What Are You Reading 4
- Thread starter Tonyblack
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There is also a Tom Bombadil book separate from the Lord Of The Rings. I think it was unnecessary in the main to go into Tom so much in LOTR, but he was necessary to get the Hobbits out of trouble twice, once with the Old Man Willow, and then again with the Barrow-wights. Rather similar to the tale of the Beornings, whose ancestor appeared in the Hobbit, and performed a similar service to Bilbo and the Dwarves.
In my view, Bombadil represented The Woodwose, the great Tree-spirit.
In my view, Bombadil represented The Woodwose, the great Tree-spirit.
Have just finished an intense reading of the first six Rivers of London and noticed that there is a graphic Novel available.
Next I am getting to grips with Mein Kampf, because I want to find out what made that madman tick!
Next I am getting to grips with Mein Kampf, because I want to find out what made that madman tick!
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Penfold and Tonyblack
Georgette Heyer's No Wind of Blame (1939). It's a melodrama comedy murder mystery. Most of the characters are playing roles in their daily life, some of them quite deliberately and obviously for their own amusement (and ours). The Scotland Yard man, Hemingway, is mildly amused by them even though their histrionics get in the way of the murder investigation. He, as his name indicates, is comparatively direct. The title is not mentioned anywhere in the book; it is an allusion to Hamlet, in a speech by Polonius, who is at that point plotting a murder.
"And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe,
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice
And call it accident."
"And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe,
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice
And call it accident."
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I'm currently reading The Ankh-Morpork Archives, Vol. 1 (i.e. the collection of Discworld diaries). I haven't had the chance to read the diaries when they first came out, so needless to say, I like this one very much. It is handsomely bound, put together and illustrated. Very nice indeed. 
I have, however, come across a typographical error on page 189, where A-M is spelled "Ankh-Mopork" (sic). Well, we all make mistakes.
Does anyone think I should write to Rob or Stephen (or someone) - not to complain, naturally, but simply to draw attention to the error so it can be corrected for future releases?
Perhaps I might even get a reply, thanking me for my letter and telling me that I have been promoted to the Deputy Subeditor to the Subeditor Deputy. (I wouldn't hold my breath, though ...) *G*
I have, however, come across a typographical error on page 189, where A-M is spelled "Ankh-Mopork" (sic). Well, we all make mistakes.
Does anyone think I should write to Rob or Stephen (or someone) - not to complain, naturally, but simply to draw attention to the error so it can be corrected for future releases?
Perhaps I might even get a reply, thanking me for my letter and telling me that I have been promoted to the Deputy Subeditor to the Subeditor Deputy. (I wouldn't hold my breath, though ...) *G*
I’ve joined a work book club, so just started reading the Booker Prize winning Girl, Woman, Other. So far so good.
My pitch to the book club (last time) was A Town Like Alice, which I hadn’t read for a very long time. Really enjoyed it (wasn’t sure I would as so much time had passed) and so did the group
My pitch to the book club (last time) was A Town Like Alice, which I hadn’t read for a very long time. Really enjoyed it (wasn’t sure I would as so much time had passed) and so did the group
Just finished my latest Tom Holt book Little People, just started The Future of Another Time Line by Annalee Newitz.
Just on the 2nd chapter but has failed to garb me yet.
In a world that's just a step away from our own, time travel is possible. But war is brewing - a secret group is trying to destroy women's rights, and their access to the timeline. If they succeed, only a small elite will have the power to shape the past, present, and future.
Our only hope lies with an unlikely group of allies, from riot grrls to suffragettes, their lives separated by centuries, battling for a world where anyone can change the future. A final confrontation is coming.
I hope it s as good as her last one Autonomous which was one of the best I had read last year.
Just on the 2nd chapter but has failed to garb me yet.
In a world that's just a step away from our own, time travel is possible. But war is brewing - a secret group is trying to destroy women's rights, and their access to the timeline. If they succeed, only a small elite will have the power to shape the past, present, and future.
Our only hope lies with an unlikely group of allies, from riot grrls to suffragettes, their lives separated by centuries, battling for a world where anyone can change the future. A final confrontation is coming.
I hope it s as good as her last one Autonomous which was one of the best I had read last year.
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I just finished reading Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas. I don't usually read memoirs, but I'm so glad I grabbed this one. It was very powerful. It had a lot of information about the immigration process that I was just completely ignorant of. He's actually going to be speaking at Thing 1's college in a couple of days and I'm hoping we can make it.
I've been going through another Georgette Heyer novel in excruciating detail, more than it really deserves. It's The Toll-Gate, and it's one that is openly acknowledged to have been shoved out the door for quick cash. Her husband apparently set it up to be a murder mystery with family intrique, but then he got sick or something and she wandered off and wrote a romance murder mystery in a setting that was originally supposed to be just a minor incident. So the whole first chapter is about people you never see or hear of again. Someone online was being snarky about the short time between first meeting and wedding, which got me checking the day count. They were wrong, it was four and a half days, not three, but there turned out to be two other little scheduling glitches that I haven't found mentioned online. One is where the author seems to have forgotten what day it was, but it can be fixed by removing one word ("Saturday") from a sentence late in the book. The other is where the author wasn't sure how long ago the robbery happened and gave two different timing statements in rapid succession. In my opinion changing the second one from three weeks to two weeks would solve that problem too. Aside from that, it's a pretty good light story with her usual large hero, a heroine who for once is close to his age and size, and suitably despicable villains and some amusing secondary characters.
I have put aside for the moment The Future of Another Time Line by Annalee Newitz because the new William Gibson's the Agent has arrived found out that it is a loose sequel to the previous one The Peripheral which I have but not read so I have started that, it is a complex story so far jumping across time zones with the connected charecters.
I'm doing a close rereading of the current paperback of Good Omens. Between the novel, the script, and the series, it gets confusing. Not quite as divergent as the various forms of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but there are shifts in emphasis. Depending on some of the changes, the motivations of the main characters change. You could do an entire college literature/writing/drama course based on these three.
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I recently finished The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher. It was a horror novel, but also funny! I was giggling by page 4. Really enjoyed it.
Right now I'm reading How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse. I grabbed it on a whim at the library, almost took it back without reading it, then gave it a try. I am beyond pleasantly surprised so far! It starts with the seed of Sleeping Beauty, but is a sci fi story set in the future. It reads like a Doctor Who episode almost.
Right now I'm reading How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse. I grabbed it on a whim at the library, almost took it back without reading it, then gave it a try. I am beyond pleasantly surprised so far! It starts with the seed of Sleeping Beauty, but is a sci fi story set in the future. It reads like a Doctor Who episode almost.
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Tonyblack
I just finished re-reading The Discworld Atlas. It was just as fun the second time around.
So I thought of starting to read Lost States, which is a somewhat-superficial-but-good-fun introduction to the US states that never made it.
I am guessing that Altered States (by the same author) is simply a re-print of the original. How do I know? Because I have the original sitting on my kitchen table, and the Amazon "Look Inside" feature showed me some of the same maps as I saw about 20 minutes ago.
So I thought of starting to read Lost States, which is a somewhat-superficial-but-good-fun introduction to the US states that never made it.
I am guessing that Altered States (by the same author) is simply a re-print of the original. How do I know? Because I have the original sitting on my kitchen table, and the Amazon "Look Inside" feature showed me some of the same maps as I saw about 20 minutes ago.
