Kylie's Literary Adventures In 2010

[Kylie]

Here's the list of fiction books I bought from the book fair:

 

Martin Amis: The Rachel Papers

Paul Auster: The New York Trilogy (1001)

JG Ballard: The Drought

John Banville: Eclipse

John Birmingham: He Died with a Felafel in His Hand

Malorie Blackman: An Eye for an Eye

Judy Blume: Deenie (Rory)

David Brin: Kil'n People

Augusten Burroughs: Running with Scissors

Trudi Canavan: The Magician's Guild

Trudi Canavan: The Novice

Trudi Canavan: The High Lord

Truman Capote: Music for Chameleons

Angela Carter: Heroes and Villains

Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1001)

Gyorgy Dalos: 1985

Antoine De Saint-Exupery: The Little Prince (1001, 1001C)

Margaret Drabble: The Millstone

Ben Elton: Dead Famous

Ben Elton: This Other Eden

Laura Esquivel: Like Water for Hot Chocolate

Fannie Flagg: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Miles Franklin: My Career Goes Bung

Stephen Fry: The Liar

Barry Hines: A Kestral for a Knave (1001)

Katherine Howe: The Lost Book of Salem

Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go (1001)

Thomas Keneally: Three Cheers for the Paraclete

Clive King: Stig of the Dump (1001C)

Robin Klein: Thalia the Failure

Fritz Leiber: Gather, Darkness

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wind in the Door

Andrea Levy: Small Island (1001)

Astrid Lindgren: Pippi Longstocking (1001, 1001C)

Astrid Lindgren: Ronia, the Robber's Daughter

Lois Lowry: Anastasia series (3 books)

Gregory Maguire: Wicked

John Marsden: Winter

Ann M Martin: The Baby-Sitters Club (4 books)

China Mieville: The Iron Council

Spike Milligan: Adolf Hitler - My Part in His Downfall

Toni Morrison: Beloved (1001)

Haruki Murakami: After Dark

Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore

Iris Murdoch: The Sea, the Sea (1001)

Iris Murdoch: Under the Net (1001)

Mary Norton: The Borrowers (1001C)

Flann O'Brien: At Swim-Two-Birds (1001)

George Orwell: The Road to Wigan Pier

Chuck Palahniuk: Haunted

Matthew Pearl: The Dante Club

Edgar Allan Poe: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

Terry Pratchett: Discworld #11 - Reaper Man

Terry Pratchett: Discworld #30 - The Wee Free Men

Terry Pratchett: Discworld #31 - Monstrous Regiment

Terry Pratchett: Only You Can Save Mankind

Terry Pratchett: Johnny and the Dead

Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Mars

Kim Stanley Robinson: Blue Mars

Kim Stanley Robinson: Green Mars

Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt

George Selden: The Cricket in Times Square (1001C)

Alexander McCall Smith: 44 Scotland Street #1 - 44 Scotland Street

Alexander McCall Smith: 44 Scotland Street #3 - Love Over Scotland

Mildred D Taylor: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1001C)

William Makepeace Thackeray: The Rose and the Ring

Arthur Ransome: Swallows and Amazons (1001C)

Vladimir Voinovich: Moscow 2042

Kurt Vonnegut: Galapagos

SA Wakefield: Gumbles in Summer

Sarah Waters: Affinity

Sarah Waters: The Night Watch

HG Wells: The Time Machine

Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence

Tom Wolfe: The Bonfire of the Vanities (1001)

Tom Wolfe: I Am Charlotte Simmons

Richard Yates: A Special Providence

Richard Yates: The Easter Parade

Richard Yates: Eleven Kinds of Loneliness

Edited September 27, 2010 by Kylie

[Kylie]

I also bought some books to replace other editions I own:

 

John Banville: The Sea

Clive Barker: Weaveworld

John Brunner: The Squares of the City

Raymond E Feist: Magician

Tim Flannery: The Explorers

Madeleine L'Engle: A Swiftly Tilting Planet

CS Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet

CS Lewis: Perelandra

CS Lewis: That Hideous Strength

CS Lewis: The Horse and His Boy

Gregory Maguire: Wicked

David Malouf: Remembering Babylon

Ian McEwan: Enduring Love

Alexander McCall Smith: The Sunday Philosophy Club

Sue Townsend: Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years

Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Tim Winton: Cloudstreet

Jack Womack: Terraplane

Edited September 27, 2010 by Kylie

[Peacefield]

WOW look at that haul, Kylie!! Nice job!

