PawsforThought climbs a mountain of books, part 2

I'm sticking with the Orion nebula as my opener - I love it too much to change it.

The reading plan for 2013 is as follows:
January: Jewish people in fiction
February: Spies
March: World War 1
April: Epidemics and illnesses
May: Post-World War 2
June: LGBTQ
July: Science fiction
August: Disabilities
September: Music
October: Russia
November: The Polar Regions
December: Sherlock Holmes

Adding to this is a sprinkling of group reads that mostly aren't connected to the theme of the month (with the exception of two) and the year long Sandman and A Song of Ice and Fire reads.

I don't count the books I read for work as it's 99% stuff I don't actually want to read.

January (Yentl - Jewish or part-Jewish people in fiction).

Planned number of books reads: 4 + 1 + part of year long reads (2)
Planned number of pages (approximation): 2200

1. Great House by Nicole Krauss
2. Simon and the Oaks by Marianne Fredriksson
3. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
4. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
5. Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer
6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Books read: 5 + 1 + part of year long reads (2)
Pages read: 1698

February (A View to a Kill - Spies and spying).

Planned number of books reads: 4 + 1 + year long reads (2)
Planned number of pages (approximation): 2200

1. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré
2. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
3. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
4. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

Books read: 4 + 0 + part of year long read (1)
Pages read: 1129

March (Life and Nothing But - World War 1).

Planned number of books read: 4 + 1 (and part of 1) + year long reads (2)
Planned number of pages read (approximation): 2200

Another reserved spot.

Hello!

congrats to a lovely new thread. I saw on Stephen's thread that one of your categories for April is Epidemic and illnesses and I was wondering whether you have got already any reading planned there?

Well, forget the question I just saw your plans on your thread in the 13 category challenge!
I recently read The Year of the Flood which will go nicely with the planned Atwood April :) . I assume that you have read Oryx and Crake already.
I read World without End a few years back and absolutely loved it.

Happy Reading! :)

4. Hello Monkey-boy!

5. You shouldn't assume so much! ;) I actually haven't read any Atwood at all. (I know, shame on me.) The Year of the Flood is only a possible read, though, the four planned reads are the numbered ones (Year of Wonder, Light, Call the Midwife and The Painted Veil). The possible read are books I might read if I have time over at the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by my shiny new thread!

Flying by on a chocolate owl:

Nice new thread Paws! Thanks for saving me a bottle of wine from Ellen's party. I love all the chocolate around here.

I'm watching season one of Call the Midwife. Season two starts in March over here. The book is on my TBR pile. I will be following to find out your thoughts on the book.

7. Oh, two of my favourite things! Thanks, Paul!

Checking out the new digs. :)

Had another 150 km drive today and am subsequently knackered but I almost enjoyed it today, for the following reasons:
1. It is the last time I'll have to make that particular drive (in the forseeable future, anyway)
2. The sun was out all day, making the world very pretty and filling me with joy and vitamin D
3. We had a couple of thaw days during the weekend so the ice on the road was completely gone in places, making it easier to drive
4. The view during the drive is pretty fantastic - open fields, lakes and seemingly endless streches of wood (all spruces and pines 40 metres (130 feet) tall)
5. I spent the whole drive listening up listening to summer-y music and the whole drive back listening to the latest album by Mando Diao which I'm totally in love with (they've set the poems by one of Sweden's greatest poets to music and some of the songs are just fantastic). This song was on repeat for quite a while.

Welcome back after such a long drive...

Mando Diao: My daughter once brought songs by him home and I liked it straight away

12. It's "them", not "he". ;) I've always liked them but the new album is SO different to their old stuff (they're most of a garage rock-type band and the new album is more folky ballads (goes better with the romantic poetry))

Book #9!

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (316 pages)

This was a hoot to read! It was a fast-paced and fun race through (part of) the French Revolution. Spying and bravery mixed in with sweet love and lots of humour. I liked that Marguerite was such a strong and willful character and throughout the novel referred to as having the sharpest mind in Europe. I will be adding the rest of the novels in this series to my TBR list.

>13 PawsforThought: sorry, thanks for the hint. whenever the girls listened to some music, I asked: who's that? I got the answer 'That's so-and-so' with a voice telling me that I am too old to get it right, so I never asked any further questions... I ve never seen a cover or anything. The kids burned a cd and we heard it in the car when we were driving somewhere

15. If you listen to several of their songs you'll notise that the singing voice isn't always the same. They have two lead singers who take turn.

And now I'm going to listen to the album again.

We're having amazingly wonderful spring-like weather this weekend (+5 C!!!) and I'll going to get out and go for a really long walk in the sunshine. I'm celebrating this break from the hard grip of winter by posting some summery pics (sorry, Stephen).

