A place to discuss the books you have enjoyed, loved, and cherished … and that you wish to share here.
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A place to discuss the books you have enjoyed, loved, and cherished … and that you wish to share here.
bbcdiscovery 
Leah–looks like Suntse has provided us a Books Conversation, so decided to bring it over here. Checked into The CUcasian Chalk Circle and found it as a Kindle book. Add one more to the growing stack! (PS thanks Suntse.)
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There is a brief description of Caucasian Chalk Circle in the Time Travel … RSAMD Years’ posting. Colin was cast as the Singer in that play. His voice lends itself to expressive narration … he is exceptional in this regard as well.
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OMG! Suntse, when I looked into google about The Caucasian, they have your article (The Time Travel) as a reference. It’s great! my dear friend…..a writing career…. 🙂 😉
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Thanks Suntse! a new place for the bookworms, jejeje!!! 🙂 You’re spoiling us! 😉
When I started Tea Time this morning I didn’t know we have this space an wrote something in the chat room about Merlin and the Celtic Harp.
Bertold Bretch is an excellent author, here in my country his works are “a must to read” in College. I didn’t know about this play the Caucasian Chalk Circle so I’ll look for it, too.
OMG!!! my library is growing more and more….all because of Colin, jajajaja!
365 days are not enough to read all the books I want.
This is the magic of Merlin/Colin: us! reunited in this “space”, sharing our tea or coffee time and sharing words, experiences and moments. This a wonderful !, an as I’m a dreamer I dream that one day Colin will know that in this fandom there’s a group of “mature ladies” youngest in spirit that admires and loves him.
Thanks again Suntse! you’re so sweet.
❤
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Oh, yes, Leah … youngest in spirit !! I like that!
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Missed some words:
This is a wonderful place! that’s what the phrase should say.
And Yes….Soul is ageless!
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Have to agree, Leah. 365 days are not enough. This is a wonderful place to spend time. I, too, want to thank you, Suntse. Posted something over in the chat room about the Celtic harp, too. So many new things to learn. Life is good! And isn’t it amazing how often the word “magic” turns up in connection to Colin. I know he would deny it, but whose to say how the universe works? Maybe it is magic!
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It IS MAGIC, there is no doubt. This cannot be explained in the ‘normal’ world! So glad to have unusual and rare friends to share this with. (p.s. I’m happy not being normal!)
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In the first Time Travel..His Early Years, we find this quote:
“Even when I was really young I wanted to perform and do shows. I also had this fascination with magic. I was doing magic tricks when I was three. If I ever saw magic on television I would say: ‘I want that. That’s what I want from Santa Claus’. So the cupboard in my bedroom was full of boxes of magic tricks, cups and balls, cards and foam rabbits, all sorts of stuff.”
Colin Morgan
After researching and reading all those Merlin’s books, counting that he is Irish….in the bottom of his heart there must be a room for magic, not like in TV “blinking the eyes” but in a bigger sense of the word.
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As Balinor said, “Magic is the fabric of the world, and you were born of that magic.” So many things about the character Merlin seem to be Colin, himself.
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I will gladly take “youngest in spirit!” I was always the oldest and had to be responsible. What a drag! Glad to find some other youngest and magical spirits to hang out with!
I have been reading “Mort” as kind of a bedtime story. What a hoot! I have actually had to stop a couple of times because I was laughing so hard. Can definitely see why Colin would like to do this. It would be so much fun.
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Good morning! Kind of chilly here in Santo Domingo (18-20 degrees Celsius), I guess USA is freezing.
Joan: I looked into Amazon and read some parts of “Mort” and seems to be very funny! 🙂
Are you reading from Kindle or a book. Which edition? suggestions for buying it, please.
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Did you know that in Merlin’s cast there are two writers?
John Lynch (Balinor) and Eoin Macken(Sir Gawain)
John Lynch has several writings, and two novels based on The Troubles -Falling Out of Heaven- and Torn Water.
Eoin Macken (Gawain) he used to be a blogger,I love his poems, social writings, writings about ecology and last year he published his first novel “Kingdom of Scars”. Got very good reviews.
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Leah – knew about John Lynch but had NO IDEA about Eoin!!
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Eoin Macken is very interesting! used to be a model. He is a writer, an actor as we’ve seen but also a film director especially documentaries. Last year he made a documentary about The Sight Savers in Mozambique (that ONG tries to save people in Africa from blindness), he went with them and what he wrote was really touching. His blog was really good, so thoughtful and conscious. His book is Kingdom of Scars published last year.
After Colin he is my second favorite actor from Merlin.
