Hi TL! Thanks for considering my library 'interesting' - it's very flattering when people think that. I actually thought I'd already marked yours and was really surprised to see I hadn't - I'm doing it right now! Feel free to have a browse around any time you feel like it but please don't get mucky fingermarks on the pages.

inlägg gjort av Booksloth vid 6:53 pm (EST) Apr 30, 2008

Thanks for yours - sounds like a busy life but I guess it always is for people who will insist on adding study to an already full existence! I love the idea of doing a degree because you commute past the campus every day - that's a new one on me, but I believe we come to some of the best things in our lives by some very circuitous routes and I guess any reason is as good as another. I think all that writing you have to do in your degree is good practice for writing of all other kinds. I used to raise some extra money when my children were small by writing articles and short stories for magazines (and it was a lot easier to get published in those days, believe me) but it wasn't until after I finished my degree and found a big hole in my intellectual life that I got stuck in and actually produced my first full-length work. Okay, so it remains unpublished but I consider that the first stepping-stone on the way to the real thing (at least, I hope so). Good luck with your writing and your degree. If nothing else, I know you'll get a huge amount of enjoyment from both.

inlägg gjort av Booksloth vid 6:45 am (EST) Apr 30, 2008

Hi there! Half a century! Now you've really made me feel old! I must admit I sometimes feel like the ancient wise woman on this site though, unlike some I have tried, everyone here is lovely, but it's still nice to know I'm not alone.

I don't know whether you have anything like the Open University over there? It's a wonderful organisation that allows people of any age (well, over 18) and any academic background to study from home for a real degree which is not only comparable to degrees from any other university but is considered by many employers to be superior as they realise OU students have often had to study while running a home, working full time, bringing up children, caring for elderly relatives etc, etc. The course for a full degree usually takes six years (that's part-time and the equivalent of three years' full time study) although many people take breaks in between (I took a year off at a time when I had a lot of other things happening and didn't think I'd be able to do the course justice), while some study full-time and graduate in three years or even less, so you can see it's all very flexible. I graduated in 2001, the year after my daughter graduated from 'normal' university. She was very proud of her achievement but I was practically bursting with pride over mine (and hers, too, of course). I used to work in Adult Education at one time so I'm a massive fan of returning to study.

My reasons for wanting to return to study were many and varied (as I'm sure yours are too) but one of them was obviously in order to progress within my career and that's how I justified the expense to myself. Unfortunately,a year into the course, I was hit with a major back problem that eventually meant my having to retire on health grounds. Much as I loved the work for my BA, I don't really think I can now justify going on to a Masters as I would have hoped to do - the courses aren't exactly cheap - but I will never regret what I have done so far. I do you get everything from your study that I did from mine - isn't it wonderful to know we're not 'over the hill'?

inlägg gjort av Booksloth vid 5:24 am (EST) Apr 18, 2008

I started on them in the early 60's when W.H. Smiths began stocking the English 4-Square publication. My collection are all paperbacks and some are the worse for wear as they've been read many times. After I had gleaned all I could from English book shelves I discovered a mail-order company and was able to obtain US publications (5 to 10 at a time) and have been known to sit up all night reading several books! I can remember as a child an elderly neighbour giving me two beautifully bound books which may have begun my love of a good read. They were "David Copperfield" and "The Jungle Book"; sadly I no longer have them (I suspect one of my sisters were responsible!)

inlägg gjort av Navigator7 vid 5:07 am (EST) Mar 28, 2008

I am fascinated by your Burroughs collection, I will peruse them in greater depth as you have far more than I have. I think I have some searching to do..

inlägg gjort av Navigator7 vid 1:17 pm (EST) Mar 27, 2008

re: "I still live!"

Indeed! Granted, ERB may not be a literary genius in his line-by-line writing, but if you go by the ability to touch lives and your work survive the years, surely he's stellar. Between Barsoom, Tarzan, and The Land That Time Forgot, he'll live forever.

TK

inlägg gjort av TKKenyon vid 4:58 pm (EST) Mar 25, 2008

Hi TL Crawford,

All the characters in my books are adults and, while some of them have some issues stemming from childhood abuse, all of them have survived and are making their way through life, coping and healing. I think it's a positive message, that even if something bad happens to you, you can survive and heal and connect with other people, even heal others.

Like I said, essentially positive. I read a lot of SF as a kid, including Edgar Rice Burroughs. I supposed I've been unduly influenced by John Carter of Mars: "I still live!"

Hope you'll try me, or chat with me around here,

TK Kenyon

inlägg gjort av TKKenyon vid 11:40 am (EST) Mar 25, 2008

Thanks for the recommendations, when I get the chance I'll see what I can find. As to San Andreas, I finished it last night, after starting it yesterday afternoon :) Couldn't put it down! I've read a few Alistair MacLean in my time, but this one was, as you say, one of his best. I reviewed it but it doesn't do the book justice still maybe my reviews will get better over time.

inlägg gjort av TheBookImp vid 9:35 am (EST) Mar 24, 2008

Thanks for the invitation, I've just been mooching through your library and was glad to see the Edgar Rice Burroughs collection you have, interesting, and an author I've wanted to read for a while now, any recommendations?

inlägg gjort av TheBookImp vid 10:02 am (EST) Mar 22, 2008