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Frankie Reads 2010


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This book has a little special place in my heart because Spencer, Iowa is only about an hour from where I live. He is a very famous and beloved cat around these parts and I know several people who knew him and visited that library frequently :D

 

It always amazes me when I see people so far away who have been touched by his little life. It reminds me that every action, every life has a purpose, even a cats.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed Dewey so much, Frankie. :lol:

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This book has a little special place in my heart because Spencer, Iowa is only about an hour from where I live. He is a very famous and beloved cat around these parts and I know several people who knew him and visited that library frequently :D

 

It always amazes me when I see people so far away who have been touched by his little life. It reminds me that every action, every life has a purpose, even a cats.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed Dewey so much, Frankie. :)

 

I had no idea Spencer was so close to your whereabouts! It really is amazing! :D The writer mentioned how people would sometimes drive 4 hours out of their way to meet Dewey, and then either drive back or stay the day in Spencer, and I don't think that's crazy at all. If I were you I would've driven to see him :lol: I think he had a wonderful life and I can't even imagine what kind of an impact he made on all those people who visited him and that library regularly.

 

This book also made me think about all the libraries that I've been to in my life and especially the one where I practically grew up in. My librarycard to that particular library is 16 years old: that's more than half of my age. Last year I visited that library to get an online account so I could monitor my loans more easily, and the librarian knew/remembered my last name from when I was a child/teenager :) Talk about customer service! For a small town library it's a very good one, they have all the new titles which I never expect to see there, and I can sometimes find books there that I would have to make a reservation for in my town.

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Great review, Frankie! It was a lovely book I agree :D. I need to buy my own copy come to think of it.

 

I agree, you need to buy your own copy and so do I, it's a story I want to read again and share with friends as well, I'll be needing a copy so I can loan it to friends :)

 

I was thinking of you peacefield when I was reading the book, Minnesota was mentioned a couple of times I think, Vicki wrote that people would come all the way from Minnesota to their lakeside cabins or whatnots eventhough they have a couple of lakes themselves :lol:

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I was thinking of you peacefield when I was reading the book, Minnesota was mentioned a couple of times I think, Vicki wrote that people would come all the way from Minnesota to their lakeside cabins or whatnots eventhough they have a couple of lakes themselves :)

 

:D I remember MN coming up from time to time in that book, Frankie. I must admit that I never understood this whole 'going to a cabin in another state' thing. Precisely because you can't have a cabin without a lake, and we have tons of lakes here so why leave?! :lol: I know a few people who have cabins in Wisconsin and it's always boggled my mind.

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:D I remember MN coming up from time to time in that book, Frankie. I must admit that I never understood this whole 'going to a cabin in another state' thing. Precisely because you can't have a cabin without a lake, and we have tons of lakes here so why leave?! :lol: I know a few people who have cabins in Wisconsin and it's always boggled my mind.

 

:) I suppose it was Dewey's doings! Lakeside cabin with a cat in the vicinity. Well at least they left you with more space of your own :)

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I haven't seen Infamous yet, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. In Cold Blood is such an awesome book, I don't think you'll have any trouble finishing it before then. :lol:

 

I don't think I'll be having problems with it either, unless I'm getting too distracted by other books. There are so many novels which I want to start reading immediately I might have to make a serious effort to start reading ICB!

 

Book 5. Lady, My Life as a Bitch by Melvin Burgess

 

I read this some time ago but the book was such a weird and annoying one I haven't actually bothered to write a review about it before, and won't do so now either :D Just thought I'd mention I've read it.

 

Book 6. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

 

Blurb:

 

George Hall doesn't understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. 'The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.' Some things in life, however, cannot be ignored. At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jazz. Then Katie, his tempestuous daughter, announces that she is getting remarried, to Ray. Her family is not pleased - as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has 'strangler's hands'. Katie can't decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob, and her mother Jean is a bit put out by all the planning and arguing the wedding has occasioned, which get in the way of her quite fulfilling late-life affair with one of her husband's former colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials. Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind. The way these damaged people fall apart - and come together - as a family is the true subject of Mark Haddon's disturbing yet very funny portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.

 

Thoughts:

 

Well well well. I've read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which was one of my favorite reads in 2008 and one of my favorite reads ever, and when I was getting into this book I decided to carefully keep in mind that this book is probably nothing like The Curious Incident and I need to keep an open mind with this one. I think I managed that task quite well and I did enjoy the book, eventhough I was still slightly disappointed in the novel.

