Poppy's Paperbacks 2012

[poppyshake]

Oh, I was sure pretty much everyone has read all that Roald Dahl has written, except for me. Haha, I don't know why, but when I first read that you find blowing up an aunt funny, I had such a different visual to what you really meant. I mean I know what blowing up someone means, but for some reason my brain wasn't fully functioning, and I had it in my head that you were going to fill an aunt with gas and make her balloon up, and not just any gas, but gas = fart.

well I was thinking more of Harry Potters Aunt Marge .. so you weren't a million miles out .. but see .. you've added toilet humour

Seeing as Mistress hasn't bothered to respond, I will let you in on the 'secret' When I was in Australia and was trying to get rid of some nasty stickers that wouldn't budge, Kylie got out a bottle of Bosisto's Eucalyptus Oil, opened it and pored some on a piece of cloth and then rubbed the sticker area with the cloth. And I tell you, it worked!! It's amazing. And it's smells nice But it won't leave your book all nasty and greasy and the smell doesn't last forever. I suppose any kind of eucalyptus oil you can find in the shops works. I love it

Oh great tip thank you we do have something which is called 'sticky stuff remover' (see what they did there ) but I've never tried it .. I've always been worried that it might remove more than just the sticky stuff ... I wonder if it is just eucalyptus oil under another name. All the same I will look into it .. thanks frankie and thank the mistress when you see her

Well okay, as long as you're fine with it! But remember, there's a really easy trick us others could really easily use when replying to your blog, and it would mean you could use whichever font + color you liked! I just learnt the trick the other day from Janet, it's the rubber kind of thingy on top left corner of the reply box, upper half in red, bottom half in white. When one's selected the whole text, one can press that and all the formatting will be whooshed away! That would solve it all

I never knew that ... wow ... Janet is some sort of a superwoman you know .. she wears her pants over her tights I wonder if there is a button I can press that would automatically write my reviews for me ... JANET?????

I'm getting teary-eyed just reading that. You don't have to tell anyone, it just shows how much you love and appreciate Alan and all the things he does and is. It shines right through!

awwww ... thanks frankie. I don't feel so bad for calling him a troll now

I'll have to google The Artist, I've no idea what that is!

Hope you've managed to find it frankie .. I haven't seen it but I've seen the dog he's been over here promoting the film and doing all his tricks bless him .. he's so sweet.

Just so that we're on the same page, what was the name of the biog by Winterson you thought I might enjoy reading? I'm now all confused by all the different titles, I'm afraid!

Ok, it's called Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal .. which is her memoir. It's like Oranges but better .. far funnier and with themes as I said that I know will interest you. Funnily enough I'm just about to do my review for Oranges .. it does get very confusing. I think one of the reasons Jeanette wrote the memoir was that she was fed up of people thinking that Oranges was a memoir but then she did call the two main characters Jeanette and Mrs Winterson so you can't blame people for getting confused. It was a couple of weeks ago that I read both of them and I'm already hazy about which bits were fact and which fiction .. oops

 

My posts are a bit emoticon-lite because when I preview it keeps saying .. You have posted a message with more emoticons than this community allows. Please reduce the number of emoticons you've added to the message .. so there are lots of added huggles, winks and grins that I wanted to put in but couldn't.

[poppyshake]

 

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson

 

Waterstones Synopsis: This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God's elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home and her family, for the young woman she loves. Innovative, punchy and tender, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" is a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human obsession.

 

Review: I read this straight after reading Jeanette's biography Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal and was interested to see how much of her real life experiences were in it because of course Oranges is her fictionalised account of it. There was a lot here that I had already read in the biography but equally there were a lot of things that were new. As it turns out Jeanette's adoptive mother Mrs Winterson is more bizarre and fearsome in real life than she is in fiction and I found the biog more enjoyable to read as a result. There's nothing funny about having a bigoted religious zealot as a mother but Jeanette has a way of telling it that makes it thoroughly entertaining. Though undoubtedly still a monster, Mrs W is shown to have more humour in Oranges and at times is a better companion to Jeanette. One story that I loved both in the biog and in this book was the true one about Mrs Winterson changing the ending of Jane Eyre (and for readers of Jasper Fforde this will have an added irony.) She used to read the story aloud to Jeanette and so disapproved of the ending that she amended it to suit her more pious views. So skilled was she that she managed this alteration without skipping a beat and Jeanette never suspected a thing until she read the book some years later.

