Kylie's Literary Adventures in 2015

[Kylie]

Thanks everyone. N has securely attached my bookcases to the wall now. The damaged one is mostly fine, but when we were putting the shelves in we realised that it has bowed a bit near the top. The shelves don't quite extend to the sides now, but I can work around that by just using long nails to hold them up. It should be fine! I'm looking forward to putting my books back in this weekend.

 

I'm so glad Jasper is okay! I hope the book case will be okay too . Such a nice photo of Jasper with your books . I hope you enjoy your new reads. The floor looks nice! I'm curious, was it nice in Jamie's Italian? I've watched him in cooking shows and I have some of his cooking books, is the food any good?

 

I love Jamie's Italian. I've been about half a dozen times now and never been disappointed. And the food is quite reasonably priced considering the 'brand name' behind it. I don't often watch his cooking shows or own any of his books, so I'm not a fan as such, but I like his restaurants. The staff are always super friendly too. I'm not sure whether they're all backpackers or whether they've just been 'imported' from England, but most of them are British and very nice.

 

Jasper is such a beaut! I LOVE Jamie's Italian - the squid with garlic dip is gorgeous.

 

Aw, thanks.   I'm not sure whether we have the same menu, but do you have polenta chips there? They're yummo. And I always try to keep room for the brownie. So good! They put some sort of sticky popcorn with it, which I'm not super keen on, but I didn't want to leave it behind, so as I tried to cut it with my spoon, some of it when flying off through the air—we were sitting upstairs overlooking other diners, so I was mortified that they would think I had thrown my food at them, but I later found it smushed it on the bottom of my shoe.   Can't take me anywhere...

 

Could have been worse.

 

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was small. My older brother had shown me how you could pull out drawers to make them into steps, which I duly tried out (not the first time I got into strife by copying my brother  ). My chest of drawers had a cupboard sitting on top. Luckily, I had opened the doors of the cupboard for some reason, so when I climbed the 'stairs' and the entire thing came toppling down on top of me, I was more or less protected by the space in the cupboard. And I fell back onto my bed, so I had a soft landing. Lesson learned!

 

It's a good thing cats are so fast or he really could have been squashed. He left the room before it had even come halfway down, I think! I, on the other hand, was frozen to the spot while it all happened. Cat reflexes: 1, human reflexes: 0.

[Signor Finzione]

Aw, thanks.   I'm not sure whether we have the same menu, but do you have polenta chips there? They're yummo. And I always try to keep room for the brownie. So good! They put some sort of sticky popcorn with it, which I'm not super keen on, but I didn't want to leave it behind, so as I tried to cut it with my spoon, some of it when flying off through the air—we were sitting upstairs overlooking other diners, so I was mortified that they would think I had thrown my food at them, but I later found it smushed it on the bottom of my shoe.   Can't take me anywhere...

 

You're one classy lady, Kylie. I've never tried the polenta or the brownie (and will make sure to leave the popcorn well alone if I ever do! ), but the tiramisu is gorgeous and the home-made cola is scrumptious.

[Athena]

Thanks everyone. N has securely attached my bookcases to the wall now. The damaged one is mostly fine, but when we were putting the shelves in we realised that it has bowed a bit near the top. The shelves don't quite extend to the sides now, but I can work around that by just using long nails to hold them up. It should be fine! I'm looking forward to putting my books back in this weekend.

I hope you have fun putting your books back ! 

 

I love Jamie's Italian. I've been about half a dozen times now and never been disappointed. And the food is quite reasonably priced considering the 'brand name' behind it. I don't often watch his cooking shows or own any of his books, so I'm not a fan as such, but I like his restaurants. The staff are always super friendly too. I'm not sure whether they're all backpackers or whether they've just been 'imported' from England, but most of them are British and very nice.

That sounds nice !

