frankie Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Definitely interested. I loved TGLaPPPS But I have always thought of Mary Ann Shaffer as the author .. I didn't realise there were two authors? Goodness knows how or why this passed me by I think Mary Ann Shaffer started it and it was her idea, but then she passed on before she got to finish and Annie Barrows did the rest... I'm not quite sure though. I'm going to check out the book by her and see what it's about, thanks for the link Claire! Edit: Ah, Annie Barrows is Shaffer's niece! Edit: Goodreads says: "Mary Ann Shaffer worked as an editor, a librarian, and in bookshops. Her life-long dream was to someday write her own book and publish it. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel. Unfortunately, she became very ill with cancer and so she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half, to help her finish the book. Mary Ann Shaffer died in February 2008, a few months before her first novel was published." Edited February 25, 2015 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I saw David Duchovny (X- Files) promoting a book he just wrote and released this month called Holy Cow- A Modern Day Dairy- Tale. Its totally off beat and strange, I thought some of us might be interested... from Amazon: Elsie Bovary is a cow, and a pretty happy one at that—her long, lazy days are spent eating, napping, and chatting with her best friend, Mallory. One night, Elsie and Mallory sneak out of their pasture; but while Mallory is interested in flirting with the neighboring bulls, Elsie finds herself drawn to the farmhouse. Through the window, she sees the farmer's family gathered around a bright Box God—and what the Box God reveals about something called an "industrial meat farm" shakes Elsie's understanding of her world to its core. There's only one solution: escape to a better, safer world. And so a motley crew is formed: Elsie; Jerry—excuse me, Shalom—a cranky, Torah-reading pig who's recently converted to Judaism; and Tom, a suave (in his own mind, at least) turkey who can't fly, but who can work an iPhone with his beak. David Duchovny's charismatic creatures point the way toward a mutual understanding and acceptance that the world desperately needs. ~221 pages I have no idea if this is good or not, of course, but darn, I am starting to feel old... wasn't X Files SO long ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 That... I have to read, because it sounds totally bizzare, and also because David Duchovny And yes, when it was airing originally, it was airing after my bedtime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 That sounds bizarre! I liked The X-files, I plan to re-watch (and watch) some episodes again some time (I have some on DVD, though not the last season as I didn't like that at all.) I might have to look into the book or see what others think, as it could be interesting (I do like the David Duchovny's acting work, at least). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I saw David Duchovny (X- Files) promoting a book he just wrote and released this month called Holy Cow- A Modern Day Dairy- Tale. Its totally off beat and strange, I thought some of us might be interested... There was an interview with him in the Guardian about the book recently http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/22/david-duchovny-holy-cow-hell-highwater-x-files-rachel-cooke I never watched The X-Files, so don't really know much about him, other than he's famous for that series, but the book does sound rather quirky, and if I see some positive reviews, I might read it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I think Mary Ann Shaffer started it and it was her idea, but then she passed on before she got to finish and Annie Barrows did the rest... I'm not quite sure though. I'm going to check out the book by her and see what it's about, thanks for the link Claire! Edit: Ah, Annie Barrows is Shaffer's niece! Edit: Goodreads says: "Mary Ann Shaffer worked as an editor, a librarian, and in bookshops. Her life-long dream was to someday write her own book and publish it. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel. Unfortunately, she became very ill with cancer and so she asked her niece, Annie Barrows, the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half, to help her finish the book. Mary Ann Shaffer died in February 2008, a few months before her first novel was published." Oh .. that is sad Lovely that she had a niece that is an author .. to help her .. but terribly sad that she didn't get to see it published and become the success it has Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Oh .. that is sad Lovely that she had a niece that is an author .. to help her .. but terribly sad that she didn't get to see it published and become the success it has It's brilliant that she got to work with her niece who's an author but I agree, it's terribly sad that she didn't get to see the book published. Especially since it was a great success and loads of people have loved it! (And not because they read it knowing that the author had passed on... Like loving Nirvana all the more because it's legendary because of Kurt Cobain dying. They loved the book for its own merits... It's such a darling book!) Edited February 26, 2015 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I've just seen that Bill Bryson's next book will be out in the summer as is the follow up to Notes From A Small Island, and will be called The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island. A few more details on The Bookseller article: http://thebookseller.com/news/transworld-publish-first-travel-book-bryson-15-years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I've just seen that Bill Bryson's next book will be out in the summer as is the follow up to Notes From A Small Island, and will be called The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island. A few more details on The Bookseller article: http://thebookseller.com/news/transworld-publish-first-travel-book-bryson-15-years Oh good .. about time too Look forward to hearing more from Bill about this small island. Love the title .. Little Dribbling sounds like Little Whinging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I saw David Duchovny (X- Files) promoting a book he just wrote and released this month called Holy Cow- A Modern Day Dairy- Tale. Its totally off beat and strange, I thought some of us might be interested... from Amazon: Elsie Bovary is a cow, and a pretty happy one at that—her long, lazy days are spent eating, napping, and chatting with her best friend, Mallory. One night, Elsie and Mallory sneak out of their pasture; but while Mallory is interested in flirting with the neighboring bulls, Elsie finds herself drawn to the farmhouse. Through the window, she sees the farmer's family gathered around a bright Box God—and what the Box God reveals about something called an "industrial meat farm" shakes Elsie's understanding of her world to its core. There's only one solution: escape to a better, safer world. And so a motley crew is formed: Elsie; Jerry—excuse me, Shalom—a cranky, Torah-reading pig who's recently converted to Judaism; and Tom, a suave (in his own mind, at