 

The main theme of the story is the same ... Jeanette is growing up in Lancaster under the strict and rabidly religious gaze of her mother. Seeing no reason to question it she grows up deeply religious, the church are her family and the Bible her guide for life. In contrast her devotion makes her an outcast at school with both teachers and pupils (but as her mother says 'we are called to be apart'). Most of her essays, needlework and artwork have a hell and damnation theme .. she makes the teachers nervous, the children terrified and the parents complain. One of the great characters in the book is Elsie Norris, an elderly church member who is a great friend and support to Jeanette. Jeanette makes a sampler for Elsie and enters it for the school art prize .. it doesn't win (not surprisingly seeing as it depicts the terrified damned with a white border and black lettering.) Jeanette is despondent, she thinks Elsie won't like it anymore because it's been slighted. Elsie pooh-poohs this saying that you can't expect the great unwashed to appreciate. Jeanette sighs and says that she wishes for once they would which angers Elsie ... 'She was an absolutist'.. she had no time for people who thought cows didn't exist unless you looked at them. Once a thing was created, it was valid for all time. It's value went not up nor down. Perception she said was a fraud; had not St Paul said we see in a glass darkly, had not Wordsworth said we see by glimpses? "This piece of fruit cake" - she waved it between bites - "this cake doesn't need me to eat it to make it edible. It exists without me". As Jeanette grows up she begins to question more and develop her own interests .. one of these is girls .. unnatural passions as Mrs Winterson calls it. She makes the mistake of confiding in her mother or at least broaching the subject with her .. all seems well until Jeanette next goes to church. 'These children of God' begins the pastor 'have fallen under Satan's spell' .. Jeanette is told to go home and wait .. her demons need casting out.

 

The story does get a little bogged down towards the end and I can't say I really got on with the fragments of fairy tales that were woven in .. they were interesting but they distracted. I didn't skip them though I wanted to (so I'm not adhering to my new rules yet .. bother!) but I still found it an excellent read, Jeanette is such a fantastic observer and writer of characters and dialogue.

 

8/10

[Janet]

Great review of 'Oranges'. I very much like the sound of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? I've added it to my library wish list.

[Ben]

Okay, I've given up trying to keep up with your busy blog, but I see you're reading Dracula. So am I! Is it the first time you've read it? Are you enjoying it? How far through are you? Will this be the last question?! Kidding, but in all seriousness, I hope you're enjoying it, I certainly am.

[poppyshake]

Great review of 'Oranges'. I very much like the sound of Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? I've added it to my library wish list.

Thanks Janet Hope you enjoy reading it, I do have a bit of a warped sense of humour so I enjoyed all the stuff about barmy Mrs Winterson and her gun in the duster drawer and bullets in a tin of pledge. In fact ... you have something in common with Mrs W in that she borrowed Oranges from the library under a false name .. hope you have a more favourable opinion of Why Be Happy than she did of Oranges ... talk about 'disgusted of Accrington' )

[poppyshake]

Okay, I've given up trying to keep up with your busy blog, but I see you're reading Dracula. So am I! Is it the first time you've read it? Are you enjoying it? How far through are you? Will this be the last question?! Kidding, but in all seriousness, I hope you're enjoying it, I certainly am.

Yes Ben .. Ooh it's good isn't it?! I'm not that far in ... about page ... 73 (I've just gone and looked it up ) and I'm very, very worried about Jonathan I love the writing and I'm surprised by it because I only knew it by it's movie reputation and though I'm too much of a scaredy cat to ever have watched any of the films properly I just had the feeling that it would all be a bit hokey .. it's not. Gorgeous atmospheric writing. I am a little terrified .. but am enjoying it far too much not to read on.

[Kylie]

[/font]

but see .. you've added toilet humour

 

That's Frankie for you!

 

Oh great tip thank you we do have something which is called 'sticky stuff remover' (see what they did there ) but I've never tried it .. I've always been worried that it might remove more than just the sticky stuff ... I wonder if it is just eucalyptus oil under another name. All the same I will look into it .. thanks frankie and thank the mistress when you see her

 

You're welcome. Although I'm not sure I actually did anything...

[frankie]

I've thought about it .. there are no other options. who needs knickers?

