Books, Films, Gigs, and My Life!

Gah, 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. ( Some thoughts on reading )

day 17 → an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)

I wasn't really sure what to put for this one - I couldn't think of anything which really jumped out at me as an amazing piece of art. But I was sure there were some things which I really liked, and then I thought - it doesn't have to be a painting, so I present to you a selection of my sister's work :) These are some costumes that she's done for her university and college courses. She is just so inventive, and has such good ideas - you can give her a description of what you want, and then an hour later its either made or at least designed! :) ( Click here for photos! )

Book Ninety Seven - Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

This book is brilliant. It tells the story of Veronika, who decides one morning that she wants to kill herself. She takes some pills, and lies down to die. She then wakes up in hospital, having been resucitated (took me ages to work out how to spell that and now I'm still not sure I've got it right!). She is then told that she is ok for now, but the drugs she has taken have weakened her heart and hse only has a week to live. She is sent to a "mental hospital", where she meets the other patients there, and the book is good in that for a couple of them it goes into their stories too. It describes how while Veronica is there she begins to think differently about her life, and is able to affect the lives of the other patients there, specifically one man with schizophrenia. Its written in such a way which makes you think about your own life as well, which is good. And then as the book builds towards the ending it gets better and better! I won't spoil it for you, but just to say the ending is great! 10 / 10

I've also recently reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, which I enjoyed. I have read one other of his books (The Devil and Miss Prym), which was ok but not as good as the other two I've read. I think I will look up more by him though :)

( the rest of the days )

I had a really lovely evening last night, at the first meeting of a book club I've joined :) I really like talking about books and all the people were really nice, so it was great! Luckily the first book was one that I'd wanted to read for ages (The House of Special Purpose), so I really enjoyed it...and plus it (the book club) gives me an excuse to buy more books :D I can get them from the local library, but I do love buying books so I like to use any excuse! It made me think differently about the book as well, which was good. Its interesting how some people pick up on certain things in books which I didn't even think of...and I appeared to be the only person who didn't get the twist at the end!! But then again I am usually quite slow to pick up on those things - I described the book to Katie and she got it straight away, without even reading it, haha. Although in my defence I must say that the twist was extremely historically innaccurate, so what it turned out to be didn't even cross my mind. But it was still a really great book, I hope the next one we're reading is as good!

I'm getting a bit behind on a few things - silly things like the challenge days on here, and also serious things like my OU course! Well strictly speaking I'm not behind *yet* - as I was ahead by a couple of weeks anyway, but for a while I haven't really done any work on it! I think its due to me going away for the weekend and not doing anything then, and this week I have been out every evening, which is unusual for me. I have a quiet weekend coming up though, so I'll try and get lots of it done then. Its really interesting so I'm a bit frustrated with myself for not doing it!

Going back to the "challenge" days, I'm going to miss out the "non-fiction book" one for now, and go on to the next one, as I'm reading a non-fiction book at the moment so when I've finished that I'll use that review for it! I'm not so sure about the day I've got to do next though...see below for my thoughts on it!!

( day 15 → a fanfic )

( the rest of the days )

I've also planning to write a review of Whitby - with photos, as I don't post enough photos on here! And I've got another brilliant book to review...but I'll maybe do that tomorrow. I'm planning to go see Burke and Hare at the weekend as well, so that should be interesting - I've read some bad reviews, but I hope its not as bad as everyone is saying!

Book Ninety Four - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

I was, and still am, a little unsure about this book. After reading "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey, I'm a bit wary of any supposed "memoir", as for some of the stories are a bit unbelievable, and Running with Scissors falls into this group. Its about Augusten's childhood, where after his parents divorce and his mother starts to suffer with mental illness, he goes to live with his mother's therapist and his strange family. It also talks about him finding out he's gay, how he deals with his mother's illnesses, and what his relationships with the others in the family are like. It says that he faked commiting suicide so that the therapist could say that he didn't have to go to school, and so then just sits around with the family. They do things like tear down the kitchin ceiling, use the Bible to tell their futures, and have an assortment of the therapist's patients living with them. It was quite an enjoyable read, but I think I would have preferred it to be marketed as fiction as to me its just a bit too unbelievable. 7 / 10

Just seen something amusing - on Facebook I "like" Galaxy, and they keep posting about competitions to win books - the most recent one says something like "Win 12 books by (author's name) - thats enough for a whole year's reading!" !!!!!! That'd probably take me a month and a half at the most! I know I read *a lot*, but I thought most people read quicker than one book a month!

