Member: fyrefly98

Just read your review on Last Light of the Sun by Kay - and I had to come by and say 'thank you!' He's my absolute favourite author, and so many people avoid him because he's a 'fantasy' writer. But, as you and I both know, he's so much more.

Happy new year. :)

posted by Severn at 5:12 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2011

Well my books finally arrived today -- thank you! I've haven't read any of these authors, so it will be an adventure.

posted by Tropical-Library at 8:46 pm (EST) on Dec 28, 2011

Nice review of the Cory Doctorow novel. I created the tag "weird" when I came to list this one myself. At times it seemed so grimly and resolutely weird that I felt as if the author were putting deliberate weirdness ahead of the other qualities he was trying to incorporate into his story.

Can you see when someone gives a thumbs-up to your review?

posted by Meredy at 4:43 pm (EST) on Dec 8, 2011

You're welcome! I like a lot of your reviews. We don't always agree (for example, I'm a big Robin McKinley fan :) but they're very thorough and I enjoy them.

Yeah, I've heard about that. I'm not at all sure if I'm interested in another Mistborn book. I really liked the first one, but I wasn't particularly happy with where the series went at the end. I'll probably read some reviews before I look at it myself.

posted by bluesalamanders at 4:47 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2011

I glanced through the other comments and I'm amused by how many of them also start "I just read your review of...". Well, I just read your review of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, which is a book I keep meaning to pick up since I like Elantris and Mistborn, and good god I had NO idea that he intended to make it a 10-book series of doorstops. I thank you for including that tidbit in your review, because even though it otherwise sounds like an interesting book (I often really like books with extensive worldbuilding), I have no desire to get invested in something like that.

posted by bluesalamanders at 3:59 pm (EST) on Nov 3, 2011

Looks like we have a lot of books in common! I'll definitely look through your library when I have time to kill--is your "giant to be read pile" not supposed to show up? I clicked on it and didn't see anything, just thought you should know. :)

posted by FutureMrsJoshGroban at 11:20 pm (EST) on Aug 11, 2011

Hi Fyrefly98,
Based on your in-depth and insightful, and well-wrriten review of Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer, I hope I can interest you in reviewing my first literary fiction novel, THE FISHER KING, a contemporary family drama about overfishing on the Chesapeake Bay written in a realist style. If the synopsis and first chapter at http://thefisherkingbook.blogspot.com appeal to you, for a review copy of my 326-page ebook please contact me at hayleykelseypub@gmail.com, http://twitter.com/#!/TheFisherKingbk, or http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fisher-King/20778237942258.

Do your reviews appear on other sites, too? Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hayley Kelsey

posted by HayleyKelsey at 10:37 am (EST) on Jun 12, 2011

I loved your review of Sexual Selections (admittedly from long ago), perhaps because of the mix of your personal life with the review, perhaps because I am just leaving an extended student sojourn. In my spare time I'll be looking up more of your reviews--if only I had more time for reading all the likely candidates beyond my own TBR.

posted by juniperSun at 10:11 am (EST) on Mar 11, 2011

Thanks so much re: Speak!

posted by sparingqueen at 7:38 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2011

Thank you for filling in for my SantaThing! Looking forward to reading them both!

-Jill

posted by fuzzy_pickle at 2:00 pm (EST) on Jan 31, 2011

Thank you for recommending Connie Willis and Pratchett's Nation to my Santa. I have added both to my Hotlist.

Theo

posted by TheoClarke at 7:03 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2010

Great review on The Secret Hour, thanks. How funny is this, when I asked you to review that one I had NO idea where is was set (ok, here is the funny part) Bixby, OK is only about 70 miles from where I live. Now I will have to put that on my wishlist/tbr.

btw, Love the pretty graph of your reading history :)

posted by onyx95 at 12:17 pm (EST) on Sep 19, 2010

I just saw your review of Mairelon the Magician (one of my favorites); I really enjoy Patricia Wrede's flair for humor. I wanted to let you know that it looks like Orb Books are releasing an omnibus of both Mairelon the Magician and Magician's Ward entitled "A Matter of Magic" in June. Might make it easier to track down the sequel!

