Kylie's Literary Adventures in 2011

[poppyshake]

Jasper Fforde: One of Our Thursday's is Missing

 

I've waited ages for this edition of the Fforde book to be published because I didn't want the large paperback format, but when it arrived yesterday it was the mass paperback edition! Argh! Now I have mismatched books. My other books are somewhere in between those sizes. Oh well, at least I finally have it!

This 'does my head in!'

[Kylie]

Great shelves Kylie, and I note that you have your furry book guardian in place at all times!

 

 

Thanks Chrissy. Jasper really likes it up there because he can look out the window. Too bad he often kicks my books on the way up.

 

Kylie, I am sooo jelous of your wonderful book shelves! It must be amazing having a room like that!

 

How do you decide what to read next though?

 

 

With great difficulty! But as much as I want to read all of them 'now', there's usually a few that just edge out the others.

 

looks fabulous....I am so green with envy! The cat looks comfy too

 

surely I'm not the only one with my head cocked to the right trying to read the titles?

 

 

I love trying to read the titles on other people's shelves too. I did take a whole bunch of close-up photos once. Maybe I should do that again and put them in a few different posts. I don't want anyone straining their eyes!

 

[Sofia]

Thanks Chrissy. Jasper really likes it up there because he can look out the window. Too bad he often kicks my books on the way up.

 

 

 

 

With great difficulty! But as much as I want to read all of them 'now', there's usually a few that just edge out the others.

 

 

 

 

I love trying to read the titles on other people's shelves too. I did take a whole bunch of close-up photos once. Maybe I should do that again and put them in a few different posts. I don't want anyone straining their eyes!

 

well, if you insist

[Kylie]

Mum told me about a new local bookshop where there were no books over $5, so of course I had to go and check it out! I really wasn't expecting to find anything but, of course, quite the opposite happened:

 

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus

I'm always a bit wary of reading a sequel written by someone else, but I have a feeling this won't be too bad. Has anyone read it?

 

The Children's Book by AS Byatt

Pleased to find this (and in a nice small paperback format) because I recently passed it up at, I think, the book fair, thinking that I already had it.

 

D is for Dahl by R by Wendy Cooling (ed)

I've seen this little A-Z about Roald Dahl around before and it was too cute to pass up - looks like there's a lot of fun little facts in there about Dahl.

 

Why Are You So Fat? Cricket's Best Ever Sledges by Gershon Portnoi

In a complete coincidence, I 'discovered' this book on the BD's website yesterday when I was browsing. I immediately added it to my wish list because I've been wanting a book full of sledges for a long time. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the shop today! (And for once, at a much cheaper price than the BD.) I opened it to start browsing earlier, thinking that there would probably be a lot of Australian entries in there; I read the introduction and lo and behold the author himself points out the large number of Australian entries because we apparently invented sledging.

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I've had this dystopian young adult book on my wish list for ages and was so happy when I found it today. There is nothing like unexpectedly coming across a book from your wish list, and the fact that it was a major bargain was the icing on the cake!

 

All up, 5 books for $25. Oh, and they're brand new books too - just remaindered stock. I also picked up two jigsaw puzzles in one set for $10: two of Van Gogh's artworks, one of which is my beloved Starry Night.

[Kylie]

*ahem* I went onto the website of the new bookshop I found and they had a much bigger range of books there - all still for $5. So I may have ordered...a few...let's just say I'll need to take another photo of my new Vintage books for Poppyshake (they had a great selection!) Although quite a few of the (Vintage) books I ordered are to replace (or add to) other editions I already have. So really these purchases don't count at all...

[poppyshake]

..ohhhh!!!! I have practically expired from envy. The only remedy is for me to see the pics, at least my eyes will be rewarded then

[Kylie]

Woohoo! I received my books already.

 

 

Here are the Vintage books I bought (with a * next to the books I already own but wanted Vintage replacement for - turns out it was 50% of the books!):

 

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale*

Pierre Boulle: The Planet of the Apes* (3D cover!)

