h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a look, but it seemed to be not much different from here or Amazon, in that it was just a succession of comments from people without any two way conversation. I'm not really sure what I'm expecting there, but hey-ho. Also took a bit of figuring out how to work it, as KB says, and there are things you can't see until you've registered. And it only covers the books in English.

not just English, I've read and reviewed at least 3 books in German

But it's not for everyone. I really just use it to read and sometimes review and keep track of what I've read. Something I was doing here until I found goodreads and a far easier way of doing it.

That's exactly what I'm after, but GR doesn't really do it for me, for reasons I find hard to put my finger on. I might just do it on Excel so I can make it exactly as I want it.
Or I might do it as a blog. Or even in an old-fashioned paper notebook!

Now reading Corvus: A Life With Birds. I expected to like it a lot more than I do.

At the moment I'm reading the "Xenophobe's guide to Americans". Prior to that, I had just read the "Xenophobe's guide to the Germans" which was awful, not to mention totally inaccurate and misleading (although it was written by a German). Unfortunately I downloaded both of them at the same time. If I'd only downloaded one and then read it, I wouldn't have bothered with the other.

Because the one about the Americans, from which I had hoped to learn something before I went over there in the Autumn, seems to miss the mark entirely. It's not as if I've never met or had dealings with a single American person - Quite the contrary, but I can't reconcile my experience with the generalisations made.

I may have mentioned above that I recently read a book about the Swiss, which was in a much better style, with anecdotes and statistics that backed up the general impressions the writer had formed of the inhabitants of Switzerland.

These "Xenophobes" books are just blah-blah with no facts, no statistics, and no individual stories, experiences or anecdotes to make them interesting.

Other books from the Kindle Deals that I have recently read were mostly OK. The only terrible one was "Indexing" by Seanan McGuire. Absolutely awful. Give me Thursday Next any day.

Recently started Birds of Prey by Wilbur Smith. Chronologically it's the first of his books about the Courtneys. I'm not even half-way through and there's been a sea battle, a land battle (both gripping) and enough s3x to be going on with.

Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith. The 8th in the Arkady Renko series which I love. But none of them are a patch on Gorky Park.

I only have three of the Arkady Renko novels (Gorky Park, Polar Star and Red Square), which I enjoyed. I keep planning to buy more, then I remind myself that the tsundoku on my Kindle has reached the proportions of the tsundoku on my print books some years ago. So, as I still have more than 90 print books unread and more than 200 on my Kindle, Arkady Renko (amongst others) will have to wait.

Finished Birds of Prey and now on the sequel, Monsoon.

I'm actually in the grip of my 'multiple book' morass. Tree books: Tales from the Arabian Nights translated by Richard Burton, Babylon by I. L. Finkel and M. J. Seymour, The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham. Ebooks: Monsoon by Wilbur Smith, The Duchess by Amanda Foreman, Vanity Fair by W. M. Thackeray.

Am I the only person still reading? It's been very quiet round here.

Robert E. Howard, "The Red Nails", a Conan adventure.

"Am I the only person still reading? It's been very quiet round here."

I've mostly been re-reading my old books. I lost a significant game of squash last year, so I've been short of cash, and therefore new reading material ever since. I'm well on the way back to normal though, so I should have new reading material soon.

I'm reading Whispers Underground by Ben Aaranovich which is #3 in the Peter Grant series. Loving it so far.

Also still reading The Orenda which is really rather fantastic. It's about how the French cosied up to the Hurons while the Old World was carving up the New World. It is written from 3 POV, and while I know nothing about that place and period (except from reading The Leatherstocking books) it is excellent.

But very gory.

Still working my way through the Philip K Dick short stories compilations. Onto the last one now.

There's some very good ones in there, but also some right duffers too. Towards the start of the books they were all pretty good, but now towards the end they vary dramatically.

Off the top of your head can you tell me how many are about identity and self awareness?

We have recently finished our Great Film Festival where we watched all the films we could find which were based on the works of Philip K Dick. Ending with the sublime Blade Runner. But mostly (if not universally) they were about those two themes.

Off the top off my head I couldn't, but I'd say hardly any. They're mostly about war of one sort or another.

Androids was a full novel, I think the rest were shorts. This last collection has We Can Remember It For You Wholesale in, which (if I remember) was the short that Total Recall was based on.

The problem with the film's is they're all only very loosely based on the books. Which I think is a good thing though because the shorts are good, but they're not full feature film length.

Nearly 30 years after everybody else, I've started reading A Brief History of Time.

Only a week until Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London #5) is released in paperback - hopefully it won't have such a heart-thumping ending as #4.

Most recent book read was Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman. Which was ... interesting; I read it in a single sitting, and I've left it lying around in the loo in the hope that other family members might pick it up.

Mol

Whilst reading up on California (we're going there in October!) I discovered that Robert Louis Stevenson spent some time there. Got married there, actually. The house where he spent his honeymoon is a Robert Louis Stevenson Museum and there is even a park - all within reach of Santa Rosa in the Napa Valley, where we shall be spending two nights.

Anyway, as I have his complete works on my Kindle, I got down to reading "The Silverado Squatters".

After a diet of Amazon Deals for less than 3 Euros apiece, it was like sinking into a bubble bath of beautiful words and language.

As well as being a joy to read, the content is quite fascinating. On the one hand, he experiences the tail end of the Wild West, yet he has, for the first time in his life, used a telephone.

Irving Welsh lives in America (Chicago, I think) and he says the Americans don't understand his Scottish accent one bit. I have no idea how Stevenson communicated over 130 years ago!

Recently started Communism by Richard Pipes. The secondary title is 'A history of the intellectual and political movement'. It's an easier read than it sounds and I've already learned things I didn't know.

Also started The Courtesan's Revenge by Frances Wilson, about the courtesan Harriet Wilson (the woman the Duke of Wellington told 'Publish and be damned.') Also re-reading Jane Boleyn by Julia Fox. I've read this some time recently, but I didn't review it so I'm reading it again.

I´ve just finished Wonder, by RJ Palacios.

It´s in the line of The curious incident of a dog at midnight ( I don´t remember the title well)

I think it should be considered a reading at schools. It teaches compassion, empathy... accept the very different. It could be a kind of vaccine against bullying, somehow.
It´s touching.


I´m reading now To Kill a mockingbird. I´m not sure if I will want to read the last one on Harper Lee, it seems Atticus is not as lovable as it seems...
I wish I would have read the book before knowing that. I´m reading carefully his words to find something that can make true what is said about the new Atticus.

I recently finished The Map Of Time by Félix J Palma. I loved it so much (fans of Jules Verne and HG Wells will probably like it) that I bought 2 more copies and sent them to friends.

I then read Little Bee by Chris Cleave (in the UK it's called The Other Hand) which was horribly bad. Really didn't like that.

Currently reading the Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (a collection of articles about reading books) which is great
and also What a Wonderful World: One Man's Attempt to Explain the Big Stuff by Marcus Chown. Which is popular science. Great stuff.

Hi Maria

Did you happen to see my article about Harper Lee's 'new' novel A87858058

Do not feel compelled to read it (the novel or my review) if you are uncomfortable.

I tried to explain the controversy between the two stories in context of the history.

I was there,at least part of it

If you would rather ask any questions on a less public thread, please feel free to drop me a line on my page.

I re-read To Kill a Mocking bird very carefully after finishing the new novel, and I could not find a single clue about the changes.



F S