posted by Caramellunacy at 6:58 am (EST) on Apr 18, 2010

Your adding the Maria Tatar book reminded me that when I commented on your blog the other day, I sort of merged it with The Brothers Grimm by Jack Zipes in my head :P The Tatar book was actually the one I had in mind, but both are really good.

posted by Nymeth at 5:29 pm (EST) on Mar 15, 2010

I am planning on starting a blog. Do you have any suggestions for me? I tried to play with blogspot, but it allows me to add pages and then not add any posts onto them. I don't understand. Any advice you can give me is very welcome.

posted by Kaydence at 4:19 pm (EST) on Mar 8, 2010

I'm so glad that you like your books! I love doing the SantaThing because it's always so much fun to choose books for someone, but there's always that moment of uncertainty whether they will like your choices, so I'm glad that you do!! =) Happy reading!!

posted by tapestry100 at 12:25 am (EST) on Dec 23, 2009

I finally got around to starting Geek Love which you helped pick out for my SantaThing last year. It's absolutely fascinating and was a terrific choice; thanks so much again!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 8:45 am (EST) on Aug 18, 2009

Just passing by to thank you again for your wonderful spreadsheet, which I've started using yesterday. It's so much fun playing with it and adding books to it!

posted by girlunderglass at 7:10 am (EST) on Jun 26, 2009

Nicki!

I loved your review. It was funny and poignant and you were much more patient than I was with "Edible History"-- and not over-the-top at all. That was a very good review. (I loved both the bits about Dan Quinn. Most Excellent and I laughed my fanny off:)

As for my review, I'm afraid it was put out a little hurriedly. But I just wanted to be done with it as I had had such high hopes and was frustrated that it wasn't what I was looking for.

As to the baby situation, you are, of course, correct: nursing prohibits conception. But honestly I couldn't get over the way he stated that 'mothers contemplate having additional babies'. As if it was just a mental process and physical desire (his and/or hers) had nothing to do with it. LOL.

Btw, have you posted that to your blog? I didn't see it.

posted by ThePam at 6:40 pm (EST) on May 27, 2009

Hi again, I just read your review of "The Graveyard Book" and I was thinking about how some of the details about the Honor Guard and the reason for the killing of Bod's family was not elaborated on. I wonder if that was done purposely so that Gaiman can do another book providing those details. Maybe, though, it is not for any other reason other than your observation that Gaiman tends to leave the more thorough explanations out of his stories. I will have to read a few more before I can make that dtermination. Have you read the graphic novel, "Coraline"? I really enjoyed that also. It was really my first experience with the graphic novel. Can you suggest any others? What about other Gaiman books? Well, I'm off to finish reading Joe Hill's "Heart-Shaped Box." Mary Beth

posted by mmignano11 at 11:01 pm (EST) on May 26, 2009

Hi, I read your review of "Apologize, apologize," (mine is there now also) and I found it right on. Your profile shows me that we have alot in common. I have just read Neil Gaiman also. I loved "The Graveyard Book." I would love to use your excel sheet but I don't know if I can make it work for me. I have recently decided that I need to be focused and not try to do things that take up my time, for instance, I was using a ticker on my 50 book challenge and my Presidential challenge and every time I forgot my password and it just got to be so time-consuming I finally said forget it! I want to read, not bang away at the computer trying to make my tickers work. I am a writer, I like to think, so I value my time, it seems I never have enough. I would much rather either read or talk to my LT friends, write or research, so that is my focus these days. Hope to hear from you. Mary Beth

posted by mmignano11 at 10:45 pm (EST) on May 26, 2009

Thank you for the review of Darkwood. It has kept me from wasting my time and as a busy mom I appreciate that.

I've added your blog to my Google Reader.

Regards!

Pam :o)

posted by ThePam at 4:56 pm (EST) on May 21, 2009

Noticed you liked The Virgin Suicides, 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 dysfunctional family and 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 in case you're interested:

http://christophertusa.com/

Thanks,

Chris

posted by cmtusa at 10:04 pm (EST) on May 19, 2009

Thanks for the comment. It actually takes quite a lot o get me to think a fantasy book is any good--I'm far easier on the police procedural genre. so i was quite surprised with my reaction to Tigana. I had been thinking about the Lions of Al-Rassan, decided against it--I think I'll buy it now.

