Bedtime reading with little people: Lafcadio by Uncle Shelby - a fun Shel Silverstein book and a must read.
Through the looking Glass and what Alice found there by Louis Carroll - it's a fun nonsense book that is very much not fun to read aloud. This felt like it took forever to get through. It has parts that are fantastic but difficult for a 4 year old to follow.
We just started Princess Bride S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure abridged by William Goldman ;). I'm really excited to read this, and watch the movie with her.
I just recently found a bunch of Shel Silverstein books when I was bringing some of my wife's books down from the attic. I hadn't thought of those in years and now this is twice in the last three days that I've been reminded of them. I sense a reading binge in my near future.
My daughter found a complete set of Time-Life WWII books for my birthday. I'm presently wallowing in the 5th volume of fluffily written history bits wrapped around lots of photo goodness. I remember checking these out constantly when I was in grade school, but I don't really recall reading that much of the text content.
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
My daughter found a complete set of Time-Life WWII books for my birthday. I'm presently wallowing in the 5th volume of fluffily written history bits wrapped around lots of photo goodness. I remember checking these out constantly when I was in grade school, but I don't really recall reading that much of the text content.
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
I wish I had more awesomes and likes to give.
We found a set last year. They are awesome; all those pictures! The covers are incredible too.
Do you remember the West series from time life? I love that series too, but the covers are not nearly as good as Ww2.
My daughter found a complete set of Time-Life WWII books for my birthday. I'm presently wallowing in the 5th volume of fluffily written history bits wrapped around lots of photo goodness. I remember checking these out constantly when I was in grade school, but I don't really recall reading that much of the text content.
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
I wish I had more awesomes and likes to give.
We found a set last year. They are awesome; all those pictures! The covers are incredible too.
Do you remember the West series from time life? I love that series too, but the covers are not nearly as good as Ww2.
They are utterly cool. IIRC, the Old West set had covers that looked like hand tooled leather, with a smaller sepia tone image in the center? They're on our list to look for. Vietnam and Civil War sets are currently a higher priority.
My daughter found a complete set of Time-Life WWII books for my birthday. I'm presently wallowing in the 5th volume of fluffily written history bits wrapped around lots of photo goodness. I remember checking these out constantly when I was in grade school, but I don't really recall reading that much of the text content.
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
I wish I had more awesomes and likes to give.
We found a set last year. They are awesome; all those pictures! The covers are incredible too.
Do you remember the West series from time life? I love that series too, but the covers are not nearly as good as Ww2.
They are utterly cool. IIRC, the Old West set had covers that looked like hand tooled leather, with a smaller sepia tone image in the center? They're on our list to look for. Vietnam and Civil War sets are currently a higher priority.
You're right about the covers; the content of that series is great though. We started with the wild west, but man now you have me wanting the Vietnam series. I bet that is as good as Ww2. I'm going to go talk to my wife about it.
Finished Tourist Season - by Carl Hiaasen This is his first book; it was okay. I would recommend reading some of his later books start with strp tease; his writing gets so much better with time.
My library got some new audio books in, so while I haven't had time to read an actual book, I have listened to Michael Chabon’s Moonglow (quite good), Chuck Palahniuk’s Damned (a satire that’s kind of a mash-up of Dante’s Inferno, The Breakfast Club, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.—not bad), and the first Mary Poppins book (looks like they got the whole series in preparation for the new movie). Just started Mary Poppins Comes Back.
I enjoyed it. Even though I don’t normally care for nigh-omnipotent characters, I don’t mind so much with MP. One, because of the intended audience, and the fact all adults seem nigh-omnipotent to very young kids, and two, because her vanity and pride ground her somewhat. In terms of pacing, structure, and tone, it felt very much like the Doctor Doolittle books, which is A-okay by me.
The second book feels a bit repetitive though. Another oddball relative with an odd affliction that happens only on a certain day, another bit with travelling into a painting, etc. I've still got about a quarter of the book to go.
I felt that way too, but each one of the sequels we read has a unique fun adventure that sets it apart from the others.
Comes Back is my least favorite, but we still enjoyed it. There are parts of each of the books that pull on my feels. John and Barbara's story in the book one. my daughter's feels get tugged by the red cow story, for whatever reason that one gets her. The ending of book three when she opens the door.
I felt that way too, but each one of the sequels we read has a unique fun adventure that sets it apart from the others.
Comes Back is my least favorite, but we still enjoyed it. There are parts of each of the books that pull on my feels. John and Barbara's story in the book one. my daughter's feels get tugged by the red cow story, for whatever reason that one gets her. The ending of book three when she opens the door.
I think Mrs. Corry and the gingerbread stars is my favorite story in the first book. Corry and her daughters kind of feel like Terry Pratchett characters (or vice versa, I suppose).
I loved Ms. Corry and the stars. Nellie Rubina was a fun story from book 2.
