Images and Messages Rescued from the Past - Talking Pictures

I loved this book. I truly enjoyed taking a peek inside people that are long forgotten. Each photo has so much to say. Chapter 5 about Janet Lee made me shed tears. I still go back to that chapter and have a million questions that I with I could get answers to.

Ransom Riggs is my new favorite author! I loved Miss Peregrine and Hollow City! Talking Pictures is a great coffee table book. I receive lots of compliments on the many pictures that he has picked out.
Thanks again for some great entertaining books!

This is not a novel, just a book of pictures. A book of captivating photos from yesteryear. What makes it so captivating are the comments written on the pictures and the stories they tell. This is a great coffee table book which will invite interesting conversation.

This story will have you looking and re-checking! Funny how some of the people in the pictures seem familiar! Like you were looking at some picture book from your Grandparent. You will laugh and cry as well. Worth the read!!

I'd been spoiled by "Mrs. Pelegrin's..." and was expecting more of the same. This isn't. On the other hand it had great pictures and captions that still let your imagination run and that made up for it. I enjoyed it. Rather like going through my old old family pictures and wondering what was going on.

I am from Florida as is the author and the pictures and humor are of a kindred spirit His books Hollow City and Miss Peregrines home for Peculiar Children are Very much in the Potter vein however with an even darker twist due to the realism contained

A very enjoyable book. Looking at these old photographs gives you a look at past history and events and ways of life lost to us now. There are some that bring back memories of childhood and others that are very thought provoking. Wish it had been longer!

The pictures are interesting. The idea that people threw some of these out and that you are left wondering who they are and where they are is intriguing. But,I must admit I was a little disappointed. I had read his novel which included highly interesting and odd photos and expected more of those in this book. I wish he had done that and I wish that he had a least a few stories about these photos,even if he made them up. The book needs something....

Very short, I could have looked at way more of those pictures. I loved it! Can't wait for more from him, especially the next in the Miss Peregrines School For Peculiar Children. Ransom Riggs is amazing so far!!

This is a book of vintage photographs just like it said. I found that even though I really enjoy looking at the photos it's not a book you would pick up and look at again and again. All the photos have captions to them...which the person who took them wrote on the back. I think I would have loved the book had it been a book of vintage photos and maybe a paragraph feom the author that told soke sort of story...or even something silly as a captain. As it was some of the captians I have problems reading and other times I just wanted a little more knowledge of the photo.
Grab it is you love looking at old photos again and again skip it if once you've seen the photos you have no interest in looking at them over and over.

Ok, I am a lover of old photos. I go to sales as Riggs does and look at them, I have a few of my own that I have purchased. I was really excited for this book. So when I remebered it was out, I bought the ebook version. And I enjoyed it. However, I was hoping for more story telling. I love the way he did that in the prior book he wrote, I enjoyed that book so much; I have been hoping for the story to continue and get a book two. Instead we got this one, which, as I have said was cool, but flat. I am not like the reveiwer who wanted money back, no no, that is not how the world of publishing and the art of writting works, this book is an art, and so is the collecting of the photos. It just needed more meat. If you love photos or history this book is for you.
p.s. I love the pictire of the guy in, what looks like the Majave dessert, pretty cool!

Absolutely loved author Riggs's "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children". Loved it and was hoping for more of the same with this book. However, having bought this book online, I didn't have the opportunity to go through the pages first.....I was hoping this was another book similar to "Miss Peregrine's......". This book has old postcard photos with quips or comments about each photo. Slightly humorous, but mostly uninteresting. Most of the photos weren't that unusual and most of the comments were dry. So sad, what a let down. I am however looking forward to the next installment of the Miss Peregrine's series.

i thought the premise of the book was unique and i was very excited to get it. good thing i bought a used copy because it was disappointing. the photos were ok, same as the old photos in my family's albums. the writing on the backs, funny in some cases, but again nothing unique.

the reproduction of the photos was lousy in some cases and some of the words weren't readable and there was no transcription.

if i go through a book of photographs, i expect to be able to remember some special ones. i can't recall a single photo from the book. the one on the cover is the best image.

save your money and borrow from a library.