A summery meadow, this is summer as I think of it:


A lovely stroll on a somewhat overgrown footpath:


Oh, sunsets in summer. There is no better colour palette in the world.

What gorgeous summer photos! I wish summer were like that here (Texas). All we have is hot, hot, hot HOT!!! Late July and August is unbearable. I have just added summer in Sweden to my wish list. :)

Lovely, summer, dreaming of warmer temperatures...

18. Swedish summers are some of the greatest things on Earth. When they're good, that is. We have rainy, windy, miserable, and way too hot summers too. It varies quite a bit. But speaking generally, the weather is warm but not scorching (+20-25 C), sunny/partially cloudy with a few showers. Also, it smells great. Lots of trees and green fields... And of course the sun doesn't ever really go down so it's light more or less constantly from the end of May to the end of July.

Ask any Swede what their top 5 favourite things about Sweden is, and Swedish summers will be on that list.

We had a wonderful holiday in southern Sweden and had beautiful warm weather with rain only one day. And the countryside was lovely.

21. Whereabouts did you go? I'm not down south very often but I've been on a few holidays around the southern parts of the country.

We had a few days in Helsingborg, then Varberg and a week in a cottage just outside Ystaad. The sun shone pretty much every day and it counts as one of our best holidays ever. We keep meeting to go back.

Oh, you were in Scania! That's more Denmark than Sweden! ;) It is very pretty down there, what with the rapeseed fields and the apple orchards.

You should try going a bit further up north next time you come visit.

(By the way, have you watched the Swedish Wallander series (or read the books)? They're set in Ystad and the movies show off the town and its surroundings quite a bit (SO pretty!).

Yes, we intend to go further north next time we visit. And I have seen the British Wallender, but it always seems to look quite miserable in that, whereas when we went it was hot and sunny. I've got the box set of the Swedish DVD's on the shelf to watch but not got around to it yet.

25. You should watch it. I haven't seen the British version (can't handle the mispronounciations) but I really quite like the Swedish ones.
They're rather sunny and bright! (I've only seen the later seasons with Krister Henriksson as Wallander, though, not the earlier ones with Rolf Lassgård). There's even a heatwave of some sort in one of them.

Scania does get quite lousy weather in the wintertime, though. We up in the north have to deal with biting cold but at least have snow and prettyness to make up for it. Scania gets wind and slush most of the time.

>20 PawsforThought: I remember a summer in Småland (Ryssby to be exact) - swimming in a lake, boating, cycling. That was a lovely time.

27. Ryssby? Was there a particular reason you went there of all places? It's not exactly the first stop on most tourist's itineraries. (I had to look it up to see exactly where it is.)

well, what you do when in love? any better reason for visiting Ryssby? We met in England and I visited Sweden ... but it didn't go any further than that. Good memories

29. Yes, that'd explain it. Småland's pretty, what I've seen of it at least. Almost as much wood as here in the north.

#29 No better reason to travel than for love.

I love your summer photos, Paws .. it's sleeting over here and I can just imagine the icy conditions I'll wake up to tomorrow.

>30 PawsforThought: so, you live further up North, I take it. The most Northern place I have been in Sweden was Riddarhyttan (apart from riding on the night train from Rovaniemi (Finland) to Stockholm. Ages ago

>31 luvamystery65: yes *dreamy eyes*

33. Yes, I'm a northerner. As in, living in the part of the country called "the northland" (Norrland). It'd take a whole day of driving just to get down to Stockholm.

You've been to Rovaniemi? You know that's where Santa lives, right?

Beautiful pictures!

Just so you all know... I didn't take any of those pictures myself. The top two and the fourth one are from Sweden but I nicked them all from the internet.

Santa: our's lives at the North Pole somewhere ... but I didn't meet him. But we were there in Summer so he may haven taken his hibernation. And we have here in Basel every year a procession of Santa's on their Harleys bringing nuts and sweets to kids.

Yes, I'm familiar with the "Santa lives on the North Pole" myth that has prevailed in many places around the world. But as all children in Finland and quite a few in Sweden KNOW, he actually lives in Rovaniemi.

our Samichlaus doesn't speak a single word Finnish, he always spoke Swiss German when he came round and the gifts were wooden toys from local manufacturers and Swiss chocolate ... *scratching my head in wonder*

39. He speaks ALL languages!

Gorgeous pictures, Paws!

I'm up to double-digits!

Book #10.

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

It took me longer to read this book than it would another of it's size and level of difficulty because I had to put it down now and then and take a break from it. Not because I disliked it (it's really, really good!) but because the events in the books are so farsical it made me want to hide behind a pillow the same way Mr. Bean does.

I wanted to reassure you that the pictures were relatively small and not terrible for me to load. They're beautiful, and it makes me all the angrier that we are scheduled for more snow later today...

