Posts by Ngaire BookieMonster
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"Hogfather" - the movie -is apparently on, on Thursday evening
Sadly I've not been impressed with any of the Pterry live action adaptations. Which makes me very very sads.
But a Hogfather re-read could definitely be on the cards!
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My re-reads are the entire Terry Pratchett oeuvre (each Discworld title has been read at least 3 times, some more), a Canadian book called Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald, When We Were Orphans and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro and, for some reason that probably should be left alone but really comes down to Nabokov being brilliant, Lolita.
When I was younger I read The Neverending Story over and over and over - I may have taken the title a bit literally.
For 8 year old - this may be an obvious suggestion from me but the Pterry YA titles? The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is pretty damn cool.
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Oh, and I just read up on Manic Pixie Dream Girls and LOLzed. I had no idea they'd been given a title, but I couldn't agree more.
It's that character I wished I was and also found intensely irritating.
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Oh my! That's me! I'm flattered and, um, ever so slightly stunned too!! I'm going to stop now before my exclamation point use descends into Pterry "underpants on head" territory, but needless to say - wow, thanks!
I don't keep lists of what I read either, though now, through my blog, I have a (sort of) record. This year for the very first time I experienced a "This is all very familiar. I think I've read this? Have I read this?" moment when starting a book. 3 pages in I realised I had indeed read it and had no desire to read it again. It was a bit like discovering your first grey hair.
Thanks for the link to that Sam Anderson article, that was an interesting read - funnily enough I have read Oscar Wao and I didn't think of it as short at all, which I guess is partly the article's point. I think though that it is one of those things that inspires a "locational" response - the Americans loved it and, like Anderson, think of it as wildly, amazingly innovative. I could see why it's talked of that way, but felt that my response was muted by not being in, or having a living experience of, that sort of urban/American/Hispanic hybrid society. It wasn't that the cultural references passed me by (though I'm sure plenty did), it was more a lack of resonance. (So you should read it, is what I'm trying to say.)
Also, my reading of books is more about getting away from the "34 nested browser tabs" then emulating that experience.
And, BTW, I've just started The Little Stranger - it has been a bit of a slow start, so will let you know how it goes...I'm pretty hopeful though, Waters has previously been a pretty safe bet with me. This has been a bit of year for disappointed high hopes though, so we shall see.
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Ngaire, two hairy orange thumbs up to Unseen Academicals! I can hardly bear the thought that it might be the last, so I am refusing to think that. BTW, has anyone cracked the Iradne Comb-Buttworthy anagram yet?
Ack, perish the thought. But, it does look likely. Which is an huge, huge loss to the world.
I also read Nation at the beginning of this year, so you can add that in to my list too. Such a sad book in so many ways. Ah, makes me a bit teary even thinking about it.
Not as far as I'm aware! And I'm total pants at that sort of thing, myself.
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On the "best books of this year" theme, to be entirely predictable I would have to include Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett.
It's witterary. Yuk yuk.
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I'm tempted to try Jasper fforde again on the basis of the enthusiasm here. I so wanted to love him (for the dodos alone!) but it just all got a smidge too whimsical for me. At the time, anyway. I'll try again.
I would recommend trying the Nursery Crimes series then (The Big Over Easy and The Fourth Bear) - I actually think these are overshadowed by the Thursday Next series but are just as good, if not better.
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I wish I'd thought to write "Fforde is ffantastic"...
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Kyle - totally second your thoughts about Dame Judith's accident - I was quite devastated when I heard. And thanks for enlightening me. ;)
Paul - Fforde is fantastic! You won't be disappointed (she says confidently). I'm sure we'll see you on the site again soon! :)
I've heard other wonderful things about The Ask and the Answer - and The Knife of Never Letting Go (its predecessor).
I've defended Catcher in the Rye to several people this year. Seems I might be in a minority here, though! If anyone here listens to the Slate Audio Book Club podcast they had a great discussion on Catcher in the Rye earlier this year. -
I just want to call you BookieMonster all the time. Such a great name :-)
Please do, I've got no problems with that! :)
Craig - excuse my ignorance, but what does QFT stand for?