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Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Yes, I have hunted down my children's books to re-read them! Geoffrey Trease was one of my favourites, with Rosemary Sutcliffe (I still like historical fiction). My absolute favourites were Malcolm Saville and Monica Edwards, and the places they wrote about are among my best-loved parts of England. It was difficult to find their books, because when they came out in paperback they were abridged (which I hate). But there's a marvellous publisher called Girls Gone By which has been re-publishing their books - they find the original, complete text and put them with excellent introductions etc.. I'm gradually accumulating all my old favourites now!But there are other books which I loved but can't remember clearly enough to identify, which I yearn for...
Oh I read all the Pippi Longstocking books too. I loved 'em. I also saw the German kids show based on them.
Also the Moomin troll stories by Finnish author Tove Jansson have followed me from childhood into adult- and parenthood. They are amazingly lovely and poetic and at the same time exiting for a child.
Susinok wrote: "Oh I read all the Pippi Longstocking books too. I loved 'em. I also saw the German kids show based on them."I loved Pippi Longstocking as well, and also watched the shows in Germany.
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Sounds like a book I need to check out! As for my own books, I still own them, for the most part. lol. I have a hard time letting go of books and I've always tried to own the books I really enjoyed so that I wouldn't have to hunt them down later in life. What has happened though, is I've regretted selling a few books like Sarah Bishop. But thankfully, there aren't too many regrets there.
Josh wrote: "People either buy or buy and return (there's always a percentage of those) but not so many borrows."Buy and return? What do you mean?
Calathea wrote: "I read one of Jules Verne's stories that I had borrowed from the library and liked so much that I checked it out again and again."I basically read all available Verne, and all available Salgari (ciao, Manu!). And then I got started with science-fiction and for a while I didn't read anything else: Robert A. Heinlein was one of my favorites (hi, Susinok!).
I can't remember Pippi Longstocking having a big impact on me then, but I rediscovered her lately because of my neighbours' children. In the movie theatre though.
Aleksandr wrote: "I bought The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper - I remember the series as a terrific read as a kid. I hope it lives up to anywhere near what I remember."My favorite book to reread on a regular basis.
Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "People either buy or buy and return (there's always a percentage of those) but not so many borrows."Buy and return? What do you mean?"
Amazon offers a pretty generous return period for people who say they've accidentally purchased an ebook. Some of them probably are accidental clicks. I know I've done it at least once, and I almost never shop Amazon directly from the Kindle. But a lot of people suspect, probably correctly, that some buy the book, read it, and then contact Amazon claiming it was a mistake to get their money back. I've heard of people getting their money back after complaining about the quality of the book, formatting, typos, etc, too.
Susinok wrote: "I'm old enough that a lot of my childhood favorites are in public domain! ;)Heidi, Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, the Greek myths, etc. we read and re-read m..."
I remember Midnight Cowboy, which I read after having seen the movie, being really dreadful. Or maybe I'm thinking of Midnight Express. Anyway, one or both of them made me realize that film adaptations are sometimes better than the original books!
Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "A series I loved was Pippi Longstocking."Oh gosh, yes!
K.Z. wrote: "Susinok wrote: "I'm old enough that a lot of my childhood favorites are in public domain! ;)Heidi, Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, the Greek myths, etc. we re..."
I read them both--Midnight Cowboy and Midnight Express. Can't say I liked either one.
A favorite childhood read that I still love, that can still make me laugh out loud, the original Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne.
I was totally enamored of the Taran Wanderer series by Lloyd Alexander.
Josh wrote: "So I was wondering how many of you have tried to hunt down half-remembered favorites from your childhood. Do you have any books like that?"I bought several Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books years ago. They were still rather fun. Sometimes I think the one of the best reasons to have kids, or nieces and nephews in my case, is so you can share and enjoy some of your old favorites with them. That is, if they're not too busy playing videogames.
Josh wrote: "I mentioned on my Facebook page that ended up having to work this weekend as I'd taken two days off during the week to spend time with the young kinfolk. Anyway, when I was trying to find something..."Frustrating story. I named my daughter after a character I just loved in a book I read when I was young. For the life of me I can't remember the name of the book or the author. I really wanted to find it so I could show my daughter where her name came from. I've been searching and googling for years with no luck. :(
One of my favorite books as a kid was The Westing Game, and although it's been a couple years since I last read it, I remember it holding up pretty well.
Becky wrote: "One of my favorite books as a kid was The Westing Game, and although it's been a couple years since I last read it, I remember it holding up pretty well."I loved the Westing Game--so many interesting characters, not to mention the mystery/game. You're right--it holds up really well.
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Like so many of you I loved Pippi Longstocking and about everything by Astrid Lindgren. I remember clearly that Pippi in the South Seas was one of the first books I managed to read all by myself. :) I wonder if Astrid Lindgren's Emil i Lönneberga series has been translated in English? I used to love to watch that and Pippi on TV (both were Swedish series). Also her The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia, the Robber's Daughter are amongst my favorites.