43. Whohoo! Stephen-friendly pictures! (I did pick smaller pics on purpose to make it easier for everyone.)

Your pictures are lovely and it makes the cold freezing rain/sleet/wet snow storm that we are currently having in Maine feel even more miserable....so thanks! LOL Just kidding. They really made me put a visit to Sweden on the bucket list.

45. Happy to be of service.
We've had lousy weather here today too: the first rain of the year started falling just after lunch and quickly turned into a mini-storm complete with mixed rain and hail and wind gushes. It's calmed down now, though.

I'm planning on making pic #5 my summer of 2013 and am actively looking for a hammock stand (is that what they're called) but they're ridiculously expensive. Sigh. I wish we had trees that were both big enough and close/far enough apart to use.

February summation:

I finished (and enjoyed) my four planned theme reads but didn't manage to finish my choice for the Fowles in February group read The French Lieutenant's Woman. I only have about 80 pages left of it so I'll read the end when I can find time.

So only four books read in February, pushing my total for the year up to ten.

That's a decent total for the year so far, Paws. :)

48. It's alright. The book total is what I'd planned for and I'm fine with that but the page total is WAY lower, as I've read a few fairly short books (and because I haven't finished some chunky year long reads and won't count them until they're done).

Is anyone interested in a read-a-thon weekend? I feel like I need to kickstart the month's reading and that might do the trick.

Ooooooh, pretty Orion Nebula and summer photos! I am ashamed for not getting caught up on your thread sooner. I presume it's too late to chuck food at Stephen? ;)

I love the photographs above Paws. Sorry I was slow getting to your latest thread but I'll try to keep up a bit better.

You're both welcome anytime!

(And it's never too late to throw food at Stephen!)

Book #11.

The French Lieutenan'ts Woman by John Fowles (399 pages)

I loved the way this book was written and all the little tangents Fowles went off on - I'm definitely going to be reading more Fowles in the future. I did not, however, care much for either of the two main characters. In fact, the more I read, the less I liked them and I despised Charles at the end of the novel. I'm not sure whether we're supposed to like them either. At the start of the book they were both written as genuinely nice people but they seemed to have had a slight head transplant partway through.
I did love Sam and Mary, and Fowles was a master at making their dialects shine through the text.

Hallo Paws! Summer looks lovely, I can't wait for our spring to hit here in TX; that's the best month of weather we get each year, haha.

Thanks for linking to Mando Diao, that song is great!

55. It is great, isn't it? I've had it on more or less constant replay for two weeks now - can't stop listening. (I've been driving a lot at work and it's a great song for driving.)

Book #12.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (470 pages)

I was quite worried when I started reading this book, wondering what I'd got myself into. The first part of the book is ful of things I tend to steer clear of (a forbidden romance and descriptions of sex) but I kept on going and I'm glad I did. The depiction of WW1 is haunting and I readily admit I started crying a few times. While I'm not extatic about how the 70's part of the novel ended, I liked the rest of the novel enough to make up for it. And the end of the war part was beautiful.

Glad it was an overall good read for you, Paws.

Birdsong is a bok I enjoyed greatly

Happy Birthday Douglas Adams!

One of my absolute favourite authors, gone way too soon.

Book #13.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

I'm really glad I read this book. I thought it was going to be a much more difficult read but it was really easy (language-wise that is, theme-wise it's about as difficult as it gets) and quick. I wasn't terribly emotionally affected (no tears) but it was really, really good.

Found you and starred you.

I have read All Quiet on the Western Front. Your comments prompt me to give it a try.

>61 PawsforThought: I keep meaning to read that one around Remembrance Day. Maybe this year.

63. Rememberance Day is in November, right? I'm a bit ignorant about such things - it's not commemorated here so (on account of us not taking part, I suppose) so not something I even knew about until a few years ago.

You should absolutely read it, you'll get thought it pretty quickly.

No worries about the lack of familiarity, it's a Commonwealth thing. Here in Canada we observe it on November 11 (the original Armistice Day).

65. I figured it was a C thing. I learnt about it after watching a UK show where everyone was wearing poppies and I had to go and lok up why.

The Wikipedia article on it is pretty decent. :)

Yeah, I think that's where I went to lok it up. I've forgotten a lot about it since so I might check it out again soon. All my WW1 reading is making me want to commemorate it this year but people will probably give me a few strange looks if I do - and there are no poppy pins available over here. :(

You could always make one. Heavy weight red paper, black paper, and a pin.

69. I might - I'm sure there are descriptions on the web. I could always massacre an old May Flower pin to use as the basis.

YES! YES! YES!

They're making the Veronica Mars movie! Best news in ages!

http://uk.eonline.com/news/397483/veronica-mars-movie-is-a-go-kristen-bell-creat...

