All About Books discussion
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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Recently read Little Gold by Allie Rogers. 12-yo girl trusts nobody, and with good reason.
3.5★ Link to my review
B the BookAddict wrote: "Petra wrote: "I finished The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father last week, then left town for a short vacation, then wrote the review. My initial thoughts and feelings are still the s..." I often start reviews in my mind while walking between the bus stop and work. My blood is pumping, my brain is sparking and I inevitably come up with several beautifully crafted sentences exactly expressing my feelings which I discover I have almost completely forgotten the moment I get near pen and paper :0(
Esther wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "Petra wrote: "I finished The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father last week, then left town for a short vacation, then wrote the review. My initial thoughts and..."You are not alone. this happens to me as I walk the dog or when I am lying in bed or in the shower or anywhere I cannot jot down my thoughts.
Chrissie wrote: "Do you mean this one - The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir by the same quthor or a book by another?.."Yes, that's the one. I look forward to it.
Catchup for two books just read:The Bridge by Iain Banks, reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2078259886
The Turning Wheel, And Other Stories by Philip K Dick, reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2081242865
I liked the historical fiction novel Leopard At The Door. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really like this
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse - I could not put it down. It was a pretty quick read. I liked it so much I listed to the audio version after. I never do that, but it was free through my library on Hoolpa. It was just as good, maybe better.
Nobody needs me to remind them of this wonderfully readable autobiography of Maya Angelou, but that won't stop me from recommending I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings!
5★ Link to my review
Just finished
Desperation Road by Michael Farris Smith. Brutal and grim; powerful and beautiful. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finished two books.At home a non-fiction La cucina dell'Islam 2*. There isn't an English edition, but it could be "Cuisine In Islam". I like to read about how the food is related also to religion, but I didn't enjoy this that much because it talked more about the cuisine in the Arabian countries and the part related to Islam was short. It had also boring parts like that dedicated to kitchenware or the meaning of dreaming different food. I won't also use the recipes at the end of the book because I'm vegetarian and in the Arabian cuisine they use a lot of meat.
Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
On the beach I have finished: Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez 3,5*
I liked it because I love Marquez's prose and how he is able to descripe people's behaviour and mentality.
Only Italian review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read book 3 of Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking trilogy, Monsters of Men, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1811505943.
I just finished Swallows of Kabul and loved it. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also finished The Best American Short Stories 2010. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also finished The Best American Short Stories 2010. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read book 1 in a Michael Moorcock trilogy, Count Brass and reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2083283951.
Read the short story which wraps up the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness - Snowscape - and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2041750620.
A Goodreads win pushed me to read this very different fictional account of the 'bad' men of history, and the crazy things their women can do. The Love of a Bad Man by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
Here is my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
This was a book I just couldn't put down once I had started it. Don't even think about asking what time we finally got dinner last night. ...
Liar by K.L. Slater https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A clever book by a clever lady (she was in the news recently as she was detained in the States due to the unfortunate restrictions that were created). I'm Australian Too by Mem Fox
Take a look at my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Three more books down: One readaloud to the kids, one I bought this year, and one borrowed from the library:
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. LewisReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Lynched: The Power of Memory in a Culture of Terror by Angela D. SimsReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Animal Farm by George Orwell Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished The Haunting of Hill house. 1959 gothic horror story. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read book 2 in the Chronicles of Castle Brass trilogy, The Champion of Garathorm, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2083501935.
Paul wrote: "Three more books down: One readaloud to the kids, one I bought this year, and one borrowed from the library: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Le..."A childhood favourite but as you say in your review it has some 'dodgy' views by today's values. Was written in 1954 though and those stereotypes must've been very widespread. He obviously didn't think to question them.
War's Unwomanly Face is phenomenal and excellent as an audibook.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "War's Unwomanly Face is phenomenal and excellent as an audibook.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Chrissie, great review! I put this on my library TBR list.
I finished reading the YA book the Besutiful Ldt
This took me back to raising my kids! Worse Things Happen at Sea by favourite Aussie actor William McInnes and his late wife, Sarah Watt, is a funny, tender, uninhibited memoir (sort of). 
4.5★ Link to my review
Petra wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "War's Unwomanly Face is phenomenal and excellent as an audibook.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Chrissie, great review! I put this o..."
I am so very glad you are going to read this. OK, it is about war, but not about decisions made by leaders or front lines or strategical manoeuvres, but rather about women soldiers' emotional responses to what they experienced. It is riveting and horrible and wonderful and so honest and just begs to be read. That is how it was for me at least. Other books have been written about ordinary masculine combat soldiers. For the first time we get the perspective of women soldiers. Tons of women soldiers have been interviewed and we hear their words and thoughts from tapes. Women tend to be more willing to expose their emotions. It is like being engulfed in a chorus of women speaking.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "This took me back to raising my kids! Worse Things Happen at Sea by favourite Aussie actor William McInnes and his late wife, Sarah Watt, is a funny, tender, uninhib..."Patty, have you read A Man's Got To Have A Hobby: Long Summers With My Dad, by that author? I had been considering it......but it is so short.
I finished The Hidden Light of Northern Fires. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read volume 3, The Quest for Tanelorn in the Chronicles of Castle Brass trilogy by Michael Moorcock and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2084298667.
I'm reading GraceLand by Chris Abani. It's about a teenage boy living in poverty in 1980s Lagos, Nigeria who tries to escape the slum by becoming an Elvis imitator. I like it but not as much as I thought I would.
Here follows my review of Paul Scott's Staying On My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished Coming Up for Air. A powerful read. 4 stars. My review:-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "This took me back to raising my kids! Worse Things Happen at Sea by favourite Aussie actor William McInnes and his late wife, Sarah Watt, is.Patty, have you read A Man's Got To Have A Hobby: Long Summers With My Dad, by that author? I had been considering it......but it is so short. .."
No, I haven't, Chrissie. And I don't know much about it, but he does enjoy reminiscing about his parents and childhood, and he was a colourful kid, I think, so he may have saved up some funny tales. In this book, they were both surprisingly open (and insightful, I thought) about some things many of us wouldn't talk about freely. I guess just read some reviews. :)
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All About Books
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