There were one children's book I hunted down later on, but the hunt wasn't too difficult since I suspected that that one was by Astrid Lindgren, too. The book is Allrakäraste Syster, a beautiful fairy tale about an imaginary sister. It's illustrated by Hans Arnold and the pictures are magical, melancholically beautiful.
Nowadays Allrakäraste Syster and my old The Velveteen Rabbit (with almost all the pages loose) are my treasures. About 20 years ago I also managed to find a c-cassette with Meryl Streep narrating The Velveteen Rabbit. Too bad I don't have a cassette player anymore, because Meryl Streep's narration was wonderful. I really must check out Audible for that one... ;)
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The Moomins have great philosophy! ;) I got Tove Jansson's Fair Play for Christmas. I haven't read it yet, but it's a novel about two women, about their lifelong friendship and partnership. It's a story about their love for each other and a story about their work as artists. Sounds very much like Tove Jansson (ETA: and her loved one)!
A Wrinkle in Time- I should really checkout that book and see why that made such an impression on me. Reading didn't interest me much. After reading this book, I decided that sitting still to read wasn't a total loss. :) Seriously though, I distinctly remember this book changing my outlook on reading. Now, if I could only remember the storyline. 8)
Johanna wrote: "Anne wrote: "Also the Moomin troll stories by Finnish author Tove Jansson have followed me from childhood into adult- and parenthood. They are amazingly lovely and poetic and at the same time exiti..."I got to have this one! Thank you Johanna for mentioning it.
Just finished an Anthology, Bravo! Brava!.A fun collection of three stories, all involving the theatre and cross dressing. Two of the stories are centered around a Shakespeare play and the third is at a drag club. What's not to love about that?
I finished Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan last night. I can't remember when I cried so much while reading the book. It's heartbreaking and beautiful and everyone should read it. Ugly cry face is not mandatory. :D
Lady*M wrote: "I finished Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan last night. I can't remember when I cried so much while reading the book. It's heartbreaking and beautiful and everyone should read it. Ugly cry ..."Oh I just loved that book! It is my favorite from Kay.
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Somehow I managed to keep a number of childhood favorites: Green Eggs and Ham, Charlotte's Web, and Johnny Tremain and shared these with my daughters at receptive ages. I also have a couple of copies of Illustrated Junior Library versions of classics. Arabian Nights was my favorite, appropriately dark. The Scheherazade story is still one of my central archetypes. The Nancy Drews were my introduction to mysteries. I thought the modern versions of my daughters' childhood were awful, so a re-read a couple of the classics, awful and wonderful in their own way.
What I have never been able find is a particular poetry anthology that played a huge role in my childhood. It was somehow given away, and I can't remember the title and I've never found an exact match. I credit that book for an enduring love of ballads. Also, I'd love to be able to revisit Classic Comics, my introduction to classic "literature." My daughters' intro was Wishbone on PBS. Then there's a particular edition of Twelve Dancing Princesses that I've never found. I can visualize the illustrations, and since acquired some other lovely versions, but have never found the one that I checked out repeatedly from our old red-brick public library.
I saw this f/m shifter advertised, and thought... well why not. Maiden and the Lion. I gave it 2 stars, but honestly, 1 would have been plenty. Goodness...
This is in German, but they were my absolute favorite books as a pre teenager. Der Trotzkopf. I have read the first book so many times, that I still can recall the first couple of paragraphs after 55 odd years. Just recently I purchased a tv series made after the books on dvd. Nostalgia...
Na wrote: "Read the play A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde. It was... er- interesting."Interesting how? (Confession - I love Oscar Wilde.)
There's a great list of pulpy gay mysteries up on Lambda Literary today - lots of books we've talked about in here. http://www.lambdaliterary.org/feature...
Thanks, I'm going to bookmark it and be inspired :)
Na wrote: "Oh, I love Oscar Wilde too ..."He did have a tendency to get a little lost in his own word-play. But presumably his audiences liked that! I can almost speak along with The Importance of Being Earnest, I've seen it so often. I love the film version with Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, and Judi Dench - and the 1952 film with Michael Redgrave, Joan Greenwood and Edith Evans.
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Somehow I managed to keep a number of child..."
I still have a thrashed 1st edition of The Royal Book of Oz -- complete with crumbled pages and black and white illustrations crayoned over by my sibs. :-D Every time I see that book, I smile.
Hj wrote: "Na wrote: "Oh, I love Oscar Wilde too ..."He did have a tendency to get a little lost in his own word-play. But presumably his audiences liked that! I can almost speak along with The Importance..."
My favorite production of Earnest it the Criterion version. I saw it on PBS sometime in the 80s for the first time.
I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Tenniel's illustrations only) to this day. It never fails to carry me away and make me happy.
One of my favorite re-reads as a kid was The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I now have it on Kindle, but haven't re-read it lately.
