Kylie Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) OK, so here is the complete listing of books I bought at the bookfair a while back (I've already posted them in the book activity thread): Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Douglas Adams: Life, the Universe and Everything Douglas Adams: So Long and Thanks for All the Fish Douglas Adams: Mostly Harmless Douglas Adams: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul Mitch Albom: Tuesdays with Morrie Brian Aldiss (ed): The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus JG Ballard: The Drowned World Greg Bear: Eon Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the World Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret T Boardman (ed): Connoisseur's Science Fiction Gyles Brandreth: Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders Dan Brown: Deception Point John Brunner: The Stone that Never Came Down John Brunner: Traveller in Black Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed Michael Chabon: Summerland Ann Charters: The Portable Sixties Reader Arthur C Clarke: The Hammer of God William Corlett: The Door in the Tree Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Mark Dunn: Ella Minnow Pea Janet Evanovich: Three to Get Deadly Janet Evanovich: Four to Score Janet Evanovich: High Five Janet Evanovich: Hot Six Janet Evanovich: Seven Up Raymond E Feist: Magician Glen David Gold: Carter Beats the Devil Graham Greene: A Burnt-Out Case Ursula Le Guin: The Earthsea Cycle (first three books) Joe Haldeman: The Forever War Joanne Harris: Chocolat Thomas Harris: The Silence of the Lambs Harry Harrision: four books in the Stainless Steel Rat series Harry Harrison: Two Tales and Eight Tomorrows Robert Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land Joseph Heller: Something Happened Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner Michel Houellebecq: Atomised John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany Kazuo Ishiguro: An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day MR James: The Haunted Doll's House Diana Wynne Jones: Howl's Moving Castle Lloyd Jones: Mister Pip Judith Kerr: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Sue Monk Kidd: The Mermaid Chair Sue Monk Kidd: The Secret Life of Bees Elizabeth Kostova: The Historian Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin: The Nanny Diaries Milan Kundera: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Hugh Laurie: The Gun Seller Stanislaw Lem: The Cyberiad CS Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet CS Lewis: That Hideous Strength (replacement copy) Lois Lowry: Gathering Blue David Malouf: The Conversations at Curlow Creek Melina Marchetta: Finnikin of the Rock David Mitchell: Ghostwritten Haruki Murakami: A Wild Sheep Chase Mary Norton: Bedknob and Broomstick Mack Reynolds: Towers of Utopia Terry Pratchett: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents Terry Pratchett: The Carpet People Terry Pratchett: The Dark Side of the Sun Terry Pratchett: The Bromeliad Trilogy: Diggers Terry Pratchett: Discworld #5 - Sourcery Terry Pratchett: Discworld #7 - Pyramids Terry Pratchett: Discworld #10 - Moving Pictures Terry Pratchett: Discworld #19 - Feet of Clay Philip Pullman: The Subtle Knife Arturo Perez-Reverte: The Club Dumas Anne Rice: Interview with the Vampire JK Rowling: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them JK Rowling: Quidditch through the Ages Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things Shel Silverstein: Falling Up Alexander McCall Smith: 44 Scotland Street #2 - Espresso Tales Alexander McCall Smith: No 1 Ladies #2 - Tears of the Giraffe Alexander McCall Smith: No 1 Ladies #5 - The Full Cupboard of Life Alexander McCall Smith: Portugese Irregular Verbs Alexander McCall Smith: Sunday Philosophy Club #1 Alexander McCall Smith: Sunday Philosophy Club #2 - Friends, Lovers, Chocolate Alexander McCall Smith: Sunday Philosophy Club #The Right Attitude to Rain Zadie Smith: White Teeth Alexander Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich John Steinbeck: The Long Valley John Steinbeck: The Moon is Down Hunter S Thompson: The Great Shark Hunt John Updike: The Witches of Eastwick HG Wells: Selected Short Stories Scott Westerfeld: The Last Days Gene Wolfe: The Fifth Head of Cerberus John Wyndham: Trouble with Lichen I also bought a couple of reference books of Van Gogh's artwork. And some other recent additions: Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights William Corlett: The Steps Up the Chimney William Corlett: The Tunnel Behind the Waterfall Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides John Fowles: The Collector Raven Hart: The Vampire's Seduction Stanislaw Lem: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub Nancy Turner: The Star Garden Gene Wilder: My French 'lady of the night' And I have another large stack of books on the way from the US and UK. Edited October 29, 2009 by Kylie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperplane Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Now that is what I call a book haul! When and where is this bookfair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 It's the Canberra Lifeline Bookfair and it's on twice a year. The dates for the next 6 years (!) are on their website. The next one is in April, and needless to say, I'll be going again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Wow that is a lot of books - how are you going to fit them all in?