Italo Calvino: If On a Winter's Night a Traveller*

Daniel Defoe: Moll Flanders

John Meade Falkner: Moonfleet (sounds like a great read; kind of like Treasure Island)

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned*

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby*

Zelda Fitzgerald: Save Me the Waltz

George and Weedon Grossmith: The Diary of a Nobody*

Jerome K Jerome: Three Men in a Boat*

JMG Le Clezio: War

W Somerset Maugham: Collected Short Stories Volume 2

W Somerset Maugham: Collected Short Stories Volume 3

W Somerset Maugham: Then and Now

Alice Munro: Selected Stories

Robert Louis Stevenson: Kidnapped

Jules Verne: Journey to the Centre of the Earth* (3D cover!)

Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea* (3D cover!)

 

I bought four other books as well:

 

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Scripts

Joyce Dennys: Henrietta's War (Bloomsbury, yay!)

Chuck Palahniuk: Pygmy

Lynne Truss: A Certain Age

 

[poppyshake]

Oh my, they are beautiful .. look at those Jules Verne covers .. amazing. It's a pity to hide them away in a bookcase really, you need to do some sort of art display with them (but then I guess you'd need replacements again for your shelves ) Kylie, you have impeccable taste

[frankie]

Those Vintage covers are all gorgeous, they definitely are works of art!! I'm envious, I usually go for the cheapest editions and this definitely shows in my bookcase... Wow.

 

I have so many other things to comment on in this thread, but will do that a bit later, I need to go to uni first. Thanks Kylie for all the updates, keep on posting, we love the opportunity of getting to see some beautiful Vintage covers and of course your beloved Billies

[Kylie]

I would happily live in that room .. forever It looks amazing Kylie and I love the pics of the postcards and Vintage covers, I have made a note of all the books I want (which is all of the ones that I don't already have )

 

I have a basement that has got some higgledy piggledy shelves/cupboards in it and I was hoping that, in the future, it might be all Ikea'd out with lovely bookshelves etc just like yours (though I know it's main purpose is to house a comfy sofa and a 3D TV) but it is really Alan's domain (the one room he says he has total control of!) and though he's happy to have the books down there he wants them to be .... concealed Therefore, unless I can convince him otherwise, I will never have a room like yours

 

 

Thanks for all your kind words, Poppyshake. I hadn't been spending much time in the library lately, so I spent most of the past week working in there and gazing around at all my books - both proud that I have so many awesome reads ahead of me and sad that I won't get to read many of them for a long time yet.

 

Hmm, we'll need to think of some sneaky ways to partially transform your basement (I thought only Americans had basements?!) into at least a partial library. You could just sneak a few in here and there, very inconspicuously.

 

Oh my, they are beautiful .. look at those Jules Verne covers .. amazing. It's a pity to hide them away in a bookcase really, you need to do some sort of art display with them (but then I guess you'd need replacements again for your shelves ) Kylie, you have impeccable taste

 

 

It is a pity, isn't it? They all look so boring and samey when you can only view their spines. I adore the Jules Verne covers and have come close to buying them a few times before (at nearly 3 times the price). They have little 3D classes attached to the inside front cover (the cheap, paper-type glasses that we had as kids). I don't want to remove them though because my books might seem the same afterwards (if you know what I mean) and I don't want to risk damaging the book either. I have some 3D glasses from the movies that should do the trick just as well.

 

And thank you, but I think it's Vintage that has impeccable taste. They are certainly making some money out of me! I should have shares in that company.

 

Those Vintage covers are all gorgeous, they definitely are works of art!! I'm envious, I usually go for the cheapest editions and this definitely shows in my bookcase... Wow.

 

I have so many other things to comment on in this thread, but will do that a bit later, I need to go to uni first. Thanks Kylie for all the updates, keep on posting, we love the opportunity of getting to see some beautiful Vintage covers and of course your beloved Billies

 

The only reason I can buy so many of these Vintage books is that I seem to be finding them very cheaply in a few places at the moment. They used to be around $20 each and then Vintage dropped the prices of the entire range to $12.95 literally overnight, I think as a way of competing with overseas-based websites. It has worked for me because now the books are consistently cheaper than what I would have paid at the BD. On top of that, I've found a lot of them being sold as remainders (excess stock) in a couple of locations, and I just can't resist the $5 price tag!

