Books With Stories

Reading challenges, reviews, general ramblings about books. Scottish book-lover who likes a challenge and likes the story behind a book almost as much as the book itself.

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“They’re so fond of Liberty in this part of the globe, that they buy her and sell her and carry her to market with ‘em. They’ve such a passion for Liberty, that they can’t help taking liberties with her.”

“Martin Chuzzlewit”- Charles Dickens

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“Isn’t it dreadful to think what slaves we are to custom? I wonder shall we ever be able to tell the truth, ever be able to live fearlessly according to our own light, to believe that what is right for us must be right! It seems as if all the religions, all the advancement, all the culture of the past, has only been a forging of chains to cripple posterity, a laborious building up of moral and legal prisons based on false conceptions of sin and shame, to cramp men’s minds and hearts and souls, not to speak of women’s.”

“Now Spring Has Come”- Mary Bright/ George Egerton (“Keynotes”)

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Whilst I enjoyed the premise, this was hard-going for me. The narrator’s constant detours made it hard to follow Jim’s story as clearly as I could have done

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The synopsis I think held more promise for me than the actual book. Smith’s descriptions are lush and vivid, but the plot was so Shakespearean as to feel a bit much. I found myself visualising it as a stage show

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I think I struggle a bit with Bond as a modern reader, but it was fast-paced and gripping enough to keep me going

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If you love Billy Connolly, this is like having your own pocket-Billy. His voice comes through so strongly, that I laughed out loud even when I already knew the sketch

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This was a recommendation from a friend of mine currently doing her masters. It’s fascinating, and definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in mythology

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Rensch’s history of the harp examining it’s development, place in society, and it’s repertoire, is well set-out and thoughtfully conveyed. It’s such a vast subject, perhaps certain sections weren’t quite so well covered or researched as they could have been, but still essential reading for anyone interested in the harp

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“A man and a shark were in the wrong place at the wrong time and had a negative interaction” is probably the most understated way of describing a shark attack I’ve ever heard, and definitely not what I expected when I turned on the news this morning

[macrolit]

Giveaway: We’re giving away 15 vintage classics by Virginia Woolf, Truman Capote, T.S. Eliot, Willa Cather, J.D. Salinger, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and others! Won’t they look lovely on your shelf? =) Enter to win these classics by: 1) following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblogging this post. We will choose a random winner on 26 February, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. Good luck! Follow our IG account to be eligible for our IG giveaways. For full rules to all of our giveaways, click here.

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“So organic redistribution dumps [poo from a plane] into the sea. The basic process is: wheech- shooo- splash! Well, actually, it wouldn’t go “splash” from that height, it would go thumsch! Anyway, it all gradually makes its way back to the surface, and then it’s all sort of swaying and rocking around there on the water. And along comes a fishie: swimmetty-swim, hungritty-hungry. “Jesus, I’m starving!” Then it spots something: “Ahoy there!” Muchetty-crunchetty. Happy fishie- backstroke.

Then along comes a fisherman. Rowitty-boat. Spots the fishie: “A-ha!” Net, fling, catches the fishie, into the boat- rowitty-home. Up to the market, he sells the fishie. You come along, you buy the fishie. Munchetty-crunchetty.

Then you go in an aeroplane. “Hmmm, I need to go to the toilet.” Into the toilet, do a wee jobbie, close the lid- wheech!

And that’s organic redistribution.

“The Jobbie Wheecher” (“Tall Tales and Wee Stories”- Billy Connolly

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“It’s impossible to fucking eat a Toblerone without hurting yourself. What kind of people are they? And who one earth buys those huge big Toblerones at Heathrow? Perverts who shove them up their arses? Toblerones should come with a wee tool kit. You can’t eat the fucking thing. It’s a stupid shape. And I’m told they keep them in the fridge! It’s so pointy and sharp and offensive. What kind of sick mind thought that one up- an aggressive sweetie. A bar of chocolate that hurts you! Only them fuckers- Switzerland.”

“The Irish, the Scots and the Swiss” (“Tall Tales and Wee Stories”)- Billy Connolly

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This is surprisingly harrowing in places- maybe I was just reading it at a time of heightened stress and emotion, but bits of this hit hard. Still a very good plot that keeps you hooked. Red Dwarf fans will spot plenty of jokes that made it onto the show (particularly series 6).

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This is a beautiful collection of short stories- simple but lyrical in the telling, with stories within stories, all centred around the passage of time and the Orkney islands

[macrolit]

Giveaway: We’re giving away 15 vintage classics by Virginia Woolf, Truman Capote, T.S. Eliot, Willa Cather, J.D. Salinger, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and others! Won’t they look lovely on your shelf? =) Enter to win these classics by: 1) following macrolit on Tumblr (yes, we will check. :P), and 2) reblogging this post. We will choose a random winner on 26 February, at which time we’ll start a new giveaway. Good luck! Follow our IG account to be eligible for our IG giveaways. For full rules to all of our giveaways, click here.

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I slightly resisted this at first. It felt predictable, a little too pigeonholed, but I warmed into it and took it for the absolute comfort blanket that it is

[ericamusic]

Merry Christmas!

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Erica's Harp Advent Calendar- Films

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