 

Aw, thanks.   I'm not sure whether we have the same menu, but do you have polenta chips there? They're yummo. And I always try to keep room for the brownie. So good! They put some sort of sticky popcorn with it, which I'm not super keen on, but I didn't want to leave it behind, so as I tried to cut it with my spoon, some of it when flying off through the air—we were sitting upstairs overlooking other diners, so I was mortified that they would think I had thrown my food at them, but I later found it smushed it on the bottom of my shoe.   Can't take me anywhere...

That could have happened to me too .

[Kylie]

I've been so busy lately with work, renovations and the play that I haven't done any reading in weeks. My mojo has completely deserted me.

 

However, I've managed to find time to buy a few books! 

 

Kate Chopin The Awakening and Selected Stories

Robert Galbraith The Silkworm

Craig Harrison The Quiet Earth

Nick Hornby Shakespeare Wrote for Money

 

And Millie Marotta's two colouring for adults books.

 

We had our opening night for the play on Saturday night. I was rather nervous but everything went off without a hitch and I didn't stuff anything up, thank goodness! We had after-show drinks and nibbles for the audience to meet the cast, so I had to cater for that (I've never catered anything in my life! ). Friday night and Saturday morning were spent rushing around to the printers, grocery shop and catering supplies shop. Luckily, we only do the meet and greet thing once, so I don't have to worry about that for the rest of the shows (we have six more shows to do over the next two weeks).

[Athena]

I hope you enjoy all your new books !

 

Congratulations on the opening night going well ! Wow, that's a lot of shows, good luck.

[frankie]

So glad to hear the opening night went so well! You've done well! 

[Kylie]

Thanks Athena and Frankie. We had three more shows over the last two nights, so only three more to go before we're finished! It's been going really well. We've been getting great feedback from audiences (most of whom are probably a bit biased because they know the people involved, but still... ). Even though I'm not really sociable, I went along to a cast member's house for drinks afterwards, which was fun. I even spoke! Like, in front of a group of about 10 people, I actually spoke up when there was a moment of silence...and they listened to me! I know that's a really basic social thing to do, but I'm so shy and awkward and hate being the centre of attention that I usually sit quietly and try to make myself as inconspicuous as possible (if I go out at all)   It's so, so out of character for me to do something like that. 

 

 

For some reason I started thinking about House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski today. I bought it back in 2010 and I've been intrigued by it ever since. It's supposed to be pretty scary/disturbing. (Were you here when I bought it Frankie? I can't remember where I bought it, but I think you were with me.) It's a long book (700+ pages) and unusually heavy. I have a 'remastered full-colour edition', so I think it's been printed on heavier paper. If you've ever flicked through a copy, you'll have noticed that it has weird page layouts (sometimes only a few words or letters on a page, and I think I once saw some upside-down text) and different fonts. I've seen text placed in boxes and long equations and stuff. And that's only upon flicking through it quickly! It looks totally bizarre and difficult to read. It's one of the most intimidating books on my TBR pile...

 

So, given my AWOL mojo, you would think I'd be keeping my distance from this book, right? Noooo. I decided to pick it up and start reading it today.   Luckily the few pages that I've read so far use one font and are written 'normally', so it hasn't been difficult to get into. I hope I can really get into this. I really want to like this book!

[frankie]

Three shows over two nights, that's hella busy! I'm really pleased to hear it's been going so well. You're doing a helluva good job!   And I was so happy to hear about the drinks afterwards, it sounds like you had a good time! I know it's not something you normally do, speaking up and stuff. You shouldn't be so surprised to have found out that they listened to you though: you're a smart and funny woman with awesome input!

 

 

I can't believe you've started House of Leaves :o Wow! I'm sorry but I can't remember you buying the book.. I mean it could've happened, but I have no recollection of it. Do you record your acquired books under the title of the month? I'm sure we could figure it out somehow We went to a lot of bookish places, though Is the book Oulipo stuff? Good luck with the book! Aww shucks, I'm kinda sad that you're reading it without me *having a selfish moment*

 

Edit: Went over to your 2010 reading log and you bought the book in November! So it couldn't have been bought at the book fair... 

