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What Are You Reading
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Sara
(last edited Feb 01, 2015 07:37AM)
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Feb 01, 2015 07:36AM
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I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. Martin Cruz Smith's books are enjoyable mysteries. His Moscow polic..."
Barbara, good to know that I am not the only one who notices these anachronisms.
I really enjoyed the Martian as well. Really interesting scifi .
I just finished NOS4A2 and loved it. Horns was good but this was even better.Now I'm starting The Girl You Left Behind for a change of pace.
My favourite book of those I read in January was Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Indeed it was one of the best books I've read in a long while.
As well as taking me to India my January reading took me to Vienna, Northern Ireland, mid-20th century America, 17th century America, Cuba, Istanbul/France, Bulgarians living in London and remote Russian Kolyma. Those who follow my reviews will have them dropping through their updates this week.
My first book for February is set in Somalia: The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed.
As well as taking me to India my January reading took me to Vienna, Northern Ireland, mid-20th century America, 17th century America, Cuba, Istanbul/France, Bulgarians living in London and remote Russian Kolyma. Those who follow my reviews will have them dropping through their updates this week.
My first book for February is set in Somalia: The Orchard of Lost Souls by Nadifa Mohamed.
Theresa wrote: "My favourite book of those I read in January was Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Indeed it was one of the best books I've read in a long while. As well as taking ..."
Theresa - you are inspiring! I will be looking forward to your reviews. I see my TBR pile growing.
I've been meaning to read Ulysses for a long while i'll eventually get to it :P
Gave it a good go twice hated it twice. Thought the style was just horrendous. I shan't punish myself again. If you have to work so hard to enjoy a book its not good.
Feck off Emma :P Though I'm only mad because I can't place a bet on myself :( I got last semester's results today so I'm in good form for a bit of Joyce.
Kevin wrote: "Feck off Emma :P Though I'm only mad because I can't place a bet on myself :( I got last semester's results today so I'm in good form for a bit of Joyce."Glad your in good form for your results
Kevin wrote: "How'd you get on Gav?"Alright but not so good... One shoul get by compensation but that's my fist 'fail' and one other one was close to fail.. loss of 2.1 degree is the hardest part.
Ouch.. Tough going. There are few things as painful as a repeat exam
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I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Talba Wallis is a smart, sassy, computer whiz who applies for a job with a private detective agency run by Eddie Valentino. She shows off her computer skills by handing him a folder with his personal info. Julie Smith writes well drawn characters across racial lines--Talba is black and Eddie is white.
One quote from the book that I liked: "... a shrimp po'boy was still finer than nightingales' tongues."
This is book 1 of the series.
I finished reading Turnstone earlier this week, and it was the first reading miss this year. It was a little too "paint by number" for me. I also finished The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and I was as engaged with this novel as Trelawn was. It is light without being flimsy and optimistic without being treacly. I really enjoyed it. I've just ordered The International and have borrowed Travels with Charley: In Search of America from the library, and I've started a short biography: George Orwell. I'll have plenty to read, in between shoveling snow yet again.
Well I'm in between a few hefty books like Ulysses and The Way of Kings so I decided on a short and sweet interlude of reading Anne Frank's diary. I'm a few pages in and I find I'm getting a bit depressed that such a young girl's life was cut short which is strange when compared to the countless lives lost during the Holocaust. It is also nice to see the individual that is so often lost in the statistic.
A slow reading week between work and other things but getting through Neil Gaimans new collection of short stories.
What's it like Paul? And did you get the signed copy for your collection?
No signed one. Just a normal copy. Its good so far. I'd already read a couple of stories in it from anthologies or graphic novels . One of the stories out of the first six was a bit of a stinker but the rest have been quite good
Kevin if you were looking for relief from the weightier tomes i wouldn't have recommended Anne Frank. It is short and it's a great book but harrowing. It is not an "easy" read.
I agree Trelawn, it was wrong of me to say "short and sweet". It's haunting to know the end of her tragic story while reading about her having teenager issues and trying to break free and express herself, it's heartbreaking.
