Wind in the snow.

W. B. Yeats wrote on the endpaper of a copy of his The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933):

Never send a book to an author to be autographed
(1) because he has no sealing wax,
(2) because he has no string,
(3) because he does not know how to tie up a parcel,
(4) because you will probably not get the book back.

Thomas Hardy once showed me a corner cupboard full of such books.
He gave them to his friends on their birthdays.

Taken from http://www.paulkidby.com/faq/index.html

lolobrehm:

I’m not very familiar with Discworld, but I’ve been told that they’re not intended to be read in order and was suggested to read ‘Going Postal’ first.

So, any Pratchett/Discworld fans have a suggestion which one I should read next?

Going Postal is my favourite book of his, but for your next read I would suggest Monstrous Regimen. It’s about a young girl dressing up as a man to join the war to find her brother. It’s a bit dark but yet very funny in Terry Pratchett sort of way. Some parts are not surprising since he borrows from the usual military story cliches but it is a fun fun fun time!

A qoute from it: “Fill your boots with soup!”.
I find that imagery very funny.

(Source: bahnubee)

The book follows Winston Smith, a civil servant of the Ministry of Truth in the city of Airstrip One.
The setting is a future maybe not so far away, a totalitarian society with Big Brother watching your every step. Airstrip One lies in the province of Oceania, formerly known as England.
Winston’s job is to rewrite documents, newspapers, historical facts etc. in any way the government sees fit. The news of today, might be changed tomorrow, or just erased completely. People and entire events are falsified.

The government controls everything and they can see you everywhere. Cameras, microphones and police are on every corner. Privacy is non-existing and the worst part? No one sees the truth, they are brainwashed, just plain ignorant.
Since his job is editing out parts of history that the government don’t like. He realizes that no one else notices. He is the only one who knows the real facts, or at least he knew what the facts were before he changed it. He feels alone in this grey and controlled world. Is there something wrong with him? The doubt he feels about his life, is it right? Or is he the only one who sees the truth about what kind of state he lives in, and what should or can he do about it? I know that if the Thought Police finds out that he doubts the state, he will be erased. He has seen it happen.

One day his friend didn’t show up at work. Winston looked our the list of employees and his friends name was not there. He asks other co-workers and they act like they never knew about that person. Winston’s friend was erased from history and no one noticed. So either the world is wrong or he is.
The story explores Winston’s thoughts about the society he lives in and the fears he have. Winston has a small alcove beside his TV where he cannot be seen, there he writes down is thoughts in a book. In this entire Big Brother, and ”Eyes are everywhere” world, there is one place that he can defy the government and bit by bit revolt against it. If the book is discovered he surely will be executed. Winston changes during the book; he starts to defy the government and gets involved in the underground movement. He tastes his own fear and explores what he can do, tempting the government.

The story of Winston Smith is a very moving one; you will cheer for him and scream at him. You can see the danger lurking near him; the Thought Police is a constant eagle looking down at him. I can’t really say more about this book, spoiling this can be so easy. But its still great literature and truly will make you think one more time on subjects like privacy, security and freedom of speech. This future is maybe so not far away.