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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Chinook wrote: "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..."
Chinook, you might like The Shadow of the Wind and it's trilogy https://www.goodreads.com/series/7252...
Gill, I've also added The Chosen Ones: A Novel because of your rating and notations. Can this be shelved as non-fiction on my lists?
B the BookAddict wrote: "Gill, I've also added The Chosen Ones: A Novel because of your rating and notations. Can this be shelved as non-fiction on my lists?"It's a fictionalised account, Bette, but very closely based on the facts.
Completed reading Imre Kertesz's The Holocaust as Culture. A powerful book with a powerful/frightening message. 4 out of 5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "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 h..."
Yes love Sacks' books and have read several of them. A real loss when he died.
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 read recently that Scott had to churn out books quickly after the publishing concern he was involved in with another man went bust and he ended up having to pay off all the debts, which he had almost done by the time he died. So maybe this made a difference to the quality of his books after whatever date that was? Just a thought.
Chuckling to myself at this: So I've not been present on GR for around 6 weeks and I am really glad to be back, I did however just realize there was one minor advantage of not coming here: my insurmountable TBR had stopped growing. ;)One look on here and there's three more books on it!!!! (Gill, Dhanaraj and Diane S., you are to blame!)
Jenny wrote: "Chuckling to myself at this: So I've not been present on GR for around 6 weeks and I am really glad to be back, I did however just realize there was one major advantage of not coming here: my insur..."Is that an advantage, Jenny!?
I've finished reading Doctor PascalIt's a great feeling to have reached the end of reading the 20 books of the Rougon Maquart series.
What a pity that this final book is only available in such a poor translation. This very much detracted from my enjoyment of this story, which ties up most of the loose ends of the series.
I'm going to miss my bimonthly read of Zola!
Gill wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Chuckling to myself at this: So I've not been present on GR for around 6 weeks and I am really glad to be back, I did however just realize there was one major advantage of not coming ..."it is when you focus on the word 'insurmountable'!!! ;)
Congrats Gill! I imagine that finishing a series that long feels much like crossing the finish line of a marathon.
I did however just change my statement to read 'minor advantage', ;) I'll just have to figure out this eternal life thing and then I'll get all that reading done no problem.
Gill wrote: "I've finished reading Doctor PascalIt's a great feeling to have reached the end of reading the 20 books of the Rougon Maquart series.
What a pity that this final book is only ava..."
That is a series I wish to tackle myself some day.
Gill wrote: "I've finished reading Doctor PascalIt's a great feeling to have reached the end of reading the 20 books of the Rougon Maquart series.
What a pity that this final book is only ava..."
Hearty congratulations Gill! Quite an accomplishment! Love Zola though I may, I don't think I'll have that patience to read all the 20 novels. But I do intend to read those I've added to my list (Germinal, The Masterpiece, La Bête Humaine and The Ladies' Paradise), having already read La Curée, L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop), Nana, The Belly of Paris. Another one by Zola but not in the R-M series that I've read is Thérèse Raquin.
Last night was sad to finish this one The Dry by Jane Harper. Definite 5 star read from me. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pam 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..."Wow, that is so fascinating Pam! I guess that I though Scott wrote for the joy of it rather than to earn a living -- I guess that the "Sir" misled me into the (common? American?) misconception that he didn't need to work.
Jenny wrote: "Gill wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Chuckling to myself at this: So I've not been present on GR for around 6 weeks and I am really glad to be back, I did however just realize there was one major advantage o..."it is when you focus on the word 'insurmountable'!!! ;) "
LOL!! But congratulations to you, Gill & Laura for sticking with Zola's Rougon Maquart series! That is indeed an accomplishment :)
What an awesome accomplishment, Gil and Laura.Sorry, Jenny but there are just so many good books being published right now.
Finished
Fallen Angel by John Ling a short but thrilling read. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
dely wrote: "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 J..."I am impressed by Theroux. Good decision.
Petra wrote: "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 J..."Petra, isn't The Lower River to be read after The Mosquito Coast? I was wondering about the author's fiction. Could it be equally good??? I cannot imagine fiction from this guy, but I am intrigued.
Leslie wrote: "Pam 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 ha...Wow, that is so fascinating Pam! I guess that I though Scott wrote for the joy of it rather than to earn a living -- I guess that the "Sir" misled me into the (common? American?) misconception that he didn't need to work. "
Scott was trained as a lawyer and when younger, derived his income from this occupation. In 1825 a UK-wide banking crisis resulted in the collapse of the Ballantyne printing business, of which Scott was the only partner with a financial interest; the company's debts of £130,000 (equivalent to £9,600,000 in 2015) caused his very public ruin. Rather than declare himself bankrupt, or to accept any kind of financial support from his many supporters and admirers (including the king himself), he placed his house and income in a trust belonging to his creditors, and determined to write his way out of debt. He kept up his prodigious output of fiction, as well as producing a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, until 1831.
