WEST LONDON BOOK SWAP THREAD :)

[MrsBojangles]

So that Uwilalalalala doesn't get offended by us bookworms - or would like to be bookworms if we had the time...

sfx - which other language do you speak (sorry my spongey PG brain can't remember)?

Puds -I always sort my books first too and both DS and DD are accumulating loads, which sit in untidy piles around the place

foxie i am portuguese, i think ypu asked me that at the restaurant

btw you know the recreation grounds near you? does it have an entrance other than North rd, i like to take dd there to the swings but there has to be another way,surely!
i think the one by Kew bridge is nearer and is a nicer walk but i hate that it is by such a busy road.

provisional book list

the reader by Bernhard Schlink

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

Old School by Tobias Wolf

The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen

Baltasar & Blimunda by Jose Saramago

sfx - I did ask you didn't I, as I remember now about you being Portugese? Doh!! PG brain

North Sheen Rec has an entrance halfway down Marksbury Avenue as well, which would be closer for you. You can cross Mortlake Road from West Hall Road, then walk down either Taylor or High Park humpy bridge Road. At the end of either of those roads, you get to Atwood Avenue, off which
Marksbury runs.

There are also entrances in Darrell and Dance Roads a the Sainsbury's end.

We live about 2 minutes from there, so if you ever pop down there and fancy company, give us a buzz and we'll walk round. I'm around weekends, Friday pm and after school. We usually spend half of our summer either in that park or in Kew Gardens

In the summer, a local volunteer fills the paddling pool up and there is always an ice cream van in Darrell Road.

I've got my book club today, we just read State of the Union by Douglas Kennedy (my choice).

sfx your list looks great. I read The Reader once on hols, its an amazing book isn't it? Haven't read the rest though, so am looking forward to having a peek at them

Wow - the rain is just pouring down - that means my damp patch will get even bigger

morning all

what did you think of State of The Union? I'm about to start reading it this week.

I see that park from the train on the way to waterloo and often wonder how to get there!

Black clouds are passed Foxie but boy it came down didn't it! Thunder and lightening too.

DD slept 8 till 6:30am with only one little grizzle at 11:30pm - thank god! we both needed a decent sleep but boy she is still really grumpy today.

morning all
i completely missed the bad weather dd and i just woke up at 8.50. she had slept from 9 quite late for her woke once at 4.30 and so we slept some.

foxie - thanks for directions and offer of company. i have been a couple of times but dh did go a lot over the summer when he was sahd and i went to work for a few months.
i do spend ages at Kew love walking by Queen Charlotte cottage its gorgeous and usually manage a quiet spot.

PC - good going on sleep hope your dd is feeling better.

re list i can always had a couple more not sure if someone said they would like 'snow' and yes the Reader was pretty good i thought

dh has some work this morning and this pm his friend is visiting,she is great and the purveyor of lots of books for dd

Sfx,

Can I borrow The Half Brother? What's Jose Saramango like?

Here's my list, some of which are quite depressing reads!

All time faves
Woman of the Dunes Kobo Abe
The Mother Pearl S Buck
House of Earth trilogy Pearl S Buck
Paper, Scissors, Rock Ann Decter
Four Novels Marguerite Duras
The North China Lover Marguerite Duras
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Nausea Jean Paul Sartre
Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus P G Wodehouse
Mona Lisa Overdrive William Gibson
Virtual Light William Gibson

More recent books
Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
The Blind Assasin Margaret Atwood
Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Island Victoria Hislop

I remember when ds would sit and listen to us read him a story, now he just wants to chew on the books!

I've managed to nearly finish a book this weekend thanks to dh! I've been reading The Devil Wears Prada which is ok, not brilliant but not bad.

Hi mellow, you've got some of my favourite books on your list - The Blind Assassin, The Bell Jar, Frankenstein & Memoirs of a Geisha. Memoirs I really enjoyed but I've avoided watching the film so far. Don't know why but have a feeling that it would slightly ruin the book for me.

hi mellow quite a lot of favourites too are you a Plum fan? dh is not only a fan but also has a website dedicated to him as well as a couple of first and second editions.

Saramago is a favourite and the translator of most of his books on Harvill press is wonderful. he wrote a book based on Pessoa poetry, this is hard to translate but having read in both languages and being familiar with the original poetry i can tell you he does it well
to read him you have to be ok with some magic realism, not the taste of English/ north American. he writes well but with long phrased and paragraphs which can actually be spellbinding

Pud,

I wouldn't recommend watching the movie. I saw it and hated it. Chinese actresses can't play Japanese characters with the delicacy the roles require. I'm probably biased 'cos I"m Chinese.

They also changed vital elements to make it appeal to an American audience and I thought it made it a much poorer story.

Sfx,

I have not read Plum before. Saramago sounds really interesting. Snow is really well translated too. I might borrow Saramago at a later date. I think I've committed to borrow so many books I might not finish them by end 2007!

sorry mellow did not mean to confuse Plum is what PG Wodehouse is called

i always worry with movies of books, very few work well. i think LOTR worked because the peope making it loved the books but that is a rare example

Duh! I'm a big Plum fan then.

I've read all the Jeeves and Wooster books and I've seen every episode of the Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry TV series. I'm not as keen on the other characters though.

mellow have you read the golf club books? dh can talk for hrs on all things Plum but he does not like the tv series (snobbery me thinks)

you might also like Edmund Crispin he wrote crime novels of the 'genteel' kind very funny too from the 40's

about kids books we completely by passed the baby books and went straight for stories maybe selfish but we get her stuff we like to read i always chuckle at any A&J Ahlberg and julia Donaldson & axel Scheffler book. she would still on them and rip pages but its ok realy, well used books and plenty of sticky tape

We're the same. We have a couple of baby books but other than that we've read him Roald Dahl, Winnie the Pooh, fairy tales, Dr Seuss...

ok that proves it... I'm an ignoramus... who on earth are you lot talking about!?

question on the side ... I've finally bit the bullet and enrolled in a home study photography diploma course. Need to submit images so they can assess my level of expertise and one of the categories is 'social gathering'... would the book meet qualify as that and if so... pretty please can I bring my camera

mrsB not my place to say since i am not the host and about books i think you will find plenty of enthusiastic people keen to show you new authors.

i was reading SJ's blog and i keep thinking about Everything is illuminated has anyone read it?

MrsB - coure you can!! (thinks "will have to remember to put lippy on..")

I have a request - completely unrelated to books.

Does anyone have a floppy disk with a PC virus protector on? I have problems with my PC and need some more protection. Lemonaid posted some links, but I can't access them (as the pop up adverts I keep getting won't let me) so need to load one from a disc to eliminate the pop ups, before I access the websites where I can download some more. I think they cost about £50 to buy and its just not a good time of year to be spending £50 more

mellow - great list!

dh might do, I'll ask him & let you know

floppy disk? people still use those???

Thanks Foxie for photo permission And not too much lippie please, it's supposed to be a social gathering not a gala event

Puds - thanks.

MrsB - behave!!

yes ma'am it's sleep deprivation as well as all those painkillers and flu meds I'm popping.. that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

can somebody remind me... it's this coming Saturday?

yes the 2nd at 11am