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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
I have finally managed to write a review of Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams. I hope this helps those considering the book.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just read The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively, a rather innocent children's book from 1975.Now on Outside The Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll.
I've just finished Vladimir Nabakov's memoir, Speak, Memory. It's beautifully written, capturing the unreliability of memory, and in particular, the way children think about their world.My verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Susan wrote: "I've just finished Vladimir Nabakov's memoir, Speak, Memory. It's beautifully written, capturing the unreliability of memory, and in particular, the way children think about their worl..."I think maybe that is my very favorite by Nabokov. You should now read Vera, even if it cannot compare to Nabokov's own writing.
Susan wrote: "I've just finished Vladimir Nabakov's memoir, Speak, Memory. It's beautifully written, capturing the unreliability of memory, and in particular, the way children think about their worl..."I'm interested in this one, Susan. I like books that are to do with memory,
I'm sure many here have already read this series but it was new to me and quite delightful! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Gill wrote: "Susan wrote: "I've just finished Vladimir Nabakov's memoir, Speak, Memory. It's beautifully written, capturing the unreliability of memory, and in particular, the way children think ab...I like books that are to do with memory, "
So do I, Gill.
I really liked Light Years. This is not a book that should attract me, but it certainly did. Topic is always less important than an author's ability to write.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now I have to read another by this author.
I love telling people about book I love! So here's one The Last Child by John Hart. Here is my take:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished The Veins of the Ocean: A Novel. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Just finished an unusual vampire book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Two excellent historical fiction books:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A fun sci-fi novella:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And a funny? book about bio-warfare:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Gill wrote: "Susan wrote: "I've just finished Vladimir Nabakov's memoir, Speak, Memory. It's beautifully written, capturing the unreliability of memory, and in particular, the way children think ab..."Gill, I think you would love Speak, Memory! The early sections made me remember some of my own childhood memories, and there’s a later section about his life in exile in different parts of Europe, seen through the lens of the many parks and playgrounds he visited with his wife and young child. He describes it in an almost filmic way, as through they are being pulled through the scenery, faster and faster — an amazing piece of writing!
Just started
Strange Tide after finishing
The Widow by Fiona Barton. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I’ve just finished When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. Wow — I couldn’t put this one down and now have a “book hangover”. The book began a little like The Remains of the Day, then morphed into a Boys’ Own Adventure type of tale — but with a very dark and disturbing undercurrent.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
I absolutely adored An American ChildhoodMy review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also excellent audiobook narration by Alexandra O'Karma.
Susan wrote: "I’ve just finished When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. Wow — I couldn’t put this one down and now have a “book hangover”. The book began a little like [book:The ..."
Susan, I adored this book and try to encourage people to read it any chance I get.
Bette, I’m still thinking about When We Were Orphans — so many layers of meaning and different interpretations. I don’t think it’s quite as good as The Remains of the Day, but since I think Remains is worth six stars, I happily gave Orphans five.
@Pam - the Flavia DeLuce series is awesome! The first book was ok, but the second was so good I'm determined to continue...
Finished this light read a few weeks ago. It's easy to see how siblings can fall apart over an inheritance owed to them!
I finished City of Secrets. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... This haunting story of a holocaust survivor in Palestine tells of a period of time and a place that I knew nothing about . Great writing.
Finished The Eyre Affair and the sequel Lost in a Good Book. Now reading book 1 in Jasper Fforde's other series The Big Over Easy
I enjoyed both The Eyre Affair and Lost In A Good Book, Pam. It's been awhile since I've thought of the series; maybe time for the third book soon. I just finished The Hypnotist, which I found just awful. The murders described in the blurb have nothing to do with the storyline and are used just to attract readers. Boo!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
Now reading book 1 in Jasper Fforde's other series The Big Over Easy"
Oh I enjoyed all three of those Pam. And I found The Big Over Easy such a pleasure! Hope you enjoy it! :)
Well, I completed another of Wendell Berry's books set in the fictive town of Port William, Kentucky. Here is my review of Hannah Coulter: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have no complaints with the narration by Susan Denaker; this was VERY good.
I would instead recommend the author's Jayber Crow. Better dialog. More humor. Both have the same message.
Greg wrote: "Pam wrote: "Finished The Eyre Affair and the sequel Lost in a Good Book. Now reading book 1 in Jasper Fforde's other series The Big Over Easy"
Oh I enjoyed all three of those Pam. ..."
Greg and Petra, I did want to like them more but I found the piling up of one absurdity on top of another especially in Lost in a Good Book was rather tiring. I quite liked The Big Over Easy - which I reviewed just now - till about halfway through, but found it a bit slow. I've decided to give the rest of the Ffordes a miss therefore.
I’ve just finished The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again, which is pretty much a must-read for memoir enthusiasts. Interesting, and one I think I'll refer to in future.★ ★ ★ ★
Just finished Miller's Valley. A great read. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished The Versions of Us. 3 stars . My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... I read the group choice for June a little early as I committed myself to a review in May . Looking forward to the discussion.
Just finished
The Summer Guest by Emma Hannigan https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and
Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4★s - I enjoyed Australian Indigenous author Anita Heiss's autobiography Am I Black Enough for You?, written after she and other fair-skinned Aboriginal artists were accused of 'choosing' to identify as Aboriginal to further their careers (at the expense of 'real' Aborigines). The columnist who wrote the attack was taken to court and lost, with the judge saying the article was provocative, harmful and likely to intimidate. And it was written with that intention. Good on him!
