What Do We Want To Read?

[Joseph]

Already read blink, which my local library has two copies of. Why that is I have no idea. Some good stories in there though, and a brilliant line about a sword...

[CartoonistAndre]

Hopefully, my copy will arrive by next week. Looking forward to reading some of Mr. Pratchett's short stories.

[Rebecca]

Just placed my hold on it at the library. Some copies haven't even hit the shelf yet, but I hope I'll get it before the end of May!

[Melki]

Since the summer months are pretty slow here on Goodreads, I was thinking of combining July & August and doing a humorous travel read, so I'll be happy to hear any suggestions for that.

Does anyone have any ideas for next month's read? We don't even need a theme.

[CartoonistAndre]

A Tramp Abroad for July and August?

[Pseudonymous]

I am a great fan of Mark Twain; however, A Tramp Abroad is not one of his best works.

In my opinion, The Innocents Abroad is much better book, although it is rather heavily padded. It is interesting to see how much the tourist industry has remained the same in the past 150 years.

Roughing It is my favorite Twain travel book. It is the story of Twain's trip out west with his brother, and his subsequent adventures.

I also greatly enjoyed Life on the Mississippi, which tells about Twain's adventures learning to be a pilot on Mississippi riverboats.

I've read all of these books several times, so makes no diff to me what you guys want to read.

[Will]

How about Idiot Abroad

Ricky Gervais tormenting one of his friends by treating him to an unusual travel experience

[Melki]

Good suggestion, Will. It is readily available in the US, so it will be in the July/August poll up next month.

[Melki]

For June, I was thinking of a humorous book that sort of epitomizes summer. I liked Pseudo's Twain suggestions, so possibly Tom, Huck or Life on the Mississippi.
Also, there is the classic - Three Men in a Boat.

Any other ideas?

[CartoonistAndre]

Melki wrote: "For June, I was thinking of a humorous book that sort of epitomizes summer. I liked Pseudo's Twain suggestions, so possibly Tom, Huck or Life on the Mississippi.
Also, there is the ..."

I had the same idea (insert: Fieffer's Ode to Spring, here) when I suggested Travels Abroad, but I'll go with either one of your endorsements; Life on the Mississippi sounds good . But since there's still plenty of time, I'm sure we'll all want to see how many more suggestions come in besides the Twain, Jerome and Pilkington.

[CartoonistAndre]

Melki wrote: "Good suggestion, Will. It is readily available in the US, so it will be in the July/August poll up next month."


An Idiot Abroad is available here, Melki.

[John]

Hi all. I finally finished reading and reviewing Going Postal. I’m very happy to have finally read some Pratchett but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. If you read my review, hopefully you can point out some good points that I missed or other aspects of Pratchett’s style that merit praise. Or you could point out some shortcomings. Either way, please feel free to comment on the review on Goodreads or at The Comedic Novel Review (www.pearlsbeforeswine68.com). Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Incidentally, thanks to the group I just finished Confederacy of Dunces which will be getting a glowing review.

[Joseph]

John wrote: "Hi all. I finally finished reading and reviewing Going Postal. I’m very happy to have finally read some Pratchett but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. If you read my review, hop..."

I would have recommended Jingo or Feet of Clay to start,because that's where I started.
A good rule of thumb is as follows- the later books are more subdued in terms of in-your-face laughs, from about Night Watch, while the earliest ones can be a bit plot-light. (well, the first two mainly).
Still, even before that a strong point of Pratchett is his vast ability to reference and subvert, something which is not always 'laugh-out-loud' but still immensely enjoyable.
Just a point vi-a-vis the names: Pratchett is in a long and glorious tradition dating back a long, long time: see Charles Dickens' novels.

[John]

Joseph wrote: "John wrote: "Hi all. I finally finished reading and reviewing Going Postal. I’m very happy to have finally read some Pratchett but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. If you read m..."

Okay, many thanks Joseph! I'll make a note to try Jingo or Feet of Clay next if I get back to Pratchett.

With respect to the names, when done well, I think they can be pretty good. But I thought they fell flat in Going Postal.

[Melki]

John wrote: "Okay, many thanks Joseph! I'll make a note to try Jingo or Feet of Clay next if I get back to Pratchett."

If you didn't like Postal, you should probably give up on the series. Then again, I hated Jingo, so I can't recommend that one.

I'm interested to see what you think of A Confederacy of Dunces.

[John]

Melki wrote: "John wrote: "Okay, many thanks Joseph! I'll make a note to try Jingo or Feet of Clay next if I get back to Pratchett."

If you didn't like Postal, you should probably give up on the series. Then a..."

Thanks for your thoughts, Melki!

I'm working on the CoD review now and hope to have it up in a couple weeks but I can tell you that it was probably the best comedic novel I've read so far.

