Frankie Reads 2010

[Maureen]

Pretty strange. I actually remember the use of the word queer, because at the time I felt it was derogatory.

[frankie]

Pretty strange. I actually remember the use of the word queer, because at the time I felt it was derogatory.

 

Yeah, the word 'queer' is used on academic literary discussions but outside the academia it's usually considered derogatory I think. Now that I think about it, I think BookJumper might have been defending the use of the term 'queer' in the thread, from the point of view of the jargon that's used in literary studies. Or at least someone was.

 

I heard that you've taken steps to talk about this with other mods in the staff room, thanks Maureen

[Maureen]

Yeah, the word 'queer' is used on academic literary discussions but outside the academia it's usually considered derogatory I think. Now that I think about it, I think BookJumper might have been defending the use of the term 'queer' in the thread, from the point of view of the jargon that's used in literary studies. Or at least someone was.

 

I heard that you've taken steps to talk about this with other mods in the staff room, thanks Maureen

 

 

You're welcome I'm sorry it was not found.

[frankie]

I wasn't supposed to buy any more books until I'm out of Finland, in an English speaking country, in a book buyer's heaven. However, life's been a bit of a rollercoaster for a while now and I felt like I wanted to treat myself with a secondhand bookshop tour. So I went and got me these:

 

Iain Banks: Complicity

Stephen Fry: Making History

Kate Chopin: The Awakening

 

The Chopin title is on the Rory Gilmore book list. I enjoyed Banks's Wasp Factory and ever since I read it I've been keen to read his other novels. And I love Stephen Fry <3 I'm collecting his books although I have to admit, I haven't had time to read any of them yet BF was happy that I got the Fry novel, he wants to borrow it and read it. He did give me a bit of a hard time about buying another Fry title eventhough I haven't even read Hippopotamus yet.

 

BF was also very excited about Complicity but when he found out that it was in Finnish he lost all interest. He's really boring that way, he doesn't read anything in Finnish. Makes finding books for him more difficult.

Edited August 26, 2010 by frankie

[Ooshie]

Hope you enjoy Complicity, frankie - I have enjoyed all Iain Banks' books, but it is one of my favourites

[Kylie]

BF was also very excited about Complicity but when he found out that it was in Finnish he lost all interest. He's really boring that way, he doesn't read anything in Finnish. Makes finding books for him more difficult.

 

Isn't your BF Finnish? Why wouldn't he like reading in Finnish?

[frankie]

Hope you enjoy Complicity, frankie - I have enjoyed all Iain Banks' books, but it is one of my favourites

 

Ooh, that's good to hear Ooshie! The blurb sounded really interesting, so I'm hoping to enjoy it. I'm not much of a sci-fi reader so I think Iain Banks without the M in the middle will do better for me.

 

 

Isn't your BF Finnish? Why wouldn't he like reading in Finnish?

 

Yep, BF is Finnish but he doesn't read Finnish literature (except for The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna, a Finnish classic). He likes mostly sci-fi and Tom Clancy, and because all the writers he seems to go for these days are English speakers and because BF is good at English, he prefers to read in the original language. I don't blame him, but he could make an exception every once in a while, Finnish translations are much easier to find.

[frankie]

Okay, so I went to the library's removed books -sale today, a plastic bag full of books cost 3e and if you want to buy books individually, they cost 1e per book. So it's easiest just to get the plastic bag and fill it up. And get a little wild. I tell you the place was crowded!!

 

I got all of these for 3e:

 

An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge

The Small Assassin by Ray Bradbury

Roommates: You're No Friend of Mine by Emily Chase

Fanny Hill by John Cleland

What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

Vuokralla täällä by Pentti Holappa

The Bostonians by Henry James

The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory by Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason

Classics of the Macabre by Daphne du Maurier

Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier

The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

On rakkautes ääretön by Maria Peura

A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell

 

After that we went to the bookstore, which we should not have done, because BF noticed this huge book called 501 Most Notorious Crimes and I had to have it. It was a bit on the cheap side, being a hefty hardback non-fiction book, so I couldn't resist. It covers:

- treason, outlawry, piracy, anarchy, rioting & terrorism

- swindles, hoaxes, fraud & corruption

- murder

- robberies

- assassinations

- gangster crimes, bootlegging & smuggling

- serial killings

- kidnappings

- other misdeeds (can't wait to find out what that entails!)

