Books Ninety Nine to One Hundred and One
Dec. 5th, 2010 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spooky_missGah, I haven't written in here for ages - I have loads of book and film reviews to do as well :( I'm going to try and do the book reviews as this was the main reason why I decided to regularly write in here, and then maybe catch up on the rest of the things when I have time off work over Christmas or something. I like writing in here, and I really feel like it's improved how I write, even in essays and things, so I know I should keep it up. I've been doing really well on my OU work at the moment, so I'm really pleased about that and should have the next essay done before Christmas. The course isn't all exactly what I want to study, but each chapter does have some interesting bits in even if the main focus is a bit boring to me. I'm glad I'm doing it, and am looking forward to getting onto the "proper" psychology courses :)
But anyway, book reviews...
Book Ninety Nine - Letters from the Mary Rose by Charles Knighton and D.M. Loades
This was a bit different from how I thought it would be. It is collection of letters written from and about the Mary Rose in the 16th century. I thought it would be mainly about it's voyages, and then of course about it's sinking. However, it is mainly letters written with lists of equipment needed and purchased for the ship, and then people complaining about how they don't have everything they need for the voyages etc. There wasn't enough (I thought) about the people on the ship, and what Henry VIII and the people in the country thought of such a magnificent ship. There was a good section on it after it was suck, and attempts to raise it through the centuries. Overall it was an ok book, but better for someone more interested in the actual working of the ship. 6 / 10
Book One Hundred (woo!) - Impossible Love: Ascher Levy's Longing for Germany by Roman Frister
This books tells the story of the Levy family, who lived in Germany in the 19th and 20th century. It came from Roman Frister finding a suitcase full of documents about the family at an antiques market, researching the family and then writing a non-fiction "story" about what he had found out. It was done really well as it was written like fiction but with true historical facts and circumstances explained as well. I liked the way that everything that it described actually happened to this family, and of course the story came to its inevitable conclusion with the rise of Nazism. It was also good as it showed the rise of anti-semitism throughout the 19th and early 20th century, and how different areas treated Jews differently. I liked this book especially as it used a real story and a real family. Recommended! 9 / 10
Book One Hundred and One - Calcium Made Interesting by Graham Chapman, edited by Jim Yoakum
This is a collection of essays, lectures, letters, tv scripts, jokes and other things written by Graham Chapman. Each chapter is introduced by the editor, who gives a bit of a history / explanation for what was written. It has information about what Graham did before and after Monty Python, and how he got into comedy writing. Some of the things in the book are a *little* boring and don't have the same spark that Monty Python as a whole had, but I did especially like the lectures that Graham gave, and where he showed his opinions on certain subjects. Its clear that he was a very talented comedy writer, and its such a shame that he has died, as I would really have liked to have seen him perform / listen to him speak. Recommended if you're interested in Monty Python and British comedy. 8 / 10
I think what I'll do is try and do three or four reviews each day, or every few days, so I will get them all done. I've currently read 107 books this year - 7 over last years total already! I was trying to aim for 120, but I don't think I'll quite make that, maybe 115 though. I'm not trying to rush books to reach a high total, but I do feel like I read quicker than I used to. But then there are so many books which I'd like to read so maybe thats a good thing! There have been lots of discussions in the media recently about the age at which children are taught to read, and that they should play for longer rather than being "forced" into literacy too early. I think my opinion on it is that books are such wonderful things, and reading is such a wonderful skill to have, that its not about trying to make your child "better" than others, its just that to be able to read and access literature is such a priviledge and an amazing thing to be able to do, I would want to encourage my children to read so a whole amazing world of books opens up in front of them. Not so they are somehow more "advanced". There are so many books to read that I would want them to start as soon as possible! :) Although thats not to say that people are somehow "less" if they can't read - I know someone who has severe dyslexia and can't read at all, but he's one of the most intelligent people I know - but to be drawn into the world of fiction and to have the world open up in front of you by reading non-fiction is just amazing. I've recently joined a book club and my friend who introduced me to it says she listened to the last book through an audio book rather than reading it - I think I want to try that as she said it was quite a different experience than reading it. I have Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (I think its that - or it might be the Goblet of Fire) on cd, so I will listen to that and see what I think of it. Next year I am going to use the library more (I feel incredibly guilty that I think I've only got 3 or 4 books out of the library this year!!) so I'll get some books on cd as well. I have a collection of books on tape which I had when I was younger, and I can still remember parts of them now - Tony Robinson reading Wings by Terry Pratchett, and Brian Blessed reading The Bear that Nobody Wanted by Janet and Allan Ahlberg were especially good!
But anyway, book reviews...
