Andrea’s Comments (group member since Sep 13, 2012)

Andrea’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

Picked up a little treat at the Salvos today, The Rose Grower by Michelle de Kretser At $5.25 it was a little more expensive than usual, but it is a hardcover in pretty good condition so I can't complain.

Frances wrote: "If anyone should have suffered, it should have been Ben. I wish he had been hit by a bus on more than one occasion..."

Frances, you make me want to read it even more!

Thanks Carolyn. I must have missed this originally so I'm glad you posted a reminder. I read a sample of Confessions of a Paris Party Girl a few months ago and quite enjoyed it, so I've requested a copy from Vicki.

Regina wrote: "I forgot I had one left to go and was about to read a different book. I'm not sure if I can finish Pride and Prejudice by the end of the month but I'll give it a go."

I hope you have better luck than me - it took about 3 years for me to finish Pride and Prejudice!

Kira wrote: "I've just finished The Tailor's Girl by Fiona McIntosh. 5*. Absolutely fantastic and my heart is aching.

I don't think I'll have time for the Thorn Birds. Which is a..."

Kira, you're making me excited to read that one soon!

Jo wrote: "Just finished reading A Man Called Ove i gave it 5 stars."

I've just started reading it this morning. So many people here have enjoyed it, I'm expecting big things.

Carolyn wrote: "I haven't read Anzac Girls: The Extraordinary Story of Our World War I Nurses but I enjoyed The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally, also about the WW..."

Actually I'm pretty sure it's screening on Ch10 tonight!

Sending good vibes to everyone who was up in the middle of the night to get ready for dawn services; now probably ready to go back to bed.

Any topical reading to recommend? Over the past few weeks I've read Bereft (Western front), Ronan's Echo (Western front - Fromelles), Nightingale (Gallipoli) and am currently halfway through Anthem for Doomed Youth (WWI poetry). Enjoyed them all very much and have learned a lot.

I've finished my historical romance, Nightingale, a 4* read for me. Looking forward to reading the rest of Fiona McIntosh's historical novels.

B the BookAddict wrote: "I've started Hunting and Gathering by book Anna Gavalda. I have no idea how this book came into my reading radar but I am enjoying it. One of those purely character dr..."

I enjoyed the movie a few years back, and have often wondered whether I should read the book. Sometimes I find translations a bit tedious, but it sounds like this might be a good one.

Marianne wrote: "I picked up a reserve at the library today River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh because I want to read it before Flood of Fire which is coming out this year"

That's exciting Marianne - I love Amitav Ghosh.

Thanks to everyone who was commenting on Good Reading Magazine the other day. I'd never heard of it so I borrowed a few editions from the library yesterday and I'm really quite impressed with it. I might even become a subscriber and keep my fingers crossed for a box of books on my doorstep too ;-)

Sarah wrote: "I just started The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman. Was I supposed to resist something with that title?"

LOL Sarah, that's practically Goodreads clickbait! (Yes, I clicked...)

Brenda wrote: "What about books which weren't purchased/obtained from Amazon Neville? If they didn't originate there, would they still be available and retrievable?"

Like Neville, I also archive the books I've bought on Amazon - cloud storage means they are only a click away.

As for the many that were not bought on Amazon, I keep copies on my computer and follow routine backup protocols there.

I keep all my travel guides in a collection on my Kindle, but must admit I am not as organised with other books. At the moment I have about 20 pages of titles of books 'on hand' so it could do with a cull.

It's not usually my thing, but today I made a start on a poetry collection, Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen. And when I say I made a start, I mean I read the first poem - "1914" - before I went to work, and I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. Powerful stuff.

"Now begin famines of thought and feeling."

I finished my historical mystery, Ronan's Echo, last night - 4*. And this morning I found myself straight into the Anzac Cove landing in my historical romance Nightingale. Quite fast-paced so far.

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Is there a way for me to add all the links to the challenges I'm involved in onto my profile page under the "Events I'm attending" section? This is to make it easier for me to readily access those ..."

I don't know if this helps Julie, but what I've done is added personal challenge (and other group challenge) details in the comments under my main 2015 Reading Challenge so that it's always available from my homepage. It's not exactly what you wanted, but achieves the same result in a roundabout way.

I've just been watching this while I caught up on the ironing (urgh). I think I'm changing my mind about An Untamed State... None of them 'liked' it, but I found most of the discussion quite intriguing, so I might read it after all (but not in a hurry).

There was a moment of holding my breath when Marieke revealed she had been reading my favourite novel - Bel Canto - will she like it, won't she??? Phew - she loooved it. Not that I care, just that if she didn't like it, I would prefer not to hear her cut it down the way she sometimes does.

Finally, the discussion of My Place was really interesting. I went through school too early to have been exposed to this as part of the curriculum, but I remember my younger brother having it on his reading list. Now it's going on my TBR.

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Loved Ronan's Echo Andrea! Hope you enjoy it too."

It hooked me straight away! I can tell I'm going to like it a lot.

And me - I'm reading Ronan's Echo first.