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Kylie's Literary Adventures in 2012


Kylie

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Wow. I see a rant post!!! :o:blush::giggle:

 

Shall now read and then edit this post in reply to rant.

 

EDIT. I though you were going to rant about the postman again, but no! :o :o

 

God damn it!!!!! The NERVE!!!! WTF! Never have I encountered such shameless people. I'm happy you ran after her and got you packet, and called her names. I hope you called her some frickingly insulting names!!!! And she had the nerve to kick your butt?? Too bad she was with two men, I don't condone violence but I know I would've slapped her silly for that. And no open hand, more like a good punch. Bloody hell. Thieving sons of you know what!! I'm quite raving mad here for you!!! Unbelievable.

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People on Facebook, Alex and my brother have all said that I should have hit her back. :giggle2: I don't condone violence either, but a little scuffle wouldn't have hurt (her...much ;)). She was kind of a pathetic-looking person though. In hindsight (and I shouldn't jump to conclusions or use stereotypes...but I'm going to), it's possible they were junkies looking for stuff to steal for money.

 

For people who don't know, I live in, well, one of the less affluent parts of Sydney, and there is definitely a stigma attached to my town and the people that live here. I've tried to do my tiny part to change people's perceptions over the years (just by being a nice person, speaking properly, being well groomed etc), because I've lived here for 30 years and never once had a problem with crime until now.

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Holy crap, Kylie! Lucky you were there to see what went on, and well done for handling it the way you did.

 

We've got a thing going on over here at the moment, slightly different, with charity bags. We get these bags through the letterbox to fill with unwanted stuff (including books), then we leave them outside on a named day for collection by the charity. I put out a load of stuff recently, and I was looking out the window when a car pulled up and this older guy got out and started nosing in the bags. So I leaned out the window and asked him what he was doing, he looked up but didn't say anything, so I told him to p!ss off. Then I watched as he drove up the rode, parked again, and went into someone else's garden. So I've stopped using the charity bags now. I'd rather carry stuff up to the local Cancer Research shop than have the stuff nicked and sold by disreputables.

 

In another twist, apparently some people who deliver the bags have taken to leaving them half sticking out of the letterboxes, then they come around again after a few days and, if the bag is still hanging there, they know the house is empty. Next thing you know: squatters. This happened to a colleague of mine. It took months to get the squatters out (seems they have more rights than the actual homeowner - the law in the UK is an ass) and they'd totally wrecked the place. He's just managed to get it all sorted out - and the squatters have moved back in again!

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I take my hat off to you Kylie :clapping: .. I'm too much of a wuss to have run after her .. I would have just stayed in and got upset (and lost my book into the bargain) Good on you gurl!! What an absolute nerve though .. in broad daylight!! It's good that you didn't retaliate because no doubt she knows all about assault etc and probably would have hit her head with a brick in order to implicate you. Glad you called her some choice names though ... wow .. book collecting is getting dangerous :o

 

Btw .. what is a bogan?

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I wasn't as behind as I thought with listing my new purchases for the last few weeks:

 

Benjamin Black A Death in Summer

WE Bowman The Ascent of Rum Doodle

John Boyne The Congress of Rough Riders

William S Burroughs And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

Raymond Carver Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?

Charlie Chaplin My Autobiography

Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes

Graham Greene The Quiet American

Charlaine Harris Harper Connolly #4: Grave Secret

MR James Ghost Stories

Tove Jansson Finn Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson Comet in Moominland

Tove Jansson Moominvalley in November

Tove Jansson Moominpapa at Sea

Tove Jansson Moominsummer Madness

Tove Jansson Moominpappa's Memoirs

Tove Jansson Moominland Winter

Tove Jansson Tales from Moominvalley

Lois Lowry A Summer to Die

Carson McCullers The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

HL Mencken Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work

Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus

Haruki Murakami 1Q84 (3-book set)

Jamie O'Neill At Swim, Two Boys

HG Wells Love and Mr Lewisham

Jeanette Winterson Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

PG Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings

 

:D

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Thanks Steve, Claire and Poppyshake. I like the Defender of Books title, thanks Claire. :)

 