 

Knickers (that's like the funniest word, I call them underwear) are totally overrated. Ask any men and they'll say the same!

 

I do really .. I love British men .. but I just wanted you to be aware .. some of them are trolls

 

Well I know there are trolls, I've seen a few but I shall not name them so I won't mock the British cultural heritage But I'm quite sure those are in the minority, and the accent will always (well let's not go overboard, let's say usually) do the trick!

 

well I was thinking more of Harry Potters Aunt Marge .. so you weren't a million miles out .. but see .. you've added toilet humour

 

I was thinking of Aunt Marge too, but with the added twist If this does not suit you, just flush and it's all gone, like in real life

 

Oh great tip thank you. we do have something which is called 'sticky stuff remover' (see what they did there) but I've never tried it .. I've always been worried that it might remove more than just the sticky stuff ... I wonder if it is just eucalyptus oil under another name. All the same I will look into it .. thanks frankie and thank the mistress when you see her

 

Haha, yes indeed, would you rather go for 'Bosisto's Eucalyptus Oil' or 'Sticky Stuff Remover', when it comes to your precious books?! Let us know how your sticky situation was resolved, if at all Hehe, when I see the mistress next time, you might just be there yourself to thank her

 

I never knew that ... wow ... Janet is some sort of a superwoman you know .. she wears her pants over her tights. I wonder if there is a button I can press that would automatically write my reviews for me ... JANET?????

 

I thought it was you to whom Janet was talking about this when I noticed the tip myself. It must've been someone else. Yes, Jänet is a superwoman! But let's not get her involved with your reviews, please, because there's not one button in the world that could make such beautiful writing as you!

 

'Tights's is a difficult word for me. Some English words are. Slip in one extra letter, loose one at an appropriate place and you have changed the meaning altogether. You see, first I read ”she wears her pants over her thighs”. And I was like, well how else can you wear them. The Brits must be one weird bunch of trolls indeed

 

awwww ... thanks frankie. I don't feel so bad for calling him a troll now

 

You wicked woman!

 

Ok, it's called Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal .. which is her memoir. It's like Oranges but better .. far funnier and with themes as I said that I know will interest you. Funnily enough I'm just about to do my review for Oranges .. it does get very confusing. I think one of the reasons Jeanette wrote the memoir was that she was fed up of people thinking that Oranges was a memoir but then she did call the two main characters Jeanette and Mrs Winterson so you can't blame people for getting confused. It was a couple of weeks ago that I read both of them and I'm already hazy about which bits were fact and which fiction .. oops

 

Ah, that explains why I was a bit confused about which book I was supposed to read. See, I also thought Oranges is a bio. Well thank you for that, I'm adding the appropriate title on my wishlist (Although after reading your review, I might also want to read Oranges after WBHWYCBN. Wow, that was a mouthful).

 

My posts are a bit emoticon-lite because when I preview it keeps saying .. You have posted a message with more emoticons than this community allows. Please reduce the number of emoticons you've added to the message .. so there are lots of added huggles, winks and grins that I wanted to put in but couldn't.

 

Don't worry my friend, I've been there and done that myself, it is what it is! I'm adding all your smileys as I read along

 

That's Frankie for you!

 

Unfortunately, yes! She is not the most refined person in the world.

 

You're welcome. Although I'm not sure I actually did anything...

 

Haha, well you were born, and then started reading books (or was it the other way around), then started on the forum, kept being really nice and invited a foolish Finn to live at your apartment and then shared your bookish tips. So yes, it's not like you did anything major... Silly!

[Kylie]

Aww, thanks Frankie. *hugs*

 

Further to Frankie's info about eucalyptus oil, it doesn't just smell 'nice', it smells divine! It's one of my favourite smells ever. I used to have an empty bottle on my desk at work and I would occasionally open it up and take a sniff (until I sniffed it all and there was no lovely smell left ). People thought I was weird. It does tend to leave a smell on the book and, as much as I love the smell, it doesn't seem quite right on a book, but it wears off after a little bit.

[frankie]

Aww, thanks Frankie. *hugs*

 

Further to Frankie's info about eucalyptus oil, it doesn't just smell 'nice', it smells divine! It's one of my favourite smells ever. I used to have an empty bottle on my desk at work and I would occasionally open it up and take a sniff (until I sniffed it all and there was no lovely smell left ). People thought I was weird. It does tend to leave a smell on the book and, as much as I love the smell, it doesn't seem quite right on a book, but it wears off after a little bit.