My daughter is in love with Peter pan. My 4yr old has her first little crush.
Princess Bride is such a fun book. You might want to take a look at the new hardcover The Princess Bride Deluxe Edition. You will enjoy it a lot, but it might be a really good book to pass to your girl.
I loved Ms. Corry and the stars. Nellie Rubina was a fun story from book 2.
My daughter is in love with Peter pan. My 4yr old has her first little crush.
Princess Bride is such a fun book. You might want to take a look at the new hardcover The Princess Bride Deluxe Edition. You will enjoy it a lot, but it might be a really good book to pass to your girl.
When she gets a little older, try the Peter and the Starcatchers series. It’s pretty darn good.
What does the deluxe edition of Princess Bride have that previous editions don’t. I have a paperback version from the ’80s.
This is the first time I've ever read princess Bride so here's what I know it has lots of pictures and the short story buttercup's baby and inego's backstory. (Wikipedia helping me) If you've got those stories then you wouldn't need the deluxe.
This is the first time I've ever read princess Bride so here's what I know it has lots of pictures and the short story buttercup's baby and inego's backstory. (Wikipedia helping me) If you've got those stories then you wouldn't need the deluxe.
Thanks! I've never read “Buttercup’s Baby”, but maybe I can find that in another form.
I'm going to give you a minor spoiler, I say minor because it is the title of a chapter, the only part left after "Goldman's abridgement" is The Death of Fezzik. Im going to read it ahead of our daughter because I am not sure it is something I want to read to a four year old.
So when we were reading about the sharks, my daughter was so worried you could see the anxiety in her face, then Goldman breaks the story and tells the reader Buttercup is going to be safe. It was perfect, just perfect.
Reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Enjoyable, if somewhat directionless and oddly-paced.
Grossman based the story structure of The Magicians on Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Not the typical story structure for a fantasy novel.
I really enjoyed The Magicians and The Magician King. Magician King is a bit more typical in its structure.
Far enough into it now where I see the directionlessness and odd pacing to be an integral part of the story.
Just finished The Magician King.
There's a Brakebills short story in the Dangerous Women anthology I bought for the Dresden Files story, then I'm caught up until the third volume comes out. Good stuff. Nice twists on traditional tropes. Good characters. Solid endings.
Yeah, I need to read the short story. I doubt my library will get that one though. They tend to not get many anthologies.
Only things I buy in hardback right now are Discworld and Dresden Files.
You raise an interesting sub-discussion here: Which books are worth getting in hardcover. For me, at this point:
Stephen R Donaldson George RR Martin
My big frustration now is the trending toward going from Hardcover to TPB to MMPB. Much of what I've been reading is either first appearing in TPB or using it as an extra money making step in the process (I'm looking at you Erikson/Esslemont Malazan books!) The $5+ added to the price for what is frequently a poor quality of coverstock does not make this reader happy.
For me only Dark Tower books and Dresden Files books are stuff I both getting in hardback. Oh and Wild Cards novels.
I'm about 150 pages into Leviathan Wakes by James Corey
This is a good book. I sure wish you guys had mentioned it before
It's an old quote and I'm not finding where I followed up on it, though I do think I posted on the follow-up volumes. I'm a huge fan. Quite honestly see it as some of the best science fiction since CJ Cherryh's Merchanter Alliance/Union and Chanur books.
I was looking for through the thread, I feel like there were several posts about The Expanse from different people. After going a few pages back with no luck I conceded that the punchline wasn't worth all the effort.
More from the Jane Austin Action Book Club We were going through our shelves and realized I needed to get rid of some Mack bolan books. So I paused the expanse to do a quick read
Mack Bolan #82 Hammerhead Reef - Bolan (having defeated the mafia, terrorism, and severed ties with the us government between #6 and #82) goes to war against Cuban narcos and a KGB assassin in beautiful south Florida. I have only read two non-pendleton Bolan books, and this one had a lot more story development. There were multiple 5-10 page sections with zero killing. In those early books it averaged out to about one shootout every 2 pages. Overall I give Hammerhead Reef is a 2 out of 5 Jane Austin's. A good example of an Executioner story.
My daughter found a complete set of Time-Life WWII books for my birthday. I'm presently wallowing in the 5th volume of fluffily written history bits wrapped around lots of photo goodness. I remember checking these out constantly when I was in grade school, but I don't really recall reading that much of the text content.
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
I'm still on my Time-Life WWII series bender, though I paused to read the first volume of the Gundam: Origins manga (my first time reading an actual, non-reformatted for Western audiences manga).
So far, I'm on Vol. 8 of the WWII books, having gotten through Prelude to War, Blitzkrieg, Battle of Britain, The Rising Sun, The Battle of the Atlantic, The Attack on Russia and The War in the Desert. Currently starting The Home Front: USA.
How was the Gundam book? I have been on the fence about getting them for a while.
