Goodreads Ireland discussion
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What Are You Reading
You could challenge yourself to read a genre you don't read a lot of trelawn?
Or let me pick one of her books a month
That's a possibility Seraphina. I love Bill Bryson's travel books and was thinking of trying more general travel writing, maybe some Theroux. I actually picked a travel memoir for my South America choice.
@ Paul I think you know the answer to that one :-)
Trelawn wrote: "@ Paul I think you know the answer to that one :-)"LOL I think it should be a non bias 3th party doing the picking
Margo wrote: "Trelawn wrote: "@ Paul I think you know the answer to that one :-)"LOL I think it should be a non bias 3th party doing the picking
In 2016, I'd like to read at least one classic as they never seem to make it into my currently reading list. I'd like to read more non-fiction, a goal I had last year. I managed to read 14 non-fiction books last year fewer than the 17 I read in 2014. Not a good number for a college professor. My non-fiction reads are partly books related to my job, books for one of my book groups that tries to rotate fiction and non-fiction, and books on Northern Ireland.I'll be doing the continental challenge. I read at least one Irish contemporary novel a month thanks to one of my book clubs. I am aiming to read more from my shelves and try to get my book piles under control.
Emma wrote: "It is a very addictive book Margo. I wasn't able to put it down when I read it. I believe thhe rights have been sold for it but there's no sign of a movie."It's just begging to be made into a film Emma. So visual :D
I loved the Night Circus.Such a beautiful book
Paul wrote: "I loved the Night Circus.Such a beautiful book"It really is beautiful. Listening to it had the feel of watching a ballet. I didn't always completely understand what was going on, but it was so beautiful that I didn't feel the need for understanding. Having said that, I bought the kindle version yesterday as it is a definate reread. I always find it hard to follow audiobooks that skip around in time so I think I missed out a bit on that.
A ballet is a great analogy for the book
I loved it too. I look for books like this but they often disappoint as it is hard to deliver this kind of magic.
I agree. Its hard to get a balance for a book like this.
I went to a book reading in Greenwich Village recently at NYU's Maison Francaise. Luc Sante was reading from his new book The Other Paris. I read his book Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York years ago and thought it was the best history of 19th century Manhattan I'd come across. It was especially good at detailing the nefarious activities of the Irish gangs of that period. His new book is along the same lines with a different city as subject. Sante is also a teacher of photography history at Bard College and had made some kind comments on my own photographs a few years ago when I sent them (unsolicited) to him via email. I finally got a chance to thank him for that after the reading.
Just finished Harry potter and the philosophers stone. Here's my thoughts:My first time reading the legend that is now Harry potter and have to say it was every bit as enjoyable as everyone told me. There is constantly something new and magical happening and rowlings biggest talent is her ability to write a good mystery in this one....it's a very good 'who done it' along with a coming of age story of friendships. I can't say it is the best writing ever but her storytelling abilities are brilliant(there must be some Irish heritage there)
The characters make the book and what I feel the film didn't get right was the minor characters, they play far more prominent a role in the book.
Can't wait for the next one...
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I wish I was reading then for the first time. You have Gilderoy Lockhart to look forward to in book 2 :-)
Glad it was everything you expected :-)
Ya it was great and I know potter fans will say I'm mad but it's the only book I've read as an adult that reminded me of the feeling reading Enid blyton's books as a kid gave me. I can see now why there's such a massive following
Not the worst link to make. The sense of adventure and discovery is certainly there
Seraphina wrote: "Ya it was great and I know potter fans will say I'm mad but it's the only book I've read as an adult that reminded me of the feeling reading Enid blyton's books as a kid gave me. I can see now why ..."Agree with every word you've said Seraphina. J K Rowling manages to what every writer dreams of - she creates her own little world and sweep the reader into it. She has certainly polished her writing style since then, but I don't think she will ever outshine the magic of Hogworts :=D
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Sorry to get off topic and sorry this post, won't contain links to the books I'm reading, as you can't insert them easily through the mobile app.
I started the year out by finishing up a couple carryover books from 2015.