- unsolved crimes

 

Happy times

(Hey, that's like about 20 books in 2 days. Yikes.)

 

 

 

[chesilbeach]

EXCELLENT haul, frankie! What a great way to start the weekend - you've just got to read them all now

[Roland Butter]

"What A Carve Up" is a truly excellent book, recommended to me by a knowledgeable colleague on the Forum.

 

And it hasn't got any munaa in it, either ....

Edited August 27, 2010 by Roland Butter

[Kylie]

Wow Frankie! Nice haul. So many books...

[frankie]

EXCELLENT haul, frankie! What a great way to start the weekend - you've just got to read them all now

 

Yep, now I've just got to read them! Which sounds like an easy plan, but really isn't, because of the already existing mount TBR... When will I learn??

 

"What A Carve Up" is a truly excellent book, recommended to me by a knowledgeable colleague on the Forum.

 

And it hasn't got any munaa in it, either ....

 

I think Jonathan Coe has written some other novel that's supposed to be really great, and I've been meaning to read that one for ages. Now that his novel was just lying there in the English lit section, I just grabbed it Good to know that the novel is munaless

 

Wow Frankie! Nice haul. So many books...

 

.... and so little time! The rate I'm going at the moment, I'll be lucky if I finish my current novel before it's time to take off. I'm already worrying about which books to pack with me to read on the flight! Did you know the flight is 29 hours?? I have to pack something good, but something that's not so brilliant that I want to re-read it and take back home with me. I need all the space I can make for my new Aussie books Maybe I should just buy magazines. Magazines in Hebrew. Now those would take a long time to read.

[frankie]

Here follows a very sad attempt to remember something about the books I've been reading but not reviewing lately.

 

55. How to Be Good by Nick Hornby

 

This novel had all the potential to be a really good novel: There's a miserable marriage, the husband is stuck in a rut and the wife loathes him and their relationship for it. In comes a psychic guru of some sort. Everybody learns something. Yay! Somehow it just didn't work for me at all. I thought the husband would change in a really good way, the wife would be guilt stricken, they'd have huge fights but in the end kiss and make up. Well it didn't exactly go that way. A very irritating read. Irritating plot, irritating characters. My least favorite Hornby novel, if you can say so, because it's not my favorite in any way. Haha.

 

Rating: 2/5

 

56. Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (1001)

 

A 1001 Books You Must Read -challenge read. And a reading circle novel as well. A very promising start. I liked the miljöö of the novel, a cold wintery Copenhagen. Felt very homey to me, being from another Nordic country myself. I didn't mind the detailed style in the beginning but at some point it started to take away from the story. Towards the end of the novel I was reading it very mechanically, going through words and sentences but letting my brain rest whenever there was too detailed info or depictions of machines and such. The style of the novel was kind of detailed functionalism, detached, cold. Just like the main character. I think it was intended that way. Which doesn't really help it make better. All in all, kind of boring and at least very disappointing.

 

Rating: 2/5

 

57. About a Boy by Nick Hornby

 

Another Hornby novel. I haven't seen the movie but I know it starred Hugh Grant, which I don't mind in say Bridget Jones movies or in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Hm or in Love Actually. I guess I don't mind him being in which ever movie he wants to make. However, somehow I'd gotten the idea that the movie was going to suck. Maybe it was because I used to think Hornby novels Suck with a capital S. I was wrong! I think this one is my favorite Hornby novel, along with Juliet, Naked. I really loved the Boy in this novel, he had a certain Christopher John Francis Boone feel to him. Eventhough I really enjoyed this novel, I can't really say that I remember much about it, but I do remember loving it. Definite re-reading material!

 

Rating: 4/5

 

58. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

 

Like I said earlier, this is one of my favorite Hornby novels. I don't want to say anything about it. I cannot describe it. I love it and want to re-read it

 

Rating: 4/5

 

59. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (RG-B)

 

A Rory Gilmore Book Challenge novel. This one is often compared to Catcher in the Rye. I say you can chuck your CitR copy in the bin and read the Chbosky novel instead. I had a few problems with the novel right at the beginning but I overcame them very quickly and enjoyed the novel the rest of the way. A very magical read. Re-read material.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

60. Candide by Voltaire (1001, RG-B)

 

This was one weird read How it's become so well known and canonized I don't know. Weird events follow weird events follow weird events follow. You have to read it for yourself to know what I'm talking about. For further details you can also see the Candide thread on BCF.

