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[Paul]

Should be good craic

[Barbara]

Paul wrote: "Should be good craic"

So far I am meeting up with friends from Paris, Germany, US and England. There's supposed to be a party with men in kilts and I am still waiting for info on the tickets. I will have a bit of time for book shopping and will focus on books that aren't out yet in the US - using Savidge Reads for lots of suggestions. Also will be buying KitKat candy bars as I hear they are better there than here:)
I have tickets to see the Celts exhibit at the National Museum of Scotland
http://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-...

[Cathleen]

Barbara wrote: "Paul wrote: "Should be good craic"

So far I am meeting up with friends from Paris, Germany, US and England. There's supposed to be a party with men in kilts and I am still waiting for info on the ..."

That sounds like a lot of fun, Barbara. And...I bet Susan will want photos of men in kilts :).

[Barbara]

Cathleen wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Paul wrote: "Should be good craic"

So far I am meeting up with friends from Paris, Germany, US and England. There's supposed to be a party with men in kilts and I am still waiting ..."

we all know she will!

[Susan]

Oh, I do. I will re-watch "Rob Roy" where Liam Neeson looks so fine.

I hope you have a wonderful time at your yarn festival and catching up with your friends.

[Seraphina]

Just finished the last hero by Terry pratchett, a fabulous gift from my secret Santa Paul. Firstly it was a beautifully illustrated edition, really nice images of pratchetts world. The story itself was just laugh out loud funny. A group of elderly heroes are trying to die a heroes death but in doing so will end the world.
An unusual team set off to stop them and hilarity ensues. Def worth a read for pratchett fans.

[Paul]

Glad you liked it. "Those of us who are about to die don't want to " Best mission motto ever.
If you liked Cohen the Barbarian and his crew try Interesting Times where they conquer China with Rincewind.

[Seraphina]

Definitely funniest moment of the book

[Paul]

Love it.

[Kevin]

Just started reading Marian Keyes, as I'm doing a bit of research for my next novel which I want to be a dark parody of chick lit. Tried reading Cecelia Aherne's, A place called Here, but gave up at the awful writing and the stupid mistakes, such as calling Leitrim the smallest county in Ireland and landlocked. I mean what was she thinking? Does she own a primary school atlas?

[Colleen]

I just finished reading Kindred It was a pretty intense novel that I had a hard time putting down even .

[Seraphina]

Cecelia ahern would prob be my idea of torture through reading Kevin. She sells alot of books though

[Sara]

Octavia Butler is one of my favorite authors Collen, but Kindred is difficult to get through because of the subject matter.

I'm home from work with with a cold (possible flu) and used the opportunity to finish upAncillary Sword. which although not quite as brilliant/ground breaking as the first book in the trilogy, was an excellent read. Paul and Kevin this is definitely one for you.

[Kevin]

I've seen Ancillary Justice pop up every now and then but haven't bought it yet. I'll definitely get around to it eventually though.

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "Just started reading Marian Keyes, as I'm doing a bit of research for my next novel which I want to be a dark parody of chick lit. Tried reading Cecelia Aherne's, A place called Here, but gave up a..."

Have to admit I like a bit of Marian Keyes. She makes me laugh which is no bad think. A lot of her books focus on addiction and depression. Recommend Rachel's Holiday.

[Trelawn]

@ Margo I loved Watermelon. Marian Keyes is great when you just want to laugh out loud. Although Is There Anybody out There ? was quite sad.

[Kevin]

I'm actually reading the Mystery of Mercy Close. Why? Cos it was the only one in the second hand book shop where I live. I'm only on page 40 , so I cant say much except it's a hell of a lot better written than Cecelia Aherne. So far I've deduced that chicklit is characterised, in one way at least, by reckless instances of authorial intrusion. Am I wrong?

[Trelawn]

I don't read much chick lit so I don't know. I've read one Cecelia Aherne book which was ok but I didn't feel the need to read any more

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "I'm actually reading the Mystery of Mercy Close. Why? Cos it was the only one in the second hand book shop where I live. I'm only on page 40 , so I cant say much except it's a hell of a lot better ..."

Kevin I'm not to sure what that means. I've heard chiclit described as sex n shoping books. Marian Keyes, Maeve Binchey, Liane Morrissey all to my mind do that, but also take on some dark aspects of life. They are all 'chatty' authors and I think that is why they apeal to women - mind you when I played The Mystery of Mercy Close aloud Pete was is stitches!

