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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Johanna wrote: "Just finished Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. I really liked the book, particularly because it enabled me to 'discover' Sri Lanka, a remarkable country with a history and culture go..."Have you read anything else by Ondaatje, Johana?
Dale wrote: "Recently finished I Let You Go by Clare Macintosh.A really good read. 4 stars, Review is here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I stayed up late last night to finish it, I was so gripped. But it did seem different in style and slower moving in the first part. Once the twist in the plot occurred it was a fast-paced thriller.
I was interested to see that the author was, or had been, a police officer, as it was some of those parts that didn't ring quite true for me. But perhaps my conception of police routines and relationships (built from other novels) is incorrect.
Raul wrote: "Great review Dhanaraj."Thank you Raul.
Gill wrote:: "I finished The North Water recently. I found it very gory and harsh, and also very good. *Yeah, I heard it was pretty harsh. I think somewhere it had drawn the comparison to Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West. For whatever it says about me, I loved that book!
Dhanaraj wrote: "Completed reading Yoko Ogawa's Hotel Iris. It is a weird kind of book. I am still confused as to what to make of the story. 3 out of 5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/..."
That's what I gave it, too, Dhanaraj. And my review starts with "I don't know what to say about this book." LOL! It is a strange one.
Nice review.
Mod
Oh no!!! That's a terrible flaw by the Goodreads people, to have spoilers unhidden automatically! So sorry Patty if anything was revealed to you! - you might want to submit a problem case to Goodreads .. it really sounds like something they should fix.
@Petra: Read your review. Liked it. And that is a wonderful coincidence to have stated same opinion about the book in almost identical words. Lol.
Dhanaraj wrote: "@Petra: Read your review. Liked it. And that is a wonderful coincidence to have stated same opinion about the book in almost identical words. Lol."Thanks, Dhanaraj!
Greg, it was a great, although it was difficult to read because it illustrates vividly the bloody civil war that wracked Sri Lanka through the 80s and 90s. As the characters deal with the mounting injuries, torture, casualties and disappearances, I felt awful realizing that newscasts of the time covered it all, but that I, along with most people not directly connected to Sri Lanka, did not pay much attention to what was going on. This is what is tragic about the information age: we see & hear it all, but we still don't comprehend or process it and don't/can't do anything about it.... It takes a powerful book, or image, to break through the veil and make us really see and feel what is really going on.
Gill, I had read 'In the Skin of a Lion', which takes place in my hometown, Toronto, but I did not like it that much. The reason I read Anil's Ghost, is because I was given a set of 4 Ondaatje books - Skin of Lion, Anil's Ghost, English Patient & Divisadero - and I was looking for books in Asia for Around the World in 80 Books, otherwise I wouldn't have read anything else by Ondaatje. I will now read The English Patient. Have you read any of his books?
Gill wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Just finished Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. I really liked the book, particularly because it enabled me to 'discover' Sri Lanka, a remarkable country with a histor..."
Dhanaraj wrote: "Completed reading Yoko Ogawa's Hotel Iris. It is a weird kind of book. I am still confused as to what to make of the story. 3 out of 5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/..."
Great review Dhanaraj! The term "Electra Complex" springs to mind :)
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I found People of the Book to be Brooks best book by far. She is the mentor of the fabulous author Hannah Kent. Burial Rites is tota..."Patty, no matter what you know beforehand the reading experience will be worthwhile for both books.
Maybe you should complain to GoodReads about the spoilers.
Chrissie wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I found People of the Book to be Brooks best book by far. She is the mentor of the fabulous author Hannah Kent. [book:Buria...Patty, no matter what you know beforehand the reading experience will be worthwhile for both books.
Maybe you should complain to GoodReads about the spoilers."
I think it's my problem not a Goodreads one. In my Yahoo mail online, Goodreads messages read the way they do here before we post something (with all the HTML code showing). I've never been able to fix it. I can't remember what it does on the iPad or phone.
