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

[dreams]

eyelash mites !

You just had to give me even more reason to feel like something is crawling all over me, didn't you?

(I won't mention how many web pages I just read about those little mites)

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

There are little bitty bugs that live their entire lives on our eyelashes. So small that they can move right under the skin where the lash emerges and go back inside again. And we never even know they are there! Everyone has 'em, and they do absolutely no harm at all.

For people who really do wish to know more in this vein, I highly recommend biology professor Roger M. Knutson's Furtive Fauna: A Field Guide to the Creatures Who Live On You, which has apparently made it to an e-book edition (I have it in paperback, along with Knutson's guide on identifying common North American animals by the shapes they leave as roadkill, which is also excellent).

As for me, I've been mostly reading books in order to find out if I want to get more books while they were still on sale.

Tia Nevitt's The Sevenfold Spell was part of her Accidental Enchantments series of fairy tale retellings out from Carina Press, and was a freebie a couple of times over the past few years, this one in particular based on the classic Sleeping Beauty tale.

This turned out to be considerably less romantic than I would have thought, and contained a fairly nifty plot underpinning addressing what would actually have happened if all the spindles (in this case, spinning wheels) in the kingdom were destroyed to protect the cursèd princess. As it turns out: a vast increase in the price of cloth which would need to be made using expensive imported thread, as well as substantial unemployment for a large number of womens' livelihoods, who would then have to consider turning to such things as sex-for-barter, in our heroine's case, at least until she can foment an alternate underground manufacturing plan.

It's nice to know that even in fairy tale kingdoms, the Marxist lesson about the importance of controlling the means of production leaks through into the multiverse.

Anyway, this contained some very funny moments and nicely-portrayed character growth of the non-traditional entrepreneurial heroine, and went in a mildly unexpected direction for me, as the usual cliché things I was expecting to happen (meets a handsome stranger who turns out to be true love, heroine immediately becomes a success and wins the admiration of all, etc.) didn't, and the usual tropes of fairy tales and romances were kind of turned over in a tongue-in-cheek way that fit well with the plot (though there was a happily ever after, eventually).

Recommended, if you happen to like humourous convention-defying fairy tale retellings which contain mildly erotic sex romps (non-explicit, but multiple partners until True Love is revealed) and an unexpected look at the socioeconomic reality of centring your public policy around fairy-laid curses (no seriously, they couldn't have just locked the single affected princess up in a tower and strip-searched with extreme prejudice any potential spindle-smuggling curse-fulfillers instead of wrecking a big chunk of their kingdom-wide peasant manufacturing base?! )

As a direct result of reading this freebie, I went on to purchase the 2nd in series, The Magic Mirror and the Seventh Dwarf, which was on sale as one of Carina Press' New Releases for $2.69 deals available on their website and price-matched elsewhere.

This turned out to be a far romantic rendition of the Snow White tale, with the twist of the dwarf being female, which was an interesting change.

Mild recommend. This was considerably more conventionally-told and thus had somewhat less appeal for me personally, though I still enjoyed reading it for the interesting look at the difficulties of "little people" finding suitable mates in an unhelpful narrative environment with certain deeply-ingrained physical expectations, and people who want more romantic focus might like it even more than the 1st. (It also contains less portrayed sex, for those who also prefer that.)

Myself, I just wanted to see more Why It's Not A Good Idea To Let Your GDP Be Dependent On Evil Fairy Christening Pronouncements™. (Really, you can always make more princesses fairly easily. Retooling your entire domestic cloth industry, not so much.)

[Joy736]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Dreams... wanna REALLY feel creepy? There are little bitty bugs that live their entire lives on our eyelashes. So small that they can move right under the skin where the lash emerges and go back inside again. And we never even know they are there! Everyone has 'em, and they do absolutely no harm at all.

Stitchawl

How do they survive on women with the mascara and all?

[samhy]

Originally Posted by Joy736

How do they survive on women with the mascara and all?

That's proof we're not the weaker sex

[gmw]

Originally Posted by dreams

[...]
Don't ask me why, but I downloaded Natural Bed Bug Treatment: How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs Without Toxic Chemicals or Insecticides (Kill Bed Bugs Fast Without Poisoning Yourself or Your Family) (Organic Pest Control) by Tvedten, Stephen.[...]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

For people who really do wish to know more in this vein, I highly recommend biology professor Roger M. Knutson's Furtive Fauna: A Field Guide to the Creatures Who Live On You, which has apparently made it to an e-book edition (I have it in paperback, along with Knutson's guide on identifying common North American animals by the shapes they leave as roadkill, which is also excellent).[...]