Poppyshake, I can't remember the equivalent name for a bogan in the UK, but they're similar to rednecks in the US. Does that help? Bogans typically have some or all of the following characteristics: They are uneducated, drink and smoke a lot, do drugs and have tattoos of the Southern Cross constellation somewhere on their body (this is probably unique to Australian bogans). They have mullet or rat's tail hairdos, they dress in a trashy manner, they are racist, violent and they despise authority. Female bogans often get pregnant in high school and then live on the dole (benefits) for the rest of their lives. They also have lots of little sprogs to lots of different men, and the sprogs all grow up to continue the bogan cycle. Many bogans know they are bogans and are proud of it. :o There are many more characteristics of the bogan. Actually, entire books have been written about them, and I gave one to Frankie (a book, not a bogan) because she was rather enamoured with them when she was over here. :)

 

Steve, we have a similar thing over here, where people leave stuff out. Ours isn't for charity though. The councils pick the stuff up and take it to the tip. I must admit that I went through a bag once and found two books, but I think that's OK because I was rescuing them from destruction, right? :blush2:

 

We have ridiculous laws about squatters too. I often see stories on TV about homeowners who can't get tenants or squatters to leave their property (squatting is also a characteristic of the bogan). It's disgusting! People work hard to own their own houses, and then some dropkick comes along and effectively takes it away from them. Property should be sacred and safe. You shouldn't have to worry about people squatting or thieving etc. :(

 

Frankie, I was just going through the last couple of pages of my thread and noticed some long posts from you that I haven't responded too (again!) Sorry. Give me a nudge to remind me if I forget again, OK?

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I wasn't as behind as I thought with listing my new purchases for the last few weeks:

 

Finally!!! :giggle:

 

John Boyne The Congress of Rough Riders

Awesome. Are you also a John Boyne fan?

 

William S Burroughs And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

YES! I know how much you've been wanting this book! Too bad you forgot to mention the co-author. But he was only some wannabe, not worth the mention, right? ... :D

 

Raymond Carver Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?

NO. I want to comment.

 

Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes

What inspired this? It seems to come up every now and then here on the forum.

 

Tove Jansson Finn Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson Comet in Moominland

Tove Jansson Moominvalley in November

Tove Jansson Moominpapa at Sea

Tove Jansson Moominsummer Madness

Tove Jansson Moominpappa's Memoirs

Tove Jansson Moominland Winter

Tove Jansson Tales from Moominvalley

I see somebody's gone Mad for Moomins :D

 

Lois Lowry A Summer to Die

I remember you mentioning this. I hope it's good!

 

Carson McCullers The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Funny this should come up. Is this on the Rory list? I'm sure some McCullers is. It was really recently that I read somewhere (and I wish I remembered where!!) that she (or is she a he?!) discovered some other author, and then the other author became really famous and was a better author than she-he McCullers, and she was bitter til the end. Hm, do you think it could've been in the Literary Trivia book you gave me? Do you think you could check for me? As you know I'm in Nurmes and don't have my copy. Or maybe I could wiki it. So yes, um, why did you buy this book?'

 

HL Mencken Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work

Awesome awesome awesome :smile2:

 

Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus

Rescued from the bloody cheeky bogans!! Bogan grubs!!

 

Haruki Murakami 1Q84 (3-book set)

Awesome :cool:

 

Jamie O'Neill At Swim, Two Boys

This came up just yesterday. Somewhere. What's this?

 

Jeanette Winterson Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Poppyshake is evil and chanting, I've only tried Winterson once and hated it and now I'm jealous you have a copy of this, because of poppyshake brainwashing me :lol:

 

PG Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings

Surely you must have all the Wodehouses already?! :D

 

Actually, entire books have been written about them, and I gave one to Frankie (a book, not a bogan) because she was rather enamoured with them when she was over here.

 

I was going to mention this myself but you already brought it up :D They were everywhere!

 

Frankie, I was just going through the last couple of pages of my thread and noticed some long posts from you that I haven't responded too (again!) Sorry. Give me a nudge to remind me if I forget again, OK?

 

But .. but... how am I supposed to know if you don't just have anything to say to a post, eventhough you've read it through? And you've been busy, I've been nudging you way too much already lately... :blush:

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Finally!!!

 

:P

 

John Boyne The Congress of Rough Riders

Awesome. Are you also a John Boyne fan?

Yes, yes I am. Actually I've only read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but I have it on good authority that Crippen is very good.

 

William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

YES! I know how much you've been wanting this book! Too bad you forgot to mention the co-author. But he was only some wannabe, not worth the mention, right? ...

Oh heck. Poor ol' Jack Kerouac is probably rolling in his grave. Sorry Jack! Do you know what this book is about? Back in the 50s, a friend of Burroughs and Kerouac murdered someone and told them about it, but they didn't go to the police, so they became accessories or something. I don't think they got into too much trouble, but I believe this book is about those events (perhaps fictionalised though?)

