Five for Friday!
Posted on: June 14, 2019
Welcome to Five for Friday! The concept is simple – it’s a Friday, and I post a photo of 5 books, and then we chat about them in the comments.
The only things these books have in common are:
– they were on my bookshelf
– I’m interested in your thoughts on them.
have you read any of these? if yes, did you like them? If you’ve not read them, does the cover make you interested in learning more about the book?
Want to join in? Post a picture of 5 random books you own, with the tag #5ForFriday and get your friends talking.
Secret Life by Jeff Vandermeer (2004) – I love Vandermeer’s stuff. It’s weird as hell, doesn’t offer answers, it’s just totally there, being all apologetically weird! I’m a shitty fan, because I say how much I love his stuff, and I buy his stuff . . and then it takes me YEARS to read it. like, maybe i’m hoarding it? long way of saying I’ve not yet read this short story collection of his. tbh, i blame the publisher a little. the print in this sucker i like font size negative two. One evening, I started reading a short story near the beginning of the book, and I SWEAR every ten lines or so the print got smaller. I chalked it up to that totally being something that would happen in a Vandermeer.
Last Night at the Blue Alice by Mehitobel Wilson (2015) – ok, so you go back in time, and successfully change the past. What happens to the future you return to? That is one of the premises of this pleasant little novella. It’s her job to change the past, to allow angry ghosts to finally rest in peace. There’s more going on of course, I should really reread this!
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (2001) – this book needs no introduction! I LOVE THIS BOOK! i don’t know how many times I’ve reread this, it gets better every time. I’ve not see the TV show, it’s on a channel that I don’t have.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (1968) – Not quite a novelization, this novel was written by Clarke with and while Stanley Kubrick was making the movie. I remember watching this movie with my sister when I was a kid (we had it on VHS, I suppose?), and i was way too young to understand the plot, but I remember loving the outer space stuff, and the Hal stuff, and my sister and I learned the Daisy song. I could quote Hal’s lines, but I had NO IDEA what he was doing or why. And ladies and gentleman, that is how I got into science fiction when I was 8 year old.
Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein (1963) – So, funny story. This book has two really different endings, and I didn’t know there were two different endings. I have a fond feeling for this book, and i was talking to someone about it, and I couldn’t understand why she was so angry about this book. When she angrily said “at the end! such and such happens!!!”, and I remember thinking to myself “did I read an entirely different book? i don’t remember that at all???”. I won’t tell you what the endings are, you can easily look up the book on Wikipedia and find out the two endings.
14 Responses to "Five for Friday!"
June 14, 2019 at 9:04 am
I’m pretty sure I have that same edition of Secret Life, and I haven’t read it either! I own a lot of Vandermeer books I haven’t read, but since Borne has become one of my top ten books of all time, I really should go back and catch up😁
June 14, 2019 at 9:52 pm
Borne was SO GOOD!! Have you read Vandermeer’s Ambergris books? Shriek, Finch, and I’m sure there are some others in that world. I wish he’d write more in that world.
lol, I’ll read Secret Life if you will?
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June 14, 2019 at 11:20 pm
I have all the Ambergris books too! If I find my copy of Secret Life I’ll let you know😁
June 14, 2019 at 11:20 am
Of the Five this week, I’ve read 2001 A Space Odyssey and Podkane. Yes, I knew of the two endings, Yes, I prefer one over the other, but won’t say which. If you’ve been dropping into my blog the last few Fridays, you know I’m rereading Heinlein’s juveniles. This week it’s Starman Jones.
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June 14, 2019 at 9:54 pm
How are you liking Starman Jones? I kinda bounced off of that one, I should give it another try.
There’s a couple sequels to 2001, have you read them? do you know if they are any good?
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June 15, 2019 at 10:49 am
If you read my review…you’d know I liked it a LOT. Best of his Juveniles I’ve read to that point. Yes, I’ve read all of Clarke’s further exploration of the 2001 world, none as good as the first one.
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June 14, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Of your five this week, I’ve only read “American Gods”, which I found amazing, not least of which because I had visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s house just before
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June 14, 2019 at 8:19 pm
And can I say, you have some amazing books on your bookshelves. I think I have book envy. 🙂
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June 14, 2019 at 9:56 pm
yes, the house in the book!!! i’d almost forgotten about that! Everytime I run into references to that house, I want to reread American Gods!
my shelves are pretty random. and jam packed with books. I’m spoiled that i have a lot of wonderful new/used bookstores nearby, I’ve been collection forever, and um, i am addicted to books. You too can have this many books!
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the Little Red Reviewer 
June 14, 2019 at 7:46 am
I need to try American Gods again. Couldn’t get into it the first time. May have to try it on audio. I gotta admit that I haven’t really liked much by Gaiman at all, though. Stardust wasn’t as fun as the movie imo, and Neverwhere read like a lite Clive Barker novel. Anyway, you don’t write these to read us complain but I do wanna give AG another go.
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June 14, 2019 at 9:50 pm
don’t tell anyone I said this, but Stardust the movie is 100 times better than Stardust the book. Like, the book is nice? but the movie is SO FUN!!! I know a lot of people who have bounced right off of American Gods, that book has a rough start, and it’s not for everyone.
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June 14, 2019 at 10:44 pm
I was blown away by the movie Stardust. It makes me think of the whimsy and fun of The Princess Bride. But then I read the book and wondered what happened. The humor wasn’t there for me.
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June 15, 2019 at 10:08 am
whimsy and fun, yes, exactly!!! I think a lot of the humor in the movie worked because of comedic timing, characters rolling their eyes at each other, buckets of non-verbal communication (which I am a huge sucker for!), and i don’t even know how an author can pull that kind of thing off in a book.
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June 17, 2019 at 9:17 am
OMG – I think the same about Stardust! I’ve always felt so bad for loving the movie more … *phew* 😀
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