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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 13, 2017 2:56:58 GMT -5
Ah yes, the slanket. But sprite was talking about her arms sticking out of the bedclothes, so really she only Needs something to cover the arms. I suppose really this is just a Cardigan! A bed Cardigan...
Reading books sounds good mei, but why do you have to do an English language course? Your English seems to be near-native Level already...
Anyway, books:
#86 Gisa Klönne, Der Wald ist Schweigen (Silent is the Forest) a crime novel set in the Woods near Cologne. It's the first in a series. It was pretty enjoyable; the last 150 pages really engaged me and I didn't want to stop reading. Nothing really out of the ordinary though.
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Post by sprite on Dec 13, 2017 4:23:33 GMT -5
how do i get on this course??
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Post by sprite on Dec 13, 2017 4:26:32 GMT -5
yes, the slanket has appeal, but i think i need like a fleece-lined glove that goes up to my shoulders where my t-shirt is. the fingertips need to work on a smart phone...
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Post by mei on Dec 13, 2017 4:35:06 GMT -5
Reading books sounds good mei, but why do you have to do an English language course? Your English seems to be near-native Level already... well, yes, I've been trying to get out of it. but it's a requirement for my current job: they need all staff to be at a minimum English proficiency level and the best way to prove that is by having everyone do the Cambridge exams. I did a quick online assessment, where I scored very well apparently, but the training is mostly exam training (apparently it's a 1,5 day exam!!). we'll see... it shouldn't be too hard I hope but had hoped there was no other work involved! /threadjack
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 13, 2017 5:23:11 GMT -5
That's frustrating. However if you have to do the exam, it's right that you are specifically trained for it. I know many people lose marks because they don't follow the Format correctly or have Problems with Timing, despite being fully capable of passing.
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Post by mei on Dec 13, 2017 5:40:27 GMT -5
yes, that's the idea. (even so, 20 weeks, weekly 2-hour sessions.... pffff).
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Post by sprite on Dec 14, 2017 8:19:08 GMT -5
ugh. (i mean, i know those exams pay my bills, but... ugh.)
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 14, 2017 19:08:59 GMT -5
51) George Gissing, Sleeping Fires
Slim late-19th-century novel in which an Englishman traveling in Athens meets up with people who were acquainted with a woman he'd long ago wanted to marry, and then various things ensue.
I guessed the surprise plot elements fairly early on, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 16, 2017 17:02:17 GMT -5
52) J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal (translation by Alicia Dellepiane Rawson)
Yes! I have finally joined the modern world and read the first Harry Potter novel. I thought the quidditch games went on a bit long (sort of like those sorts of novels that have excessively detailed descriptions of battles or whale-killings, etc). And I've heard that the characterization becomes a little more complex in the later novels... but I enjoyed it. I particularly liked the twist ending - ended up reading the last couple chapters this afternoon because I needed to know how it would end.
And yeah, I read it in Spanish - I was thinking that reading some fiction would improve my language skills, but I knew I wasn't up to reading anything too complex. So I was about to look for Spanish-language YA novels when I realized that here was an opportunity to finally read Harry Potter. The only catch with this translation is that it was done in Spain-Spanish instead of the Mexican/Central American Spanish that I'm used to, which meant that it was riddled with vosotros conjugations: ugh. But otherwise, a fun challenge.
And phew, I didn't think I'd make it to 52 for the year because I was too obsessed with reading about the collapse of my country's political system on Twitter for the first 6 months, but eventually I found a way to manage my time.
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 17, 2017 0:49:34 GMT -5
Ha, fantastic Liiisa! I'm surprised you got the Spanish-Spanish translation actually. I seem to remember reading that there were 3 Spanish versions: Spanish for Spain, Spanish for Mexico and roughly most of Latin America, and Spanish for Argentina and the Southern Cone - which is presumably full of "vos" conjunctions. I haven't researched that again though, it's based on an article I read years ago.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 17, 2017 7:43:06 GMT -5
Oh interesting lillie (& thx!). I didn't think of there being multiple translations - just searched it on Kindle and grabbed the first one. The first "deciros" threw me but then I figured out what was going on! I didn't think of the fact that it might have been a Southern Cone translation, but like you say they would have used vos, which they didn't.
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Post by sprite on Dec 17, 2017 9:02:11 GMT -5
isabelle allende writes YA, which i was able to read in french. i didn't actually like it much, but i was able to read it!
Ann Cleeves, White Nights. part of her 'shetland' series of crime stories. an englishman is found dead in a murder-dressed-as-suicide in a small shetland community. Jimmy Perez is the officer picking through the personal histories of all the locals.
this is the second of this series i've read, and i enjoy her writing. i'm not always sure of her characterisation techniques--some brushstrokes are smooth and subtle, while others are liking chucking a can of paint at the canvas. i also liked the way the weather played into the story--it is during the time of year when there is never really any darkness. i had my first near-experience of this, and the lack of dark, while invigorating, is also disorienting.
the series is on tv, but i can't bring myself to watch because the Perez actor is fair and blonde, while the book detective very clearly shows his Spanish descent via olive skin and long dark hair.
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Post by sprite on Dec 17, 2017 9:09:15 GMT -5
(i was very disappointed not to like Allende's YA, as i enjoy her normal fiction)
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 17, 2017 10:42:45 GMT -5
Actually sprite I was wondering if Allende's regular adult fiction might be easy enough to follow in Spanish? I've still not read anything by her. (What I know I can't do is the Spanish-language writers who I usually read in English, who are hard enough to follow in English that I'd be lost by page 2 if I tried to read them in Spanish!)
