kcrisell's January 2013

Hi, all.

I'm new here, and since it's practically Martin Luther King, Jr. day here in the US, I've already read some books so far this month. Here they are:

1. The Silver Linings Playbook - read on my Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight!
2. American Psycho - I will admit that I skimmed about the second half of the book, because I just couldn't take it anymore. Thank heavens Paperback Swap got it away from me ASAP.
3. Ready Player One - a gift from my SantaThing, and I absolutely adored it.

4. I'm working my way through an Early Reviewers book called Mania: the Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution at the moment, though I'm a little bored with it. It is my hope that it will be my fourth book of January. Otherwise, Black Butler, Volume II may end up being number 4 on the list.

- kcrisell (username), Esquiress (nickname)

5.-7. I'm also reading (well, browsing) some D&D books this month as well. I haven't read every word, but I've read quite a bit. The three are:
Eberron Campaign Setting
Complete Arcane
Complete Warrior







I'm going to count them as part of January for ease's sake. It's when I've been doing a lot of character research for two of the three campaigns I'm part of at the moment.

- Esquiress

Welcome! Looks like a good start to the year.

Update: I am less than 100 pages from the end of Mania, and I think I've found my groove in it. It's definitely better than it was before.

Not sure what my last read of January will be, though it will definitely be short.

Ok, so here is what January looks like for me:

1. The Silver Linings Playbook
2. American Psycho
3. Ready Player One
4. Eberron Campaign Setting
5. Complete Arcane
6. Complete Warrior
7. Mania: the Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution
8. The Knife of Never Letting Go - I have a week to finish it. Can I do it while simultaneously catching up on the housework I shoved to the side while reading Mania?!

Then it's on to Fantasy February!

Never mind. I'm not a fan of The Knife of Never Letting Go at the moment, so I'm switching to About a Boy by Nick Hornby.

Early Reviewers review of Mania: the Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution:

Mania was one of those books I wasn't sure about when I received it in the mail. I had read On the Road and knew I wanted to know more about the Beats in general, but I'm not really a non-fiction reader most of the time. Thus, I was a little hesitant to dive right in, especially because the book, with its extensive appendix and Works Cited, is a bit of a tome.

Mania started off a little strange, with a retelling of a murder. While I was intrigued, I wasn't sure how it was all going to come together. In fact, it took me most of the first part of the book to really get into the groove of the writing style, organization, and connectedness of everything.

In short, I started off bored by it.

However, as I hit the halfway point or so, I found it more and more compelling, to the point where I was really absorbed in the story the authors were telling. I loved the information on the obscenity trial related to Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems; I think that was my favorite part of the book, actually. I was so wrapped up in reading it that I lost track of time, and I wasn't bored one bit by all of the information.

I learned a lot from my reading of Mania. In fact, I feel like I would've been better equipped to read On the Road had I read this first. Nay, I *know* I would've been better off in my reading if I'd had the information contained in Mania. I don't know if that means I will be better off if I try, say, Naked Lunch now.

I am far more knowledgeable about the Beat generation having read this, so I feel it was a satisfying read and not a waste of my time like I was originally positing. I feel accomplished.

Nice review of Mania: the Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution - thumbs up from me. I have to admit, the topic isn't one that interests me much, so I'm particularly impressed that you got through it considering you didn't like it much to begin with.

Isn't amazing how LT influences your reading?

I loved Ready Player One as well--gave it to my nephew for Christmas, as he's an 80's kid. Glad you enjoyed it. I have The Knife of Never Letting Go in my tbr pile here, but have been somewhat wary of picking it up fearing it might be too dark for my taste. What made you put it down?

Keep on what you are doing. Post in the threads of people who are fairly active but not necessarily the multiple-multiple thread people, and find people who have similar libraries to comment on. I saw your message on Jim's (drneutron) thread and came over to check you out. We only share 118 books (found out by going to your profile) but those are primarily in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Jasper Fflorde, Nina Kiriki Hoffman and so on.

Other members of the 75ers with a lot of your books are kiwiflowa (262 books), Prop2gether (225), and norabelle414 (184). You can find their threads by going to the group page, finding the Wiki section and clicking on the Threadbook.

Review of The Silver Linings Playbook:

I had really been wanting to read The Silver Linings Playbook for quite some time, as someone I trust recommended it to me. Then I discovered it was a movie, and I *really* wanted to read it so I could then see the movie. I'm glad I read this.