After reading his work I was expecting much more. It is no fun trying to look at tiny pictures, all the while wishing they were at least large enough to enjoy the beauty, ugliness, and wilderness of each.

I had read his other book, "Peculiar Children" and loved it. I couldnt wait for this book to come out and got it on Kindle as soon as I saw it. Pretty disappointed. Its nothing but pictures, showing what the photographer wrote on the back. No story, just lots of pictures of unknown people. Some were interesting, most not...

I am disappointed, but this is mostly my fault. I have so loved Riggs' other books that I didn't even bother to look at the description for this one - I just preordered it. It's an interesting project, but not a story. I love Riggs' ability to weave a complex intriguing tale, and I think his goal was to do it in pictures rather than words. If this one done by anyone else, I would have no real complaints. But when you wait months for more of Riggs' prose and you get a photoalbum, it is hard not to be disappointed.

Don't worry Riggs, I've already preordered your untitled book coming out next spring! (After reading the synopsis, that is :))

Riggs is the author of two great books about Peculiar Children: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City. The third instalment in the series will be published soon.

The amazing thing about these books is that they are based on real photographs found by Riggs and friends in Op Shops, car boot sales and anywhere else where people dump old photographs.
The photos are unusual in that they portray children and adults in bizarre ways. It's based on old dark room tricks when printing the photos, which are included in the text of each story.

In this book, Riggs has published a collection of his own photographs and tells a bit of a story about them. He began collecting a s a young boy and continues today. He only collects photos that have writing or captions on them. It is a truly astonishing and moving book. Each photo tells a story and each caption is a slice of life. Well worth getting hold of this book.

Much enjoyed.

This book was perfect for me because I have a collection of over 4,500 old photos taken by strangers...in my case, color slides in 3-D taken of everyday family life during the 1950s. I have had a lifelong love of anything 3-D (movies, comic books, View Master, etc.), plus I grew up during the '50s. This book, in my opinion, is a mirror on life itself (as well as life that has ended). I agree with the reviewer that wished the author had gone into some detail on finding and buying vintage photos. The sad thing is that most of the digital photos taken today will end up lost in la la land in the years to come, never to be seen again.

After reading the two books published so far in the Miss Peregrines series, I simply wanted more. I was very taken with the idea of a book being written around vintage photographs. Since Book three is not available yet, I treated myself to this book. Treated myself is a great way to describe it, because I enjoyed looking at and reading every single page. Riggs found what is, as far as I know, a unique idea and he ran with it. I myself am glad he did. I look forward to more from this quirky and talented author

Now that the various electronic gismos are in wide use, from children who are just learning to read to the elderly from the age when privacy was sacred, there are few moments that remain private: everything is available by Google or Facebook or Twitter or any of the other means of instantly sharing photographic images of people, couples, families or minor indiscretions! So if everything that is currently happening is public information, what about those mementoes form the past that have been settled in an old shoebox awaiting discovery by inquisitive eyes exploring the past?

Ransom Riggs has found a way to bring the past up to date with this charming and entertaining book of photographs that happen to have annotations attached. He apparently combed through almost a half million photos fathered form friends, collectors, thrift shops, and old bookstores and settled on the ones from which he could create stories or at least connect the unapparent dotted lines between disparate images that contain a thee or thread of connection.

What has resulted is a scrapbook format grouped into `chapters' such as `Life during Wartime'. What makes it all work so well is Riggs inherent good nature - and his skill honed in achieving a master's degree in film production. The result is a book of peaks into the memories of each of us - and it is a delight! Grady Harp, October 12

Like Ransom Riggs, I like looking at old photographs. Riggs goes a step further and collects photos with writing on them. The photos were an interesting look at many different moments in history. I enjoyed looking at the old cars, clothing, and hairstyles. Riggs could publish a dozen of these books and I would most likely want to see them all. When I picked up the book, I thought I was going to see more of the bizarre photos like in his book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. These photos are nothing like those, but enjoyable to look at just the same.

