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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
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LauraT
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Nov 19, 2016 01:28AM
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LauraT wrote: "Finished in a day Embers by Sándor Márai. Really taken by it!"Yes, it's a very good book. I'm glad you liked it. By Marai I've also thoroughly enjoyed Il sangue di san Gennaro (no English edition, sorry). Despite the title it isn't something religious, but it talks about the years he lived in Naples as a refugee. It's full of his thoughts and opinions about life as a refugee, love for his native country, life in Naples, but also about redemption. It's not an easy read, but it's really worth.
I have completed The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. It is considered a classic. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really, really liked the book but absolutely detested the audiobook narration by Richard Davidson. Listening to him can easily distort one's interpretation of the written lines.
The book is gritty and realistic and a lot happens.
A bit of NZ, where a vicious crime by a young Maori perpetrator has lifelong repercussions for both him and the surviving victim.Author Fiona Sussman came from South Africa with its apartheid history to live in NZ with its Maori culture.
Her novel, The Last Time We Spoke, is a 4★ read for me.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
LauraT wrote: "Finished in a day Embers by Sándor Márai. Really taken by it!"Love that book too, Daly and Laura.
Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. It is considered a classic. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I reaally, really liked the boo..."
Chrissie, I really fell for Malamud when I read The Fixer. It was slow, but for me completely captivating.
Albert, slow huh, well the speed picks up with The Assistant and a lot has happened by the end. I don't mind slow if there is stuff to think about.
I completed two books this week:Before the Fall - I was looking forward to listening to this story but was disappointed. Turns out that the author is a screenwriter. This story does read like a thriller adventure movie with its paranoia, navel gazing, finger pointing, etc.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Story of a New Name - I'm really enjoying this short (4 book) series of the lives of Elena and Lila.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Winter in Anna: A Novel. 5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have completed Rasputin: The Untold Story. While I liked the book very much, I do not recommend listening to this in audio format. The audiobbok's narrator reads way too fast. It would help to see the Russian names. The book has just too much interesting but difficult information to absorb vocally. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Moonglow and Faithful. 5 and 4 stars respectively for me.Reviews:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
Yes, it's a very good book. I'm glad you liked it. By Marai I've also thoroughly enjoye..."
At the moment, to read something elese by the same author, I've started Divorzio a Buda; but I'll look for your suggestion as well!
Enjoyed this one a lot - The Easy Way Out by Steven Amsterdam, a good author and a Melbourne palliative care nurse, which makes this story even more believable.The proposition is that assisted suicide (for painful terminal cancer and the like) is legal, and Evan is an assistant.
Good story, colourful people and more to the story than that.
My review (4.5★)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished book 6 in the Flavia de Luce series. Just missed 5 stars because of the murder's resolution - The Dead in their Vaulted Arches.
Pam, the way you attach your review, with the link actually 'in' the link to the name of the book, makes it hard to spot you have written a review. I appear to be the only one who realises you have written a review at all. Maybe try the way others add a separate link? Just a suggestion:)
Bette's right Pam - I didn't realise there was a review to go to:)
Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. It is considered a classic. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really, really liked the boo..."
I have this in paperback so I guess I won't look for an audiobook edition! Glad to hear that you like it.
I finished the 2nd Connie Willis book, To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last, narrated by Stephen Crossley. I thought that this one was much better than the first one (Doomsday Book) and laughed several times. It might have helped that I have already read and loved Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!
Leslie wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. It is considered a classic. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really, rea..."
Just do not listen to the audiobook narrated by Richard Davidson. There could be other narrators that are good.
Finished The Couple Next Door. A different but fun read. 3* My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished a fun book, Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished Mara and Dann by Lessing and I really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for climate change apocalypses and I liked this one a lot. I also recently finished The Happy Atheist, which I enjoyed as a light read (it's just entries taken from his blog - most are fairly amusing) and What You Should Know About Politics . . . But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues That Matter, which was a great overview of how things are in America right now.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Pam, the way you attach your review, with the link actually 'in' the link to the name of the book, makes it hard to spot you have written a review. I appear to be the only one who realises you have..."OK thanks B. I've always done them that way, not realising. All the links in this thread and my challenge one go to reviews but I'll try to make it clearer in future. I review everything so I remember later as I have a not very good memory!
I have completed the new book The Clancys of Queens: A Memoir. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished reading Outline. I gave it 3 stars. I ended up being quite irritated by the way it was written in a similar style to W.G. Sebald, but nowhere near as well.Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Disappearance of Ember Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5★ superb! Right up there with favourite for the year is Lawrence Block's production/publication/collection of stories, In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper.Fantastic paintings that are just begging for a back story, wonderfully imagined by the likes of Stephen King, Lee Child and many others.
My review (and a couple of pictures)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
You know how it is when you are reading a book and you absolutely adore it? Well, I want to tell others. Check out Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir. I'm not done though. Interesting i.e. full of information about animals and flora, beautifully written, in-depth portrayal of a child's thoughts, humor and how it is put together grabs you so you want more and more.I think he is autistic or OCD or something.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "5★ superb! Right up there with favourite for the year is Lawrence Block's production/publication/collection of stories, [book:In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Painti..."I've just been to an Edward Hopper exhibition, the book sounds very interesting,
Chrissie, his Wiki page says he is self-diagnosed with Aspbergers syndrome.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Chrissie, his Wiki page says he is self-diagnosed with Aspbergers syndrome."OK, that fits too. Thanks.
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