 

Rating: 2/5

Edited August 31, 2010 by frankie

[Lucybird]

 

57. About a Boy by Nick Hornby

 

Another Hornby novel. I haven't seen the movie but I know it starred Hugh Grant, which I don't mind in say Bridget Jones movies or in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Hm or in Love Actually. I guess I don't mind him being in which ever movie he wants to make. However, somehow I'd gotten the idea that the movie was going to suck. Maybe it was because I used to think Hornby novels Suck with a capital S. I was wrong! I think this one is my favorite Hornby novel, along with Juliet, Naked. I really loved the Boy in this novel, he had a certain Christopher John Francis Boone feel to him. Eventhough I really enjoyed this novel, I can't really say that I remember much about it, but I do remember loving it. Definite re-reading material!

 

Rating: 4/5

 

I've not read this one (but intend to at some point). The film is worth a watch, but I may be a bit biased due to the Hugh Grant element

 

59. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (RG-B)

 

A Rory Gilmore Book Challenge novel. This one is often compared to Catcher in the Rye. I say you can chuck your CitR copy in the bin and read the Chbosky novel instead. I had a few problems with the novel right at the beginning but I overcame them very quickly and enjoyed the novel the rest of the way. A very magical read. Re-read material.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

 

Almost exactly what I said! Yes much, much better than Catcher in the Rye.

 

 

[frankie]

I've not read this one (but intend to at some point). The film is worth a watch, but I may be a bit biased due to the Hugh Grant element

 

Almost exactly what I said! Yes much, much better than Catcher in the Rye.

 

Haha I think I should definitely watch it sometime, now that I've actually read the book and liked it. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be rather good. I guess I'm just a little bit confused because I thought the boy in the movie is like 8 years old, and in the novel he's much older? Am I perhaps thinking of another movie, because I keep getting the image of Adam Sandler's face in my head. Ugh, I hate Adam Sandler.

 

61. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

 

I remember this book being a massive hit hear on the BCF and I believe I first heard about the book on here. I don't mind vampire stories, I like thrillers and I love Sweden and Swedish people so I figured this would be a treat! However, I didn't enjoy the novel as much as I thought I would. I didn't grow attached to the characters. I wasn't too impressed with the storyline, although I have to admit there were some pretty unique ideas thrown into the mix. A decent, average read but not much more for me, I'm afraid.

 

Rating: 3/5

 

62. The Dirt by Mötley Crüe (RG-B)

 

Another Rory Gilmore Book Challenge novel. I'm not that familiar with Mötley Crüe musicwise, but I was really excited about reading this band autobiography of sorts. I remember Lorelai Gilmore reading the book and being absolutely grossed out, and loving it I have to say I was going through the same emotions when I was reading this book. There were some incredibly weird and disturbing stuff, but I couldn't put the book down, it was so good! I really grew attached to the band members and felt their ups and downs. It was surprisingly awesome and definite re-reading material.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

63. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (RG-B)

This was a funny one. When I started reading the novel, I felt like falling asleep right from the get go. Boring! Too many characters were introduced, none of them seemed interesting and nothing seemed to happen. A bit later I discovered that it wasn't a total snooze fest and that I was actually making progress with it. And a bit later I realised I was semi curious about the characters and what was going to happen to them. Towards the end of the novel I was hooked! I tell you if this novel had gone on for 50 more pages I would probably give it a 5/5. I even intend to read the sequal someday.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

64. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1001, RG-B)

 

I have only one thing to say about the novel: How annoying can Alice get?? She finds this weird place out of nowhere, sees all these different kinds of people and stuff, and expects them to be all humanlike just like in the real world. How stupid can you get? Keep your stupid questions and prejudices to yourself and listen to other people. You might even learn something. Gosh! Such an irritating little brat. Good riddens.

 

Rating: 3/5

 

65. The Difficulty of Being a Dog by Roger Grenier

 

This was an impulse buy in a secondhand bookshop. I love dogs, therefor love to buy books on dogs. This one was a disappointment though. Very boring little anecdotes about uninteresting people. Sure they had dogs but those stories weren't any good either.

 

Rating: 1/5

66. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding

 

Very forgettable, eventhough sometimes a tiniest bit enjoyable novel. If you want to read something by Helen Fielding, I suggest you read the Bridget Jones diaries, or if you've already done that, re-read them. This one doesn't compare at all.

