babies can be so cute and I love looking at people's books. Quote
poppyshake Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Sounds like a lovely visit frankie Yes .. you definitely need to get a dog first Doggies are your first love after all and you need to lavish some time and attention on the (lucky, lucky) dog before a baby comes along and swallows all your time up. Seems like your friend's baby is going to grow up surrounded by books which can only be a good thing for him, all his acquaintance and the future of mankind really I am actually itching now to see your friend's bookshelves You are practicing both book and chippy restraint .. that is very admirable and commendable I hope it's catching Quote
frankie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 I have to butcher some emoticons again! Not demanding at all...... cheesecake it is Wohoo, cheesecake! =D Oh, and ... If I give you enough money, do you think you could also get me those original choccy Hob Nobs and Hula Hoops as well? We used to have Hob Nobs in the stores and I liked them plenty, but I haven't been able to find them for years now =( And my latest interest is Hula Hoops =D They are nom nom nom (I promise this is where I stop, I won't be more demanding than this ) I think that's very restrained of you Frankie..... well done Thank you! The old frankie would've gone in as soon as she heard the hostess say one can go over them and take any books one might like... I'm glad you had fun with your friend. Other people's babies can be so cute and I love looking at people's books. He was a very cute little bugger I really hope to meet him soon again! Sounds like a lovely visit frankie. Yes .. you definitely need to get a dog first. Doggies are your first love after all and you need to lavish some time and attention on the (lucky, lucky) dog before a baby comes along and swallows all your time up. Yes, doggies are my first love, really, now that you mention it! We had our very own Pörri the dog when I was growing up, but I don't remember him, I was very young when he made a run for freedom and was hit by a car and needed to be put to sleep =( We have pictures of him, though, I really ought to scan some of those olden golden pics on the computer for safe keeping.And then we had Tassu, the black lab... Well he was actually the landlord's dog, but he was kept outside a lot of the time so I was always free to go and play with him in the yard (the landlord lived downstairs).There were also a few cats in the house, with the different lodgers... I remember one cat who was completely white, and so very beautiful. I would've really wanted to just pet him and cuddle but he didn't like it so much, so I had to play with him instead but he got too excited sometimes and I grew a bit scared. Once I was giving him a good neck rub which he was enjoying, because he kept shoving his neck to me, and showing the exact spot he wanted rubbing, and it was fun, and then all of a sudden he hissed at me and tried to scratch me. I never felt completely at ease with him after that.I came across a youtube video of my future the other day My FB friends have already had a chance to see this, but I'm putting it up on here as well. This is going to be me when I get a dog Seems like your friend's baby is going to grow up surrounded by books which can only be a good thing for him, all his acquaintance and the future of mankind really. I am actually itching now to see your friend's bookshelves. You are practicing both book and chippy restraint .. that is very admirable and commendable. I hope it's catching That kid is never going to go without books, never =D I'm already on the lookout for a copy of Brothers Lionheart for him. Oh but it will be ages before he can read the book... But then again time flies when kiddies are small. It's very scary, really!You would've loved my friend's bookshelves... Kylie would've appreciated them, too. So neat and tidy, and full of wonderful books! She loves Neil Gaiman, and has all the Harry Potter books of course, and she had books by Sylvia Plath, Ben Aaronovich, Alan Hollinghurst (not The Swimming-Pool Library, though, unfortunately!), and all sorts of classics... Poems, short stories, travel books, modern classics, etc etc.You know, I thought about book buying the other day, and I thought that my life is so much boring nowadays when I don't go and buy books! And the thread's also a lot quieter because of it But I'm really low on money these days and I want to get TBR down to manageable numbers. But I remember my trips to different secondhand bookshops and charityshops so fondly...But then again I've realized that a lot of my book hoarding in the past was because I was unhappy and I was trying to fill a void. Well, it was better than hoarding booze and drugs, but it's still quite sad, when I think about it. And PS: Chippie resolve went out the window last week But I'm now trying to get back on track!! Quote