 

You know Kylie, you can always buy more? Bosisto's is nice, they allow more than one bottle per Aussie There, there

[Kylie]

Smart aleck. I did replace it with a full bottle, I think. I have loads of the stuff around the house now.

[frankie]

Smart aleck. I did replace it with a full bottle, I think. I have loads of the stuff around the house now.

 

Good girl Coincidentally, I had to (or got to!) use Bosisto's just last week as I was getting rid of some icky stickies. I've usually poured it on a tissue paper but I've found that's not very good, and this time I got a small towel to do the job. Much better! And the towel's on my table and it still smells of eucalyptus

[Sofia]

great review poppyshake, and I adore that book cover

[poppyshake]

great review poppyshake, and I adore that book cover

Thank you Sofia I like the cover too, it fascinates me.

[poppyshake]

Knickers (that's like the funniest word, I call them underwear) are totally overrated. Ask any men and they'll say the same!

Knickers is a funny word isn't it and it get's funnier the more you say it. I was going to ask any man .. but the only one I've spoken to this morning was the postman .. didn't think I ought to mention it to him

Haha, yes indeed, would you rather go for 'Bosisto's Eucalyptus Oil' or 'Sticky Stuff Remover', when it comes to your precious books?! Let us know how your sticky situation was resolved, if at all. Hehe, when I see the mistress next time, you might just be there yourself to thank her.

If I AM lucky enough ever to see the mistress I will douse myself in Bosisto's so that I'll be forever associated in her head with her favourite smell .. or at least half of me will - it will also cause me to be less sticky which is always a problem when you eat the amount of choccy that I do .. I'll have to douse myself with your favourite smell for the other half ... what is it frankie? .. I'm almost frightened to ask

I thought it was you to whom Janet was talking about this when I noticed the tip myself. It must've been someone else. Yes, Jänet is a superwoman! But let's not get her involved with your reviews, please, because there's not one button in the world that could make such beautiful writing as you!

Aww bless you but you are too kind. I know I waffle on for England .. I am Englands chief waffler

 

'Tights's is a difficult word for me. Some English words are. Slip in one extra letter, loose one at an appropriate place and you have changed the meaning altogether. You see, first I read ”she wears her pants over her thighs”. And I was like, well how else can you wear them. The Brits must be one weird bunch of trolls indeed

Haha .. I can see how that happened but of course us Brits wear our pants over our heads .. doesn't everybody

Ah, that explains why I was a bit confused about which book I was supposed to read. See, I also thought Oranges is a bio. Well thank you for that, I'm adding the appropriate title on my wishlist. (Although after reading your review, I might also want to read Oranges after WBHWYCBN. Wow, that was a mouthful).

No Oranges is fiction but very heavily based on fact. I've just discovered her website and blog. She writes about all sort of stuff, books (not just her own but other recommendations) movies, lots of stuff about Sylvia Beach's bookshop, health, politics .. she whinges a lot of course ... about the state of the nation etc but it's all so interesting.

Here's an article she wrote in the Guardian about the bookshop Shakespeare & Co .. not the original bookshop but the one that was created in its image .. fascinating stuff. Reading back through the archives is going to take me some time.

Haha, well you were born, and then started reading books (or was it the other way around), then started on the forum, kept being really nice and invited a foolish Finn to live at your apartment and then shared your bookish tips. So yes, it's not like you did anything major... Silly!

wow that's like a little potted Kylie biogography. I think you should write the rest of it now frankie

[poppyshake]

Aww, thanks Frankie. *hugs*

 

Further to Frankie's info about eucalyptus oil, it doesn't just smell 'nice', it smells divine! It's one of my favourite smells ever. I used to have an empty bottle on my desk at work and I would occasionally open it up and take a sniff (until I sniffed it all and there was no lovely smell left ). People thought I was weird. It does tend to leave a smell on the book and, as much as I love the smell, it doesn't seem quite right on a book, but it wears off after a little bit.

People think I'm weird all the time .. weird is good. Wear your weirdness with pride Kylie

[Easy Reader]

Re Oranges

 

your review is brilliant thats exactly what I would say about it if I knew the right words. You have highlighted my favourite parts and sum up the slightly bizzare ending better than I ever could.