Now, the film is being touted as some kind of comedy/ rom-com, but I don't think that's true to the spirit of the book. I felt that the book had a desperation to it that wasn't really comedic. Granted, there are funny moments to the book, and I really enjoyed the reading of it.

I had no idea when I picked it up that The Silver Linings Playbook had a psych element to it, which amuses me slightly, since a lot of the books I've read lately have that same element to it.

I found myself invested in the characters and really rooting for them, which is always a plus for me. I *liked* the characters too.

There were definitely some quotable moments, and there were definitely some tearful moments too. Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel.

Review of American Psycho:

I hated American Psycho. It was one of those "you must read this," "it's one of the 1001 books you should read before you die," and its title was mentioned in a song by one of my favorite bands. I thought to myself, "Well, if it's good enough for Bryan, then it's good enough for me."

Not so much. The first part of the book was unbelievably boring, because I just couldn't make myself care about what brands all the characters were wearing, or all the other minutiae the protagonist droned on about endlessly.

So I skipped ahead a little bit to the parts the book was more famous for, and I was horrified and disgusted and just couldn't stand to read anymore. Yes, I know, that's part of the point of the violence - to horrify the audience and to create a stark contrast between the two sides of this guy's life and all.

And I didn't even have to read every word of the book to get that :) I didn't subject myself to some of the ending, and I don't feel the slightest bit bad about it.

Review of Ready Player One:

I absolutely loved reading Ready Player One from practically the first page on. I loved the 80's pop culture references and all of the gaming culture that was integrated throughout. The fact that I had some understanding of those things already made the reading a lot more enjoyable, but I don't think you absolutely must know that "No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful" is a They Might Be Giants quote to have an enjoyable reading experience.

The concept of the Oasis was a fascinating one to me. I don't think it mattered that I didn't have an absolute ton of detail on *exactly* how the world ended up to be such a mess that everyone would want to immerse himself in the Oasis, because the little information that we did get was just enough to make it plausible.

I was so absorbed by the plot and the characters that I could hardly put the book down. I cannot wait until one of my friends has the time or energy to read the book as well so we can talk about it.

I'm so grateful that my SantaThing bought me Ready Player One, because it was everything I hoped it would be, and it totally lived up to the hype!

Esquiress –

Since you seem to like science fiction and fantasy, would you like to join a group read of Jhereg as past of Fantasy February? The link to the Fantasy February thread is here and to the Jhereg read thread is here.

Hi! I also saw your comment on Jim's thread and came over to say hello. I enjoyed reading your reviews, especially the one of Silver Linings Playbook. I haven't read the book but I did see the film and was actually glad to see your comment: the film is being touted as some kind of comedy/ rom-com, but I don't think that's true to the spirit of the book. The film was good but strange in the fact that the first half seemed very much a story of mental illness and the second half a romantic comedy. I'm going to look for the book and see what it's like. I also keep meaning to read Ready Player One so thanks for the reminder.

Hi - popping over from Jim's thread, too. I know drachenbraut recently read Ready Player One; have you been over to her thread? Have a look at the 'What we are reading' threads in whatever interests you have (I'm on the sic-fi and fantasy), and look into Green Dragon, too. I see Dejah has already invited you for the Jhereg group read.

As for going month by month, you can either create a new thread each time, or would you consider going by quarters?

I am a fan of Ready Player One too. I am hoping to buy a copy for my personal library at some point.

Welcome to the group!

> 8.

Thanks for the review praise :) I am never sure how my ER reviews are being perceived out there. I didn't know how much the topic actually interested me until I read the book... so I thought that was pretty cool too. Granted, I am a total English nerd and used to teach high school, so literary biography isn't too far away from my alley :)

LT totally influences my reading. It really is cool. I've already grabbed some suggestions from my reading of other people's threads, like drneutron's.

> 9.

Thanks for the encouragement, roni! It's great to hear from others.

My husband is finally going to start reading Ready Player One tonight - thank heavens to have an IRL person to talk about it with as well!

The Knife of Never Letting Go seemed like it was going to be my thing... it had a little bit of that post-apocalyptica going on, a little darkness... but it just wasn't right for me right at this second. TBH, I think I will come back to it, maybe even some time this year, but the narrative voice bugged me. There are purposeful misspellings throughout that I couldn't figure out the purpose for, and that was bothersome. I suppose it spoke to the level of education of the narrator, but I wasn't sure. I knew I wanted to find something I could finish by the end of January, and this book just wasn't it. It is my hope that About a Boy is.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll go check out those other threads too.