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Post by sophie on Dec 17, 2017 10:48:00 GMT -5
Rooster Bar by John Grisham. Disappointed as I usually like his work.. characters not filled out, plot thin. Glad it was a library book and not one I paid for!
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Post by sophie on Dec 17, 2017 10:50:06 GMT -5
The Midnight Line by Lee Child. Fast paced escapist fiction, part of a series. Okay for what it is, a fast read.
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Post by sophie on Dec 17, 2017 10:51:38 GMT -5
I only remember one of Allende ‘s YA books, the one which takes place on Venezuela.. I thought it was good but not on the same level as her other stuff.
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Post by sprite on Dec 17, 2017 13:10:53 GMT -5
yes, a boy from new york meeting a girl from the jungle, and they solve some sort of mystery, with a certain magical element? there's a sequel set in a country like Bhutan.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 17, 2017 18:18:49 GMT -5
I've read a bunch of good books on this trip (especially while trapped by a storm for 2 days) but no way am I typing all about them on a tablet.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 20, 2017 18:55:48 GMT -5
53) Keith Laumer, A Trace of Memory
This is one of these weird old sci-fi paperbacks that I always buy whenever I find them. It won't win any Man Booker prizes - this isn't character-driven lit-fic by any means. But I loved it and couldn't put it down. Laumer was incredibly imaginative, both with plot elements and description.
(For those on Instagram, this is the book with the Kent cigarettes ad insert.)
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 20, 2017 23:59:45 GMT -5
70. So Anyway, John Cleese's autobiography. Brilliantly funny, especially in audiobook form, read by the author. Had me laughing out loud. 71. Island Home, Tim Winton's autobiography. Great audiobook to listen to driving through the Australian bush. Brilliant use of language evokes the country both the author and I love, and van though he is from the west and I'm from the east. I'm thinking I should read some of his novels. These two books sustained my 900 km journey to the coast for Christmas.
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Post by lillielangtry on Dec 21, 2017 3:22:11 GMT -5
#87 Tove Jansson, The Invisible Child and The Fir Tree Two Moomin stories in a lovely Little Edition sold in aid of Oxfam. Sweet.
#88 Shida Bazyar, Nachts ist es leise in Teheran (something like "The nights are quiet in Tehran", but sadly not available in English) I can't believe this book hasn't been translated into English yet (it's out in Dutch and French, I think). The Story of a Family who emigrates from Iran to Germany, told from the Point of view of each member over four decades. Really good.
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Post by sprite on Dec 21, 2017 4:41:21 GMT -5
a bird in the hand ann cleeves.
a stand alone mystery, set in the 80s. a 'twitcher' is murdered in the marsh he put on the bird-watching map. the protective father of a young bird watcher asks his neighbour, retired from the home office, to have a look into what's going on--he doesn't feel comfortable with the twitcher community.
the mystery bit was alright, but what i really enjoyed was a portrait of the UK in the mid-80s.
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 21, 2017 6:00:20 GMT -5
I'm going to have to find that book, sprite!
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Post by sprite on Dec 21, 2017 8:22:54 GMT -5
i got it through my local library app, if you're a member of yours, might be there! it was out of print and re-issued by a smaller publisher.
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Post by tzarine on Dec 21, 2017 18:03:54 GMT -5
evie wyld after the fire, a still small voice
tales of 2 men
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Post by sophie on Dec 22, 2017 1:19:27 GMT -5
Lille, that Iranian book sounds interesting. If it was ever translated, I would try and get it here. ‘When the Moon is Low’ by Nadia Hashimi. A novel telling a widow’s escape from Kabul with 3 children and journey to try to get to London. Good novel, well written from the main character’ point of view as well as her oldest child.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 22, 2017 9:23:38 GMT -5
72. Misadventure on a Greek Island, by our own Helen Ellis. A good light holiday read. Exotic location, romance and a touch of mystery. The author obviously knows and loves Greece.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 24, 2017 23:07:06 GMT -5
73. Dead Water, Victoria Houston. Another excellent read from a good author, although I may have to downgrade it to 3 1/2 stars as I worked out who the villain was fairly early in the story. The back story was good as were the newly introduced characters.
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Post by scrubb on Dec 25, 2017 19:58:42 GMT -5
Home now, so I'll catch up.
#103) "Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival" by Bernd Heinrich. A fascinating look at the different strategies various animals use to survive winter, from migration to hibernation and everything in between. He's a biologist who is fascinated by the world around him and he designs experiments to try to answer his questions. He's won awards for other books, in particular one about ravens, that I will look for.
104) "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim. Sorta schlocky but I really liked it. Written, and set, between the wars, I think. Four women go to Italy together for a month in spring. All of them are deeply unhappy before they go, and of course everything works out for everyone in the end. Sort of an unashamed feel-good old fashioned story.
105) "FIre in the Blood" by Irene Nemirikovsky. This one is a novella and it's fantastic. Draws such a portrait of French peasants, the countryside way of life, and humans. Now I will have to look for her other books for sure.
106) "Nothing Like the Sun" by Anthony Burgess. A biography of Shakespeare, as a frustrated poet and unhappily married playwright and actor. Burgess' use of language is amazing as always and it's a pretty good read.
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