I Read Therefore I Am discussion

Thanks Laurel, unfortunately it looks a bit wetter than this at the moment!

Tracey wrote: "Hi Angela, there are some parts of Southern England that have been flooded for weeks and weeks now and I really don't know how they are coping with the never ending rain. Many won't have insurance ..."

I really do wonder how our pollies can turn such a blind eye to even a suggestion of global warming when reports like these reach us.

@Lee - my hubby (from Cheltenham, UK) will be happy to know all is relatively okay in his neck of the woods :)

Here's a nice bit of Elvis to get the weekend going in style (sorry Hilary, but you know "100,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong")
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EKab0Uu6kFQ
Oh, and another one for luck http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4LE2jmW9XdY I love the happy hand clappers on the right

@ Hilary - I meant to ask - how was your holiday and what did you find to substitute for The Idiot?

@Lee. Not really a holiday just my normal weekend with my grandchildren, so, as usual, very busy, very noisy, very untidy, tiring but fun! I had downloaded Terry Pratchetts latest Raising Steam on to the iPad so I started that but I hate to say, it's a bit disappointing so far.

Back home today and back to the Idiot which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

Hilary wrote: "@Lee. Not really a holiday just my normal weekend with my grandchildren, so, as usual, very busy, very noisy, very untidy, tiring but fun! I had downloaded Terry Pratchetts latest Raising Steam o..."

Ooohhh I've never read a Terry Pratchett book. I was thinking of trying his first one out this year. Husband just says 'hmmmm well he is an INTERESTING writer...' whatever that means.

Have you read many of his Hilary?

P.S. Your weekend sounds like lots of fun :)

I love Terry Pratchett, it's not great literature just great stories from an incredibly inventive mind. I always read one when I need a lift in my mood as they always make me smile however many times I've read that particular one before. This group read the Hogfather as our Christmas read and those who hadn't read him before became fans immediately.

It's tragic that he now has Alzheimer's and I can't help feeling that is why this current book seems to lack something, it's still very clever but just doesn't seem to quite hit the spot for me.

Realised I haven't actually answered your question Angela, so I've gone and counted them. I'm quite shocked myself to discover I have 25 Terry Pratchett books! So yes, I really must like him.

Haha thanks Hilary! You have definitely recruited me. Which do you think I should start with?

I think I'd suggest the Hogfather as it seemed to go down very well with everyone. Reaperman also has Death as the main character ( I know it sounds odd!) and it's also very funny. Laurel is also a Pratchett fan and I think she mentioned some of her favourites in the Hogfather discussion thread.

Thank you!!! I am off to investigate now :)

Also the Guards books are a good intro to discworld - I think the first one featuring them is Guards! Guards!, I'm sure you'll love whichever one you pick - Prattchett is so funny!

I have to be honest and say that while I found the Hogfather clever, and amusing, it didn't really grab me. It's the first Discworld book I've read, and to be honest I'm in no hurray to read another.

Our little group has been going for about 6 months now!! On this momentous anniversary - does anyone have any suggestions for new threads or improvements to old ones?

And it's my most favouritist group in the whole wide world!! :-)

Ah - thank you so very much Angela :0)

As I've said before this is the first and only social site I have ever used and I really enjoy it. My only suggestion would be an addition to the thread on what you are reading now to post short reviews of books you've mentioned there.

On a completely different topic, is everyone still OK with this appalling weather? I now have snow and am absolutely dreading these strong winds reaching here. As I've mentioned before I think, I'm surrounded by big trees and I'm always anxious when it's very windy.

Hope it doesn't get too bad up there Hilary! It does sound a bit blowy out but I'm REALLY hung-over so am refusing to leave the safety of the sofa ;)

Also congrat's on 6th months of I Read Therefore I Am!!!!

Happy anniversary!!! I've only recently joined but I think it's a wonderful group maybe especially because it's small and intimate. I love the diaries (they must be so much work though!!),the daily poem and the monthly author very much. Dankeschön!!

@Laurel as my father in law used to say "happy nights make for sad mornings" and he should know because he took his Scottish nationality very seriously and loved his whisky

Thank you everyone for your kind words - and thank you! The group would never have got off the ground without all your comments, views, egg jokes etc.
@Hilary - hope you're ok - it's very windy here but not as bad as I'm seeing in other areas of the uk on the news.
That's a really good idea about the thread for reviews :0)
@ Laurel sounds like you could do with a dose of Mr Pepy's physique.
@ Jenny glad you're enjoying being here - I've got the daily posts down to a fine art now - so it doesn't take too long:0)

I hope everyone is ok and keeping warm and dry (weather wise anyway). We are dousing the remainder of our bush fires over here so fingers crossed for all of us!

