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October 10
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margueya
is currently reading:
The Double Bind (Hardcover)
by Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads author!)
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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October 08
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margueya
gave
to:
When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Kate Atkinson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in October, 2008
margueya said:
"Wow this was awful. It appears that I am in the minority on this site for thinking, Kate, what went wrong?? This book basically took everything she's good at - the humor, the relatable characters - and exchanged it for grizzly scenes, overdone play...more
Wow this was awful. It appears that I am in the minority on this site for thinking, Kate, what went wrong?? This book basically took everything she's good at - the humor, the relatable characters - and exchanged it for grizzly scenes, overdone players and poor writing.
Jackson Brodie has basically become an all emotional man with a Superman complex (the transformation that started in the last book now complete)whose personality feels flat and forced, Louise comes back and is now basically all edge with the mildly interesting issue of being married to a man who is 'too good' for her (yet this remains rather one dimensional and undeveloped, with very little subtelty), and then we have the unoriginal kid sleuth, the sixteen year old who is smarter than the grown ups and overall, super annoying. I didn't get this mystery at all, and the gore it involved was more than I bargained for. I diidn't even see traces of the Atkinson I have faithfully read and found this to be disappointing and a meaningless read. The bulk of the story seems to take place in the characters heads, a rather irritating place to be as they all ruminate all day (while being held at knife point)and have the pretentious habit of quoting everything from Yeats to the Beatles to further express their fragmented musings. No recommendations here....less
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October 07
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New comment on margueya's review of
One Good Turn
(see all 4 comments)
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October 06
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margueya
gave
to:
One Good Turn (Hardcover)
by Kate Atkinson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in October, 2008
margueya said:
"A very good read, with Atkinson's usual (less impressive as she keeps doing it, IMO) flair for combining various characters who should have nothing to do with each other yet are all involved somehow in some big mystery. While it was better than most...more
A very good read, with Atkinson's usual (less impressive as she keeps doing it, IMO) flair for combining various characters who should have nothing to do with each other yet are all involved somehow in some big mystery. While it was better than most sequels, ie, I still found the recurring characters interesting and the plot was good, I found that one of the recurring characters was like a different person this time around, and rather unrealistically sketched whereas last book she was a very enjoyable read, and her relationship was a whole different planet with the other recurring character such that it seemed like a completely different story. This detracted from the overall effect, and I also found that Atkinson's major flaw as a quasi crime writer was even more pronounced in this work than in Case Histories in that she will have lines like, but just then a man jumped behind him and hit him over the head repeatedly with a bat and knocked him unconscious." Whew, that sure was scary. Her delivery is very dry and as if she just remembered that some action is supposed to happen and it ends up sounding bizare. Plus all the coming together of the characters felt very ridiculous a lot of the time, and while I enjoy her a lot more because she isn't a real mystery writer, it sort of felt like a genre-less book to me.
Anyway, this is me being my usual picky self and also comparing it to her other book which my brother would hit me over the head for, should he exist and read goodreads. All things considered, it's a very enjoyable read and I would certainly recommend it, just with the disclaimer that Behind the Scenes at the Museum, I feel is still her best and that Case Histories is better than this one....less
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October 03
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margueya
took the never-ending book quiz.
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October 02
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margueya
gave
to:
Morningside Heights: A Novel (Paperback)
by Cheryl Mendelson (Goodreads author!)
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in October, 2008
margueya said:
"I think I finally get what I don't like about this author. She is an interesting blend - clearly smart and articulate, yet her fiction is dry and almost mathematical in its exactness and presentation - hard to really explain, but it's as though she ...more
I think I finally get what I don't like about this author. She is an interesting blend - clearly smart and articulate, yet her fiction is dry and almost mathematical in its exactness and presentation - hard to really explain, but it's as though she is really a non fiction writer or a scientist trying her hand at a novel because hey, writing is writing.
This is the first in a trilogy about Morningside Heights and the issues its denizens face which is a little interesting, and in truth the ensuing soap operas do hold my attention even if the characters feel hollow to me - the overall narrative is also forced, as if the author thinks every detail of the day needs to be sketched for the reader so that the reading experience is more didactic than entertaining or engaging.
Her stuff is mindless enough and easy to finish, but I just keep getting annoyed at places where the poetry is missing....less
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New comment on Sara's review of
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
reply to this comment
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September 28
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New comment on Sara's review of
Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel
(see all 2 comments)
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September 25
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margueya
gave
to:
Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel (Paperback)
by Kate Atkinson
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in September, 2008
margueya said:
"This was awesome!!!! Nothing to take off a star for aside from occasional confusion and lengthy tangents (very occasional and really only at the end) - the narrator is hillarious and I had a very hard time putting this one down. A character who kno...more
This was awesome!!!! Nothing to take off a star for aside from occasional confusion and lengthy tangents (very occasional and really only at the end) - the narrator is hillarious and I had a very hard time putting this one down. A character who knows both too much and too little about her family puts her dark humor and wit to work as she outlines generations of betrayal and horribleness - what I liked about another of her books, Case Histories, was how she manages to make dysfunctional families so incredibly humorous - here it's even more true and so so enjoyable. I strongly recommend....less
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September 23
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New comment on miriam's review of
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
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