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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time two days ago.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Didn't blow me away, but wasn't terrible.
I finished The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West this morning. I listened to the LibriVox recording by Elizabeth Klett - she is such a good narrator. I found the story beautifully written and the story sad but not tragic (if that makes sense).http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Read two more Cornell Woolrich's, one (on which the Hitchcock film is based) is a short story - Phantom Lady and Rear Window
Hannah wrote: "Finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time two days ago.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Didn't blow me away, but wa..."
Read it some years back and don't recall very much at all about it other than the narrator has Asberger's. I don't think there were many characters around like this at the time, though I get the impression people have tackled it more since, possibly due to the success of that book.
I've just read Mothering Sunday. I gave it 4.5 stars. I may up this to 5 stars, depending how long it haunts me for.
Pam wrote: "Read it some years back and don't recall very much at all about it other than the narrator has Asberger's. I don't think there were many characters around like this at the time, though I get the impression people have tackled it more since, possibly due to the success of that book. "I liked that the author didn't identify/diagnose Christopher. I think people (authors, film makers, etc.) can get into tricky water and risk offending people when they do that, and aren't licensed to do so (or, at the very least, have superb knowledge on the subject).
Gill wrote: "I've just read Mothering Sunday. I gave it 4.5 stars. I may up this to 5 stars, depending how long it haunts me for."Gill, I've added that to my tbr based on your rating:)
I finished The House at the Edge of Night: A Novel. 5 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Nice review, Angela. I love the cover of that book. I just finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I enjoyed it. It had an introspective side to it that I wasn't expecting. It's a nice parallel story to The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (which is actually the second book but I read it first because I didn't know).
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thanks , Petra. Yes , I think the cover is beautiful.
I've just finished Answered Prayers, Truman Capote's unfinished (but based on real-life events) novel. I need a Silkwood shower after reading that! 
If you like poetry, I just finished
an excellent collection. My review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
4.5★ for Instructions for a Heatwave by one of my favourite authors, Maggie O'Farrell. The father of an Irish Catholic family disappears and the adult kids come home, reluctantly. Hot, hot, hot. Bickering, interesting. And if you ever wanted to know how to say the lovely name "Aoife", check my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Loved this and finished today Love You More by Lisa Gardner. Highly recommend this woman! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My second latest read Kakadu Sunset by Annie Seaton. Glad to have stumbled across another Aussie author!My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished reading The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - which was easy reading - I gave it 3 stars.
I have again been reading my book piecemeal, a way of reading which does not suit me at all. I've finally finished A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale. I've given it a 4 ★ rating.
I have finished Each Vagabond by Name. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
I have finished, despite I didn't like it, Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector. 1 star, stream of consciousness is not for me. If I had know it was written in this writing style, I wouldn't have bought it.My short Italian/English review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hannah wrote: "Pam wrote: "Read it some years back and don't recall very much at all about it other than the narrator has Asberger's. I don't think there were many characters around like this at the time, though ..."Yes it's good that it's left to the reader to draw that conclusion.
1★ and that's just because Bill Bryson is a good writer and I like him.But his The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way may be 25 years old but there's no excuse for the sort of errors it has. I couldn't finish, but I did explain why, and why you should also be wary:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I revamped a review with photos. Loved it! Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Suzanne wrote: "I revamped a review with photos. Loved it! Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I like the revamp but it's made me hungry!
Just finished Can You Keep a Secret?. A really good laugh.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished 2 books in the past couple of days:What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions - this was a fun book to read. Some very absurd questions about unreal (sometimes real) situations. The answers are humorous and light, complimented with drawings.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Irma Voth - (audio) I really like Miriam Toews' books. They are sparse but deep and hold a lot of warmth in their characters. She manages to convey hard points with the use of humor sprinkled throughout the book.
In this book, Irma must face her past and learn to live with forgiveness and courage to face the future. She is a young girl, faced with a lot of responsibility and must find a way to manage it all.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
10★ (I know, we're not allowed) for the 1985 classic, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by the late (great) Oliver Sacks. You may know him as he was portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie Awakenings, about how he "unfroze" some catatonic patients (including Robert De Niro). Fascinating look at some of his most peculiar cases (including "The Man" of the title story, who did, quite literally, mistake his wife's head for his hat.
My book report :)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Completed reading Agnes Grey and loved it. Here is the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor. My review: my second Scott book, and although I enjoyed it, it was, to me, much less good than Ivanhoe, which I had really enjoyed. Both are really historical and romantic adventure stories. This one is rather narrow and single-themed, the story of the son of a dispossessed Lord and his battles with the dispossessor, with events predicted by ancient legends, and an exciting ending after a rather turgid middle passage. I'probably try Waverley at some future date.
Have finished a very short book with six non-fiction stories by Javier Cercas, 2 stars. I had never heard of this author before. The various topics could be interesting (going back to his native town in Spain, the border between Messico and the US, his opinions about being an emerging writer, etc) but the stories were too short to envolve the reader.
I love Rainbow Rowell but Landline did not do it for me. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Paul Theroux is my new favorite author. Just completed Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and thoroughly enjoyed it. I adored the audiobook narration by John McDonough.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Enjoyed this little one Blue by Danielle Steel. My review, 4 stars: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "Paul Theroux is my new favorite author. Just completed Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and thoroughly enjoyed it. I adored the audiobook narration by John McDonough.M..."
This seems a very interesting book and I have added it to my whishlist.
John wrote: "Just finished Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor. My review: my second Scott book, and although I enjoyed it, it was, to me, much less good than Ivanhoe, which I had really enjoyed. Both ar..."I am interested in reading Waverley sometime too, John. Let me know if you want to coordinate!
Chrissie wrote: "Paul Theroux is my new favorite author. Just completed Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and thoroughly enjoyed it. I adored the audiobook narration by John McDonough...."I read my first Paul Theroux book this year: The Lower River. It won't be my last of his either. I also enjoyed his writing.
Thanks for this review, Chrissie.
dely wrote: "Have finished a very short book with six non-fiction stories by Javier Cercas, 2 stars. I had never heard of this author before. The various topics could be interesting (going back t..."I've read some books by him, dely, that I thought were very good. Amongst them were Soldiers of Salamis and The Anatomy of a Moment: Thirty-Five Minutes in History and Imagination. Sorry the one you tried wasn't much good.
Leslie wrote: "John wrote: "Just finished Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor. My review: my second Scott book, and although I enjoyed it, it was, to me, much less good than Ivanhoe, which I had really enj..."Will do, Leslie.
Gill wrote: "I've read some books by him, dely, that I thought were very good. Amongst them were Soldiers of Salamis and The Anatomy of a Moment: Thirty-Five Minutes in History and Imagination. Sorry the one you tried wasn't much good."Thanks for telling me. I think that I didn't like this one because it isn't a real book written by him. I think that the publisher just took a few short articles he had written and put them together. The topics were interesting and I also didn't dislike the writing style, but these stories were too short to be able to get into them.
I just finished The Invisible Library and I really enjoyed it - a fun adventure that reminded me of the Thursday Next series. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished The Chosen Ones. I gave it 5 stars. I can't recommend it enough. It's not a comfortable read, but it's a book that needs to be read.Here's a link to my very short review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've finished Miller's Valley by Anna QuindlenMy review is at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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I read/heard many recommendations of this book and was interested in the subject matter (Chechen War).
I read the end on the train I tried my best to sob discreetly.
5 stars. Not an easy read but definitely the best book I have read for several years. .."
Wouldn't have been easy to be discreet on the train, I'm sure. I will have to find this one somewhere.