Random books from MyopicBookworm's library

Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson

Arms of Nemesis: a mystery of ancient Rome by Steven Saylor

The Tricksters by Margaret Mahy

The Oxford Companion to the Year by Bonnie J. Blackburn

How to Enjoy Your Weeds by Audrey Wynne Hatfield

One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis

Ecology for Beginners by Stephen Croall

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Member connections

Friends: kranf, lesleyap, mysticskeptic, principii, rossiele, SimonW11, ZiaSun

Interesting libraries: amvhoward, Arctic-Stranger, cnb, dandiffendale, holy.cow, HornOrSilk, hughbowden, kranf, muumi, rorrison, rossiele, ushishir

LibraryThing authors: Jonathon Green (abecedary), Jeremy Marshall (Celebrimbor), John Reed (easyreeder)

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MyopicBookworm's reviews

Reviews of MyopicBookworm's books, not including MyopicBookworm's

Member: MyopicBookworm

Library3,717 books — see library

Reviews51 reviews — see reviews

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Tagschildren's (529), fantasy (430), [LR] (244), SF (229), poetry (223), Inklings (216), humour (199), historical fiction (185), 20th century fiction (183), crime fiction (180) — see all tags

GroupsA Pearl of Wisdom and Enlightenment, Brits, Children's Fiction, Combiners!, Faith and Reason, Gardening, Inklings, INTPs, LibraryThing-ers Anonymous, Lingua Latina — show all groups

Favorite authorsIain Banks, Lindsey Davis, E. R. Eddison, David Gemmell, Geraldine Harris, Richard Holloway, Guy Gavriel Kay, C. S. Lewis, Jan Mark, Michael Scott Rohan, J.R.R. Tolkien, A. Wainwright (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBritish Red Cross Bookshop, Oxfam Bookshop

About me I am a pathological bibliophile, married to another one. We live amidst a lot of books.
(I was so excited when I discovered LibraryThing that I actually wriggled and squeaked!)

Currently reading (or dipping into): Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore; Urania by Ruth Pitter. Just finished: Class by Jilly Cooper; The Broken Bridge by Philip Pullman; The Small World of Fred Hoyle.

About my library A very high proportion of our collection is second hand, and some of it is bibliographically challenging. Unfortunately much of it is in boxes, but now I have found LibraryThing, I can catalogue the contents of the boxes! (I'm slightly appalled to discover how much unread SF is lurking under the bed!) Much of the non-fiction was acquired in the half-conscious belief that, if you are interested in a subject, having a book on your shelves will somehow result in the osmotic transfer of information into your brain. It doesn't seem to be working yet.

For information (broadly):
his zoology, poetry, Zen, much of the theology, most of the SF, and the bulk of the Inklings collection;
hers classics (Latin & Greek), folktale, explorers, 19th-century fiction, GirlsOwn collection (including a whole box of Chalet School paperbacks I just found in the bottom of the wardrobe!).
both everything else...
But the whole process has been slowed up to an enormous degree by the arrival of TinyBookworm. I'm finally tackling our monumental children's book collection. I think I'll leave the Loebs and other heavy classical stuff till later.

I don't think we will appear very high on many other users' "weighted" book-sharing lists, because any substantial overlap in a particular sphere is diluted by the diversity of the collection.

Tagging Notes
"Inklings" I apply to books by or about Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their circle. I seem to have rather a lot. Books about (not by) Lewis and Tolkien are also tagged "Lewis/Tolkien studies". For the related non-Inklings authors George MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton, and Dorothy L. Sayers, I have introduced the tag "VII" (alluding to the literary journal "Seven").

The tag "children's literature" I use for books about children's literature, not for examples of the genre, which are simply tagged "children's". I'm still experimenting with "YA", as it's not easy to tell which books are really intended for 'young adults'. (What a silly term: really it means 'older children'. But they say that in dealing with adolescents, the trick is to treat them like children while making them think that you're treating them like adults!) Fairytales are tagged "fairytales"; the tag "fairytale" indicates a book about fairytales.

The tag "[EXPORT]/[EXPORTED]" means that the book is either on the "out" pile or has gone to the Oxfam shop (or wherever)! But for the moment I will keep "exported" books in the catalogue to retain the links to reviews etc.

Oh, and the loobry is the collection of books on the windowsill by the loo.

Note to Self: Rel. Box 3 is currently in [DR2]

Rating Notes
***** Indispensable.
**** This is really rather good
*** I'm glad I've read/got this.
** It's OK.
* Could have lived without this one.

