'No More Buying Books Until I've Read the Ones I've Already Bought' Thread

Tete_en_l'Air

Ooh I'm o glad this thread has revived itself ... I'm pleased to report I've finished The Amber Spyglass at long last! It took going away on holiday and putting in 5-hour shifts by the pool but I did it! It was actualy really good and I was really enjoying it by the end but it's not the sort of book you can read in half hour stints before bed. :T:T:T from me.

Now that I've got that one out the way, I've chosen some of my skinniest books to crack on with and get my total of unread books below 90. I've already read So Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregor which gets :T:T:T:T - I love his writing. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things was better though.

Now onto Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively and although I don't like the heroine much I am quite enjoying the story.

charlies_mum

Have just read Chris Evan's autobiograpy which I enjoyed, and he says in it that to date he has lost about £67 million :eek:

Just reading the Psychic Tourist by William Little and have Nurse on Call (the true story of a 1950's District Nurse) to read next. Am on holiday this week, so lots of lovely reading time :T

Tete_en_l'Air

£67 million!!! And the likes of us here, can't even afford new books! Makes you sick!

Vixstar

Another contributor creeps back in...
My reading remains slow and steady finished Time Traveller's Wife and really can't see what all the fuss is about (I may be missing something) and I have finally got to grips with my History of WW1 and can now manage a chapter or more each night without falling asleep in the book! About 75 pages to go.

charlies_mum

Vixstar wrote: »

Another contributor creeps back in...
My reading remains slow and steady finished Time Traveller's Wife and really can't see what all the fuss is about (I may be missing something) and I have finally got to grips with my History of WW1 and can now manage a chapter or more each night without falling asleep in the book! About 75 pages to go.

No I didn't really enjoy the Time Travellers Wife, but have bought Audrey Niffenegger's new book 'Her Fearful Symmetry' which sounds quite good

terryw

carolbee wrote: »

does anyone remember 'Forever Amber' not sure of the author, ....

That was the one about the bloke stuck for five hours at the broken traffic lights on the M25, was it not?

terryw

carolbee wrote: »

does anyone remember 'Forever Amber' not sure of the author, but set in the past at the time of the Restoration, if I remember correctly. I had this and loved it and it disappeared somewhere, off to look for a copy......

I am of an age to remember this first time around.

You might get a chuckle from this link to a literary hoax of the same time:

I, Libertine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
I, Libertine
Cover of first edition (paperback) Author Frederick R. Ewing
(Theodore Sturgeon) Cover artist Frank Kelly Freas Country United States Language English Genre(s) Novel, Literary hoax Publisher Ballantine Books Publication date 1956 Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback) Pages 151 pp ISBN NA I, Libertine was a literary hoax that began as a practical joke by late-night radio raconteur Jean Shepherd. Shepherd was highly annoyed at the way that the bestseller lists were being compiled in the mid-1950s. These lists were determined not only from sales figures but were also derived from the number of requests for new and upcoming books at bookstores.
Contents

URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Libertine#"]hide[/URL

• 1 Creation of the hoax
• 2 Publication
  • 2.1 Frank Kelly Freas cover
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 External links

URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=1"]edit[/URL Creation of the hoax

Shepherd urged his listeners to enter bookstores and ask for a book that did not exist. He fabricated the author (Frederick R. Ewing) of this imaginary novel, concocted a title (I, Libertine), and outlined a basic plot for his listeners to use on skeptical or confused bookstore clerks. Shepherd eventually proved his point that the process of choosing bestsellers was flawed.
The success of the hoax (at least with bookstore clerks) may have been due in part to the popularity of James Boswell's London Journal, which was written in 1762–1763 but first published in 1950. The suggested plot of I, Libertine is remarkably similar to Boswell's account of his real-life adventures; booksellers may have believed I, Libertine was a fictional attempt to cash in on the interest in Georgian England Boswell's million-selling journal had created.
URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=2"]edit[/URL Publication

