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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Mar 3 2015, 3:35pm
Post #1 of 22
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It's the first of March reading thread!
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March? Already?
I finished the audiobook of Peppercorn Street, by Anna Jacobs, which was given to me by the author. It's a "women's fiction" about several women going through crises in a small town in England. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, since it works well as an audiobook---lots of angst for the many characters but it's not dwelled upon, the characters are threatened with violence but it almost never actually happens, the writing is brisk, with little description.... Some things work much better in a paper book, where I could skim and even skip, but make an audio seem tedious.
I also finished the audio file of Tied Up in Tinsel, by Ngaio Marsh, which was fun for the veddy, veddy old-fashioned Englishness of it, never mind that it was set in the early 70s. I will say, though, I knew where the body was hidden from the get-go. 
I'm about to start the audiobook of The Marriage Spell, by Mary Jo Putney, another of the CD sets she kindly sent me. I know it's a good book---the author can do no wrong---but I'm getting weary of audiobooks and would love to just read on paper. More than a few pages, though, give me a headache, since my eyes simply aren't yet up to the task. Ah well, they'll be back on track by the first of June, hopefully.
What have you been reading?
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Mar 3 2015, 3:41pm
Post #2 of 22
(1029 views)
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FInished with Thieves' World again
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I finished re-reading my second Thieves' World omnibus and I haven't decided what to pick up next. In the meantime, I'm working on something of my own for The One Ring Roleplaying Game and have been immersed in the game's sourcebooks and in Middle-earth in general (particularly the region of the Northern Ered Luin).
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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swordwhale
Tol Eressea
Mar 3 2015, 5:10pm
Post #3 of 22
(1030 views)
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with a pile of halfbleeping finished things on the kitchen table, including....
Creativity Inc, Ed Catmull (Pixar as an example of how to do it right)
the Natural Navigator, Tristan Gooley (because I am topographically impaired)
the latest Audobon Magazine (in which we find reasons to not build your house on a beach or any other sort of sand which is supposed to move and breathe under wind and tide)
my Mighty Fine Peterson's Field Guide to Eastern Birds, lost in a mystery bag for a year... necessary for summer expeditions...
OMG it's three weeks to spring....
and a borrowed copy of Big Hero 6, though that's not reading...
Na 'Aear, na 'Aear! Mưl 'lain nallol, I sûl ribiel a i falf 'loss reviol...
To the sea, to the sea, the white gulls are crying, the wind is blowing and the white foam is flying...
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RosieLass
Valinor
Mar 3 2015, 6:11pm
Post #4 of 22
(1043 views)
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I've started reading "The Princess and the Goblin."
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By George MacDonald.
I'd listened to the audiobook before, but this is the first time reading it in print. So I'm noticing different things.
I believe I heard somewhere that this book was a favorite of JRRT and that he got his inspiration for some of the elements in LOTR from this book. I think I've already met his "Galadriel." 
"Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it."
--Joyce Meyer
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
--Leonard Nimoy
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Annael
Immortal
Mar 3 2015, 9:52pm
Post #7 of 22
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that looks incredible!
Thanks for sharing. I'm getting one!
People with soul can identify with another person's basic human struggle without either judgment or indifference.
-- Thomas Moore
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Kim
Valinor
Mar 3 2015, 10:49pm
Post #8 of 22
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This is the last Percy Jackson book and I'm a little over halfway through. It's moving along at a lot faster pace than the last one, and I'm enjoying this one much more. I just got to a chapter where the heroes Percy and Jason meet the goddess Kymopoleia (aka Kym). They're trying to convince her to join their side and they figure out what she really wants is for mortals to love her and fear her. They agree they will set up shrines to honor her, and even create an action figure and collectible trading cards. She agrees to their terms.
So, from this point on, I wish to be known as Kymopoleia. And I would like an action figure. And collectible trading cards. 
#OneLastTime
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Mar 4 2015, 3:08pm
Post #9 of 22
(961 views)
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And we will set up a shrine to honor you. We will burn incense, light candles, and on every full moon we will sacrifice Young Adult novels to you! In hardback!  
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Mar 4 2015, 3:39pm
Post #10 of 22
(956 views)
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have these delightful little author asides in them (or maybe some people would find them twee.) When I got my copy of the book, it didn't have them, so I copied them out of a library book and inserted them into my book.
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"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
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"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories
leleni at hotmail dot com
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dormouse
Half-elven
Mar 4 2015, 3:50pm
Post #11 of 22
(962 views)
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..and just seeing you mention it makes me want to read it again - it's been a long time.