 

Rating: 2/5

[Lucybird]

Haha I think I should definitely watch it sometime, now that I've actually read the book and liked it. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be rather good. I guess I'm just a little bit confused because I thought the boy in the movie is like 8 years old, and in the novel he's much older? Am I perhaps thinking of another movie, because I keep getting the image of Adam Sandler's face in my head. Ugh, I hate Adam Sandler.

 

 

The Boy in About a Boy is Nicholas Hoult. The only other thing I've seen him in is Skins (he was one of the main characters in the first 2 series), but apparently he was in Clash of the Titans this year (I don't remember noticing, but then it wasn't the greatest film), and he's going to be in the next X-Men.

 

 

[frankie]

67. Sliver by Ira Levin

 

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel, what a great thriller! I've seen the movie many times during my teens so I was already familiar with the storyline but that didn't bother me one bit. A very creepy read. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Levin's other novels.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

68. The One hundredth Thing about Caroline by Lois Lowry

 

A re-read from my teenage. I didn't much enjoy this novel when I was younger and I was sad to see that things haven't changed at all in that department. Caroline has got nothing on Anastasia Krupnik, that's for sure!

 

Rating: 2/5

 

69. Sheriffi Mccoy by Andy McCoy

 

I don't know how famous Andy McCoy is in the rest of the world. Over here he's known from his band with Mike Monroe: Hanoi Rocks. I think if one's not a total fan of that kind of music and that particular band, people tend to think that he's a weird kinda fella with his Americanized accent and rotten teeth and weird hair, hats and clothes. He also seems like he's on acid or something, 24/7. I bought the book in a sale years ago, for a laugh.

However, when I was reading The Dirt by Mötley Crüe I was surprised to see that McCoy's band Hanoi Rocks was featured in the book quite a few times. Mötley Crüe was even responsible for one of the HR band members dying in a car crash. Well anyway, after reading The Dirt I knew I had to finally read the McCoy book, and I was astounded to find that it was actually very interesting and the writing wasn't bad either. It was so good that I'm actually keeping the book for a possible re-read at some point.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

70. Shaker Run by Karen Harper

 

Impulse buy. Quite an average thriller, and I mean it in a not-so-good way.

 

Rating: 3/5

71. Down to the Bone by Karen Harper

 

This Harper novel was much better. Really spooky and creepy atmosphere. I find the amish kind of people fascinating.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

72. Aftermath by Peter Robinson

 

I know I was raving about this novel in a couple of threads when I was reading this, but when I read on and got towards the end it wasn't that excellent anymore. To tell you the truth I cannot remember anything about this novel and that's really saying something. I mean, I remember absolutely nothing.

 

Rating: 3/5

 

73. Trial & Retribution II by Lynda la Plante

 

No matter how amazing a writer la Plante is and how amazing her Trial & Retribution novels are, the TV series is always better. La Plante's T&R differ from regular thrillers in that they aren't always about catching the bad guy: this one was actually more about how the trial pans out and what's the aftermath of the trial. Good stuff anyways. I heartily recommend the TV series to anyone, it's one of the best British TV series I've ever seen. It's so good that it's really creepy and makes me anxious for days

 

Rating: 4/5

[frankie]

Lucybird, I just googled Adam Sandler just to make sure and yep, I'm totally confusing About a Boy with the Adam Sandler movie Little Nicky. No wonder I hated the idea about the movies. I'm now actually looking forward to watching the Hugh Grant one

 

Edit: Where did the title Little Nicky come from? It's Big Daggy.

Edited August 31, 2010 by frankie

[Lucybird]

Lucybird, I just googled Adam Sandler just to make sure and yep, I'm totally confusing About a Boy with the Adam Sandler movie Little Nicky. No wonder I hated the idea about the movies. I'm now actually looking forward to watching the Hugh Grant one

 

lol yes I don't like the idea of Little Nicky either. I hope you enjoy About a Boy.