Don't you just love Jasper Fforde? I have his Shades of Grey set up for Fantasy February next month :) It looks really fun, and he hasn't disappointed me yet. Plus, I got The Woman Who Died a Lot for Christmas, and since I love Thursday Next, I'll be reading that too (I hope!).

> 13.

I was looking at Jhereg, and I'm not sure it's the book for me. I have added it to my wishlist over at PBS, but b/c of the high fantasy elements to it, I think it'll take me a bit more time.

Thanks for the invitation!

> 14.

phebj,

That is great to know about the film. I still really want to see it, but I'll be prepared for the disparity in it now. The whole book deals with mental illness, but not in a terrible, depressing kind of way; it's more like It's Kind of a Funny Story in that it has funny moments, and it just felt authentic to me.

I can't recommend Ready Player One highly enough!

> 15.

humouress,

I will definitely pop over to drachenbraut and see what she had to say about Ready Player One, or start up a conversation with her if she hasn't said much.

I'll check out those "What are we reading?" threads too; I wasn't sure what those and "Green Dragon" were all about. I've just been stumbling my way through things.

I could do the quarters thing, but the annoyance is that I cannot change the title of this thread to reflect that, or at least I can't figure out how to change a thread title. Do you know anything about that?

> 16.

I was so lucky to get Ready Player One as a SantaThing gift this year, because I was *really* low on the lists over at PBS! :) I think it'll be worth a re-read some time, though not this year.

>21 Esquiress:: I'm not an expert, but I don't think you can change a thread title once you've set it up. If you get the 'continuation' arrow, you can rename the next thread, or if you set up a new thread altogether, you can change the name then.

But wander around LT; there are helpful groups around - look in the 'Groups' tab, and ask there.

ETA: these are threads I keep track of:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/104943 - Basic HTML
http://www.librarything.com/topic/129158 - Basic HTML 2012
http://www.librarything.com/topic/35356 - How to do fancy things in your posts

What we are reading threads:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/146473 - Juvenile and Young Adult
http://www.librarything.com/topic/146480 - Science Fiction and Fantasy
http://www.librarything.com/topic/140935 - Green Dragon
Fantasyland - http://www.librarything.com/topic/147676 - January

Hopefully, I've updated them for this year.

>23 humouress:.
Thanks a bunch, humouress.

eta: Wow... thanks a *lot*, actually!

HI there, just returning the visit to my thread--you're right, we do have a lot of books in common.

I did love Feed for its message, but had to "get into" the language (like you have do in A Clockwork Orange-- or like I had to yesterday for the stage production of "Backbeat"). Once there, I really enjoyed the read. I haven't read Ready Player One, but recently discovered it in my TBR stacks, so maybe I'll push it forward.

If you are at all intrigued by The Knife of Never Letting Go, see if you can work your way into the second and third books. This trilogy is really "of a whole," and the individual parts were much less impressive than the entire story. The first book is much more exposition and set-up for the storyline of the other two books.

Haven't read Silver Linings Playbook, but saw the movie and I loved it. Having generations of family history of people with mental illness made the presentation more authentic and I recommend it very much. It does become something of a romantic comedy, but I think that both of those aspects are far less emphatic than the previews seem to push.

And just as a FYI, I'm totally with you on Bret Easton Ellis--read one book and absolutely despised it. Tried another and put it down. I find few books truly offensive, but his seem so very full of hate that I don't want to get involved.

>25 Prop2gether:.

Hi, Prop.

I know I'll give The Knife of Never Letting Go another chance before I give up entirely. It was another language barrier, I think, and I just wanted something a little more breezy, y'know?

My hubby and I are going to see the movie of The Silver Linings Playbook tonight, so now I'm really looking forward to it!

Oh, good... I'm not the only one with an Ellis issue :) I thought maybe I was missing something voluminous in his work.

Thanks for droppin' by!

-Esquiress/ kcrisell

Can't wait to hear what you think of the movie vs. the book of Silver Linings Playbook!

Hi Esquiress! Sorry to be so late returning your thread visit.

I really liked Ready Player One when I read it last year. I loved The Knife of Never Letting Go, but it took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the writing, and even be sure I was going to continue reading it - I gave one of my co-workers (I work at a library) the advice to go about 60 pages into it, and if she wasn't gripped by that point, to give it a rest. It's very much the boy's thoughts, misspellings and errors and all, and it's definitely not something to read when you're in the mood for light.