 

Edit: These are the books you bought in November (not all of them but the first bit of the list). I thought that if you look at the list and see the other titles, it might spark some memories. Maybe you don't remember where you bought HoL but remember where you bought the next book in the list and then remember that yes, you bought this and that together at some particular place. 

 

Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger
Julian Barnes: Flaubert's Parrot
Benjamin Black: The Silver Swan
Poppy Z Brite: Exquisite Corpse
Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls
Augusten Burroughs: Magical Thinking
Augusten Burroughs: Sellevision
AS Byatt: Possession
Isobelle Carmody: Ashling
Raymond Chandler: Killer in the Rain
Cassandra Clare: City of Bones
Cassandra Clare: Clockwork Angel
John Cleese and Connie Booth: The Complete Fawlty Towers
Mark Z Danielewski: House of Leaves
James Dasher: The Maze Runner
David Stuart Davies: The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories
Jared Diamond: The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee
Janet Evanovich: Twelve Sharp
Susan Faludi: Backlash
Tim Flannery: Here on Earth
Tim Flannery: The Weather Makers

 

Edit: Wow, you hardly wrote anything in your reading log in November 2010! I did see this thow:

 

Posted 01 November 2010 - 12:00 AM

ETA: <sigh> I keep messing up my posts today.

I managed to acquire another 18 books on the weekend. It looks like my total number of books bought this year will easily go over 300.  I've officially run out of space on all my bookcases in my library.

I've decided to take the door off my library because the pesky thing is taking up space where I can put another big bookcase.

 

Where could we have been during the weekend to find so many books. Oh!! Was it Katoomba? I can't remember the name. But one weekend we visited a really nice town, and went to a lot of secondhand bookshops, you and I, and it was lovely weather (when was it not ) and remember how I found a lot of Jeffery Deavers on that trip? There was this one shop that I remember, I think we went downstairs (or maybe not, maybe it was just in the back) and they had one huuuuge bookcase and we looked it over. It wasn't a secondhand bookshop, it was filled with other stuff, too. 

 

Edit: Oh man, what fun times I miss you! 

Edited August 17, 2015 by frankie

[Kylie]

I haven't been posting in here much...probably because I haven't been reading much! I lost my mojo for a while, but I'm happy to report that it's back now. Usually I have to pick really short and/or light reads to entice my mojo back, but one day I woke up with a sudden hankering to read The House of Leaves, which was by far one of the more intimidating books on my TBR pile, and whaddaya know? My mojo came back!

 

The House of Leaves is a tricky book to review, and not one that I would have any confidence in recommending to anyone. I absolutely loved it (9/10), but I can see why many wouldn't, or why they would at least think it was pretentious. Some parts were absolutely gripping, while others were very dull. I was tempted to skim a few sections, but usually something important was buried in the dullness, so I kept ploughing on. I don't want to say anything about the plot because I think it's best discovered by reading the book. I knew next to nothing about it before I started reading it, and I'm glad of that.

 

Some people think the author, Mark Z Danielewski, is pretentious, but I can't fathom how anyone could doubt that he's at least some sort of genius. The sheer scope of this book is incredible. He comes across as being knowledgable in many areas. The book reads like a thesis at times, with all statements and quotes backed up by detailed references; where it gets tricky is that many of the references are fake, and he sometimes quotes real people on things that they couldn't possibly have commented on (I assume he received permission to do so), and quotes others on things that must be real, so sometimes you're left wondering what's real and what's made up. It's a bit of mindf---, to be honest! He writes so convincingly that I had to keep reminding myself that it was a fictional story.

 

The layout of the book is what makes it stand out. Some pages are densely packed with writing, while some have only a few sentences or even just a few letters. On some pages the text is formatted in columns, and on other pages the text is in boxes or written back to front or upside down, diagonally etc. It could certainly be said that it's a gimmick, but it also works in the context of the story. There is a reason why things are the way they are, which is important. And if you think that would be off-putting, then I can assure you that most of the book is written 'normally'.

