So this year, my resolution is to post weekly on the rather neglected Basilisk's Loungeroom wall... (now all I'm seeing is crayon on a wall...) which is essentially all I have been seeing for the past 3 months - since I got back from Europe in October, we have been flat chat with the renovating, in order to get our lives sorted out and in display home condition to sell the house in January. whew! it's been hectic, with painting, and throwing out - literally - tonnes of stuff (special mention to the LB's hard working boyfriend - he has slogged through so much rubble from the back yard! (and is still slogging as I write!) but; I have had time to read a few odds and ends - and, with the throw-out comes the terrible burden of announcing that I took 7 crates to Elizabeth's warehouse in Fremantle. Elizabeth's Bookshops - love you long time... but I miss my babies!!
Allegedly, it's all already sold (see, apparently I do have good taste!); but ohh! the bits that went:
all my Jasper Fforde (except the one I was reading!)all of Isabelle Carmody's Obernewtyn chronicles (except the new one)
the entire collection of Kylie Chan (except my signed & chopped 25th anniversary of voyager hardback edition of White Tiger!)
the entire collection of Traci Harding (I'm really gonna miss these, a lot aren't available on Kindle yet - please help me Harper Voyager!)
Every Tamora Pierce book (some twice) except for Terrier & Bloodhound - I've still gotta find a home for them
the first 5 Kate Daniels books by Ilona Andrews
the first 5 Mercedes books from Patricia Briggs
the first 4 Jaz Parkes novels from Jennifer Rardin
The first 4 or so Kitty Norville tales from Carrie Vaughn
Sharon Green's Convergence series (I can't remember the actual series name... see, already they are fading!!)
Souless from Gail Carriger
assorted Garth Nix, Racheal Treasure and other Australian Authors for young and old,
the full Twilight Saga (now I'm really embarassed)
Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials collection,
all of LB's boyfriend's Matthew Reilly's, and Dune Chronicles,
all 4 sisterhood of the travelling pants
the entire collection of Jodi Picoult
the entire collection of Janet Evanovich, the numbers, between the numbers, the early romances, the lot!
the entire collection of JD Robb
my books from Paris, from the Hague, from China... rondom books from used book sellers around the world,
signed copy of Paul Carter's Don't tell mum I work on the Rigs, she thinks I'm a piano player in a whore house, and his sequel, This is not a Drill.
Possibly most wasteful and embarassing of all, I must have thrown out about 20 books I've never even opened.
so anyway, enough ranting - I threw out 2 bookshelves and another one is basically empty (but for my lonely planet guides and a few books I can't throw away, either cos the dog ate them or they are personally autographed. I took out a mortgage (kidding... mostly!) to cover the replacement of a portion of the above, triple what I got for selling the books and it's gotten me less than 20% of the books back on Kindle. To be fair, some I would never have read again, but others, well... lets just say I might be over it by next new years post!
I must say, it is good to be a little less cluttered with book shelves, the next to go are the DVDs and the CDs.
so anyway, did I actually fit any reading in?
I got through a few books - namely the 6th in the Thursday Next Series: One of Our Thursday's is Missing, and Jasper Fforde's new series debut Shades of Grey. I loved them both, I have been hooked on Jasper Fforde since Dymocks did their top 100 books 5 years ago, featuring The Eyre Affair. I have to say though, as I'm a (albeit reasonably well-read) engineering type, I really enjoyed Shades of Grey, possibly even more than the Thursday Next series - I think because there were no in-jokes of the literary variety... you know the one where you think - I know he's making a really witty joke here, but I haven't read [insert book title here] so I don't get it!
seriously, if you have read every penguin classic in the past decade, you probably still wouldn't get every cultural reference Fforde makes - which is one of the things I love! I always pick up something after the fact. Shades of Grey is different, the jokes are of a chromatic hue, and are thus much more accessible to gits like me. I did love stopping to get back to painting my little home beige (the colour Fforde associates with hell...) it made me appreciate the world so much more!
ummm... aside from that, there's heaps more, but I think I've taken up enough of the lounge time, better go sort out some sustenance!
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