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Second cup of coffee in hand! Cold here again today, but the weekend is looking pretty good.
When a book is available on Kindle, that is always my first choice. I know a lot of people want a hard copy in their hands, which is fine. Reading on my iPad is just easier for me. I recently had my cataracts taken care of (talk about magic!), so the bigger print and better lighting were a big help. I can now pick up a book and read without glasses for the first time in years, but I still like using Kindle. No driving to a bookstore which probably doesn’t have what I want, I can carry lots of books around with me, and I don’t have to figure out what to do with all those books piling up in corners of my house. Again, just a personal preference. I also like being able to sample a book before I buy it. Plus I use my Amazon credit card so I earn points for future purchases (like Barry’s tea!).
One thing I found myself thinking about (and admiring) as I was reading Mort was how a person, like you, Leah, for whom English was a second language, finds this kind of writing. There are a lot of idiomatic references and subtext. We talked about subtitles for Parked before. The reason I wanted them is that those other English speakers (the ones on the other side of the water) use different words to refer to the same thing (sorry instead of excuse me). Getting better at it but still learning.
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When I first looked into Falling Out of Heaven, wasn’t sure this was the same John Lynch (it’s not an uncommon name). Looks like more books to add to the stack! Are Eion’s blogs still accessible?
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Joan: So, you’re a coffee person! In the morning I like tea, but the rest of the day: coffee!
In my country we have a strong coffee culture, we produced it and also export it.
Dominican coffee is really good.You can find here in Santo Domingo many American’s food franchises but I think we’ll never see Starbucks here. Coffee is one of our main product. The moment I can I’ll send you a pack of “Café Santo Domingo”. 🙂
READING in English: could be easy or could be hard, depends on the way it’s written: colloquial way, poetry or essay. If it’s a book about Music or Teaching it’s very easy, I’m used to that type of writing (made my graduate studies in North Carolina) .
Reading all these books related to Colin’s career have not been easy at all. Of course I read with a dictionary next to me, underline the words I don’t know and always write the meaning on the edge. These books take me the double of time, but practice makes perfect. I’m also getting used to British ways, Word Reference Dictionary gives the two possibilities: USA and UK, even the pronunciation.
I started Good Omens on December (Christmas) and finished it the 2nd week of February but Merlin’s Trilogy took me several months. OMG, too long for me! That’s why I alternate the type of books and the languages.
LISTENING: it’s completely different! depends on the accent, the color and melody of the voice, also the rhythm and pace of the words. Sometimes I get lost in the sound of the voice (Colin’s is beautiful), the music, facial expressions or the beauty of the cinematography. If the film has subtitles (Spanish or English) it’s just a matter of grabbing them very fast and enjoy the rest. The brain has that ability!
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Eoin’s blog, don’t know what happened. As he is in California now it seems he is not writing it anymore. But I’ve read good stuff he’s written, about “genre violence” (Violencia de Género in Spanish) about the Sight Savers and the experiences they had when they went to Mozambique, I also like his poetry. His blog is in blogger.
Ah! yes is the same John Lynch (Balinor).
In Colin’s audio reel for publicity he reads something from Falling Out of Heaven.
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Looks like I may be looking forward to some good coffee! I had a hard time getting through Mary Stewart’s books, too. No trouble understanding, just never could get invested in the characters. I actually enjoyed The Wicked Day more.
One more thing I like about Amazon and Kindle–instant gratification. The ebooks are now in my iPad and Torn Water, only available in print, ordered and on it’s way!
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OMG! That was fast. I just put them in my cart, including Mort. 🙂
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That was fast. I just put them in my cart, including Mort. 🙂
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I think you’ll like Mort. It’ll give you a good laugh. Some of the books I have (including the one they are using for The Rising) are out of print, so I don’t know how you would get ahold of them without going to used book dealers. Sometimes they are more expensive than the marked price, sometimes cheaper. These people know when a book gets scarce. I currently have one on my wish list that is the upper limit to what I am comfortable with. Think it may be on next month’s budget.
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Finished Mort yesterday. These books are not excessively long and a joy to read. You will fall in love with the characters. You may even find a warm spot in your heart for DEATH. (He always speaks in capital letters.)
Looked on Amazon to see how many Discworld books there were and noticed the number 32! Probably will not read them all, but they would make a nice break now and then from the more serious stuff. Can see why Colin liked them–definitely dark humor. Though more humor than dark!
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Sadly, I was just reading that Terry Pratchett passed away earlier today.
I hadn’t heard of him until my journey into Colin, but now I’m very interested in reading his works, not just because Colin likes his writing, but because they look like the genre I would enjoy. I found a reading guide online for his Discworld series, and may use that as a start.