Book Ninety Nine - Letters from the Mary Rose by Charles Knighton and D.M. Loades
This was a bit different from how I thought it would be. It is collection of letters written from and about the Mary Rose in the 16th century. I thought it would be mainly about it's voyages, and then of course about it's sinking. However, it is mainly letters written with lists of equipment needed and purchased for the ship, and then people complaining about how they don't have everything they need for the voyages etc. There wasn't enough (I thought) about the people on the ship, and what Henry VIII and the people in the country thought of such a magnificent ship. There was a good section on it after it was suck, and attempts to raise it through the centuries. Overall it was an ok book, but better for someone more interested in the actual working of the ship. 6 / 10
Book One Hundred (woo!) - Impossible Love: Ascher Levy's Longing for Germany by Roman Frister
This books tells the story of the Levy family, who lived in Germany in the 19th and 20th century. It came from Roman Frister finding a suitcase full of documents about the family at an antiques market, researching the family and then writing a non-fiction "story" about what he had found out. It was done really well as it was written like fiction but with true historical facts and circumstances explained as well. I liked the way that everything that it described actually happened to this family, and of course the story came to its inevitable conclusion with the rise of Nazism. It was also good as it showed the rise of anti-semitism throughout the 19th and early 20th century, and how different areas treated Jews differently. I liked this book especially as it used a real story and a real family. Recommended! 9 / 10
Book One Hundred and One - Calcium Made Interesting by Graham Chapman, edited by Jim Yoakum
This is a collection of essays, lectures, letters, tv scripts, jokes and other things written by Graham Chapman. Each chapter is introduced by the editor, who gives a bit of a history / explanation for what was written. It has information about what Graham did before and after Monty Python, and how he got into comedy writing. Some of the things in the book are a *little* boring and don't have the same spark that Monty Python as a whole had, but I did especially like the lectures that Graham gave, and where he showed his opinions on certain subjects. Its clear that he was a very talented comedy writer, and its such a shame that he has died, as I would really have liked to have seen him perform / listen to him speak. Recommended if you're interested in Monty Python and British comedy. 8 / 10
I think what I'll do is try and do three or four reviews each day, or every few days, so I will get them all done. I've currently read 107 books this year - 7 over last years total already! I was trying to aim for 120, but I don't think I'll quite make that, maybe 115 though. I'm not trying to rush books to reach a high total, but I do feel like I read quicker than I used to. But then there are so many books which I'd like to read so maybe thats a good thing! There have been lots of discussions in the media recently about the age at which children are taught to read, and that they should play for longer rather than being "forced" into literacy too early. I think my opinion on it is that books are such wonderful things, and reading is such a wonderful skill to have, that its not about trying to make your child "better" than others, its just that to be able to read and access literature is such a priviledge and an amazing thing to be able to do, I would want to encourage my children to read so a whole amazing world of books opens up in front of them. Not so they are somehow more "advanced". There are so many books to read that I would want them to start as soon as possible! :) Although thats not to say that people are somehow "less" if they can't read - I know someone who has severe dyslexia and can't read at all, but he's one of the most intelligent people I know - but to be drawn into the world of fiction and to have the world open up in front of you by reading non-fiction is just amazing. I've recently joined a book club and my friend who introduced me to it says she listened to the last book through an audio book rather than reading it - I think I want to try that as she said it was quite a different experience than reading it. I have Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (I think its that - or it might be the Goblet of Fire) on cd, so I will listen to that and see what I think of it. Next year I am going to use the library more (I feel incredibly guilty that I think I've only got 3 or 4 books out of the library this year!!) so I'll get some books on cd as well. I have a collection of books on tape which I had when I was younger, and I can still remember parts of them now - Tony Robinson reading Wings by Terry Pratchett, and Brian Blessed reading The Bear that Nobody Wanted by Janet and Allan Ahlberg were especially good!
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-06 12:26 pm (UTC)I have to say I've always loved reading, I don't think I started earlier than normal but once I learned how to read in school I got lots of books I liked and just read and re-read them. One of my favourite quotes from my dad is that he stopped trying to read as much as I did when I was 8!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 11:34 am (UTC)I don't remember being able to read earlier than everyone else either - but I think once I did know how to read, I didn't stop! I used to read everything, like the back cereal packets on the breakfast table as well, hehe. My parents said I was only allowed 6 books out of the library on my card (when it was really 12!) to stop me reading so much and not doing anything else.
I think in the last year my sister, and especially my mum have read a lot more than they have done previously - I think its because I've started to write my book reviews and so talk about what I'm reading at home loads, so they get interested in books I'm reading. I really like it when I recommend books to people and they love them as well, thats great! :)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 12:02 pm (UTC)