Summer haul

The summer holiday is soon over, and any holiday is book buying time (especially when in England, since the books are cheaper there). This time, I think that maybe I bought a bit too many books (the plan was one). But I love buying books! So here they are, the books and DVDs (as well as some old second-hand comic magasines) I have bought this summer.

Wow...that is a lot of stuff (full list below). No more books before Christmas! Except the already preordered ones and schoolbooks, of course... And preferably no more DVDs either, excepting new releases, like the Hunger Games, of course.

And how many of these books have I read? Only three: Dawn of the Bunny Suicides, Fahrenheit 451 (for the nerdfighter book club), and Wonderstruck. I LOVED Wonderstruck, it was fantastic. Just wonderful and beautiful. If you haven't read it yet, read it, and soon (it doesn't take long to read, since half the pages are drawings)!

This summer, I have also been listening to Harry Potter audio books, read by Stephen Fry. He is a very good audio book reader (is that what you call it?), and I am enjoying it. As I have scrolled through the chapters on my iPod, I am starting to appreciate J.K. Rowling's skill in naming chapters. Usually, when I read, I don't really read the chapter title (sorry, writers). So being aware of the chapter title is a new experience. I am also, as I listen to the audio book, picking up little rhymes and alliteration that I don't catch when I'm reading. This adds even more fun to the reading experience for me.

I hope to be blogging more often this autumn (than this summer - it won't take much), but I can't guarantee anything, since I am not going to force myself to write (unless you readers (if you are out there) demand it).

I love lists, so here is a list of all the stuff in the picture:

Book on top:

    Dawn of the Bunny Suicides - Andy Riley

Standing, from left to right:

  DVDs:

    Night at the Museum

    Slumdog Millionaire

    Pixar Short Film Collection volume 1

    Wall-e

    Tangled

    Stardust

    Love actually

    Emma

    Hugo

    Footloose

    Finding Nemo

  Books:

    Miles, Mutants and Microbes - Lois McMaster Bujold

    Masterharper of Pern - Anne McCaffrey

    Acorna - Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

    Acorna's Quest - Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

    Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

    Let it Snow - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

    I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

    The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

    The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

    The Second Book of General Ignorance - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

    Doctor Who: Dead of Winter - James Goss

    Ohrid - Tor Obrestad (poems)

    Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick

    On Dragonwings - Anne McCaffrey

    Daytripper - Fábio Moon

Lying on the floor:

    One Calvin and Hobbes magasine, and nine old Donald Duck magasines, all in Norwegian. I don't know if there even exists Donald Duck comic magasines outside Scandinavia...you are definitely missing out.

The Fault in Our Stars (arrived today)

Happy Julie is happy (and tired).

So The Fault in Our Stars arrived today - it was signed with a BLUE J scribble! Happy Julie is happy. I unboxed it - realised there was indeed a J scribble in my book (and in my favourite colour!) - quickly made dinner (for the next four to five days), ate it fast (only one portion, of course), and settled down to read. I read (almost) continuously for nearly five hours, sitting on my bed. I laughed, I cried, I read lines out loud to myself, I cried some more, I laughed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In my case, I believe John Green has achieved his goal, to make the reader feel ALL OF THE THINGS!

It's perfect - and BLUE!

Reading this book was a wonderful, exhilarating experience, probably helped along by my anticipation and long period of waiting for it. I loved this book, and for me, right now (less than an hour after finishing reading the book), it stands as the best book John has written. This book grabbed me, took me on a wild roller coaster ride, and let me get off panting for my breath with a huge grin on my face. It did this better than any of John's other books have done. The characters captured me, I cared (a lot), I loved them, cried with them, and I laughed with them.

I want to thank John Green, not only for writing this wonderful piece of literature, but for taking us, the Nerdfighers, with you on the ride. Thank you for descending into signing psychosis to sign the whole first printing, thank you for making hilariously bad videos with barbaric yawps and horrible fashion sense. Thank you for building and maintaining a wonderful community together with your brother, Hank. Thank you for ALL OF THE THINGS! (Like you said when you had that eye problem back in 2007 - you say thank you a lot when you're in hospital. Well now it's my turn to say thank you back.)

In conclusion, this was a great book, and I loved it. I am really thankful to John Green for writing it, and to John and Hank Green for building Nerdfighteria. The Fault in Our Stars is just a wonderful book. But don't listen to me, I'm biased. Read it yourself!

Read it first!

Have you ever picked up the book behind a film you have watched and not nearly enjoyed it as much as you could, because it is spoiled for you? Well now there is a solution for you! Read it First is a website which promotes reading the book behind the film before seeing the film. For now, the only thing it offers is a weekly newsletter in which you get information about upcoming films and films currently in the cinema which are adaptations of books. You take a pledge, either to read the book before watching the film whenever humanly possible, or the 'light' version where you just pledge to want to know which films are based on books.

The best reason. And it's true for me as well.

Did you know, for example, that Die Hard by Bruce Willis is based on a book? The book is called Nothing Lasts Forever, and you can read about it and three other books behind films in the newest newsletter from Read it First. On the Read it First site you can also find some good reasons why you should read the book before watching the film. One is that the enjoyment per money spent is higher on a book than on a film, but personally, I like the one on the picture the best.

Talking about books, I find reading a very slow process these days. I just never find the time or motivation to sit down and read, even though Paper Towns is so far quite interesting, even though it is not quite my normal type of book. I don't know why I don't want to read, but it may be because of tumblr. Or other major distractions on the internet. I found this on tumblr, and it pretty much sums up the reasons why I can't get much work or reading done these days. I spend a LOT of time on tumblr...not good, not good at all.

Books read: 43
Pages read: 12166

My room isn't messy - it's a real life fractal!

This was one of the ten word (or less) scripts which didn't make the cut when
I decided what to make Hank Green say. All the people who bought his new album, Ellen Hardcastle, early, got to send him a script that he would later make into a video. I will alert you to the video where my script has been used (when it is made). In the meanwhile, I'll just share some more of my ten word scripts.

I am considering writing the title of this blogpost all pretty on a piece of paper and stick it on my wall. I really like it, and I smile every time I read it. Today, I went over some of my old poems to find some good phrases, and I came across these:

"All things join, in time, nature'c climb and decline."

"Nature rolls like waves - ever changing, always the same."

They are a bit rewritten, but they both come from this poem, which, I realised when I reread it, I am really pleased with.

Then we have my dad's favourite (he says it all the time):

"I used to be indecisive - now I'm not so sure."

I really love this one too, I've sort of grown up with it. Every time we couldn't make up our minds (or kept changing them, both of which happened (and happens) frequently), he would say this. Or, he would say, in a sing-songy voice: "It's make-your-mind-up time!" Ah, the nostalgia!

Then, of course, we have the one related to what I'm studying:

"Nature is an awe-inspiring, perfectly organised mess."

It pretty much sums up what I feel about nature, and, of course, I love nature for being like this!

And, to show my love for books:

"The best way to travel is by reading a book."

Of course this is true - at least it's the easiest and cheapest way, but the real thing is often more appealing to the senses.

Then, of course, the cheesy nerdfightery one:

"Love your neighbour - reduce worldsuck!"

And last, but not least, we have the one I turned into my tumblr URL:

"My home is where my bookshelf is."

So yeah, I have a tumblr now. Go check it out if you like nerdy, funny, and beautiful stuff (this is what I think (and hope) I will post).

Books read: 39
Pages read: 11013

PS: and now (10.10.2012) the video has finally been made, so I can reveal what made the final cut. Check out the video below.