Chrissie wrote: "Petra, isn't The Lower River to be read after The Mosquito Coast? I was wondering about the author's fiction. Could it be equally good??? I cannot imagine fiction from this guy, but I am intrigued. ..."I don't know if there's a correct order to read the books, Chrissie. He was a new author to me and I just picked up what my library had.
Here is my review, if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4.5★ for Kate Atkinson's intriguing Life After Life.This is a great study of an English girl, her family and friends during WWI, the Depression and WWII. But this is a girl who is haunted by premonitions and who lives many different lives - all of them interesting. People die . . . or do they?
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thanks, Petra, for the review link. Hmmm, so he takes his philosophical thoughts and uses them in a story set in a place he has traveled to.
Leslie wrote: "Pam 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 ha..."Yes his Wikipedia article says "Although primarily remembered for his extensive literary works and his political engagement, Scott was an advocate, judge and legal administrator by profession, and throughout his career combined his writing and editing work with his daily occupation as Clerk of Session and Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire."
Also, this link goes to the bit about his financial problems although it isn't where I first heard about this - Scott's Financial Problems. It doesn't go into who his partner was etc, but it does say he was the only partner with a financial interest and in fact gives the enormous sum that he ended up owing in the value of the day.
Update: just seen that B has quoted this too. Looking at that article, he wrote a lot of non fiction after that date.
Finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie book 1 in the Flavia du Luce series by Alan Bradley, and then read number 11 in the Cotswolds series, Shadows in the Cotswolds.
Pam how was the Flavia book? I've always meant to read that.
Pam, not to put too fine a point on it but Scott's partner was James Ballantyne who founded the Ballantyne Printing Press.
Pam, I enjoy books featuring a child character as the chief protagonist.
I finished My Brilliant Friend the other day. I really enjoyed this story. It's fun, entertaining and brought back memories of my mom's stories of her childhood in Europe. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Petra wrote: "I finished My Brilliant Friend the other day. I really enjoyed this story. It's fun, entertaining and brought back memories of my mom's stories of her childhood in Europe. My revie..."
Like you, I gave that one four stars. It is my favorite by the author. I felt that the second in the series was a big disappointment after the intriguing start; I didn't continue the series. The Days of Abandonment is also worth reading.
I haven't been following the news about the author. Do we know now who the author is?
Finished this one this afternoon The Teacher's Secret by Suzanne Leal. Thought provoking. 3.5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chinook wrote: "Pam how was the Flavia book? I've always meant to read that."I liked it though not quite as much as book 2 which was the first I came across of this series - see my post 8915 for the link to my short review of book 1.
I liked how Nicole Krauss managed to make the voices of all the characters in The History of Love so distinctive. 5★ from me for her unique look at a grizzled old Polish Jew who fled from the Nazis for NY as a boy, hoping to find his childhood sweetheart. Now he's a pessimistic old bloke rambling, often in Yiddish, mostly about death. But he's lovable.
Counterpoint is young NY teen, Alma, who writes notes like all schoolgirls who dream. Optimistic, curious, innocent. And also lovable.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Petra wrote: "I finished My Brilliant Friend the other day. Chrissie wrote: "Like you, I gave that one four stars. It is my favorite by the author. I felt that the second in the series was a big disappointment after the intriguing start; I didn't continue the series. The Days of Abandonment is also worth reading.
I haven't been following the news about the author. Do we know now who the author is? .."
That would be disappointing, Boo!
I think this book is a good set up as a novel(s) about class and one's place in society, as well as whether one should or shouldn't move outside of one's birth class. (I may be wrong about that....it's early in the story yet).
I would look forward to exploring that further in the upcoming books.
I haven't followed the news about the author.
I do recommend reading what I just finished: Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan. Actually, first I think you should read Fanny Stevenson: A Romance of Destiny. Fanny and her famed husband Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and A Child's Garden of Verses are fascinating individuals. You have to hear about their lives. They are worth the time spent on two books. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished reading Marlene . 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished The Trial. I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I did The Metamorphosis. The writing seems to drone on and on, and none of the characters moves me. Borderline 3 stars.My short review
Debut family saga by Lynda Cohen LoigmanThe Two-Family House: A Novel
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "I liked how Nicole Krauss managed to make the voices of all the characters in The History of Love so distinctive. 5★ from me for her unique look at a grizzled old Polish..."
I nearly didn't read History of Love because I was so put of 'New York Novels' by Jonathan Safran Foer (Krauss' husband).
But this turned out to be one of my favourite books.
There seemed to be true love expressed and characters were real people not a collection of quirky habits.
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Here's a link to my very sho..."
Thanks to your recommendation, it's on my TBR list, Gill.