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Welcome 2014, may you be better than your predecessor...
A belated Happy New Year to all.
Hoping against hope of achieving at least some this time, I made some resolutions for 2014, namely:
- get in shape more; yes, losing weight would be an important sub-goal but it`s not just that, as I noticed on my last vacation when a simple hiking trip nearly made me collapse: I`m in lousy, lousy shape, I was never very sportive but it used to be better than that
- trying out my new keyboard, no, I can`t play but I bought it (two years ago) to actually learn to play a bit and since then it`s sitting there, gathering dust
- getting together with a couple of old buds where we have been saying we should get together some time for ages now
- read more books; again, I love it but in recent years haven`t read all that much because when I get home from work, I usually slump right in front of the computer and stay there till bedtime and on the week-ends I catch up on all my shows
- go out a bit more, I love going to the movies but, like with reading, rarely do these days
For the last two, I would actually welcome some recs. Like what kind of movies you guys are looking forward to. I usually miss so much because I don`t even know what`s coming out.
But I`d especially grateful for book-recs. In the spirit of starting out, I just finished the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier, a cute little time-travelling fantasy romance tale which was actually quite enjoyable and have the Hunger Games lined up. Which is not to say I only read youth lit, my taste buds are actually pretty diverse, fantasy, Sci-Fi, romance, comedy etc. Not too much into autobiography and stuff that gets marketed as "the rousing tale of one woman`s dramatic journey to..."
Or as I like to call it "you move to the African bush, what did you expect, lady?" I can love protagonists who are dark and broody and even mean but stupid is a deal-breaker.
So hit me. Metaphorically. :)
Hoping against hope of achieving at least some this time, I made some resolutions for 2014, namely:
- get in shape more; yes, losing weight would be an important sub-goal but it`s not just that, as I noticed on my last vacation when a simple hiking trip nearly made me collapse: I`m in lousy, lousy shape, I was never very sportive but it used to be better than that
- trying out my new keyboard, no, I can`t play but I bought it (two years ago) to actually learn to play a bit and since then it`s sitting there, gathering dust
- getting together with a couple of old buds where we have been saying we should get together some time for ages now
- read more books; again, I love it but in recent years haven`t read all that much because when I get home from work, I usually slump right in front of the computer and stay there till bedtime and on the week-ends I catch up on all my shows
- go out a bit more, I love going to the movies but, like with reading, rarely do these days
For the last two, I would actually welcome some recs. Like what kind of movies you guys are looking forward to. I usually miss so much because I don`t even know what`s coming out.
But I`d especially grateful for book-recs. In the spirit of starting out, I just finished the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier, a cute little time-travelling fantasy romance tale which was actually quite enjoyable and have the Hunger Games lined up. Which is not to say I only read youth lit, my taste buds are actually pretty diverse, fantasy, Sci-Fi, romance, comedy etc. Not too much into autobiography and stuff that gets marketed as "the rousing tale of one woman`s dramatic journey to..."
Or as I like to call it "you move to the African bush, what did you expect, lady?" I can love protagonists who are dark and broody and even mean but stupid is a deal-breaker.
So hit me. Metaphorically. :)
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Let's see, what else?
1. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie - yes that one - and while we're there...
2. Making History by Stephen Fry
3. Lamb - The Gospel according to Biff by Christopher Moore
4. Eureka Street by Robert McLiam Wilson
5. Life's That Way by Jim Beaver (the one autobiography you might want to read?)
aaand of course: all the Jane Austen ;)
eta: sorry for all the edits - I can't think today
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Have you read Good Omens?
I`ve heard of it, of course, but haven`t read. So, it will go right to the list.
aaand of course: all the Jane Austen ;)
I think I still have "Northanger Abbey" unread. My undisputed fave is - cliché cliché - Pride and Prejudice. :)
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Ah, never read it, but I have this particular "version" on my own list: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
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But Northanger Abbey is fun, too. Quirky.
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Haven`t read Dark Tower either though the name sounds vaguely familiar. Will look it up. Thanks. :)
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And read Hunger Games. Like ASAP. It's an awesome books and not just young-adult you know.
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As
Also by Terry Pratchett, I'd recommend Monstrous Regiment.
Evergreens:
Tamora Pierce: The Song of the Lioness
Val McDermitt: The Mermaids Singing
Comics/Graphic Novels: Blacksad, Allein and (because it's supercute and there are only two books): Nävis.
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Book wise, my favorite book of all time is "Almost Like Being in Love" by Steve Kluger (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239092.Almost_Like_Being_in_Love?ac=1). It's a hilarious gay love story that I re-read on regular basis because it puts me in the best of moods.
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I`ve heard of it, didn`t know Chris Pine was in it, too. But it sounds interesting. Will see if I can drag someone to it. :)
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Last year, I read all of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan because they have just the kind of humour I sdore and I got to learn about Greek mythology as a plus (which I knew very little of prior to that). In case you've seen the movies and found them unimpressive, the books are way better. And if you find the books ARE your kind of thing, Riordan is currently writing a second series set in the same universe called "Heroes of Olympus", which, in my opinion, is even more awesome.