The first was listening to the audiobook of the first Michael Forsthye book by Adrian McKinty. I didn't enjoy them quite as much as the Sean Duffy books due mostly I think to the protagonist being less loveable. It was, however, good craic, and McKinty can certainly paint a picture. I particularly enjoyed his look at early 90s NYC through the eyes of an Irish immigrant.
The second was the Women Destroy Science Fiction Issue/Anthology from Light Speed magazine. This was a terrific diverse anthology of great fiction and thought provoking nonfiction. It's definitely up Paul's alley as well as other GRI science fiction fans
The first new book I read in 2016 was "Outlaw Odes," a short chapbook of poetry recently published by one of my high school teachers. In addition to 12th grade Humanities, I took a poetry writing workshop elective with him. The key lesson I remember from it is the power of rooting poetry in specificity and every day objects. Several of the poems in his collection do that quite well. I'll post my favorite when I'm on a real computer. Additionally he has an Irish-American working class background which he draws upon.
I've also been continuing my audiobook/eBook read of all of Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed The Hound of Baskerville a great deal.
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The anthology sounds really good and I am running a theme month for my SFF group next month on women writers so it will definitely be of interest
Last night I decided to pick up my reading journal which I abandoned in 2012 when I got active on Goodreads. I am going to make a monthly page where I list my books for the month including:GRI monthly book (unless I pass it up), my 2 in person book club books, Continental Challenge book (I have to check to see how long we have for each continent). I will also add : a non-fiction book, a book that I still have to finish, at least one mystery/thriller, and a dusty book challenge.
I haven't accounted for audiobooks but they were often overlap with other categories.
I also have to add in GRI quarterly reads.
And I may have books to read related to my job but I find I don't read as many of those as I should.
Right now I am dipping into a cozy mystery Death By Cashmere on my Kindle and picked up Beatsploitation which is for one of my in person book clubs. I want to finish it though it is highly unlikely I will be able to go. On Jan. 15th, my manuscript for an academic text is due and as I predicted I am bogged down at the last minute. The texts with a few exceptions were all written in Spanish or Portuguese and then translated. I can guarantee that you have probably never seen such long sentences in your life. On the weekend I was tearing my hair out over sentences of more than 50 words. Today I had one that was 88 words long. These are the translations into English! I am having to go back to the original and retranslate a great deal as so much just doesn't make sense. Unfortunately as my co-editor is in Brazil and not fluent enough in English, I am going all of the editing. In a way it's fun and interesting but also very hard. I can only do 4-5 hours a day and then have to switch to more mundane tasks like checking the references and citations. I just realized last night I have to translate all of the titles in the references to English!
It is wayyyyy too cold to walk so I am going to yoga tonight for some needed relaxation. It was about -9 C this am and barely 0 C all day.
The cds I ordered of The Weird Sisters arrived this morning. It is for my "live" book club. Sounds interesting :)
That sounds pretty hard work Barbara. Is that on top of your teaching time?
Barbara wrote: "Last night I decided to pick up my reading journal which I abandoned in 2012 when I got active on Goodreads. I am going to make a monthly page where I list my books for the month including:GRI mon..."
Wow, Barbara. That is intense work. Hope it goes more smoothly this last week. When do your classes start?
Margo wrote: "The cds I ordered of The Weird Sisters arrived this morning. It is for my "live" book club. Sounds interesting :)"I've heard good things about that book, Margo.
I just finished The Red House Mystery, but I can't recommend it. I've developed a liking for the "golden age of mysteries" genre, and I think this would likely fit into that category, but this one was obvious and very slow going. Even tedious at times. I only finished it because it was short. I'm not exactly sure what I'll read next. I have a few from the library that were 14 day borrows, so I'll have to get to those.
Cathleen wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Last night I decided to pick up my reading journal which I abandoned in 2012 when I got active on Goodreads. I am going to make a monthly page where I list my books for the month in..."Seraphina and Cathleen - classes start Jan. 19th (Monday the 18th is a holiday). I have the long weekend to do my syllabi. Luckily I have taught these courses before - Fall semester I had 3 courses I'd never taught before so I am feeling fortunate.
The reason I have been doing all the editing during my Thanksgiving and semester break is that I literally had no time to do any of it during the semester.