[Sofia]

Beautiful covers indeed

 

 

I loved The Handmaid's Tale

[lauraloves]

Wow! Lovely covers

[poppyshake]

Thanks for all your kind words, Poppyshake. I hadn't been spending much time in the library lately, so I spent most of the past week working in there and gazing around at all my books - both proud that I have so many awesome reads ahead of me and sad that I won't get to read many of them for a long time yet.

 

Hmm, we'll need to think of some sneaky ways to partially transform your basement (I thought only Americans had basements?!) into at least a partial library. You could just sneak a few in here and there, very inconspicuously.

 

It would at one time have been a cellar (some of our neighbours have trapdoors into theirs .. which gives me 'the shivers' as Owen Meany would say) but it has been converted by a previous owner and is carpeted now and has light .. you still have to go down some pretty horrific stone steps to get to it and I've told my nephews and nieces that it's the place I lock naughty children in. It didn't deter them though, they scooted down there and started rummaging about for DVD's to play! Alan has bought a massive 3D TV for down there and he wants to do it all out in Ikea's Besta range .. but he want's to use doors on all the shelving etc so it's streamlined. He did say yesterday though that there might be some open shelving .. I think I am making him see that it will look bland otherwise. It's his cave so I shouldn't really be interfering but I will anyway

 

It is a pity, isn't it? They all look so boring and samey when you can only view their spines. I adore the Jules Verne covers and have come close to buying them a few times before (at nearly 3 times the price). They have little 3D classes attached to the inside front cover (the cheap, paper-type glasses that we had as kids). I don't want to remove them though because my books might seem the same afterwards (if you know what I mean) and I don't want to risk damaging the book either. I have some 3D glasses from the movies that should do the trick just as well.

And thank you, but I think it's Vintage that has impeccable taste. They are certainly making some money out of me! I should have shares in that company.

 

The only reason I can buy so many of these Vintage books is that I seem to be finding them very cheaply in a few places at the moment. They used to be around $20 each and then Vintage dropped the prices of the entire range to $12.95 literally overnight, I think as a way of competing with overseas-based websites. It has worked for me because now the books are consistently cheaper than what I would have paid at the BD. On top of that, I've found a lot of them being sold as remainders (excess stock) in a couple of locations, and I just can't resist the $5 price tag!

That is an absolute bargain, and they look so gorgeous. It is a shame about the red spines, I can't imagine how wonderful they would look if they had allowed the cover illustrations to spill over onto the spines but then again, they do look nice and uniform. I found I've had to spread them around because too much red was dominating but then I haven't got a library, they're just dotted all over the place so it's quite imposing in small spaces. How neat that they've got little glasses attached, what will they think of next?

[Kylie]

It would at one time have been a cellar (some of our neighbours have trapdoors into theirs .. which gives me 'the shivers' as Owen Meany would say) but it has been converted by a previous owner and is carpeted now and has light .. you still have to go down some pretty horrific stone steps to get to it and I've told my nephews and nieces that it's the place I lock naughty children in. It didn't deter them though, they scooted down there and started rummaging about for DVD's to play! Alan has bought a massive 3D TV for down there and he wants to do it all out in Ikea's Besta range .. but he want's to use doors on all the shelving etc so it's streamlined. He did say yesterday though that there might be some open shelving .. I think I am making him see that it will look bland otherwise. It's his cave so I shouldn't really be interfering but I will anyway

Hehe. It sounds like a lovely space. I've always wanted to have an attic and a basement. Our houses are so boring. There are no cool place where you can hide away.

That is an absolute bargain, and they look so gorgeous. It is a shame about the red spines, I can't imagine how wonderful they would look if they had allowed the cover illustrations to spill over onto the spines but then again, they do look nice and uniform. I found I've had to spread them around because too much red was dominating but then I haven't got a library, they're just dotted all over the place so it's quite imposing in small spaces. How neat that they've got little glasses attached, what will they think of next?

 

Ooh, artwork on the spines would have been great! But, as you say, it's also nice having them look uniform.

 

I was amazed when I found out they were publishing books with 3D covers! And the glasses are so small/thin that they can be tucked away neatly inside the book and there's no bulge to speak of (that I can recall, anyway).