Thanks also for the tip about Bujold. I will definitely check her out!

Joyce

posted by Joycepa at 10:17 am (EST) on May 12, 2009

WOW! LOVE LOVE LOVE your excel sheet! Gonna try it now! Thanks!

posted by plekter at 8:33 am (EST) on May 7, 2009

Yay! I am so excited to read [Snakebite Sonnet]! Thank you for picking it for me!

posted by EmScape at 3:15 pm (EST) on Apr 5, 2009

Oh, you're so bookishly organized! I love it! Love your bookshelf too! :')

posted by indygo88 at 11:07 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2009

Hi fyrefly,

While browsing through my old reviews today, I noticed (only one year late) that you gave a high marks to Talyn, by Holly Lisle. I have a lot of Holly's books, and since you like Talyn, I thought you might like to read Lisle's Secret Texts trilogy: Diplomacy of Wolves, Vengeance of Dragons and Courage of Falcons. After Talyn, I consider it to be her very best work. (I agree with your review, that something seems to be missing in Hawkspar. Holly was involved in a protracted and ugly fight with her publisher over Hawkspar, and I believe her original story was intended to be longer.)

I agree with you that Holly's writing has some dark aspects, and The Secret Text trilogy has it too, but it is still one of my favorite trilogies. Another of her novels, written much earlier than these, is Hunting the Corrigan's Blood, another favorite of mine. If you do read any of these, I'll be interested to know your opinion on them.

Regards,

April aka Pandababy

posted by Pandababy at 6:41 pm (EST) on Mar 6, 2009

Thank you so much! I'd definitely love to mooch it. You and Memory convinced me that this whole never having read Guy Gavriel Kay thing cannot continue :P

posted by Nymeth at 4:57 am (EST) on Feb 27, 2009

I enjoyed and agreed with your review of My Bonny Light Horseman. I see we have a number of books in common. I look forward to reading more of your reviews.

posted by espertus at 5:18 pm (EST) on Feb 15, 2009

Thanks for informing me about the condition of the Alexander book - it's fine with me.

posted by wester at 2:30 am (EST) on Feb 5, 2009

I noticed that you've got Shadowbridge tagged as currently reading. I enjoyed the duology and look forward to reading your review--especially since you write such good ones! Cheers, and Happy Reading!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 2:38 pm (EST) on Feb 3, 2009

I've got to ask... how do you add librarything widget in your wordpress. I can't seem to get it on mine >.

posted by lisa211 at 8:02 am (EST) on Jan 23, 2009

Yo, Fly!

The ETTA website is up and running!

www.geraldkolpan.com

I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to play the song!

Best,

GK

posted by gkolpan at 12:58 pm (EST) on Jan 18, 2009

I just got your SantaThing gifts and they were absolutely PERFECT! Thank you very much. One I have been waiting to buy (the Plath) and the Zombie Haiku was a very pleasant surprise.

Again, thank you very much.

posted by Arctic-Stranger at 3:24 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

Glad you like! The Huff can absolutely stand on its own. It's set in the same world as the first book in the series, but there isn't much more of a connection than that. (The third book, No Quarter, features the same protagonists as the one you have, so if you find you love it, there's more to be had.) Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

posted by ocelott at 3:35 am (EST) on Dec 31, 2008

My SantaThing package just arrived in the mail today--what a nice surprise coming home from work. :-) Thanks so much for stepping up and picking out my books. I'm really looking forward to reading both of them. I hope you have a happy and healthy new year. Cheers, and Happy Reading!

posted by PhoenixTerran at 7:00 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2008

Thank you for my Santathing choices! They arrived an hour ago and I'm really pleased (and impressed) - knitting, mystery, and a bit of baking too, I love it!

The journal was a great idea, I've already started making little notes and lists in a notebook so it was just what I needed.

