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alias-harry

From Glen Iris, Victoria Australia
Age 68
Joined Friday, December 3, 2004
Recent Book Activity
Statistics
4 weeks all time
books registered 0 14
released in the wild 0 17
controlled releases 0 0
releases caught 0 6
controlled releases caught 0 0
books found 0 6
tell-a-friend referrals 0 0
new member referrals 0 0
forum posts 0 6
Extended Profile
6 February 2005
I've left a book at the Verb cafe at a meeting...and now I am going to have a go at HTML...don't worry, my bookshelf will start to look better later on.

17 February
A quick update on my fish: I had 3 goldfish, Fred, Barney and Peanut but Barney and Peanut died over a very short period and then I was worried about getting any more. I was also worried that Fred would get lonely so I bought another fish which I called George. Fred and George are doing very well thank you.

Not much progress on developing my html skills but I've got a few more books registered.

23 February
I've been organising my first bookring with the Evanovich novel, One for the Money. I'll be posting it off tomorrow after getting a small response...it' a mini ring!

27 February
I've started adding hyperlinks, now that I know how to do that. I've done 1, just a few more to do!

14 March
OOPS, I've just double registered a book, and I'll fix that soon.
George died last week so Fred is there, on his own! He doesn't seem to mind, but now he lies in in the morning and is staying up late at night. I might get him a companion to at least get him up in the morning.

29 March
Fred still doesn't have a companion, but he's a lot more active than before.

18 May
I'm back!!
Fred now has two companions, which were quite small when I got them but grew a little bit in a short space of time. All fish are getting on well and Fred is moving about a lot more than he was before. He still 'lies in'in the morning in his log...he hasn't given that up. The fish are called Sam an Dolores...and no, I can't sex fish, though I understand that it can be done.

Bookrings that I have started

One for the Money, Janet Evanovich


My 2005 Reading

The God of Small Things

One of my Book group books. I couldn't get into this and didn't finish it

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, by PD James

A quick read but I won't be looking for another book by PD James

Once in a house on fire, by Andrea Ashworth

One of my Book group books. I've finished this book and provide the following book review.

Let me start by saying that this is not a book that I would choose to read, but as it was one of my book group books I did read it. The book is a memoir of the author's life from when she was 5 to the period when she escapes the family home to go to Oxford. Andrea(Andy) and her 2 sisters live through 2 abusive step fathers as well as a depressive mother. Andy, the oldest, seems to hold everything together in spite of insurmountable odds, by escaping into intellectual mind games. She is a brillianr student who can pass with exceptional results despite apparently rarely going to school.

This is a well written, serious but challenging look at a dysfunctional family. This is not a book for entertainment so will not suit everyone.

The Sunday Philosophy Club, by Alexander McCall Smith

From the author of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

I've put this in the Mystery and Thrillers category because it's a bit of a mystery but not much of a thriller. The main character, Isabelle Dallhousie, is a financially independent, middle aged philosopher who edits the Review of Applied Ethics. It isn't enough to keep her occupied and so, for an apparently moral obligation, she is an amateur slueth or an interfering middle age women with not enough to do with her time. It includes a very limp ending.

It does raise some interesting philosophical questions often not getting a mention in fiction books.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth
(A bit difficult so I've started some parallel reading)
Too difficult, I gave up.

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I have read this before and as most people would know this is sci fi/fantasy/comedy. An easy read. I understand that there is either a movie or tv series coming up based on the series. If you're reading this and know which, please let me know.

Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
Comments still to come

Heavenly Pleasures by Kerry Greenwood
Comments still to come

The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace, by the Dalai Lama Currently reading, on hold.

Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
I really enjoyed this book. It was a diary of two different people both of whom thought to do a similar thing. Co-incidentally they meet and decide to jointly undertake the task. If you can suspend belief while reading this book it is a real pleasure. I loved 'listening in' to their thoughts and enjoyed follwoing completion of the task. Written some time ago it non-the-less raises issues that are still current today. I would highly recommend it.

East of the Mountains by David Guterson
(September)Comments still to come


Chat
My HTML is not getting any better due to lack of interest...Sept 16 2005

2006

10 Feb
I'm a little late starting my 2006 comments, but better late then never. Note that I have changed my screen name from alias-fred to alias-harry which is my bcmelbmeetup name. I'll put a message on that site.

My 2006 Reading

The Parrot's Theorem: A Novel by Denis Guedj
This book was started in 2005 but finished in 2006. It was a great read, a mystery based around a comprehenisve collection of books on mathematics, particularly on the history and development of major mathematical systems and theorems. There is quite a bit in the book on that subject so would be of paticular interst to anyone with an interest in mathematics or history of. You may need to be prepared to understand a little bit of mathematics, but I'm sure you could read and enjoy the book without doing that. Highly recommended.

Glass after Glass: Autobiographical Reflections by Barbara Blackman


Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Book Of Ghost Stories ed. by Roald Dahl

Midnight Voices by Patricia Pengilley

The Little Book of Hugs by Kathleen Keating
Very affirming book. Great read. Highly recommended

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Unspeak by Steven Poole

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

good man hunting by jacinta tynan

hypocrite in a pouffy white dress by susan jane gilman

Love is a Four Letter Word by Claire Calman

The Magician's Nephew by C.S.Lewis

The Planets by Dava Sobel

My 2007 Reading

The Weathermakers by Tim Flannery



My Wish List

A History of a Declining Art by Stephen Miller

Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives by Theodore Zeldin
















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