HAPPY PI DAY!

Have you celebrated?

I headed over to my parents and treated them to coffee and a pi-neapple pie I'd made and decorated with a pi symbol. It was delicious!

and the pi was pi-thick?

That sounds pi-fectly delicious!

It was lovely. And the best thing is that there was pi pie left so I can have more today!

Aw, I missed Pi Day! Just as well, I suppose. I never was very good with math. It's probably better that I spent yesterday talking philosophy and religion with my mom. She's wonderful like that.

Your pi-napple pi pie sounds like such a genius creation! I just might pi-ne over missing that...

Pi-ne away, my dear. And don't be sad, there's always next year.

Also, I'm not good at math. Like, really not. But I like the idea of it...

Working in a pie-centric restaurant is good for a few laughs on pi day. Every third customer thinks it's incredibly funny.

The middle school does a pi-pie themed math lesson on that day. We get a big picture to hang up of the kids enjoying our pie. :)

Never had pineapple pie though! It sounds either incredibly good or incredibly weird. Is it like upside down cake?

I don't know what an upside down cake is. Pineapple pie is a pretty normal pie crust filled with a mix of crushed pineapple, sugar, an egg and creme fraiche and then pushed into the oven.
Fairly common but definitely a remnant of the 70's (isn't everything with pineapples?) so not the trendiest thing to eat (but always delicious and appreciated).

To make a pineapple upside down cake you basically just do everything backward, i.e. you put the pineapple rings on the bottom of the cake pan and then you put the cake batter on top of that and bake it. I'm sure it is perhaps a little more complicated than that - I only saw my grandmother make it once. I remember it being very moist (almost sodden) and very sweet.

Am afraid I would not be able to have either the pineapple pie or cake - I am allergic to pineapples! My co-workers just love to torture me by offering me pineapple whenever anyone has anything with the least little shred of pineapple in it. They think it is very funny.

Mmm... my mother used to make pineapple upside-down cake! One of my favorites, growing up.

I can't say I've ever heard of a pineapple allergy before! That's quite fascinating. Are there other related plants you're allergic to as well, or is it just the pineapple?

I'm allergic to pineapples too (along with plenty of other fruits) but only if they're un-cooked. Since the pie goes into the oven, I'm fine.

#81 - Only pineapple. I didn't know about the allergy for many, many years - mostly because I really didn't like pineapple very much, so I hardly ever ate it. (Granny was a good cook, but I really didn't like her pineapple upside down cake at all.) But one spring about eight or nine years ago I developed a hankering for pineapple and I started taking a can to work with me every day. I broke out in this terrible rash that was just everywhere - and I mean everywhere! When it dried up I must have pulled enough dry skin off myself to make one or two more of me. But I did not realize what caused it. It went away because I stopped eating it for about six weeks. Then I got another hankering and lo and behold - the rash came back with all of the attendant itching and flaking dry skin. That was when I realized it had to be the pineapple and I stopped eating it. The rash went away. It happened to me once more the following winter when I was drinking lots of fruit flavored seltzer water and I figured that the manufacturer was sneaking pineapple into the product. Stopped drinking the fruit flavored seltzer and the rash stopped. Have never had a pineapple reaction since.

Again, Cousin Paws, I think this proves our close family relationship, don't you?

Wow, a pineapple allergy! That's a new one for me too. I thought maybe it was a reaction between the acid and the can, but you say it happened after that flavored water too.

At first your description didn't sound too appetizing... however, upon searching for a picture I saw one that looked a lot like buttermilk pie, which could be really good. Here's a picture of a pretty standard pineapple upside down cake. The dominant flavors would be the caramelized sugar and vanilla, the pineapple flavor being mostly baked away.

It certainly is pretty. Prettier than I remember Granny's being. She really was a very good cook, but I guess everybody has at least one dessert or dish that they can never quite make properly. Apologize for the description rendered above - it really wasn't very appetizing, was it?

Oh gosh I'm sorry! I meant Other-Paws' description, lol! The "creme fraiche and egg" pie version. I have a tendency to type whatever pops in my head and it doesn't always follow.

That's ok, Kathy. I truly thought you were talking about me and deservedly so. After all 'sodden' isn't a word in food description that really makes you anxious to try a thing.

>83 Fourpawz2: Fourpawz, pineapple has some enzymes in it that act as meat tenderizer. That's why when even non-allergic people eat a lot of it, it makes the inside of their mouth feel funny. It's likely that's what you are allergic to. Are you allergic to kiwis too? They have similar enzymes.

86. Yeah, I can understand that the recipe doesn't seem very alluring (neither does most pics of it) but I swear it's good. Egg is in most things you bake and it's really only there to make it stiffen (it'd be VERY watery otherwise) and I think the creme fraiche might have some sort of chemical reaction with the pineapple - it doesn't impact the flavour.