Trelawn did you watch the film of watermelon last week? A lot of changes from the book, but still quite funny :)

[Colleen]

Sara wrote: "Octavia Butler is one of my favorite authors Collen, but Kindred is difficult to get through because of the subject matter.

I'm home from work with with a cold (possible flu) and..."

Yes Butler is one of m favorite authors also. Kindred
is not a walk in the park but I think its worth reading .

[Trelawn]

Margo, I loved the film of Watermelon. Anna Friel is hilarious. I actually think I saw the film first.

[Kevin]

Yes Margo, Thanks, that's the perfect word for it. "chatty". Authorial Intrusion is a device whereby the author tends to address the reader directly outside the parameters of the ongoing action. In the third Person POV, its extremely noticeable and not often done in modern novels. But in the first person POV, it's harder to notice the device being used, but it can appear like the heroine of the story knows you well enough to make asides to you directly.
The screen equivalent of it is when the character turns to the camera and frowns or makes a wicked smile, to make a realisation with you, outside of the ongoing events. This is something I noticed a couple of times watching Watermelons the other day. It's a form of dramatic irony.

But "chatty" sums it up wonderfully, thanks.

[Kevin]

Seraphina wrote: "Cecelia ahern would prob be my idea of torture through reading Kevin. She sells alot of books though"


What can I say? "lols" doesn't seem to capture the gnashing of teeth very well.

[Cathleen]

I've just started listening to Nora Webster on my commute, read by Fiona Shaw, and I wish my hour long commute to campus were longer--that's how good this is.

[Colleen]

Cathleen wrote: "I've just started listening to Nora Webster on my commute, read by Fiona Shaw, and I wish my hour long commute to campus were longer--that's how good this is."

I loved Nora Webster too.

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "Seraphina wrote: "Cecelia ahern would prob be my idea of torture through reading Kevin. She sells alot of books though"


What can I say? "lols" doesn't seem to capture the gnashing of teeth very w..."

Got you Kevin. Yes that works well for many chick lit authors, especially marian keyes.

[Margo]

Cathleen wrote: "I've just started listening to Nora Webster on my commute, read by Fiona Shaw, and I wish my hour long commute to campus were longer--that's how good this is."

Cathleen it's a definate sign of audio addiction when you're wishing for a longer commute LOL

[Kevin]

So Now I've also picked up Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic and Candace Bushnell, Sex and the city. I'll make it a four way race between them, and Aherne and Keyes.
Be still my beating heart.

[Trelawn]

You're a brave man Kevin

[Margo]

Trelawn wrote: "You're a brave man Kevin "

I would read any of them except Keyes. Masochism in the guise of reserch ;-)

[Kevin]

Trelawn wrote: "You're a brave man Kevin "

I've got cotton wool up my nose in case my brain starts leaking.

[Kevin]

I would read any of them except Keyes. Masochism in the guise of reserch ;-)"

Ugh, dunno about that. Cecelia is hard going. She can make the simplest notion hard to understand by mutilating a sentence to death.

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "I would read any of them except Keyes. Masochism in the guise of reserch ;-)"

Ugh, dunno about that. Cecelia is hard going. She can make the simplest notion hard to understand by mutilating a sent..."

And yet she's a household name and makes a ton of money. Life is strange! To be fair, I've never actually tried her her work, but I wonder how much her connections contributed to her success, at least on this side of the Atlantic.

[Paul]

Are you suggesting having a "famous never actually proven conclusively to be corrupt bit caught out in a big way" politician father might have opened a few doors for her.

[Kevin]

Paul wrote: "Are you suggesting..

Good Lord !! such a thing to say.

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "Paul wrote: "Are you suggesting..

Good Lord !! such a thing to say."

No Paul, not at all, I was thinking of her husband. Doesn't he do a bit of singing?

[Margo]

Kevin wrote: "Paul wrote: "Are you suggesting..

Good Lord !! such a thing to say."

Well you couldn't say it Kevin, it might look like jelousy, and I just felt it had to be said ;-P

[Kevin]

Wow. Sophie Kinsella is actually pretty easy reading. The writing is natural and effortless and her sense of humour is quite touching and personal as opposed to Marian Keyes, which feels a bit forced, like a Deirdre O Kane Stand-up routine.
Sex and the City is a different kettle of fish altogether, it's more grown up, darker.

[Isabella]

Kevin wrote: "I'm actually reading the Mystery of Mercy Close. Why? Cos it was the only one in the second hand book shop where I live. I'm only on page 40 , so I cant say much except it's a hell of a lot better ..."