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Annael
Immortal
Mar 4 2015, 4:20pm
Post #12 of 22
(959 views)
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that is the book that set me up for a lifelong love of fantasy
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My mother read that to me as a child. My mother NEVER read to us, so that was part of the magic, but I loved the story too.
On her 90th birthday I gave her a hardbound first edition of the book.
People with soul can identify with another person's basic human struggle without either judgment or indifference.
-- Thomas Moore
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Riven Delve
Tol Eressea
Mar 4 2015, 5:47pm
Post #13 of 22
(949 views)
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The maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
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Well, you read maps, don't you?
Seriously, though, this is a set illustrated by John Howe, which includes Wilderland, Middle-earth, Beleriad, and Numenor. They are lovely in themselves, but there's also a short companion book that goes with them that I'm working through. The only disadvantage is it takes a lot of desk/table space to read them both together! 
This was my Valentine's present from my husband. He might not get Tolkien, but he does get me! 
I hope you're back in the paper-reading saddle soon, Lily!
“Tollers,” Lewis said to Tolkien, “there is too little of what we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves.”
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Mar 5 2015, 2:50pm
Post #14 of 22
(920 views)
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Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Meneldor
Valinor
Mar 5 2015, 3:13pm
Post #15 of 22
(920 views)
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by Bernard Cornwell. Historical novel about the British expedition to the coast of Maine in 1779 to establish a fort to hinder rebel privateers. Best Cornwell book I've read, and it's set in an area I've visited.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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cats16
Half-elven
Mar 5 2015, 6:45pm
Post #16 of 22
(907 views)
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Proud of myself to be able to say that. My mind is still racing after the 40+ page final chapter comprised of only two total sentences, sprawled over eight paragraphs. It was a memorable reading experience, indeed. Having a book of annotations alongside is the *absolute best* way to attack this behemoth. I highly recommend Don Gifford's text, if anyone ever takes the plunge.
As someone told me yesterday, "So now you've finished Ulysses...what to do with the rest of your life?" Well, I suppose re-read it, someday.
I've got a lot of reading slated for Spring, including Balzac, Flaubert and a whole slew of modernists. Perhaps in the interim I'll actually start reading the collection of Sontag's essays I bought months ago...
*Correction: I will catch up in the RR!  *
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
(This post was edited by cats16 on Mar 5 2015, 6:46pm)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Mar 5 2015, 9:10pm
Post #17 of 22
(896 views)
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I have enough Middle-earth maps for the time being, but I am very much looking forward to this:
~ Journeys and Maps – a deluxe set of Middle-earth game maps and a guide to travel for The One Ring.
The product is projected for release in 2015, but I'd place the odds for that happening at fifty-fifty.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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Meneldor
Valinor
Mar 7 2015, 3:43am
Post #18 of 22
(863 views)
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by CS Forester. One of his best, IMO. The tacking duel between Hotspur and Loire is one of the most nail-biting sea chases ever. The character moments with Maria and "Horry" are heartbreaking.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Elberbeth
Tol Eressea
Mar 7 2015, 5:06pm
Post #19 of 22
(849 views)
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by Juliet Barker, which is apparently considered to be the definitive examination of this historic battle. I'm finding it, although interesting (because you all know how I love this stuff!) hard to get through more than a few pages at a sitting. I think, though, it's partly because I haven't been feeling all that well, and partly because I have a huge stack of other books that I want to get to that won't require such concentration. So I keep plugging away a chapter or so at a time, infilling with a couple of others that are also on the go.
"There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark."
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Meneldor
Valinor
Mar 8 2015, 3:13am
Post #20 of 22
(846 views)
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Less battles and more nautical lore than Hotspur. As usual, most of the characters are either shallow or flat -- except Hornblower himself, who is one of the most fully realized literary characters ever.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Mar 8 2015, 3:47pm
Post #21 of 22
(825 views)
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...went back and filled in Hornblower's earlier years in Atropos and Hotspur. My favorite part of Atropos is Nelson's almost disastrous funeral. Some years ago I saw his (Nelson's, not Hornblower's ) tomb in St. Paul's and almost giggled, thinking of Forester's fictional account.
While generally Forester can do no wrong for me, I do have a problem with the way he often doesn't actually end his books, but just stops writing at a grim, ugly moment.
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Meneldor
Valinor
Mar 9 2015, 3:25am
Post #22 of 22
(825 views)
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And was HH's watch still dangling from the handle of the casket?
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Finally got around to finishing Herman Melville's Piazza Tales. His not unexcessive proliferation of double negatives was not unnoticed by myself. Convoluted sentence structure aside, they were interesting stories. But I have to say they may have been the not unlongest short stories I've read.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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