Nollaig Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 (edited) http://roxisrandomramblings.blogspot.com/ Check it out! Edited December 25, 2008 by Nollaig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 (edited) Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom (20/12/08) An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson. I think everybody knows this book, I reread it because its a short and easy read. I have some issues with what Morrie says though. I read it last when I was quite young, but now reading back over it, I can't help but question some things he says, which takes away a little from the book. The one which stuck out most for me was saying that people buy material possessions to make up for a lack of love. That may be true, but I can tell ya one thing for certain - no amount of love is gonna remove the joy people do get from material possessions. A lot of what Morrie says is very idealistic and maybe it sounds nice, but I really don't agree with a lot of it like I used to. Kinda takes away from the book for me, although I still love that the little ole fella was such a great character. Its a really nice little book. Edited December 21, 2008 by Nollaig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 (edited) Stephen King 'Salem's Lot - (16/12/08 - 18/12/08) I started this book with no real idea of where it was going (having never seen any film adaption or having heard anything about it). I wasn't even sure how true to the idea of 'vampires' it would stay - whether directly supernatural elements would be exposed, or whether it would be left open to the reader with the possibility of a rational explanation. Apparently, the former. The book, I found, for the first half or so stayed very quiet and realistic, and then suddenly jumped into Dracula mode. Having said that, I loved the introduction to the characters throughout the first half, I loved that the events didn't just have an as-necessary-to-plot boundary, but the boundaries were really the same as Jerusalem's Lot's boundaries. You got to know the townsfolk and the way things moseyed through the days in the town. Then when the book jumps into Dracula mode, it manages to retain a distinct level of credibility due to the realistic roots under the surreal events. Along with most of the main characters being very likeable, this made the whole story very easy to immerse oneself in. I also liked the old-school vampire interpretation. I know it was written in the 70's and the Angels and Edwards we all love hadn't been invented yet, but having never read an old-school vampire book other than Dracula, it was really refreshing to read such a style in a relatively modern text. Problems with the book: While I felt each individual character was relatively well developed (at least, given a very distinct identity) I felt the relations *between* the characters was somewhat lacking. Ben and Susan never really did it for me, when Ben told Mark he loved him, I had to ask, 'since when?!' and really the most believeable pairing I found was old Ava and Weasel. Having said that, I liked the characters individually enough to let them away with it. Rating: 9.5 out of 10. I did have a couple of small issues, but I enjoyed it too much overall to complain! Wonderful book. Edited December 22, 2008 by Nollaig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_loves_purple Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Oooooh, I loved Salem's Lot, it's one of my favorite King books (and one of the few books of his I read more than once), and I am not particularly into vampire books. I'm glad that you liked it yourself. I don't remember that much about it right now, but the part I liked most was the idea that the cross is nothing on its own, without the faith to support it (while the cross itself is present in many books about vampires, the idea of it being nothing but a symbol and worthless by itself was pretty novel to me in the context -- which I found cool) PS Were we allowed to comment on this thread? If not, feel free to delete this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Hehe replies are warmly welcomed! I just have to get reading so I can pad the list out a bit more! And I agree entirely about the cross needing faith thing, that was a very nice touch. Most other writers seem to take for granted what makes these things holy in the first place. I also liked the way towards the end it wasn't just a cross, but also an axe, just because it was the RIGHT thing and Ben was starting to get a feel for this faith thing =P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 I've moved my random ramblings into a blog of their very own, due to being too obsessive compulsive about the arrangement of these things. http://roxisrandomramblings.blogspot.com/ Feel free to leave comments on the blog itself or here. I'll probably update this thread as I update my blog. ^____^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_loves_purple Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Such a great idea! Congratulations on becoming a blogger! First thing I did was to add you to my blogroll LATER EDIT: Oh, and if there's anything Blogspot-related you need help with, do send me a message, I've been using it for years now so I just might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 25, 2008 Author Share Posted December 25, 2008 Thanks Kay, much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 I've finally finished fixing up and personalizing the blog, and I've added ramblings for several books, so its just about done! I think its quite pretty looking if I do say so myself =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_loves_purple Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Yay! I love it + I find quite interesting the idea of adding only one post per page. Only suggestion I have is that you might want to move the archive to the sidebar, otherwise it'll keep pushing your actual content down (in time, as it grows). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 Yeah I was thinking about that, but the sidebar is really to narrow and makes it look all disjointed. I swapped my quote with the archive, so now the archive is at the bottom - the main page will always be a current recommendation (I'll keep updating it) and it will always be short, so the archive won't get lost. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_loves_purple Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Um, I really liked the idea of having that quote there. It was quite original (plus a lovely quote). I think you should change the archive type to either flat (and then it'll fit the sidebar) or to drop-down menu (and then you could keep it up as it won't grow anymore). Doing either of these is very easy, you just go to edit layout, press edit on the archive gadget and then choose your option. Perhaps you should experiment a bit with it to see which one you like best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Right, I spent all day today working things out, but I finally managed to add in a third column, which shall be primarily for the archive! it can now be as long as it wants! and the whole blog looks neater, and has new images and things. Now I just need to put all my posts back in XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 The blog looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kay_loves_purple Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 That is so cool. I've never had the patience to add a third column on my own so I deeply admire you for that Would you by any chance want to add your blog to my directory, the one in this thread? <---- shameless plug, I know, but since you have a book blog and I'm trying to start a book blog directory I just had to ask; feel free to ignore me if you think it's spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Awwwwhhh bless, Hun I didn't see this before I requested the add on your thread!!! I'm delighted to be on your directory! =D People might actually see my blog - it'll motivate me to keep it in order and looking well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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