melkur
Chancellery Guard
Likes: 3,964
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Post by melkur on Jul 28, 2020 1:09:19 GMT
Over the past week or so I've been starting to re-read the Harry Potter books again (I finished 'Goblet Of Fire' last night) and am currently taking a break for a couple of days to read 'Thirteen Reasons Why\'
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Post by grinch on Jul 30, 2020 20:06:57 GMT
Goosebumps ‘Legend of the Lost Legend’ (R.L. Stine)
Have no idea why I have a copy of this lying about but I thought I’d give it a read anyway.
Mental even for Goosebumps standards.
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Post by Ela on Aug 12, 2020 2:30:21 GMT
I have read a bunch of Benny books over the last several months: The Big Hunt, A Life Worth Living, A Life in Pieces, The Tree of Life, and Parallel Lives. All interesting for the little tidbits they add to Benny's backstory. I liked the premise of The Big Hunt and The Tree of Life. Both of those were interesting stories. Parallel Lives was also a good story, but I could have done without the Jason Kane POV over-exaggerated prose section. I know it was supposed to be funny. It was just...too much.
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Post by Ela on Aug 14, 2020 2:50:24 GMT
Finished The Legends of River Song. Fun set of stories. My Favorite was Jac Rayner's story "Suspicious Minds", which made frequent and humorous use of phrases from songs by a certain popular singer of the past.
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Post by mrperson on Aug 22, 2020 20:02:49 GMT
Starting "Snuff" (Pratchett).
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Post by grinch on Aug 23, 2020 12:22:46 GMT
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving)
This story often springs to mind when I’m walking on those cold Autumn nights hearing nothing but the rustling and crunching of leaves underfoot.
Personally, I think The Doctor meeting a Headless Horseman would make for a terrific Short Trip.
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Post by kurumais on Aug 29, 2020 23:06:47 GMT
im getting to the end of joe abecrombie sharp ends. there are parts it reminds me so much of the hitchhikers guide books. these ridiculous understated narrations. it makes me laugh. its a
bunch of short stories set in the world of the first law series. a few star these 2 females characters he created because of criticism of no major female characters. their stories are the
best parts. javre the lioness of hoskopp and shev the best thief in westport.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 30, 2020 18:25:42 GMT
After I finished Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, I've started its companion Ian C. Esslemont's Night of Knives which is such a stark contrast in writing style. Like there are only six chapters, and none of them start with poems, and the writing is just direct. Like Erikson was very lavish and mysterious while Esslemont's just sort of there.
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Post by timegirl on Sept 1, 2020 0:24:38 GMT
Meddling Kids Quirky Scooby Doo meets Enid Blyton meets Stranger Things meets IT meets Lovecraft! I enjoyed this odd novel about what would happen if former kid detectives reunite and have realistic personal struggles as well as battling Eldritch forces. The writing style was rather strange almost as though the author was imagining it as a movie or tv series rather than a novel to the point where it would randomly without warning switch format to a script complete with stage directions! Not that wouldn’t make a badass tv series or movie, in fact I wouldn’t Netflix or Amazon already has their eyes on it! It was an odd mashup of a novel but I’m glad I read it!
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Post by coffeeaddict on Sept 7, 2020 15:59:42 GMT
Low Action by Andrew Cartmel. The latest in his Vinyl Detective series. Jazz, Cats and mystery - if you haven't read any of this series you are missing out.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062
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Post by ljwilson on Sept 13, 2020 10:40:10 GMT
'Super-Cannes' by J.G. Ballard. I'm partway through but already the lavish lifestyle of executives and the gleam of white villas on the Cote-d'Azur hides a darker psychological agenda.
So why did the previous site peadiatrition decide to go amok and murder various executives at this new euro-town?
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,661
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Post by shutupbanks on Sept 13, 2020 22:22:45 GMT
I’ve had my great-uncle’s copy of Gone With The Wind for quite a few years now (my parents gave it to me when they were having a clean-out prior to their move into an aged care facility). It’s a 1939 edition (I’ve got a small library of antiquarian and almost-antiquarian books) and still in reasonable nick. I’ve decided that, since I’ve never read it before and my memories of the film ar over forty years old, I’m going to give it a go. It’s astonishing. I devoured the first hundred or so pages in one go. There’s the racism problem with it (I can’t decide yet if Ms Mitchell is going for a “period vibe” or if she’s problematic herself) and she does this thing I don’t normally like whereby you get a potted history of each character when you first meet them but she is such a great storyteller and she does the literature thing quite well also (it’s hard to do both effectively). And Scarlett is such a monster, even at this early stage in the book.