least) turkey who can't fly, but who can work an iPhone with his beak. David Duchovny's charismatic creatures point the way toward a mutual understanding and acceptance that the world desperately needs. ~221 pages I like that Anderson has done as serious sci-fi book and Duchovny has gone for a wander in the opposite direction. I have no idea if this is good or not, of course, but darn, I am starting to feel old... wasn't X Files SO long ago? First aired 23 years ago this year. Yep. Old. I never watched The X-Files, so don't really know much about him, other than he's famous for that series, but the book does sound rather quirky, and if I see some positive reviews, I might read it myself. He's funnier in Californication, but as the name suggests, its a little rude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I've just seen that Bill Bryson's next book will be out in the summer as is the follow up to Notes From A Small Island, and will be called The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island. A few more details on The Bookseller article: http://thebookseller.com/news/transworld-publish-first-travel-book-bryson-15-years Great news! I'll be adding this to my wishlist for sure. Thanks Claire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 I've long been meaning to read some Robert Macfarlane and after reading this article, I think Landmarks, published later this month, may well be my first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felidae Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I just found out that the Terry Pratchett/Stephen Baxter series of the Long Earth isn't a trilogy but there will be five books in the series, the fourth coming out this summer. The Long Utopia! Yay! Book 1 was fantastic, book 2 okay, book 3 horribly boring so I hope book 4 will not continue where it was going but will be smashingly good again. The first book kept me thinking for weeks! Fourth book will be out this summer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I just found out that the Terry Pratchett/Stephen Baxter series of the Long Earth isn't a trilogy but there will be five books in the series, the fourth coming out this summer. The Long Utopia! Yay! Book 1 was fantastic, book 2 okay, book 3 horribly boring so I hope book 4 will not continue where it was going but will be smashingly good again. The first book kept me thinking for weeks! Fourth book will be out this summer.. I've got book one but haven't got around to reading it yet. Good to know that it's the best of the bunch so far but disappointing to hear that the subsequent books were not up to standard. I must read it .. any book described as smashingly good deserves to be read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felidae Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Well I LOVED the alternative worlds, being sick of our own little crowded world these days. It's more the world building than the actual plot I loved, so if you think a book is good to read just for that then go ahead. Plot-wise, well I didn't like the Lobsang storyline. But I mean.. travelling to other worlds as easily as flicking a switch.. ohh. <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Good Housekeeping magazine has just kindly informed me that Grace McCleen has written a new book (published in January so available now) called The Offering. I read The Land of Decoration three years ago and was very taken by her writing so I am looking forward to reading this at some point when my TBR pile is smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Umberto Eco has a new book coming out in November called Numero Zero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Just learnt that China Mieville has a new book coming out at the end of July. It's a collection of short stories called Three Moments of an Explosion. From the Book Depository: A highly anticipated collection of short fiction listed in the Guardian's 'Essential Literary Calendar' for 2015 from one of the most exciting and original authors writing today. The multi-award-winning China Mieville has been called 'the equal of David Mitchell or Zadie Smith' (Scotland on Sunday), whose 'inventiveness and precision is awesome' (Independent), and who writes with 'an imagination of immense power' (Guardian). In this extraordinary series of stories, defying definitions and literary stereotyping, he once again proves why he 'is one of the most interesting and promising writers to appear in the last few years in any genre' (Carlos Ruiz Zafon). In these stories, glistening icebergs float above urban horizons; a burning stag runs wild through the city; the ruins of industry emerge unsteadily from the sea; and the abandoned generations in a decayed space-elevator look not up at the stars but down at the Earth. Ranging from portraits of childhood to chilling ghost stories, from dystopian visions to poignant evocations of uncanny love, with beautiful prose and melancholy wit, this breath-taking collection poses searching questions of what it is to be human in an unquiet world. It is a humane and unsentimental investigation of our society, our world, and ourselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I have my name on the list for a possible review copy of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 Although this has already been published in hardback, I've just read a review of it, and I'm intrigued by Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London by Matthew Beaumont, and will be looking to read it once the paperback comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 I know there are some fans here of MRC Kasasian (author of The Mangle Street Murders and The Curse of the House of Foskett). In case you didn't already know, the third book in the series, Death Descends on Saturn Villa, is going to be published in a week or so (1 June). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursenblack Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Here are some reads that come out in the summer that look good: Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos, In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, Day Four by Sarah Lotz, Armada by Ernest Cline, and Crooked by Austin Grossman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 After loving the first two books in Robin Stevens Wells and Wong Mysteries, I can't wait for the third book, First Class Murder which is out at the end of July. (She's also announcing the title of book four tomorrow lunchtime … I wish I'd had the internet and twitter when I was growing up, kids authors are so much fun and great at engaging with their readers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Agatha Christie's autobiographical Come, Tell Me How You Live is being republished in August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 Agatha Christie's autobiographical Come, Tell Me How You Live is being republished in August. Hm... So what was the other biographical book you and I talked about a few years back! The one with a CD including Agatha's interviews and such. Was it not autobiographical? Interesting news, anyway, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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