 

However, Mark Haddon does write well and I definitely consider him as one of the best contemporary authors Britain has to offer. His characters are always juicy, three-dimensional and quirky and with this book I grew attached to them all. George was a particularly delicious person and I feel that Haddon portrayed him very well and had a lot of fun with that character, I could totally sympathise with George and yet at the same time I couldn't keep from laughing at the poor fella. He was such a rigid, stiff English gentleman who was too polite and selfless and politically correct to let anyone know that there was something wrong with him. One of the most hilarious moments in the novel is when he decides to operate on himself. If you've read the book you'll know what I'm talking about!

 

I'll give this book 4/5 and will happily continue to read anything Mark Haddon has to offer :lol:

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No I haven't, I'd never even heard of him before I happened to find this book in a secondhand shop. Judging by this book only I wouldn't go out of my way to read any of his other books. Or even if the books were on my way and I'd stumble on them everytime I was going to the kitchen. I'd chuck them. :D

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Have you guys seen the film 'Capote' with Philip Seymour Hoffman? I've never read In Cold Blood but I thought Hoffman did a fab job paying Truman and it was interesting to see how his writing of In Cold Blood came about.

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Have you guys seen the film 'Capote' with Philip Seymour Hoffman? I've never read In Cold Blood but I thought Hoffman did a fab job paying Truman and it was interesting to see how his writing of In Cold Blood came about.

 

No, but I want to though! I've heard that Hoffman is awesome in that movie. Pretty difficult to picture him as Capote after seeing Happiness which is where I remember him the best. Quite a different kind of movie!

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I hope you get to see it sometime, Frankie! I love Hoffman, although I must admit I've never watched 'Happiness.' I loved him in Doubt and all the various PT Anderson masterworks :D.

 

Well Happiness is another movie that you must watch, along with Dogma and Crow, definitely :lol: You should start a list :lol:

 

Edit: I ordered this book that's taken ages to be delivered and I just realised it says 6-8 weeks in the estimated delivery section so I've cancelled the order. Now I have 4.49e which I need to spend on play.com, this is going to be quite a task :lol:

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Book 7. Psycho II by Robert Bloch

 

Norman's baa-ack... And with vengeance. He's sick of being a prisoner in a mental institution and dreams about freedom. An opportunity raises its head when he receives an unexpected visitor. What happens then? You'll never guess.

 

I read the first Psycho novel not long ago and enjoyed it to my utter surprise (4/5). I figured the sequel couldn't be that bad and I was right, it was very readable, and very creepy. I went to the library today and kept looking over my shoulders for old mamma's boy bachelors. Not as good as the first book, but worth an effort to those who enjoy these kinds of books. 3/5.

 

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I had a very pleasant trip to the library today. I gave away my copy of Psycho II and Lady, My Life as a Bitch, and found this tiny little beautiful edition of Poems of Alexander Pope. Since it was free and pretty, and I've been meaning to give poetry a go, I snatched it :)

 

Then I got a copy of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (hate that title, it should be Men Who Hate Women as it is in Swedish and Finnish)! Also got Macbeth, Pygmalion and A Streetcar Named Desire (all plays on Rory's List), Flowers For Algernon (Rory's List again) and Dead Poets Society. All quite short books!

 

Currently reading Anastasia Has the Answers which is the 6th book in the Anastasia series by Lois Lowry. I haven't read this one before but all the familiar characters are there, Anastasia hasn't aged or changed one bit and it just feels like I'm a preteen again :welcome: It's the best feeling.

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I didn't know there was a Dead Poet's Society book.

 

I shouldn't be allowed call myself a bookworm, should I? :welcome:

 

Don't worry, I didn't either :) And I haven't even watched the movie. I just read that some people on here have really enjoyed the movie and I just happened to see the book in the library and figured I'd give it a go :)

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Hi, I'm 'some people' :welcome: I didn't know there was a book either, is the film based on it or the other way around?

 

Oh, okay, it's strange you don't know it either, surely one of us should have! So maybe it IS based on the movie?

 

The movie is a classic Frankie, you should definitely watch it when you've read the book! :) I can't wait to hear what you think of the book too. And Flowers For Algernon, whose film adaption (or one thereof, if there are multiple) I have also seen and enjoyed.

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Hi, I'm 'some people' :welcome: I didn't know there was a book either, is the film based on it or the other way around?

 

Yeah I remember you were one of the some people :) I've just checked and it's a novel by N. H. Kleinbaum and unfortunately it's based on the motion picture :) I thought it would be the real thing :(

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