What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews Showing 7,051-7,100 of 12,687

[LauraT]

Terry wrote: "You're right, Tracey - Tolkien is the original and best of the fantasy genre, to me."

Never totally "reached"!

[B the BookAddict]

Jean wrote: "Thanks Heather.

Thanks Bette (I think!) - that song is going round and round in my head now ;)"

Diane started it, lol.

[Tracey]

Terry I love Tolkien and the amount of 'history' he puts into the tales is incredible. I've just sent for The unfinished tales of Numenor apparently there is included the reason why Gandalf sent the dwarves to Bilbo at Bag end in the story of The Hobbit. :)

[B the BookAddict]

@Tracey It just makes you wonder what was going round in Tolkien's thoughts, doesn't it? Did he ever think 'real life' stuff or were his thoughts always to do with his characters and story.

It's the absolute clarity, breadth and depth of the whole Lord of the Rings concept that really blew my mind. Absolutely incredible. Of course, I read them back in the very late 70s, before all the film hype came in so I have a different view than younger readers, I think. I've never seen the films (don't want to) and prefer to keep the pictures in my mind which Tolkien's description gave me.

[Tracey]

B I too am in awe of the scope of these books. The appendices and index in my copies is at the end of The return of the king and it's over half a book of them! about 250 pages. But I'm thankful for his details and side stories it makes it all the more real.
I have watched the films many times and really like them but the books are far far better. :)

[Bionic Jean]

J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon. Philology was by far his main love. He never intended to be a writer of fiction.

The only reason he invented his fantasy world is because unlike Scotland, Wales and Ireland, England has none of its own. That's why there is so much background - extra chronicles, appendices etc. - it's the historical and linguistic aspects which interested him. But think what we would have missed if he hadn't had that spur :)

[Tracey]

Thank you Jean. :)

[Leslie]

B the BookAddict wrote: "@Diane

#
"There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God, I know I'm one" #

:)"

I love the Joan Baez version of that song!

[Leslie]

B the BookAddict wrote: "@Jen Yes, the movie is very well done, great actors and wonderful scenes.

We could almost have had Atonement as a Book of the Month!"

We did! Last December I think...

[Leslie]

Jean wrote: "J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon. Philology was by far his main love. He never intended to be a writer of fiction.

The only reason he invented his fantasy world is be..."

I loved his Elvish runes (the alphabet of which were one of those appendices Tracey mentions) as a teenager! I tried to get my best friend to learn them with me so we could write notes in a "secret" language but she wasn't interested... 40 years later I am still bummed out by that!

[Bionic Jean]

LOL! Chris wrote our holiday postcards to a few close friends using runes for a couple of years. Perhaps we should have all got together! (I couldn't follow them though. And I was usually flat out from all the fell-climbing anyway.)

[B the BookAddict]

@Leslie I learned to love Joan Baez thru my older sisters and have a few of her cds. She was in AU recently but I didn't get to see her. If I'm not careful, her version of Jesse, Come Home can reduce me to tears.

[Chrissie]

Well, I managed to finish The Determined Heart: The Tale of Mary Shelley and Her Frankenstein. That is an accomplishment. Interesting topic but ....

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Canadian Jen]

Just finished . Here is my 4* review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Petra]

I finished 2 good books this past week:

Medicine Walk - the audio of this was wonderful; bringing out the impact of the healing occurring.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Goldfinch - I loved this story.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

The Goldfinch was the best book I read in 2014.

[Diane S ☔]

Finished The Opposite of Everyone
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

Loved Medicine Walk, Petra.

[Linda]

I have just finished reading "The Martian" by Andy Weir. This book is so good. I love the fact that this has Math and Science in it which I dearly love anyways. This is my all time favorite book of the year so far.

[Albert]

Recently finished Anne Tyler's The Beginner's Goodbye. Can't recommend it. My short review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nancy]

Just finished We the Living by Ayn Rand and, although I have read quite a bit about the Russian revolution, I was not as touched by all the horrors as I was from reading this book. Well written, interesting to the very end. What more can you ask for? I had read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead many years ago and also enjoyed them immensely. I highly recommend it.

[Nancy]

Last week I read A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute and loved it. Will be looking for more Nevil Shute books in the future.

[Angela M]

Loved that one too , Nancy . I haven't read anything else by Shute but have some on my tbr .

[Nancy]

Tried very hard to read The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson and frankly couldn't get past page 88, and I rarely do not finish books once started. I would rather recommend Season Of The Jew by Maurice Shadbolt, if horror and brutality of and toward the New Zealand/Australian/Tasmanian aborigines is what you are looking for.

[B the BookAddict]

Nancy wrote: "Just finished We the Living by Ayn Rand and, although I have read quite a bit about the Russian revolution, I was not as touched by all the horrors as I was from reading thi..."

