Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
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Thank you for the recommendation, Caroline. I'll definitely get this one. Too bad that Audible doesn't seem to have it...
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Soooo, I was thinking — who's voice would be calming and comforting? And the words "I had a farm in Africa" popped into my mind. :) Do you remember how the movie Out of Africa begins with those words and how enchanting Meryl Streep's voice is? If you don't remember... it's here.
Anyway, I ended up buying The Velveteen Rabbit narrated by Meryl Streep. And also downloaded a poem collection The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family compiled by John Lithgow (narrated by Morgan Freeman, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, Glenn Close, Gary Sinese and John Lithgow).
Oswald's reading is spectacular. Thanks for pointing me that way.
I loved Ian McClellan's reading of The Odyssey. I had it on 14 cassette tapes and listened to it in the car on a long trip. I about had a wreck when Odysseus met his father and Telemachus on his return I cried so hard.It finally became available on Audible about a year ago. http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?...
I read both the Iliad and Odyssey multiple times as a kid (7th grader about). Odysseus was my favorite hero. I loved Achilles too.
I'm an Achilles fanboy, I'm afraid. (Yeah, yeah, "big surprise".)
LOL hey I named a snake after Achilles in high school. :) So I hear ya.
I grew up on the classics - fairy tales, mythology-related stories. I rarely get the same buzz from contemporary stories, though. There are a few authors who manage that "mythic" quality (Kirby Crow). Damn. Now I want to dig in with my favourites for few months.
Oma read me Grimm's Fairy Tales. I still have that book with some really gorgeous watercolor illustrations in it. When I came to the states and saw a Disney book (long before I saw any of their movies) I felt it was a rip-off! She also read Rubetzahl and Baron Von Muenchausen. I don't have the Rubetzahl book but I do the Baron.I even had some recordings of Grimm's tales on LP. I guess I was listening to audiobooks way back in the day, hehe.
And I loved mythology. I probably wore out some of the mythology books from the library.
Calathea wrote: "Karen wrote: "+ a fanfic I'm too embarrassed to list+ a serial yaoi (likewise)"
And now I want to know! ;) (Haven't read yaoi in ages, maybe there's something new and good^^)"
I'm not Karen, but guiltypleasure has been putting out a very sexy, adult yaoi, just gorgeous art. The first 5 parts come in one book, In These Words Part 1. The rest of the parts, both sequel and prequel, are sold individually, so this doesn't come cheap. Frankly, I'm not complaining.
Josh wrote: "Calathea wrote: "Re audio books: When I was new to listening to audio books I sometimes fell asleep when in bed. So I concluded that they would be the perfect way to find sleep when needed. Strange..."Do try it. For sleeping, choose something you've meant to read but maybe you found it a little long-winded, or say a non-fiction that taps into your interest but that will not keep you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't always work, but it can work. Especially, if you can self-train the response in. You might be surprised what that steady, soft voice can do for you.
Reggie wrote: "Calathea wrote: "Josh wrote: "I've been struggling with insomnia lately. I should try audio books. See if that helps. "What helped me to relax enough to fall asleep while listening to an audio bo..."
Yeah, you're right. A re-read and nice and low. That works well.
Johanna wrote: "While I was browsing Audible.com and Audible.co.uk it occurred to me that since I'm trying to find something soothing to listen to I might as well choose a book mostly based on who the narrator is...."Ooo, Velveteen Rabbit narrated by Streep sounds lovely! (I mean, not literally. I haven't listened to it yet. The idea of it sounds lovely.)
Hj wrote: "Good point! I've always tended to stop reading a book I thought was bad (although I used to feel guilty about it), but I suppose a book could be very readable and enjoyable but also include a "bad" message. The best example which comes quickly to mind is that I read the whole of Enid Blyton as a child, and she gets criticised for sexism and some racism. Her views did not infect mine, even at a very young age. I always thought Anne was an annoying wimp and Julian was way too bossy! I didn't buy into the "only the boys can do this" stuff..."I used to finish everything I started. If I didn't I felt really guilty, but now I tell myself my time is limited and if I don't finish a book, no one but me has to know—since I don't add those to my GR bookshelf. :P
You're right about Enid Blyton's characters. Anne was a whiner and Julian was entirely too bossy. I used to secretly hope he'd fall out of the caravan or something and brake a leg so he wouldn't be in on the adventure.
I actually meant poorly written books with thought provoking concepts rather than well written books with negative messages, but I honestly can't think of an example of either at the moment.
Candice wrote: "I'm not Karen, but guiltypleasure has been putting out a very sexy, adult yaoi, just gorgeous art. The first 5 parts come in one book, In These Words Part 1. The rest of the parts, both sequel and prequel, are sold individually, so this doesn't come cheap. Frankly, I'm not complaining..."I don't suppose you have a link or a website address? Pretty please?