By coincidence you were the only person who made recommendations for my Santathing recipient. I didn't ultimately go with them (although I wishlisted a couple for myself) - from reading up on The Omnivore's Dilemma and the other suggestion I thought my recipient might like something with human relevance plus a bit of a yuk factor, but yours were good, solid choices and really helped get me started for my search.

I hope the gifts you receive from your Santathing are as good as mine :)

Happy Xmas!

posted by Moomin_Mama at 7:51 am (EST) on Dec 22, 2008

I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation on Strange & Norrell's page for Sorcery and Cecelia. I mooched it on your recommendation and read it in one night. It was fabulous! I just finished my review. Thank you very much for the rec. Now I am eagerly awaiting the sequel, The Grand Tour, from the library :)

Thanks again :)

posted by wisewoman at 3:39 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2008

First off, thank you so much for angeling 'The Devil's Apocrypha' for me. I'm not sure what to do about 'Evil for Evil'. If it does come, I wouldn't want you to have to send two separate packages, so how about waiting a week or so for the person to respond? If there's no reply then, feel free to cancel that mooch and just send 'Apocrypha'.

Again, thanks so much!

posted by jibrailis at 2:00 pm (EST) on Oct 19, 2008

Glad you enjoyed it! As you probably saw, there is a sequel, Year of the Griffin, that is also quite good.

posted by foggidawn at 7:39 pm (EST) on Oct 9, 2008

Thank you so much for being my angel! I am forever appreciative.

posted by jibrailis at 7:15 pm (EST) on Oct 8, 2008

Just wanted to add my voice in agreement to the previous post - loved your review of "Prodigal Summer". It was a book I knew I loved because I missed the characters when it was over.

posted by Miss-Owl at 6:26 am (EST) on Oct 3, 2008

Nice review of "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver. You managed to remind me of the storyline in enough detail to really bring the story back to me. And I agree with your assessment. I'm not a biologist, but I enjoyed learning about coyotes - particularly since we live in close proximity to them here in my neighborhood in Denver.

posted by tjsjohanna at 9:39 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2008

I just wanted to let you know that the Friends of the Brookfield Public Library are hosting a used book sale on October 18th; October 19th is the bag sale.

posted by ElizabethNeill at 9:13 pm (EST) on Sep 20, 2008

Great review of "Into the Wild"! I had a similar reaction to the book, but you are definitely more eloquent!

posted by tjsjohanna at 11:37 pm (EST) on Sep 8, 2008

Hi---sorry it has taken so long to respond to your kind offer for pictures of Olin Library at Cornell. I'm happy to look at your pictures and will try my best to add them as well as some of our own. Thanks for the prodding!
Susette Newberry
Olin Librarian

posted by Susette at 11:51 am (EST) on Aug 30, 2008

I think you hit the nail on the head with your review of Breaking Dawn. I'm about halfway through it and first of all, I can't even believe she went with the whole "vampire baby" route. This one just feels so much older while the first three were typical whiny emo high school love stories. I love that you acknowledged Edward's abusive (?) relationship with Bella. I've always felt like he treated her like a helpless little kid and verbally always put her down, like referring to her being a klutz. Anyway, your review was great and completely encapsulated how I feel about this book, and to some extent, the whole series.

posted by davismke at 3:34 am (EST) on Aug 24, 2008

Hi --

regarding your Breaking Dawn review. I'm not sure you should say of a successful wedding ceremony that it went off without a hitch. :)

Capybara_99

posted by Capybara_99 at 2:14 pm (EST) on Aug 21, 2008

Still haven't gotten those boxes all unpacked, but so far haven't come across anything else by Connie Willis. It seems like she has a collection of short stories... and that she is sometimes collected in anthologies...

Another author I like who doesn't seem to have many books out is [[Nina Kiriki Hoffman]] who wrote [A Fistful of Sky]. (Hmm--maybe tagging doesn't work here?) This one is very fun--I think I've got a review of it in mylibrary!

posted by annatapl at 8:39 pm (EST) on Aug 3, 2008

Good to know, it's nice to find another user... um... in the theme of the geosciences. ;) Cheers,d

posted by dchaikin at 5:07 pm (EST) on Jul 25, 2008

Hi fyrefly,

I'm being nosy. I just read your review of "A Geoscience Guide to the Burgess Shale" (a good review) and saw this comment: "I am not a geologist, so parts of those sections certainly went right over my head, as I'm sure some of the paleontology and evolution sections would to non-specialists." I'm curious, are you some kind paleontology/evolutionary specialist?

