frankie Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Indeed! And I had another excellent day yesterday. You may not have seen my post in the book activity thread, but yesterday I bought a few books and received a couple in the mail. I know you'll be particularly happy about one of them, Frankie (and you too, Poppyshake!) Clare Allan: Poppy Shakespeare (I already have this but wanted a paperback) John Banville: The Infinities Vladimir Nabokov: Invitation to a Beheading Dan Rhodes: Gold Miriam Toews: The Flying Troutmans Actually I did notice your post on the Book Activity thread and almost commented on it, but thought better to come on here and have my say here while replying to your other posts. Then I didn't see a list of your knew books anywhere and thought 'did I dream last night that Kylie bought a mega load of books?" Wohoo for more Banville and Nabokov, and excellent job getting Gold!! I'm mighty pleased, you should start that next! Quote
Kylie Posted June 15, 2011 Author Posted June 15, 2011 Actually I did notice your post on the Book Activity thread and almost commented on it, but thought better to come on here and have my say here while replying to your other posts. Then I didn't see a list of your knew books anywhere and thought 'did I dream last night that Kylie bought a mega load of books?" Wohoo for more Banville and Nabokov, and excellent job getting Gold!! I'm mighty pleased, you should start that next! Hehe. No, you weren't dreaming! Hmm, Gold as my next read, hey? I'll take into consideration. I think you and I are supposed to reading Mr Chartwell together soon, aren't we? And there was another one as well...Never Let Me Go perhaps? Quote
frankie Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Hehe. No, you weren't dreaming! Hmm, Gold as my next read, hey? I'll take into consideration. I think you and I are supposed to reading Mr Chartwell together soon, aren't we? And there was another one as well...Never Let Me Go perhaps? And Master and Margharita as well! And the Joyce Maynard book. These books seem to keep on piling I'm ready for pretty much anything, I can take any book with me to Helsinki because I'm taking my huge suitcase and can bring back all the books I'm taking, I don't have to resort to only taking books that I don't mind getting rid of after reading them. Which is excellent! Woooo! Quote
poppyshake Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 'Gold', 'Mr Chartwell' and 'Never Let Me Go .... I'm jealous that you have three such good reads ahead of you I really hope you enjoy them Kylie. Quote
Kylie Posted June 30, 2011 Author Posted June 30, 2011 I bought some books today! Fiction EF Benson: Mrs Ames Joyce Dennys: Henrietta Sees it Through Paul Gallico: Mrs Harris Goes to Paris Poppyshake will recognise these three books as part of the Bloomsbury Group series. What a bonanza! I couldn't believe my luck to find these. And all very cheap, too. Franz Kafka: The Complete Novels China Mieville: Looking for Jake and Other Stories Jonathan Stroud: Bartimaeus #4: The Ring of Solomon Daniel Waters: Passing Strange Non-Fiction Lynne Truss: Making the Cat Laugh Lynne Truss: Tennyson's Gift These don't really count because I have them in a larger volume of Truss' work already. Ian Stewart: Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities Quote
Ben Posted July 1, 2011 Posted July 1, 2011 Wanted to get my hands on the new Bartimeaus book for a while now, but keep forgetting to pick it up; thanks for the reminder. Quote
vodkafan Posted July 2, 2011 Posted July 2, 2011 Hi Kylie is your mum still enjoying her reading just as much? And does she like the same books as you? Quote
Kylie Posted July 4, 2011 Author Posted July 4, 2011 (edited) And Master and Margharita as well! And the Joyce Maynard book. We have so many books to read together, don't we?! I'm pleased to say that I finished Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm a full one and a half days before they discuss it on the book show. It was a bit iffy for a while as to whether I would finish in time. After reading just a few pages a day for what seemed like a long time, I flew through the last 90 pages today. Soon I will need to start on The Master and Margarita for next month's club. 