Has anybody read Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island? I just watched the movie -- a stupid thing to do before bedtime! -- and now I'm thinking about reading the novel (the same route I took with Mystic River).That man is an evil genius, I swear. What a storyteller!
K.Z. wrote: "Has anybody read Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island? I just watched the movie -- a stupid thing to do before bedtime! -- and now I'm thinking about reading the novel (the same route I took with Mystic ..."I have, K.Z. What can I say, Dennis Lehane is my favorite author. I consume everything he writes, basically. I read "Shutter Island" way before the movie right is purchased. I read it on a plane, for about 7+ hours trip, and it still give me the chill remembering it.
If only you read the book first. The twist in the book packs a better punch than the movie, methinks
I've been on a movie binge lately, Ami. :) I suspect I'll still find the book riveting, though. Lehane's an incredible writer. I'm in awe of how his imagination works.
K.Z. wrote: "I've been on a movie binge lately, Ami. :) I suspect I'll still find the book riveting, though. Lehane's an incredible writer. I'm in awe of how his imagination works."Unfortunately, he does not write as fast as I want him to be *lol*
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I have this too. It's gorgeous and creepy. I have some odd limits. I can't watch CSI shows, and never watched Silence of the Lambs, but I can read some difficult stuff.
Do you have a link to the prequel/sequel? Yikes, I just looked at the Amazon site and it seems to only be available at ten times what I paid for it...
Susinok wrote: "Oma read me Grimm's Fairy Tales. I still have that book with some really gorgeous watercolor illustrations in it. When I came to the states and saw a Disney book (long before I saw any of their mov..."I remember my father reading the Baron von Munchausen stories to us, I think it was just as enjoyable for him as for us :).
I still love fairytales and mythology, from all over the world, not only our own trolls and elves. It fascinates me how stories travel, how much similarities there are, some common ground, deeply rooted in the human brain, how alike we are.
Pender wrote: "Hj wrote: "Good point! I've always tended to stop reading a book I thought was bad (although I used to feel guilty about it), but I suppose a book could be very readable and enjoyable but also incl..."I always used to finish a book even if I hated it, otherwise it fealt like a failure, or cheating. Now I don't, life is too short to read bad books or punish yourself with something you don't enjoy. Even if it might be good for you :)
I have just started The Little Death that someone here recommended. Very well written, seems like I have to order the rest of the Rios books as well. Thanks for the rec!
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..."
I think that's the key. The tiring part of..."
Ha. I wish my brain would let me solve all my problems when it decides to jump around at night. But alas, you're right. It certainly doesn't work like that.
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Heck, even when I was approaching my teenage years, I had my mom read me all of the Anne of Greengables series. It was a great way to get a series read that I might not have read otherwise, even though I did enjoy it. It forced me to get it done.
You know, I also used to read with the flashlight at night. All the time. I recently admitted that to my dad. I've enjoyed admitting the "horrid" things I did as a kid (like where I hid my Halloween candy so my mom couldn't take it away from me). But when I told my dad about the flashlight his response was "Yeah, I know you did that." Ugh. Totally ruined my "haha, I did this and you didn't know" thing I had going on there. But, it's cool. I'm glad no one said anything. The Halloween candy bit was great because it left my dad baffled for years, wondering where the candy was hidden. He'd see the wrappers leave my room, but never the candy. hehehe. Little did he know a Crayola Crayon bank that was about hip high on me, held my entire stash right there in plain sight. hehe.
However, in reading the book Wired For Story, I've come across a very basic excuse for reading a lot. And when you think about it, it makes sense too. Reading/storytelling is a form of survival. You read that Bob did X and subsequently died. You've just learned not to do X. But when Sue does Y in the same situation and survives, well, now you know what to do in that situation. It stems back to caveman days. It's kinda cool. I just wish I'd had that excuse as a kid. I would have loved to use it back then.
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These days, I read every night before going to s..."
I read for about an hour in the morning in bed with my bowl of cereal. Then I get up and get ready for work. On Sundays, I like to take the hours between 8-12 and get some writing done. It doesn't always happen though. I seriously need to get back to that. But there used to be a really good radio program on during those hours that was great to write to. But that show got lame so I don't listen to it anymore. Part of the reason I got myself a new CD player so I can que up several disks at once and have a good long writing session. Those days, I sit in my comfy chair in the livingroom, which gets a lot of really nice sun, unlike my rather dark bedroom, and write all day, or read. Love it.
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I think that's the key. The tiring part of not sle..."
Not so sure I want to dream about my audio books. lol. Cluny the Scourge, a terribly bad, evil rat that will kill anything and anyone to get what he wants? Uh, no. But Redwall starts off with his introduction. I've had people warn me I should be careful what I read before bed. But I don't usually have problems with scary stuff. It's the weird things from life that tend to creep into my dreams early in the morning when my brain is waking up earlier than it needs to. Oh, sooo annoying. lol.