Storyline was pretty good. I hear vol. 2 is stronger, but it does a nice job of setting things up. There were things that I found jarring with regard to the way panels and word balloons were formatted, but the production values of the book were really top notch.
Listening, on audiobook, to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson. I’ve listened to a couple audiobooks recently and hadn’t liked either, but this has come along and is blowing me away. The story is great and compelling and the performances are really good.
Listening, on audiobook, to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson. I’ve listened to a couple audiobooks recently and hadn’t liked either, but this has come along and is blowing me away. The story is great and compelling and the performances are really good.
I do love me some Neal Stephenson. This one slipped under my radar. The result of no longer going to the book store on a regular basis, I suppose. I'll have to pick it up at some point. Looks like it was co-written by Nicole Galland, who worked with him on The Mongoliad.
Listening, on audiobook, to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson. I’ve listened to a couple audiobooks recently and hadn’t liked either, but this has come along and is blowing me away. The story is great and compelling and the performances are really good.
I do love me some Neal Stephenson. This one slipped under my radar. The result of no longer going to the book store on a regular basis, I suppose. I'll have to pick it up at some point. Looks like it was co-written by Nicole Galland, who worked with him on The Mongoliad.
This is the first of his I’ve read/listened too. Will have to give some more of his a go.
Listening, on audiobook, to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson. I’ve listened to a couple audiobooks recently and hadn’t liked either, but this has come along and is blowing me away. The story is great and compelling and the performances are really good.
I do love me some Neal Stephenson. This one slipped under my radar. The result of no longer going to the book store on a regular basis, I suppose. I'll have to pick it up at some point. Looks like it was co-written by Nicole Galland, who worked with him on The Mongoliad.
This is the first of his I’ve read/listened too. Will have to give some more of his a go.
Snow Crash is brilliant, one of my all-time favorite novels. Cryptonomicon is really good. Anathem is a really cool take on the “first contact” subgenre. I'm a bit behind on his more recent stuff.
Comments
I've learned (or been reminded of a thing or two so far.
We found a set last year. They are awesome; all those pictures! The covers are incredible too.
Do you remember the West series from time life? I love that series too, but the covers are not nearly as good as Ww2.
I'm going to go talk to my wife about it.
Tourist Season - by Carl Hiaasen
This is his first book; it was okay. I would recommend reading some of his later books start with strp tease; his writing gets so much better with time.
The second book feels a bit repetitive though. Another oddball relative with an odd affliction that happens only on a certain day, another bit with travelling into a painting, etc. I've still got about a quarter of the book to go.
Comes Back is my least favorite, but we still enjoyed it.
There are parts of each of the books that pull on my feels. John and Barbara's story in the book one. my daughter's feels get tugged by the red cow story, for whatever reason that one gets her. The ending of book three when she opens the door.
My daughter is in love with Peter pan. My 4yr old has her first little crush.
Princess Bride is such a fun book. You might want to take a look at the new hardcover The Princess Bride Deluxe Edition. You will enjoy it a lot, but it might be a really good book to pass to your girl.
What does the deluxe edition of Princess Bride have that previous editions don’t. I have a paperback version from the ’80s.
If you've got those stories then you wouldn't need the deluxe.
Im going to read it ahead of our daughter because I am not sure it is something I want to read to a four year old.
So when we were reading about the sharks, my daughter was so worried you could see the anxiety in her face, then Goldman breaks the story and tells the reader Buttercup is going to be safe. It was perfect, just perfect.
Leviathan Wakes by James Corey
This is a good book. I sure wish you guys had mentioned it before
We were going through our shelves and realized I needed to get rid of some Mack bolan books. So I paused the expanse to do a quick read
Mack Bolan #82 Hammerhead Reef - Bolan (having defeated the mafia, terrorism, and severed ties with the us government between #6 and #82) goes to war against Cuban narcos and a KGB assassin in beautiful south Florida.
I have only read two non-pendleton Bolan books, and this one had a lot more story development. There were multiple 5-10 page sections with zero killing. In those early books it averaged out to about one shootout every 2 pages.
Overall I give Hammerhead Reef is a 2 out of 5 Jane Austin's. A good example of an Executioner story.
So far, I'm on Vol. 8 of the WWII books, having gotten through Prelude to War, Blitzkrieg, Battle of Britain, The Rising Sun, The Battle of the Atlantic, The Attack on Russia and The War in the Desert. Currently starting The Home Front: USA.
Each book is really a brief survey of one of the many areas of WWII lore. The photographs included are really quite spectacular. Especially the cover of The Home Front: USA. https://www.archives.gov/files/research/military/ww2/photos/images/thumbnails/ww2-20-l.jpg
Overall, the production values for the books are great and I'm continuing to pick up interesting nuances to the war and enjoy the journey.
Also reading Stephen Kings new one, The Outsider.