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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Ann wrote: "I just finished A Yellow Raft in Blue Water about three generations of Native American women. I thought it was very good."I've never heard of this before but I like the title! Sounds interesting.
Alice wrote: "Finished All Quiet on the Western Front. An emotionally overwhelming war novel!
My Review"
Great review Alice!
Nice review Rahat :)I finished another police procedural mystery yesterday, One-Man Show (published in the UK as A Private View). This entry in the Appleby series is one I don't own but I am glad I requested it from the interlibrary loan -- I found the writing very witty & the mystery enjoyably convoluted without being too odd (as sometimes Innes' mysteries are). 3½ stars rounded up to 4 because it was the perfect book for my current mood.
I agree that Half of a Yellow Sun is such a great book and very informative for those who grew up post 1970. As a Catholic child, I remember collection Project Compassion (donations) for the Biafran refugees. I think that was the moment (I was 6) I realised not all kids grew up as I did.
Rahat wrote: "I finished Half of a Yellow Sun. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
One of my favourite books. I'm glad you enjoyed it even if it was a bit long
One of my favourite books. I'm glad you enjoyed it even if it was a bit long
Leslie wrote: "Nice review Rahat :)I finished another police procedural mystery yesterday, One-Man Show (published in the UK as A Private View). This entry in the Appleby series i..."
Yeah I think being in the right mood for a given book is very important. And I often wonder how much people's ratings are affected by their mood.
Rahat wrote: "I finished Half of a Yellow Sun. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."It's in my to-read list and I hope to read it soon.
I've finished My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I rated it with 4 stars but then changed to 5 stars. It was enthralling, I liked the themes of the book, I liked the writing, I liked everything about it. I think I will write I review tomorrow.
This book is part of my novel-cure-challenge and it should be read by people who are afraid of confrontations. Usually I'm not afraid of confrontations but it depends with whom I'm arguing. By sure everyone should find it's identity in the world and this should be done with or without confrontations. In fact the book talks about a guy who loves to paint but his parents don't accept it; he never says anything so it's harder for him to express his personality and when he does it through his paintings, his parents (above all his father) are never happy. This guy struggles a lot between his passion for painting and the love he feels for his parents.
I'm glad that I'm finding good books to read with this challenge.
dely , I read My Name is Asher Lev many years ago but I remember that I loved it . I also enjoyed other books by Potok as well . Glad you liked it too ,
I've just looked on iBooks, and the other book that they have by Potok is The ChosenlAngela/dely have you read that one? I was wondering which of the two to try first.
Gill , I read the Chosen first , if I remember correctly . As I said I read these quite a number of years ago but I don't think the order matters since the books are about the same characters . I loved the Chosen too .
I've been trying to get a hold of any/all of the Chaim Potok books via my library but am still waiting:(
I've finished The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand by Elizabeth Berg.My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Gill , The Promise is a sequel to the Chosen .There is also a sequel to My Name is Asher Lev , called The Gift of Asher Lev .
Angela, I think it was your reviews which prompted me to his books.
Leslie wrote: "Great review Alice!"Thanks Leslie!
Bette , I read the Potok books way before I started writing reviews on good reads so I've only given them ratings . I should try to read the ones that I haven't read . Beautiful stories .
dely wrote: "Rahat wrote: "I finished Half of a Yellow Sun. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."It's in my to-read list and I hope to read it soon.
I've..."
I read that years ago and loved it while at a stage of reading most of that author's novels. Also before I joined Goodreads. Glad you enjoyed it dely. Look forward to your review.
Gill wrote: "I've just looked on iBooks, and the other book that they have by Potok is The ChosenlAngela/dely have you read that one? I was wondering which of the two to try first."It's the first book I read by him so I can't help.
Dale wrote: "I read that years ago and loved it while at a stage of reading most of that author's novels. Also before I joined Goodreads. Glad you enjoyed it dely. Look forward to your review. "If it wouldn't have been for my challenge, I would have never read it because I had never heard about this author. I'm glad my library had it, usually they have nothing.
I think I will write the review only in Italian :/ Will see!
Re: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieI too loved that and thought it was quite a bit better than her later Americanah, even if it too was good!
Interesting how many contemporary books come out of Nigeria.
Chrissie wrote: "Re: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieI too loved that and thought it was quite a bit better than her later Americanah, even if it too wa..."
A couple of days ago I bought another book by a Nigerian author, Ken Saro-Wiwa: Sozaboy. Have heard about him at the presentation of a movie/documentary about Nigeria and the damages of a multinational petroleum company. You can read also only his biography on GR to know a bit about him.
Chrissie, I want to read the Americanah next. I went to the bookstore to buy that only but it was out of stock so ended up with Half of A Yellow Sun. How was Americanah?
About Nigerian topic books: Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is excellent. In this one you also see the influence of oil companies, dely. The author was born and raised in Nigeria. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Well, I found that the central focus in Americnah was just as much about being young and black in the US as in Nigeria. I gave it three stars. Hej, that means I liked it. Maybe my review will give you more than just this one line that summarize my feelings for the book. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
ETA: I have heard good things about Sozaboy.