 

I'm so, so, SO glad you got copies of The Lost Book of Salem and The Dante Club! A couple of my faves .

[Kylie]

Here's a list of the non-fiction books I bought:

 

Alexander Buzo: Tautology Too

Frances Donaldson: PG Wodehouse

Eilzabeth Gilbert: Eat Pray Love

Bruce Kaplan: Editing Made Easy

Stephen King: On Writing

Richard Lederer: Anguished English

Charles Mackay: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Aubrey Malone: Literary Trivia

John Man: The Gutenberg Revolution

Michael Quinion: Port Out, Starboard Home and Other Language Myths

A Parody: Eats, Shites & Leaves

Sylvia Plath: Letters Home

Queensland Writers Centre: The Australian Writer's Marketplace 2007/08

David Rakoff: Don't Get Too Comfortable

Kermit Schafer: Typo-Bloopers

John Silvester & Andrew Rule: Leadbelly

Joe Thornton & Peter G Hannan: Spelling Wen Yoo don't No How

Bradley Trevor Greive: The Blue Day Book

Bradley Trevor Greive: The Meaning of Life

Simon Winchester: The Meaning of Everything

Edited September 27, 2010 by Kylie

[Kylie]

WOW look at that haul, Kylie!! Nice job!

 

I'm so, so, SO glad you got copies of The Lost Book of Salem and The Dante Club! A couple of my faves .

 

Thanks Peace! I have Frankie to thank for The Lost Book of Salem. She was awesome in picking up any books she thought I might be interested in.

[~Andrea~]

Wowzers Kylie! Nice Haul :-)

[Lucybird]

Wow Kylie...that list is bigger than my whole TBR pile!

[chesilbeach]

You were quite reserved this year Kylie! I'm sure there were far more books from the fair last year Great haul

[lopeanha]

How did you carry all the books home? (thinking practical here )

[Kylie]

Thanks all for your comments. Sorry to disappoint you Chesil. I promise I'll do better next time.

 

Lopeanha, three of us borrowed my Mum's car (more space for books) and drove there. Let me tell you, we had quite a job packing all those books in the car! Poor Frankie didn't have too much room in the backseat on the way back (but at least she had lots of reading material )

[poppyshake]

What a great day you must have had. I love your list Kylie, it's a mixture of books I really loved and books I really want. In particular I am desperate to read Iris Murdoch's 'The Sea, The Sea', John Banville's 'The Sea' and all of Angela Carter's books that I haven't already read (ditto Terry Pratchett.)

Your house must have resembled a library by the time all the books were unloaded.

Glad you're having such a great time during Frankies visit, have fun at the second hand bookshops

[Kylie]

Good gracious, I have about 3 months worth of mini reviews to do. I hope I can remember enough of the books to say something about them. But don't expect much. I'm just rattling off a few sentences to catch up on things.

 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This was an awesome young adult fantasy book. I saw the movie a few years back but luckily couldn't remember enough to spoil the plot of the book. I did love the movie though, and will definitely seek it out again. The characters (in both book and movie) are really enjoyable and go great together, despite their frequent arguments. 8/10

 

The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis

I have nary a recollection of this one, unfortunately, but I know I enjoyed it. 8/10

 

The Outsiders by SE Hinton

An excellent and gripping coming of age story about a group of young gang members trying to find their place in the world. It was quite sad in some places. Highly recommended. 9/10

 

Noughts & Crosses series by Malorie Blackman

I think I've reviewed the first book in the series, and this one will cover the other 3 books and the novella. I enjoyed this young adult dystopian series, which is set in a world somewhat reversed to ours: where white people are looked down on and discriminated against instead of the other way 'round. The books take the format of short chapters told in the first person by different narrators. I found it somewhat confusing trying to remember who was white and who was black. Maybe I wasn't visualising the characters well enough.