 

Raymond Carver Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?

NO. I want to comment.

:giggle2:

 

Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes

What inspired this? It seems to come up every now and then here on the forum.

I think it's been quite a popular book. Is it on Poppyshake's essential reading list? I'm sure I saved a copy of that somewhere but can't find it at the moment. At any rate, it's supposed to be pretty good.

 

Tove Jansson Finn Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson Comet in Moominland

Tove Jansson Moominvalley in November

Tove Jansson Moominpapa at Sea

Tove Jansson Moominsummer Madness

Tove Jansson Moominpappa's Memoirs

Tove Jansson Moominland Winter

Tove Jansson Tales from Moominvalley

I see somebody's gone Mad for Moomins

Well the crazy Finn won't, so I'm doing it for her. :) They are adorable books and all matching editions. Yay! Very cheap too - I bought them for 10% off during the BD's recent sale.

 

Lois Lowry A Summer to Die

I remember you mentioning this. I hope it's good!

I hope it's not too sad!

 

Carson McCullers The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Funny this should come up. Is this on the Rory list? I'm sure some McCullers is. It was really recently that I read somewhere (and I wish I remembered where!!) that she (or is she a he?!) discovered some other author, and then the other author became really famous and was a better author than she-he McCullers, and she was bitter til the end. Hm, do you think it could've been in the Literary Trivia book you gave me? Do you think you could check for me? As you know I'm in Nurmes and don't have my copy. Or maybe I could wiki it. So yes, um, why did you buy this book?'

Hmm, I checked all the references to McCullers (it is a she, and she had many affairs with women, apparently) but I couldn't find a mention of this. I did, however, find out that Virginia Woolf is William Makepeace Thackeray's granddaughter! Cool. The reason I bought it? Well, nothing very exciting. It was on sale super cheap, so I thought I'd give it a go. It sounds good.

 

HL Mencken Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work

Awesome awesome awesome

:D

 

Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus

Rescued from the bloody cheeky bogans!! Bogan grubs!!

Hell yeah! :mad:

 

Haruki Murakami 1Q84 (3-book set)

Awesome

I now have 3 copies of this. :o The first two are hardbacks but these paperback came in a little plastic case and the covers feel gorgeous Why is that books I buy from overseas often have a really nicely-textured cover compared to what I buy here? I'm not sure if it's a common thing or whether it's just a coincidence with some books I buy. Now that I think about it, it must just be for 'special' books, because not all books have that type of cover. Anyway, it will be much easier to hold these books while I read.

 

Jamie O'Neill At Swim, Two Boys

This came up just yesterday. Somewhere. What's this?

It's on the 1001 list! I was nearly certain it was a 1001 book when I saw it, so I had to get it. The title was familiar off the list because I always used to confused it with Flan O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds (and I always confused Flan O'Brien with Flannery O'Connor :rolleyes:).

 

Jeanette Winterson Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Poppyshake is evil and chanting, I've only tried Winterson once and hated it and now I'm jealous you have a copy of this, because of poppyshake brainwashing me

Which Winterson did you read? I remember reading some of Poppyshake's comments to the effect that you didn't like Winterson. Has she made you curious to try again? I couldn't remember how well Poppyshake had liked it, so I was really happy to see it on her favourites shelf on Goodreads earlier. :)

 

PG Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings

Surely you must have all the Wodehouses already?!

I now have all of the Wodehouses published by Arrow books (with the cartoony-type covers), except for three short story collections that comprise stories I have in the other books already (but I'll probably buy them one day).

 

I was going to mention this myself but you already brought it up They were everywhere!

And you loved it, didn't you?! Do you remember a conversation we had where you basically said you were equally (or more) fond of bogans than you were of me? :o Well, that's what I took away from the conversation anyway. :P

 

But .. but... how am I supposed to know if you don't just have anything to say to a post, eventhough you've read it through? And you've been busy, I've been nudging you way too much already lately...

Oh, I always have comments to make about your comments. I mean, eventually it fizzles out, but I always want to at least comment on your first round of comments (like in this post).

But yeah, you are such a nag!

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I've been laughing myself silly this morning, thanks Kylie for all the wonderfully silly PMs and these stories on here. Oh dear I'm so happy my parents are still at the store!

 

 

John Boyne The Congress of Rough Riders

Awesome. Are you also a John Boyne fan?

Yes, yes I am. Actually I've only read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but I have it on good authority that Crippen is very good.

