Kate
Pleased to hear The Painted Veil (film) is good. Not blasphemy - a pleasant surprise I'd say. I read the book because I knew the movie was coming out. I enjoyed the book.
Amanda

skrevet af amandameale kl. 1:31 am (EST) den Jul 3, 2008

Dear Kate
Thanks for the message. Glad you liked it. Another one you might like is The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly.
Amanda XXXXXXXXX
PS Nice to hear from another Aussie.

skrevet af amandameale kl. 3:50 am (EST) den Jun 20, 2008

My partner's nephew is at The Gap High in grade nine. We've only lived here for three years, previously in Indooroopilly. It's a leafy, quiet (very very quiet) suburb. Love the birds that come drink at our birdbath.

Currently reading One Book Many Brisbanes short story competition winners for 2007 (one of my writing group friends is in it). Recently read Daughters of Madness: Growing Up and Older with a Mentally Ill Mother (reviewed for a website), The After Life by Kathleen Stewart, and about to read, amongst others, The Boat by Nam Le. I'm making an effort to read more short stories, seeing as I like to write them!

Sue

skrevet af thewordygecko kl. 2:12 am (EST) den Jun 20, 2008

Hello poeticmedic/Kate,

Nice to 'meet' you via LibraryThing. How far into your paediatrics study are you? And you find time to read other things too! Good on you.

I used to be a doctor, about a hundred years ago, but I left because of life events. Now I read, write short stories, essays and memoir, and review books. Earn little, but am happy!

Cheers

Sue

skrevet af thewordygecko kl. 7:27 pm (EST) den Jun 19, 2008

Kate - not at all offended. Perhaps a tinny bit sensitive though as I turn 50 in July. Never thought of being so old - I remember my mom at 40 thinking she was past it!!

Life is hectic yes.....reading is usually late in the night. I am not as dedicated as you think, though!!

Love to see a picture of the bride - maybe on your profile page??

Cheers.

Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 1:20 pm (EST) den Jun 8, 2008

Congrats with the wedding!!!

Best of luck with the paeds exams - although March is still along way off. A lot of my friends (including my hubbie) did paediatrics.

I am not retired - at 49 years it is a bit too soon methinks, and finances don't permit either with two teens in the house.

I cannot actually imagine retiring - although slowing down would be nice - working for interest and stimulation beats the fast lane any day.

Bet you will be a stunning bride!

Cheers,

Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 12:13 am (EST) den Jun 3, 2008

Hi Kate

Nice to hear from you. Hope your studies are going well!

I did not enjoy 'The Gathering', way too depressing in a kinda genitally fixated way!! Most people really like her writing, and although she has a way with words, it was not for me.

Truthfully, I am getting a bit sick of family dysfunction stories and so have been reading more non-fiction as an antedote recently.

Are you going into family medicine, or a specialty?

Take care, Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 10:44 pm (EST) den May 28, 2008

Hi Kate - just a short note to let you know that I have changed my user name to kiwidoc (previously karenwardill).

Thanks. Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 9:26 pm (EST) den May 8, 2008

Hi!
We share "Never Let me Go". I've read "The Remains of the Day" and I completely adored it!What do you think of Ishiguro?

skrevet af zasmine kl. 3:16 am (EST) den Apr 10, 2008

Hello Kate,

The Shakespeare Audio that I have used is 'Shakespeare Appreciated' - which has titles for all the plays. It is very well done, almost serving as a translation of the plays. The analysis also puts them into historical context. I really enjoyed this method as it makes me really appreciate the subtleties and old English meanings.

I am now listening to Henry V - luckily they are available at our local library which is really superb.

Nice to hear from you. Hope the studies are going well.

Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 7:57 pm (EST) den Feb 11, 2008

Hi again Kate.

I haven't read any other Patrick White novels. I did tune in when the ABC's "First Tuesday Book Club" were discussing "Voss" - the opinions of the panel were very diverse. I found an interesting website - "Why Bother with Patrick White", that may be worth taking a look at.

Cheers

Lisa

skrevet af coffeespoons kl. 1:50 am (EST) den Aug 25, 2007

Hi Kate,

Just updating my librarything catalogue and found your question about "The Tree of Man". I read it when I was in year 12 for my HSC - like most Patrick White it was dry and heavy going but I did get a lot out of it. A bit like medicine really - you don't like the taste of it but you know it does you good!
Lisa aka coffeespoons

skrevet af coffeespoons kl. 12:21 am (EST) den Aug 22, 2007

Hey there,

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply, I've been off holidaying a lot! I haven't actually got round to reading my copy of Perdido Street Station, so I can't really comment, to be honest! Although I've heard very good things about it, so I must read it reasonably soon.

I notice that you like Margaret Atwood and Jeanette Winterson! I've got a fair bit by Margaret Atwood but am just reading my first Jeanette Winterson book now (The Passion) and really enjoying it.

You've got a lovely library there :)

skrevet af Jentastic kl. 1:23 pm (EST) den Aug 10, 2007

What did your book club think of '7 Types of Ambiguity' ? It definitely had this wandering narrative section in the middle I thought would go on forever, but I still really loved it! So dark, and so clever.

skrevet af chrissiem kl. 10:12 am (EST) den Aug 10, 2007

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been looking at that book trying to decide whether or not to read it... I will look again and now just might. Though I still have to finish the new Harry Potter (guilty pleasure) and Kavalier and Clay and my book club book : )

Yah, I am a bit of an Oprah basher. Sorry about the rant..but I do have a problem when I realize how many people seem to be incapable of independent thought in choosing a book to read For me the chooing and deciding is one of the most fun things about reading - where am I going to go next??