Uninteresting Libraries
As of 13 July 2007, the catalogs in the top 100 (by size) with which we share the fewest books are:

booksnmusic 4/5,796
mmckenzie 4/5,099
libvicki 12/10,753
The_Gedaks 11/5,990
sciezka 11/5,404
lycanthropist 16/7,217
(plus two institutional libraries, KLSatNUHT 5/6,296 and Quatrefoil_library 16/9,222)

Most popular author not represented in the library: No. 2: Stephen King.
Most popular book we haven't got/read: No. 18: Life of Pi.
Highest rank on the "largest libraries" list: No. 339 (26-iv-2008).

Homepagehttp://myopicbookworm.blogspot.com/

LocationUK

Emailmyopicbookwormbtinternet.com

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/MyopicBookworm (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/MyopicBookworm (library)

Member sinceNov 24, 2006

Comments from other LibraryThing-ers

(Leave a comment.)

I can totally relate to your struggles with heavy clay soil. When I lived in Seattle, the clay was so bad that it sounded (and felt) like a rock when you hit it with a shovel! Worse, our property was borderline wetland, with many active springs, so the ground was squishy for most of the year. I put my boyfriend to work double digging future garden beds, and mixed the chunked-up clay with equal amounts of compost. By the time we sold the place, I could stick my arm in to the elbow with no resistance. Portland has clay too, but it is much more manageable.

If you are going to taste the Camassia, just be sure you don't have Zigadenus, aka Deathcamas. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on Camassia.

I think the most fun plant I grew in Seattle was Gunnera. It is a coarse looking plant, not at all elegant, but it grew well at the edge of the wetland, and looked so dramatic with those gigantic leaves. This one is also supposed to be edible, but I never tried it.

posted by oregonobsessionz at 8:47 pm (EST) on May 5, 2008

I had to check your profile when I saw that you had Camassia in your garden. Not at all what I expected! It is a native plant here and was traditionally used as a food source, but I suppose you are growing it as an ornamental. But of course the climates are compatible, and we grow many British plants here.

I love your list of Uninteresting Libraries. Just what I need - another way to waste time on LT!

posted by oregonobsessionz at 7:00 pm (EST) on May 2, 2008

We seem to have a lot of overlap on the theology and cookbook sectors. And there will be more as I get more in. I've slowed down, though. The stack of things I want to reread has gotten to high.

posted by MarthaJeanne at 2:17 pm (EST) on Apr 24, 2008

I am amazed (!) that I'd said elephant and child. . . . the moreso since I've been suggesting this book for many years. OK, to redeem myself, may I send you to Hoban's "Kleinzeit" which I know almost by heart. (I never made it thru "Riddley Walker," but loudly applaud "Her Name Was Lola," "The Bat Tattoo," "Turtle Diary" (book & movie), and the complicated "The Lion of Boaz-Jachin & Jachin Boaz.") You are ahead of me on "Fremder". . . should I hunt it down?

posted by Esta1923 at 4:42 pm (EST) on Mar 15, 2008

Glad you have a tear for "The Elephant and His Child." This is a book I wish every LT-er would read. I've shared it with many people thru the years (and, yes, tears even after multiple readings!)

posted by Esta1923 at 5:08 pm (EST) on Mar 13, 2008

Always happy for people to drop by!

Yes, our shared list is interesting, 'though I have to confess that the rarer ones we have in common tend to be the childrens' books which is my wife's thing rather than mine: she's never met a Puffin book she didn't like. Okay, to be fair it's more: she's never met a Puffin book she isn't at least willing to give a try!

posted by bookzombie at 9:19 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

Who says bibliophiles have no sense of humour or fun. Yes, I wriggled too discovering Librarything.
Inklings, what are inklings? I suppose I'll just have to "run and find out" myself.
There's a lvely overlap of our libraries so far. I wish I had time to stay and browse just now, but I have an assignment due in 14 hours.

posted by Denise_Tzumli at 5:05 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

I felt the same way when I found LT! You have an interesting library (looks a lot like mine, if I ever finish the list).

posted by ZiaSun at 12:21 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2008

Yes, you do have a lovely library. I'm looking forward to seeing how many more books we share, as I keep adding more of my collection.

-Janiece

posted by janoorani24 at 2:33 am (EST) on Feb 3, 2008

The Ngaio Marsh was the starter, then I stayed to say "oooh , that sounds interesting I want to read that... and that, and then, as usual I lost an hour or so when I was supposed to be cataloging my own library. Thanks for sharing your collection. It's amazing.

posted by cotonmom at 11:43 am (EST) on Jan 22, 2008

Haha! Somebody else who knows the INKLINGS! Okay so maybe I've been an ostrich but that's so cool. (Better said, I was probably in a book while the rest of the world noticed. Cue: DUH.) Anyway, my hubby and I sound like yourselves, piled in there somewhere with the books. :)

I thought that perhaps y'all would enjoy this excerpt from Italo Calvino's book, If on a winter's night a traveler... that is of course unless you've already read it/heard of it/whatnot.

