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What Are You Currently Reading? (doesn't have to be an Aussie book)
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Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen
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Aug 09, 2012 09:03PM
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Michael wrote: "Thank you Brenda it was a great read. :)I started this one a little bit earlier after having it recommended to me by my namesake moderator.
The Sense of an Ending"
I love that book, but it's not ever everyone
I've just finished Jar City. What's amazing about it is that it's still intriguing -- despite the fact that practically everyone in it is strange, idiopathic, stilted or weird of expression, practically autistically disconnected from reality, and committed to viewing everything generically and without depth or dimension, as though through the filter of a bad fifties cop drama. Dragnet, possibly, though without the empathy.
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Brenda wrote: "It sounds ok Mark....not sure that I enjoy the writers from Sweden and Iceland though...I've read a couple, Liza Marklund was one who comes to mind, and I didn't enjoy her work."No, the weird thing is that, despite the autism, bleakness, solipsistic disconnectedness and a translation that appears to have been performed by extraterrestrials familiar only with Farsi and Morse Code, it's actually a pretty riveting noir -- as in event-horizon-of-a-black-hole noir -- formula police procedural. I don't think Liza Marklund is too bad, but I generally read Oslo telephone books instead.
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No..."
I'd be no good with Oslo telephone books...a) the writing would be too small...b) I wouldn't be able to understand it anyway!! ;P
Brenda wrote: "Mark wrote: "Brenda wrote: "It sounds ok Mark....not sure that I enjoy the writers from Sweden and Iceland though...I've read a couple, Liza Marklund was one who comes to mind, and I didn't enjoy h..."" Oslo Telefon kataloger er faktisk veldig spennende." -- Liza Marklund
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I finished The Rose of Sebastopol this morning, for the August "Cover" challenge. I'm about to write my review, and will clarify my thoughts as I do. Initially I disliked this book, and by the end I was totally into it. So for that reason I recommend it. Set in the Crimean war.Now on to my next book, not sure which. Maybe How to Eat Like a Tree: Unearthing the Moderate Eater in You for the "Cover" challenge, or back to The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating.
Mark wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Mark wrote: "Brenda wrote: "It sounds ok Mark....not sure that I enjoy the writers from Sweden and Iceland though...I've read a couple, Liza Marklund was one who comes to mind, and I..."Well, I did a review that's probably even more demented than the book, so I suppose it all evens out. I'm now back on to "Varslet," "Installing Linux on a Dead Badger" and "Hævnens Gudinde." I'm thinking I ought to read something that's not insane or indecipherable relatively soon, but my queue keeps rearranging itself.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
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Mark wrote: "The only graphic novels I've read were the Darkhorse ones following up on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (of which I was unduly enamoured because it was.. you know, Whedon), but they seemed to..."Mark, there are French books for Kindle. Try Amazon.fr and search "livres en français". I don't know what you read, but books by Marc Lévy are quite popular at the moment. My husband loves books by Marek Halter. They all have a true historic background.
You can also search "livres gratuits en français" and you'll find books by Baudelaire, Stendhal, Hugo and many more.
Just read another James Patterson stand-alone Kill Me If You Can and I notice that he drops a lot of brand names (my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) as does Patricia Cornwell. I bet these best selling authors get lots of kickbacks.....what do you reckon? In the book I just read, Patterson mentions cars and luggage and watches and pens, just to name a few. Although Karin Slaughter says she keeps mentioning new BMWs but no-one has given her one yet, LOL.
Brenda wrote: "I finished XO by Jeffery Deaver last night...started yesterday morning! My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."this one's on my wishlist....
Brigitte wrote: Mark, there are French books for Kindle. Try Amazon.fr and search "livres en français". I don't know what you read, but books by Marc Lévy are quite popular at the moment. My husband loves books by Marek Halter. They all have a true historic background.Thanks, Brigitte. I wouldn't mind reading Marc Lévy at all, but "Et si c'était vrai," "Si c'était à refaire" and "La première nuit" are all unavailable for purchase in the United States (except, of course, in translation) for reading on the kindle, unless your Amazon account (and credit card) happen to be registered in the European Union. Because, you know, it would be terribly dangerous if actual French words happened somehow to infiltrate the electronic noösphere (or know-nothing-o-sphere) of the US. I actually initiated a long discussion on this subject on the thread "livre numérique" of Francophonie, starting with message #23, here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...
in which European members were complaining of the reverse phenomenon, but I don't know if you can access it if you're not a member, so herewith my first comment, with apologies for the non-English content to other Aussie participants:
Ce qui m'agace à en hurler, c'est l'impossibilité posée en principe par des règles territoriales dérisoires et offensives à la raison humane de télécharger des livres kindle écrits en français et disponibles en France si on habite aux États-Unis (siège, après tout, de la corporation Amazon). Le site amazon.fr vous en prohibéra catégoriquement. Ça m'affole, vraiment.
