What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews Showing 7,851-7,900 of 12,687

[Angela M]

Colleen wrote: "Just finally got done with Snow - blah. 2 stars and I don't even know why I can't bring myself to giving it only one. I also curse my inability to quit a book. :-)"

All right , Colleen , you've said your in a slump and we've got to get you out. Looked at your tbr and here are a few I loved :

The Language of Flowers
The Kitchen House
The Golem and the Jinni
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

[Colleen]

LOL Angela! I for sure will get to the first two you have listed here soon, as in this year. Can't wait, I've heard so much about them. I think those are both on a challenge list for me too. And I own copies!

The next two I'll keep an eye out for - or get from the library. Reading books that just don't work out make the next good ones read that much better. And it takes so long to struggle through a book when ones you enjoy fly by which helps the reading goals.

Thanks for caring and making your recommendations! ❤️

[GeneralTHC]

I finally got around to finishing the novel that was made into the movie that Leonardo DiCaprio won the Oscar for:The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge. I thought it was a decent read, but I was hoping for a lot better novel. I still want to see the movie. I bet it's better.

[B the BookAddict]

Colleen wrote: "Just finally got done with Snow - blah. 2 stars and I don't even know why I can't bring myself to giving it only one. I also curse my inability to quit a book. :-)"

Colleen, I lots of GR friends who have felt the same as you about Snow. And I second all of Angela's suggestions for you to read.

[Leslie]

Learnin Curve wrote: "As I'm my father's daughter (John of this very group) I just finished David Copperfield (can't find the Dickens thread, is it still active?) and am starting on the pickwick papers and asking myself..."

Isn't it fun to find an author you like who has written a lot? I think that Jean has moved her Dickens posting over to:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

[Albert]

I just finished In the Loyal Mountains by Rick Bass, a wonderful collection of short stories. I am always a bit surprised at what appears to be the relatively few number of readers that Rick Bass has.

[Tom]

@Angela M - have you read the companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry? It is The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

[Angela M]

Tom , yes I have read it and enjoyed it very much . Have you read these two ?

[Tom]

Angela M wrote: "Tom , yes I have read it and enjoyed it very much . Have you read these two ?"

Just Harold Fry. At the time I read it, the second hadn't been available. I hope to revisit them at some point.

[Caecilia]

Jen wrote: "Caecilia wrote: "I enjoyed that one as well Caecilia :)"

:-)
with this book, I have noticed there are those who loved it and then readers, who did not like it at all. perhaps, Strout having a name in the literary world had people expecting too much? - it was my first Strout book and I would read a work by her again.

[Chrissie]

I absolutely adored Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.. I cannot recommend it enough. So much easier to relate to than a book about an American President. I had before read Chernow's book on Washington.

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

[Laura]

I just finished glass sword by Victoria Aveyard. It was such a great book. I give it 4.5/5 stars. Before you start reading it I suggest the first book, Red Queen, because if not you will not understand anything. It is about how anyone and can bretray anyone. Oh Em Gee, the betrayal in the books is done so perfect!!!! Loved it .

[Zippergirl]

Shadowed: A Thriller 4☆ Good book about a female hacker on the run. Might be a 5 ☆ if you've read the previous book in the series. Lots of edge of your seat moments and more thrills than one author should be able to get away with. Olson writes action so fast it's hard to catch your breath.

[Diane S ☔]

Finished And After Many Days
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny]

Finished Before the Feast by Bosnien/German author Saša Stanišić. Wonderful quirky book about a small village in former East Germany preparing for a party (well, some are preparing for suicide). Village folklore and fairytales are as alive as the actual village folk and though my head was slightly spinning at times trying to get a clear visual of the mosaic structure he's using, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was stunned by the fact that the author only came to Germany at the age of 14 during the Bosnian war. I am deeply in awe of anyone writing a novel in a second language, playing with language and it's subtleties in a way that even a native speaker mightn't quite master.

[Angela M]

Finished Flight of Dreams. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Diane S ☔]

finished Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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

Just finished an absolutely brilliant read Games People Play by Owen Mullen. really can't recommend this book highly enough. It gripped me in the first few pages, then never let go! My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Leslie]

I have finished A Prayer for Owen Meany which I have discussed to some extent in our Group Fiction thread. I think it is the best of Irving's I have read but he isn't an author who 'speaks to me'.

I followed it up with Mort which was just the light humor I wanted after I finished Owen Meany! Funny thing is it also had a character who spoke in capital letters...

[Tweedledum]

A few days ago I finished The Afternet Part 2: Redemption a surreal and irreverent romp through an imagined purgatory where a computer... The Afternet has been installed to speed up judgement. This reads like Douglas Adams C.S. Lewis' Screwtape and Terry Pratchett rolled into one. Yet subtitled "Redemption", Empringham really explores our notions of good and evil in a very subtle and unforced way. Brilliant. Many laugh out loud moments as characters from all kinds of historical periods rub up against each other in extra-ordinary ways. A real work out for the mind as the reader struggles to imagine the scenes that flash past.
Followed this up with the totally serious The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves A psycho-therapist reflects on patients he has known and the lessons they taught him about life and living. Excellent stuff.

[Dale]

just read and written a review for Unwritten by Charles Martin.
A five star read for me. Review is here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Joy]

Just read The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith. It's a stand-alone romance written in his usual engaging style. But. I was disappointed with the ending - i was looking for something unexpected to happen.

[Gill]

Colleen wrote: "Just finally got done with Snow - blah. 2 stars and I don't even know why I can't bring myself to giving it only one. I also curse my inability to quit a book. :-)"

This is a book that provokes varied responses, Colleen. I gave it 4 stars, but I know there are also 1 star givers in this group.