frankie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 On a related note: my Mount TBR has gone under 400! Last night I finished Praying for Sleep by Jeffery Deaver and now TBR stands at 399. Amazing! The last time my TBR was at 399 was almost 3 years ago: "TBR: 30.5.2011: 399" I got all nostalgic and went through all the TBR stats info on my previous reading logs, and I even drew a lovely chart Here it is: (Be nice, drawing has never been my forte, free hand or computer hand) Here are my TBR stats from previous years: TBR 1.1.2010: 201TBR: 27.12.2010: 349 TBR 29.12.2010: 348 TBR: 7.3.2011: 356TBR: 7.4.2011: 368TBR: 21.4.2011: 382TBR: 26.5.2011: 390TBR: 29.5.2011: 400TBR: 30.5.2011: 399TBR: 31.5.2011: 410TBR: 15.6.2011: 421TBR 23.6.2011: 446TBR: 3.7.2011: 454TBR: 4.8.2011: 448TBR: 8.8.2011: 476TBR: 24.8.2011: 477TBR: 26.8.2011: 506TBR: 2.9.2011: 508TBR: 22.9.2011: 509TBR: 26.9.2011: 510TBR: 1.11.2011: 533TBR: 10.11.2011: 542TBR: 15.11.2011: 544TBR: 24.11.2011: 547TBR: 19.12.2011: 544TBR 22.12.2011: 553TBR: 23.12.2011: 554TBR: 29.12.2011: 559 TBR: 10.1.2012: 573TBR: 30.1.2012: 576TBR: 13.2.2012: 571TBR: 1.8.2012: 519TBR: 27.12.2012: 539 TBR: 21.7.2013: 457 TBR: 14.8.2013: 449 TBR: 7.9.2013: 433 TBR: 1.11.2013: 438 TBR: 1.12.2013: 432 TBR 28.12.2013: 432 TBR 28.12.2013: 436 TBR 5.5.2014: 399 One of my aims for the reading year 2014 was to get TBR under 400, so I've accomplished that now And yes, I've been giving away a lot of books I acquired throughout my crazy book acquiring years, so I've not simply read my way down to 399 TBR, I can confess to that. But all the same, I feel pretty darn good Quote
chesilbeach Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 Well done! It's brilliant when you achieve a goal, isn't it? Quote
frankie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Congrats Frankie, that's awesome! Well done! It's brilliant when you achieve a goal, isn't it? Thanks gals! It's definitely brilliant to achieve a goal one's set for oneself But then I felt a bit bad because it was a goal for a hobby, not a work or studies related goal... But feeling bad about that made me turn to my uni stuff and I set myself a goal for the day and I actually got that task done, too, so yay! And now I can take it easy for the rest of the evening, and I'm thinking this is a good time to try and catch up on my reviews again. Edit: That's odd... When I was writing this post, everything was fine and as should be, but when I'd posted it, the quotes went all weird on me. There are no signs of who said what! Edit2: And after I posted the edit above, the names and times came back to the quotes. That was odd Edited May 5, 2014 by frankie Quote
frankie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 Time for some mini reviews: #10Häpeän monet kasvotby Ben Malinen This one was a non-fiction book on shame by a Finnish author. Some very interesting stuff. I made a lot of notes, actually, but they are for self-help, not for this review And this was a rather curious coincidence: when I was showing the book to my friend, she got all excited and said that Malinen is her uncle's partner! Finland is such a small, small country... 4/5 #12 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremontby Elizabeth Taylor From Amazon: On a rainy Sunday in January, the recently widowed Mrs Palfrey arrives at the Claremont Hotel where she will spend her remaining days. Her fellow residents are magnificently eccentric and endlessly curious, living off crumbs of affection and snippets of gossip. Together, upper lips stiffened, they fight off their twin enemies: boredom and the Grim Reaper.Then one day Mrs Palfrey strikes up an unexpected friendship with Ludo, a handsome young writer, and learns that even the old can fall in love . . . Thoughts: What a wonderful little read. For some reason I expected this to be a bit more humorous, but I enjoyed reading it as it was. Not very memorable, though. 3/5 #13 Flowers for Mrs Harrisby Paul Gallico From paulgallico.info: Mrs Harris is a London charlady. One day, she sees a Dior dress belonging to one of her clients, and falls desperately in love with it. Then a miracle occurs, and she wins a hundred pounds on the football pools. So she 'scrimps and syves' until she has enough to buy a Dior dress of her own, and off she goes to Paris to buy it... Thoughts: Another wonderful little read. And yet rather unmemorable, like Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. Although this was a bit more fun. 4/5 Quote
Janet Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 One of my aims for the reading year 2014 was to get TBR under 400, so I've accomplished that now Huge congratulations. I just popped in to say I'm not ignoring your PM. I've had a really busy (but brilliant!) day today but I haven't been online a great deal. I will reply tomorrow if that's okay. Quote