Cheers,
d (a geologist of sorts)

posted by dchaikin at 4:37 pm (EST) on Jul 25, 2008

That was a fantastic review for Garth Nix's ACROSS THE WALL. I agree on most of your points, and wanted to thank you for posting something so insightful.

posted by foxfire at 10:20 am (EST) on Jul 24, 2008

Fyrefly--
Enjoyed your review of the Connie Willis titles. One of the things I really love about To Say Nothing of the Dog and The Doomsday Book is that although they have the same basic premise (Oxford University of the future sending history students back in time to REALLY study history or to accomplish a task)they have such a different feel! Yes, TSNOTD was just absolutely hysterical in that PG Wodehouse kind of way, and in the Doomsday Book you were so there with Kirvan and her new-but-very-old friends. To make the Doomsday Book even more dramatic than it already is, I was suffering from pneumonia as I read it. All those symptoms seemed very familiar!
It's fun to revisit the pleasure I got from both of these titles. It seems that I picked up something else by Willis at ALA, but I have yet to unpack all my boxes...

posted by annatapl at 5:48 pm (EST) on Jul 20, 2008

Hey! Thanks for recommending a book to me! I'm new to this site.

posted by Booksr2awesome at 11:34 am (EST) on Jul 18, 2008

Hi Fyrefly!

Thanks for adding all the libraries to LibraryThing Local. I've added more information for all of them. I ended up duplicating the Pontiac Branch (maybe a couple of times) so I deleted one--but I've just added to all your others. Thanks!

Melissa Kiser
IT Librarian
Allen County Public Library

posted by acpl at 11:58 am (EST) on Jul 2, 2008

I enjoyed your review of "The Host". I have to agree with you about the way Meyer portrays her male and female characters and how they interact. While I really enjoyed "Twilight", by the end of the third book I was thinking, "No way would I ever suggest these to a female teen - Bella is too passive and attached to Edward to be a healthy character with which to identify". I thought she did a little better with "The Host" which gives me hope that she might eventually figure out how to write a romance that shows healthier interactions. Anyway, thanks for sharing your impressions!

posted by tjsjohanna at 2:17 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2008

I just finished The Host. It was excellent!

posted by recipe_addict at 7:52 pm (EST) on Jun 23, 2008

I was going to recommend Peeps for Parasite Rex, but you beat me to it! I look forward to seeing your other recommendations.

posted by espertus at 2:37 pm (EST) on Jun 8, 2008

Hi. On Go Review That Book!, I've created a group Wiki page to keep track of the progress of the game and the reviews that have been generated. Some may find it easier to read the reviews by having them in one handy place. There's a discussion thread in the group and this is the first Wiki page if you are interested in having a look. To avoid any difficulties with copyright, I'm seeking your consent to add your reviews to the group Wiki page.

posted by InigoMontoya at 8:39 am (EST) on May 9, 2008

hey i have a question i'm kinda confused >.

posted by just-me-sami at 9:23 pm (EST) on May 8, 2008

I love your spreadsheet. You should have a paypal link for grateful users!

posted by EmScape at 12:42 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2008

You wanted to know what I thought of The Zookeeper's Wife: I liked it, I put a review up on LT and on my blog.

posted by DevourerOfBooks at 3:41 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2008

You know I had intended to mention - your review, and specifically your mention of that afterward, reminded me of a story that is told about Plato.

Supposedly, it had been advertised all over Athens that "the great philosopher" Plato was going to give a talk about politics and philosophy in the forum. Hundreds of people showed up wanting to hear what this great master, author of The Republic, had to say. Plato introduced himself, then commenced a long and involved lecture on the intricacies of mathematics and geometry. This continued for an hour or two, as slowly, one by one, the members of the audience dispersed. Finally, when there was a small group left (maybe a dozen), Plato began to discuss politics. His motivation, it is claimed, was to weed out those members of the audience who weren't willing to "work for it."

