All About Books discussion
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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Finished American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearsthttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "dely wrote: "I also think that sometimes Camus was too cryptic or too fast to explain his points of view about life and death. ."I agree."
The three books The Stranger, The Fall and The Plague are related to one another and are best read with Camus' essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
Great gift for wordy people. I enjoyed The Illustrated Book of Sayings: Curious Expressions from Around the World by Ella Frances Sanders, which is how it's shown on NetGalley.I believe it is the same book as Speaking in Tongues: Curious Expressions from Around the World by the same author on Amazon Australia and UK.
5★ from me. Lovely illustrations and funny expressions. In Romanian, TV static is your TV has fleas!
My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Alice wrote: "The three books The Stranger, The Fall and The Plague are related to one another and are best read with Camus' essay The Myth of Sisyphus. .."I've read two of those, The Plague and The Stranger, but I really should try the other two. Adding them to my list :)
dely wrote: "Guy wrote: "You are so right. It is eye opening and a paradigm shift for us westerners. "You can try also Goodnight, Mr. Lenin: A Journey Through the End of the Soviet Empire by [au..."
Thank you for the recommend. I had heard about this someplace after reading Secondhand Time my interest has been peaked!
Alice wrote: "The three books The Stranger, The Fall and The Plague are related to one another and are best read with Camus' essay The Myth of Sisyphus. "Thanks Alice. The Plague is already in my wishlist. I really want to read more by him. And this morning my son came back home from school and told me that his French teacher wants them to read The Stranger, but of course in French. I'm always so happy when teacher give good books to read :D
And for German he has to read Youth Without God, a book I really loved! Can't wait to see what he will think about both books.
Guy wrote: "Thank you for the recommend. I had heard about this someplace after reading Secondhand Time my interest has been peaked! "I hope you will like it. I like everything he writes.
When I began Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, I wasn't so sure it was going to be a winner, but by the end I was totally blown over. A VERY good book!My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished the audiobook of We yesterday. Since I was cooking at the time, I was worried that I missed something so I read the last few chapters in the Kindle edition I got from the library this morning. Despite the different translations, it was clear to me that I hadn't. I am still not completely sure what to think about this dystopian novel (perhaps the first? it was the inspiration for Orwell and Huxley). One persistant thought though is a question whether Gene Roddenberry used this as an inspiration for the Vulcans!!
I also finished Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye which I picked up at last summer's library sale. It is the best Atwood novel I have read!!
5★ for Britt-Marie Was Here
.I loved it! It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a Britt-Marie to change a village.
My review (with some funny quotes):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chinook wrote: "I just finished Citizen: An American Lyricand it was incredibly moving and important. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
This sounds really interesting! You didn't say very much (you SHOULD!) but some other people did, and I'm going to look for it. Go ahead, say more!
Leslie wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Really enjoyed this one. Funny and informative: [book:You're Saying It Wrong: A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words--and Their Tangled Histories...That sounds like a fun book! reply | flag *
It was fun and will no doubt cause many dinner table arguments and book club disagreements, I bet, Leslie!
Chrissie wrote: "Jen wrote: "Finished But You Did Not Come Back. 5*****. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."I agree, that is a book worth five stars even if one has read z..."
Me too. Worth a read. Short, personal, hard to turn your eyes away.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "5★ for Britt-Marie Was Here.I loved it! It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a Britt-Marie to change a village.
My revie..."
I am not surprised this book was written by a (view spoiler). I actually started laughing.
Mod
Interesting...
How have I not read this by now?!
by Helen Fielding. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A catch-up of some of the books I've read lately (haven't reviewed them all yet):The Ghost Road
by Pat BarkerExile
by Martin Owton
Leslie wrote: "I also finished Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye which I picked up at last summer's library sale. It is the best Atwood novel I have read!!"I read that too long ago to remember the details bu did only rate it a 3 ★. My winning Atwood novel is still Alias Grace; I only wrote a three line comment on the book - probably overawed by the brilliant reviews by Alice, Chrissie, Debbie DJ and Sara Steger.
She is coming out with a new book next month I think.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I also finished Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye which I picked up at last summer's library sale. It is the best Atwood novel I have read!!"I read that too long ago to reme..."
I didn't really care for Alias Grace that much -- I know that other people have loved it but the story didn't do much for me.
I've finished Stormbird, the first in the "War of the Roses" series by Conn Iggulden. A gripping read, and the writing is great, but the two main fictitious characters somehow didn't quite click with me. 3.5 stars.My Review
Ruth wrote: "She is coming out with a new book next month I think."Reading it now. Hag-seed one of the Shakespeare rewrites. She tackles the Tempest and I am enjoying it very much.
The Lightkeepers failed me totally. Neither did I like the narration. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished reading To The Bright Edge of the World.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Diane, I just ordered Hag-Seed from the library.
I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk and was unimpressed despite its status as a Nobel Prize winner. Perhaps this was due to the English translation, but perhaps not.My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Travis wrote: "I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk and was unimpressed despite its status as a Nobel Prize winner."His status, not "its". Nobel is given to the author for their whole body of work, not to any single book.
Tytti wrote: "Travis wrote: "I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk and was unimpressed despite its status as a Nobel Prize winner."His status, not "its". Nobel is given to the author for their whole body of work..."
Thank you for the clarification, you are definitely correct, though I will note that oftentimes individual works are cited as being particularly noteworthy, and in this case "Snow" was his most recently published literary work at the time of his being awarded the Nobel Prize.
That's true, but people are not always aware of that, especially when there is a Nobel "sticker" on the cover.
Travis wrote: "I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk and was unimpressed despite its status as a Nobel Prize winner. Perhaps this was due to the English translation, but perhaps not.My review:
https://www.goodrea..."
I disliked that too. Nope, just b/c an author has won a Nobel it doesn't mean I love the book. I get so annoyed that often these are chosen for political reasons.
Totally absorbing stories of young Jews and Arabs in Jemma Wayne's new novel that takes place mostly in Israel:
Chains of Sand
5★ for a peek into the lives of several young people caught up in the conflict and whether they can allow themselves to decide on easier lives elsewhere.
Whether the person they love is included in a move, is a hard choice to make. Good strong characters, good stories, very believable. It's a hard world.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A friend in another group brought to my attention the short story My Purple Scented Novel written and narrated by the author Ian McEwan. My minuscule review which has a link to the New Yorker site where it is free: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Travis wrote: "I just finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk and was unimpressed despite its status as a Nobel Prize winner. Perhaps this was due to the English translation, but perhaps not.My review:
https://www.goodrea..."
I enjoyed Snow and My Name is Red. Oh and also Silent House.
My review of The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished The Last of the Duchess, about the last years of the Duchess of Windsor. Author Caroline Blackwood never got to meet the Duchess, and instead detailed a series of truly bizarre interviews with her formidable French lawyer.The book reminded me of the classic piece, Mr Sinatra Has a Cold, in which the people who surround a high-profile person say more than the actual "personality" ever would.
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That is a blast from the past -- I read that series up until about M and then tired of it but recently I h..."
I liked that one so I will read B is for Burglar next. If that goes well I shall probably commit to the whole series. Should keep me quiet for a while:)