'Gold', 'Mr Chartwell' and 'Never Let Me Go .... I'm jealous that you have three such good reads ahead of you I really hope you enjoy them Kylie. I really enjoyed Mr Chartwell, Poppyshake. It was such a unique read. I didn't know quite what to make of it sometimes, but it was enjoyable nevertheless. Now that I've just seen Gold mentioned again, I think I might bump that up the TBR pile and try to read it this week. Wanted to get my hands on the new Bartimeaus book for a while now, but keep forgetting to pick it up; thanks for the reminder. No worries, Ben. I keep forgetting to pick up the first book in the series. Hi Kylie is your mum still enjoying her reading just as much? And does she like the same books as you? Thanks for asking, VF. Yes, she's very much enjoying her reading. Mum has bought so many books it isn't funny! She's been visiting local bookshops (without me, I might add!) and she's planning on going to the big Canberra book fair this year (again, without me; we've both banned myself from attending.) I set up a spreadsheet for Mum listing all the books she owns and wants to buy. She is reading lots of crime novels and is collecting everything by Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen and I think a couple of others. Crime is about the one genre I don't read (mostly because of a lack of time), so no, our tastes aren't very similar. I've given her a few general fiction books to read and she has liked them well enough but I think she finds them a little boring after the thrillers she has been reading. I should have started her off on general fiction and then moved her into crime. Hehe. My Dad is also reading his second book of the year, which is huge news. I still can't believe I now have a family of readers! I had long ago given up hope that my parents would ever take up reading. Edited July 4, 2011 by Kylie Quote
Kylie Posted July 4, 2011 Author Posted July 4, 2011 I'm expecting a pretty good haul of books in the mail this week. Today I received Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon: An Anatomy of Depression. Given how close I am to the subject, I was rather hoping to get stuck into this straight away. However, it's about twice as thick as I thought it would be and has small print, so I'm a little bit daunted! Meh, what am I going on about? This is an important subject and I'm not going to let the size daunt me. I feel like I need to read this now so by jove I'm going to! (Excuse my thinking out loud. ) Quote
Ben Posted July 4, 2011 Posted July 4, 2011 Wouldn't have thought anything would daunt you Kylie. The Australian Book Mistress can't be stopped by a mere 560 pages of small print. Quote
Kylie Posted July 4, 2011 Author Posted July 4, 2011 If you only knew how often I skip my longer books for a shorter, lighter read. I don't seem to be able to concentrate on anything long these days. And if I do, the book seems to take forever to read and I get frustrated with myself. Quote
Ben Posted July 4, 2011 Posted July 4, 2011 If you only knew how often I skip my longer books for a shorter, lighter read. I don't seem to be able to concentrate on anything long these days. And if I do, the book seems to take forever to read and I get frustrated with myself. Yeah, I think a lot of books can be too long, even if written well; sometimes it's hard to hold a reader's concentration for a good five hundred pages, unless of course the book is amazing. Quote
vodkafan Posted July 5, 2011 Posted July 5, 2011 Although I rarely do it now, I used to have a long book on the go which I kept returning to, interspersed with one or two short light reads. Some folks can't read like that, I know. Quote
Kylie Posted July 6, 2011 Author Posted July 6, 2011 I bought a few books today and received another one in the mail. Bill Morgan and David Stanford (eds): Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters Jan Lars Jensen: Nervous System Lynne Truss: Get Her Off the Pitch! Lynne Truss: Going Loco (I already have this in The Lynne Truss Treasury) Maryanne Wolf: Proust and the Squid I was just adding the books to Goodreads and noticed that Frankie already has Nervous System and that it's on the Rory list! Woohoo! I didn't even recognise it as a Rory book. I just saw it and thought it sounded really interesting. It's 'the story of a novelist who lost his mind'. I was stoked to find Proust and the Squid. I've been wanting to read this for years. Quote
Ben Posted July 6, 2011 Posted July 6, 2011 I was just adding the books to Goodreads and noticed that Frankie already has Nervous System and that it's on the Rory list! Woohoo! I didn't even recognise it as a Rory book. I just saw it and thought it sounded really interesting. It's 'the story of a novelist who lost his mind'. This one sounds fascinating, the 'novelist who lost his mind' idea is one which intrigues me, as I'm surprised you don't hear about a lot more authors that lose their minds. Surely such creative people are some of the most tortured souls when something isn't going successfully for them. Quote