I've been reading The World According to Bertie (44 Scotland Street, #4) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61.... for well over a week now. I have been distracted by other short books. But with something like the Scotland Street series you can dip in and out of it without disrupting the flow of the story as it was originally serialised.
Trelawn - I love the Bertie series though I know I have some catching up to do.I am listening to The Narrow Road to the Deep North and trying to switch over to the ebook when I can't listen but am not able to keep my place. I am finding it quite good though.
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@ Barbara Bertie is my go to read when I need something relaxing to read. I love reading about the goings on in Scotland Street.
Trelawn wrote: "@ Barbara Bertie is my go to read when I need something relaxing to read. I love reading about the goings on in Scotland Street."They are a kind of "cozy" read and as I love Edinburgh, I love all the details and local color.
The annotated copy of Dracula I'm reading is too heavy for bedtime so I'm going to try Puppet Boy of Warsaw, a book Trelawn has been recommending forever .Like Kevin my choice of light reading is the holocaust
It says a lot about how disorientated our moral compasses are Paul :)
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're book club related, and I've read a good chunk of there areSister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Wednesday book club) Annihilation (Thursday book club), The Name of the Star (Sunday night Skype Book Club). In the second batch to finis will beTravels with Charley: In Search of America and Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia. If I get all those finished I'll launch into something new this weekend :o).
How do you do it Sara? I can commit to a maximum of two books at a time and even then it's usually one fiction and one non fiction.
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I've been dipping in and out of for over a year now. The Name of the Star we've been reading a section a week and then discussing..which has actually been driving me mad. It's so engaging that I want to read more, but then I don't want to risk being ahead of other folks and spoiling things. A change of format also helps. I usually have an e-book (currently Annihilation for instance) and audiobook going in addition to a physical book.
Fair play to you being able to keep it all separate in your head :-)
So I'm currently semi struggling with In Times of Fading Light, the much lauded epic East German novel, but am hoping that, 100 pages in, now that I'm getting used to the time shifts and characters, I'll find the book a little more rewarding.Given our impending visit to Amsterdam this week, I'll be continuing the European theme with some of my reading, taking Susan's recommendation, The Coffee Trader in my case, along with Amsterdam,another in the series of the Heather Reyes anthologies that I love to read when I'm in each specific city. I'll also be bringing The International on the off chance I finish these books, which I may well do, given that relaxation is very much on the agenda during our city break...
My brain is on a go slow this week so I have retreated into the world of Jeeves and Wooster for a break with Much Obliged Jeeves. These stories are always fun and easy to read. After this I am hoping to start in on Howards End which will be my fourth Forster. I enjoy his style and his razor sharp observations on Edwardian English mores and attitudes are always brilliantly recorded.
I just started The Miniaturist and am already engaged in it. Despite being 400 pages, I think it will go quickly.On Audible, I am going to start Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin while it's still Black History month:)
I just finished George Orwell, and it was very helpful for me to understand a bit more about Orwell's life and his influences. I didn't know much at all about him as a person. The bio was a little overwritten at times and lapsed a little too much into summary, but, overall, it was good.
Cathleen, I saw that you were reading the Orwell biography and was interested to see what you thought of it. I've enjoyed some of his non fiction in particular, and believe he led an interesting life.Emma / Barbara, it was only on reading the blurb that I realised that The Miniaturist is actually set in Amsterdam. I think I could pick it up in Tesco for £3.50 to take away with me this week as well, but do you reckon that it'd be a book that I'd like, knowing my usual taste?
We intend to enjoy Amsterdam, but in a cultural rather than hedonistic sense, Emma-thanks! Having been there in the summer, is there anything that you'd recommend us doing? We've no firm plans as yet, aside from using some of the hotel facilities for relaxation purposes...
I would recommend the Anne Frank tour of her house, it's very eerie alan so depends on what kind of weekend your having(not exactly a romantic tryst) and, if you like art, the van gogh museum was fab. I really enjoyed it but I loved art at school and have a print of his sunflower in my house. Something draws me to his paintings. Maybe I'm mad ;) lol
There are some lovely ice cream cafes, pizza parlours and the beer is good ;)
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