Random books from Pummzie's library

About meCurrently reading:

Dostoevsky - The Demons
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Collected Stories
Martin Heidegger - Being and Time
Petina Gappah - Elegy for Easterly

2009 Reads
Current Reading Thread

30. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami ****
29. Smiles on Washington Square - Raymond Federman ****1/2
28. The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan ****
27. The Black Album - Hanif Kureishi **1/2
26. Despair - Vladimir Nabokov *****
25. Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett *****
24. Zeno's Conscience - Italo Svevo ****
23. Selected Stories - Alice Munro ***1/2
22. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks ****
21. The Bloomsday Book - Harry Blamires ****
20. Ulysses - James Joyce *****
19. The Mischief - Assia Djebar ***1/2
18. Naive. Super - Erlend Loe **1/2
17. Jules et Jim - Henri-Pierre Roche ***1/2
16. Mystery of the Rose Bouquet (Play) - Manuel Puig ***1/2
15. Under a Mantle of Stars (Play) - Manuel Puig ***
14. Kiss of the Spider Woman (Play) - Manuel Puig ****
13. The Lover - Marguerite Duras ****
12. The Boat (Short Stories) - Nam Le ****
11. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce (****)
10. Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (****)
9. My Antonia - Willa Cather (****)
8. 1001 Great Stories, Vol 1 - Douglas Messerli (****) - Shorts
7. La Dame aux Camelias - Alexandre Dumas (***1/2)
6. The Castle of Crossed Destines - Italo Calvino (***)
5. The Ice Storm - Rick Moody (***)
4. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (***1/2)
3. The Visitor - Maeve Brennan (***1/2)
2. Bonjour Tristesse - Francoise Sagan (***1/2)
1. Dreams from my Father - Barack Obama (***1/2)

About my libraryIn accordance with the writer's maxim - show, don't tell - it is best that you take a peek and decide for yourself.

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

LocationUnited Kingdom

Account typepublic, paid

Connection NewsConnection News

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

Common KnowledgeSeries (80), Awards (331), Characters (3212), Places (610)

Member sinceDec 16, 2008

Currently readingCollected Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ulysses (Penguin Modern Classics) by James Joyce
The Ice Storm by Rick Moody
1001 Great Stories: v. 1 (Green Integer) by Douglas Messerli
The New Bloomsday Book: Guide Through "Ulysses" by Harry Blamires
show all (7)

Most recent activity

Pummzie added:
International Film Guide 2009: The Definitive Annual Review of World Cinema by Ian Haydn Smith

Pummzie added:
Hearing Secret Harmonies (Dance to the Music of Time) by Anthony Powell

Pummzie added:
Books Do Furnish a Room (Dance to the Music of Time) by Anthony Powell

Pummzie added:
Temporary Kings by Anthony Powell

Pummzie added:
The Kindly Ones (Dance to the Music of Time) by Anthony Powell

Pummzie added:
The Military Philosophers by Anthony Powell

Noticed you liked Clockwork Orange, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my new novel and posting your comments here as well as a few other book-related sites. Thought you might like my book since it's also about a group of violent kids (and also a bit dark). I could e-mail you the novel in an e-book format if you'd like (I'm out of physical copies at the moment). Let me know if you're interested. Here's a link to a summary (and a sample chapter) in case you'd like to read more about the book before you commit:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 10:39 am (EST) on Sep 14, 2009

Oh and good job finishing Ulysses! I gave it a rather less-than-stellar review myself. Hated it! ;-)

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 4:46 pm (EST) on Jul 18, 2009

Hi there,

I thought you might like to know, Vikas Swarup, author of Slumdog Millionaire is coming out with a new book July 7th called Six Suspects.

It has gotten great reviews and promises to be a good read. Here is the link to his latest review from The New York Times. Also starting tomorrow July 7th you can enter to win a free copy of the book on the Macmillan website, the link is below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/books/...

http://us.macmillan.com/smp/promo/sixsus...

Enjoy!

posted by Lindsie2187 at 12:36 pm (EST) on Jul 6, 2009

Hi Pummzie!

