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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Prosperos Cell']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69681985
to: Prosperos Cell (Paperback)byLawrence Durrell bookshelves: read-in-2009
Poetic, beautiful - and an obvious choice for a holiday in Corfu. I bought it at the White House, just to complete the whole Durrell experience.
Lovely, just lovely.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Starting over']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69681630
to: Starting over (Paperback)byTony Parsons bookshelves: read-in-2009
I do like Tony Parsons. Warm, funny, very believable characters.
Not quite sure I like any book about a person who needs a heart transplant at 42 - and the acceptance that a person of that age is definitely "middle aged". But obviously I'm in denial, I guess.
Laugh. Cry. And dread the day when your cute little children become teenagers.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69680994
to: Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Paperback)byJunot Díaz bookshelves: read-in-2009
This had great reviews, and was certainly unlike anything else I've read. This warm, funny story is intercut with educational footnotes about the history of the Dominican Republic under Trujillo (my prior knowledge of DR history was less than zero...) and scifi analogies.....really odd but bizarrely engaging.
However a note of caution. Even with (rusty) O level Spanish, I struggled with the enormous number of Spanish phrases and asides in this book. Might be hard going if you have no espanol.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Incendiary']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68847241
to: Incendiary (Paperback)byChris Cleave bookshelves: read-in-2009
Truly original. Horrifyingly convincing. Read it.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Who Runs Britain?: and Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in: And Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68850053
to: Who Runs Britain?: and Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in: And Who's to Blame for the Economic Mess We're in (Paperback)byRobert Peston bookshelves: non-fiction,
read-in-2009
Well, now I understand more about the whole hedge fund and private equity thing. And what Philip Green actually does. And where my bloody pension has gone. I like to imagine that the Thinking Woman's Crumpet is reading this to me himself. (However I was a few cocktails down, when I wrote that, truth be told).
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Testimony']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68851889
to: Testimony (Paperback)byAnita Shreve bookshelves: read-in-2009
Think Dead Poet's Society meets The Secret History. I liked this. A good idea to write about the same episode from the viewpoint (and the voice) of various protagonists. I might try this.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'City of Strangers']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68849738
to: City of Strangers (Paperback)byIan MacKenzie bookshelves: read-in-2009
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'The Glassblower of Murano']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68851420
to: The Glassblower of Murano (Paperback)byMarina Fiorato bookshelves: read-in-2009
A slushy lurve story - but redeemed by an interesting Venice setting, and some well researched background. Ok for holiday reading.
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<![CDATA[Lucy J added 'Loving Frank']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/64769823
to: Loving Frank (Paperback)byNancy Horan bookshelves: read-in-2009
I love Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, and have visited his studio and buildings in Oak Park. This fictionalised account of his relationship with the wife of one of his clients brought to life the few things I'd heard about his unconventional and difficult personal life.
There was a time at the start of this book where I almost gave up - I thought it was heading too much towards romantic fiction and I was irritated by the style. But as I carried on, it grew on me, perhaps as the characters moved into a more interesting phase in their lives.
Now more than ever I'm resolved to go and visit the houses I haven't seen yet, and particularly Taliesin.
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