Kylie Posted July 6, 2011 Author Posted July 6, 2011 This one sounds fascinating, the 'novelist who lost his mind' idea is one which intrigues me, as I'm surprised you don't hear about a lot more authors that lose their minds. Good point, Ben! Surely such creative people are some of the most tortured souls when something isn't going successfully for them. What makes this book even more interesting is that he 'lost his mind' when things were going very well for him. He had just sold his first novel to a publisher and it was soon to be published. Here's a synopsis from Goodreads: Within the literature of madness, there has never been a memoir as wrenching and mordantly humorous as Jan Lars Jensen's Nervous System. A quiet librarian who struck publishing gold with his first novel, Jensen felt as if something had come unhinged in his mind. The rush of ideas and language felt like losing, willy-nilly, a chunk of his mental stability. But true madness didn't come until the countdown to his book's release into the world. A few months after selling his novel to a major American publisher, Jensen woke in a psych ward bed, only to find the ideas that had inspired him now roamed through waking nightmares that deranged him. Just as literature prompted Jensen's slide into paranoid obsession, so did it help him rebuild and recover. Whether he was groping to comprehend James Herriot's veterinarian stories through a haze of antipsychotic medication, deciphering his psychiatrist's references to Patrick O'Brian novels, or attempting to steer his recalcitrant mind toward sleep with a history of logging, books and writing defined Jensen's world. This memoir recounts Larsen's extraordinary experience. Terrifying yet tender, darkly humorous and deeply moving, Nervous System is a tale of literary madness like no other. Quote
Ben Posted July 6, 2011 Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) Good point, Ben! I have them occasionally. Okay, that synopsis has me sold, I'm so intrigued; definitely going to have to pick this one up, thanks for the recommendation Kylie. Edited July 6, 2011 by Ben Quote
Kylie Posted July 6, 2011 Author Posted July 6, 2011 Great, VF and Ben! I'm glad you both want to read it. Quote
Kylie Posted July 10, 2011 Author Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) I went book shopping yesterday and came home with a great haul. Fiction JG Ballard: The Crystal World (501) Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees Italo Calvino: The Road to San Giovanni Jasper Fforde: The Fourth Bear (a paperback to replace my hardback) Ursula Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven (dystopia) Doris Lessing: Briefing for a Descent into Hell Ada Leverson: Love's Shadow (a Bloomsbury Group novel) Primo Levi: If Not Now, When? (1001) Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice (1001, 701, Vintage edition) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell: The Curse of the Gloamglozer PG Wodehouse: A Damsel in Distress (Arrow edition to replace older edition) PG Wodehouse: Summer Moonshine Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1001, 701) Roger Zelazny: Lord of Light (SF Masterworks) Non-Fiction Michael J Fox: Lucky Man Christopher Milne: The Enchanted Places Mary S Lovell: The Mitford Girls Spike Milligan and Anthony Clare: Depression and How to Survive It George Orwell: Some Thoughts on the Common Toad (Penguin Great Ideas series) Ayn Rand: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal Jon Ronson: The Men Who Stare at Goats Edited July 10, 2011 by Kylie Quote
Sofia Posted July 10, 2011 Posted July 10, 2011 I went book shopping yesterday and came home with a great haul. Fiction JG Ballard: The Crystal World (501) Italo Calvino: The Road to San Giovanni Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees Jasper Fforde: The Fourth Bear (a paperback to replace my hardback) Ursula Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven (dystopia) Doris Lessing: Briefing for a Descent into Hell Ada Leverson: Love's Shadow (a Bloomsbury Group novel) Primo Levi: If Not Now, When? (1001) Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice (1001, 701, Vintage edition) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell: The Curse of the Gloamglozer PG Wodehouse: A Damsel in Distress (Arrow edition to replace older edition) PG Wodehouse: Summer Moonshine Virginia Woolf: Orlando (1001, 701) Roger Zelazny: Lord of Light (SF Masterworks) Non-Fiction Michael J Fox: Lucky Man Christopher Milne: The Enchanted Places Mary S Lovell: The Mitford Girls Spike Milligan and Anthony Clare: Depression and How to Survive It George Orwell: Some Thoughts on the Common Toad (Penguin Great Ideas series) Ayn Rand: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal Jon Ronson: The Men Who Stare at Goats awesome haul :D Quote
poppyshake Posted July 10, 2011 Posted July 10, 2011 Now that's what I call a shopping spree I probably don't need to tell you how delighted I am about The Mitford Girls, Orlando, The Fourth Bear, A Damsel in Distress, Summer Moonshine and Love's Shadow but I will anyway :clapping: .. I love the Nevil Shute Vintage books (the covers I mean .. I've no idea about the stories) and love the sound of the Christopher Milne and George Orwell titles. In fact, just from the titles alone, they all sound brilliant and there's bound to be some excellent reading there. Hope you enjoy them Kylie, I'm sure they are already looking very handsome on your shelves (do you catalogue them first? .. I'm too disorganised and impatient to catalogue .. apart from putting them on Goodreads that is.) Quote
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