I've been rereading a fun, very long series I loved in elementary school with my old college buddies (like a book club but we're all just reading and discussing at our own pace) and it's a really fun way to fill the time in between truly stellar books

The people who try and pretend the IA are entirely blameless in this drive me insane. Yes, they do a lot of incredibly important work in the preservation and spreading of knowledge. That is exactly why it was so fucking stupid of them to put it all at risk with such a massive, obvious, and public violation of copyright law when they pulled their "emergency library" stunt.

Every time I finish a book in the John Dies at the End series I feel like my best friends just went back to another state and I have to wait to see them again

Yep. And the period between finding great books that just click where you're just reading a bunch of stuff you don't care about is torture 😢

My biggest question is, How have you managed to develop your characters as the cast expands and new characters are introduced?

I'm not going back to the UK anytime soon but I have been copying ALL of this down in my diary for my inevitable return, so cheers to all of you (especially those of you who put the location next to the store name)

Still a good movie, though.

Agree, and if you can manage to be there when there's a musical performance happening, it can be a nice diversion! Great atmosphere.

As a person actually from Guernsey the book has an odd place here. It was written by an American author who got stuck at our airport one day and the only thing to hand to keep her entertained were books about the occupation in one of the shops.

The movie was filmed in England (because our government did agree to some terms to have it filmed here). The scenery is all wrong.

So it all feels a little off. We can be a little reserved about our history. Being occupied. Having children evacuated. To a lot of people, these don’t feel like things to be writing romance novels about.

We have loads of scars on our landscape and people from the occupation. Concrete German bunkers are visible everywhere. Our local language diminished significantly with the children having been evacuated that it is almost a dead language. There is a lot of sadness about the occupation.

But there is also remembrance here. Every year we celebrate liberation day on the island. We have cavalcades of Second World War uniforms and vehicles. Music from the era. And every local on the island has heard tales from their older relatives about what they got up to during the occupation.

sorry for the long reply. this book does that to most islanders. I once gave a tour to some friends of friends who loved the book and after the second stop it was too much for them. They wanted the happy ending not the grim reality.

Any chance of a paperback?

Is Jin ever going to acquire a goat? If he will can you name it scape?

I was late to the party and I am also from Europe, but I would have bought your book without a second thought. Good luck with the soft cover, I'll hopefully own it soon.

Yep. It’s like a breakup, no one else is as good sniffle, sniffle.

Yay! Same!

It's one of my favorite books!

Try reading several books at once to avoid this.

would you mind messaging me to let me know what libraries you found it in?

God when I was younger (early 90s) I went to this village of used bookstores. It was kind of near Wales, I think.

Does that sound familiar to anyone?

BOOKS Peckham, Crofton books and Kirkdale bookshop are some lovely independents in SE London

Aw, jeez.

Daunt Books has an amazing bookstore. Very vintage feel

I've seen this recommendation before and I find it so interesting because I know it wouldn't work for me personally. I am not a re-reader generally, and the thought of re-reading something (even something I know I liked) when in a mood like that makes me feel so bored and impatient.

I’m still sad ghost story by Peter straub is over. I finished that years ago.

That’s such a shame. I have found memories of visiting.

I wouldn't say "unheard of" but one that is definitely overlooked/underrated (it has 862 ratings on Goodreads): The Tall Woman by Wilma Dykeman

Here is an excellent write-up on it: https://crimereads.com/the-strange-rural-noir-of-wilma-dykemans-the-tall-woman/