Break The Spine.

[BBP]

Norwegian Wood? Surely you don't mean this classic?

I thought it was an adult book...

It does get mature here and there... man I'll never look at the Suez channel the same way again.

Thought "hey, fifteen minutes before bed time, I'll read a book before sleep, let's pick up this Thea Beckman I just bought", and ended up finishing it in bed way past bedtime. When will I learn?

[Tawmis]

And are you liking it? I've read all the Harry Potter books.

Yes! Finally finished the first book. Powered down through the second book during the 7 day cruise to Alaska and will be beginning the 3rd book in the next few days.

[AndreaDraco]

The third one is one of the best.

[Tawmis]

The third one is one of the best.

I have loved them so far. I am really impressed.

[Rath Darkblade]

And are you liking it? I've read all the Harry Potter books.

Heh - in the server move, I think some messages are lost. Not a big deal. Expected of new messages.

So I will reply again - I am! It's not my typical book I enjoy these days - but it reminds me of my childhood with Chronicles of Narnia, and the Black Cauldron (or whatever that entire series was called). I have viciously hunted down those old school books with the covers I remembered as a child. So I am hoping that I can channel that energy into the book I hope to one day finish before I leave this world, for Dexter.

Interesting you should say that, Tawm. It also reminded me of the books I read as a kid - although it reminded me more of The Famous Five and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

[BBP]

Finished Musashi and am moving on to Rosshalde by Hermann Hesse.

Actually I didn't open Rosshalde until yesterday and finished it very quickly...
Got a copy of After Dark by Haruki Murakami, and a book on Hiroshima.

[BBP]

Had a train trip to my sister in Amsterdam today, so I got to read the Murakami novel in one go. I also read the libretto to the 1913 futurist Russian opera Victory Over The Sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jakg51A07W4
(With English subtitles. It's primarily famed for Malevich's costume design. )

[BBP]

QI taunted me to read Orwell's 1984 again, so doing just that.

[Rath Darkblade]

I'd just finished reading a book called The Mammoth Book of Losers (subtitled "2,000 years of epic failure and under achievement") by Karl Shaw. I quite like Shaw's dry, witty style and meticulous research; it makes me laugh. Of course, a name like "mammoth book" suggests quantity rather than quality, but the book is very, very funny. The subject material naturally means that you'll probably "dip into it" and only read a few pages at a time, rather than read cover-to-cover, but that doesn't make it less funny. Recommended.

[BBP]

Bought a beautiful bound textile anthology of Dutch literature that was first released in 1908. It has absolutely gorgeous Jugendstil typefont. I'm restoring it since it got quite, quite dirty.

[Rath Darkblade]

I didn't know you restored books, BBP. That's very cool. *smile* I wish I had known that - years ago, I managed to find a "Boy's Own" yearbook dating back to 1921; but alas, it was in poor condition, and it would have been beyond my means to have it restored. So, I gave it away to a good friend who had a library almost as large as mine, and who did have the money to restore it. He was very glad to have the book, too.

On a recent trip to Tasmania, I picked up Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico and A History of the Conquest of Peru. Originally these were published in 1843 and 1847, but there is no publication date on the frontispiece; is there any way to have these dated? Any ideas?

[BBP]

Sometimes there's a website where you can find what differences there are in each edition - face differences, typos...
Just browsing for more infos - found a site where the Mexico book is being sold - 1848 copies sell for as much as $1,000.

[BBP]

Book restoration... I'm working very carefully, bit by bit, but this far I've found the most successful way of cleaning the linen is lemon juice.
Unfortunately the lemon juice is also very good at removing the ink, so it's not all that useful for the bits with print. Not going to be easy. I hope I can manage - there's a beautiful book emerging from underneath the grit.

[BBP]

Finished Nineteen Eighty-Four. Best book I've ever been pummeled into reading.

[BBP]

I started a book blog on my Tumblr and am really enjoying it.
http://bbp4bookshelf.tumblr.com/