We really miss seeing you in the salon. Hope you'll rejoin us very soon!

Tada,
Elaine

posted by thenaughtyhottie at 6:07 pm (EST) on May 21, 2009

Proud to join in your friend circle!!

posted by JeffRiveraAuthor at 2:06 am (EST) on May 8, 2009

Nice to see that you took an interest in my little virtual shelf here. I note that many of our shared works are novels and I read with interest your reviews, also mostly of fiction. Especially amused by yr take on Moody's Ice Storm. As a matter of fact, it *is* quite a good film, though it didn't leave this viewer feeling 100% uplifted. Also, yes, The Bell Jar by Plath is, like many works, one that has a kind of expiration date-- they should come with a label, "best if read by 22 years old" or some such. Not sure if that would help in the case of The Alchemist, but then, there was a time (don't tell anyone) when I read and RE-read "Illusions" by Richard Bach! To Everything, there is a Season, as the Preacher saith. And then again, he also saith, Of the making of Books there is No End.

~~skholiast

posted by skholiast at 1:43 pm (EST) on Apr 24, 2009

Thanks for your feedback on my review of 'The Alchemist'. I'm more confortable these days with being out of synch with common opinions. Maybe I am just getting older and grumpier. In any case, I've come to the conclusion that there are way too many books out there to read - and far too little time in which to get to them. So I begrudge every second spent on reading dross!

posted by Jawin at 4:50 am (EST) on Apr 19, 2009

Feel free to rummage away, Pummzie!

posted by Grammath at 12:58 pm (EST) on Apr 15, 2009

Thanks for letting me know, and hope you enjoy it. It's a slight curiosity in Trollope terms, certainly not one of his best, but not without interest.

posted by ponsonby at 5:17 pm (EST) on Apr 14, 2009

Oh thanks Pummzie! I think once the swelling in my cheeks lessens I'll look divine.

posted by thenaughtyhottie at 11:46 pm (EST) on Apr 13, 2009

Some of the plays I'm reading (going for 50 in 2009) are quite digestive, e.g. "An Enemy of the People" by Henrik Ibsen, which I just finished. My reading of 'ISOLT' by Proust is rather slow (10 pages a day), and I assume I'll have approx. the same rate with "Ulysses".

Happy Holidays from Norway :)

posted by kjellika at 4:54 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

THanks for adding me to your "interesting libraries" list, and for wanting to be my friend on LT. Of course I accept the invitation.

Two days ago I finished volume 4 (out of 7) of my Norwegian version of 'In Search of Lost Time'. I assume there are some 1100 pages (out of ~3660) left to be read, and I hope to finish the whole novel in about four months (July/August).

Happy reading (Ulysses and other books)!

Kjell, Bodø, Norway :)

posted by kjellika at 4:24 pm (EST) on Apr 4, 2009

Important Answers may be found in the Group Description. Where I go you cannot follow. But be of good cheer, for I am with you always, even unto the end of the Book

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 7:11 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2009

Hi,

When do you think you'll finish your reading of 'Ulysses'?
I guess I'll start reading it in July/August.

Kjell, Norway :)

posted by kjellika at 5:37 am (EST) on Apr 2, 2009

Thanks Pummzie!
I'm well, how are you getting on with Ulysses?
Murr

posted by tomcatMurr at 4:30 am (EST) on Mar 31, 2009

Stopped by to read your review of The Lover (very nice!) and then kept reading... great reviews! Since you liked Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse, you might be interested in the first novel of Assia Djebar, La Soif, or 'The Mischief'. Same sort of emotional, adolescent romp, but with (francophile?) Algerian characters. Anyway, will definitely keep reading your reviews! :)

posted by Fullmoonblue at 2:33 pm (EST) on Mar 22, 2009

I haven't been able to use the future "crazily literate speed-readers" rationalization (er, I mean, noble planning ahead) since the mid to late 90s. Sigh. And you know, my oldest, 12-year old darling adorable girl, won't read anything unless its Harry Potter And-Something-Or-Other (or wait, actually I handed her "A Wrinkle In Time" recently and she seems not to be turning her nose up at that, incredibly--there's hope for her yet!) so all those Twain & Tolkien & Lewis acquistions I made for my future brood of brilliant offspring has thus far proven in vain. God forbid my oldest one discovers Twilight! I FORBID it from entering our home! No boys, and no damn Twilight!