> 28.

Thanks for the encouragement, bell. I'll have to give it another go when I'm more "ready" for it, y'know?

You work at a library?! What a great job!

I didn't let myself get 60 pages in, so maybe that was my problem. That and I was looking for a little lighter. Oh well, I have all year! :) Maybe in February (part of Fantasy February, maybe?) or March.

Thanks again.
-Esquiress

Hey, all,

I know some of us (phebj :D) are awaiting my comments on the movie of The Silver Linings Playbook, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow. I got myself into a wee bit of a car crash today on the icy roads near my house, and I just don't have it in me to write a full-out review/ comparison tonight, what with all my aches and pains. But I do have many thoughts to share!

-Esquiress

Oh no! I hope you (and everyone in the crash, for that matter) is alright - beyond aches and pains. Icy roads are miserable.

Hope you're alright. Nothing too serious?

Hey, gals -

It wasn't too serious. I was alone in the car and the crash only involved my car. The aches and pains have hit hard today. My poor Protege 5 will be out of commission for a little while - definitely a broken front fender, and something's up with the axle because my tire is all bent in. I'm hoping that it won't take too long to fix, though rental cars are always nice too!

Thanks for the well-wishes.

-Esquiress

Really sorry about the accident. Hope you and your car are all better soon!

Comparing the book The Silver Linings Playbook to its film version:

Last night on the way home from the movie (hubby was driving, as we hadn't picked up my loaner car yet), I talked to my mom on the phone and told her that I wasn't sure I had ever met a movie so different from the book. I think that's what has stunned me most about watching the film. I have to like it as a totally, completely different entity, because I felt like the book and movie were just *so so different*.

First of all, I don't think that either the book or film really falls into the "comedy" genre, which is where it's being placed for awards. The book is definitely a drama, and I was prepared to cry during the film. That definitely didn't happen, and I was a little disappointed.

***SPOILER ALERT!***

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MAJOR DIFFERENCES (and how I felt about them):

Here's what bugged me the most. The whole drama of Pat losing four years of his life while in Baltimore wasn't there at all. He was only away for eight and a half months. He didn't have to come to terms with a divorce, or Nikki being with the other English teacher (in the movie, a history teacher) who always called Pat a buffoon, or even the memory of what he did; he just knew it all right away.

And what was with Danny always getting out of the hospital before he was supposed to? I didn't find that funny at all, and I liked their serendipitous meeting on Christmas in the book. But he couldn't meet Danny on Christmas, because the "meet-up" where Tiffany appeared and told him she wrote the letters didn't happen.

While it's nice that Tiffany comes across slightly less a misguidedly psycho bitch, it also killed the intensity of the end, when she says, in the book, "I need you, Pat Peoples." I loved that ending of the book, and that need wasn't really seen in the film, at least for me.

SLIGHTLY MINOR, IRRITATING DIFFERENCES:

I was looking forward to seeing Cliff's office as it was described in the books. That relationship wasn't developed, and that saddened me. Plus, seeing the visual of the sun and clouds on the ceiling would've been visually appealing and would've shown that Cliff approached therapy in a different way - again, not something made clear.

The dance. Seriously? Why did there have to be stakes? Why the bet? Why a pairs competition and not the "coping with mental health" cabaret-type thing Matthew Quick had in the book? And why, for heaven's sake, did they have to suck?! They were beautiful in the book!

The father-son dynamic was so completely different from the film to the book that I was stunned.

Who the hell was that kid with the camera?!

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As you might be able to tell, I was actually a little angry at where the film went with the plot. Sure, there were some things that were the same. But I felt the heart of the book, and the seriousness of that heart, was not dealt with. Mental illness is extremely serious. Sure, things can be funny (take It's Kind of a Funny Story or the Ernest Hemingway rant that's shown in the trailers for the film). But it's not an inherently funny subject, which I felt the film made it out to be.

I would have much preferred a truer take on the book to what I watched last night. It's not that the actors didn't do a good job (I love Jennifer Lawrence) or that the movie was bad per se. It's just that it wasn't what I was expecting.

So, as a book movie, I felt it really failed. However, as a movie taken separately from the book, it worked pretty well as a film. I'm glad that it's up for some awards, but it should definitely never get anything approaching a "best adaptation of a novel" or anything like that :)

> 34

Thanks, phebj!