Dev wrote: "There's a great list of pulpy gay mysteries up on Lambda Literary today - lots of books we've talked about in here. http://www.lambdaliterary.org/feature......"Thank you. I quote from said article:
Five singles from series that do not make my shortlist continue to haunt me. They are, again in chronological order, (...); and ''A Dangerous Thing'', 2002, by Josh Lanyon, the second of the Adrien English series, set in rural Calaveras County rather than Los Angeles.
Susinok wrote: "Hj wrote: "Na wrote: "Oh, I love Oscar Wilde too ..."He did have a tendency to get a little lost in his own word-play. But presumably his audiences liked that! I can almost speak along with The..."
Yes, this is the 1952 version I mentioned, with Michael Redgrave. I love it (especially the scene when Gwendolyn and Cecily first meet and have tea), but I also really like Rupert Everett's Algy in the newer version.
Susinok wrote: "One of my favorite re-reads as a kid was The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I now have it on Kindle, but haven't re-read it lately."When I was little, a favourite of my siblings and myself was a small book of poems and rhymes written by one of Norway's beloved poets, Ingrid Hagerup, with artwork by Paul Rene Gauguin. Colour prints were expensive, so the pictures are in only a few colours, black, white, blue and dark red. I was so happy when I realised they were reprinted at the time my kids were at the right age. And now I buy it for the next generation, my grand- niece. I hold on to my own battered copy for the time when or if I get a grandchild :) I still know some of the poems by heart.
Anne wrote: "Susinok wrote: "One of my favorite re-reads as a kid was The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I now have it on Kindle, but haven't re-read it lately."When I was little, a favourite ..."
I love this sharing between different generations :)
I'm reading your posts and thinking if I had a favorite book, but truth to be told, I read a lot, but I didn't have a beloved one.
Oh and I should point out that I owned very few books as a kid. They all came from the base library or from the school libraries. We were an American military family and moved a lot between here and Germany where my mother was from. We also couldn't afford much, so all the books I read back then were borrowed, but still much loved.I think that may be why I don't get attached to one particular volume of a book. I don't hang on to paper books for sentimental reasons. When I'm done, out it goes. Now that I'm digital, I actually have the luxury of keeping all of my books
Susinok wrote: "Oh and I should point out that I owned very few books as a kid. They all came from the base library or from the school libraries. We were an American military family and moved a lot between here an..."Most of the books I read as a child came from the library as well, the same when my kids were small. Norwegian picture books are very expensive, so we plundered the local library every week. :)I don't use the library much now, I get books relatively cheap with Amazon and Kindle these days, at least compared to what a Norwegian print book costs, but I do have a soft spot for them, they are important bearers of culture. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to read so much and learn so much as I have.
But I do get attached to physical books still, maybe too much, but I love to be surrounded by books, in a library, in a bookstore or in my own home.
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My favorite children's book is Alphabears: An ABC Book. My Dad read it to me so many times he eventually had it memorized. I love the illustrations and the sayings. I often joke with my parents now that the reason I like to write/read and hate numbers is because we didn't know there was a book for numbers until i was in grad school and stumbled across it one day at work. lol. That one's called Numbears: A Counting Book, though I don't own it... yet. ;-)
Na wrote: "I've been raised in gendarmeries."Na, what does this mean? I know so little about other countries. I'm curious!
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Thanks for reminding me of this book. My daughters loved it too. Sweet text and gorgeous illustrations. I know it's still on one of our shelves. Library re-organization is on my list for this summer.
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Thanks for reminding me of this book. My daughters loved it too. Sweet text and gorgeous illustrations. I know it's still on..."
Oh! I'm so glad to know someone else loves this book. Everytime my parents have to go to baby showers, this is what they get, but I always feel like it gets lost in all the other hugely expensive stuff. It's hard when you're giving something you feel passionate about and others don't, you know? And yet, this one book, is worth so much more than most other things you could give.
Arg. It's all in my head.
I'm currently reading Special Forces Mercs II, and things are getting really bad. I wish I could do something to help Vadim, but I can't, and it's just seriously heartbreaking. If I could stay home today and do nothing but read, I would. But, instead, I'm here at work, followed by two meetings right after work. All on a Sunday no less. lol. Lots of fun. sure.
*hugs Vadim*
Na wrote: "The 'gendarmerie' is what we call the place where the gendarme's families live, and work. The families housing are situated in the gendarmery base, like it is in military, and surround the gendarme..."Thank you!
Yes, I skimmed the Wikipedia article, but it confused me because you seemed to be talking about a place, and the article only seemed to talk about a kind of police force. Your explanation helped--thanks!
I finished reading the last Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light for the second time. It wasn't a perfect book, but series isn't perfect either. It was a fitting ending and I am mostly satisfied. Mat and Lan remain my favorite characters. Tai'shar Malkier!
Lady*M wrote: "I finished reading the last Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light for the second time. It wasn't a perfect book, but series isn't perfect either. It was a fitting ending and I am mostly satisfied. ..."I have been following that series for 20 years and I am glad it is over :). True it isn't perfect but the ending was rather satisfying for all that.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I loved Pippi Longstocking as a child, and read them again for my own kids, they were still fun, also for an adult.