Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by Gazella20

I want to watch the film and so I thought I'd start reading The Hobbit.

Wow! A captivating adventure. A fascinating story. A true masterpiece. Bilbo Baggins has become my favorite fictional character! Read it if you have not already done so! I hope the movie does the book justice and doesn't disappoint.

Next: The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

[Turnstone]

Originally Posted by Gazella20

Wow! A captivating adventure. A fascinating story. A true masterpiece. Bilbo Baggins has become my favorite fictional character! Read it if you have not already done so! I hope the movie does the book justice and doesn't disappoint.

The movie is quite good. Some scenes are added, and some details changed (like the dwarfs arriving the same evening Gandalf left the sign on the door, and not the next day at teatime). But all in all I enjoyed it!

[LucyLu]

Finished "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch - How I survived Nellie Oleson and learned to love being hated" By Alison Arngrim.

A funny, touching and sometimes heartbreaking narration about Arngrim childhood, growing up in Hollywood with her eccentric parents, her struggle to survive a history of traumatic abuse, depression, and paralyzing shyness.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Fbone

To cleanse the palate, I will next read My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse.

Very nice. I especially enjoyed the British slang of the time. Words like chappie, rummy and top-hole.

Next I read one of my latest purchases from BoB UK ($1.48). It's book 4 of 5 in the Escape From Furnace series by British author Alexander Gordon Smith called Fugitives. A YA sci-fi-ish book about children in prison. Somewhat shocking and lots of action. Heartbreaking sadness mixed in. Rated C+ [3 stars]. A few plot holes keep me from rating it higher. I'll finish the series sometime later.

Currently reading Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers. My first with this author but on my TBR list for awhile so when Kobo had Sayers' titles on sale for $2.02 I grabbed two.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Currently reading Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers. My first with this author but on my TBR list for awhile so when Kobo had Sayers' titles on sale for $2.02 I grabbed two.

Oooh, you have a treat in front of you. All the Sayers are classics, and Lord Peter is perfect. Strong Poison isn't, by any means, my favourite, but still quite enjoyable.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Oooh, you have a treat in front of you. All the Sayers are classics, and Lord Peter is perfect. Strong Poison isn't, by any means, my favourite, but still quite enjoyable.

Looking forward to it

The other title I picked up is Murder Must Advertise.

[HarryT]

I would recommend reading the "Lord Peter Wimsey" books in order, if you can. There's a great deal of ongoing character development as the series progresses which you'll miss otherwise.

[HarryT]

"The Secret of Annexe 3", by Colin Dexter.

The 7th book in the Inspector Morse series. After a New Year celebration in an Oxford hotel, a man is found murdered in his room in the hotel's annexe (hence the title!). An intriguing and complex investigation follows for Morse and Lewis.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. A seasonal read for the time of year and, as with all the Morse books, an excellent story. One point of interest is that this was the first Morse book to be written after the series started to be televised, and Morse and Lewis have now changed into their "TV" versions. Eg in the earlier books, Lewis is older than Morse; he's now younger! Another point of interest is that this is the third out of the seven books in the series I've so far read in which (no spoilers) the killer is not arrested at the end of the book.

[DrNefario]

I finished Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov last night, the final book of the original Foundation Trilogy. I liked the second half more than the first, and overall, I think I preferred this book to its predecessor, but thought Foundation was the best of the three.

I still don't quite understand why people like them so much. They have an important trailblazing role in the genre, but the quality is just not there. It's a bit like saying Train Arriving at a Station is one of the best movies of all time. (Okay, maybe that's harsh. A better comparison might be a classic silent movie, let's say Modern Times or Metropolis, and while they certainly have their advocates, most people won't get too much out of them now.)

[kennyc]

I have not re-read them in ages so it may be that they don't stand up. Maybe it's a trick of the tail (um....er....memory). Maybe I should consider re-reading them. ...

Thanks!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Turnstone

Yes, your post comes up on page 1000

And now it's back on page 999. Someone must have deleted posts just to foil my plan!

[Turnstone]

Originally Posted by kennyc

And now it's back on page 999. Someone must have deleted posts just to foil my plan!

Oh, that means now MY post is the first on page 1000

Currently reading a German book. Die Elefanten meines Bruders ("My brother's elephants") about a young boy with ADS. Not sure if I like it yet.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I finished Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov last night, the final book of the original Foundation Trilogy. I liked the second half more than the first, and overall, I think I preferred this book to its predecessor, but thought Foundation was the best of the three.

I still don't quite understand why people like them so much. They have an important trailblazing role in the genre, but the quality is just not there. It's a bit like saying Train Arriving at a Station is one of the best movies of all time. (Okay, maybe that's harsh. A better comparison might be a classic silent movie, let's say Modern Times or Metropolis, and while they certainly have their advocates, most people won't get too much out of them now.)

I think your last statement pretty much sums it up. When I first read the trilogy (and that's all there were then,) I couldn't put them down and read all three in a row. Having re-read them many years later, I enjoy them more as the wonderful introduction to the genre that they were for me, rather than great works of Sci-fi. But only because our tastes have evolved. Rather like downloading an episode of "Paladin" or "Sgt. Bilko," being so excited to have them, then watching and wondering what it was that made them such long running hits back in the day. Today they were 'fun,' but not raising enough interest in downloading any more episodes.


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I have not re-read them in ages so it may be that they don't stand up. Maybe it's a trick of the tail (um....er....memory). Maybe I should consider re-reading them. ...

Thanks!

I found they just didn't stand the test of time. I'm older,and the genre is older. Interesting for the historical value, however.

[gmw]

^^^
Such fickle fans. Let a mere 70 years go past and they abandon you like yesterday's socks.

Seriously though, all science fiction is a bit like that. Some stands up better than others, of course, I still like most of my Asimov collection, but much of my Clarke collection gathers dust, mostly it's the short stories that still seem to work. Jules Verne remains an amusing curiosity, but not what he must have been, though H.G. Wells continues to enthrall ... isn't that curious.

But I do think that with most of them, if you sit down with it in the right frame of mind, you can still capture some of the magic that was.