[Kylie]

Another great find/bargain today: Shaun Micallef's Preincarnate. Micallef is an Australian comedian and I've been wanting this book for ages but it's always been a little expensive, so very happy to find it today!

 

ETA: Oh, and I received a couple of books in the mail last week: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and The Letters of Sylvia Beach (former owner of the Shakespeare & Co bookstore in Paris).

Edited November 19, 2011 by Kylie

[vodkafan]

Amazing collection Kylie you will need a bigger house soon

[Kylie]

Amazing collection Kylie you will need a bigger house soon

 

It's a good thing I live alone! I've run out of space in my library now, but I still have plenty more space in other rooms! I really am going to try to cut down on book buying now (or soon...) I'm thinking of giving up my day job and concentrating solely on editing, but it would mean taking a pay cut and not having such a steady income, so I would have to start being much more careful with my money. <sigh>

 

Haha, I just realised that I probably have enough unread books to keep me going until I completely pay off my mortgage (15-20 years).

 

My Mum and Dad went and bought their first IKEA Billy bookcase today. Nice of them to invite me along! I'm sure I told them I wanted another bookcase or two - I think they just don't want to encourage me...

[Kylie]

I’m going on holidays in 3 weeks’ time (woohoo!) and I have of course started planning what books to take away with me. It’s a working holiday (I’ll be picking raspberries at a friend’s farm) but I will have most of each afternoon to myself, and I plan to just laze around and read, which is something I’ve done very little of since I got my second job a few months ago.

 

It’s virtually impossible to come up with a reasonable-sized list, so this is my ‘short list’ after taking a quick look through my TBR pile. Happily, I think I have ebook versions of a lot of these books, so I’ll be able to take them all with me one way or another! I’ve split the list into different categories (god I’m such a nerd!)

 

Yes, I know it's a huge list, and I'll happy if I manage to read just a couple of books. But hey, you've gotta have choices, right?

 

Books started in 2011 but not finished (it would be nice to start 2012 with a clean slate; realistically, I doubt I’ll put much effort into reading any of them)

Dave Eggers: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Mary McCarthy: The Group

Andrew Solomon: The Noonday Demon: An Anatomy of Depression

 

Australian Fiction and Non-Fiction (to get me ‘in the mood’)

Murray Bail: Eucalyptus

Peter Carey: True History of the Kelly Gang

Richard Butler: The Men that God Forgot (re-read – this is set near the area I’ll be staying)

Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore

 

Young Adult Fiction (to help get my TBR pile down quickly!)

William Corlett: The Magician's House #1: The Steps Up the Chimney

Roald Dahl: The BFG (re-read)

Cornelia Funke: Inkheart

Tove Jansson: Finn Family Moomintroll

Astrid Lindgren: The Brothers Lionheart

Lois Lowry: Anastasia #5: Anastasia On Her Own

LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables #6: Anne of Ingleside

E Nesbit: Five Children and It

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window

Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels

Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

John Wyndham: Chocky

 

Other Light/Quick Holiday Reads

Emma Donoghue: Room

Janet Evanovich: To the Nines

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher #18: Dead Man's Chest

Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone

Susan Hill: The Mist in the Mirror

Jerome K Jerome: Three Men on a Bummel

 

Slightly Meatier Reads

Pat Califia: Doc and Fluff

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms

Haruki Murakami: 1Q84

Rohan O'Grady: Let's Kill Uncle

Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

HG Wells: The Island of Dr Moreau

 

Non-Fiction

Augusten Burroughs: Running with Scissors

Sylvia Beach: The Letters of Sylvia Beach

Stephen Fry: Moab is My Washpot

[chesilbeach]

Murray Bail: Eucalyptus

I loved this book! I read it ages ago now, and I heard there was going to be a film made of it, but it fell through I think, but still a fantastic read.

 

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

Very good read too - I read it on holiday last year, and had been sceptical about reading Du Maurier for some reason, but thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Excellent book, although heartbreaking too.

 

Overall good choice and selection of books though, you're in for some happy reading time! Bet you can't wait for your holiday, hope you enjoy it

[Sofia]

definitely start with Room

[poppyshake]

I'm not getting the hang of this .. I'm thinking why would you pick raspberries in the winter !!??!! .. I'm such a dolt!