TBitSP is really great, is it not. One can become a fan simply based on that book. But yes, I imagine you can trust a good, nay, THE BEST authority. WINK!

 

 

William S Burroughs and Jack Kerouac And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

YES! I know how much you've been wanting this book! Too bad you forgot to mention the co-author. But he was only some wannabe, not worth the mention, right? ...

Oh heck. Poor ol' Jack Kerouac is probably rolling in his grave. Sorry Jack! Do you know what this book is about? Back in the 50s, a friend of Burroughs and Kerouac murdered someone and told them about it, but they didn't go to the police, so they became accessories or something. I don't think they got into too much trouble, but I believe this book is about those events (perhaps fictionalised though?)

Hahahaha! You made Kerouac roll in his grave! :P Yep, I knew the story. There's a copy at the library (in Finnish though...) and I once borrowed it to read, but never got into it. I blame myself for not being in the right mood, I can't imagine there being anything wrong in the book itself. Should be good!

 

 

Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes

What inspired this? It seems to come up every now and then here on the forum.

I think it's been quite a popular book. Is it on Poppyshake's essential reading list? I'm sure I saved a copy of that somewhere but can't find it at the moment. At any rate, it's supposed to be pretty good.

Now that you mention it, it might be! Yes, I think so. There's a copy of the list on the first page of my reading log, towards the bottom. I can go check after posting this.

 

 

 

Tove Jansson Finn Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson Comet in Moominland

Tove Jansson Moominvalley in November

Tove Jansson Moominpapa at Sea

Tove Jansson Moominsummer Madness

Tove Jansson Moominpappa's Memoirs

Tove Jansson Moominland Winter

Tove Jansson Tales from Moominvalley

I see somebody's gone Mad for Moomins

Well the crazy Finn won't, so I'm doing it for her. They are adorable books and all matching editions. Yay! Very cheap too - I bought them for 10% off during the BD's recent sale.

Whenever I'm at the local bookstore and see these books in English, I think of you and wonder which copies you already own and if I should get you the rest. But I can never remember to write the ones you already own on a list somewhere =(

 

 

 

Lois Lowry A Summer to Die

I remember you mentioning this. I hope it's good!

I hope it's not too sad!

Then you'll just have to read an Anastasia to balance it out!

 

 

Carson McCullers The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Funny this should come up. Is this on the Rory list? I'm sure some McCullers is. It was really recently that I read somewhere (and I wish I remembered where!!) that she (or is she a he?!) discovered some other author, and then the other author became really famous and was a better author than she-he McCullers, and she was bitter til the end. Hm, do you think it could've been in the Literary Trivia book you gave me? Do you think you could check for me? As you know I'm in Nurmes and don't have my copy. Or maybe I could wiki it. So yes, um, why did you buy this book?'

Hmm, I checked all the references to McCullers (it is a she, and she had many affairs with women, apparently) but I couldn't find a mention of this. I did, however, find out that Virginia Woolf is William Makepeace Thackeray's granddaughter! Cool. The reason I bought it? Well, nothing very exciting. It was on sale super cheap, so I thought I'd give it a go. It sounds good.

Hm. Maybe if I could remember who she 'discovered', I could google him/her and then find out. It must be someone I'm interested in. Someone I googled recently. Well have you already checked out if it's on the list?

Woolf story reminded me: Did you know that Jeff Lindsay's wife, Hilary, has been a co-writer for some of his earlier stuff, and Hilary is the niece of Hemingway? :o How awesome is that. So let's hope your Mum loves Dexter :D It might give her some grand ideas!

 

 

HL Mencken Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work

Awesome awesome awesome

:D

:cool: You're cooler than Rory! That's not on the list!!

 

 

Haruki Murakami 1Q84 (3-book set)

Awesome

I now have 3 copies of this. The first two are hardbacks but these paperback came in a little plastic case and the covers feel gorgeous Why is that books I buy from overseas often have a really nicely-textured cover compared to what I buy here? I'm not sure if it's a common thing or whether it's just a coincidence with some books I buy. Now that I think about it, it must just be for 'special' books, because not all books have that type of cover. Anyway, it will be much easier to hold these books while I read.

I love touchy feely nice textured covers <3 But I wouldn't know why some would have nicer covers when some not. Three copies? =D LOL!

 

 

Jamie O'Neill At Swim, Two Boys

This came up just yesterday. Somewhere. What's this?

It's on the 1001 list! I was nearly certain it was a 1001 book when I saw it, so I had to get it. The title was familiar off the list because I always used to confused it with Flan O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds (and I always confused Flan O'Brien with Flannery O'Connor).