Sounds like you could do with some of our rain - let's hope for a happy medium of weather for us all.

I am sick to death of all this rain :-/ But at least I'm not affected by it in any way, other than it making me miserable! I heard yesterday that the River Severn in Worcester matched its highest recorded level yesterday; last time it was this high was in 2007 when there was some terrible flooding in the Severn Valley - the local water treatment plant was flooded so we had no tap water for two weeks, and the electricity substations nearly flooded too. Hopefully the flood defences will work this year but a lot of people will no doubt suffer with their homes or businesses being flooded :(

That was horrible when we had no water wasn't it - thank goodness the electricity kept going.

No trees down here, but the winds have damaged my gates. Now waiting for the engineers to tell me how much!

Bloomin wind!

What a nightmare Hilary! Hope it's not too bad, apparently a pylon got blown down round here somewhere but luckily didn't affect the power. I'm just really feeling sorry for the people on the west coast cos there's yet another lot of wind and rain coming in the next couple of days.

I hope you are all staying safely indoors!!

Yes I'm all cosy in front of the fire.

With a couple of books handy I hope?

Of course :0)

Lucky duck. I am at work, feeling embittered by this 'day of love' and wishing for 10am so I can go for a coffee and read my book.

Haha some days are just plain grouchy!

Enjoy the cosy :)

Hi Hilary. Can't believe your gates have been damaged yet again.

Incredible isn't it! Mended now, just waiting for the bill to come in.

@ Angela I keep forgetting that you're the opposite way round as it were - I mean that when I've finished the washing up and am relaxing of an evening, you've just started work. What do you do by the way - are you an office bod like me?
At least it means you get to the weekend quicker - my Friday has only just begun.
Hope you had a nice Valentines evening.
@ At Hilary - I hope you didn't go for Mr Overcharges-Excessively :0)

@Lee - I quite like that a lot of you ladies (and gents?) are from the UK. Makes me feel like I'm back over there again :-)

I run a sick bay/admin at a girls college. Interesting work but I wouldn't say it's my calling. What do you do behind your piece of wood?

I'm in the "dull, dull, deadly, dull" world of accounting - not sure why - it just kind of happened. Are you like Matron in Mallory Towers and all the other old school stories?

@Lee well it was the very rare Mr Turnsup-Ontime that came I'm just hoping that it's not Mr Overcharges-Excessively that is the office bod.

Haha sometimes I'm well grouchy. Most of the time I just chat with them though, most if the students are lovely. Accounting is cool - wish I had a way with numbers to do something like that.

Have you been in the biz a while?

@Angela - about 17 years now - thank you for saying accountancy is cool - they should use that if they ever need a recruitment drive :0)

Accountancy is cool!! I truly love my job - probably because what I do is so very much appreciated by my colleagues :)

That's awesome Ellie - are you a number cruncher too?

Angela - have you seen The Castle? I ask because on the back of my DVD it tells me that it is " Australia's favourite film". It's definitely one of my favourites - it's so funny and charming and just makes you feel all happy and at peace with the world every time you watch it.
Fred and I are for ever quoting the Kerrigans and Dennis Denuto at each other.
I would go as far as to says that everyone should watch this film - even non- Australians :0)

A great article about the only literary competition I feel I could enter
http://thedabbler.co.uk/2014/02/the-b...

I love these - Sophie Blackwell produces illustrations of messages on "the Craigslist Missed Connections Page"
a place for people to write about a chance meeting with someone that they took an instant liking to, but for some reason or another didn't get a chance to see again.
My favourite is the plaintive message from the guy to the lady who farted on the train.
http://www.messynessychic.com/2012/05...

@Angela - yes, I qualified as an accountant in 1993!! It's taken me since then to find a job I really enjoy, but I finally got there :) It's so much more than number-crunching, it's building relationships with colleagues, suppliers and customers to make sure everything flows as it should.

We're off to see Rodin's Kiss tomorrow at Cheltenham Museum and Art Gallery!!!!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-...
What's everyone else up to?

I will be doing somewhere between a 12 and 15 mile walk