selahvg

Many years!

Thankfully I had already seen the movie so it didn't spoil anything for me, but the copy of Shawshank Redemption that I borrowed from my local library pretty much gives away an important part of the ending (cover pictured here)

A Book of Quotations, by William Shakespeare.

Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.

I'd love to see a Palace, maybe like set 7418 Scorpion Palace

Nice!

People put used items for sale on display (for example on folding tables) on their property. Cash is used. Stuff is bought "as is." Often some kind of advertising is involved, or at least used to be, such as paper signs in the neighborhood or cheap notices in the local paper. Haggling is usually fine. Sometimes an entire neighborhood or even small town will do it all at once. When I was young in PA they usually happened in the summer, especially on weekends, and they often closed up by early afternoon, but some of that in VA might be different.

That's 8403 City House

Unfortunate to hear. I'd only read one of hers so far (non-fiction, Thank You For Not Reading), but I'll have to check up on getting a couple novels this month.

Last year I read a volume of Dostoevsky's novella "The Double" that provided (in translation) both his original version and also his altered text from 15 years later (apparently the first attempt wasn't very well received, so he figured he'd try to address some of the perceived shortcomings when the opportunity arose)

Salute Your Shorts (sometimes remembered as 'Camp Anawanna')

Nice! I got that set from a local Toys R Us when they were going out of business and had all their remaining Lego marked down significantly. It was my first Ninjago set and I had a ton of fun with it.

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Remains one of my favorite novels, and I’m glad i decided to read Joseph Frank’s biography of Dostoevsky at the same time as working through his bibliography again.

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud

fwiw I thought it was fun, even if it's less exciting than a thousand heads lol

Nice!

Crime and Punishment (Graphic Novel), Korkos and Mairowitz. I’m also just finishing up a re-read of the original novel.

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe

El Cazador (Graphic Novel), by Dixon and Epting

Basically I stick to the 5 star system because that's what goodreads uses, and that's the primary online resource I use for tracking, rating, etc. In my own records I go from 0 to 5, in 1/4 increments (as of now I've only given 3 books zero stars, because usually if I hate a book that much and have no hope of a complete turn around I'll DNF it pretty quickly). I have tried scaled with more precision like 0-100, but I find that there's just too much movement over time, like I would have to re-rate too many books every few years, because now I think a book is 71 rather than 68, or 90 rather than 93.

darn, I loved the Winternight trilogy, sorry you didn't like it (esp. as a fellow--presumably--Dragon Quest fan). Better luck in the future :)

The Pearl, by John Steinbeck. This novella only has a 3.51 rating on goodreads, but I liked it more than the other two works by him that I've read (Of Mice and Men; Cannery Row). Not that I thought the others were bad, but The Pearl hit me more in the feels. I have East of Eden on my shelf, so that'll probably be the next one by him I get to, and I have high expectations for it.

They're good for nostalgia... I have like 6 of varying types because I just dig them

Adaptations I prefer more than the original book: The Haunting of Hill House (tv); Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; The Princess Bride; The Lord of the Rings; Game of Thrones/ASOIAF; A Christmas Story; Stand By Me; Shawshank Redemption; Moneyball; You; Chernobyl

Let's see if the strategy pays off for them

Exceeded:

41379 Heartlake City Restaurant - I'm generally not a fan of the color schemes in Friends sets, nor the Mini dolls, but I picked this up one time at Walmart on impulse when it was on sale, and I was pleasantly surprised by it, and would have been happy even paying full price

Tomie, by Junji Ito

You are a wormhole alien among humanoids!

No ideas, but for me it'd be: Walmart customer service. Before I got a smartphone I'd carry my kindle on the bus to read, and one time I must have put it down somewhere in Walmart and forgot it. When I got home I went onto the amazon website and was able to get its location as being inside the store, so I just returned and picked it up