[poppyshake]

Thanks so much Sally

[poppyshake]

Inspired by Kylie & frankie's recommendations (thanks girls ) .. here is a list of my most lickable books:

 

Fiction

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woold

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Gold - Dan Rhodes

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

Skippy Dies - Paul Murray

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch

The Earth Hums in B Flat - Mari Strachan

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allen

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter & Jam - Lauren Liebenberg

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Grace Williams Says it Loud - Emma Henderson

The First Law Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

Arthur & George - Julian Barnes

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly

Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell

City of Thieves - David Benioff

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

The Shipping News - Annie Proulx

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt

Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman

 

Young Adult

The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stroud

The Artemis Fowl series - Eoin Colfer

The Perks of being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Tales of Terror series - Chris Priestley

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

The Borrowers - Mary Norton

Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ - Sue Townsend

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

I Coriander - Sally Gardner

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

 

Non-fiction

Why be Happy When You Could be Normal - Jeanette Winterson

Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

Once in a House on Fire - Andrea Ashworth

The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson

Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson

Cider with Rosie - Laurie Lee

Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters

Along the Enchanted Way - William Blacker

An Evil Cradling - Brian Keenan

The Iris Trilogy - John Bayley

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby

Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill

The Journals of Sylvia Plath

The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters

The Mitford Girls - Mary S. Lovell

Bad Blood - Lorna Sage

[poppyshake]

Reading Goals for January 2012

 

Read at least one book from your TBR list (Running with Scissors - Augusten BurroughsBoy: A Tale of Childhood - Roald Dahl)

Participate in the Jan Reading Circle (The Bloody Chamber and other Stories - Angela Carter)

Something from the 1001 (Dracula - Bram Stoker/The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald)

Sci-fi (oh lord! .. I've settled on The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham .. thanks for the suggestion Janet )

 

Ok time to see how I've got on with my January goals ... hmmm not bad!! I'm reading Dracula at the moment so I'm not that far off track (and The Midwich Cuckoos is on the 1001 so technically I have read something from it.) I haven't kept up with my reviews though so minus points and no buns for me this week

[poppyshake]

Reading Goals for February 2012

 

Finish off Dracula

Participate in the Feb reading circle (Mistress Masham's Repose - T.H. White)

Non-fiction from the TBR (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya AngelouThe Queen of Whale Cay - Kate Summerscale

Sci-fi (The Blue World - Jack Vance - Thanks VF ... I think )

Romance .. well it IS February (Girl Meets Boy - Ali Smith/Love Story - Erich Segal)

Edited February 29, 2012 by poppyshake

[Kylie]

Oooh! *rubs hands together excitedly* I was hoping you'd do one!

 

I've read 19/50 of your fiction books (deleted from below list to shorten the post), I have 22 on my TBR pile (listed below) and I've added the other 9 to my wish list (marked as 'Wish' below). Combined read/TBR = 41, which is a pretty good statistic, I think.

 

Fiction

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woold

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Gold - Dan Rhodes

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Skippy Dies - Paul Murray

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch

The Earth Hums in B Flat - Mari Strachan Wish

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allen

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter & Jam - Lauren Liebenberg Wish

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel

Grace Williams Says it Loud - Emma Henderson

The First Law Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie Wish

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

Arthur & George - Julian Barnes Wish

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Beloved - Toni Morrison

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell Wish

City of Thieves - David Benioff Wish

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland Wish

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

The Shipping News - Annie Proulx Wish

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt Wish

Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman

 

Of your 18 young adults, I've read 11 (deleted from below list), have 6 on my TBR pile and 1 on my wish list.

 

Young Adult

The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stroud

The Artemis Fowl series - Eoin Colfer

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

The Borrowers - Mary Norton

Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ - Sue Townsend

I Coriander - Sally Gardner Wish

 

Of your 17 non-fiction, I've read 4 and have 6 on my TBR pile. I'll add the rest to my wish list!