THIS is why I love to follow this thread! All these wonderful books that I would never have heard of otherwise. Not saying I want to read them all, but just knowing they exist is quite wonderful.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by dreams

eyelash mites !

You just had to give me even more reason to feel like something is crawling all over me, didn't you?(I won't mention how many web pages I just read about those little mites)

If you give them little endearing names and pretend they are pets, it's easier to live with the situation.

Originally Posted by Joy736

How do they survive on women with the mascara and all?

The problem isn't the mascara. It's finding shoes and a purse to match that drives 'em nuts!


Stitchawl

[maianhvk]

Reading Dreams', Stitchawl's and ATDrake's posts I now want to boil everything in the house, including me :|

I just finished a book by a well-known psychic in my country. It makes me want to leave the lights on tonight.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

Reading Dreams', Stitchawl's and ATDrake's posts I now want to boil everything in the house, including me :|

I just finished a book by a well-known psychic in my country. It makes me want to leave the lights on tonight.

And if you see the monster, then what? Since the movie 'Psycho,' many people check inside the shower stall before getting in, or look under the bed before turning out the lights. But how many actually bring a gun into the bathroom, or keep a wooden stake and mallet on the bedside table?

Personally, I rely upon my 'protection mantra,' which I recite when ever the need arises; "When in worry, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! When in worry, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!"

It works.

(Joking aside, this actually does work. It's so completely ludicrous, that when chanted in circumstances of extreme danger, the absurdity of it calms a person right down, letting them deal a bit more rationally with the situation. )


Stitchawl

[jersysman]

In addition to Storm Front, I just started reading The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I was quite impressed by On the Trail of the Space Pirates, as it turned out to be a pretty good space opera and still stayed within the parameters of the old TV show!

I also had a lot of fun reading The Black Lung Captain and its daemonic content got me in the mood to revisit Diana Rowland's Kara Gillian series with the 3rd book, Secrets of the Demon which is up next!

I'm also going to read the 14th Nancy Drew Mystery, The Whispering Statue!

The 3rd book in Diana Rowland's Kara Gillian series, Secrets of the Demon turned out to be the best in the series thus far and it really added a lot to the overall series arc as well as telling a suspenseful and exciting free-standing story. Kara Gillian is almost as much fun as Harry Dresden! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

The 14th Nancy Drew Mystery, The Whispering Statue was quite interesting to me as I remember the title from when I read it in elementary school but remembered nothing else about it. It was a fun and nostalgic read though.

Now on to The Space Pioneers by Carey Rockwell, the 4th selection in the Tom Corbett Omnibus and the 4th book in Diana Rowland's Kara Gillian series, Sins of the Demon.

[CRussel]

The first of the actual Albert Campion books by Margery Allingham - Mystery Mile. (He appears in The Crime at Black Dudley, but isn't really the central character yet.)

I've seen the BBC presentations of these books, and they're very good. But the books themselves are even better. What a delight to read, I'm very much looking forward to reading the others.

[LovesMacs]

Originally Posted by jersysman

In addition to Storm Front, I just started reading The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote.

The Civil War trilogy by Shelby Foote is an excellent read. I don't remember half the details from it now but it was an enjoyable experience.

I've just begun Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. My only previous experience with C.S. Lewis is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe so I'm not sure what to expect.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The first of the actual Albert Campion books by Margery Allingham - Mystery Mile. (He appears in The Crime at Black Dudley, but isn't really the central character yet.)

I've seen the BBC presentations of these books, and they're very good. But the books themselves are even better. What a delight to read, I'm very much looking forward to reading the others.

This is a wonderful witty, wacky, yet erudite series. "Black Dudley" is just plain odd. But the ensuing volumes have some great screwball type mysteries .... and the latter volumes in the series shifted to a more sinister psychological type of crime & criminal. Her last Campions were compared with Patricia Highsmith's writing - for creating sociopathic villains more interesting than the cops.

[Gazella]

Originally Posted by Gazella

Next: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

That was an excellent novel. I've read a lot of books and only a few had memorable characters like this one.


Now my next read will either be The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller or The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. I can't make up my mind!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The first of the actual Albert Campion books by Margery Allingham - Mystery Mile. (He appears in The Crime at Black Dudley, but isn't really the central character yet.)

I've seen the BBC presentations of these books, and they're very good. But the books themselves are even better. What a delight to read, I'm very much looking forward to reading the others.

Are they available as ebooks in the US now?