My rant for today – the IT helpdesk. Yesterday I was on the phone to them for 20 minutes without them picking up (I went from position 3, to position 1, then it told me they were sorry they couldn’t answer my call and to call back later! And now today I’ve been from position 3 to 1 and then said they couldn’t answer it, that was another 20 minutes wasted on the phone. I’m currently in position 4 in the queue….but if they ever pick up the phone I will probably have forgotten what I was ringing them about! The stupid thing is that every time you call them about a problem, they then later on send you a “feedback” form, about how their service is. Every time I’ve filled one of them in, I’ve emphasised that its unacceptable to be hanging on for 20 minutes each time you ring them, but they just don’t seem to listen! Its so frustrating! Gah!

But at least I can type whilst waiting!

( Film 57 – Che, Part One )

( Book Ninety – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho )

( Book Ninety One – This Time of Dying by Reina James )

( Book Ninety Two – Goodnight Lady by Martina Cole )

…and that’s it ! All up to date! Woo! Still need to go back and work out where I’ve got the numbers wrong though…I think I just can’t count, and I don’t think I’ve missed any more reviews out…I hope not anyway, as I don’t think I’ll be able to remember the books anyway! I'm currently reading "Room" by Emma Donoghue....the most amazing book I've read for a long time!! So far anyway. I even had to have a slightly-longer-than-I'm-allowed lunch break as I just couldn't put it down!

Due to some vodka related fun on Saturday night, I didn't get on the internet yesterday...so heres another two days! :)

( day 04 → your favourite book )

( day 05 → your favourite quote )

( the rest of the days! )

( Book 83 - Only In America by Matt Frei )

( Book 84 - I Robot by Issac Asimov )

( Book 85 - Forgotten Voices of the Great War )

I've almost caught up now - just 3 more books to review until I get up to date. (oh and 4 films) I'm trying to read Naked Lunch by William Burroughs at the moment - not sure if I really like it though. I am only a few pages in but I can't really see any kind of proper story in it - and I think all the drug slang might get a bit much. But I'll keep going and see what happens. I've just read some reviews on Amazon and some of them say that it gets easier when you get to halfway, so I'll carry and see what its like. Hopefully not a waste of my time!

( Film 50 – Scott Pilgrim )

( Book Seventy Five – Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell )

kandielei I hope that satisfies your curiosity now! :) 

Ooh and in other interesting news I've joined a book club (well haven't been to it yet, but I'm going to get the book to read on Saturday!). I'm quite excited about it really, isn't that sad, haha. The first book to read is "The House of Special Purpose" by John Boyne, which I have been wanting to buy and read ever since it came out, so now this is a good excuse to do so! 

Just added the "mood" thingy, and for "geeky" its a cat by a computer... I want one to be reading a book! :) 

....I've finished my archaeology questions! woo! :) That was definately the hardest thing I've done in a long time - which I suppose was good, as it really challenged me, but still, I'm glad its over. I just don't have a science mind! I just need to check I've formatted it all right and then submit it this evening! I'm really looking forward to starting the next course, so that should be great :)

This is the book which I can't remember what its about, so apologies if the review isn't too good!!

Book 71 - Utterly Monkey by Nick Laird

This is about a man, Danny, who lives in London and has a good job, when an old friend, Geordie, from his childhood home in Ireland comes to his door and ends up staying with him. Geordie is fleeing some kind of trouble which he got into in Ireland, to do with some money that he owed some people (I think), and he also arranges for his girlfriend to come over and stay at Danny's as well. Danny just wants to forget about his past, but Geordie brings it all back to him. Because I can't remember much of the story, it obviously wasn't particularly memorable, but I think it wasn't too bad a read, quite entertaining. If this is the only thing there, read it, but there are other books read them first! :) 5 / 10