Desire Avenue

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:18 am**

currently reading Tonke Dragt, a dutch fantasy writer, again; she's my favourite! I don't often read new books, but i love reading my collection over and over again

So i'd love to hear about some good books here

I think some of Dragt's books have been translated to english and german so try her out some time..

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:00 pm**

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Harukami Murakami..beautiful, mysterious plot which grows thicker by the page, despite the uncomplicated prose..a hunt for a lost pet cat becomes a meeting with all sorts of bored but never boring people...great book for anyone who've wished to be out of a job to enjoy the homelife...

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:15 pm**

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Well, I read an online history book more recently, but that's the last for fiction.

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:27 pm**

x31eq wrote:Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Well, I read an online history book more recently, but that's the last for fiction.

Hey!!!Ive just started reading my kids copy of this ...just finished chapter4.A friends just called in.More later.

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:02 pm**

'Skellig' by David Almond.Amazing.
I won't be reading Harry Potter. [disguise]

Posted: **Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:35 pm**

Not the last one I have read, but a very good read:
R Feynman (Nobel Prize winner): Surely you're joking Mr Feynman. Really entertaining.

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:38 am**

sound world wrote:I won't be reading Harry Potter. [disguise]

No worries, you can borrow my copy [:o]

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:12 pm**

sound world wrote: I won't be reading Harry Potter. [disguise]

I'm intrigued,dave.
You'll read Lemony Snickett but not Harry Potter !
Why ?

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:30 pm**

I'm allergic to dungeons,dragons,witches,wizards,goblins,Tolkien,Philip Pullman,ghosts,ghouls etc,...and also things that are massively popular,which is probably snobbishness on my part.Nobody's perfect.

Snicket writes about real people in real situations (albeit a tad farfetched sometimes)-and his style is BLACK which I love.Similarly I love magic realism and the only kind of sci-fi/fantasy I like has to have tongue-in-cheek humour or deep humanity-eg Kurt Vonnegut,the Moomintrolls...
I don't think JKRowling will begrudge the odd non-fan [:o]

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:44 pm**

OK Dave...POint taken.
I asked my 12 yo, who reads and loves both,which he preferred. H e said the the stories in LS,cos they go off at strange tangents at times,but that he liked the characters in HP more.
Ive never read LS but did enjoy the film..I'll give them a go...but you're right about JKR not missing your cash.
The way i see it is anything that gets kids reading is ok by me.

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 3:06 pm**

You should try 'Skellig' with your 12 year old,John.
And other kids books I've been reading with my 9-yr-old,highly recommended for anyone 8-90-
anything by Michael Morpurgo
ditto Geraldine McCaughrean
and two BRILLIANT books by Eva Ibbotson-'The Star of Kazan' and 'Journey to the river sea',two of the best books I've ever read.

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 3:54 pm**

sound world wrote:I'm allergic to dungeons,dragons,witches,wizards,goblins,Tolkien,Philip Pullman,ghosts,ghouls etc,...and also things that are massively popular,which is probably snobbishness on my part.Nobody's perfect.

my kinda man

i'm right there with you.
but can it really be considered snobbishness? i was hoping to find someother excuse or reason for it, like...i dunno...individuality or picky/classy taste. I find myself often loathing uber popular things from music to movies to art etc. For no good reason sometimes

other than how well liked/know they are.

***************

Book I've recently read: Mark Z. Danielewski's The House of Leaves.
Not quite sure how to describe it. When i started reading it, it had kind of a haunting feeling to it, my friend joe and I didn't know if it was fiction or not, which kinda freaked us out alot. It has footnotes and cites many other sources, making it seem so real. But it's about a photagrapher that buys a house. I never veiwed the house as 'haunted' or demonic or anything, just strangely made. The house has a great effect on anyone that sees or steps foot inside. It's one of those books that you love to lie in bed reading at night. It's thrilling, is narrated by a schizo (the best part) and it seems to have a history. There's another book that goes with it called The Whalestoe Letters, a book of letters from the narrator's mother, who is also crazy.

Any POE lover needs to read it, and of course own her album Haunted, which is supposed to be a sort of soundtrak to the book. MZD is actually POE's brother, which makes it all the more a must read book. It took me forever to read it. wait...did i even finish it yet?

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 5:47 pm**

"Snobishness" is such a common word! Really, superior people should always call it snobbery.

Posted: **Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:21 pm**

Posted: **Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:08 am**

Reading Turgenev's 'Fathers and Sons' at the moment, one of the set books on my upcoming Literature course.

For pleasure I'm re-reading a great favourite, Edith Wharton's 'The House of Mirth'. I simply adore this book.

Desire Avenue

The last book you read

Wind-up bird Chronicle