 

 

 

[frankie]

74. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng

 

I bought this off my hometown library's removed book sale. The name of the novel was intriguing and so was the blurb. I figured if it's totally bad at least it was cheap and the money goes to my hometown library. Well, I was really pleasantly surprised with the novel! I actually kept laughing out loud quite a few times. I remember this one time when I was reading it in a bus and I had to stop reading and try to keep from laughing out loud so that the other passangers wouldn't think I was a psycho There's this one particular scene I just couldn't get over without reading it like 5 times and trying to hold the laugh. This one's a definite keeper. Totally refreshing.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

75. Molly Moon Stops the World by Georgia Byng

 

This one was not as good as the first book in the series, but that happens. I think I still might read other books in the series, that is if there are any. I haven't checked yet.

 

Rating: 3/5

 

76. The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe

 

A light comfy read.

 

Rating: 3/5

 

77. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

 

This novel was very short which definitely contributed to the fact that I couldn't get inside the heads of the characters and all that. The storyline was okay but I was hoping for something more.

 

Rating: 2/5

 

78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1001, RG-B)

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and it's excellence. I loved Atticus and Boo Radley in particular. There were some really memorable events in the novel. The characters really came alive. You know the feeling when you've read an absolutely fantastic novel and you wish to do it justice in your review? I'm having one of those moments right now

 

Rating:5/5

[frankie]

I've been thinking about which books to take with me on the flight. I have plenty of time to read on the plane so I might finish a couple. I was thinking I might pack Heart of Darkness with me; it's short, I need to read it, I've been needing to read it for years, and I don't mind getting rid of it once I've finished it and am in Australia. I was also thinking that the flight might be the perfect opportunity for me to read Lord of the Rings. I've never gotten further than 30 pages or so with that book, and if I don't pack anything else I won't have a choice. But the book is in Finnish and my own copy is a really difficult-to-read hardback version.

 

So far I've come up with nothing else

[pickle]

I am having the same trouble with what to read on my 15 hour flight to the US in a couple of weeks, nothing to big cause it won't fit in the hand luggage but nothing so small I will be finished before we even take off. I am thinking Perdido Str Station as its also a paperback so won't weigh too much. LoTR is a good choice but if its a hardback won't it weigh you down?

[frankie]

I am having the same trouble with what to read on my 15 hour flight to the US in a couple of weeks, nothing to big cause it won't fit in the hand luggage but nothing so small I will be finished before we even take off. I am thinking Perdido Str Station as its also a paperback so won't weigh too much. LoTR is a good choice but if its a hardback won't it weigh you down?

 

Hm, aren't you the one with whom I spoke to about the horrors of having to pee in an airplane?? I tell you, we won't manage without going, you with your 15 hours, me with my 29 hours. Oh boy! I feel all foolish, I've never been to the toilet in an airplane and I don't know how they work. Do you suppose people will think I'm a real redneck hillbilly if I ask one of the flight attendants how it works? I also hate that I will have to switch planes at least once, how the hell do I know where to go find that second plane??? I'm really dreading it all already.

 

LoTR will definitely weigh me down But I'm taking a backpack as a hand luggage, I don't care what they say about that, I took one to Denmark and nobody complained. I will have to fit my laptop in it and all the necessary travel documents and maybe a couple of undies and a few pieces of clothing in case my bags get lost. The backpack will fortunately fit a bigger book. I have a paperback version of LotR but it's BF's copy and I don't dare take it with me

[pickle]

Yeah peeing on a plane is a bit of a scare for me too, I have used them before but I hate them, they are so small and awkward but no way can I survive 10 hours without going. I also have a stopover before another 5 hours which I haven't had since I was a kid and then my mum took care of the whole thing. Luckily I am going with a friend so I won't be alone in my panic.

 

I would check restrictions on hand luggage as they can be funny about it but thats usually for small european flights, I am trying to decide whether to buy nice new bag for the trip..any excuse for me. I just have to hope they show some good films as well if I get the book thing wrong.

[lopeanha]

62. The Dirt by Mötley Crüe (RG-B)

 

Another Rory Gilmore Book Challenge novel. I'm not that familiar with Mötley Crüe musicwise, but I was really excited about reading this band autobiography of sorts. I remember Lorelai Gilmore reading the book and being absolutely grossed out, and loving it I have to say I was going through the same emotions when I was reading this book. There were some incredibly weird and disturbing stuff, but I couldn't put the book down, it was so good! I really grew attached to the band members and felt their ups and downs. It was surprisingly awesome and definite re-reading material.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

When I did an intern at a library, I went to check out this book and my new "collegue" got all big eyed and asked if I was serious

 

Did love the book and baught some music right away! Great music

Edited September 1, 2010 by lopeanha