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These days, I read every night before going to sleep, but I think I r..."
Gosh, was it last weekend, I was still reading Special Forces Mercs II? I think so. I was in bed all day reading. I didn't eat breakfast until 4pm. Um, yeah. Good book. Did I mention that before? hehe.
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What helped me to relax enough to fall asleep while listening to an audio book is that the ap..."
For falling asleep I use audio books I know very well. That way I don't have to worry about where I left off or anything. Plus, I'm old school. They're all on cassetts. And yeah, I still listen to the one I had as a kid about the badger who went through the entire alphabet one night when he/she? couldn't sleep. I still remember the like "U is for underwear, down in the dryer!" Oh yeah, and "C was for crocodile combing his hair." I think between that book and Alphabears, it's no wonder I turned into a writer.
I love Brian Jacques' voice on tape. He's just amazing, such a deep, resonating voice, and he does all (uh, did) his own books. I really liked that. He's a born storyteller, as in, oral word as well as written word.
I recently had to use up some audio credit at my favorite used bookstore and got a Harry Potter book on tape. I think it's book 4. I wanted book 1, which is my favorite, but they didn't have it, and it's too much of a hassle to get back to that store these days since moving away, so I went with what they had.
Really, I like kids books best, for some reason when falling asleep. Don't know why, but there's something comforting about them, even when the big, bad, evil rats are out and about, looking to kill the mice. lol.
Still need to get Mossflower and Harry Potter 1 on tape. Then I'll be happy.
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Ooohhh, I should check that out. I have my grandparent's school text book for The Odyssey, but it's not written in verse. I haven't read it yet, but I don't think it's the original version or whatever. I do like that story though. Read it once in school, and want to get back to reading it again, but am not sure about the version I have. Which, btw, isn't listed on GR at all. It was published in 1920 something or 30 something. A cute little hardback book. I love the size of books, school texts especially, from that time period. They were totally portable, unlike today's books.
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Something else I've found that works to help me sleep is a CD of the surf. Waves coming and going. It's really nice. It's called Dream Surf and is a double disk set. The second is a thunder storm. It's nice and relaxing. I bought it for stress relief, and it does that quite well.
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Plus, you're reminding me how much I really want to read the original Grimm stories. I bought the leather bound edition for one of my cousins for Xmas a few years back, and it was really beautiful. Now I think I'll add it to my wishlist for myself!
The Penguin translation is pretty good for the Grimms Fairy Tales. You can also go the cheap route and get it off of Guttenberg.org for free.When the movie Rapunzel came out, a friend and I were discussing it at lunch. I jumped on Guttenberg with myk Kindle and downloaded the collection so we could read how different Disney was from Grimm.
Hah. The prince climbed the hair, and later she had 3 children. The witch banished her to the desert and blinded the prince. They eventually found each other again if I remember right. I love Grimm. Eye for an eye, literally.
I am annoyed at a book I recently read. It is part of a series and the characters are finally together. They each have a kid, and the third book seems to have morphed these two characters into an m/f family with one guy taking most of the household chores and child rearing (and complaining of same). I am sad for that character and what he's been reduced to.And as usual it's an almost 5 star read on Goodreads and for some of my friends. I stated my opinion in my review, succinctly as usual. I don't dare say anything in some other groups or I'd get dogpiled.
I don't mind m/m and kids. Some are well done. This one really was not.
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When the movie Rapunzel came out, a friend and I were ..."
I love how Grimm is so dark, compared to Disney. The Princess with the frog throws him against the wall, she doesn't kiss him! Not advocating violence here, but I love the uniqueness and originality of them. Not that I'm ever planning to have kids, but if I did have any in my care, I'd make them read Grimm and never watch Disney. Or, at least read Grimm first, so they know what came first.
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Some are done well, and others not so much. I like kids with MM too, but rarely. That's too bad that this one turned into M/F with a "housemom".
I used Grimms fairy tales to learn German as an adult (probably not one of the most brilliant ideas, I've invested energies in learning quite a few words which are not current anymore) and got a shock when the Princess throws the frog against the wall. I thought, how can people allow children to read this! And I thought he same when I read as an adult some slightly creepy Roald Dale stories...
Antonella - The non-sanitised versions are full or murder rape and cannibalism. I loved that stuff.
Antonella wrote: "I used Grimms fairy tales to learn German as an adult (probably not one of the most brilliant ideas, I've invested energies in learning quite a few words which are not current anymore) and got a sh..."Children are actually rather cold-blooded murderous creatures:). I read somewhere that if two-year olds were strong enough or had access to weapons, there wouldn't be a live mother left out there. There probably would be a lot of regretfull two-year olds though..