[Chrissie]

Gill and Colleen, I am one of those others. Didn't like Snow at all. Repetitive and confusing and nope, just not for me. Colleen, don't feel lonely.

[Diane S ☔]

Tried to read three times, each time gave up.

Finished Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tom]

Leslie wrote: "I have finished A Prayer for Owen Meany which I have discussed to some extent in our Group Fiction thread. I think it is the best of Irving's I have read but he isn't an author who 'spe..."

Mort is the best Pratchett I've read so far. But then again whenever the CHARACTER is in the narrative, it's always a step up.

[Jenny]

Colleen, same here unfortunately. Orhan Pamuk is an author I was so determined to like, but somehow we just don't really get along.

[Diane S ☔]

Jenny wrote: "Colleen, same here unfortunately. Orhan Pamuk is an author I was so determined to like, but somehow we just don't really get along."

I agree, but I do want to read his nonfiction book on Istanbul, have it and it looks very interesting.

[Chrissie]

Diane, I tried Istanbul: Memories and the City and found it utterly boring and gave up. I never even registered my failed attempt.

Jenny, same here.

[Jenny]

LOL Chrissie, now that's all hope crushed ;)
My last attempt at some stage is going to be My Name is Red. If that doesn't work out either ...well then so be it.

[Chrissie]

Good luck.

[Alice]

I wanted so much to like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but he's making me depressed in Crime and Punishment.

[Karin]

I just finished Blackberry Winter. I gave it 4 stars rounded up from 3.5. I liked Morning Glory at a full 4 stars, though.

[Karin]

Alice wrote: "I wanted so much to like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but he's making me depressed in Crime and Punishment."

I couldn't get through that one.

[Chrissie]

Alice, hmmm...... I am sorry I recommended it to you.

[Alice]

Chrissie wrote: "Alice, hmmm...... I am sorry I recommended it to you."

Don't be Chrissie! There are things I like in the novel despite the depressing mood it evokes (like the thought-provoking dialogues), and I will definitely try to finish it.

[Leslie]

Tom wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I have finished A Prayer for Owen Meany which I have discussed to some extent in our Group Fiction thread. I think it is the best of Irving's I have read but he isn't an ..."

I liked it a lot but I think that Guards! Guards! is my favorite so far. But I really did like the very first book in the Discworld I read, as part of a recommendation swap - Hogfather (thanks again Heather for introducing me to this wonderful series!). That is also in the "Death" subseries. I bought myself Reaper Man, which comes between that and Mort, with my Christmas gift card so I am looking forward to some more enjoyment soon :)

[Chrissie]

Alice wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Alice, hmmm...... I am sorry I recommended it to you."

Don't be Chrissie! There are things I like in the novel despite the depressing mood it evokes (like the thought-provoking di..."

Well, you have at least read it now......... I NEVER was depressed by it, so I am surprised.

[B the BookAddict]

Alice wrote: "I wanted so much to like Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but he's making me depressed in Crime and Punishment."

Keep going. I'm not saying your mood will change but reading the novel is well worth it, if you can. I felt the same, sometimes, when I read it back in my senior year.

[Canadian Jen]

Just finished Dear Mr. You. A surprising delight!
Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[dely]

Jenny wrote: "LOL Chrissie, now that's all hope crushed ;)
My last attempt at some stage is going to be My Name is Red. If that doesn't work out either ...well then so be it."

I wasn't able to finish My Name is Red and I don't want to try another Pamuk.

[Chrissie]

Jenny, it seems like you are getting lots of us who do not like Pamuk.

dely, I am not trying him again either.

[Jenny]

@Alice, I can see how Dostoyevsky can do that, though usually the high I get from his writing neutralizes the sometimes depression - inducing topics. Crime and Punishment is my favourite by him so far (currently reading Demons), did you read another by him already?

@dely: I understand, I am just sometimes stubborn in that way ;)

[Diane S ☔]

Chrissie wrote: "Diane, I tried Istanbul: Memories and the City and found it utterly boring and gave up. I never even registered my failed attempt.

Jenny, same here."

I'll probably think the same but since I have the book will probably give it a go. Can you recommend a different book on Istanbul?

[Diane S ☔]

Finished A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny]

I've finished Work Like Any Other: A Novel by Virginia Reeves two days ago. Historical fiction of the best kind, quiet, poetical and beautifully written, and a definitive recommendation for those with a soft spot for Southern lit.
I've written a short review as well: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Diane S ☔]

Jenny wrote: "I've finished Work Like Any Other: A Novel by Virginia Reeves two days ago. Historical fiction of the best kind, quiet, poetical and beautifully written, and a definitive recommenda..."

I so agree, loved this book too. Wonderful review, Jenny.

[Chrissie]

Diane S ☔ wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Diane, I tried Istanbul: Memories and the City and found it utterly boring and gave up. I never even registered my failed attempt.

Jenny, same here."

I'll probably t..."

Nope.

[Chrissie]

Jenny wrote: "I've finished Work Like Any Other: A Novel by Virginia Reeves two days ago. Historical fiction of the best kind, quiet, poetical and beautifully written, and a definitive recommenda..."

Jenny, when I click on your link it does NOT go to your review, but to the book description.

[Jenny]

Chrissie wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I've finished Work Like Any Other: A Novel by Virginia Reeves two days ago. Historical fiction of the best kind, quiet, poetical and beautifully written, and a definit..."

Fixed it, thanks Chrissie