I've just added We the Living to my tbr. Until now, I always felt a bit daunted by Rand but as I love Russian history, this one might suit me. Thanks, Nancy.

[Alice]

Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, which to me seems eccentric and disjointed. But her rigorous research is admirable.

My Review

[Susan C]

Remember Me Like This - Read it! I gave it 5 stars - the writing was so very very good!

[Chrissie]

Nancy, so far that is my favorite by Ayn Rand. I liked Trustee from the Toolroom by Shute and plan to soon read Pied Piper.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while)]

Finished Finders Keepers . Here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Charbel]

I finished The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. My review is here.

[Charbel]

Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "Finished Finders Keepers . Here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Awesome review Sandy.

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Wow Charbel, I wouldn't have picked up anything more by Gilbert after "Eat, Pray, Love" but your review changed my mind.

[Charbel]

Terry wrote: "Wow Charbel, I wouldn't have picked up anything more by Gilbert after "Eat, Pray, Love" but your review changed my mind."

I hope you like it Terry.

[Petra]

Chrissie wrote: "Nancy, so far that is my favorite by Ayn Rand. I liked Trustee from the Toolroom by Shute and plan to soon read Pied Piper."

I think its great that Nevil Shute is being enjoyed. I like his writing. Some of his books are hard to get a hold of, sadly.
Enjoy Pied Piper, Chrissie.

[Petra]

Sue wrote: "Remember Me Like This - Read it! I gave it 5 stars - the writing was so very very good!"

This one keeps popping up. Thanks, Sue! That's a high recommendation.

[Gill]

Alice wrote: "Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, which to me seems eccentric and disjointe..."

I'm glad you've sorted out how to link to your reviews, Alice.

[Chrissie]

Petra wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Nancy, so far that is my favorite by Ayn Rand. I liked Trustee from the Toolroom by Shute and plan to soon read Pied Piper."

I think its great that Nev..."

I need some good books.....trustworthy authors.

[Alice]

Gill wrote: "Alice wrote: "Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, which to me seems eccentric..."

Oh Gill, I've been doing this for quite a while now; maybe my reviews are too far and few in between that you didn't notice earlier :)

[Petra]

I finished reading A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding, which was a GR Giveaway win. I really enjoyed this story.
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Gill]

Alice wrote: "Gill wrote: "Alice wrote: "Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, which to me se..."

Oh, I must have got it wrong, Alice. I thought you said you were having problems linking to your reviews. I wonder who that was? Sorry!

[Gill]

Just checked, a different Alice in this group! So I'm not completely mistaken. I thought it was odd at the time, but thought I'd misremembered having read your reviews previously. Gosh, so confusing!

[Chrissie]

I have completed Boys in the Trees: A Memoir, a very personal account by Carly Simon, married to James Taylor from 1972-1983.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[B the BookAddict]

Alice wrote: "Gill wrote: "Alice wrote: "Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, which to me se...

Oh Gill, I've been doing this for quite a while now; maybe my reviews are too far and few in between that you didn't notice earlier :) "

@Alice But they are very worthwhile.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while)]

Charbel wrote: "Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "Finished Finders Keepers . Here is my review https://www.goodrea..."

Thanks Charbel - it was an easy book to review. *:D

[Alice]

B the BookAddict wrote: "Alice wrote: "Gill wrote: "Alice wrote: "Yesterday I finished reading A Place of Greater Safety. I've given it 3.7 stars, as I still have not warmed to Hilary Mantel's writing style, ..."

Thanks Bette! I hope so :)

[Angela M]

Finished House of the Rising Sun: A Novel. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[dely]

I've finished yesterday Un'idea di destino by Tiziano Terzani. It has been published posthumous and it contains excerpts of his diaries.
It's very interesting though at the beginning I had the impression that it was like disjointed because sometimes there were only short sentences, like notes, and also because there wasn't a main theme to follow. But going on with the reading I've seen that the main theme is the author himself, his life that is on the background of the books he has written.

I always reccomend Tiziano Terzani's books to everyone and it's a shame that not all his books have been translated into English (there are only a few). He was such a great reporter and man. Always looking behind the scenes in order to understand better; he had always a lot of questions about everything and he really needed to know and to write about it so that people could understand better some historical events. He's one of my favorite authors, I really love him.

[Suz]

Just loved this book Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty. 5 Stars. My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Diane S ☔]

Finished The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Evelyn]

I have just finished reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, I knew nothing about the big plot twist halfway through and now I feel manipulated by the author into unknowingly reading a book with an agenda. It got preachy and dry as the author advanced her agenda. Not that I disagree with her agenda, I just wish I had been able to choose for myself whether or not I wanted to read about it. This was carefully left off the synopsis on the book jacket.

[[deleted user]]

Evelyn, I've just started that book and am so intrigued by the plot twist. I don't know if I will like it but everybody is mentioning it on the group read and I'm desperate to find out!