Ultimately, some scholars have used this story (as well as other, textual, evidence), to argue that much of Plato's philosophy that has come down to us - and specifically The Republic - is intentionally misleading about his true beliefs... That Plato thought we ought to have to "work for it" to try and figure out his true intentions.

While I don't necessarily buy these theories - especially as regards his moral philosophy - I at least think that for Plato, I'd be willing to work for it.

Umberto Eco, however, is no Plato - philosophy degree notwithstanding. Plato, perhaps, had justification for this attitude - at least his philosophy was new, immense, and demanding. Eco's writing, though, involves all this work only to end up at a platitudinous moral which is in nowise worthy of all that effort. I'm definitely in the, "tried it, didn't like it" camp for him ;)

Cheers
Dani

posted by philosojerk at 11:17 am (EST) on Mar 31, 2008

I loved your review of In the Name of the Rose. I had noticed in the What Are You Reading Now? group that we were both struggling through some Eco for a bit lately - I just finished Foucault's Pendulum today. I'm sort of glad to see that you found him as off-putting as I did. Hearing that In the Name of the Rose is just as ridiculously full of inanity as Foucault's Pendulum, I think I'll pass on future attempts at his writings.

Cheers
Dani

posted by philosojerk at 8:10 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2008

i love the graph idea. one thing though. how do you enter 2 books in one date? O.o

posted by lisa211 at 3:24 am (EST) on Mar 20, 2008

I downloaded your excel graph, what a brilliant idea. Thanks for that - you may see it appear on my profile in a few days.

posted by JacInABook at 11:36 pm (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

Hi

I picked Name of the Rose for you to review next. Oh and hello I'm new to the group *waving from the UK*

posted by JacInABook at 8:55 am (EST) on Mar 10, 2008

Wow, I never even thought of graphing my reading - as if tagging wasn't enough of a procrastination tactic (I'm a tagging addict). You've inspired me to try it. Also I had to congratulate you on all your reviews, I really like the way you break them into three sections.

posted by jlelliott at 8:28 pm (EST) on Mar 6, 2008

I figured I could just update it every 2-4 weeks when I update my "Read Around the World" map, and then it wouldn't be too much of a pain.

posted by DevourerOfBooks at 1:01 pm (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

What an awesome tool that reading graph is! I'm going to make my fiance play with it to fit my personal needs a little, and then I'm using it for sure! (And probably putting it on my blog, too.)

posted by DevourerOfBooks at 11:32 am (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

Thanks for sending the Inkheart trailer link to me. I too am looking forward to seeing it!

posted by alcottacre at 6:57 am (EST) on Feb 26, 2008

You are very welcome, but you deserve it as you have put a lot of effort into it; and it shows.

Yes, yes, yes! I just checked it out again. That's good now - IMO again - it looks pretty complete to me!! Wow, and it is so easy to understand - I really think wikithing help - FAQ (whatever) needs to be up the top of the page so all your good work is easy to find. I wish I had been able to find all this when I first joined - this was my first site I 'inhabited' on-line.

Oh, and I am laughing at your TBR pile - I am not game to numerically assess mine as this site has increased it exponentially!!!

And... I found out about the Battlestar Galactica group from your profile. I'm such a fan!
Have to go check out about the next series now...
:))

L.

posted by Lman at 2:59 am (EST) on Feb 25, 2008

Hi fyrefly,

I really like your wikithing page about profile but I can't figure out how to get to it from the main page without searching for it - as in typing 'profile' in the search box??? Sorry if I am missing something obvious here, is that the only way? I think it should be a heading in FAQ but there is already a profile bit - which IMHO is not nearly as good as yours.