 

Love your book choices and your optimism ... it's wise to take a good selection, you're not limited then. I do envy you the afternoons of uninterrupted reading .. sounds like bliss.

 

For what it's worth ...

 

Highly recommended:

Cornelia Funke: Inkheart

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Rohan O'Grady: Let's Kill Uncle

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

Stephen Fry: Moab is My Washpot

 

Want to read in particular:

Dave Eggers: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Haruki Murakami: 1Q84

Augusten Burroughs: Running with Scissors

Sylvia Beach: The Letters of Sylvia Beach

Mary McCarthy: The Group

Emma Donoghue: Room

Susan Hill: The Mist in the Mirror

 

Happy holidays Kylie

[Nollaig]

Definitely going to second Inkheart! It's for young adults yes but the second and third books were actually criticized for having too adult a tone - something I think critics just managed to somehow miss in the first book. Very very rewarding read imo, and not half as childish and some people would have others believe. One of my favourite books since I was ickle

[lauraloves]

Kylie, hope you don't mind me giving my thoughts on your books too,

 

Books started in 2011 but not finished (it would be nice to start 2012 with a clean slate; realistically, I doubt I’ll put much effort into reading any of them)

Dave Eggers: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Mary McCarthy: The Group

Andrew Solomon: The Noonday Demon: An Anatomy of Depressionead

 

I read the Dave Eggers book and really enjoyed it, but it was a bit heavy going in places. I also read The Group earlier in the year too, and really disliked it. Sorry to put you off it, but I really didnt like it!

 

Australian Fiction and Non-Fiction (to get me ‘in the mood’)

Murray Bail: Eucalyptus

Peter Carey: True History of the Kelly Gang

Richard Butler: The Men that God Forgot (re-read – this is set near the area I’ll be staying)

Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore

 

I've not read any of these ones but its always nice to read something about where you are staying

 

Young Adult Fiction (to help get my TBR pile down quickly!)

William Corlett: The Magician's House #1: The Steps Up the Chimney

Roald Dahl: The BFG (re-read)

Cornelia Funke: Inkheart

Tove Jansson: Finn Family Moomintroll

Astrid Lindgren: The Brothers Lionheart

Lois Lowry: Anastasia #5: Anastasia On Her Own

LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables #6: Anne of Ingleside

E Nesbit: Five Children and It

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window

Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels

Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

John Wyndham: Chocky

I like the idea of reading YA to get TBR down quicker (must take note and pinch this idea ) I enjoyed The BFG a lot! The Anne of Green Gables books I have heard are good, but I've only read the first. I have both the Lemony Snicket books and Gullivers Travels books on my TBR so I would love to hear your thoughts if you read them before me

 

Other Light/Quick Holiday Reads

Emma Donoghue: Room

Janet Evanovich: To the Nines

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher #18: Dead Man's Chest

Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone

Susan Hill: The Mist in the Mirror

Jerome K Jerome: Three Men on a Bummel

 

I would go for Room on this list, I havent read it yet myself but everyone seems to love it! I do own it too though

Slightly Meatier Reads

Pat Califia: Doc and Fluff

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms

Haruki Murakami: 1Q84

Rohan O'Grady: Let's Kill Uncle

Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

HG Wells: The Island of Dr Moreau

1Q84 sounds very good, really want to read this!

 

Non-Fiction

Augusten Burroughs: Running with Scissors

Sylvia Beach: The Letters of Sylvia Beach

Stephen Fry: Moab is My Washpot

I have Moab is my Washpot on my wishlist, the only one from this section.

 

sorry for the jumbled up thoughts, but I think you have quite a hard descision

[poppy]

Happy raspberry picking Kylie. That sounds idyllic. Maybe you should take The Darling Buds of May with you, although I think that was strawberries (sorry, now I've just added to your pile )

You've GOT to read Rebecca at some stage, absolute classic. And what's Three Men on a Bummel ? I loved Three Men in a Boat, but haven't heard of this one. I love Australian fiction. Have you read Picnic At Hanging Rock and My Brilliant Career?

[Ooshie]

I'm loving Daphne du Maurier's writing just now, so I second all the praise for Rebecca!