I am actually in Vancouver, Canada (left coast of Canada not the US) which is why I spell my words properly lol

I actually didn't like Cloudstreet Anywhere near as much as Dirt Music. I absolutely loved that book (one of my favourite books ever) I have the Australian Covered Trade edition as well as a Hardcover First CanadianEdition. As for the Atwood, I am a Huge fan. I have all her books but for maybe two or three (I just haven't listed them all yet - they are mostly in storage cuz they are all hardcovers) I actually haven't listed anything new for a while yet cuz so much of my library is still in boxes - I have a few weeks off work soon so I may do a bit more listing then.

Have a great weekend.

skrevet af sarahjeannette kl. 2:57 am (EST) den Aug 4, 2007

Thanks for the reply - it seems that you are very well read. If you have any great recommendations would love to hear. I am glad to meet another medic on LT - interesting to compare taste! Cheers, KAren

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 10:14 am (EST) den Jul 29, 2007

Hmm. poetic juices flowing. In thinking about it, I wonder if one doesn't gravitate to a particular kind of writing naturally. It seems when I get creative, that's what I want to write rather than, say, a short story or novel. If you are inclined towards poetry, there are a lot of fun exercises like cutting up the words from newspaper or magazine headlines and randomly rearranging them. It teaches one to think outside the box, so to speak, with regards to language. There were two books in my library I found useful, one is called The Practice of Poetry by Robin Behn and the other Writing Poems by Robert Wallace (the latter being a bit more like a college text). Don't know if they would be available in Australia. And, actually, thank you, I need to get back into this for a project upcoming. Your queries have been quite helpful in getting me thinking about it once again. Best, Lois

skrevet af avaland kl. 11:36 am (EST) den Jul 28, 2007

Kate, with regards to all of my books on writing, I have done some writing in the past - mostly community journalism and poetry. Haven't written much in the last decade or so except for analytical papers and promotional materials. I might have recommendations if you are writing poetry but otherwise, I don't have much to suggest at the moment. What are you writing or hoping to write?
Best, Lois PS: I see you've met amandameale and karenwardill who are both fantastic readers and great LTers!

skrevet af avaland kl. 3:21 pm (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

Hi again Kate - yes I did miss your initial comment so excuse the duplication.

I am a GP trained in NZ. My hubbie is a paediatrician trained in Vancouver. One of my friends in med school - Melissa Wake - is a fairly high profile developmental paediatrician in Melbourne. You might have heard of her if you are in a training program.

I have had a fairly solitary experience with reading when younger and med school fairly squashed my reading for those years. I had several friends who were keen readers but we were so busy with our studies (and our social lives) we could not spend the hours required to explore and connect with books. Most of my female friends in med school were avid readers though.

I have tended to stay away from medical slanted books when reading for pleasure as it felt like I had a huge gap in literary experience. However, it is surprising how many great authors started out in medical school - Somerset Maugham. A.J. Cronin, Oliver Sachs (I love his writing too), Kipling etc.

LT has given me the opportunity to meet many cyberspace people passionate about books and perhaps has given me the broadest introduction to new books and new places. You will enjoy it if you have time - the great spoiler of med training being the lack thereof.

Cheers, Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 12:20 pm (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

Hi Kate
I'm Australian too. Just thought I'd say hi. Look forward to your posts.
Amanda XXXXXXX

skrevet af amandameale kl. 9:08 am (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

Sorry to be getting 'comment diarrhoea' Kate - but are you in medicine. I am - and I noticed your medical books. Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 12:39 am (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

'heat' not hear - silly mistake - Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 12:38 am (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

Hi Kate,

Thanks for adding me to your interesting library list.

It is a bit daunting and also flattering.

I love your page and your picture - I have been trying to figure out what it is you are about to eat. It looks BIG.

The last time I was in Brisbane was when I was visiting from NZ aged fifteen and playing field hockey in the 1970s - we were smashed as we totally wilted in the hear.

Cheers and nice to make contact.

Karen

skrevet af kiwidoc kl. 12:37 am (EST) den Jul 27, 2007

Kate, thank you for adding me to your interesting libraries list. While my library is of great interest to me, I sometimes can't imagine others finding it that interesting. And thank you for joining the Atwoodians. We are a quiet group but it's a fine place to go to find other Atwoodians. And also Reading Globally, another great group (while I started these groups, it's really the readers who make it so great). Moderately active and a great place to be if one doesn't have time to be in multiple individual region or country groups. You've posted a very lovely picture here on your profile page. I'm struck that it is almost reminiscent of the old tinted pictures of the 30's and 40's.

I hope you are enjoying your days on LT; it is what you make of it. Best, Lois

skrevet af avaland kl. 7:57 am (EST) den Jul 26, 2007

I read Rushdie's 'Shame' roughly 10 years ago. :-)
I haven't picked it up again since then.
I wasn't overly impressed with the way it was written but I did like subject matter it dealt with.

I'm not so keen on Rushdie as I used to be. People go down in my estimation when they accept CBEs, OBEs, and Knighthoods and Lordhoods from her majesty (mrs queen, as they say in Tok Pisin). I'm baffled by such things.

skrevet af Lodhi kl. 2:34 pm (EST) den Jul 2, 2007