 

The House of Leaves is the type of book that you want to discuss with people. A tick (or check mark) might appear on a page, and you know there must be some significance to it...but what is it? You want to jump online and dissect the meaning of every strange thing with others who have gone before you. At one point I found an acronym and I wasn't sure what it meant. I figured it was a common acronym, but upon Googling it, the first search result led me straight to a House of Leaves forum where others had discussed the same meaning. I'm sure there are many puzzles I never unravelled or found the meaning to.

 

I often forget the details of books soon after I read them, even if I've loved them very, very much. The House of Leaves is a book that I will not be forgetting any time soon. I'm positive that it will stay with me. If you want to read an absolutely unique and challenging book, then I would perhaps recommend this to you. If you're a fan of Oulipo (unconventionally written stories), then you'll probably appreciate The House of Leaves.

 

And yes, I've made the word 'house' blue for a reason. In one of the book's many quirks, every time the word house appears (even if it's in a different language), it appears in blue. Why? Perhaps because the house is a character in the story. That's all I'll tell you.

 

Oh, and Mark Z Danielewski has a musician sister who goes by the name of Poe. She released a companion album for the book entitled Haunted. It's a pretty awesome album.

[Kylie]

I can't believe you've started House of Leaves Wow! I'm sorry but I can't remember you buying the book.. I mean it could've happened, but I have no recollection of it. Do you record your acquired books under the title of the month? I'm sure we could figure it out somehow We went to a lot of bookish places, though Is the book Oulipo stuff? Good luck with the book! Aww shucks, I'm kinda sad that you're reading it without me *having a selfish moment*

 

Edit: Went over to your 2010 reading log and you bought the book in November! So it couldn't have been bought at the book fair... 

 

Edit: These are the books you bought in November (not all of them but the first bit of the list). I thought that if you look at the list and see the other titles, it might spark some memories. Maybe you don't remember where you bought HoL but remember where you bought the next book in the list and then remember that yes, you bought this and that together at some particular place. 

 

Mark Z Danielewski: House of Leaves

James Dasher: The Maze Runner

David Stuart Davies: The Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories

 

Thanks for researching my books bought in November 2010. Nowadays I make a note of the books I buy in the order I buy them, but back then I just wrote them in alphabetical order, so it makes it difficult to remember (I mean, if I had bought other books on the same day and listed them together, like I do now, then seeing what other books I bought on the exact same day might trigger a memory).

 

I know I bought the Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories from the secondhand bookshop in Penrith, but I'm sure I didn't buy HoL from there. The more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps you bought it (probably at the book fair) and then left it behind with me when you left. I wonder if I made a note of the books you gave me when you left. It would explain the November date of acquisition, and why I can't remember picking it up somewhere. Also, you've always had a better memory regarding the books on the 1001 list, and I think back then that I had no idea what this book was. I have a feeling that the first I heard of it was when you were here and showing it to me. Does that ring a bell for you?

 

Where could we have been during the weekend to find so many books. Oh!! Was it Katoomba? I can't remember the name. But one weekend we visited a really nice town, and went to a lot of secondhand bookshops, you and I, and it was lovely weather (when was it not ) and remember how I found a lot of Jeffery Deavers on that trip? There was this one shop that I remember, I think we went downstairs (or maybe not, maybe it was just in the back) and they had one huuuuge bookcase and we looked it over. It wasn't a secondhand bookshop, it was filled with other stuff, too. 

 

Edit: Oh man, what fun times I miss you!

Oh, are you talking about the antique shop? That had books downstairs. And they were playing a German opera record and I was in awe because you could translate what they were singing.  That town sucks now. ALL of the bookshops have closed down, but the antique store still has some books downstairs. I don't bother going there though. I never really liked their selection of books.

 

Those were the good ol' days!