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So sorry to hear of Terry Prachett’s death. Like you, not sure I knew much about him before Good Omens. I think his books are somewhat classified as scifi. His science is totally wonderful as in filled with wonder. Read part of the first Discworld. So much imagination! And I really loved Mort. Hope to get the chance to read more–there are a lot of them! Hope wherever Mr. Prachett is now, it is as amazing as Discworld.
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I understand there is an obituary for Sir Terrry Prachette by Neil Gaiman. Anyone know where to find it? Decided to read The Color of Magic. Can see how these books could become addictive.
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Sad to hear about this!
Descanso a su Alma (RIP).
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Just finished Eoin Macken’s ‘Kingdom of Scars.’ The subject of a teenaged boy’s ‘growing up’ experiences isn’t something I would have normally chosen, but I found myself pulled in. It was a little strange having a bit more knowledge of the author than just a name on the cover or maybe a picture on the back flap. There is a short interview at the end that was interesting, saying he used memories and experiences of his own. Looks like he has another book coming up later this year. Amazon has a ‘we’ll email you when this becomes available,’ so I am hoping to read more of his work.
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Glad you liked it! Someday I’ll catch up, I’ve been very busy. 🙂
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Have been reading John Lynch’s ‘Falling Out of Heaven’ and realized I had hit some lines I recognized. Didn’t Colin do an audio clip? Trolled through YouTube, but couldn’t find it. Did find the Heinz commercial. Loved that they described winter in terms of umbrellas and puddles instead of feet of snow.
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Hello Joan!
Yes, Colin did an audio clip from “Falling Out of Heaven”. If you go to United Agents you’ll find it.
He sounds amazing, uses a low and dark voice and his accent. ❤
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Thank you, Leah. Never thought about just googling it. And knowing how it fits into the text of the book, really makes it come home. You’re right about the voice–low and dark! So wish he could find time to do an audio book.
Wow, these Irish writers really like the dark stuff. May even give a try to some Joyce. Found a collection of short stories. Thought maybe dipping my toe in the water before tackling ‘Ulysses.’ Missed you, but figured you were busy. I remember spring being a busy time at school.
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Miss you too! I’m having classes morning and afternoon and preparing a concert for Eastern. We’re a catholic country and Eastern is very important. On Eastern Thursday (Jueves Santo) my girl’s choir will be singing with the Symphony Orchestra and the principal conductor. A lot of work!
I wish Colin could do an audio book, his voice is wonderful.
I’m trying to see if I can send you and Suntse a copy of OPL, don’t know how to do that yet, I don’t even know how I downloaded it. In the moment I can I’ll burn it in a CD and send it with the coffee. 🙂
Well, Hasta la vista mi amiga!
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Finished Falling Out of Heaven the other day. Agreeing with one of the reviewers on Amazon that this is not a book for the faint of heart. I do not agree with the book description as given. This is not a man who “had everything” and suddenly threw it all away on alcohol. His pain starts in childhood and alcohol is his pain reliever of choice. The descriptions of alcohol recovery make me wonder how much of this Mr. Lynch experienced personally. If so, I have even more respect for him. I am wondering if Colin chose this exert from the book himself. I figure it is similar to publicity pictures they send to casting directors–a chance to hear the actor’s voice. The copyright shows 2010.
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A quiet Easter here, so got the chance to finish John Lynch’s other novel, ‘Torn Water.’ This one is really hard to describe. Mr. Lynch has a wonderful way with words and the shadow of Ireland hangs over both books. I don’t normally read much fiction, so feel a little inadequate in reviewing it. My usual way of reading is–knit a little, read a little, knit a little, etc.–but half way through both of his novels I found myself putting the knitting aside and just reading.
I’ve also decided to read the Quirke books. Not your usual ‘who done it’ books, which is okay with me. My mom used to read a lot of those. You could alway tell the murderer because they are the least mentioned character in the book! Found an Irish writing blog (on WordPress) and think I may be adding a whole bunch more titles to my list of books I want to read.
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Just out of curiosity, went looking to see what ‘Sean MacDiarmada–The Mind of the Revolution’ was currently going for. When I bought it, several months ago, a bit over $100. It’s now up to $1000!
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An absolutely amazing piece of information! Very interesting, indeed! It seems the interest Kevin McCann wanted to generate for this moment in history has met his hopes.
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When I purchased it, I wondered a bit about my sanity. Now I’m thinking–what an investment! The $1000 was the low price. Someone was asking $1600. It’s really the only decent biography of Sean MacDiaramada out there.
