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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
I just read A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale. My Mum absolutely loved it, and I quite liked it, but not as much as I was hoping.My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have completed Find Me a New Way to Die: Edith Piaf - The Untold Story.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have just finished Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It was a good read, very sad, but very interesting too.
A friend recommended I Heard the Owl Call My Name, but it just didn't work for me. I do appreciate the suggestion, but I must give my honest reaction. A friendship isn't worth much if you cannot do that. It is considered a classic, so there is probably something wrong with me!. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cricket and crims!The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Aussie author Jock Serong.
Colourful story of brothers who are like a psychotic Shane Warne split in two. (Google him if you don't know him.)
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amalia wrote: "Finished The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud. Disappointing...My review: www.goodreads.com/review/s..."
This is the book I started a few years ago for my Novel Cure Challenge. I think the author wanted to be funny. In fact the various recommendations for the ailments do not work. But thanks to this book I have read books I would have never read or that were waiting in my wishlist since a long time. This book gave me the input to read them. For example, for birthday sadness I've read a book that now is among my favorites: Midnight's Children or for the "illness" of being afraid to fall out of love I've read 1Q84 that I really enjoyed.
I think this book is not to be taken seriously.
Amalia wrote: "dely wrote: "Amalia wrote: "Finished The Novel Cure: From Abandonment to Zestlessness: 751 Books to Cure What Ails You by Ella Berthoud. Disappointing...My review..."
I don't think that this is a self-help or that the author wanted to write such a book. I understand you because I don't like self-help either. I had the impression that the author wanted to write a funny book, nothing serious to really help people. She can't be serious recommending Midnight's Children to people that have birthday sadness, Monkey: The Journey to the West for people who have fear to change, or Rebecca for people who have low self-esteem.
Maybe you had different expectations. I started this book without expecting anything, just as an easy and funny read.
Amalia wrote: "Yes, we agree. I admit I had high expectations and perhaps, that is why I was so disappointed. I couldn't agree more on the points you mention. The summary for Rebecca was so frustrating, but what really angered me was the entry for the Great Gatsby."I don't remember it. Maybe I'm not affected by that "illness" or I have still to read it.
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
What a pity only the first of the trilogy is translated Terri!
I have just finished a reread of 1984. Fortunately is was as good as I remembered.As a 12 year old I found it terrifying as an adult less so though I am not sure whether that is due to middle-aged cynicism or the fact that in the last 35 years there has been a significant change in the political creed, though not the cruelty, of the world's totalitarian regimes.
I have completed The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Esther wrote: "I have just finished a reread of 1984. Fortunately is was as good as I remembered.As a 12 year I found it terrifying as an adult less so though I am not sure whether that is due to mid..."
Esther, that's precisely the reason I never re-read old teenage/high school favourites. I want to keep my first memory of them intact and positive.
I also read One of the Boys. No rating . My review explains why : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished a lovely collection of short stories - The Rose Garden: Short Stories by Maeve Brennan. She was an unfamiliar author to me before this; an Irish woman who emigrated to the U.S. and wrote for the New Yorker magazine. If you like Katherine Mansfield, I recommend this strongly! 5*
Mod
Ooh, that sounds good Leslie!
Finished reading Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes. Not sure I liked it very much. It is a different kind of Japanese novel that I have read so far.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Handy little children's picture book for parents and teachers. 3.5★
I Want to Win!: A book about being a good sport
My review (including an illustration):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
B the BookAddict wrote: "Esther wrote: "I have just finished a reread of 1984. Fortunately is was as good as I remembered.As a 12 year I found it terrifying as an adult less so though I am not sure whether tha..."
I have found rereading children's books, especially after a long lapse of time, is not always successful. But 1984 is one of the first adult books I read. Before that it was mostly Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie.
As a young adult I read Brave New World and although it had some good ideas I found the writing style rather juvenile and I began to wonder if maybe 1984 wasn't as wonderful as I remembered.
So this rereading was all about examining my younger self's judgement of the book. Turns out I had pretty good taste :0)
Gill wrote: "I've just read Lincoln in the Bardo. It was a good read, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are grieving. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Thanks for that last reco, Gill. I do have it out but don't have time to get to it. I am grieving so will pass on this for a period of time. Appreciate it.
Finished Winter Sky. A terrific and impactful one. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... 4.5*
Mod
Here's my review of the same - The book revolves around the life and problems of 3 married couples. They're all consumed by the same situation in life, b..."
The subject matter sounds good Shikha - too bad it fell apart a bit toward the end!
I have completed Medicine Walk. Now that I think of it, it has a good title too.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've finished The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone. and it wasn't for me. Here's my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've also finished The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry. It's a good book to dip into. Here's my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Great fun in a few minutes' reading. A ladies literary lunch club gets its comeuppance.An Edith Wharton short story (free online) Xingu
5★ - So funny! A few quotes in my review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Great fun in a few minutes' reading. A ladies literary lunch club gets its comeuppance.An Edith Wharton short story (free online) Xingu
5★ - So funny! A few quotes in ..."
Great review!
A couple of reviews for your Finished up C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian with the kiddos earlier this week. One of the great things about the Chronicles of Narnia is that even though I've read through the series at least four times, I still pick up new things every time I read each book. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And then for my own personal reading, I saw
sitting on the library bookshelf and snatched it up. Good enough to buy eventually, I thought. It really introduced me to a whole world of new voices and concepts that I found really helpful to understanding our current world situation. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Great fun in a few minutes' reading. A ladies literary lunch club gets its comeuppance.An Edith Wharton short story (free online) Xingu
5★ - Great review!."
Thanks, Terry HoE! NOW I know where you got your name, you erudite member of the literati, you!
This book, on the other hand . . . 
Ashes has a nice cover, and I guess Steven Manchester has a following, but it doesn't include me.
I've added a link to another excerpt of his.
1.5★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and it is my favorite new read of 2017 so far! I had some reservations going in, because while many of my respected GR friends praised this book, I still generally had mixed feelings when it came to magic realism, but now I can be counted as one of the converted! (My Review)
My review of Over the Hills and Far Away: The Life of Beatrix Potter https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jason wrote: "Just finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and it is my favorite new read of 2017 so far! I had some reservations going in, because while many of my respected GR..."Wonderful review and I agree with what you have written! I'm glad you liked it that much.
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