(Roughly, it says that what ticks me off so I want to scream is this stupid prohibition by Amazon.)
Anyway, I'm apparently not the only one intensely frustrated, or who has tried all sorts of devious workarounds to no avail, but the fact remains: I can't buy contemporary French books (in French) electronically, and nor can anyone else who's "fiscally located" in the United States. I don't know what the situation is if you live in Australia, which is not EU, but it'd probably be ok if your kindle were registered in France. "Free" classic works I can obtain, but I have, frankly, already read most of them (albeit many years ago), and I'm not that eager to re-read Hugo or Molière. So there you have it: linguistic blockade, for no reason that anyone on either side of the Kindle Curtain can figure out. It is kind of you to want to help, though, but "Amazon a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point." (Pascal: Amazon has its reasons, that reason knoweth not.)
Marianne wrote: "Just read another James Patterson stand-alone Kill Me If You Can and I notice that he drops a lot of brand names (my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) as does Patricia Cornwell..."I have no doubt, whatever. Patterson appears to be operating a major "cottage industry," in any case, what with all his innumerable co-authors.
Mark wrote: I have no doubt, whatever. Patterson appears to be operating a major "cottage industry," in any case, what with all his innumerable co-authors."Oh, yes, I am sure of that. His co-written books aren't a patch on the early stuff he did alone
Here's an interesting coda: I find that I *can* actually buy Marc Lévy's books for the kindle -- in German! Well, I can actually read German (more or less), but why on Earth would I want to read a German translation of a French book, when I'd rather not even have to read the English translation? The whole, international electronic books scene is just... what's the term of art? Nuts!
Marianne wrote: "Mark wrote: I have no doubt, whatever. Patterson appears to be operating a major "cottage industry," in any case, what with all his innumerable co-authors."Oh, yes, I am sure of that. His co-writ..."
Not that he started out as James Joyce, but agreed: the recent stuff is... uh, less terrific.
Currently reading Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton.Riveted
Mark wrote: Not that he started out as James Joyce, but agreed: the recent stuff is... uh, less terrificI totally agree. I was at a literary lunch recently and someone told me Patterson gives the co-writer the outline and they write the book, which wouldn't surprise me in the least. It was never capital L literature, but now some of it is downright rubbish. Toys ia a good example.
Dale wrote: "Currently reading Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton.Riveted"Great to hear Dale. It's on my tbr list
Afterwards
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Loved that one Dale:)
I'm reading Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness, its book two in her trilogy, following A Discovery of Witches, I must say, I'm loving myself sick reading it!
Dale wrote: "Currently reading Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton.Riveted"Good to hear, I have that one of my shelf. Bought it to read on an overseas flight but ending up sleeping.
Afterwards: A Novel
Will post my review of Afterwards this week sometime. i finished it yesterday.Worth reading.
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by C.J. Box :)"I have a project (which is going to take a very long time) to read all the Edgar Best Novel Award winning ..."
I'm not far in yet Cliff, but so far, so good!
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This is the review to your link Dale http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Great one too:)
I'm almost finished Eleven Minutes. It's an easy read that still manages to be thought provoking and interesting.After that I'm moving on to The Art of Fielding. My main reason for buying this was because the author received a $700,000 advance, and this was his first book. I take that to be a pretty good sign that it's at least readable. It looks like a pretty cosy, easy-going read.
Brenda wrote: "Dale wrote: "My review of Afterwards is now up http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92..."This is the review to your link Dale http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Great one..."
I think it is actually the "link to her review," Brenda, but I think it would be neglectful to omit the "review to her link," so I have undertaken to supply it:
Dale's Link. *****
This is one of the truly classic links, starting with a thematic nod to the very excellent hypertext transport protocol, a well-placed colon, and two aggressive forward slashes, that metaphorically enunciate the profound tripartite structure of the heart-tugging call to the IP address of the goodreads server. Yes, it was a good of reads, it was the best of reads, it was a read of two periods, five slashes and a nine-digit number. This one is not to be missed.
:) :)
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This is the review to your link Dale http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/......"
Oooopps!!!!!!! Sorry about that...I was in a rush, and obviously should have left it be...thanks for picking me up on that Mark!! You have me chuckling here:)
Brenda! It is wonderful to know that someone else is awake. I have been busy having a discussion with myself about plastic cat clocks on another group. Just to give you a sense of how worrisome this is, I will reproduce a brief excerpt:by Mark15 minutes ago
It's like the thing with clowns. Fear of clowns is coulrophobia. I do not know if there is a word for the fear of exophthalmic plastic cats with mechanical innards and akathisia of the tail, but I imagine it would have to be very long and scary. I wonder what the word is for fear of very long words that describe fear of bug-eyed plastic cats with akathisia....