This is how my version of pineapple pie looks:

#88 - I don't know, Nora. I've never had a kiwi. Guess, now, I never will. Thanks for the heads up!

Add me to the list of people who had never heard of a pineapple allergy. But there are so many things out there to be allergic of and people have different tolerance levels so I guess it really isn't all that surprising.

I sometimes make pineapple upside down cake. I agree it is quite ridiculously sweet. We often have it as a dessert for Easter dinner.

Oh, crap-crapilly-crap.

There's apparently a leak on the main water line in town, so we'll all have to boil all water used for consumption. I hate it when this happens.

Ew. That's terribly inconvenient.

We don't drink any tap water in my house. IDK what your system is like but in the US most treated/city water is horrible for you unless it goes through a RO filter (which some houses and many restaurants etc have). Used to be, well water was good, but even that's nasty in a lot of areas now too. :(

93. Tap water here is like spring water. Tastes great (i.e. tastes of absolutely nothing). Normally, that is. Not when there's been a leak and there are soil particles in it.

Well that's nice. You don't want to know what they do to the water here, you'd hurl.

I'm sure I would. The tap water in London was bad enough to make me want to abstain from it completely (limescale and chlorine, yuck!)

I try not to beat my chest when it comes to discussing home (we all think our home countries are the best) but when it comes to tap water I will. Swedish water is great. Tony the Tiger-grrrreat.

Hej Paws, you're right, Swedish tap water is good. Our tap water here is also very good - in some restaurants one can get a glass of tap water free going with the meal (or coffee). And it tastes great.

97. Only in some restaurants? If I had to pay for tap water at a restaurant in Sweden I'd be pissed.

This water situation is sort of working in my favour. I was supposed to work longer than usual today but because of the leak the area of town where my job is ran out of water completely by 10.00 this morning. So we had to close and everyone got to go home. Woo!

Still not allowed to drink the water but it'll probably be fine later today.

On another note...

HAPPY EASTER!

Bunnies! How cute. I don't find them very satisfactory pets, but they sure are adorable to look at.

Hope the water situation is cleared up. It is SO inconvenient when you don't have any. I pretty much drink the city water - especially in the winter, but my grandparents used to go on and on about how awful it was and made my parents cart gallons of water home with us from their house whenever we were there. No one considered the fact that the pipes in their house were very old - probably a hundred years old and likely made of lead - and the water - to me - tasted of it. I did not drink the Grandparent water.

We do HAVE water (in my part of town, but not at work), it's just not cleared for drinking.
It is causing some major problems in town as six schools have had to close, nine nursery schools have had to ship kids elsewhere, the town dentists have had to cancel all appointments and the hospital has cancelled quite a lot of surgeries. Hopefully, this'll be the last day of it, though.

100. Oh, and bunnies are great. VERY nervous but so adorable. I've had bunnies but they do tend to die young (my friend's rabbit died after having a heart attack during a thunderstorm).

Hello Paws - I have to step in and defend London tap-water! The limescale only bothers me when I have to shine the sink and all the taps all the time, and I don't really taste the chlorine. Plus, you know, it's supposedly been through eight lots of kidneys by the time it gets to me, so it's sort of a historical experience :-) The (filtered) water in the machine at work seems to taste of nothing at all.

I hope your water is safe to drink soon.

103. I don't care HOW much history is involved - it still tastes horrible when you're used to better stuff. And all water is "old" - we're all really drinking dinosaur urine.

The water has been cleared to drink now. Woo! Nice to be back in the industrialized world again.

Book #14.

The Zimmermann Telegram by Barbara W. Tuchman

Unusual for me - this is a non-fiction book. It reads like fiction (with a few exceptions) so is a pretty easy read - even to someone as ignorant about the subject matter as I am. There is a bit back-and-forth in time at the start which got a little confusing and the myriad of names makes it difficult to remember who's who - it would have helped if there had been more pictures. All in all, a really good book - and a very interesting subject matter.

Got to put TZT on my wishlist. Can hardly believe I've never read it when I like Tuchman so much. I think I agree with you about the way she wrote - very readable.

Paws I hope you had a nice weekend! Happy Easter

Thanks Roberta! I have had a good weekend. Bad case of the cold but lovely weather and tons of great food. Hope yours has been good as well (and that your mum is doing better!).

Two more books read in March.

#15.

A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot (335 pages)

I had a hard time getting into this book as I found the narrative a bit annoying and some of the developements confusing. I did really like th emain character Mathilde and my enjoyment of the book comes mostly from cheering her on and being impressed by her.

