The Book Thread

[Seymour]

Has anybody ever read any of Sneaky Pie Brown's murder mysteries? My mom likes to read them because they are full of animals that talk and solve mysteries. They are smarter than the Big People. I like the picture of Sneaky Pie. She's the most beautifullest lady who writes books I've ever seen. :smallheart: :smallheart: :smallheart:
:catn:


Oh yeah, her mom is named Rita Mae Brown. She helps Sneaky Pie sometimes.

[Bowwowmeow]

I am almost finished with Alone With the Horrors by Ramsey Campbell. He is an excellent horror fiction writer. This is a collection of his best short stories.

[Gliondrach]

I read a couple of books by Robert Weinberg few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. They are fantasy-fiction. A Modern Magician, and A Calculated Magic. They are humorous. A mathematician has been employed by Merlin to help in the fight against malevolent mythical characters who are trying to take over the world.

At the moment, I am reading Without Mercy, by Jack Higgins. I like his books about Sean Dillon. The plots are quite similar but I like the character of Dillon He reminds me of me. We are both resourceful, charming, valiant and determined.

[thevegantwins]

Reading Julian Barnes' latest, Arthur & George(very good so far, fictional account of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & George Eydjli)

and

Elena Ferrante (Italian author), The Days of Abandonment

[Caprita]

Currently reading "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams :marv:



I'm really glad to have finally found it! :D

[Willow]

Currently reading "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams :marv:



I'm really glad to have finally found it! :D

LOVED that book! For my birthday a few years back, my mom gave me a big volume containing all of Adams's books in the series. I was at a very low point in my life at the time, and those books are the only thing that made me laugh then. When I read them, I completely got lost in the realm of the stories... Brilliantly written, very creative, and absolutely hillarious!

Sounds like you're really enjoying it too :D

[Caprita]

Willow: last evening when I read some more of it, I simply burst into laughter at one point, making everyone turn their heads in amusement/astonishment, because I rarely laugh out loud. So yeah, that qualifies as enjoying it! :D

[Gliondrach]

I haven't read Hitchhiker but I have heard the series on radio and saw the one on television. Zaphod Beeblebrox is my favourite character.

I've started reading The Darling Buds Of May, again. The whole series is being repeated on telly. I almost bought the complete series on dvd last week because it has been reduced from £40 to £25. But I didn't buy it.

I love those stories. The family are so in love with life. Apart from their meat eating, they are almost perfick. The village where the first series was filmed, Pluckley, is said to be the most haunted in the UK or England.

[Gliondrach]

That reminds me, I want to read the My Uncle Silas stories, which are also by H. E. Bates. He wrote the Darling Buds books. I've only seen those stories on television. Silas is another larger than life character.

[thevegantwins]

I've started reading The Darling Buds Of May, again. The whole series is being repeated on telly. I almost bought the complete series on dvd last week because it has been reduced from £40 to £25. But I didn't buy it.

I love those stories. The family are so in love with life. Apart from their meat eating, they are almost perfick. The village where the first series was filmed, Pluckley, is said to be the most haunted in the UK or England.

I was such a huge fan of that series when they used to run it on PBS (public broadcasting). I loved how close the family was and how bucolic their homelife (minus the animal mistreatment). You could certainly tell that C. Zeta-Jones had star quality back then. Though I think that was her best role I've seen her in.

[SinnerCal]

How sad is this book title? :sorry: (Spotted it in my local library collection.)

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
Stories About Pets as Teachers, Healers, Heroes and Friends

by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker, D.V.M. & Carol Kline

Animals bring out the goodness, humanity and optimism in people and speak directly to our souls. This joyous, inspiring and entertaining Chicken Soup collection relates the unique bonds between animals and the people whose lives they've changed. Such as the dolphins who helped a paralyzed woman heal when doctors offered little hope; the dog who brought life into a failing marriage; the kitten who helped a mother mourn; and the flying squirrel who taught a man the power of laughter.

Packed with celebrity pet-lore, Chicken Soup for the Soul relates the unconditional love, loyalty, courage and companionship that only animals possess. Just like our furry, feathered and four-legged friends**, this enchanting book will bring a smile to any pet lover's face … and it's housebroken!

