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Toujours Provence
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle Published: 1992 I read Mayle’s A Year in Provence almost two years ago now and really enjoyed it. I’m not sure why it took me so long to read this follow-up book, as it’s really more of the same (in a good way). Toujours Provence begins just after A Year in Provence has been published. Peter and his wife are more situated in their home now and are continuing on with their lives in the south of France. The first book gave a month by month account of their first year as expats, and I found some topics would occasionally drag on a bit because…
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Ender’s Game
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Published: 1985 Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison I’ve been meaning to get to this one for years. A (now fading) lack of interest for science fiction combined with all the talk of Orson Scott Card being a bit of a dickhead contributed to my negligence, but the upcoming movie finally pushed me to read it. Ender Wiggin, the third of three genius children in his family, is recruited at the age of five to join an elite military training school after showing an aptitude for command in the first few years of his life. Civilization on earth narrowly avoided annihilation in two long…
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Navel-Gazing
He was always doing that these days. Everything he saw became a symbol of his own existence, from a rabbit caught in headlights to raindrops racing down a window-pane. Perhaps it was a sign that he was going to become a poet or a philosopher: the kind of person who, when he stood on the sea-shore, didn’t see waves breaking on a beach, but saw the surge of human will or the rhythms of copulation, who didn’t hear the sound of the tide but heard the eroding roar of time and the last moaning sigh of humanity fizzing into nothingness. But perhaps it was a sign, he also thought, that…
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Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke Format: Original Graphic Novel Published: 2012 Publisher: IDW Publishing This is the third of the four Parker novels that Darwyn Cooke is adapting to graphic format, and I’m going to be sorry to see it finish with the next book. I just love these. An amateur crook is planning a heist, and he wants to bring Parker on. It’s a big heist, requiring a big team, and the organizer is a newbie, so Parker’s first instinct is to walk away. When he finds out the plan, and the target – an entire town – his temptation and restlessness prove too much. He…
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Chocky
Chocky by John Wyndham Published: 1968 This is my third John Wyndham novel, and he’s quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. I love this older, pulpy science fiction. He has very creative ideas, but I wouldn’t say the ideas themselves are the main focus, as with some science fiction. They’re more of a backdrop for really interesting character interaction. The premise of Chocky is simple – a young couple’s adopted child, Matthew, has begun hearing a voice. The story is told from his father’s point of view, and he isn’t too concerned at the beginning. Their youngest, Matthew’s sister Polly, had an imaginary friend for about a year when…
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The Classics Club – Year One
As of March 23rd, I’ve been in The Classics Club for one whole year. I can’t believe it’s been a year already, but I’m happy to say I’m well ahead of schedule. The goal I set was fifty books in five years, the minimum requirement, as I wasn’t sure how I’d adjust to reading more classics. I’ve now reviewed fifteen books, and I have another one waiting to go. There are still quite a few classics I find daunting, Dickens and anything Russian come to mind, but I’ve found that this has been much more of a pleasure than a struggle. It’s possible my view of what a classic is…
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The End of the Affair
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene Published: 1951 Narrated By: Colin Firth I’ll start this off by saying I pirated this book. I usually buy all of my audio books from Audible, but The End of the Affair isn’t offered in Canada. Licensing issues I’m guessing, which is something that occasionally plagues us here. I’d been itching to read a Graham Greene book for quite some time, and the chance to have Colin Firth narrate it was too tempting to pass up. I blame Canadian licensing restrictions for forcing me into a life of crime. Maurice Bendrix is a writer in London during the Second World War. While…
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A Dance with Dragons
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin Published: 2011 I finished it! Good lord, this one took me a while. The middle of a George R.R. Martin book is not the place to hit a reading slump. It’s funny, I went through a period where I read long fantasy novels almost to the exclusion of everything else, but these days anything over 400 pages gives me pause. I guess I just don’t have the attention span anymore. There was too much material in the last book, A Feast for Crows, so half of the characters’ stories were moved into this book. They both begin at the same time, but…
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That’s What Bilbo Baggins Hates
Listen below to hear J.R.R. Tolkien sing That’s What Bilbo Baggins Hates. It’s neat to hear it from the man himself. Note: this might not show up on RSS feeds. [via] Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Blunt the knives and bend the forks! That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates— Smash the bottles and burn the corks! Cut the cloth and tread on the fat! Pour the milk on the pantry floor! Leave the bones on the bedroom mat! Splash the wine on every door! Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl; Pound them up with a thumping pole; And when you’ve finished if any are whole, Send them down…
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Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Published: 1966 Narrated by: Jeff Woodman I somehow managed to completely miss this book growing up. I only became aware of it in the last few years. I see it spoken of as if it’s The Outsiders at times, so I’m guessing it must be part of school curriculum for some, but I knew absolutely nothing about it. In fact, I thought it was a classic fantasy novel when I picked it up. I suppose Algernon sounded fantasy-ish to me, and I hadn’t heard of Algernon Charles Swinburne, the poet that inspired the name. There’s a bunch I don’t know, it turns out. Flowers…