So Flan O'Brien's book is not on the list? And sooo funny, I would've made the same too mistakes as you!

 

 

Jeanette Winterson Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Poppyshake is evil and chanting, I've only tried Winterson once and hated it and now I'm jealous you have a copy of this, because of poppyshake brainwashing me

Which Winterson did you read? I remember reading some of Poppyshake's comments to the effect that you didn't like Winterson. Has she made you curious to try again? I couldn't remember how well Poppyshake had liked it, so I was really happy to see it on her favourites shelf on Goodreads earlier.

I tried reading Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. But yes poppyshake's made me very curious and I've already decided to give Winterson another try =)

 

 

PG Wodehouse Pigs Have Wings

Surely you must have all the Wodehouses already?!

I now have all of the Wodehouses published by Arrow books (with the cartoony-type covers), except for three short story collections that comprise stories I have in the other books already (but I'll probably buy them one day).

I'm sure you will :D

 

 

I was going to mention this myself but you already brought it up They were everywhere!

And you loved it, didn't you?! Do you remember a conversation we had where you basically said you were equally (or more) fond of bogans than you were of me? Well, that's what I took away from the conversation anyway.

Yes I loved getting the book! But I haven't read it yet :blush: And no I have not said no such thing :o Well probably not! LOL!

 

 

But .. but... how am I supposed to know if you don't just have anything to say to a post, eventhough you've read it through? And you've been busy, I've been nudging you way too much already lately...

Oh, I always have comments to make about your comments. I mean, eventually it fizzles out, but I always want to at least comment on your first round of comments (like in this post).

But yeah, you are such a nag!

So if I'm such a nag why you keep harassing me to remind you to reply to stuff! NAG NAG NAG :D

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I received Patty Hearst: Her Own Story by Patty Hearst in the mail today. I read a little but had to tear myself away because I've lost count of the number of books I have on the go at the moment. I can't seem to settle down to just one book.

 

I've been reading snippets of The Rights of the Reader and Literary Trivia lately, which are great to dip into and don't require much commitment, which is unfortunately all I can give to reading at the moment. :(

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I received Patty Hearst: Her Own Story by Patty Hearst in the mail today. I read a little but had to tear myself away because I've lost count of the number of books I have on the go at the moment. I can't seem to settle down to just one book.

 

You already received the copy?! :o That was so quick!

 

I've been reading snippets of The Rights of the Reader and Literary Trivia lately, which are great to dip into and don't require much commitment, which is unfortunately all I can give to reading at the moment. :(

 

Awww :empathy: :empathy: I hope things'll change and get better for you :console:

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You already received the copy?! :o That was so quick!

 

Yep! I bought and paid for in on Friday and they sent it on the same day. We don't have weekend mail here, and it was sent from elsewhere in Sydney.

 

Awww :empathy: :empathy: I hope things'll change and get better for you :console:

 

Me too!

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Yep! I bought and paid for in on Friday and they sent it on the same day. We don't have weekend mail here, and it was sent from elsewhere in Sydney.

 

Ah, so not a BD book then. I did wonder how on earth they sent the book to you so fast :giggle: No weekend mail for us here either, I know what it's like :rolleyes: The Brits are so spoiled! :giggle:

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I was reading an article about our postal service today. They're starting to open parcel pick-up type things, so instead of having an expensive PO box for picking up parcels, you can pick them up at any time from a certain location. Anyway, I was reading the many, many comments left by people, and it turns out that everyone hates the postal service as much as I do. :) Poor opening hours for business workers, 'sorry we missed you' cards left at homes when people were there to collect their parcels etc.

 

The BD are still great though. I was surprised when I saw a package delivered last week (it was the attempted-theft book). It had only been shipped 4 days earlier from England! I think that's a new record. :D

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The BD are still great though. I was surprised when I saw a package delivered last week (it was the attempted-theft book). It had only been shipped 4 days earlier from England! I think that's a new record. :D

 

I believe you got a book in four days sometime before this. Remember when you and I both ordered something at the same time, to see how long it would take to send to Australia and Finland?

 

That's one of the many reasons why everyone hates us - we get post on Saturdays :lol:

 

Well if I could get books in the mail on Saturdays as well, why not!! I don't care about other male. You'd be jealous too! ;)

 

Edit: Think if you'd live in Finland. You wouldn't have received K&C on Saturday but would've had to wait til Monday. Does that sound like a fun plan to you? Does it? Huh?

:lol:

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