[Melki]

John wrote: "I'm working on the CoD review now and hope to have it up in a couple weeks but I can tell you that it was probably the best comedic novel I've read so far."

This one may end up as a group read some day.

[CartoonistAndre]

It wasn't a LOL novel for me but an enjoyable 3 star read. His rantings and intolerance of his surroundings became tedious after some time but I did feel his pain.

Too bad he wasn't alive to see his novel published and the serious acclaim his writing garnered.

[Pseudonymous]

Pseudo Haunts the Vio Theater.

When I was but a babe in arms, my parents lived across from the Vio movie theater in a town of 800 people. Since my parents didn't have a TV, we went to the movies at least twice a week. According to my mother, when I was a toddler, I became the town sensation because I'd throw a fit whenever a movie ended and the house lights came up. When I got to be school age, I started going to the movies by myself--Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Bowery Boys, The Creature from the Black Lagoon were my best friends. Then, when I was in 5th or 6th grade, the theater closed. Oh, the infamy.

For years and years, I had recurring dreams in which I went back to my old home town, and saw that there were posters on the front of the theater. My Vio had reopened--in the Twilight Zone . In those dreams, I was never able to get into theater, no matter what I did. I had this dream 3 or 4 times a year until I was about 50, at which time I dreamed I snuck into the theater, only to discover it was filled with screaming, obnoxious elementary school kids, and I never had the Vio dream again---Hey, I should be telling this to a shrink, not you nosey parkers. Shame on you for asking.

[Lisa]

Pseudonymous wrote: " . . . For years and years, I had recurring dreams in which I went back to my old home town, and saw that there were posters on the front of the theater. . ."

We have a dream interpretation discussion somewhere in this group, but I'll give you my two cents worth here . . . it sounds like you're finally at peace with growing up. Not that that's a bad thing. If you ask me, as a mature adult I'm having a better quality of fun than I did as a youth and young, wild adult. Same quantity, but better quality.

[Will]

I don't think I'm at peace with growing up yet.

[Jay]

Lisa wrote: "If you ask me, as a mature adult I'm having a better quality of fun than I did as a youth and young, wild adult. Same quantity, but better quality."

I'm with you, Lisa. I had a lot of fun when I was young...er...slightly more youthful than today. "Quality of fun" does indeed improve with age.

However, I don't think any human being completely "grows up." The mischievous child in all of us can't help but occasionally peek out and cause a little tickle.

[Lisa]

Jimmy Buffett still has the best line regarding aging:

"I'm growing older but not up,"

[Will]

Alan Plater on a second childhood: 'But this time I've got control of the budget.'

[Rebecca]

Will wrote: "I don't think I'm at peace with growing up yet."

I don't think I've even figured out how.

[Rebecca]

Wait--what does all this have to do with the original topic of this thread??

[Will]

I don;t understand Rebecca's last post. Can someone please explain it to me?

[J.]

Rebecca wrote: "I don't have any brilliant suggestions, but I want to say that "The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse" may be the best title ever."

I second that!

[Joel]

I think we're long overdue for a Pratchett group read. Let's face it - the Discworld is a much saner place than the real one.

[Rebecca]

Joel wrote: "I think we're long overdue for a Pratchett group read. Let's face it - the Discworld is a much saner place than the real one."

Amen to that. And we haven't done any sort of group read for ages. Let's see...where were we in the Pratchett canon?

[Rebecca]

As far as I can see, we last read #34. #35 is Wintersmith, which I have read but I think not with the group. But there is also a 34.5...a picture book called "Where's My Cow?" which is a companion to Thud! (#34).

[Sonya]

Just finishing up listening to "The Hogfather". Anyone else for a Holiday read?

[Rebecca]

Sonya wrote: "Just finishing up listening to "The Hogfather". Anyone else for a Holiday read?"

I should reread that one!
I think it's a bit late to pull together a holiday read. I know the pile by my bed will take me through the end of the year.

[Sonya]

Rebecca wrote: "Sonya wrote: "Just finishing up listening to "The Hogfather". Anyone else for a Holiday read?"

I should reread that one!
I think it's a bit late to pull together a holiday read. I know the pile b..."
Must be a small pile. I have to sit up now to reach the top of my pile of TBR books. They are almost to the point where I should be worried about being buried by books in my sleep. ;)

[Rebecca]

Sonya wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Sonya wrote: "Just finishing up listening to "The Hogfather". Anyone else for a Holiday read?"

I should reread that one!
I think it's a bit late to pull together a holiday read. I..."

I didn't say that it would *only* take me to the beginning of the year :D

I was worried about safety in an earthquake, so I moved most of my pile to another part of the room, and started over. There may be a flaw in my approach.