And I was nicely surprised to find that I was not the originator of the idea of giving one's offspring a LibraryThing account. Ours is due in March (the offspring, not the account). So anyway!

Cheers! :)
Lindsey

AH... grrr, okay, almost forgot!! Here's the link to the excerpt!
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/~pwillen1/lit/winter.htm

:)

posted by principii at 9:04 pm (EST) on Nov 13, 2007

Thanks for the comment,which really made my wife and I laugh. as its not too far off the mark at that. But then what are houses for,if not to fill them with books. Good insulation too.(thats my excuse anyway)

posted by devenish at 3:33 am (EST) on Nov 5, 2007

yes indeed one of the children wonders if / assumes that a thrush will still be eating a snail as I recall. while I was aghast at their missing something that to me seemed obvious.

one carefully planted conversation telling me my fears were false would have been sufficent.

posted by SimonW11 at 3:11 am (EST) on Oct 27, 2007

oh yes strange ending I remember thinking as they stepped through to the other world that they would not live long enough to return.

posted by SimonW11 at 8:04 am (EST) on Oct 26, 2007

I've taken a quick look for interest's sake and I might try methodically hunting out least-similar libraries myself, when I get the bulk of my books up on LT. If I did it too much sooner, the data might be quite inaccurate, and if there is no shortcut, I'd hate to repeat the process. The cataloguing process took a step backwards as I just today realized that I missed an entire closetful of books in a room that I had thought was completely finished, which was mildly disconcerting.

posted by muumi at 11:33 pm (EST) on Oct 8, 2007

I'm not even sure where I got the St Frideswide book - I've never been to Oxford! OH of course. Because of the wood engravings in the book, it was sold at Raven Press gallery on the Isle of Skye. (link: http://www.craftsonskye.org.uk/Raven_Press_Gallery.html)

Friends of mine lived in Avoch on the Black Isle and then in Borreraig, Isle of Skye, for several years and we were fortunate enough to be able to visit them several times. I'll buy any book about Skye (or Barra, or the Uists, or the further isles) that I possibly can.... the fact that I only have 8 books tagged "Skye" reflects a sad lack of opportunity (and perhaps also the fact that many of my books on Scotland are in a room which is largely uncatalogued).

posted by muumi at 5:24 pm (EST) on Oct 5, 2007

I think your library is interesting, too - it certainly has variety! I'm quite flattered to have my books chosen as interesting by an equally "pathological bibliophile". I'm impressed by your Inklings collection - and by your organization. I should have started a lot earlier noting in LT where the books were. Although I've only got about half catalogued, I already find myself thinking - do I really have that book, and if so, where?

posted by muumi at 8:34 pm (EST) on Oct 3, 2007

Ah, well since about half of my collection is crime fiction of one sort or another that was bound to raise the similarity quotient, if of course its the "good' stuff! See ya on the talk boards.

posted by quartzite at 5:28 pm (EST) on Sep 6, 2007

I also am stronger on reading Lewis and Tolkien than Williams and Barfield.
I believe I have read all the Williams books I own except All Hallows Eve, and
I have read the 2 Barfield books I own, but I do not find them as interesting as Lewis or Tolkien, and I do not reread them the way I have reread Lewis and Tolkien
for many years.

posted by antiquary at 1:00 pm (EST) on Aug 30, 2007

I see we share a strong interest in the Inklings.

posted by antiquary at 3:24 pm (EST) on Aug 27, 2007

Thanks for advice, last month, and apologies for delay in acknowledging.
Hope life is treating you well.
;)

posted by leanansidhe at 8:42 am (EST) on Aug 24, 2007

I hope you don't mind that I have added you to my "interesting libraries" list. Your collection is truly interesting, especially that big Inklings section...

posted by Romanus at 11:09 am (EST) on Aug 22, 2007

Hello,
I've just come across your library,and I must say I found it a very interesting one to scan,especially the 'Inklings' section.What a great collection of books by and about this wonderful group.
I was also taken by your imaginative profile page.The picture that heads it is repeated with me on a favourite print that hangs on my study wall.Also liked the loobry description and the uninteresting libraries.
If it is ok with you perhaps I can add you to my 'Interesting Libraries' list
Best wishes

posted by devenish at 2:36 am (EST) on Aug 11, 2007

Hi. Thanks for your comments. 25 years of collecting has helped us acquire some rarities, much of the rarer Tolkien was acquired before the film hype drove prices up! Songs for the Philologists was a matter of being in the right place, we had been saving up for a replacement (not new) car when a bookseller friend said they'd come across another bookseller who had a copy for sale. The price almost exactly matched what we had saved, it didn't take us long to decide that the existing car could be kept going for another couple of years! I still try to keep up with books about Tolkien although I'm behind with both buying and reading at the moment.