The story of her family, both the Austrian and Wiradjuri members, is warm and interesting. My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I definitely recommend reading Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads if you have any interest in the South today and Southern literature as a genre. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have (finally) finished The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel.I rated it with 3,5 stars. I would have given it also 4 stars but it was too long and wordy. The author could have said the same things with 200 pages less. It's a good and interesting story about the Armenian genocide, but some parts were slow because of the wordiness.
I just finished The Secret History and I must say it is breathtaking. I've never read anything by Donna Tartt before, and boy this did not disappoint. I'm still in sort of a trance after finishing the book. Review is up.
I recently finished a book of short stories by Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for these stories even though they were beautifully written. 2.5 starsThe classic The Good Soldier made a better impression on me despite some aspects I didn't care for. The title doesn't give a very good idea of what this is about -- it is the story of 2 different dysfunctional marriages told from the viewpoint of one of the husbands. 4 stars
Just finished
The Ballroom by Anna Hope. Can't recommend this read highly enough. Beautifully written. This is a keeper for me on my very favourite books shelf. This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The language is almost poetic, the descriptions draw you into the scenery, the characters are carefully and cleverly crafted.The story is set in an lunatic asylum on the edge of the Yorkshire moors in 1911 and revolves around four central characters. An asylum should be a place of refuge, where the insane are cared for and protected. This is far from the truth. And it is far from true that everyone incarcerated within is insane.
Ella Fay worked in a mill where all the windows were painted over to prevent the workers from looking outside and wasting their employers time. Desperate to see the sky, to not be confined in this prison of noise and cloth that leeches the life out of her, Ella breaks a window and is then confined to Sharston Asylum until such time she can be declared sane and not a danger to herself or others.
Clemency has been incarcerated by her father and brother for refusing to marry a man who used to teach her. A man who was not kind to her, and who may already have abused her trust and that of her family. Clemency is a private patient - her family pay to keep her there - and she is able to wear her own clothes rather than the asylum uniform, and to have some of her own treasured belongings.
Charles Fuller is the son of an eminent surgeon, Charles destined to follow in his footsteps. But instead of studying for his exams, he is seduced by music and fails miserably. He takes the position of Second Assistant Medical Officer at Sharston (one of four), purely because he is also to have the role of bandmaster.
John Mulligan is a solitary type of man, and resident of one of the 'chronic' (long term) wards. He is a kind man, keeping some of his bread ration to feed the canary imprisoned in a cage in the day room, and trusted enough to be one of a work party charged with digging the unmarked graves, each holding six coffins piled one atop the other, and working on the farm that supplies meat and grains to the asylum.
The one point of beauty in Sharston is the Ballroom, vast and beautiful, where every Friday evening of every week selected patients (the ones who have 'been good') come together and dance. It is here that John and Ella meet for the second time and their fate is sealed.
The Ballroom quietly details the atrocities and lack of kindness common in asylums. This is an emotional and heart-wrenching read, one I will come back to time and again.
I award The Ballroom five very brilliant stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers Doubleday for the ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
Sandy, that does look good!. Have you read Wake? Where should one start with this author? Which is the best?
Leslie wrote: "I recently finished a book of short stories by Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for these stories ..."I didn't like it either. I had the feeling the stories had no real start and no real ending. They were just a glimpse in the characters' life, a very small glimpse.
dely wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I recently finished a book of short stories by Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. Unfortunately, I didn't really care for..."I have enjoyed most every short story I have read by Alice Munro. It is one of my wonderful discoveries that I get to gradually work my way through what is a sizable life's effort. I do find her stories very character-focused and subtle in plot. The glimpse she provides into the characters' lives is for me that much more poignant because it is often just a brief glimpse. I in no way want to contradict Leslie's and Dely's opinions, but only say there might be some that end up on the other end of the spectrum and are enchanted by Alice Munro's short stories.
Albert wrote: "dely wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I recently finished a book of short stories by Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. Unfortunately, I didn't re..."You are right, there are a lot of readers that like her and it was good you expressed your opinions!
Obviously Munro is an excellent writer -- after all, she wouldn't have even been considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature if she wasn't, much less won the award! But I had the same problem dely did -- I felt that the stories didn't have a purpose. I am a plot-driven reader so I prefer stories (short or long) to have some kind of point. Readers who prefer character over plot will probably find this collection of stories wonderful.
The Summer Before the War A lovely, slightly predictable, just a wee too long story about a small group of the people of Rye, England beginning the eponymous summer before World War I and continuing on until the beginning of the following summer.Full disclosure, I visited Rye twenty years ago and fell in over with the place, so I was inclined to like the story before I began reading. Ms. Simonson did not let me down.
Recommended for lovers of historical fiction; those interested in WW I from a fictional perspective; a reader looking for a "thumpingly good read" to get lost in of a long weekend.
Five stars.
Hannah wrote: "I just finished The Secret History and I must say it is breathtaking. I've never read anything by Donna Tartt before, and boy this did not disappoint. I'm still in sort o..."
Hannah, I totally agree about The Secret History. Donna Tartt is a great writer.
I just finished Three-Martini Lunch and liked it a lot. It's about the publishing world in 1950s Manhattan. Suzanne Rindell also wrote The Other Typist, a book that took place in the 1920s. She's great at evoking the era she's writing about. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hannah, I totally agree about The Secret History. Donna Tartt is a great writer.
I just finished Three-Martini Lunch and liked it a lot. It's about the publishing world in 1950s Manhattan. Suzanne Rindell also wrote The Other Typist, a book that took place in the 1920s. She's great at evoking the era she's writing about. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North . A time travel novel for our times , I thought it was excellent and very well plotted. The time of book that builds up the suspense slowly then suddenly you realise you cannot put it down. Only discovered it because Audible had it on special offer a couple of weeks ago. Don't know if it has really hit bookshops yet.
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