I liked Americanah too, but haven't read her others yet, so can't compare. Nigeria certainly seems rich in it's literary history and in turning out new authors. When trying to read book by African writers it's the one country that crops up time and time again.
dely wrote: " I've finished My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I rated it with 4 stars but then changed to 5 stars. It was enthralling, I liked the themes of the book, I liked the writing, I liked everything about it. I think I will write I review tomorrow."dely, I've been meaning to read something by Potok! I am currently trying really hard to remember how he made it onto my TBR in the first place, I think someone mentioned him in his/her reading-journey, but I can't remember who it was. It reminds my how much being here has broadened my horizon in terms of literature.
I finished The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair last night. And even though it began so well, it was dispappointing. Only two starts, I'm afraid.
Pink wrote: "I liked Americanah too, but haven't read her others yet, so can't compare. Nigeria certainly seems rich in it's literary history and in turning out new authors. When trying to read book by African ..."There was a collection of short stories that had some Nigerian ones in them, and they were beautifully written. I think I should read more books by Aftican authors.
Mod
This one is really a great book!
Jenny wrote: "dely, I've been meaning to read something by Potok! I am currently trying really hard to remember how he made it onto my TBR in the first place, I think someone mentioned him in his/her reading-journey, but I can't remember who it was. It reminds my how much being here has broadened my horizon in terms of literature. "I think you could like My name is Asher Lev because there is also a lot of art, above all paintings. So, if you love paintings and have a free spirit and live of art, it's your book.
Chrissie wrote: "About Nigerian topic books: Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is excellent. In this one you also see the influence of oil companies, dely. The author was born and raised in Nigeria. My revi..."
Added it to my wishlist, it seems very interesting! Thanks.
Charbel wrote: "I finished The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair last night. And even though it began so well, it was dispappointing. Only two starts, I'm afraid."My same rating and my same thoughts. Towards the end it was disappointing.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "About Nigerian topic books: Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is excellent. In this one you also see the influence of oil companies, dely. The author was born and raised in..."
I did like it.
About Potok: I liked his book The Chosen a lot. I just did not understand how silence could or ever should be used as an instrument in raising a child.
Chrissie wrote: "About Potok: I liked his book The Chosen a lot. I just did not understand how silence could or ever should be used as an instrument in raising a child."Also My name is Asher Lev talks about the father/son relationship and also in this book there aren't a lot of dialogues among father and son. Perhaps Potok was obsessed with education or with silence? In My name is AL I had the impression that the author is for speaking with children and to listen to them.
dely wrote: "In My name is AL I had the impression that the author is for speaking with children and to listen to them. "I am glad to hear that. I just am so much against any kind of child raising where silence is to be used as a tool. Ignoring a child through silence can be just as destructive, if not more than physical abuse.
Chrissie wrote: "Re: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieI too loved that and thought it was quite a bit better than her later Americanah, even if it too wa..."
It was only though reading Half of a Yellow Sun that I learned that Nigerian women often wear wigs. Books teach us new things every day.
B the BookAddict wrote: "I learned that Nigerian women often wear wigs. Books teach us new things every day. "It is amazing how you can learn so much while you are quite simply enjoying yourself.
Rahat wrote: "I finished Half of a Yellow Sun. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."This is on my TBR and I plan to read it - I loved Americanah
Chrissie wrote: "dely wrote: "In My name is AL I had the impression that the author is for speaking with children and to listen to them. "I am glad to hear that. I just am so much against any kind of child raisin..."
I agree. Indeed, in the book I have read Asher had those problems surely because his father didn't want to listen to him and Asher was scared to talk with him.
dely wrote: "Asher had those problems surely because his father didn't want to listen to him and Asher was scared to talk with him. "Well, not a good relationship, that is for sure. Did the relationship and this inability to talk outright with each other improve by the book's end?
Chrissie wrote: "dely wrote: "Asher had those problems surely because his father didn't want to listen to him and Asher was scared to talk with him. "Well, not a good relationship, that is for sure. Did the relat..."
Not at all, on the contrary. If you want you can read my review to have more informations about the book, it's also in English: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'd like to read Potok's books partly because no-one I know is of the Jewish faith. I saw something recently which featured the Eruv line: An eruv is a conceptual and physical enclosure around a Jewish community that allows its members to accomplish certain activities that Jewish law otherwise restricts on the Sabbath. as quoted in Huffington Post by Zachary Paul Levine, Curator, Yeshiva University Museum.
I just finished a murder mystery that I won in a GR Giveaway. It was a fun read. There was humor as well as the murder. Kate Grayson made an interesting protagonist.I'm glad I won this book. Some Giveaways are duds but this one wasn't.
My review (no spoilers): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Ha! No, I was just being sort of ... nearly 63. One day you wake up and you're who you are, and a lot of it might not be what you planned. That's all. I'm laughing. Coming to grips with the collision of the parallel universes of who I meant to be and who I find myself to be. It's not a bad thing. I've often lately made a connection between amnesia stories and really taking stock of one's life. I think it's a similar experience, but without the excitement of a best seller.