I bet you draft amazing contracts Pummz. Like your recent religio-philosophico acquisitions. I picked up Being & Time recently, and its by far the most approachable/relatively easily-understandable philosophical text I've encountered in some time.

Best,
Brent

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:31 am (EST) on Mar 18, 2009

I thought I already joined it! mmmm something fishy going on here...

posted by tomcatMurr at 5:58 am (EST) on Mar 3, 2009

My book acquisition has got much worse since joining LT, although that's not all this site's fault: all around the same time, I also joined BookMooch, moved jobs (out of telecoms and into publishing!), started visiting the library more regularly (and using its online catalogue and request features...) and discovered that the local charity shops had excellent book sections.

Combined, these factors have been lethal. Previously, there were periods when I had no unread books around; that never happens nowadays. It's like buying a book is almost a proxy for reading it!!

I'm getting better at letting books go - ones that I definitely know I won't re-read I'm able to take to the charity shop or put on BM - but it was a large and painful step to take.

Happy reading,
Flossie

posted by FlossieT at 3:00 pm (EST) on Feb 27, 2009

Thanks for the add - adding you back! Surprised that the 'weighted' doesn't put you higher up the list of books in common, but then I'm not a mathematician.

Just seen your comment on your thread about flying in your dreams - you should definitely look out for Mari Strachan's The Earth Hums in B Flat (published in the UK next month). The narrator also flies in her dreams, and is continually frustrated by her difficulties in repeating the act in daylight hours.

posted by FlossieT at 9:30 am (EST) on Feb 27, 2009

That's very gratifying, Pummzie. I've read your reviews with interest and concur regarding the Bell Jar and the Castle of Crossed Destinies. A friend of mine, someone with right-wing preferences, is a big fan of Ayn Rand, consequently I know I'd find her ideas repugnant so I'm very pleased to hear that her writing is poor too! I look forward to reading more of your reviews when you post them.

Waiting for Godot should be quite a treat with McKellern and Stewart. The best performance of Beckett's play that I have seen was with Barry McGovern and Johnny Murphy. It will be interesting to see how this new production measures up.

posted by dylanwolf at 5:32 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2009

Hey Pummzie, I formed the group for the same reason you joined. I'd tried it once solo several years ago and made it an incredible 31 pages. I expect with the amazing team assembled here to make it slightly farther than that, fingers crossed.

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 2:24 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2009

Thanks for joining Brave Team Ulysses (BTU)! Welcome aboard!

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 2:07 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2009

Hello Pummzie!

Thank you for the delightful compliment on my library! I see that we're in the same
group - Monthly Author Reads. I have The Song of the Lark on my bedside stand patiently
waiting her turn. By your recent additions, I'm assuming you'll be reading My Antonia?

I also see that you're new to LT and so, a heartfelt welcome. It's a great place to hang out
however, it does have it's hazards. Your TBRs will grow like mad and your reading time will
diminish! It's often a real effort to step away from the laptop and pick up a book!!

Hope you had a great Valentines weekend. See you in Cather land!

Cate

posted by bleuroses at 9:44 pm (EST) on Feb 16, 2009

Hi - thanks for adding me.

I'm constantly surprised by how many people on LT have similar tastes in books to me (as opposed to the real world where almost no one seems to think like I do).

When I have time I will have a look through your library - another great LT concept is this ability to tap into the literature of like minded people.

posted by zenomax at 4:12 am (EST) on Feb 11, 2009

Cheers Pummzie. You've some great stuff in your library. I'll definitely be pillaging it for inspiration

posted by RichardRoma at 4:06 pm (EST) on Feb 10, 2009

You've got a nice collection as well. Somewhat short but excellent reviews. I really liked your take on Ayn Rand.

posted by lriley at 2:41 pm (EST) on Feb 10, 2009

I saw your comment on another reader's profile about Shakespeare & Co. I stopped by there while I was in Paris a couple years ago and highly recommend it. It's a beautiful store and it's just heaven to explore. Lots of nooks and crannies. Cheers.

posted by bookworm12 at 4:05 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2009

Pummize,

I'll give Beckett's Molly a go. Just let me know when you're ready to start. I'm half-way through Lark and Termite at the moment so I could start it after that.