#16.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (188 pages)

Hardly surprising, this book reminded me a lot of Black Beauty, which I loved when I read it (still do). I thought there was going to be "more war" going on in the book but I suppose being a children's book it has to be somewhat toned down (and it'd be unbelieveable if a horse went through too much warring and survived).

OMG I just finished listening to the last part of the BBC radio drama version of Neverwhere and it's SO GOOD! I started out thinking I'd be able to listen to one episode a day while out for a walk but I couldn't help myself and had to keep listening. Love it!

And now I'm dying to actually read the book but there simply isn't time for it. Oh, the pain of having to wait is excruciating!

Yeah, the radio play was just amazing. I read the book last year in prep for it and I retroactively love it even more now because of the play. :)

111. I was a little nervous about listening to it. Radio dramas can be pretty blah when they're not done right. But this was SO good. James McAvoy was perfect as Richard - I could see him before me.

Book #17.

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth (381 pages)

I loved this book. I don't usually read many autobiographical works but this one reads sort like a mix between a novel (the characters!) and a non-fiction book. Perfect blend of the two, I might add. I was a bit worried during the first chapter or two but then got pulled into the story. Those who are at all squeamish about the details of childbirth you probably shouldn't read this book - there is a lot of talk about genitals, smells, blood, diseases and placentas.
Mostly, though, this is a love story to the East End of London and the people who lived there in the 1950's.

Book #18

A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (737 pages)

I love this book. I had a feeling I would enjoy it (it's been talked about and recommended by so many people whose judgement I usually trust) but you never really do know until you try it.
One of the things I love most about it is that I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. Usually, I'm fine with being able to guess the general outcome of the story but this time I'm clueless. (I have a feeling about whether a couple of the main characters will be alive or not at the end of the series but that's it).
It's so well-written and the characters are so alive you sort of cheer for both sides sides of a dispute (though obviously NOT Cersei or Joffrey).
LOVE it. Can't wait to read the next one.

Good morning Paws :),

I agree with you on the BBC play of Neverwhere it is indeed very well done. I do find so that the BBC dramatisations are pretty good anyway. As you enjoyed the book, did you ever watch the BBC mini series of Neverwhere? It is very much done in the style of Dr Who and was very enjoyable.

Hooray! For another fan of the Game of Thrones series :) - obviously NOT Cersei or Joffrey. Did you watch already season 01?

115. I've never read Neverwhere - only listened to the radio adaption. The book is definitely on my TBR list now, but I haven't got round to it yet. I've heard fairly negative reviews of the mini-series so not sure I'll see it but you never know.

I've been a fan of A Game of Thrones since page one! And no, I haven't watched the show yet. I want to read the books first (the ones that have been published so far).

Actually, the series got really got reviews. Especially, by people who love Dr Who and eg. Red Dwarf, the series is done in the same style. The other thing what I liked was that they went very strict with the book.

Another Ice and Fire fan - how fantastic! I would agree, Cousin Paws, about the never knowing what's going to happen aspect. You just never know with Martin who he is going to knock off next and thus I tremble for my favorites. The man has no one who must be protected - at least I don't think so - and he seems more than willing to get rid of just anybody. I've had several 'Oh No, not him/her!' moments in this series.

118. Oh, I think there's someone, but then I've only read one book and don't know what's waiting down the line for said person. Though judging by the promotional material for the 3rd season of the TV series, he/she is still alive in book 3.

Thank you for reminding me why I haven't started Martin's Game of Thrones series.... I only have book one and I don't want to start the series until I have more acquired more books so that I am ready for carry on reading the next book in the series!

120. I was going to wait a couple of weeks before I borrowed the next book but couldn't help myself and got A Clash of Kings from the library yesterday. But I'm not going to read it yet. Just the prologue - that's it! I swear.

I've thought of reading Neil Gaiman for a while. Maybe Neverwhere is a good starting point.

I saw there was a new BBC-series on Netflix "Call the Midwife" - maybe it's an adaptation. Looked like a sure thing to start watching.

122. Yes, the mini-series on the BBC is an adaption. It's really good - I heartily recommend it.

Book #19.

The Absolute Sandman, volume 1 - Neil Gaiman (544 pages)

I cursed myself (and Mr. Gaiman) when I went home from the library with this book. It's HEAVY; nearly broke my back (I had other books too, so that didn't help).
It was all worth it, though. It's a fantastic read, though it takes a while to get into what it actually is. Not sure I've figured it out yet, to be honest. Love it nonetheless. I particularly liked the episode with the centenial meet-ups - the attention to detail and the cultural references are especially good in that one (and KIT MARLOWE is there!)

Hahaha.... welcome to the curse Neil Gaiman Sandman club! Sooo addicting, isn't it?! ;-)

>122 ctpress: Neverwhere is a brilliant starting point. :)

So glad to hear you enjoyed Game of Thrones. It is such a great series and you NEVER know what is going to happen. Even in the latest A Dance with Dragons I was surprised at some character developments. I just hope the next book doesn't take as long to get published!