 

The only other gripe I had was that all the characters seemed to blend into one personality and have one voice. There weren't many distinguishing character traits, which I think is important when writing from so many different points of view. 8/10

[Kylie]

Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

The fourth in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, which just seems to get better and better. This is another one where I can't seem to remember many (OK, any) details, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan on reading the next book soon. The books are just so darn clever and enjoyable. 9/10

 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

A classic that was long overdue for a read. It was so sweet and utterly charming, but I felt a bit cold-hearted for not crying at a certain scene. I desperately wanted a couple of certain characters to get together, but thanks to reading a spoiler beforehand, I knew it wasn't going to happen. This is one I'll definitely read over and over. 9/10

 

A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

I once attempted to read From the Earth to the Moon, by the same author, and I was completely put off by it. Happily, this is a much better read, and thoroughly entertaining, in the way that only the original sci-fi classics can be. I would like to have words to the illustrator of the cover though. It's a nice cover but adds an extra character that doesn't appear in the story. 8/10

 

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

A lovely, short parable about a gutsy old man taking on a huge mother of a fish. It's really quite sad, but a very good read. 8/10

[vodkafan]

 

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

A lovely, short parable about a gutsy old man taking on a huge mother of a fish. It's really quite sad, but a very good read. 8/10

 

I keep meaning to read this someday. Er Kylie what did...Donald..think of the book?

[Raven]

Trudi Canavan: The Magician's Guild

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

(it's rubbish!)

Otherwise, an interesting list!

[Kylie]

I keep meaning to read this someday. Er Kylie what did...Donald..think of the book?

 

 

Funnily enough, Donald and I have very similar tastes in books. He quite liked it too.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

(it's rubbish!)

Otherwise, an interesting list!

 

I didn't think you'd approve, Raven! But almost everyone else seems to love it so I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

[frankie]

Why is The Magician's Guild rubbish?? I mean, I haven't read the books yet but I've heard great things about them and am really much looking forward to reading them.

[Kylie]

Why is The Magician's Guild rubbish?? I mean, I haven't read the books yet but I've heard great things about them and am really much looking forward to reading them.

 

Oh no! Don't get him started again!

 

[Raven]

Why is The Magician's Guild rubbish?? I mean, I haven't read the books yet but I've heard great things about them and am really much looking forward to reading them.

 

I won't subject everyone to another tirade (I can hear Kylie's sigh of relief from here!) just click on the link in my post above if you want to know more!

[frankie]

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise there was a link in your previous post. I guess it's fair to assume you did not much like the book? Well, I hope you get over it soon and find better reads I'm still looking forward to the novel.

 

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise there was a link in your previous post. I guess it's fair to assume you didn't think too highly of the book? Well, let's hope you'll get over it soon and find some more suitable reads to make you happy again I'm still looking forward to reading the book.

[Raven]

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise there was a link in your previous post. I guess it's fair to assume you did not much like the book? Well, I hope you get over it soon and find better reads I'm still looking forward to the novel.

 

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise there was a link in your previous post. I guess it's fair to assume you didn't think too highly of the book? Well, let's hope you'll get over it soon and find some more suitable reads to make you happy again I'm still looking forward to reading the book.

 

Looks like someone hit Add Reply instead of Edit!

 

I'm still on my quest to find a decent fantasy author who isn't Tolkien!

[frankie]

Ooooops! Nope, I tried to send the first message but it didn't show up and then I wrote the other one. This modern technology...

 

Raven, have you tried Jasper Fforde? Sorry if you've been going on about him as well and I haven't noticed

 

Edit: Oooh! Read Astrid Lindgren's Brothers Lionheart!

Edited October 26, 2010 by frankie

[Raven]

Raven, have you tried Jasper Fforde?

 

I did start The Eyre Affair a couple pf years ago, but didn't get very far.

[frankie]

You must've not liked it very much if you didn't get very far with it... That's a shame, EA was the novel which made me want to start reading fantasy a bit more.

[Raven]

I've not given up on it just yet, I intend to give it another try at some point, I just don't think I was in the right mood when I tried it the first time.