frankie Posted May 6, 2014 Author Posted May 6, 2014 Huge congratulations. I just popped in to say I'm not ignoring your PM. I've had a really busy (but brilliant!) day today but I haven't been online a great deal. I will reply tomorrow if that's okay. Thanks Jänet! I still feel elated Although I'm a bit worried... This new charityshop's just opened in town, and it's like the only charityshop/thrift shop in the center, all the others are in remote areas (which is soooo stupid), and all things are for 1 euro only, and I really want to go in, and on Saturday when I walked by the store, I took a look to see if I could find a book section, and there it was... I really shouldn't go in! Don't ever worry about PMs, darling! I know I don't always get to them very quickly, and I know life gets in the way. But when you do get to replying, please do tell about your brilliant day! Quote
Janet Posted May 6, 2014 Posted May 6, 2014 I'm about to reply to your PM now. You've probably read on my Facebook, but my exciting day was singing with a local opera group in the bandstand in the main park in Bath for a friend who was proposing to his girlfriend (another good friend). He engineered it that they'd be walking past whilst we sang a song from the first opera they sang in together - and where they met. It was a total success... she said yes! I didn't cry. Oh no. Not at all. No, no no! Quote
Athena Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 (edited) Frankie, congratulations on getting your TBR under 400! That's really well done . I love your statistics and picture. EDIT: Janet, that sounds so sweet! Edited May 11, 2014 by Athena Quote
frankie Posted May 15, 2014 Author Posted May 15, 2014 I'm about to reply to your PM now. You've probably read on my Facebook, but my exciting day was singing with a local opera group in the bandstand in the main park in Bath for a friend who was proposing to his girlfriend (another good friend). He engineered it that they'd be walking past whilst we sang a song from the first opera they sang in together - and where they met. It was a total success... she said yes! I didn't cry. Oh no. Not at all. No, no no! I hadn't read about it on FB, so this was my first time hearing about it! That is so amazing!! Such a great thing to do for your friend, and such a great experience to sing with a local opera group. And to be a part of the whole thing, to be involved in something so special like that I would've totally choked, I can't believe you were able to sing! Quote
frankie Posted May 15, 2014 Author Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) Frankie, congratulations on getting your TBR under 400! That's really well done . I love your statistics and picture. Thanks Athena! Although I have to confess... The picture needs a little editing... I had to go into town on Tuesday to run a few errands for Mom. And as I've been having computer problems (still am), I thought a little trip to the 1e secondhand shop might cheer me up... I honestly thought they would have a rather sucky selection of books. But they had a) more of them than I'd seen through the window the week before, b) a better selection than I'd hoped (feared?) and c) they even had books in English and Swedish The books were on shelves but they were in no particular order, and it was rather a mess. I really wanted to stay for a few hours and get it all organized. But I thought I'd better not, I didn't even want to look at the titles too carefully, I was worried I'd end up taking dozens of books home. I got six books: - Elämä edestakaisin by Eeva Kilpi (Such a coincidence! I'd just been reading Kilpi's diary and I'd thought how I've never read any of her novels, and now there was one. I had to buy it!) - Ainoat todelliset asiat by Merete Mazzarella (This has been on my wishlist for a while. She's a Finnish Swedish author, and I've been wanting to read some of her non-fiction books) - Elämä sanoiksi by Merete Mazzarella (^. This book is partly about how to write about your life, or something like that. I haven't gotten around to investigate further) - Missu löytää ratkaisun by Kaija Pakkanen (This is one of my favorite books from my childhood. I already have a copy of it, but it's not in a very great condition and I've been worrying about it coming to pieces for years now, so when I saw a copy in good condition, I had to get it) - Little Friend by Donna Tartt (I once owned a copy of this, then tried reading it, didn't get into it, or rather did but then it started dragging... After the January Reading Circle discussion on Tartt's The Secret History and her other books, I was convinced I needed to give the book another shot, because a few members told me to do so... So now I got a copy!) - The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe (I was so excited about finding this book! It's not a pretty copy, and it's in Finnish, but I read A Man in Full also in Finnish and the translation was great, so I thought I might as well get the book. Or rather, I couldn't leave it behind. I took a look at a few pages and it seemed so much alike AMiF, that I'm so, so excited to start the book soon! I hope it's good ) So that's five books to the TBR, but I don't know where TBR stands at the moment, because I've read a few books but I haven't crossed them off the TBR list on my reading log because I have been unable to get online. Yes, TBR goes over 400 again, but not by that much. Edited May 15, 2014 by frankie Quote