 

(And I'm sorry I read HoL without you. I know we talked about a group read at some point. It just kind of happened.  )

[poppyshake]

Yay for the return of the mojo!! :cows:

Excellent review for the House of Leaves Kylie (it's catching ) I know you said you weren't confident in recommending it but your review is too good .. I must know more It does sound like a mind boggle though so only for days when the mind is willing to be boggled. It just shows though that sometimes our mojo's are looking for something that bit different and so we shouldn't necessarily try and tempt them with the literary equivalent of chicken soup (good as that is.) I do this all the time and then wonder why it's still not that interested   

[frankie]

And yes, I've made the word 'house' blue for a reason. In one of the book's many quirks, every time the word house appears (even if it's in a different language), it appears in blue. Why? Perhaps because the house is a character in the story. That's all I'll tell you.

 

Cool!

It's funny that this house being a character would come up ... because something like that happened today. I was asking the 'flatmate' where the building's garbage cans were, because I haven't found them yet and therefore haven't been able to take out the garbage. I thought they were in the neighboring building, and when I was talking to M, and trying to explain which house I meant, I said that it's the house where this guy with only one arm and one prosthetic arm lives. Turns out that it's the wrong house and I'm to take the garbage to another neighboring house... But later we referred to the house as 'the one armed house'.    This story may not be seen as a politically correct story and hence the spoiler tags.  

 

 

 

Thanks for researching my books bought in November 2010. Nowadays I make a note of the books I buy in the order I buy them, but back then I just wrote them in alphabetical order, so it makes it difficult to remember (I mean, if I had bought other books on the same day and listed them together, like I do now, then seeing what other books I bought on the exact same day might trigger a memory).

 

You're welcome, I like doing bookish research Ah, I should've noticed the alphabetical order!   

 

I know I bought the Wordsworth Book of Horror Stories from the secondhand bookshop in Penrith, but I'm sure I didn't buy HoL from there. The more I think about it, the more I think that perhaps you bought it (probably at the book fair) and then left it behind with me when you left. I wonder if I made a note of the books you gave me when you left. It would explain the November date of acquisition, and why I can't remember picking it up somewhere. Also, you've always had a better memory regarding the books on the 1001 list, and I think back then that I had no idea what this book was. I have a feeling that the first I heard of it was when you were here and showing it to me. Does that ring a bell for you?

 I don't remember where I found my copy of The House of Leaves, but one thing I know for sure: I took it with me to Finland! So you bought your own copy at some point. Must've been after the book fair, but that doesn't really help, because the book fair was during my first week in OZ! What a way to start my stay...!!!

 

Oh, are you talking about the antique shop? That had books downstairs. And they were playing a German opera record and I was in awe because you could translate what they were singing.  That town sucks now. ALL of the bookshops have closed down, but the antique store still has some books downstairs. I don't bother going there though. I never really liked their selection of books.

 

Yeah, the antique shop! I'd forgotten about the German opera What is the town called? I'm so sorry that they've closed all the bookshops The antique store had a big selection of books but I don't think the quality and variety of books were that great. 

 

What was the shop we went to, where you found the book for your Mom? What outing was that? Gosh we visited so many bookshops and charity shops and antiquarians Amazeballs!!

 

Those were the good ol' days!

 The best! 

 

(And I'm sorry I read HoL without you. I know we talked about a group read at some point. It just kind of happened.  )

 

Don't apologize, at all, I was just being selfish When the mood takes you, you have to go along! I know you've had your quarrels with your mojo for a while now and so you gotta do what you gotta do  

[Kylie]

I finished The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag the other day. I planned to read just a little of it before bed, but I wasn't really tired and I was enjoying the book so I ended up staying up most of the night to finish it.

 

I've now started Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift and Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I'm only a couple of pages into the former but around 80 pages into the latter. Thoroughly enjoying it, although the mystery has barely started.