Esquiress, I just skimmed what you said about the differences between the movie and book of Silver Linings Playbook because I do want to try the book. In a way I'm glad it's alot different than the movie because maybe I can forget about the movie when I read the book. I'll come back and read your comments again when I've finished the book.

I have always viewed movies as entirely different entities from the books or stories they came from--ever since my mother advised me that Scarlett has three children in the novel. So perhaps that's why I enjoyed the film as much as I did and will read the novel as well. While I often enjoy lots of things that were "in the book, " a lot of things which are beautiful in books just don't translate as well to cinematic production. It is interesting to read your frustrations in comparing the two, which I fully understand as a Harry Potter and LOTR fan, but I am glad you thought the film worked "pretty well." Me too.

phebj and Prop,

Thanks for your comments on my rant. I did like the movie, for the movie itself, just not as an adaptation of the book, if that makes sense :)

Hi! Sorry to read about your accident and the aches and pains, but glad you are not seriously (as in hospital) hurt.

5 > The Knife of Never Letting Go - I have a week to finish it. Can I do it while simultaneously catching up on the housework I shoved to the side while reading Mania?!

That sounds so like me! A good book can ruin my housekeeping!

I did like the movie, for the movie itself, just not as an adaptation of the book, if that makes sense :)

Makes perfect sense to me! I can think of quite a few movies that I could say that about.

Sorry to hear about your accident and hope you are feeling okay today.

I hope the aches and pains are receding - and that you'll have your car back soon!

Thanks tymfos, Morphy, and Dejah, for the well-wishes. I'm still experiencing pain, but hopefully a good massage will help it out a bit.

Dejah - right now I'm driving a Dodge Avenger as a loaner, so I'm not complaining too much :)

Tymfos - oh, reading just kills my housework. I do have a better excuse now for not carrying huge loads of laundry around, though, since I hurt my shoulder a bit :)

I will definitely be finished with About a Boy by tomorrow. I'll be picking up The Knife of Never Letting Go some time later in the year, I think.

Ready Player One seems interesting... I might look into it... since I'm trying to expand my TBR lists... I saw your post on Jim's thread also and wondered the same thing about getting people to my thread too... Reading has killed my house work for the last eight years... lol... so cleaning for me consists of storing all my junk in the garage just to get it out of the house.... happy reading! :)

Saw this on lovelyluck's thread and had to share:

And just for good measure:

Saw this on someone else's thread and decided to try it :)

By the way, I snagged a copy of White Lines from Early Reviewers this month, and I'm pretty excited. It might have to interrupt some Fantasy February to get it in soon.

I'm actually waiting for two ER books from the October and November batches: Born This Way and Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy, respectively.

Ok - I took the nerd test. I'm a Cool Nerd Queen - whatever that means!

> 49

Sounds like my kind of gal :) It doesn't explain the ratings very well, now does it?

>11 Esquiress: and its title was mentioned in a song by one of my favorite bands
Do tell!
(Bryan...Adams? Ferry? Vickers? Brothers?)

Oh, and hi. :)
I saw you from Berly's thread, and came to see for myself.

I bet About a Boy is a really great read, I loved the film, but have never read anything of Nick Hornby's. One day I will, Im sure.

Bye for now.

>47 Esquiress:: Apparently, I'm an Uber Cool Nerd. I hadn't realised I was a nerd at all. Strange, what one learns ...

I'm also from Jim's thread & coming to say hello. I echo what Roni suggested. I'm a newbie too so the veterans can give you more specific suggestions than I can but I would suggest commenting on all the threads you visit. Most of the more active folks tend to respond individually to each person eventually. This is a super busy group so folks won't generally find you unless you find them first! :)

Just my 2 cents from recent experience.

Welcome!

#46 Love the grammar nazi!

Apparently I'm a Cool Nerd God. Given that I've got a PhD in physics and build spacecraft that go to other planets for a living, I suppose that's right... :)

> 51:

It's actually a group called The Front Bottoms (funny... I'm wearing one of their shirts today...). The lead singer/ guitar player/ songwriter is named Bryan. :)

Thanks for stopping over! Hi!

About a Boy is good. It was what I needed to end January.

See you later, gator :)

> 52:

I definitely knew I was a nerd, and especially a literature nerd :)

We can be nerdy together, humouress.

