Books I've Read
Books Listed by Author
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All
I Shall Wear Midnight
The fourth Tiffany Aching novel is the best story I have read in a long time. So much to think about! I found myself weeping at times, and laughing out loud at others.
Read:
3/2011
Jingo
Ankh-Morpork goes to war over an island.
Read:
9/2016
Johnny and the dead
Johnny finds he is the only person who can see dead people at the cemtary. Very good.
Read:
10/2006
Lords And Ladies
Elves come to Lancre. And Elves are BAD! Very good!
Read:
3/2005
Making Money
Moist is maneuvered into assisting the dog that is chairman of the Royal Bank.
Words I Had To Look Up:
panopticon (pg. 56) -- an area where everything is visible.
fornication (pg. 58) -- vaulted roofing or covering. Trust me.
beccles (pg. 109) -- the small bone buttons placed in bacon sandwiches by unemployed guerrilla dentists, from The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd.
pecunious (pg. 122) -- abounding in money; wealthy.
mountebank (pg. 127) -- any charlatan or quack.
frisson (pg. 143) -- a sudden, passing sensation of excitement; a shudder of emotion; thrill.
mendacity (pg. 148) -- 1. The condition of being mendacious; untruthfulness. 2. A lie; a falsehood.
charivari (pg. 155) -- a noisy mock serenade (made by banging pans and kettles) to a newly married couple. But from http://www.charivarirest.com/ (and nowhere else) we have 'Charivari is a French word for "beautiful good mix"', which seems more what the author was thinking of.
dunnikin (pg. 157) -- a privy.
gongfermor (pg. 157) -- the people who emptied cesspits in Medieval villages or castles.
tumbrel (pg 236) -- a farm dumpcart for carrying dung; carts of this type were used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution.Quote:
"Nom d'une bouilloire! Pourquoi est-ce que je suis hardiment ri sous cape a par le dieux"? translates as "Name of a kettle! Why am I boldly laughed under cape has by the gods "? (pgs. 110-111)Quote:
"An error, sir, is worse than a sin, the reason being that a sin is often a matter of opinion or viewpoint or even of timing but an error is a fact and it cries out for correction."Quote:
"I can assure you that if I had, as your ill-assumed street patois has it, 'dropped you in it,' you would fully understand all meanings of 'drop' and have an unenviable knowledge of 'it.'"Read:
11/2007
Maskerade
The two witches visit the Opera House in Ankh-Morpork where Agnes is attempting to be a star!
Read:
7/2005
Monstrous Regiment
Polly joins the army in disguise as a man. Very good.
Read:
12/2004
Nation
On a small island not in the Pacific Ocean a tsunami wipes out the entire population, except for one teen and shipwrecked English girl. Very good!
Quote:
"Does not happen!" -- pg. 73.
Read:
12/2009
Night Watch
Sam Vines goes back in time(s).
Read:
1/2005
Only you can save mankind
Johnny find his computer game is all too real!
Read:
10/2006
Pyramids
Teppic, a king's son, decides to attend Assassin school. That's the first part of the book. I wasn't thoroughly enchanted with the story, but there were some good parts. I wish my eyes didn't get tired of read paperback-size books.
The author has Teppic using crampons to climb walls. I've seen this discussed about another author, and someone on a forum said they looked in the OED to find that crampon was an archaic word for a sort of piton. Maybe. I think Prachett should have gone with piton.
Read:
12/2018
Raising Steam
The railroad comes to the Discworld. I got an ARC to read four weeks before it goes on sale! I enjoyed it very much, too!
Read:
2/2014
Small Gods
Neophyte novice Brutha comes across a turtle who is his God. Maybe.
Read:
9/2009
Snuff
Vimes goes on a little vacation to his wife's country home.
Words I Had To Look Up:
mutton avec no talking (pg. 93) -- It's french, means "with". Should have known this from the song lyric Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? from that Labelle song.
stack of wood licker wicker hurdles (pg. 50) -- On a Terry Prachett forum there is some discussion of this. Possibly a printer's error, in the Transworld edition the phrase is "wood like".
Read:
1/2013
Sourcery
Apparently the Libby version of this book doesn't have the footnotes! That's the best part of Pratchett's books! EDIT: I found them after the About The Author!!
Read:
8/2023
The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
A talking cat and some talking rats (and a stupid boy) work a con.
Read:
3/2005
The Color Of Magic
The first book in the Discworld series. We learn about Rincewind, Twoflower, and the luggage.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Obloquy (pg. 23) -- The condition of one that is discredited.
Dovecote (pg. 103) -- A small compartmented raised house or box for domestic pigeons.
Read:
10/2008Read:
1/2013
The Fifth Element
Vimes goes to Uberwald to represent Ankh-Morpork at a coronation.
Read:
12/2004
The Last Continent
The wizard Rincewind ends up in a place very like Australia.
Read:
1/2005
The Long Earth
Co-author Stephen Baxter. There are zillions of parallel Earths, and all you need is an easily made electronic device to get to them. Some people don't even need that. But some people can't do it at all, and some of them resent the ones who can. My favorite character is the cat.
Read:
7/2013
20 books displayed
[Palacio - Paretsky] [Pargin - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Patterson] [Patterson - Pears] [Pears - Perry] [Perry - Platt] [Pohl - Poyer] [Poyer - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pronzini] [Pronzini - Pynchon]