HAPPY TOWEL DAY EVERYONE!

Happy Towel Day to you, Paws!

I haven't been reading much lately (or posted much), but I finally finished not one but two books in the last couple of days.

#20.

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

I didn't know anything about this book before I started reading it and yet it completely surprised me. Very sweet story and lovely characters - it felt like they could very well have existed in real life.

And #21.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (97 pages)

I loved this book. It's so short but still full of story - despite being just a collection of letters (some of them months or years apart). If the bookshop had still existed I would've put it on my to-do list for next time I visit London.

Paws - I finally found a copy of 84, Charing Cross Road from a neighboring county library. I just picked it up two days ago.

Good to see you. I've been lurking but not posting much.

I haven't even been lurking. Well, I've logged in once or twice a week but not really checked out any of the threads. I've had a lot on lately.

wish you a pleasant and peaceful weekend

134. Thanks. I've had a long weekend (don't work Fridays) and have been enjoying the wonderful weather we've been having the past couple of weeks.

I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as well! It was lots of fun. I want to go to that island now.

136. Me too!

#22.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (238 pages)

Completely unplanned but in keeping with the LGBT theme of June (it IS Pride month!), I read this lovely, lovely GN by Alison Bechdel (of the Bechdel test). It is both tragic and comedic (as the full title suggests), and at times full of bizarre events (the way only real life can be). One of my favourite parts was the over-analysing of literature in university (so, so true).

I liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and 84 Charing Cross Road very much myself. I'm glad you are getting to read some great books even if life is busy for you.

I keep meaning to read Fun Home!

140. You should. It's a great read.

#23.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (164 pages)

Really, really great book that I would have read in a day if I hadn't been in a reading rut. Loved it to bits despite not being too fond of either of the two main characters. Fascinating story.

How did I forget that June is Pride month???? Duh! I must read something LGBT by the end of the month. Thanks for the reminder!

How are you Paws?

I'm alright, thank you for asking. I've had a bit of a reading funk and things have been less than perfect at work but I'm enjoying my summer and trying to get back into reading. Hope you're well.

Real life has been very stressful for me lately. My reading has suffered a bit, but I am reading lighter fare so at least that relaxes me a little. I hope your reading funk is gone or at least going out the door.

Sending you positive thoughts.

Paws - missing you over here. Hope your reading funk is over and you'll return to the fold soon as our Swedish outpost.

Hi everyone. I haven't been very active in the last few months (not active at all). I've had (and am still having) a major reading slump and combined with some issues at the home and work front things haven't panned out the way I'd wanted them to.
But I am still here and am still trying to get through some of my planned reads. I've managed two since I was last on LT.

#24.

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood (216 pages)

To me this was one of those books that you're not sure how you feel about them until you've finished them. While there isn't much of a story to the book, just Isherwood's alter ego (of sorts) going about his life in Berlin, and some of the supporting characters were annoying to no end, I really did like it in the end.

#25.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (138 pages)

Such a beautiful little book, and such a tragic story. I'd seen the movie beforehand so knew what I was in for but was still moved throughout reading it. It is (unsurprisingly, considering the obstacles of writing it) a very short book, which I appreciate as I'm not one for overly long books. I'd recommend this to anyone.

Happy to see you posting and I hope that the reading slump and the issues you have been facing all disappear for your really soon!

Paws I'm glad you popped in. You were missed. Sorry to hear about the reading slump and RL issues. Take care of yourself and I hope things get better soon.

Paws - another pleased to see our Swedish belle returned.

Thanks, guys. Much appreciated.

#26.

A Life's Music by Andreï Makine (122 pages)

This is a very Russian novel(la?). I can never quite put my finger on what makes a book feel Russian but you can always tell. It's blissfully short, though - very un-Russian. I had trouble getting into the story and almost put it away but figured it was short enough to just plow through. I did enjoy the rest of it though I doubt I'd read it again.

#27.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (269 pages)

I love this book; it's one of the best books I've read in the past few years. I wish I could've read it when I was a teenager (it hadn't been published over here then). I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone, but especially teenagers and people who are around them. Such a beautiful book.

Paws Perks of Being a Wallflower was one of my favorite reads of the year. It was so honest and well done.

>154 PawsforThought: I'm a fan of the book and the film is actually really well done also. The fact that it was directed by Chbosky probably has something to do with that. :)

155. Yeah, that's exactly what I felt. I love it when books feel honest - you can connect to them on a different level then.

156. I haven't seen the film but it's nice to know it's good - putting it on my to watch-list. In my experence it often helps to have the author involved with the movie project, keeps the spirit of the story intact, I feel (obviously there are exceptions).