I dont know if you're wrong, Kevin, as I'm not sure what you mean. My novels have been called chick-lit by a couple of people. I don't think they are at all but I'm probably not the best judge. Chick lit to me means light reading, nothing too taxing on the brain, but which can frequently be highly entertaining.

[SherryRose]

I'm reading Revenge of the Witch (actually listening to it)

It's a YA but I like YA books.

[Sara]

So food memoirs are not a genre I read, but Book Riot's 2016 Read Harder Challenge had reading a food memoir as one of its tasks.The Feminist Texican Blog then published a list of feminist title suggestions for each task, leading me to Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing. It proved to be a delightful cultural history of the Soviet Union from inception to demise view through the lens of cuisine and three generations of the author's family. Kathleen Gati's accented narration added to the book's charm.

*Edit* I should add that my friend Anton who grew up in the Soviet Union also highly recommends this book.

[Cathleen]

I just finished reading The Plough and the Stars yesterday, and I'm very glad I read it. It's one of those plays I've always heard much about. It was a little tricky for me to understand the dialogue and certain words, but it still was a quick read. Some of the details --like having The Gleaners painting displayed in the former drawing room of a Georgian house, now tenement--are so striking that I could think about them for hours. I'm hoping to get another read of it in before I see it in a couple of weeks.

[Cathleen]

Emma wrote: "Glad you enjoyed it Cathleen. I'd imagine the language could be challenging. The characters all speak quite strong Dublinese,more so than the characters in Roddy Doyle's books, and it would be old ..."

Thank you, Emma. Is the name Fluther slang? Do you know what a "dawny chiselur" is?

[Margo]

The Eyre Affair was a hugely enjoyable read with moments of shear genius such as the Will Tell machines, the exploits of the French Revisionists, and bookworms that fart extraneous apostrophise. It had me in stitches of laughter and I'm still smiling now at some of the images evoked.

Having said that, I would rate this as a 3, maybe 3.5 star. There were so many great ideas flying around that went undeveloped, that it felt like the author was trying to pack too much in. It's quite refreshing to have that complaint though as I frequently complain that books are padded in an effort to stretch out ideas that are thin on the ground.

I can't understand how I went so long without discovering this author. Particularly since the story is based in Swindon, where I lived for many years.

Thank you so much Emma and Trelawn for this recommendation. I'm going to take a break before continuing the collection to let my head stop spinning :-D

[Trelawn]

Glad you enjoyed it so much Margo. It is a whacky series with lots of book references and some really clever ideas. I really enjoyed getting lost in the book world for a few hours and hanging out with Hamlet or Miss Havisham. I think Lost in a Good Book is the next one. I really will have to do a reread to reaquaint myself with all the little details.

[Sara]

So I've been gradually absorbing the most recent issue of Stinging Fly, Stinging Fly Issue 33 Volume 2 Spring 2016: In the Wake of the Rising. I think it's worth picking up even for those who don't regularly subscribe to the magazine. In particular I think Irish members of the group, being more familiar with the history of 1916, would get even more out of it than I am. In does an excellent job of reflecting, in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, complicated feelings and ideas about history, idealism, deep ambivalence and so forth.

One of the nonfiction essays talks about performance and political poetry, with some references to the Rising, but also to current artists. It lead me to a very powerful Youtube poetry video I thought I'd share with the group.

"Mathematics" by Holly McNish Not to get too political, but I wish I could give it to Donald Trump...

[J.S.]

Discussion of Ahern made me laugh out loud.

Meanwhile, and I mean, mean: Only The Cliches Survive. That could be the title of the most recent 'fantasy' from the prolific Morgan Llywelyn, who is trumpeted by her US publisher as a native and she is not. She's a Yank. Anything for a buck. Anyway, to quote my review ---seek and ye shall find it---

"This reduces Europe's oldest mythology to fantasy that relies on every last fuzzy-green feelgood trope when not bemoaning poor old Eriu and its tragic history. "

Only the Stones Survive

[SherryRose]

I will never understand why people pretend to be from foreign countries. No matter where we are born and raised we should be proud. America is not loved by all of the world but it's home to me. Ireland is home to most people here. I think it's fine for all of us to love our home country AND others too.

[J.S.]

In her defense, she has lived there for a few decades. But it's like calling her fantasy titles HF. Inaccurate.

[SherryRose]

So she's been Irishized lol