Bookstores became interested in carrying Ewing's novel, which reportedly had been banned in Boston. When publisher Ian Ballantine, novelist Theodore Sturgeon and Shepherd met for lunch, Ballantine hired Sturgeon to write a novel based on Shepherd's outline. Betty Ballantine completed the final chapter after an exhausted Sturgeon fell asleep on the Ballantines' couch, having attempted to meet the deadline in one marathon typing session. On September 13, 1956, Ballantine Books published I, Libertine simultaneously in hardcover and paperback editions with Shepherd seen looking as dissolute as possible, as Ewing in the back cover author's photograph. In effect, the hoax actually begot the book. The proceeds were donated to charity.[1]
A few weeks before publication, The Wall Street Journal officially exposed the hoax, already an open secret.[2]
URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=3"]edit[/URL Frank Kelly Freas cover

The front cover displays a quote: "'Gadzooks,' quoth I, 'but here's a saucy bawd!'". The cover painting by Frank Kelly Freas includes hidden images and inside jokes: The sign on the tavern, Fish & Staff, has a shepherd's staff and an image of a sturgeon, referencing both Sturgeon and Shepherd. A portion of the word often spoken on the air by Shepherd – "Excelsior!" – can be seen on the paperback cover in a triangular area at extreme left,where it is part of the decoration on the coach door. The hardcover dust jacket, with more of the illustration to the left, shows the entire word. Freas' artwork was typically more well known in the science fiction community (one of his magazine covers was adapted for a famous album cover by rock band Queen) and as one of the artists who was responsible for the iconic Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman.
URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=4"]edit[/URL See also

• J. R. Hartley – author of another fictitious book, written after it became famous.

URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=5"]edit[/URL References

1. ^ An interview with Shepherd on the hoax from Long John Nebel's radio show Long John Nebel's radio show
2. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20020427051336/flicklives.com/Articles/Wall_Street_Journel/8-1-56/8-1-56.jpg

URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I,_Libertine&action=edit&section=6"]edit[/URL External links

• Cover with link to documents
• Documents
• History and back cover scan
• I, Libertine audiobook chapters

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Libertine"
Categories: 1956 books | Literary hoaxes | Novels by Theodore Sturgeon


Personal tools

• New features
• Log in / create account

Namespaces

• Article
• Discussion

Variants




Views

• Read
• Edit
• View history

Actions



Search





Navigation

• Main page
• Contents
• Featured content
• Current events
• Random article

Interaction

• About Wikipedia
• Community portal
• Recent changes
• Contact Wikipedia
• Donate to Wikipedia
• Help

Toolbox

• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Special pages
• Permanent link
• Cite this page

Print/export

• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version

Languages

• Deutsch

This page was last modified on 18 May 2010 at 04:32.

candyapple_2

candyapple wrote: »

I have about 20 books in my unread pile - at the moment I am halfway through Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult and I have to say I'm not enjoying it quite as much as I have done her other books, but sticking with it and hoping it will still grab me at some point.

Observer wrote: »

Oohh this is on my 'to buy....but not yet' amazon list so would be good to know what you think

Well I finished this book yesterday, but only started to really enjoy it after 400 pages. I think if you are a Jodi Picoult fan already you will enjoy, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first read, I much preferred the likes of Plain Truth, Salem Falls, Nineteen Minutes.

I'm now onto It's the little things by Erica James which is part of a book bundle my mum bought me for christmas. I'm enjoying it so far, a good girlie read that doesn't require much concentration.

Vixstar

Got about 50 pages of my first world war history to read and then I'm free!! Think Twenties Girl or something equally mindless beckons next. These are my at work reading (live away from home during the week) at home I'm reading The Greatest Show on Earth about evolution, think I'm wenjoying it as even when I try to stray onto another book (something lighter or more suitable for reading in the garden) I find myself coming back to it.

jintyb

candyapple wrote: »

Well I finished this book yesterday, but only started to really enjoy it after 400 pages. I think if you are a Jodi Picoult fan already you will enjoy, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first read, I much preferred the likes of Plain Truth, Salem Falls, Nineteen Minutes.

I'm now onto It's the little things by Erica James which is part of a book bundle my mum bought me for christmas. I'm enjoying it so far, a good girlie read that doesn't require much concentration.

I quite enjoyed Handle With Care, but I agree with you - there are better Jodi Picoult books. I've recently read Nineteen Minutes which was great and I also enjoyed Salem Falls. I found Vanishing Acts really disappointing though!

Just finished Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts, which I really enjoyed and have just started The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison, so far so good!
I like catching up on here, gives me ideas for things to read - not that I need any encouragement!;)