false 23 516 432 true 5630092 read 2 true 848728 currently-reading 78 true 848727 to-read 4 true 5535680 dipping-into 106 false 1492920 fiction-2008 78 false 850053 fiction2007 75 false 4048223 fiction-2009 54 false 1870857 fiction-2005 53 false 970315 fiction2006 36 false 850055 previous-nonfiction 17 false 1797553 nonfiction08 12 false 4048224 nonfiction09 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80069182 The Solitude of Thomas Cave (Hardcover) by Georgina Harding
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79617400 to: Plainsong (Paperback) by Kent Haruf
bookshelves: fiction-2009
Interesting similarity with the last book I read in that this also used multiple narratives to build the story, but with very different results. If 'The Problem with Murmur Lee' felt like woman's book, this feels like a mans.

It's a manly world that Haruf creates. It has room for women in it, and they are vital to it, but they must learn to fit in with the spaces set aside for them.

It reminded me a lot of Cormac McCarthy, but a gentler version.

A great example of show don't tell writing. And some lovely subtle connections between the narratives. I will happily seek out more Haruf! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80068255 The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Maguire
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79190552 to: The Problem with Murmur Lee: A Novel (Paperback) by Connie May Fowler
bookshelves: fiction-2009
A nice little story - just what the librarian ordered this rainy week!

I wonder if Fowler has a thing about drowning? her last novel I read also centred on watery death.

I like novels that pull together multiple perspectives. They seem to give an insight into how reality works.

I liked the quirky characters. And I liked the afterlife perspective that Murmur Lee shared with us. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78329076 to: Praying Mantis (Paperback) by André P. Brink
bookshelves: fiction-2009
I didn't really connect with this one. Maybe I made a mistake jumping from a book about one sort of priest to another. I generally like most books about religion and religious types - no real belief myself, but reading about others belief is usually interesting but occasionally such novels fall flat. 'Gilead' springs to mind as failing in the same way.

Like other Goodreads reviewers I found the novel lost momentum during the large central section about the missionary. The sections focusing on Cupido Cockroach were far more engaging. Overall a shame I didn't like it as I've been impressed by most of my previous encounters with Brink.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21975098 to: Be Near Me (Hardcover) by Andrew O'Hagan
bookshelves: fiction-2009
This further confirmed the fact that I really like Andrew O'Hagan's writing. My previous experience was with 'Our Fathers', the memory of which has stayed with me far longer than many novels I read.

And I think this will do the same. His people, what they do, feel, and say seem so real, painfully real. They are flawed and through that feel easier to approach than mere characters.

There are many 'priest gone astray' stories. It's a sad tale told in many ways, but this is one of the best. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79190629 Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives (Paperback) by David M. Eagleman
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79038019 Ice (Paperback) by Anna Kavan
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79038008 Snow Angels: A Novel (Paperback) by Stewart O'Nan
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78171728 Piper (Paperback) by Helen McCabe
bookshelves: to-read
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