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Into the pile of books I am in the midst of reading I managed to spare an hour or so to read Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This is the second volume in the series. I very much enjoyed the first volume not long ago. This second volume was fun but not quite as fun. It suffered from second child syndrome. The characters are established, the storyline is in motion but things just sort of swirled around and didn’t go anywhere.
Oh, yes, Scott fought evil ex-boyfriend number two but it was too easy. Scott knew who the guy was ahead of time, was expecting to fight him, actually set a day and time to fight. When the fight came he won the battle with hardly a hitch. The best part was the unexpected fight between Scott’s recent ex-girlfriend Knives Chau and Ramona, his current girlfriend whose exes he is having to fight. The fight between Knives and Ramona took place at a library. It was a draw so they will be meeting again another time I’m sure.
There is nothing else to say about this one. Light, fun fluff.
So let’s pad out the fluff with the titles of a couple books I recently acquired from doing a little bookstore shopping.
- The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami. I love Murakmai so there was no way I’d pass this one up. I already acquired Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage back in October. Have I mentioned that? I think I may not have. I was hoping to read that one over my vacation but *embarrassed shrug* some things just don’t happen like we want them to.
- A new cookbook, Mayim’s Vegan Table by Mayim Bialik. You may recognize her as Amy from the TV show Big Bang Theory. She has recipes in here for kugel and even challah. Yum, yum, yum! I will be keeping Bookman busy in the kitchen asking him to make me this and make me that.
- The Martian by Andy Weir. Bookman actually got this one but I told him to. Ulterior motives? Yup, I want to read it too. A mission on Mars goes wrong and the crew is forced to evacuate. They think Mark is dead and leave him there. But he isn’t dead. Now he is stranded alone with damaged equipment and supplies that will run out long before a rescue mission could reach him. Sounds tense, doesn’t it?
- The Canterbury Tales “translated” by Peter Ackroyd. Back in college I had to read some of the tales in the original old English and it was like reading a foreign language. I enjoyed the stories but man, I was certainly never going to read any more of these than I had to. Ackroyd’s update is written in prose but from the beginning passage I read in the bookstore it seems like he does a fair job of keeping it updated but close to the original.
- My friend Cath in the Netherlands and I regularly exchange poetry through the mail. We have decided for 2015 to each make a study of two poets. I chose John Keats and Elizabeth Bishop. I will be starting off the year with Keats since I already began dipping into his letters. But that was a library book. I wanted my own copy to keep and mark up and refer back to. The Selected Letters of John Keats is out of print so I had to track down a copy online. It promises to be like new and is working its way to me through the postal system.
- Since I will be reading all of Keats’ poetry, I thought perhaps it was a good idea to actually own it. I have some of Keats as part of a huge college textbook of Romantic poets from a seminar I took back in the day. But it doesn’t have everything. Sadly, none of the bookstores had Keats on their shelves. I’d cry unbelievable but it’s really not given the minuscule size of poetry sections these days. So I have resorted to ordering the Penguin Complete Poems edition from Barnes and Noble online. That too is making its way to me through the post.
A Bit of a book buying binge for me. Haven’t done that in a while. What fun!
I never managed to get into Scott Pilgrim, but I love everything else O’Malley has done. Lost at Sea is a big favourite of mine, and I finished his recent graphic novel Seconds just the other day and adored it. I definitely recommend those for after you finish the series!
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I loved Seconds! I nearly bought it at the bookstore myself the other day, but I was already buying so many things. I had to stop somewhere.
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Ana, I read Seconds not long ago and that’s what made me start in on Scott Pilgrim. I will have to look for Lost at Sea. Thanks!
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I want to pick up that Murakami myself.
The Martian is great, hope you enjoy it.
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A book buying binge is always fun I’m afraid! Hope you enjoy the Murakami and if you want a reader friendly version of Chaucer you could do a lot worse than David Wright’s hugely readable translation of the Canterbury Tales published by Oxford as a World’s Classic paperback.
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I need to read Canterbury Tales. I’ve read many parts of it for school, MANY years ago, and enjoyed it, but have never read the whole thing.
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Ian, ooh, thanks for the wright recommendation. It might be interesting to compare to Ackroyd.
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Carl, I encouraged my husband to get The Martian because you made it sound so good! I’m looking forward to reading it especially since I think there is a movie of it coming out this year.
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There is supposed to be one, starring Matt Damon and directed by Ridley Scott.
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Thanks for the confirmation about the movie. It will also serve as motivation to get to the book sooner rather than later!
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I’m part way through Canterbury Tales using the World Classic version Ian mentions. It’s a hell of a lot easier than reading it in Olde English which, like you, I struggled through in school. I’m enjoying what I’m reading though its not the kind of book I want to pick up at the end of a day so my progress is very slow
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BookerTalk, another recommendation for the World Classic Chaucer! I will have to get a copy and compare it to the Ackroyd. Could be interesting! Old English sounds so beautiful when spoken by someone who knows how but at this point in time it really is a foreign language!
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I wonder if anyone has done an audio recording in olde English. That could be fascinating.
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Ok! Confession time …I have NEVER read Murakami…there I have said it in public. Something kind off put me off, but I will for sure read one in 2015. I love Canterbury Tales…I too read them in Old English in College but I still absolutely love them. I think it helped that I had a read an easier “translated” version on in school (Yea! The joy of a Catholic Convent!). All the best with your poetry plans.. I know I have waxed eloquently about Keats many a times…he was and remains just brilliant!
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cirtnecce, *gasp* you’ve never read Murakami? 😉 I’m sure I could make you gasp if you wanted to play the books/authors I’ve never read game! We can’t read everyone and everything much as we wish we could. Thanks for your good wishes. The Keats poetry just arrived in the mail last night. I plan on digging into it in the next few days.
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I think I’ve seen The Martian on a couple of wrap up posts lately so I think you’ll be in for a great read. I don’t think I had thought much of it before but now it’s caught my eye! I feel like I haven’t had a proper book haul in a while. Must remedy that!
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Iliana, The Martian has gotten some good buzz. I think it is one of those genre crossover sorts of books and I believe it will be coming out as a movie sometime in 2015.
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The Martian sounds wonderful. Will have to put that on my ever-changing list. I’d like to read more poetry this (oops) next year (seeing as it isn’t midnight yet.) Happy New Year Stef and Bookman.
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Grad, doesn’t it sound interesting? More poetry is always good in my opinion 🙂
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That cook book sounds like fun–I think I looked at it before–or maybe just saw it online. She seems like she would be really cool in real life–she cracks me up on the show anyway! I’m curious about the Canterbury Tales, so you’ll have to let me know how it goes. And hey, I just bought a Murakami, too, which I started reading today–I am pretty sure it was the one you mentioned that you started with–Sputnik Sweetheart.
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Danielle, I like Mayim as Amy on TV. Had no idea she was vegan. Her cookbook is great, healthy meals aimed at families who don’t have an overabundance of time. Hope you’re enjoying Murakmai!
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