I remember some past big discussions about warnings (or the lack of them) in fanfics. I think that some classic authors should come with multiple warnings...
Antonella wrote: "I used Grimms fairy tales to learn German as an adult (probably not one of the most brilliant ideas, I've invested energies in learning quite a few words which are not current anymore) and got a sh..."You have to remember that the Grimm brothers did not make these stories up, they wrote down the stories that were told by the people of Germany. They were folk stories to teach lessons. Red Riding Hood? Don't trust strange men in the woods.
They were object lessons, for kids and adults, and pretty much all the way through, if you mess up, you will be punished. Severely.
I was read these stories so often by my German grandparents (and I survived!) that my spoken German was a lot like the cadence of those stories. When Oma introduced me to someone, they would often remark how my speech was like a fairy tale. I really wish I knew what that sounded like.
Aleksandr wrote: "Antonella - The non-sanitised versions are full or murder rape and cannibalism. I loved that stuff."I guess video game violence is just a new version of the same mythos.
Now that I'm thinking about it, Beowulf, The Iliad & The Odyssey, seems we have a trend going here. Good luck to the anti-violence groups.
LOL.One thing I should not read: Reviews. I just stumbled across one where I was repeatedly called "sentimental" (which to me translates to "fake emotion, emotionally dishonest writing" - and since writing is ALL about emotion, it's probably the worst anybody can call an author, at least in my book).
Killed my desire to write anything today - and I was so buzzed up after The Hobbit for the next part of Scorpion (epic fantasy movies do that to me).
I *know* I should ignore crap like that, but I can't. And my trick of "never read 1- and 2-star reviews" doesn't work if it's 3+ stars.
So, grabbing a tea and the Xbox now.
We'll it would be in German. Oddly enough the only German version Gutenberg has is in audio. Not a bad thing, since these were tales passed on from one generation to the next and were not written until Jacob and Wilhelm recorded them.Go here: http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/autho...
And scroll down to Grimm, Jacob and Grimm, Wilhelm entries almost at the bottom of the page. The two English translations date from the 1800s and I can't speak to their authenticity, but from the spot reading I have done, it's not sugar coated.
Riding Hood's wolf had his belly split open, filled with rocks, and sewn back up again. When he went to a pool to drink, he fell in and drowned. That was the version I know from my German book.
Here is a more download friendly version from manybooks.net.http://manybooks.net/titles/grimmetex...
The one and only review says it has stories not found in other places. Sounds promising.
My German copy is named Kinder und Hausmarchen, which translates to Childen and Household Tales. I can't find a copyright on it anywhere but it is at least from 1964 or earlier.
I was read to daily as a small child. It was the only way I'd settle down and go to bed! But I don't remember being read to once I got old enough for longer stories, with chapters, to hold my interest. Picture books and storybooks only. After that I took off reading on my own.For those looking for an audiobook to soothe them to sleep, try Neil Gaiman. I have one of his audiobooks, and his voice is like buttah. I've had it for years, and I've yet to hear the whole thing, because I drop off immediately every time I turn it on. (Clearly, it's not an audiobook for road trips!)
Susinok wrote: "Here is a more download friendly version from manybooks.net..."Thanks for the link. I did a search under genre/mystery and got some fun classics too! http://manybooks.net/statistics_weekl...
Susinok wrote: "We'll it would be in German. Oddly enough the only German version Gutenberg has is in audio. Not a bad thing, since these were tales passed on from one generation to the next and were not written u..."That is the version I grew up with too, and my kids, in Norwegian translation. The stories are dark and punishments are harsh. I believe kids love them because they allow you to feel strongly, the evildoer are getting their due in a way that creates no doubt the punishment is real, the good get their reward, usually wealth and HEA. No ambiguity, very clear cut. Of course, later in life you learn life is not a fairytale, not in the Grimm nor the Disney version. The bad doesn't always get punished, the good doesn't always get their reward. But as stories for learning and entertaining, fairytales are the best.
I'm gonna have to say, I have no problem falling to sleep any more. I drop off in the middle of a paragraph. Often I find I've fallen asleep in my reading chair and have to put myself to bed. Age is a wonderful thing. I used to have insomnia.
Na - I'd share the link but it's bad form. Essentially, I don't want any of my supporters to attack a person who's writing a negative review of my stuff. It's a) not fair, and b) usually the prelude to civil war and a post about how authors are behaving like assholes. Last thing I need on top of all this.But thank you for the support. :) I'm really lucky with my readers and try to focus on "my readers" when I sit down to write, not the negative people or responses.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Alice Oswald reading Memorial: An Excavation of the Iliad is one of my all time favourites. Don't let the fact it's based on the Iliad put you off.