I will certainly read it anyway - I didn't peek very much! :)
Greg wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "The trouble is, the spoilers are not hidden when these comments are sent as emails, which is how I get most of mine! I'm afraid I caught a glimpse of one spoiler, but I wil..So sorry Patty if anything was revealed to you! - you might want to submit a problem case to Goodreads .. it really sounds like something they should fix.."
That's okay, Greg - understood! It sounds as if spoilers aren't hidden in the updates that get emailed either. I haven't been using them--I just get emails from some discussions I follow.
Here's a GR discussion about that.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I was going to suggest doing it in the comments section after someone's review, but that's no good either, because if I'd commented on it, I might get another comment emailed.
Ah, technology!
Recently really enjoyed Bonnie Nadzam's new novel Lions
A beautifully written book about a dusty, nearly deserted town where people tried to farm when they should have left well enough alone. (Why do we do it, generation after generation?)
4★ from me. What a good writer! (Well, I think so!)
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Alice wrote: "Great review Dhanaraj! The term "Electra Complex" springs to mind :) "Thanks Alice.
I finished Judas: The troubling history of the renegade apostle. 5-star.This was a fascinating history of the story of Judas and his image through the ages and how it affected and still affects our history and concepts.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Johanna wrote: "Gill, I had read 'In the Skin of a Lion', which takes place in my hometown, Toronto, but I did not like it that much. The reason I read Anil's Ghost, is because I was given a set of 4 Ondaatje book..."Johana, I find I like the idea of his books more than the actual books! I liked The Cat's Table though.
Joganna, I have read several of Michael Ondaatje's books and I like some more than others. I gave both The English Patient and Anil's Ghost. four stars. They are my favorites. I didn't think Divisadero was as good. I think The English Patient is the best. Good luck.
I know exactly what you mean Gill! :)Gill wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Gill, I had read 'In the Skin of a Lion', which takes place in my hometown, Toronto, but I did not like it that much. The reason I read Anil's Ghost, is because I was given a set of..."
I will read The English Patient at some future point, but it won't be for a while - I'm behind on my challenges this year and I am dying to work my way through Faulkner and Steinbeck...Chrissie wrote: "Joganna, I have read several of Michael Ondaatje's books and I like some more than others. I gave both The English Patient and Anil's Ghost. four stars. They ..."
Just finished Anne of Green Gables. I started reading it a year ago but decided to listen to it which made it much more enjoyable.
Patty, I get emails of discusssion thread posts and am not sure I've seen spoilers being revealed. Maybe I am misinterpreting what your problem was. If you post a comment, this is what my emails says: "PattyMacDotComma posted a new comment on All About Books topic: "What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews" on Goodreads. There may be more new replies, but this is the only notification you will receive until you visit the discussion again.
Read the comment on Goodreads.
I finished this year's read of The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian
My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished an excellent novella by Willa Cather - My Mortal Enemy. 5 out of 5 stars. A novel on marriage, love and redemption.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
B the BookAddict wrote: "Patty, I get emails of discusssion thread posts and am not sure I've seen spoilers being revealed. Maybe I am misinterpreting what your problem was. If you post a comment, this is what my emails sa..."I have ticked "email all", which includes the comment, so I don't have to keep going back to the browser to read a conversation. So it's kind of my fault, I guess!
To say I had trouble writing my review for The Sound and the Fury is an understatement! Finally.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am stubborn. I didn't get it completed until after I had finished my next read: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
My review of this second book:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I wanted to read these two books side by side since they had been compared. After reading the second I was better able to re-evaluate the first.
Dhanaraj wrote: "Finished an excellent novella by Willa Cather - My Mortal Enemy. 5 out of 5 stars. A novel on marriage, love and redemption.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?..."
Willa Cather is wonderful! I haven't read this one yet. Nice review!
Chrissie, I didn't realize that Miss Jane Pittman and Sound & Fury were compared together. I haven't read Miss Jane, yet the two seem so different in description.
Mod
Bette, it sounds like when she gets the full contents of the discussion thread additions (an option as opposed to just notifications), the HTML is coming across uninterpreted.