 

My ex and I were out today and he wanted to go to a bookshop so I went with him (it was truly his idea, I swear!) I ended up finding two books on my wishlist for bargain prices, so I had to buy them! (My ex didn't end up buying anything.) I bought Tune In by Mark Lewisohn (volume 1 in his definitive Beatles biography). It's a huge hardback and is usually quite pricy (over $50), which is why I hadn't already bought it, but I found it for $13! Unbelievable. I also bought The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert for a great price. Then I bought a new handbag and purse to replace my current ones, which have been looking quite tatty for a while. My current handbag is a decent size, but I bought a slightly larger one (to fit more books, obvs ).

 

To top the day off, my ex found my glasses, which went missing several weeks ago. I've had to resort to wearing my tatty old ones all this time. Luckily, the lenses are identical (or close to) in both pairs, so I haven't had problems seeing, but my new glasses are so much nicer than my old ones that I hated losing them.

[Ben]

House of Leaves sounds like my kind of book - deliciously complex but decidedly rewarding. On another note: I'm glad your reading mojo has returned Kylie. It's such an inconvenience when it goes missing.  

[Athena]

I'm glad you got your mojo back, Kylie . The House of Leaves sounds interesting, I shall have to look up to see if my library has it.

[Kylie]

I don't remember where I found my copy of The House of Leaves, but one thing I know for sure: I took it with me to Finland!

Doh! You're not being much help, woman! Where'd that awesome memory of yours go? Could you perhaps have found TWO copies while you were here? Maybe I should get someone to hypnotise me and bring forth the memory.

 

Yeah, the antique shop! I'd forgotten about the German opera What is the town called? I'm so sorry that they've closed all the bookshops The antique store had a big selection of books but I don't think the quality and variety of books were that great. 

 

What was the shop we went to, where you found the book for your Mom? What outing was that? Gosh we visited so many bookshops and charity shops and antiquarians

I mentioned it in a PM I sent today, but the town was Katoomba. Such a lovely town, but such a shame about the bookshops.

 

Gosh, I don't remember buying a book for Mum at all. We went to some shops closer to Sydney...could be one of those?

 

 

I forgot to mention some other book news. I sold my entire Lemony Snicket series of books online. I've been wanting to clear space in general around my house, so I've been busily putting ads online for my stuff. The couple who bought the books said that their son has some sort of disability but that he devours books, so I'm glad they went to a good home. I'd read about half the series but wasn't too keen on finishing them. I thought I'd already taken the rest off my TBR pile, but apparently I hadn't, so now I get to reduce my TBR pile by 7 books. Hooray!

 

According to Goodreads, I'm 8 books behind on my reading goal for the year. That's partly why I've chosen to read an Agatha Christie book now, because I know I'll get through it fairly quickly.   I have a couple of other short reads lined up too.

[Kylie]

This past weekend was the weekend of the Canberra book fair. This is the first year since 2009 that I haven't been to a book fair, but I had to be strong because I want to meet my goal of reading more books than I buy in a year! But I was a bit sad about it, and I'd had a bad week for other reasons, so I went to a bookshop on Friday and bought myself a new book to cheer myself up. And it didn't cost me a cent because I had a book voucher.

 

I bought The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This should make a certain Finn quite happy.

[willoyd]

I bought The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This should make a certain Finn quite happy.

 

I found it an interesting, very different read.  Hope you enjoy it!

[Nollaig]

This past weekend was the weekend of the Canberra book fair. This is the first year since 2009 that I haven't been to a book fair, but I had to be strong because I want to meet my goal of reading more books than I buy in a year! But I was a bit sad about it, and I'd had a bad week for other reasons, so I went to a bookshop on Friday and bought myself a new book to cheer myself up. And it didn't cost me a cent because I had a book voucher.

 

I bought The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This should make a certain Finn quite happy.

 

I found it an interesting, very different read.  Hope you enjoy it!

 

Oooh I know nothing about this but I did read the Train short novel by the same author. Can't recall the exact title. Very strange but enjoyable. Will look forward to your thoughts on this one!