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I just ordered Sean MacDiarmada’s bio through interlibrary loan. I won’t get my own copy, but I look forward to reading the book.
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This is by far the best book on Sean MacDiarmada that I’ve run across. There are other good books about The Rising out there but they tend to feature Pearse and Connelly. They did play a part, but Connelly didn’t even really know about it till right before it happened and Pearse was more the voice than any kind of organizer. Though I think the problem is that MacDiarmada deliberately kept his work as much below the radar as possible, especially toward the end. He had already served time for making inflammatory speeches and was known to the British authorities. Please let me know what you think of it after you’ve read it. One reason I hope that the movie gets made is that this man really doesn’t seem to get the credit he deserves, not just for The Rising but for other work that he did to try to make Ireland a better place.
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“Inside the GPO” … This is the story of Joe Good by Joe Good. It is the narrative of a young soldier inside the GPO, first hand, rather than that of a leader. And in particular, the story of an English-born Volunteer. (The English had shortened MacDiaramada to McDermott … perhaps they had trouble pronouncing the Irish original.)
On my wish list. Suntse
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Giving a quick look to this, must be fairly short as the ‘reading time’ only shows a little less than two hours. And from the index, it also covers some of the War for Independence and the Civil War. Good must have been part of one of Michael Collin’s squads. I know a lot of people want a ‘hard copy’ they can hold in their hands, but I love that sometime in the middle of the night last night, after reading your post under ‘A Perfect Fit’ I could go right to Amazon, download this book and never even turn the lights on!
Did decide I needed a hard copy of ‘Letters from a Lost Generation.’ It arrived yesterday, and really is amazing to read the thoughts of these young people. I can see why it was an invaluable resource for the actors–all the everyday stuff: Vera offering to knit socks for Roland (at the time I had a sock I have been working on in my lap); the mention of Lord Kitchener, a name every sock knitter knows even if they have no idea where the name comes from. Love Vera’s assessment of Manchester–once seen, always avoided!
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Finishing “Letters from a Lost Generation,” would once again say this is the one to read. Was a little concerned about Amanda Root reading Vera in the audiobook because I thought she was a bit too old, till I realized this had been made quite a while ago. And Rupert Graves reads Roland! Plan on using this as a reread so I can actually get some knitting done. Decided to read another of Mark Bostridge’s books about VB and the First World War. It’s fairly short, and there is some interesting additional information about Vera and her journey to writing the book plus the effort to get it brought to the screen. The author spent some time on the set of the movie. I did like that he mentioned Colin’s time at the blind veteren’s home preparing to play Victor. He also looked into the events surrounding Edward’s death, which after reading the letters doesn’t come as a complete surprise.
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Wanted to finish ‘Globe: Life in Shakespeare’s London’ (Catherine Arnold) before plunging into other reads. A lot of good background information about the playwright and the rather lively (and often dangerous) city he worked in. I liked that out of work soldiers joined playing companies because they knew how to fence–it wasn’t just acting. Last chapter was about building the current Globe theater. I didn’t realize it was so new and the first thatched roof in London since the 1600’s. I will watch The Tempest with even greater appreciation.
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Seeing as Suntse has said nice things about me reading, thought I would make a short comment about Bernard Cornwell’s books (just finished ‘The Fort’). I know books about armies may not be most women’s natural interest, but he gives such an inside look at warfare and how battles are really fought in an interesting story context. My favorites are the Saxon Tales and the Richard Sharpe series. I have heard ladies shy away from ‘blood and guts’ but that is part of human history, too, and knowing a bit about our past is not a bad thing. (Sean Bean starred in the Richard Sharpe series for BBC and it looks like they are going to do a series on the Saxon stories in the near future, which I am looking forward to.)
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Discussing The Musketeers in the chat room yesterday reminded me of a book by Tom Reiss titled ‘The Black Count’ which is a biography of Dumas’ father. He was a truly extraordinary man, Dumas idolized him and based the character of Porthos on him a bit. I give the makers of The Musketeers so much credit for casting Howard Charles and acknowledging this part of Dumas’ own history and the fact that the world has always been a colorful place.
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Joan, you are again adding to our book count. How will we ever keep up???? 😉
And the ones you mention always peak our interest.
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I think I came across this one in an interview I read by Howard Charles. Even though Porthos is a fictional character, Mr. Charles expressed the desire to honor the part, somewhat like Colin’s remarks about playing Victor Richardson. It is always nice when you can admire the actor behind the part. ‘The Black Count’ is not a bad read, so don’t shy away from it. (Being retired, having Kindle and no cable hook up has probably added to my ability to read more. Being not so young–couldn’t bring myself to say old or mature–has some advantages!)