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 I'll manage...eventually! I had to rearrange all of my bookshelves to fit them in and I'm currently offloading DVDs on ebay so I have more room. As for my TBR pile, I think it stands at over 550 and I have quite a few more on the way so it will soon be more like 600. That's quite a few years' worth of reading for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) My thoughts on recent reads: Enduring Love by Ian McEwan Quite an enjoyable read. I like McEwan's writing style and the flawed characters seemed very real. It was also pretty disturbing. I hope I never find myself in the position of the main character! 8/10 I, Robot by Isaac Asimov I loved the ideas in these stories and they gave me food for thought, but I didn't like the characters one little bit. Their personalities and interactions with each other seemed over the top and completely implausible most of the time, so I found it frustrating to read. Luckily Asimov's ideas are so great that I was still able to rate it 8/10. My French 'lady of the night' by Gene Wilder A short, light read and fairly amusing in places. The story follows a soldier who is captured by the Germans and pretends to be an infamous German spy, thereby saving his life and fooling many people. An implausible story, sure, but it's not meant to be serious and I could definitely 'hear' Gene Wilder's voice throughout (perhaps that's because I've also read his autobiography). 7/10 Edited October 29, 2009 by Kylie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) More thoughts on recent reads: The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse This was on my TBR pile for several years and I was quite intimidated by it for some reason. The introduction was a bit of a slog to get through, but once read, the story flowed fairly smoothly and I enjoyed the journey to the end, despite accidentally spoiling it for myself beforehand by reading it online. There are also about 100 pages worth of fictional writings by the main character right at the end, which I had to force my way through a bit. Not that the writings weren't interesting, but I felt as though I'd already finished the book and was ready to put it aside. The story is set a few centuries in the future and is based on an order of men (hmph, women barely feature in this book) who centre their lives on the mind, and pretty much ignore the outside world. The Glass Bead Game is an intellectual game played by an elite group within the order. Interestingly, despite lots of talk of the game throughout the book and how it is played, I still have no idea of what it's really about. And this isn't just me; I believe most, if not all, people who read it are no nearer to understanding it by the end. I guess it was meant to be that way. Because of the nature of the book, it's really difficult to write a review about it. It's just an interesting journey through the life and mind of one man. Very philosophical and intellectual, if you're into that sort of thing. It's not a light read by any means, but it's an interesting one, and I'm glad I finally read it. 7/10 Hmm, having just written a review, I've realised that this book may have stayed with me more than I realised. Perhaps I've been a little unfair with the rating; I'll have to revisit it a bit later. Edited October 29, 2009 by Kylie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) Meet Mr Mulliner by PG Wodehouse I did indeed enjoy meeting Mr Mulliner, another lovable creation of Wodehouse's. There's not much for me to add to my thoughts on Wodehouse because I've said it all before. He's wonderful and his books are wonderful. If you've never read Wodehouse and you're looking for a light-hearted book to make you laugh (or at least smile) out loud, please give him a try! 8/10 Deathworld 2 by Harry Harrison Being set on a completely different planet, the book is, of course, quite different to the first one, and poses a whole other set of problems for the main character, Jason DinAlt. He has been kidnapped by a religious nutter in order to stand trial on another planet. In the course of going there, Jason manages to crash the ship onto a planet of savage humans, where he spends the rest of the book improving their technology (which they have lost the knowledge of over time) and trying to escape. Not a bad little read. 7/10 I'm currently reading Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich and am planning to read one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories in the next few days in honour of Halloween. What I have learnt today: BCF posts can contain a maximum of 10,000 characters. How did I learn this? I was updating my list of books bought in 2009, and I have bought so many that I can't fit them in one post anymore. That's 236 books, with another 14 on the way, bringing me to a nice round number of 250 books. What do you think my chances are of stopping there? ETA: actually, I just realised I left 2 books off that list, so the total will be 252. No point stopping then until I reach 260. Edited October 29, 2009 by Kylie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanC_84 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 It is literally mental how many books you buy. I remember thinking at the start of the year that I had a bit of a problem with how many books I was buying but you just take it to a totally different level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 I thought that post might get a response from you. Actually, that number is a little startling. The longer I look at it the more frightening it gets. *looks away* I've recently set up a spreadsheet for the books on my wishlist, with prices from various online sources listed in various currencies, with formulas to tell me when I should order books that are cheapest. I'm such a nerd. It doesn't help (or should I say that it helps a lot) that the Aussie dollar is doing so well at the moment. I have to buy while the going is good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanC_84 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I thought that post might get a response from you. Actually, that number is a little startling. The longer I look at it the more frightening it gets. *looks away* I've recently set up a spreadsheet for the books on my wishlist, with prices from various online sources listed in various currencies, with formulas to tell me when I should order books that are cheapest. I'm such a nerd. It doesn't help (or should I say that it helps a lot) that the Aussie dollar is doing so well at the moment. I have to buy while the going is good! Hahaha. I gotta tell you Kylie that is pretty damn nerd-like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Thanks for giving it to me straight, Dan. I knew I would cop some flak for admitting it. I just finished fixing it up. It looks good now, if I do say so myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanC_84 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Thanks for giving it to me straight, Dan. I knew I would cop some flak for admitting it. I just finished fixing it up. It looks good now, if I do say so myself. I've no doubt that it is a very exhaustive, comprehensive and well put together list Kylie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I've recently set up a spreadsheet for the books on my wishlist, with prices from various online sources listed in various currencies, with formulas to tell me when I should order books that are cheapest. I'm such a nerd.Am I made even more of a nerd by the fact that your level of organisation moves me as beautiful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Probably. And thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich Another nice, light quick read. Follows the same sort of formula, which is what I was expecting. A good 'between books' type of book. 8/10 Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk My partner introduced me to the movie a few months ago and I really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd pick up the book and see if it was any good. I found that it really corresponded to the movie very well - one of the better movie adaptations I think I've ever seen. I enjoyed Palahniuk's style of writing, although I can imagine it wouldn't be to everyone's liking. I'm looking forward to reading more by Palahniuk in future. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster In the last few years I've started reading some of the classic children's literature which passed me by as a child (I was too engrossed in The Baby-Sitters Club to notice anything else). I've found that while most of it is enjoyable, there have been a lot of times where I really wished I had read the book as a child, because I would have gotten more out of it. Happily, this isn't the case with The Phantom Tollbooth. If anything, I'm more glad to read it as an adult because I think a lot would have gone over my head as a child. I found this book simply delightful in every way. The characters are well-drawn, the plot thumps along and the worlds and characters that Milo encounters along his journey are marvellous. It's full of wonderful puns and jokes (there is an island called 'Conclusions', and you can only get there by jumping ). The illustrations by Jules Feiffer are lovely and I know that this is a book I'll treasure for many years to come. I finished the book with a sigh and a smile on my face (it has a lovely ending, of course!) and thought to myself 'this is why I read' - for the rare opportunity of finding such a gem amongst all the rest. Needless to say, it has become an immediate favourite of mine. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) I've just been going through my various lists and checking how much I've read so far this year (69, including 3 re-reads). This is by far the highest number of books I've read in a year. Granted, I've read a lot of young adult books and short reads, but there have also been some big ones. With Christmas coming up, December is always a busy month and I don't want to weigh myself down with chunky reads for the holiday season. I want to devote December to watching holiday movies instead. To that end, I'm dedicating December to fluff reading. This will free up time for movies and it's also a frantic effort to decrease my TBR pile a little. I've decided to put together a list of 20 books from my TBR pile of books that I'd like to get through (I suppose this is a bit of a mini-challenge): Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End Janet Evanovich: Four to Score Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark (I should probably wait until next year to start this series!) Harry Harrison: Deathworld 3 Shirley Hughes: Here Comes Charlie Moon Kathryn Kenny: a Trixie Belden book or two CS Lewis: The Silver Chair AA Milne: The House at Pooh Corner Terry Pratchett: Discworld #3 - Equal Rites JK Rowling: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them JK Rowling: Quidditch through the Ages Alexander McCall Smith: The Kalahari Typing School for Men Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie John Marsden: The Great Gatenby PG Wodehouse: Right Ho, Jeeves PG Wodehouse: Something Fresh John Wyndham: Chocky Edited December 28, 2009 by Kylie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) This is by far the highest number of books I've read in a year. Granted, I've read a lot of young adult books and short reads, but there have also been some big ones. Good job Kylie! :D If I remember correctly, were you the one who planned on reading at least 52 books this year? If so, you've exceeded your plans With Christmas coming up, December is always a busy month and I don't want to weigh myself down with chunky reads for the holiday season. I want to devote December to watching holiday movies instead. To that end, I'm dedicating December to fluff reading. This will free up time for movies and it's also a frantic effort to decrease my TBR pile a little. I think that's an excellent idea, fluff reading! I'd actually planned on doing something like that myself. Maybe a bit of rereading old favorites as well. To get into a comfy mood for Christmas. I took a look at your list of books you'd like to get through but I have to say, most of the titles are unfamiliar to me. Well I do recognise Charlaine Harris of course, and good ole P. G. Woodhouse! I hope you have lots of fun with your mini-challenge and a very nice end to a very good book year Edited November 20, 2009 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Yay well done! There are some good reads in that list - and some I would like to read. I look forward to seeing what you think to Winnie the Pooh and Judy Blume (I loved her books when I was younger). Equal Rites is a good book and I love the Narnia books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret I quite fancy this one. I picked it up in a charity shop at the start of the year but put it back. I look forward to hearing your views on it. AA Milne: The House at Pooh Corner Awww one of my favourite childhood reads. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 25, 2009 Author Share Posted November 25, 2009 If I remember correctly, were you the one who planned on reading at least 52 books this year? If so, you've exceeded your plans Yep, that was me! I think that's an excellent idea, fluff reading! I'd actually planned on doing something like that myself. Maybe a bit of rereading old favorites as well. To get into a comfy mood for Christmas. I hope you have lots of fun with your mini-challenge and a very nice end to a very good book year Thanks Frankie. Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe I forgot to add Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's compulsory December reading for me! Yay well done! There are some good reads in that list - and some I would like to read. I look forward to seeing what you think to Winnie the Pooh and Judy Blume (I loved her books when I was younger). Equal Rites is a good book and I love the Narnia books Thanks Kate! It looks like you've had a really good reading year as well. Especially where Mr Pratchett is concerned! I'm jealous. I quite fancy this one. I picked it up in a charity shop at the start of the year but put it back. I look forward to hearing your views on it. Awww one of my favourite childhood reads. Enjoy. I'm sure I'll enjoy both. I'll let you know how I get on, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Thanks Frankie. Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe I forgot to add Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It's compulsory December reading for me! And me. I've bought a new version with the other Christmas stories in which I haven't read yet for this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 I did that last year. Prior to that I had just been reading an ebook version, which was no fun. I'm on the lookout for a lovely illustrated version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 I have a gorgeous copy illustrated by Quentin Blake. If I were rich I'd buy you a copy and send it over! I was toying with the idea of collecting copies - not first editions or anything like that, but just ones with different covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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