Mesmerizing book. It took me about 4 hours to go through the entire book, but I feel like it was money well spent. I'm sure I will pull this out many times in the future to look through it again. The pictures are just fantastic and put you in a whole other world entirely. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I would definitely order the paperback copy instead of ordering it digitally.

After reading Ransom Riggs other books , I thought this would be the same interesting novel. I guess I should not have assumed it was a novel, it is not. Although this contains some interesting old photos. It's hardly worth the money.

This book is full of pictures from the past! I find it very interesting to see what people looked like, how they dressed, their surroundings and even their sense of humor! I think the book is worth having but I am a person who stops to look at old pictures when I see them, anywhere! I love how he compiled them. I hope he will do another book like this one! Real people just living life, lost pictures being shared with everyone and it brings them alive again. some of it is sad and some of them leave you wondering what happened to them? Great Job Riggs :) Thanks for sharing

Bought this for our Teenage daughter who is very much into older photos.Some of these pics will have you wearing an expression like the one on the cover :)Other pics will really tug at your heart strings.This is not a reading book as it just features the pics with a brief statement.Glad we bought this and it is a great Coffee Table book and conversation starter.

Wonderful compendium of photos. When put together with personal captions the pictures become more than that one moment in time. Just when I was going minimalist thinking photos should be tossed I have proof to value them. Great snapshot of Americana.

My wife purchased this for me as a Christmas gift after I enjoyed the pictures sprinkled through the author's novel, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." This isn't a novel, so don't expect that. It's a picture book and can be read in one sitting, but it's also one you may feel compelled to read again and again.

I've always been fascinated with old photographs - the fact that a moment of time was captured and then, over the years, time passed the subjects by. Some are dead. Some are far older. Some have been lost or even forgotten. The photos Riggs chose for this volume are haunting and poignant, and the scrawled captions that accompany them are both mysterious and revealing.

One particularly touching chapter focuses entirely on the photos of a single little girl.

If you are a fan of history and enjoy looking at snapshots into neglected corners of the past, this book will be a great addition to your library.

The book is wonderful. Each found photo giving you a clue to what or who is in the image. I collect old pictures like these and it is always such a treat to find one with clues on the back. Sometimes they break your heart, sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it confuses you more than the image itself.
This is a FANTASTIC collection. Well Organized and so much fun to go through.

Very disappointing. Maybe, I read more into some of the other reviews that were given. If you enjoy looking at old pictures, then this book is for you, because that is what the book is, pictures. Otherwise, save your money. Judging from this book, I don't know what kind of an author Mr. Riggs is. Some of his other books look interesting, but, after my disappointing experience with this one, I am very reluctant to purchase another one of his works.

Wonderful idea, to turn discarded personal images into a book that others can access and enjoy. I also love old photographs and wonder about who would let these treasures end up in flee markets and rummage sales. Maybe the people who cared are dead and gone, or the personal memories associated with the images are too painful to hold onto.

This was funny, sad and thought-provoking. A very interesting look at other people's lives. Made me realize we need to actually print out some of the photos on our cellphones to pass on to future generations. I loved it!

There's no storyline. Every page is it's own story. I enjoyed this book, but it's more a presentation piece than a book per se. I really wish it had been longer and that the author had included his own commentary. Such things as where the photos were found, in what circumstance, his interpretation of the meaning of the photo and/or situation in which the photo was taken etc. would have made the book much more interesting. I guess what I am trying to get across is while perusing the pages and upon finishing the book I was left wanting more.

As I perused this book, each picture did create a story in my mind. I can understand how a master creative mind like Ransom RIggs was stimulated into writing his book series of Mrs. Peregrines Peculiar Children and The Hollow.

Compared to his last book, Talking pictures was a waste of my money. However i enjoyed some of the pictures there is no story line or a story at all. i was completely disappointed and let down. didnt even take me 15 to go through the book. it was so horrible . I looked forward to this book and even pre-ordered it.  I want a refund.I felt giving it one star was too much for this book. He couldhave done so much better. Do not waste your money. Go to the store and flip through the book before you buy it.