There are 44 books in the Discworld, put into 8 collections: City Watch, Witches, Unseen University, Death, Industrial Revolution, Gods, Bolt-On, and Younger Readers. Unseen University (UU) is the first collection I started on, with 8 books in it. Unseen Academicals is the last book in the UU collection. This is my favorite in the UU collection.
The story revolves around Glenda, the Head of the Night Kitchen at UU; her beautiful assistant, Julia; Trevor Likely, Head Candle Dribbler at UU; and Nutt, a mysterious ward of Lady Margolotta from Uberwald who has been sent to UU to blend and to find his worth. The engine that powers the story is football (aka soccer.) The Wizards, led by Archchancellor Ridcully, are forced to revive their football skills — a small accounting matter — and challenge the good citizens of Ankh-Morpork to a friendly game.
Several continuing characters make an appearance, such as Lord Vetinari, the shrewd tyrant of the city; Rincewind, the Wizard who runs from trouble but always saves the world from destruction; Sam Vimes, Head of The Watch; Ponder Stibbons, egghead wizard and jack of all the nitpicky things in keeping a university going; The Librarian, another wizard who is vital to saving the day; Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, street vendor extraordinaire. There are some new characters that lend much flavor to the storyline, including Pepe, troll (or is he?) fashion designer for House Shatta; Dr. Hix, dark wizard required by contract to play impish magic tricks around the university; Charlie, the “animated skeleton who works in the Department of Post-Mortem Communications,” and Andy Shank, the bully everyone loves to hate.
One thing that truly charms me about the book is how Pratchett handles the various romances goin on. There are at least 3 different pairings, and he is masterful in teasing them out over the course of the story. Another is the treatment of Nutt, probably the central figure in the book. I won’t give away any spoilers, but Nutt is truly a stranger in a strange land no less than Michael Valentine was in Heinlein’s book. I adore how Pratchett writes this character and how others interact with him.
Last but not least, the humor is par excellence. Brilliant does not begin to describe it. I was smiling and oftentimes laughing out loud through it all.
If you’re going to read one Discworld book, pick this one.
Tao Talk 
His novel “Small Gods” is one of my all time favorites.
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My goal is to read them all. Am reading them by grouping rather than chronologically. I just started on the Night Watch group. I see there are two listed in The Gods collection. Will plan on reading that group after this one. Thanks for the heads up :)
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Sounds like I have to put yet another book onto my virtual pile!!
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I’m in love with this book. Hoping you get a chance to read it, but I know how it is with the pile…
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It is NUTS! Meanwhile, I keep saying I’m not getting more as I have hundreds of books waiting to be read in my bookshelves! And yet… I just wish I had a library near me with a larger selection. We have a beautiful library in the town of Westmount which is an 11-minute drive from work. I am not a resident so membership is $160/year. Ouch. I would have to know I will use it to its full capacity before I sign up.
We have a spectacular library in Montreal – the largest French library in North America – which is lovely, but I read one French book every 4-5 English ones. Am reading a wonderful one now. Actually, there is a National Geography documentary on this family, subject of my book called “Blink”. Once I am finished the book I will watch it.
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Cool on Montreal Library. Would love to take a North American Library Tour someday. So sorry you don’t have inter-library loans there, Dale. I’d be lost without it as my local branch is small also. What’s the gist of Blink?
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Yeah, that would be cool.
So. Blink is based on a true story about a family from Quebec. They have four kids, and three of their four kids have retinitis pigmentosa and will gradually go blind. So, they decided to fill their children’s eyes with wonders of the world and took them on a year-long trip around the world.
The book is beautifully written by the mother, Edith. She wrote it after sharing their whole journey on social media. The book is more of a bringing it together with impressions, feelings and whatnot. I don’t believe it was translated into English yet. Pleins Leurs Yeux is the title in French, meaning Eye Full.
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<3
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I’ve been working my way through Discworld. This year I’m focusing on the Witches collection. I have to say that the cover art really looks like they’re playing basketball not football.
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Cool on working your way through. The only one I’ve read from the Witches one is Equal Rites. Cannot disagree with you on the cover.
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