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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Just finished my review of
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris:-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have read a lovely book for my cat challenge. There isn't an English edition and the Italian one is this: Winston, un gatto in missione segreta by Frauke Scheunemann 3/5Though I knew that it's more a story for children, I however enjoyed it.
It talks about the friendship between a girl and a cat. Because of an "accident" (a lightning) the girl's souls enters the cat's body and viceversa. They understand each other so they can communicate. Seen that the girl's mother was in troubles, they decide to become secret agents to help her.
The main topics of this book are friendship, but also honesty, prejudices and about how to take challenges. It's a lovely story for children and it can teach them right values.
My only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also just finished my (very long, very Shakespeare quote heavy) review of If We Were Villains. 3.5 stars rounded up. The Secret History meets William Shakespeare.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished listening to the audio of a warm, casual Christmas story: Pretty Paper by Willie Nelson (I like the song). This one went well with a wintery commute. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I know I'm early, but it's getting to be a busy month. Here are my favourite reads of 2016**** Big thanks to my GR friends!https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finally got my review up for Hum If You Don’t Know the Words: I had initially pegged it as a three star read, but after writing my review it's a 2.5 star read rounded down. Some parts I really did enjoy, but half the narrative worked less for me than the other half, and the ending felt very forced and inauthentic.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This week I've read (some are short books and one an audiobook, sorted from lowest rating to highest rating):
I didn't post a main review (just one for a book group here), but 2 stars.
my review
myreview
my review
my review
I'm going to read that last one Karin but only when I've read the last couple that precede it, so I won't read your review just yet!Just read Trumps of Doom and reviewed it https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1805823638
Like Jen I thought I would get my favourites of 2016 sorted now! It has been a great reading year usually due to the ideas I get from all your reviews! Thanks everyone:)Here are my faves:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pam wrote: "I'm going to read that last one Karin but only when I've read the last couple that precede it, so I won't read your review just yet!Just read Trumps of Doom and reviewed it https://..."
Good idea, since even though I gave no real spoilers to anyone who is caught up, if you are behind avoid the reviews. I will say that this is one of the better books in the series which are rather evenly written. The audiobooks are brilliantly done, though. I started listening to them around book 5.
This a series I'm glad I found. The Darkest Hour by Katherine Howell. 4★My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last night and today, were Graphic Novel days for me. I didn't mean to read them all but am glad that I did:Ghosts - this is one for the younger crowd but such a delightful, happy-feeling story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Underwater Welder - a wonderful story of facing the past and dealing with guilt and regret.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel - a very powerful story of the shame, guilt and powerlessness felt by many Aboriginal Peoples and finding a way to healing by breaking the cycles. Very powerful indeed.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read a comic short piece A Christmas Outing by Jonathan Hill and reviewed https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1835393669
Here is my review ofAt the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with: Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Karl Jaspers, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and others: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really did love it. I sat glued to it. Maybe I should have given it five stars. Books on philosophy can be so esoteric. This wasn't.
I have finished the collection of short stories by Marco Freccero: La follia del mondo 4,5/5There isn't an English edition of this book. It's a collection of short stories and the third book of a trilogy. I received also this one for free in exchange of an honest review. I have to say that I like the short stories by this emerging Italian author. He isn't only able to write, he is also able to look into people.
I've written only an Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yesterday I finished 2 books, both 4 stars:
Pull Me Under: A Novel
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and IQ
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Pull Me Under: A Novel
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and IQ
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This is a book every ought to read...powerful, disturbing, but we need to know. I am totally wrecked after reading it....
Untouchable by Sibel Hodge https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished The Jane Austen Project - three stars for me: enjoyable and pretty well-written, though the future/time travel bits are not fully realized. Plays in the Austen sandbox without messing with Austen's beloved literary creations, and her Jane Austen is well-imagined.
My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished reading Everybody's Fool. It didn't suit me. I gave it 2.5 stars.Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Lake District Murder by John Bude. Not one of his better works. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Gill wrote: "I've just finished reading Everybody's Fool. It didn't suit me. I gave it 2.5 stars.Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I am not a fan of Richard Russo either.
Just uploaded my review of
Truly Madly Guilty by author Liane Moriarty:-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recently finished Ready Player One for a book club meeting. The other readers generally found it to be lacking in character development and found it a bit repetitive. I totally agreed with them and yet I really loved it. Such a fun read. I also just finished The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country on audio. I thought it was an interestingly organized way to go through and understand why the political system in America works as it does.
Andreea wrote: " Here is my review of Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis ."I have been wanting to read his Zorba the Greek - have you read it?
Oh Leslie, don't wait! Zorba the Greek is very good. If you are hesitating please check out my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee.
I read it for a challenge and it turned out to be remarkably good:)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Gill wrote: "I've just finished reading Everybody's Fool. It didn't suit me. I gave it 2.5 stars. Chrissie wrote:I am not a fan of Richard Russo either.
Oh-Oh....I haven't read a book by him yet but am interested. His name seems to come up often enough.
Chinook wrote: "I recently finished Ready Player One for a book club meeting. The other readers generally found it to be lacking in character development and found it a bit repetitive. I totally agr..."I really liked Ready Player One, too, Chinook, just for the fun of it. I didn't go in with any expectations and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Chrissie wrote: "Oh Leslie, don't wait! Zorba the Greek is very good. If you are hesitating please check out my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."Thanks Chrissie -- I will move it higher on my TBR! Right now I am trying to read a few of my own books before the end of the year, including another one you recommended - Cider With Rosie!
Leslie, I can't imagine you r not appreciating Laurie Lee's writing! He has one about Xmas that I have heard of but haven't read.
Petra wrote: "Gill wrote: "I've just finished reading Everybody's Fool. It didn't suit me. I gave it 2.5 stars. Chrissie wrote:I am not a fan of Richard Russo either.
Oh-Oh....I haven't read..."
You know I rarely dump book, but I did with Empire Falls by Russo. Here is why I chose not to continue : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am in a current state of love hate with this Novel - gave 5*sSwallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
My review
I finished Gioconda earlier today. I had no difficulty in knowing how to rate it. Definitely four stars. The narration of the audiobook by Mark Meadows was VERY good too. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've just finished reading Sweet William. I'd forgotten just how deliciously dark Beryl Bainbridge's humour can be.Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished my review of All Our Wrong Todays - 4 stars for me. It took me a bit to get into (the exposition is a bit clunky IMO) but once it got there, I was emotionally and mentally hooked. So many great lines and observations, I was bookmarking things every few pages or so. Smart and fresh and with feeling. Highly recommend (with caveat of needing to get past a shaky opening).
My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Dayshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas. I enjoyed Augusten's childhood Christmas stories more than his adult ones. I listened to this while commuting and for that it was a good book choice. It was read by the author, who I thought added a bit too much flamboyancy to the telling. The stories told of his childhood Christmases were fun. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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All About Books
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