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I, too, am not so young … but still employed 6 hrs a day at a job I truly love. Having some eye issues has made it difficult for me to read for long periods of time, I read in ‘spurts’ and snatches when I can. May never get through all the reading on my wish list, so truly enjoy your entries on bbcdiscovery.
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Can understand about the eye issues. One reason I used my iPad to read is because of cataracts. After my surgery, which is as close to a miracle as you can get, I can pick up a ‘hard copy’ book and read–no glasses required (also knit!). But I still like my ebooks.
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I have glaucoma in my left eye. I didn’t realize the problem early … so 50% of my optic nerve is damaged beyond repair. It is being treated now, but my current glasses’ correction still leaves me with a distorted view that tires my reading. I’m hoping a Kindle will make a difference. (enough about that! Don’t want to get like an ‘old lady’ that only talks about her ailments and medicines!!)
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This one is something of a ‘double feature.’ When I read John Lynch’s ‘Torn Water,’ the dust cover mentioned that he had starred in a film titled ‘Cal’ based on a novel of the same name by Bernard Maclaverty. Having seen and read some of Mr. Lynch’s work, this one seemed especially interesting as he played the title role. When the DVD arrived, decided–for no real reason– to read the book first. It was a very compelling story and I was glad I had when I watched the film. It brought home the difficulty of translating even this somewhat short novel (approx. 150 pages) to the screen. What do you keep, what do you just touch on, what can you change a bit and still keep the point of the story? Both the film (John Lynch received a BAFTA nomination) and the book are very good. It is definitely a story of Northern Ireland, bringing home the terrible difficulties of people living amidst this kind of ongoing war. It was also interesting to see John Lynch as a very young man (pretty much the same age as Colin when he did Merlin).
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I think I will look for these myself. I have also just bought “Kingdom of Scars” from Kobo, and look forward to reading that. I find I haven’t been reading as much lately (I seem to be pinned to my computer for some reason), and there are lots of good suggestions here that I certainly wouldn’t have explored in the past. Thank you.
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I, for one, appreciate the time you spend in front of your computer. I am coming to the somewhat sad realization that having the TV turned off most of the day has really added to the amount of reading I do. Kind of think it might be a good thing to leave it that way. Is Kobo something like Kindle? Hadn’t thought about it, but should I include whether a book is available as an ebook–‘Cal’ is but ‘Torn Water’ was not. And ‘Kingdom of Scars’ was. I saw somewhere that Eion Macken may have another book coming out soon and John Lynch is listed as an actor and novelist, so hoping for more from him, too.
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Kobo is a e-reader company that started in Canada, but is now international. They market their own e-readers and sell ebooks that can be read on any device (not just theirs). They do have an app that can be downloaded. I quite like them, and they are competitively priced. You could check them out, as they do have an app for iProducts. (no…they didn’t pay me to say all that!)
🙂
I also don’t watch tv during the day…I save that for the evening. I should be reading more – I used to be a voracious reader, but that has dwindled recently. I really need to reverse that. I’ve got several books on my e-reader that I haven’t read yet.
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Haven’t posted here in quite a while, but thought I should talk a bit about my ‘summer reads.’ I have been hooked on a series of police detective books by Brian MacGilloway. They center on a couple of detectives from each side of the Northern Ireland border. Devlin is a Guarda from Donegal, and DS Black is with the Police Service of Northern Ireland living in Derry. While the crimes and solving them are intriguing, it’s the background stuff that is really interesting. Things left over from The Troubles and two different forces trying to work together across the border. Plus just a general look at the culture and people of the area. They are relatively short (300ish pages), and now and then you will be taken up short with references to things from Parked and The Fall. I’ve learned quite a bit from them. For instance, the PSNI has a public service page for what to do if you’re a victim of a tiger kidnapping. Had no idea what that was when I first read it, but I can see why it might be important information to people living there.
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I also hope it gets made. It isn’t looking good, right now. What a blow to Kevin McCann. He has put his heart and soul into this project.
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And he isn’t the only one who has an investment in this project. Which is why several of us are willing to be patient.
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Just saw a comment Colin made about Martin MacDonagh who wrote his possible upcoming play The Pillowman. Many of his plays are available as ebooks, though The Pillowman seems only available as a hard copy. I had downloaded a sample of one of his trilogies, which includes The Lonesome West which Colin says is one of the first plays he had ever seen. MacDonagh is apparently famous for his black comedy, so I can see why Colin would want to do it. Hope to get a chance to read it soon (right now working on the Jacobites), and will let you know.
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