50 Book Challenge - 2009

[biffy]

I made it to 50 last year... just. This year I am aiming for the same. Upping it to 55 just seemed a little scary, and it seems half the books on my 'to read' shelf are extremely fat and would kill a charging elephant at 50 paces.

01. Bone Key (Supernatural) - Keith R.A. DeCandido - finished 01/01
02. World Without End - Ken Follett - finished 24/01
03. Vanity Fair  - William Thackery - finished 04/02
04. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - finished 21/02
05. Coraline - Neil Gaiman - finished 27/02
06. The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde - finished 03/03
07. Othello - William Shakespeare - finished 05/03
08. The Writer's Tale - RTD and Benjamin Cook - finished 14/03
09. Lord Foul's Bane - Stephen Donaldson - finished 22/03 [RE-READ]
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling - finished 26/03 [RE-READ]
11. The Book of the Dead - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - finished 31/03
12. Skypoint (Torchwood) - Phil Ford - finished 01/04
13. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde - finished 03/04
14. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield - finished 06/04
15. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer - finished 13/04
16. The Devil in Amber - Mark Gatiss - finished 15/04
17. The House At Riverton - Kate Morton - finished 20/04
18. Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie - finished 30/04

01/05: Currently reading: Possession: A Romance, Tales of the Jazz Age, and A Tale of Two Cities.

My Goodreads page

Comments

[joanna-484.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Vanity Fair and Dorian Gray are good, but On the Road was definitely not for me :D

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it's not for me either. I'll be sticking to my 19th century classics after this ;)

[deadwoodlightly.livejournal.com]

A Tale of Two Cities is wonderful. You're gonna love it. I've only read a few pages of Dorian, but so far I love it.

I'm sorry to intrude on you like this. I actually found your journal in a Supergrass discography post at the indie exchange community. You're so great for posting it. Supergrass are awesome.

So, anyways, I noticed we have quite a lot in common as well, so mind if I add you?

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

Aww brilliant! Yes, add away. I'm always happy to find new friends, especially those who love the same music as I do.

Supergrass are indeed very awesome. I'll be seeing them again live at the end of the month and I can't wait.

[deadwoodlightly.livejournal.com]

Cool. Added you. Don't forget to add me back. :) Yep, it's actually rare here to find devoted music fans. Most people are overly obsessed with actors, movies, shows... etc, but very little amount are strongly interested in music. And especially good music, as well. :)

I know. I seriously can't stop listening to them. Ah, is that Jarvis in your icon? For a minute there I thought it was Paul Banks from Interpol. Slightly same big nerdy glasses. :P

And you're incredibly lucky to have seen Supergrass live. Bet they were amazing, huh?

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

They were completely brilliant every time! Although, I can only take my husband's word for it on one occasion because I was really unwell and missed most of it.

The next time we saw them was great though, The Libertines supported and I was just blown away by them :D

[deadwoodlightly.livejournal.com]

Aw, so sorry you missed it. :( But at least the next time Libertines made up for it. :)

Question: Would you say they sound like Blur?

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I don't really think they sound that much like Blur. Sure, they both play the same sort of stuff but certainly newer Blur stuff has tended to be a bit more introspective and downbeat whereas I'll always associate Supergrass with anything that's a bit daft!

I guess if someone was only now just getting into either Blur or Supergrass (which I'm assuming you are? Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick there!) then the comparison is definitely viable. I practically grew up listening to them both though so it's hard to be objective :D

[deadwoodlightly.livejournal.com]

You are correct, my friend. I'm a new fan of both, yes; therefore, I haven't heard Blur's newer stuff just yet. Only heard Modern Life is Rubbish, and that one is quite upbeat and poppy. Having said that, I don't actually see the Blur/Supergrass resemblance - as I think the latter is more rockish sounding than the former.

What other Blur album would you recommend I listen to? You know, to get a much deeper insight on what they're really like.

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

Modern Life is Rubbish is such a brilliant album, probably my favourite of theirs. The most poppy is definitely Parklife though. That's the one that really got them a lot of fans back when it first came out. As for the later stuff, '13' is what I think of as more grown up Blur. So I'd recommend those two for now. You should be able to get them on indie_exchange :)

[deadwoodlightly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a a lot of people seem to say that 13 is a lot different than their usual stuff. I'll take your word for it then. Thanks. :)

What would you say is your favourite Pulp album, btw?

[biffyhouse.livejournal.com]

I really love This Is Hardcore. It's very underrated. Second favourite has to be Different Class. My favourite Pulp song is I Spy :)