** Aren't chickens our feathered friends too? :(

[thevegantwins]

There's a whole series of those Chicken Soup books in the US. It is a vile title based on the assumption that chicken soup is a comfort food. It certainly isn't very comforting for the chickens!! :mad:

I'm reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America. The author, Barbara Ehrenreich, goes 'undercover' and tries to make a living in different areas of the US by working minimum wage or below minimum wage jobs. The book got rave reviews but I suppose if you are a middle-class or upper-class person who has no idea how others live, this book would be an eye-opener but for someone like me, who has worked at a welfare agency for 13 years and have seen the effects of poverty daily, this book actually whitewashes how bad it really is for the majority of the population.

[Gliondrach]

I was such a huge fan of that series when they used to run it on PBS (public broadcasting). I loved how close the family was and how bucolic their homelife (minus the animal mistreatment). You could certainly tell that C. Zeta-Jones had star quality back then. Though I think that was her best role I've seen her in.

I'm sure I read that Pam Ferris, who played the part of Ma, was a vegan when she was making the series. She is now a vegetarian.

[thevegantwins]

I'm sure I read that Pam Ferris, who played the part of Ma, was a vegan when she was making the series. She is now a vegetarian.
That's great, now I'm going to have to rent the series from the library (I saw it there before) to see if Ma eats any of the animal products she serves. I know she drank alot of tea and booze but that could have easily been water.

[Gliondrach]

You do see her tucking into the food but I haven't noticed what it was.

[Keykeypie]

:reading: I have read 2 AR related books recently. One I absolutely loved :smallheart: & the other I just hated.:grumble:

I loved Utopia Today, Reality Tomorrow (http://www.european-vegetarian.org/lang/en/info/publications/veggieworld.php)from the European Vegetarian Union.....it's a beautiful book written by many people from different places & countries predicting the future of how and why the changes will come about.
Many predict the UK will be 80% vegetarian by 2050

http://www.european-vegetarian.org/lang/en/info/publications/veggieworld.php

And email addresses are included after each chapter so you can let the
writers know what you thought.

The one I disliked, although it got a bunch of 5 star reviews on Amazon,
Was "Capers in the Churchyard" by Lee Hall.

I thought it was poorly written, & just a mean spirited account of
mistakes AR people & organizations have made. People like Capt Paul Watson, Steven Best, Ingrid Newkirk, just to name a few, & little or no mention of all the good they've done.

It took the author 137 boring pages to tell me the best thing we can do to help animals is go vegan & that if you attack people they get pissed off & resent you.:dizzy:

But again......according to the reviews on Amazon....."everybody else"
just loved it.....said it was the best book they ever read....bla bla bla

But..........two AR friends I know personally have not been able to get
past the first couple of chapters.......
I'd love to hear from anyone here who's read either of these books. :reading:

Thanks

[Gliondrach]

No, I haven't read them. The only AR books I've read are Animal Liberation and Fettered Kingdoms.

[thevegantwins]

I'm a Jane Austen fan, particularly Pride & Prejudice especially after the BBC version with Colin Firth :nanakiss: . I saw in the library a few weeks ago that an author, Linda Berdoll, had written a continuation of Prise & Prejudice, beginning after the wedding of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. I thought the book would be horrible but since I was sick, I checked it out anyway. It was excellent, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I did the 2nd in the series.

So, I highly recommend:

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife
Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley
both by Linda Berdoll

Her bio in the back of the book describes the release of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife appearing "to the acclaim of readers and the horror of Jane Austen purists." I guess I'm not a Jane Austen purist. :)

[thevegantwins]

I just finished The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera. I saw the movie when it came out and loved it so much that I bought the DVD. The book is nothing like the movie. In some ways, it is more beautiful and moving. Much more connected to nature and the earth. I think it is a perfect book for children, especially young girls.

[Bowwowmeow]

I'll have to check that out vegantwins. I got a Barnes and Noble gift card from a customer, and I'll be needing something to read after I finish Take Off Your Glasses and SEE by Jacob Liberman.
I read like I eat. :reading: :eat: :hungry: :o

[thevegantwins]

I'm betting after you read it, it will end up 'gifted' to your niece. Never to young to teach them Girl Power!:femme:

[thevegantwins]

I just finished, or more correctly devoured a book called Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka. I read her first book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian about a year ago and enjoyed it. This book was even better. It takes place in England and discusses how illegals from Eastern Europe and Asia are treated in the UK and exploited and forced into slave labor conditions for the sex trade, produce or slaughterhouse. The author describes in vivid detail what takes place at a friendly chicken 'farm' from the time the chickens are being raised until post-slaughter. I highly recommend this book.