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by Mark0 minutes ago
It is 1:49 in the morning, and I am talking on the internet about akathisic plastic cats. I think I should be worried. reply | edit | delete | flag *
by Mark0 minutes agoOn the other hand, at least akathisic plastic cats are not talking to me. It is interesting to be one of seven human beings in North America who are awake. Not good, though.
To be fair, this was precipitated by an earlier discussion of plastic cat clocks modelled after Felix the Cat, I think, who was allegedly invented in Australia. So it's clearly relevant.
Mark wrote: "Brigitte wrote: Mark, there are French books for Kindle. Try Amazon.fr and search "livres en français". I don't know what you read, but books by Marc Lévy are quite popular at the moment. My husban..."Hi Marc, sorry to be somewhat late replying, as I've been away for a couple of days.
Sorry too to hear, that recent French ebooks are not available to you. That is so stupid! Have you checked out La Filière Québequoise?
There is also the big French seller Fnac.com., who has shops all over France. I don't know whether they send to the US and what their postage would be. They have ebooks, but you need their ereader (liseuse), the Kobo.
I must say that I have the same problem with most of the Australian books. Some I am able to get as ebooks through Amazon, but the majority I can only buy via Booktopia or Abebooks.
Booktopia, I only use as a last resort, due to their extortionate postage, as they only use UPS. I pay more for postage than for the book!!! But at least they send to France.
Most of the time, though, I buy via Abebooks, which is also available to you. They come in .com, .fr, .uk, etc. I have a .fr account and prices are in euros. Books are second hand. I always use the seller who is well referenced by other buyers and who has a book in good condition. Delivery from Australia normally is anything between 1 and 2 months, sometimes longer, but I don't mind waiting. Postage on the other hand is much more affordable. Go check them out. AND you'll have a "real" book, too. :) I have used them many times and not been disappointed, so far.
You can also type into your search engine "book finder" and see what comes up. That's how I found Abebooks, many moons ago.
Other contemporary English ebooks I can get through Amazon.fr without any problem. What's read by the Americans is good to be read by the Europeans, huh??
Don't know whether that's a policy?!! Absolutely open for discussion. :)
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Yes, I'm STILL awake Mark...but after a day with the grandkids, and a sick d-i-l I'm very tired;P I'm sure your chatter about plastic cat clocks would have my eyes glazing over!! lol
Brenda wrote: "Mark wrote: "Brenda! It is wonderful to know that someone else is awake. I have been busy having a discussion with myself about plastic cat clocks on another group. Just to give you a sense of h..."Very glad you wisely omitted to read it, then. It was bad enough writing it!
:)
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by C.J. Box :)"I have a project (which is going to take a very long time) to read all the Edgar Best Novel Award winning ..."
Finished it Cliff, and really enjoyed it! My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Brigitte wrote: "Mark wrote: "Brigitte wrote: Mark, there are French books for Kindle. Try Amazon.fr and search "livres en français". I don't know what you read, but books by Marc Lévy are quite popular at the mome..."Salut Brigitte!
Thanks for the many and varied useful recommendations. I had a look at the kobo app on google play, and there does not seem to be dithyrambic elation about its functionality, though everybody does like the dedicated kobo reader, itself. It remains to be seen whether the app (or fnac.com) will allow me to breach the curtain of linguistic xenophobia, but I'll definitely give it a shot. I've actually had to move 7 times since early 2011 (life's ever-joyful vicissitudes), so I'm not eager to accumulate books as physical artifacts -- too much in storage already -- and am inclined to remain strictly in the ebook realm insofar as possible. That's part of why I'm so incensed by this demented linguistic separatism.
But in any case, thanks again, and I'll give kobo a try.
Halfway through The Fourth Bear
by Jasper Fforde and loving it. In fact, I love everything Jasper Fforde writes, it's so original and funny.
I've just started an older Barbara Kingsolver book The Bean Trees and it is great so far. Hard to put down.
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by Jasper Fforde and loving it. In fact, I love everything Jasper Fforde writes, it's so original and funny."I love everything Jasper Fforde writes too! I especially enjoy his Thursday Next novels and am impatiently waiting the next one. It was supposed to come out in July but has been put back to October.
Tango wrote: "I've just started an older Barbara Kingsolver book The Bean Trees and it is great so far. Hard to put down."Love most of what Barbara Kingsolver writes, including the non-fiction. There is a sequel to The Bean Trees, Pigs In Heaven that is also worth reading.
I've just finished The Age of Miracles which was a great read but now I'm onto this wonderful little book called The Colour of Milk
Marianne wrote: "Tango wrote: "I've just started an older Barbara Kingsolver book The Bean Trees and it is great so far. Hard to put down."Love most of what Barbara Kingsolver writes, including the non-fiction. T..."
I will definitely seek that one out!
Reading catching fire by Suzanne Collins and loving it, very hard to put down, I bought hunger games on DVD Friday even tho I've seen it 6 times already, watched over the weekend love it so much!!! But the book is so much better :)
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