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Post by polly on Sept 14, 2020 19:54:23 GMT
I’ve had my great-uncle’s copy of Gone With The Wind for quite a few years now (my parents gave it to me when they were having a clean-out prior to their move into an aged care facility). It’s a 1939 edition (I’ve got a small library of antiquarian and almost-antiquarian books) and still in reasonable nick. I’ve decided that, since I’ve never read it before and my memories of the film ar over forty years old, I’m going to give it a go. It’s astonishing. I devoured the first hundred or so pages in one go. There’s the racism problem with it (I can’t decide yet if Ms Mitchell is going for a “period vibe” or if she’s problematic herself) and she does this thing I don’t normally like whereby you get a potted history of each character when you first meet them but she is such a great storyteller and she does the literature thing quite well also (it’s hard to do both effectively). And Scarlett is such a monster, even at this early stage in the book. Scarlett's level of bitchiness was a point of contention between Vivien Leigh and Victor Fleming when making the movie. Fleming came in to replace George Cukor as director, and he intended to have Scarlett be just as awful as in the novel. However, Leigh and Cukor had a good working relationship, and developed a more sympathetic character, so she fought Fleming tooth and nail to keep it that way. Things were....acrimonious. Legend has it - and I don't know if this is true - is that Clark Gable demanded Cukor's removal, because years prior, Cukor had, uh, propositioned him and promised career advancement if Gable went along with it.
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Post by tuigirl on Sept 15, 2020 19:37:12 GMT
I know it is not literature and most likely considered embarrassing. But recently I started reading, for the first time, the Monk books. I love the TV series and have started re-watching it and saw that there are also a few books. They are just some comfort food. They are also not that bad, although, I think having Natalie as a narrator was a mistake. I am also not too fond of the fact that in the books, Monk is much more disabled and used as a bad joke sometimes. In parts, the books remind me of fan fiction, especially the scenes that have Monk high on his prescription drugs to be able to fly (and cause lots of mischief). The reason I started reading these is because one of the books plays out close to where I live in Germany ("Mr. Monk goes to Germany"). It is just simple fun. And I am surprised and impressed how much study and preparation the author has done to present the place very authentic (plus, even I learned something new). And not use Germans and German habits as a joke (sadly, Monk is used for that). It is pretty darn accurate (well, apart from having the German equivalents of Disher and Stottlemeyer as direct copies, down to a literal translation of their last names... ).
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Post by Ela on Sept 29, 2020 17:53:35 GMT
I read (and finished) Tiamat's Wrath, the penultimate book in The Expanse series. Fantastic story. I can't believe I have to wait till next year to read the final book. If you haven't dipped into The Expanse books yet, it's definitely worth your time. Great set of stories. And there's a number of novellas, too.
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Post by polly on Sept 29, 2020 19:55:01 GMT
The Sign of the Four - I know I've read this before but I don't remember anything about it except Sherlock Holmes doing drugs at the beginning and Watson sniping at him.
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Post by johnhurtdoctor on Sept 29, 2020 20:22:32 GMT
The End of Everything by Katie Mack. A really entertaining astrophysics book about, well the end of everything!
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Post by fitzoliverj on Sept 29, 2020 20:38:47 GMT
"The Elephant is White" by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon. A blissfully silly novel about a club of (mostly) White Russian emigrees in Paris who have set up a club for completely useless people who contribute nothing to society. The fact that this book was published in September 1939 means that there are one or two very slight hints of creeping menace.
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Post by tuigirl on Oct 19, 2020 18:06:02 GMT
Started in the (German) audio books for the Dr. Siri mysteries by Colin Cotterill. Why did I commit the cardinal sin of getting the translated audio books if my English understanding is serviceable? A while ago, I got them on a special. Yes, money is the shocking reason. Must be a couple of years ago now and I never really felt like listening to them. Now that I have started- I am loving this. These books are wonderful. Plus the German actor reading these is REALLY good. They are about an old pathologist who does not take any cattle droppings from his leaders of the communist party. I just love books about rogue and slightly crazy mis-fits and rebels who follow their morals. Hmm.... what does this remind me of?
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Post by grinch on Oct 25, 2020 11:48:40 GMT
Currently reading through The Thirty-Nine Steps (John Buchan) then I plan on getting through Fifty Years of Hancock (Richard Webber) before the festive season.
I really like Richard Hannay as our hero and it’s easy to see how this book has greatly influenced many thrillers over the years.
And I must admit, as much as my old Mum would chastise me for such a thing I’ve taken to listening to a lot of audiobooks whilst out on my daily walks. In my defence, I like to think I’m exercising both muscles that way.
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