 

Non-fiction

Why be Happy When You Could be Normal - Jeanette Winterson

Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs TBR

Once in a House on Fire - Andrea Ashworth

The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank R

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson R

Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson TBR

Cider with Rosie - Laurie Lee

Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters TBR

Along the Enchanted Way - William Blacker

An Evil Cradling - Brian Keenan

The Iris Trilogy - John Bayley

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby R

Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill TBR

The Journals of Sylvia Plath Read R

The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters TBR

The Mitford Girls - Mary S. Lovell TBR

Bad Blood - Lorna Sage

Edited February 1, 2012 by Kylie

[frankie]

Knickers is a funny word isn't it and it get's funnier the more you say it. I was going to ask any man .. but the only one I've spoken to this morning was the postman .. didn't think I ought to mention it to him

 

Why not? Well I suppose it would be weird because you'd still have to see him on a daily basis... Someday he might leave a package of his own in your letter box... Ewwww. 'Yes as you can see, I'm not wearing my undies anymore either, as you can see they are enclosed in this letter to you, you beautiful lady!'.

 

If I AM lucky enough ever to see the mistress I will douse myself in Bosisto's so that I'll be forever associated in her head with her favourite smell .. or at least half of me will - it will also cause me to be less sticky which is always a problem when you eat the amount of choccy that I do .. I'll have to douse myself with your favourite smell for the other half ... what is it frankie? .. I'm almost frightened to ask

 

That's a good plan! As long as you are prepared to take her in as a lodger. She might not want to leave if you smell too much of Bosisto's!

 

What's my favorite smell... well, it might be too dangerous for you I've always loved the smell of gasoline. I don't know why. No, I'm not a dangerous arsonist!!! But whenever I walk past a gas station, I do a little sniffing. Eventhough I know it's not good for me. Perhaps that's why I am this way.

 

If you are not ready to dab a little gasoline behind your ear, and don't worry I won't be mad if you're not, I'd say my other favorite smells are... wow this is hard, I'm not a very smelly person. Hm, that doesn't sound right. Well I do like hyacints! And recently cut grass. Whichever suits you better

 

Aww bless you but you are too kind. I know I waffle on for England .. I am Englands chief waffler

 

Waffle? That's a first! You Brits use your words in such weird ways. I'd eat a waffle.

 

Haha .. I can see how that happened but of course us Brits wear our pants over our heads .. doesn't everybody

 

No, it's just you. I can't wait to come to UK and stare, point and laugh!

 

No Oranges is fiction but very heavily based on fact. I've just discovered her website and blog. She writes about all sort of stuff, books (not just her own but other recommendations) movies, lots of stuff about Sylvia Beach's bookshop, health, politics .. she whinges a lot of course ... about the state of the nation etc but it's all so interesting.

Here's an article she wrote in the Guardian about the bookshop Shakespeare & Co .. not the original bookshop but the one that was created in its image .. fascinating stuff. Reading back through the archives is going to take me some time.

 

Oooh Shakespeare & Company! I love all things S&C, whether it's the original or duplicates. Fascinating stuff all around.

 

wow that's like a little potted Kylie biogography. I think you should write the rest of it now frankie

 

No, no, I've done my part, you can write the rest in a year

 

Edit: Now, moving on to checking out your lickable list, yay!!

Edited February 1, 2012 by frankie

[frankie]

Yay, The List!

 

From Fiction, I've read: 16/50

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woold

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Gold - Dan Rhodes

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith

 

 

… I have on TBR list:

Arthur & George - Julian Barnes

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly

Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

 

… and on my wishlist:

Skippy Dies - Paul Murray

Grace Williams Says it Loud - Emma Henderson

The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman

 

 

 

From Young Adult, I've read: 9

The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling

The Perks of being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

Tales of Terror series - Chris Priestley -read/wishlist

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ - Sue Townsend

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

 

And on Mount TBR:

Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

 

 

From Non-fiction I've read: 3

Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby

 

...on Mount TBR:

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson

Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters

Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill

 

 

...and on Wishlist:

Why be Happy When You Could be Normal - Jeanette Winterson

The Iris Trilogy - John Bayley

 

 

… and I couldn't help myself, I had to see which books were on each of our lists! Here they are:

 

 

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex

Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter (series)

Stephen Chbosky: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank

 

That's 3/3, so I'd say those are pretty great recommendations!

 

Edit: It goes without saying that I'm copying your list and posting it on my reading blog's page 1 along with Kylie's list!

Edited February 1, 2012 by frankie

[Kylie]

That's 3/3, so I'd say those are pretty great recommendations!

 

Does that include my list as well? It looks like it, but you know what they say about people who assume...