[Bowwowmeow]

I just read a book called "Murder Most Fab" not too long ago, by some guy I'd never heard of before named Julian Clary. :whistle:
I read it from cover to cover, and couldn't put it down til I was finished! :thumbsup:

[Gliondrach]

I bet it's not as good as Barbara Cartland's books. I have all hers. They are even better than Mills and Boon.

[idbeholda]

I've always found conspiracy books fun to read. I consider them literary Jerry Springer episodes. One book I do recommend for sheer mind-fuck value is The Atlantis Blueprint.

The rest of the books I read are usually technical books on physics, mathematics, chemistry, programming and the occult. In that regard, my reading material would probably bore most.

Oh, then there's also choose your own adventure books. Those are always fun.

[nagev]

I'm currently attempting to read The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom (not a fictional work). I read part of it a long time ago, but couldn't get past a certain part. Re-reading it, I think I understand why. It makes me feel bad...

[nagev]

Started reading 80/10/10 a week or so ago. I'm about a third of the way through. Some good information, some that I'm not too sure of.

[ninjajane]

I've just finished Evil Spirits - a very disappointing bio of Oliver Reed's life. It was more about the films he made and how drunk he was when he made them, than why he drank etc :(

and yesterday I finished Into the Darkest Corner by Elisabeth Haynes - I couldn't put in down (finished it at 2am this morning) excellent book, quite harrowing :( but recommended

[Blueshark]

I am reading the 'Diary of a Nobody' It is a fictional diary of a Victorian family man.

[Gliondrach]

I've just finished Evil Spirits - a very disappointing bio of Oliver Reed's life. It was more about the films he made and how drunk he was when he made them, than why he drank etc :(

and yesterday I finished Into the Darkest Corner by Elisabeth Haynes - I couldn't put in down (finished it at 2am this morning) excellent book, quite harrowing :( but recommended

I liked Ollie Reed.

What's the Darkest Corner one about?

I am reading the 'Diary of a Nobody' It is a fictional diary of a Victorian family man.

That was serialised on radio a few years ago. I meant to listen to it but didn't.

[ninjajane]

Into the Darkest Corner is about domestic abuse and OCD. Subjects I wouldn't normally read but it really was an excellent book, couldn't put it down.

Was disappointed with the Reed one, I was expecting more about why he drank etc. Have Elizabeth Taylors bio, Alice in Wonderland and One Day (film was excellent) to read next :)

[Gliondrach]

What - the Lewis Carroll Alice? Never read it but I like the Jabberwocky poem from one of those books.

I haven't read another children's classic: The Wind in the Willows, but will one day.

[ninjajane]

yup the Lewis Caroll one. Met lots of different people last year who said it was their favourite book, so figured would try and see what the fuss is about.

[Gliondrach]

Remember to beware the Jubjub bird!

[Bladerunner]

Not as frightening as the Jabberwock though...The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

[Gliondrach]

But as long as you have a vorpal blade there's nothing to fear.

[Bladerunner]

But as long as you have a vorpal blade there's nothing to fear.

But what would Donald Watson say about our bloodthirsty actions? Although it can be seen as self-preservation....;)

[Gliondrach]

:rubchin:

[Bladerunner]

I am reading the 'Diary of a Nobody' It is a fictional diary of a Victorian family man.I seem to remember reading and enjoying this maybe 10 years ago.


Best book I've ever read is "The Dark Threads" by Jean Davison. Tells what it was like to be born and live in a Bradford slum 60 years ago: to be shy and badly bullied at school: to be wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia and to be treated with ECT and strong drugs in one of the old Vicorian mental asylums: to overcome all this, write a book about it and become a mental health professional. And it's written with a wicked sense of humour (I think that's why she married me!):colors:

[Gliondrach]

I'll have to read that. A lot of younger people would find it hard to believe that just a few decades ago there was a lot of legally enforced injustice - such as what happened to your wife, and how unmarried mothers could have their babies taken away from them. Some were put in mental hospitals. And thousands of children from children's homes were sent to Australia where many were mistreated.