L.

posted by Lman at 5:12 am (EST) on Feb 24, 2008

Ha! I am *such* a Wikipedia junkie, it's not even funny. I spend hours clicking from one hyperlink to another. It's addictive.

posted by VictoriaPL at 6:21 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2008

Bad news! I went to Cornelia Funke's "official" webpage to see about a book tour/signing, etc and it said the release date for Inkdeath was in October. Which just goes to show you can't trust Wikipedia for everything.

posted by VictoriaPL at 3:23 pm (EST) on Feb 19, 2008

Good news! The last time I looked on Wikipedia, there wasn't a date for Inkdeath (book 3). But I just checked and it now says USA release is April 7 2008!

posted by VictoriaPL at 7:11 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2008

Are you enjoying Inkspell? I loved it. I'm so desperate for book 3 that I'm thinking about learning German!

posted by VictoriaPL at 3:45 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2008

I was interested to read in TPBM thread that you knit afghans. I thought people generally crocheted afghans. I have recently re-discovered knitting, and am so tired of knitting scarves. I would love to try an afghan. Can you recommend any simple patterns?

Thanks so much.

Anne

posted by amancine at 12:10 pm (EST) on Feb 10, 2008

No worries, my comment was meant in jest and I really do appreciate the recommendations! I'll let you know what I think of Martian Chronicles when I get to it. :)

posted by elbakerone at 9:25 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2008

RE: The Green Dragon Recommend a Book Thread
Ok, I'm hanging my head in shame at my lack of Martian Chronicles. *I'm a bad Bradbury fan...* My next library trip will not be complete without it. I've heard lots of good things about Naomi Novik too. I read a TON of Patricia Wrede stuff when I was younger but haven't cataloged it. Thanks for the rec's they'll be added to my ever-growing TBR pile.
Cheers! :)

posted by elbakerone at 4:37 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2008

I just had to jot a note when I noticed that you'd also gotten ER copies of Winter Rose and The Story of Forgetting; those two books were so different that knowing we both got copies made me curious. Anyhow, I looked at the list of the books we share, and it's pretty hilarious how crazy the list is. If you want a raised eyebrow, take a glance. Hope all's well in your world...

posted by whitewavedarling at 2:50 pm (EST) on Jan 24, 2008

Thanks for the recommendations. They look very interesting and I'd never heard of #2 & #3. Even though you didn't ask, I took a look at your TBR pile and, IMHO, skip Little Children and bump up Prep and the Divine Secrets - YaYas. TTFN. :-)

posted by citygirl at 7:37 pm (EST) on Jan 23, 2008

I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your review of Keith Donohue's The Stolen Child, even though I think I thought it was a stronger book than you seemed to. I especially loved your comment "it's a story of personality and history, and how those factors intertwine to create identity" and your final thoughts on what claim the characters have to their different identities as time passes. Great insights!

posted by fannyprice at 6:40 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2008

I just commented your blog because I enjoy your reviews so much. I see you're a John Green fan. Are you a fan of his blog or youtube work or perhaps a Nerdfighter? That would be awesome.

posted by readaholic12 at 5:00 pm (EST) on Jan 8, 2008

I did leave a couple of comments. When I have time I'll go back, I enjoyed your writing style.

posted by maggie1944 at 10:25 am (EST) on Jan 6, 2008

Fyrefly - I visited your blog and was nicely impressed. I don't do much blog reading so I don't know when I might go back but I do wish you all the luck with it.

posted by maggie1944 at 11:23 pm (EST) on Jan 5, 2008

Hello again,

I just found out that the author of Looking for Alaska (the Secret Santa book you sent me - and which I'm currently reading) is an LT author. How exciting! I just *had* to leave him a message that I'm reading his book now! :D

http://www.librarything.com/profile/sparksflyup

Thanks again for both of the books!

Madeline (aka SqueakyChu)

posted by SqueakyChu at 1:06 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2007

Hello,

Thank you very much for the SantaThing books. I've been meaning to get myself a copy of "Last Chance to See" for years! It has gone straight to the top of my ever-growing reading list.

Thanks again, and Happy New Year,

Drew Kupsky

posted by drewandlori at 11:11 am (EST) on Dec 28, 2007

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I just got hoem from work...and found my Secret Santa box from Amazon. I couldn't wait to see what was inside. The books you chose for me were *fabulous*! I've not read either of them, and both are books I've eyed before and wanted to read. Your selection for me was right on the money!

Since I don't celebrate Christmas, it was no big deal that that books did not arrive until today. I was on best behavior and didn't peek after Tim turned off the peeking access (although I did know I could peek by logging out). Anyway, I'm glad I decided not to peek. This was quite a fun surprise.