It's my Thingaversary today and since I'll be heading in to town later I might just swing by the bookshop and buy myself a nice new tome.

Happy Thingaversary Paws! Remember to get plus one.

I'm reading The Graveyard Book for my ghost story for the month. What are you reading?

Thanks. Plus one?

I haven't picked up a ghost story as I'm quite swamped with my regular reading. Might pick up a Poe short or something. Though you dangling Neil Gaiman in front of me is making me question that.

What I see on the threads is people buy the number of books that equals their Thingaversary number plus one. You know book lovers don't need much of an excuse to buy more books.

Poe is perfect for October.

Ah.
Poe is always perfect, but yes, in times of scary things he is even more so.

#28.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (227 pages)

This is such a great book, and you never quite know where it's going. I thought it was going to be just a lighthearted mini-mystery but it turned out to be so much more than that.

#29.

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

This book was actually intended to be an "in case I run out of reading material"-book but I somehow ended up borrowing it from the library anyway. It's not the sort of book I would normally read (not much really happens) but I'm glad I read it. It gives a good insight into the daily lives of people living in a warzone and gave me a lot more knowledge about the war in former Yugoslavia, of which I knew embarassingly little beforehand.

#30.

His Dark Materials: Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

I've read this book before and really liked it but reading it again made me question just how much I'd actually paid attention the first time around because the latter half of the book was absolutely nothing like how I remembered it. It was much better, luckily. I love this series and am already almost halfway through book two.

Good to see you posting reviews Paws. How have you been?

Up and down. A bit better the last couple of weeks and things are looking okay up ahead. We'll see what happens.

#31.

His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

Bloody h*ll! Pullman certainly doesn't pull any punches when it comes to people being vicous and vile, hurting and killing each other. It's well done, and necessary for the plot but I was a bit surprised at the rawness. And the giant philosophical questions. No wonder the church was angry when these books were published!

Just posted this in the Category Challenge and am cross-posting here.

We are slowly but surely nearing Christmas - it's the first Sunday in advent next week! - and as part of my warm up to the holidays I always make sure I re-read A Christmas Carol, Tomten and the Christmas chapter in The Wind in the Willows every year.
It's not time just yet but soon enough.

I was just wondering if anyone has any suggetions for other Christmas books or books with a Christmas chapter in them. I might not be able to read them this year (I have Sherlock Holmes novels to read!) but it'd be nice to have a list just in case, or for future reference.

I am glad things are looking better for you. I liked The Golden Compass, but The Subtle Knife was a bit too abstract for me.

For Christmas books: there's Mr. Ives Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos; A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry.

170. I can see why you'd feel that way about The Subtle Knife. I did like it a lot but it's definitely more difficult to really get into than Northern Lights/The Golden Compass was.

#32.

His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

Ah, what a shame. The first book was great, the second one good and this one: okay. While I liked that it dealt with great philosophical and theological questions, it was just too much. There were too many twists and too many dull moments (the mulefa!) and the ending reminded me of a romance novel. I did like several of the new characters, the gay angels were my favourite!

Merry Christmas everyone!

As we have Christmas on Christmas Eve over here I'll be spending the 24th away from my computer screen and in the presence of my lovely family. I hope you all ahve a lovely holiday and I'll see you in a couple of days.

Paws enjoy your holiday with the family. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas (Eve), Paws!

Have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season, Paws!

The land of Abba and Bjorn Borg and Kurt Wallender has been well represented in the 75ers by you in 2013, Paws. Hope to see more of you in 2014. Wishing you a wonderful festive season.

Merry Christmas, Paws!

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, Paws!

It's been TOO long since I visited, Paws... I'm sorry about that. I'll try to do better in 2014.

There are gay angels in The Amber Spyglass????? It's on my shelf...waiting. I haven't gotten to it yet, but will have to push it forward some!

I loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower as well. I thought it was exceptionally good.

I have The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on a shelf around here somewhere. I bought it after watching the movie (which I loved). I really must find it and read it sooner than I had planned.

Sheesh, this was a dangerous place to visit tonight! ;)

That's okay. I spent months away from LT altogether - I'm not going to blame anyone for not visiting my thread for a while.

Yes, gay angels! I thought they were marvellous, and such a great (and important) part of the book.

You should definitely read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It's such a short little book you'll finish it in a day even if you're a slow reader.

#33.

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

The last book I read in 2013 and I almost forgot mention it. It was my first Sherlock Holmes and I very much enjoyed the story and how it was explained. I did find the second half of the story to be too long and I skimmed most of it. I understand why it was there but think it would have worked better if trimmed (especially considering the fact that the novel is so sort in itself).

Now, on to new reads!