[Kylie]

Bought Ransom Riggs' The Library of Souls today. Squeeeeee! 

 

Unfortunately my local store only ordered it in paperback, and I really wanted the hardback (unusually, for me) to match my editions of the first two books. I nearly passed on it but I knew I'd have to wait ages for them to order it in, so I went ahead and got the paperback. Slightly disappointed, but oh well.  And I shouldn't really complain because the book cost me nothing because I had a gift voucher.

[~Andrea~]

Wow Kylie I am so behind on your thread and all you've been up to!! It sounds like you've had an amazing few months! The theatre stuff sounds so awesome. Do you think you'll do any more stuff like that? In any case well done it sounds like no mean feat and I'm glad it all went well. And well done for speaking up at the drinks thingy. That is a big deal when your not used to it. It's good to do things you find a bit scary sometimes though huh? And how nice of N to help you with all your renovations!! It's great to get things like that done quickly!

 

Haha I love what you said about hard work. Work hard for an hour and then take the rest of the day off. Hmm sounds a bit like someone I know. me!!   

 

P.S. Glad your mojo is back too.

Edited September 24, 2015 by ~Andrea~

[chaliepud]

Bought Ransom Riggs' The Library of Souls today. Squeeeeee! 

 

Unfortunately my local store only ordered it in paperback, and I really wanted the hardback (unusually, for me) to match my editions of the first two books. I nearly passed on it but I knew I'd have to wait ages for them to order it in, so I went ahead and got the paperback. Slightly disappointed, but oh well.  And I shouldn't really complain because the book cost me nothing because I had a gift voucher.

I got mine today too! The hardback, and would have preferred the paperback.. shame we're not closer to one another, we could have swapped!

[Kylie]

Wow Kylie I am so behind on your thread and all you've been up to!! It sounds like you've had an amazing few months! The theatre stuff sounds so awesome. Do you think you'll do any more stuff like that? In any case well done it sounds like no mean feat and I'm glad it all went well. And well done for speaking up at the drinks thingy. That is a big deal when your not used to it. It's good to do things you find a bit scary sometimes though huh? And how nice of N to help you with all your renovations!! It's great to get things like that done quickly!

 

Haha I love what you said about hard work. Work hard for an hour and then take the rest of the day off. Hmm sounds a bit like someone I know. me!!   

 

P.S. Glad your mojo is back too.

 

Hi Andrea! I've been a couple of months behind on everyone's threads but finally caught up a day or two ago.

 

I'm already planning to be the production/stage manager for a production at the same time next year (I'm happy to have a year off to be a hermit again ). N is going to direct The 39 Steps, so I'll assist. It's going to be much more challenging because there's a large number of props and the timing has to be perfect. Very excited to do it though.

 

I'm hoping to perhaps try my hand at directing one day, but not for a couple of years. Still trying to work out what I'd like to do. I'd love to do a Jeeves and Wooster comedy, or I'd like to adapt a few episodes of The Twilight Zone for the stage. Not sure if the theatre group would go for that; they've never done a series of shorts before.

 

I got mine today too! The hardback, and would have preferred the paperback.. shame we're not closer to one another, we could have swapped!

 

Are you planning on keeping your copy, Chaliepud? Maybe we could swap them over after we're done reading if you wanted to. I'd be happy to pay postage (and extra to cover the paperback to hardback expense). Just thinking out loud; no pressure.

[Janet]

Sorry to butt in, but you'd better make sure the covers are the same.   

 

I think I've got one of his (I presume Ransom is a man's name?!) books on my wish list - it sounds familiar. 

[chaliepud]

Yes Janet, Ransom is a man, and a fine and quirky writer too!

 

Thanks Kylie but I doubt you'll want my copy as it has its rounds planned, first me, then my Mum, then my Mums friend, then back to me to lend to two of my friends! At least that's all at the mo, there may be more depending on how good it is!