Hope your holiday season continues to be fun and that you have a safe and wonderful 2008!

All the best,

Madeline

posted by SqueakyChu at 8:30 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2007

Thanks for joining 20-Something LibraryThingers!

posted by LheaJLove at 7:46 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2007

Thank you for my wonderful SantaThing books! I've actually been wanting to read Stupid Angel because I love Christopher Moore, but I haven't yet. And The Westing Game was a favorite of mine when I was younger, so I'm thrilled to have my own copy finally. I've already started to read it again. What perfect choices...thank you so very very much! I hope you received good books too!

I also saw that you enjoyed Geek Love. That has been one of my favorite books since it came out. People think I'm nuts, but what a book...

Again, thank you so much! I loved doing SantaThing this year!

Best,
Lynn Evarts
LibraryLynn

posted by LibraryLynn at 10:27 am (EST) on Dec 19, 2007

Fabulous review of Geek Love. I'm glad you found it worthwhile if not exactly pleasant!

posted by nancyewhite at 9:32 am (EST) on Nov 20, 2007

I've read Tigana. It was certainly better than an average fantasy, but somehow it jusy didn't grip me "something was missing that could have made it great". I liked the plot and world and the characters but not altogether. Shrug. If I come across another cheaply I might try again, but so far Kay is not on my rush out and buy list.

posted by reading_fox at 9:35 am (EST) on Sep 28, 2007

Thanks for joining the group! Feel free to invite your friends, start topics, and generally be as involved as you're interested in being.

posted by sapiens at 7:39 pm (EST) on Apr 23, 2007

Welcome to Books Compared. You may regret joining - your to-be-read stack is liable to get considerably taller! Enjoyed your review of Water for Elephants. I, too, am a sucker for well-done settings that carry me away to somewhere else. Hope you'll join the discussion and contribute a comparison review soon.

posted by margad at 12:20 am (EST) on Apr 21, 2007

Re: searching

Thanks! The technique you showed me for searching tags is exactly what I'm looking for, or at least enough of a kludge to do what I wanted to do. Thanks again for the advice.

Now I can scan the covers of the books that are here that don't have covers yet. :)

-kat

posted by katster at 5:22 am (EST) on Mar 6, 2007

I just noticed you were looking for Dark Ages fiction. Have you tried "The Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis? Time traelling back to England during the Plague years - I didn't care for the "modern-day" part of the book, but the historical stuff is well done.

posted by Seajack at 7:02 pm (EST) on Feb 18, 2007

Welcome to Reading Resolutions! Best of luck with the 'To be Read' pile :)

posted by parelle at 12:32 am (EST) on Dec 19, 2006

high
i am a new person to this site but i have just read your review on the book thief and i think you put it in the best words that i have heard. i fell in love with that book from the beggining and cried at the end and i agree with you on how you just wish the ending was wrong

posted by purplestberry at 9:29 am (EST) on Dec 4, 2006

Hi firefly98
Thank you for your help with my "tags" question. I appreciate the help & I can't wait to start! By the way, I can't bear to part with my books either. My nightstand right now is but 3 stacks of books =)

posted by Beastie at 7:26 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2006

thanks for your reply. Now I may have to buy the membership!

posted by mikitchenlady at 2:42 pm (EST) on Nov 1, 2006

Just read your latest Daine review, and I agree. My favorite part was definitely watching her rampage through the palace with the contents of the paleontology department... and some people thought paleontology was boring! :-)
Can you tell I loved the way you phrased that?

posted by Caramellunacy at 9:39 am (EST) on Oct 26, 2006

Hey fyrefly, we share 23 books! What did you think about George RR Martin's splitting up Book 4 into Books 4 and 5? I absolutely love him but I felt like I had a phantom book in my hand...when I went to read about Daenerys, she just wasn't there.

I'm also a huge Jane Austen fan, I like to alternate reading P & P, and watching the 5 hour A&E/BBC version. Great on a long winter afternoon.

posted by TheaMak at 9:46 pm (EST) on Sep 22, 2006