posted by Rivendell at 4:32 pm (EST) on Aug 7, 2007

I appreciate your clarification. My ratings for Van Vogt novels are based more on my overall evaluation of the author rather than the individual book. However, I do not remember being disappointed with any of his books. Others that I found particularly memorable include The World of Null-A, The Weapon Shops of Isher, and Empire of the Atom. I particularly liked his use of a 'superman' type of individual as protagonist. This is similar to other books that I like such as: The Count of Monte Cristo, THe Fountainhead and Robinson Crusoe.

- Jim

posted by jwhenderson at 2:44 pm (EST) on Jul 19, 2007

Thanks for the observation about my ratings for Van Vogt. A. E. Van Vogt certainly was among my favorite authors when I was reading his novels more than thirty years ago. The Voyage of the Space Beagle is probably my favorite. I'm not sure if he is in the same literary league with Conrad and Mann, but due to the sheer enjoyment he has given me I believe he deserves to be there. Like most of us my library is in the process of being catalogued. There may be other authors I add to my favorites as I edit the details of my library.

posted by jwhenderson at 1:28 pm (EST) on Jul 18, 2007

ohhhh you reminded me to update my stats. I am now up to 40 books. Ha. When I made that I forgot one important detail, Grad school does not leave a lot of time for personal reading challenges.
As for drinking real fruit juice, my mother went and bought me some when she found out that I was only eating Popsicles. Lucky for me though, I thing the Great Strep Throat Infection of 2007 is finally coming to a close.

posted by purplemoonstar at 12:23 am (EST) on Jul 15, 2007

It's more thrilling than most spectator sports, esp football. Pace Berkeley, I'm unconvinced libraries continue to exist when they're not being monitored.
I look forward to the poetry lists with baited breath.
L.

posted by leanansidhe at 9:52 am (EST) on Jun 19, 2007

intersting library.
liked your confession that you "wriggled and squeaked" when you discovered LT (Didn't we all?)
Also enjoyed your theory of osmosis - akin to Wilde's notion that you needn't read a book before reviewing it (that would only prejudice the mind). You will find (if you haven't already) that it isn't only (or primarily) "information" that is transferred...
Hope you don't mind if I add you to my 'ones to watch' list

posted by leanansidhe at 7:01 am (EST) on Jun 14, 2007

Hello,

Thank you for your message concerning thorn and wynn. I tried to find information on the Web, but some pages are difficult to display because of Unicode-encoding of these runic characters, and I wasn't interested enough to try to solve this problem. Anyway your comment corresponds exactly to what I understood.

Maybe you would have the answer to something that still puzzles me: how did the Saxon character that looks like a delta with a small bar and is used in the phonetic alphabet to code the th sound (e.g. found in this) emerge? Not from the thorn I guess? I can't remember Burchfield explained anything about it.

François

posted by Pepys at 2:22 am (EST) on Jun 1, 2007

Will post on monday. Im going to a festival today:^)

posted by SimonW11 at 2:08 am (EST) on May 31, 2007

Great library !

posted by Romanus at 7:06 pm (EST) on May 7, 2007

Our prediction is that if any reading of James is required, it will be M.R. James, not Henry. You've risen to the occasion; pace yourself and don't hit the wall early.

posted by Fogies at 10:34 pm (EST) on Jan 15, 2007

Bravo! a beautiful sentence.

posted by SimonW11 at 1:06 pm (EST) on Jan 15, 2007

Oh, you're welcome. I suppose the British equivalent would be simply "Daft".

But given how American right-wing politics is in such a weird symbiosis with fundamentalist religion, it seems inevitable that the political term "wingnuttery" would begin to creep into the descriptions of some of the loopier forms of religious extremism as well.

hoping to see you around LT...

- Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 11:23 am (EST) on Jan 11, 2007

Hello...
ah, "wingnuttery".

It's a bit of recent American political slang...

The original use is derived from the description "Right-wing nuts", which America has in overabundance. (Our "left" would be moderately Conservative in most civilized countries; our extreme right-wingers are just about indescribable.)

From "right-wing nuts", the term was contracted to simply " 'wing-nuts" (occasionally: " 'wingers"), then to "wingnuts"...and thus, examples of spectacularly illogical thought - especially of a conservative bent - are held up as examples of "wingnuttery". The concept is starting to apply outside of politics, too. Thus, my tag.

-Bob

posted by AsYouKnow_Bob at 7:53 pm (EST) on Jan 10, 2007

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