I've read Ulysses three times since college. The first time I threw the book against the wall! The second time I used a guide. It wasn't until the third reading that I fully appreciated what a work of genius it is. I have a whole shelf devoted to Joyce and his works, and of course, Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are on my "desert island" list. One of my reading goals this year is to read Ellmann's biography of Joyce. I purchased it three years ago and still have not got around to reading it yet.

Let me know when you want to start reading Molly.

Slainte!

Sean

posted by SeanLong at 5:30 pm (EST) on Jan 20, 2009

Hi Pummzie. Thanks for adding my library to your "interesting" list. I've done the same with yours.

I see that Beckett is one of your favorite writers. One of my reading resolutions for the New Year is to start reading much of the Beckett that is on my shelf. I read Waiting for Godot last week since I'll be attending a local production of it next month. Any suggestions for novels? I have an Everyman's Library Edition of Molly, Malone Dies, and The Unamable, and a Grove Edition of Murphy, Watt and Mercier and Camier. Thanks.

Slainte!

Sean

posted by SeanLong at 10:23 am (EST) on Jan 20, 2009

Hi Pummzie,
happy new year to you too!
I always love to get more ideas for new books to read, and I really love your library!
Take care,

Kamila

posted by shimauta at 6:30 pm (EST) on Jan 6, 2009

Ridding my life of television was a big part of the reading equation for me; I believe I've done without for three years now. I listen to a lot of audiobooks which I while away driving, shopping, and doodling etc.

I'm familiar with Shakespeare & Co (I recall it made a cameo appearance in 'After Sunset') but I wasn't aware of their "guest" program.

posted by zanix at 3:12 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2009

Pummzie, I'm glad to see you over on Club Read 2009! Silk is one of the books on my TBR - so it's good, then? I'm having a miserable time settling on a book right now, so maybe I'll push it up to the top of the TBR.

Good luck on the book ban. Mine lasted exactly 3 days.

Jen

posted by jfetting at 4:46 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2009

It's the result of having too much free time and too many books :)

posted by zanix at 2:05 am (EST) on Jan 5, 2009

Pummzie, When I was in college (grad. in 1999) one of my classes called for us to review various films. One of them was Jules Et Jim. That class helped me to appreciate sub-titles. I know it sounds crazy unless you have experienced it. For some reason, it seemed to give me a different deeper appreciation for the movie. Maybe the fact that one is forced to view the film much more closely. Thanks for the friend invite and Happy New Year. Mary Beth

posted by mmignano11 at 4:01 pm (EST) on Jan 2, 2009

Merry Xmas Pummzie!

Thanks for adding me, it sounds like you have very similar taste in books to me (although I haven't read many magic realism books I really liked, but I'm sure your library will recommend some to me!).

Thankfully my other half is happy with my attempts to wallpaper our house in books and music. Good luck with the ereader, I've tried to be good about giving books away if I don't enjoy them but my second-hand habit means I can only slow the increase.

Love your library, you've already doubled my wishlist for my next shop

posted by Polyp at 4:11 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2008

Hi Pummzie,

Welcome to LT! Thanks for marking my library. I have a similar problem with books and have been (gently)banned from further book purchases - however it unfortunately does not stop me, so my most recent purchase was another bookcase!

Great library you have here.

Cheers,

Karen

posted by kiwidoc at 11:23 am (EST) on Dec 24, 2008

What a terrific library! Right, I'm going to sift through this and find some things to put on my new post-Christmas Amazon wishlist! Thanks for finding my own (far too large) collction interesting. Yours is what mine would be if I were more discerning, and could resist second hand bookshops!

posted by shearrob at 5:28 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008

Merry Christmas everyone and best wishes for the New Year!

posted by Pummzie at 2:28 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2008

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