Athena Posted May 15, 2014 Posted May 15, 2014 Whoopsie! Congratulations though on getting some new books, I hope you enjoy them . Quote
frankie Posted May 15, 2014 Author Posted May 15, 2014 I've been reading through my uni lit class notes and handouts, to get inspired, and there was this one curious thing I read yesterday, I wrote it down on my book note book (haha): This is from Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory, by Andrew Bennett & Nicholas Royle: "Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's play The Rivals (1777) has given us the word 'malapropism' when someone uses, for example, the word 'illiterate' to mean 'obliterate'." Currently I'm reading all my course work on 'Fiction of the 1930s'. Or rather, I started yesterday, I haven't yet read any of the literature. I was reading 'Fiction 1' stuff yesterday. The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud (I have to now google if it's a novel or a short story by him), an excerpt from The Rise of Silas Lapham by W. D. Howells, I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen... It's such a wonderful feeling to re-read these texts and remembering the characters and what happens. I wish I'd paid more attention in class back in the day! Quote
frankie Posted May 19, 2014 Author Posted May 19, 2014 Summer's here! More than +20 degrees! And it was snowing only two weeks ago... Streetcat Bob is also here! That is, they now have Finnish copies of the book at the library and my reserved copy has arrived. I need to go and get it as soon as possible. I really wish I wasn't in the middle of a 800 page long novel, though. Quote
Athena Posted May 19, 2014 Posted May 19, 2014 It's great weather here too, though I don't know whether it'll keep being this nice. I hope you enjoy the book! It's on my wishlist I believe. You could read two books at a time, but if both are fiction I find this can be a bit confusing.. Quote
frankie Posted May 19, 2014 Author Posted May 19, 2014 How warm is it over there, Athena? I've just been to town... It's GORGEOUS The week before last it was snowing! And last week we had maybe +7 degrees during the day, but the nights were cold. And now, it was +31 degrees outside! It was proper summer. I had to find my sun glasses... And I dug out my summer shoes And it was so, so GREEN! I felt like I was high on summer when I was walking to the library. Gosh the library people are so nice! I had to ask for a recommendation letter from the library staff boss a few weeks ago, and when I was inquiring into when she was going to be available, I talked to a few people about applying for a job (didn't get the job, long story), and today I saw one of those people and she asked me how I'd done. I went to visit the children's section and my library guru was on duty, yay! I haven't seen her in what feels like ages. We talked about what's going on in the library and gossiped a bit and then talked about books. I'd just gotten my reserved copy of Streetcat Bob and I showed it to her and she said that it seems a bit like the library cat book. Maybe she'll be interested in reading the book I also asked her to search for a Finnish young adult's book for me, I didn't remember the author or the title but remembered that the main character was called Kiti and that she had mental problems. She checked and found a copy of what sounded like the book, only she had to get it from the storage, they didn't have any copies available. She showed me the cover and bam, it was the very book I've been looking for for some time now. Great service! She took a look at the book and then recommended some Jacqueline Wilson titles. I always thought Wilson was a new'ish author? But apparently she's been writing for a while. We went and checked the available titles and I borrowed one: Lola Rose. I also borrowed a book by a Swedish athor. It's called My Life as a Penguin in Swedish. Sounds interesting! (It's non-fiction. I would google for more info for you guys but I can't go on Google for some reason.) And then I was checking out the English lit section. I found a copy of The Luminaries! Crap! I already had four books to borrow and TL is humongous, so I walked away, walked away good.... But came back for it I love my library. Quote
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