Patty, I'm not sure if the problem is your email settings, displaying emails as raw text, HTML tags and all, instead of interpreting them ... or if the problem is in that Goodreads feature since the spoiler tags are an HTML extension. One of them is intended to replace spoilers with the text (spoiler removed), but it's not working for you somehow. Do italics in your email come across as italics in these digests, or do those come across as < i > and < /i > (as raw HTML tags too)?
Petra, did you read THIS description of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman? That they or even just the two main characters are compared is laughable. I state that in my review. I think it is horrible how books are described with reference to other books.
Finished Peacock & Vine: On William Morris and Mariano Fortunyhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Greg, I wasn't aware that the 'full text' was available, thanks for the info.
I have about 50 comments to go through but first let me just gush about my latest read -- Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz. I just loved it!! 5*
Chuck wrote: "Gill wrote:: "I finished The North Water recently. I found it very gory and harsh, and also very good. *Yeah, I heard it was pretty harsh. I think somewhere it had drawn the comparison to [book:B..."
Hi there Chuck!! I was just wondering where you were hiding last week so glad to see you posting again :)
Free wrote: "Just finished Anne of Green Gables. I started reading it a year ago but decided to listen to it which made it much more enjoyable."Who did the narration? I listened to it a year or so ago with Colleen Winton narrating. But it is hard for me to judge the narration as by the time I listened to the audiobook, I had read the book in print & on Kindle multiple times!
Johanna wrote: "I will read The English Patient at some future point, but it won't be for a while - I'm behind on my challenges this year and I am dying to work my way through Faulkner and Steinbeck...Chrissie w..."
I found The English Patient dull but I read it a long while ago so I might like it more now.
Dhanaraj wrote: "Finished an excellent novella by Willa Cather - My Mortal Enemy. 5 out of 5 stars. A novel on marriage, love and redemption.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?..."
Oooh, oooh, oooh!!! I love Cather's way of describing things! I haven't read this one before so on to the (neverending) list it goes :)
Wow Leslie, how great to hear that you loved Palace Walk. Had you read Mahfouz before?Leslie wrote: "I have about 50 comments to go through but first let me just gush about my latest read -- Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz. I just loved it!! 5*"
Leslie wrote: "I have about 50 comments to go through but first let me just gush about my latest read -- Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz. I just loved it!! 5*"So glad you liked this one, Leslie!
Johanna wrote: "Wow Leslie, how great to hear that you loved Palace Walk. Had you read Mahfouz before?Leslie wrote: "I have about 50 comments to go through but first let me just gush about my latest read -- [boo..."
No, this is my first time reading Mahfouz but not the last!
Leslie wrote: "Oooh, oooh, oooh!!! I love Cather's way of describing things! I haven't read this one before so on to the (neverending) list it goes :)"You will like this Leslie. But it is less descriptive. Cather, however, has captured a nuance of the human nature in this work.
About Naguib Mahfouz: I have read just a book (non fiction) by him and liked it. The book is: Echoes of an Autobiography. Wanted to read his fiction, especially his Cairo Trilogy. Nice to hear high opinions of those books from our friends.
I finished Confessions and found it very thought provoking and most likely needing a re-read to fully grasp much of it. I gave it 4*, but that is more about me than the writing. Some of the conversation left me lost in the weeds in some of the Philosophical and logic twists. The biographical side of it was fascinating and an amazing read. Review
Free wrote: "Just finished Anne of Green Gables. I started reading it a year ago but decided to listen to it which made it much more enjoyable."How did you enjoy it? Anne is one of my absolute favorites. In my opinion, she's worth more than all the Austen heroines. I just love her.
Leslie wrote: "No, this is my first time reading Mahfouz but not the last! "I'm glad you liked it that much! You can read the other two books of the trilogy, Palace Walk was the best in my opinion, but I liked a lot also Sugar Street, the third one; the second of the trilogy, Palace of Desire, was the one I liked less but it deserved however 3 stars and for me it's a good rating.
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All About Books
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My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...