The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Somebody described a book to me yesterday. "A vicar(?)s daughter has a nervous breakdown and wakes up somewhere else with a new name unable to remember how to find her way home. She becomes a teacher and becomes awesome, as opposed to how she was before. Eventually finds her way home again, a changed woman."

They couldn't give me an author or a title, but said it wasn't a modern book. :v:

# ¿ Jun 1, 2013 14:29

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 06:43

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Thanks

I tried googling it before but nothing was coming up, that looks like it!

# ¿ Jun 1, 2013 16:44

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

If it helps, that's probably the Forth Bridge, and "Painting the Forth Bridge" is a popular idiom.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2014 12:56

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Rhaegar posted:

This is a really long shot.

When I was a kid (mid 80s) I remember the library/school had this one book that I absolutely loved. It was about a spaceship. I don't remember too many specifics other than it had a really neat physical mechanic where the spaceship would move from page to page through slots in the page itself! I would love to find this book or a similar book for my son.

Hoping someone can help.

Thanks!

I had one of these about a hot air balloon. It had a green cover and a little pocket to keep the balloon in. I think my granddad might still have it somewhere, I'll ask.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2014 14:28

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

^ Make sure to tell the poor guy at Scholastic :v:

Rhaegar posted:

Just wondering if you were able to figure out what this book was called.

Thanks again.

Not yet, I only see him once a week or so and it's a bit of an obscure thing to ask, I'm talking to him on Wednesday so I'll ask then.

While I was looking, for reference other books I've found are ISBN 1855651343, Up and Away! (Really cool, it has a magnet and the balloon kind of slots into the page, also worryingly obscure) and David Woods "Pop-Through-The-Slot" books, neither of which look anything like the one I remember but might help you.

Edit: I found the ones I was thinking of, Ted and Dolly's Magic Carpet Ride and Ted and Dolly's Fairytale Flight, by Richard Fowler. Seems he's worked with David Wood too. [ Link ]

Were you thinking of this one? The Amazing Journey of Space Ship H-20

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 00:20 on Oct 7, 2014

# ¿ Oct 6, 2014 23:30

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

I know this is a long shot, but I'm hoping someone has an idea of this book, or where to dig further.

My grandfather worked on the Manhattan project, and he once gave me a book about atomic energy. I believe it was written in the 50s or 60s, possibly commissioned as a report, possibly not. I only ever read the first quarter or so, which consisted of information about the history of atomic theory and the mechanics of atomic fission. The name was something very simple. I thought it was "Atomic Energy", but I haven't found anything by that name.

I really hope I still have that book in my boxes of books at my dad's place, because I would feel lovely about losing one of the few things I still have of my grandfather's, but if not I'm hoping someone has read the same book and knows what I'm talking about.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/about_us/collections/science_library/new_collections/~/link.aspx?_id=A8419B8CD3294423AE590FB3BF304572&_z=z
Might be able to help.

Immortality Parasite: Could it be this?

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Feb 2, 2015

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 14:46

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Jihad Joe posted:

Right here's a couple that I've been struggling with for a while:

Old man lives in a mansion with animals (possibly farm animals?). He has very specific timings for dunking biscuits in tea. Possibly the house burns down at the end. I suspect this is a kids story or one for young adults.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Ape-Dick-King-Smith/dp/0440863570
Could it be this? I remember reading this one as a kid.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Feb 2, 2015

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 19:22

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

froglet posted:

I know this is a bit late, but you are a wizard. Thanks!

As a note to other lurkers, late is better than never, there's nothing more disappointing than not getting a confirm/deny.

I read the first book of Otherland but floundered around book 2, Tad Williams writes some cool stuff but he doesn't half drag it out sometimes.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2015 14:33

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Rough Lobster posted:

I'm trying to remember the title of this so I can post about it in the awful books thread.

Zombie apocalypse book with a self insert main character who was a cartoonist (I think the author was either a comic book writer or cartoonist or something). The main character is stuck living in a high rise with his neighbors and no one can leave due to swarms of zombies. He's single but has a hot neighbor lady below him. The neighbor lady's rear end in a top hat husband who HATES the protagonist for reasons dies a gruesome death when he falls off a balcony and is eaten. Not long after that Mr Mary Sue and Hot Lady gently caress it out like they secretly always wanted to and its awesome because Mary Sue has a much bigger dick than her recently dead husband. That part is mentioned explicitly. I think at some point a mysterious hipster girl with headphones shows up and the zombies ignore her completely. That's all I remember.

Probably not related to this, but I read a book a few years ago that was similar to this. It was heavily based on I am Legend, might have been called something like "I am Zero" or something. Possibly a 1 word title, fairly sure about the Z. The main character was a vampire and lived in an apartment block and there was some chick appeared at some point who was probably another vampire. It was possibly a free book from some website or other.

Sadly I can't remember it either. :v:

# ¿ Jul 31, 2015 13:07

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Nettle Soup posted:

Probably not related to this, but I read a book a few years ago that was similar to this. It was heavily based on I am Legend, might have been called something like "I am Zero" or something. Possibly a 1 word title, fairly sure about the Z. The main character was a vampire and lived in an apartment block and there was some chick appeared at some point who was probably another vampire. It was possibly a free book from some website or other.

Sadly I can't remember it either.

Found this, I had the title right and everything, it was just so obscure that Google brought up nothing.
Edit: Actual Google brings it up, it's the google alternative I was trying out brings nothing. :suicide:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7460619-i-am-nero

# ¿ Aug 20, 2015 20:28

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

SerialKilldeer posted:

Short story where someone starts uncontrollably "falling" upward, as if gravity had reversed or failed for them alone. I recall them grabbing onto the highest branch of a tree, only to lose their grip. I don't remember how the story ended, though it might have been "all just a dream."

And I'm pretty sure I'm not thinking of Shel Silverstein's poem "Falling Up"; this was a prose story.

Upside Down Harry? Although that was a whole book.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Upside-Down-Harry-Hippo-fantasy/dp/0590133446

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 12:10 on Aug 27, 2019

# ¿ Aug 27, 2019 12:06

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Fantasy book where there's a biographer character who follows the MC from birth(?) and writes down their story. I thought it was Wheel of Time, but google is giving me nothing.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2022 01:37

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I thought it was more rigid than that, so I might be mixing it in with another book. Like an assigned biographer who if they die will be replaced with another and over the course of the series isn't meant to interfere.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2022 02:07

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

That sounds like it, I know I read at least the first one!

-

This one is a long shot, and I've been looking for it on and off for a good decade now. Set in the UK, a boy and his mother run away from his abusive(?) father(?) to live in a caravan, maybe in like a travelling fair or circus. It had a very understated type of british magic in it, I'm pretty sure the title had "caravan" in it or something, but no amount of searching is bringing up anything other than links to the NSPCC.

It wasn't enid blyton, it was probably from the 80s. There was a bit at the beginning where he sees a spiderweb in a hedge and he baits the spider with a leaf or a twig.

It was one of the books I gave away when we moved house around 2008, and it's the only one I've regretted letting go of because I wanna know wtf it was called.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Oct 9, 2022

# ¿ Oct 9, 2022 15:16

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 06:43

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I was gonna say, it's not the second Clan of the Cave Bear book is it? But you probably would have described a lot more weird sex.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2024 22:30

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > The identify that story/book thread: Home of the gas pump boy