Cathleen wrote: "I just finished The Red House Mystery, but I can't recommend it. I've developed a liking for the "golden age of mysteries" genre, and I think this would likely fit into that category..."The drawbacks of library books is they have to take priority over anything else I want to read.
I wonder if the newly republished classics from the British Libraries crime classics series are part of this same genre. Savidge Reads has blogged about a couple of the Christmas books - the latest The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel .Hay
Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "I just finished The Red House Mystery, but I can't recommend it. I've developed a liking for the "golden age of mysteries" genre, and I think this would likely fit i..."I like the sound of The Santa Klaus Murder. I think I'll use it as past of a classics challange I'm doing with another group :)
I liked The Santa Klaus Murder. I liked several of the British Libraries series but I like the oldies.
Susan wrote: "I liked The Santa Klaus Murder. I liked several of the British Libraries series but I like the oldies."What my mum calls nice murders ;)
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My review 4/5
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This is the man who designed the flag used by Ireland today, 70 years before adoption. It takes place on 3 continents.
I'm excited to be reading two books dealing with Irish myth: Searching the Sidhe by Barry Fitzgerald and Beneath Blair Mountain by Shannon Barnsley. Stories of the Sidhe interested me so much I wrote Shining Ones: Legacy of the Sidhe. Always good to keep up with other interpretations.
Margo wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "I just finished The Red House Mystery, but I can't recommend it. I've developed a liking for the "golden age of mysteries" genre, and I think this wo..."I liked The Santa Klaus Murder, Margo. I've liked most of the British Library Crime Classics that I've read...and I love their covers :)
I'm about to finish The President's Hat, one of the books I have to return to the library, and it's been pure reading pleasure. Francois Mitterrand forgets his hat one night at a brasserie, and every person who wears the hat from that point forward feels changed, able to do things he or she couldn't or wouldn't have done before wearing the hat. It's a little magical and whimsical, and so far, a really good read.
Cathleen wrote: "I'm about to finish The President's Hat, one of the books I have to return to the library, and it's been pure reading pleasure. Francois Mitterrand forgets his hat one night at a br..."Sounds good.
Cathleen wrote: "I'm about to finish The President's Hat, one of the books I have to return to the library, and it's been pure reading pleasure. Francois Mitterrand forgets his hat one night at a br..."Added it to my ginormous To Read list.
Susan wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "I'm about to finish The President's Hat, one of the books I have to return to the library, and it's been pure reading pleasure. Francois Mitterrand forgets his hat ..."The President's Hat does sound good. I've added it to my TBR.
Well done Emma. What did you think of it?
I got the audiobooks in a sale a few years back. Made a couple of false starts but the story did not seem to grab me enough to justify investing 35 hrs of my time in! Used to love the huge doorstoppers in print but they can be a bit daunting in audio.
Do you think it's worth another go?
Emma wrote: "I'd say so. It's a bit like a soap with all the different characters and stories. You do have to stick with it for a bit. You need to get to the 10 - 20% mark before you're totally hooked especiall..."I am pretty sure this is the favorite books of one my favorite poets Sineed Morrissey. I saw the heft of it and realized it'd be a while before I could ever handle reading it. but I am going to put it on my TBR list.
I have about 50 pages left in Beatsploitation by Kevin Curran and published by Liberties Press. I am really impressed by this first novel. It is so much more than a first novel dealing with being a late 20-something, a teacher, in an indie band, a long relationship that needs to go somewhere or end, the housing situtation in Dublin, immigrants, racism and probably more. Yet it never seems forced - just very real.
Emma wrote: "Sounds really interesting Barbara. Going on the TBR. There really are some interesting new voices coming out of the indie presses in Dublin at the moment."I recommend it highly!
Just back from my book club meeting. Our book for this month is All the Light We Cannot See which seems to have gone down well with this group :-)
Margo wrote: "Just back from my book club meeting. Our book for this month is All the Light We Cannot See which seems to have gone down well with this group :-)"I gave it 5 stars which I don't do alot. I think you'll like it.
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Goodreads Ireland
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In combination with these I'm challenging myself to always have a print/ebook in my currently reading list. I'm purpusly not defining a time frame for that as I would be too tempted to cherry pick short books! My reading is improving with practice and I need to keep at it - audiobooks are too tempting