I recently read Maureen Johnson's "The Name of the Star", which is a YA urban fantasy set in London and quite enjoyable--at least I liked it enough to buy the second book, which I still have to read :-)
Other than that:
"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
"The Kite Runner" - Khaled Husseini
"Keys to the Kingdom" (series) - Garth Nix
"To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee
"The Color Purple" - Alice Walker
"A Star Called Henry" - Roddy Doyle
"The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" - Philip Pullman
...and for something completely different, anything by Paul Auster.
Oh, and if you like historical romance, I quite adore Courtney Milan's "Brothers Sinister" series because despite the title, the heroes in these books are awesome and not the usual alpha-holes you so often find in these kinds of books, and the heroines are quite awesome, too :)
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>I recently read Maureen Johnson's "The Name of the Star", which is a YA urban fantasy set in London and quite enjoyable--at least I liked it enough to buy the second book, which I still have to read :-)
Other than that:
"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
"The Kite Runner" - Khaled Husseini
"Keys to the Kingdom" (series) - Garth Nix
"To Kill a Mockingbird" - Harper Lee
"The Color Purple" - Alice Walker
"A Star Called Henry" - Roddy Doyle
"The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ" - Philip Pullman
...and for something completely different, anything by Paul Auster.
So, so many recs. Thanks. Will see if I can fill my kindle with some.
Oh, and if you like historical romance, I quite adore Courtney Milan's "Brothers Sinister" series because despite the title, the heroes in these books are awesome and not the usual alpha-holes you so often find in these kinds of books, and the heroines are quite awesome, too :)
Heh, I don`t mind the alpha-holes for the most part (yup, I`m a bad boy-girl mostly *g*) but I do love some variety.
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In the "Heroes of Olympus" series the Roman gods show up as well and stuff gets interesting, and somewhat darker, I found. I still need to read the most recent one, "The House of Hades".
I could probably serve you with a gazillion recs on top of that :D Have you read the "Nightrunner" books by Lynn Flewelling?
Why am I the only person who doesn't like alpha-holes? :-P Well if you do, I can also recommend the like, first three or four novels of Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton"-series. The first four are called...uhm, The Duke and I, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, To Sir Philip, With Love and An Offer From a Gentleman. I really, really like the humor in these but they do come with your fair share of alpha-holes :-)
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I figured they made some significant changes because the first movie did a feel a bit rushed. And the second one really lacked character work. Hello Clarice, out-of-nowhere, who takes over the role the other girl initially had when the first movie started. And nice to give a couple characters significant common backstory that hasn`t been referenced before. At all. Jeez.
Normally, I don`t even mind some creative license because the media are so different, sometimes stuff just won`t translate well but the movie(s) should at least feel "round" in and of themselves.
I could probably serve you with a gazillion recs on top of that :D Have you read the "Nightrunner" books by Lynn Flewelling?
Nope. :) Like, I said, sadly I read very little in the last few years. Back in school, I covered at least 3 to 4 books each week. Sigh.
Why am I the only person who doesn't like alpha-holes?
Aww, I don`t know. I think for me it`s just this old fantasy of "taming the beast", you know? :D When a nice guy is nice to you, it`s no big deal because they are nice to everybody but when the resident meanie and bad boy is, it makes you feel special and strokes the ego.
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Yes. That one bothered me because Clarisse is actually in the first book too, but they left her out in the film and just sort of had Annabeth fill both roles, which sucked. I laughed when she suddenly popped up blonde in the second movie because she actually *is* a blonde in the books too, and they apparently realised they couldn't have look Clarisse and Annabeth look too similiar :-) The whole bit in the first movie where Percy fights Annabeth, that's actually a lot of Clarisse they just squeezed into her character. But hey, who needs more than one female character?
Also in the book, the quest isn't actually to find Percy's mother but to retrieve the lightning bolt, and freeing Percy's mom is just something that they manage to do along with it. But Luke and Annabeth have an interesting backstory, and Thalia gets some interesting stuff to do and one of the most interesting characters is added in the third book and yeah, I just love these books :-)
Normally, I don`t even mind some creative license because the media are so different, sometimes stuff just won`t translate well but the movie(s) should at least feel "round" in and of themselves.
Yes. Word. My favourite Huckleberry Finn adaptation takes some big liberties with the book but it works well and is just a beautiful film. Same goes with the fourth Harry Potter film while the first one, that tries to stay close to the book, doesn't feel "round" at all.
Oh. Well, I'd recommend that series then. It's an entertaining adventure fantasy series with some homoerotic schmoop on top :-)
Hehe, yeah. I guess I could get into that but the whole "He had to possess her and take her now"-vibe I don't find very respectful to the women :D