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12-05-2019, 08:08 PM | #46 |
o saeclum infacetum
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Now that the nominations are winding down, I feel as if I can breathe a public sigh of relief that a book I loathed but dreaded might be suggested didn't get nominated. Early this year, I read, that is, abandoned, The Library Book by Susan Orleans, which heads my list of worst of the year. Shallow, smug, elitist and self-involved, Orleans made a dog's breakfast of a subject I thought was a slam-dunk for me, the fire that destroyed the Los Angeles Public Library. While the book was surprisingly (to me) popular, my short, negative review at Goodreads got a ton of likes, so it's not just me. But it's a book about books, and I was apprehensive.
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12-05-2019, 08:43 PM | #47 |
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Part of what bugs me about Amazon (apart from the particular problem I had) is that I used to have a US account before they moved into Australia, and was no longer allowed to use it once they did.
All well and good except that they are flogging all sorts of stuff to Australians from their Australian headquarters, but hastily send all the profits overseas and are paying hardly any tax in Australia despite supposedly doing business here. |
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12-05-2019, 08:44 PM | #48 | |
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12-05-2019, 09:03 PM | #49 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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12-05-2019, 10:08 PM | #50 | |
cacoethes scribendi
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The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot. HarryT mentioned this on another thread some time ago, and it sounds interesting. But it's also very long and very expensive. Empires of the Word: A language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler. So this one might have been a stretch for the theme, since it's not specifically about books, but it's been on my wish list for a long while. It is also quite long and very expensive. There were more, but some were excluded on the grounds that I couldn't find ebook editions. |
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12-05-2019, 10:25 PM | #51 |
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12-06-2019, 07:01 AM | #52 | ||
o saeclum infacetum
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To offset The Library Book, I'd like to mention another book that fits the theme but is too short for a club discussion. I was totally charmed by The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, which is the account of how Elizabeth II discovered reading. Very funny and insightful, it made my ten-best list the year I read it.
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12-06-2019, 07:42 AM | #53 | |
cacoethes scribendi
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12-06-2019, 02:05 PM | #54 | |
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Among the books I considered are these. Unbuttoning America: A Biography of Peyton Place by Ardis Cameron. I really wanted to nominate this, but in some countries only the audiobook is available, and even where the ebook is available, it's expensive, so I reluctantly passed on it. Spoiler:
The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. I was shocked that this one isn't available everywhere, but it isn't. Spoiler:
When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning. This was my first choice, but, again, geographical restrictions killed it. Spoiler:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. While there were no availability problems with this one, I didn't think of it till the other day and figured there are enough nominations already. Spoiler:
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12-06-2019, 02:30 PM | #55 | ||
o saeclum infacetum
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Last edited by issybird; 12-06-2019 at 03:03 PM. |
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12-06-2019, 03:00 PM | #56 |
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I was quite surprised when no one nominated The Book Thief - it was the first book that came to mind when we chose the theme. I briefly considered it, because so many people love it, but it sort of reminded me too much of The Little Matchgirl.
Last edited by Victoria; 12-06-2019 at 03:28 PM. |
12-06-2019, 04:01 PM | #57 |
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I will out myself as the one who hated The Book Thief! I thought it was a cheap exploitative hopping onto the bandwagon of the horrors of the Nazi regime.
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12-06-2019, 06:41 PM | #58 |
cacoethes scribendi
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The Book Thief is still sitting unread on my reader. Each time I think about reading it I'm put off by the possibility of either Victoria's reaction or Bookpossum's . It will be interesting to see what my actual reaction is when I get around to it. My lack of enthusiasm for starting it meant I wasn't inclined to nominate it.
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12-06-2019, 09:25 PM | #59 |
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I loved The Book Thief. The movie was good too!
I also liked The Library Book, although it could have been better organized and it wasn’t much about the arson as about a lot of other things about libraries. The audiobook narration was not good (read by the author). I should have read the ebook. I also liked The Uncommon Reader. I figured several might have already read it. |
12-06-2019, 09:30 PM | #60 | |
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