Humouress and Esquiress just sounds like a good match :)

> 53:

Hiya, TinaV!

I think I'm starting to get the hang of the back-and-forth of the threads. I've been looking at people whose libraries are similar to mine as well as really active people, and things are starting to fill out around here.

It's amazing how many common interests you'll find with people without even realizing it.

I'll be popping over to your thread soon!

> 54.

I know, right? I love that joke :D

> 55

Definitely, Jim. Definitely. You're like one of the guys on The Big Bang Theory, aren't you? :)

Just a heads up, all... my username has changed from kcrisell to Esquiress. I have both listed on the Threadbook wiki, with a note by kcrisell of the new username and a note by my new username of my former one.

So you can find me through either username, but everything will come up Esquiress now :) Hooray!

Well! Look at that. You DO exist! LibraryThing doesn't know everything after all. Your username change must have confused the system. Perhaps just temporarily.

Looks like you've already zoomed through some good books this year!

Yeah, half of my posts are coming up kcrisell, and other half are coming up Esquiress :) It's mighty confusing!

I put both of my usernames on the Threadbook, hoping that will help abate some confusion!

Yes, it's been a good month so far.

Review of About a Boy:

After starting off with The Knife of Never Letting Go and putting it down after 15 pages, I was looking for something a little different and a faster read for the end of January. I found that in About a Boy.

It's not that the book was overly light, because it does deal with depression, bullying, and a suicide attempt (what is with me and these psych books lately?!). However, it was easy to read. The prose wasn't overly dense, and there were funny moments.

I definitely "got" Marcus and the fact that he didn't fit in in school, because I never fit in either. His story is a great coming of age narrative, even if he is only 12.

But the book isn't overly young-adult-y, as a book about a 12-year-old could get. It was as much about the adults as the kid. In fact, I think Will came of age too, not just Marcus. To me, both Marcus and Will are the "boy" of the title.

Since it was written around the time of Kurt Cobain's death, I knew that event was going to play a part in the novel, and I found that fascinating. I like Nirvana and am a Cobain fan, so the way he came into the story was really cool for me.

I was surprised at how quickly I was able to read the novel. It was just what I needed to finish out a solid January of reading.

Hi K!
Welcome to the 75ers :)

Some interesting books here... I look forwardd to seeing more of you around the "neiighborhood"

Thanks, mckait!

I'll keep an eye on your thread :)

> 45 LOL... I stole it off of one of my favorite authors facebook page.... I loved it so much... I think it is super cute! thanks for stopping by... I get so excited when I see that I have 1 unread post....

Here is my summary of January.

Books Read: 8
1. The Silver Linings Playbook
2. American Psycho
3. Ready Player One
4. Eberron Campaign Setting
5. Complete Arcane
6. Complete Warrior
7. Mania: the Story of the Outraged and Outrageous Lives that Launched a Cultural Revolution
8. About a Boy

Books Read on Nook: 2
Books Read in Paper: 3
Books Read in PDF: 3

Books I Abandoned: 1
1. The Knife of Never Letting Go
(don't worry - I'm coming back for it!)

Books Bought: 4
1. Cleopatra: A Life
2. The Electric Michelangelo
3. Makers
4. Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture

Books Acquired through PBS: 1
1. The Simultaneous Man

Small-scale Crises Caused by Username Change: 1

"Book Bullets" Caught: 7
1. The Map of Time
2. The Map of the Sky
3. The Alchemist of Souls
4. Bridge of Birds
5. The Eye of the World
6. Libriomancer
7. Howl: A Graphic Novel

75ers I'm Now Following/ Have Starred: 18

Whew! January's been busy. February starts in about half an hour for me. I'm ready for a new thread, with my new username displayed, and a less binding title for the thread.

Man, you know how to kick off a thread!! You are smoking! I agree that you should give The Knife of Never Letting Go another chance. It takes a while to get into the butchered English and to find the rhythm, but the series is one of my all-time favorites.

I didn't know there was another Thursday Next novel out...I'm behind!! Oh no! (What else is new?) I loved Shades of Grey by FForde and can't wait for the next one. It's probably out already, isn't it? Off to check...

Thanks for the kudos! :) It's always nice to hear.

Maybe I'll even do The Knife of Never Letting Go as part of Fantasy February.

Oooh - a Shades of Grey sequel? Let me know what you find out!

Fresh new thread is now in place. Here it is!

Finally found you and got you starred!