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Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while)
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Sep 06, 2017 08:29AM
Close to Home by Robert Dugoni While this is not the best book in the series, it is still a good read. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Chuck wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Chuck, yep, not b/c it is long but b/c it is so confusing and b/c for me it was just not fun, at least most of the time. I would not have succeeded without the help of Petra and Pi..."I listened to it too. Mine was narrated by Jim Norton and Marcella Riordan. Norton does most of it and the narration was stupendous. I never would have gotten through it otherwise. I have tried reading it several times before. I DID skip the end of one episode. It was either that or dump the whole thing.
LauraT, good to have you back. Wow, what a nice vacation!
Chrissie, honestly I think if you want more than social commentary about the English during this period, then maybe skip it. That's what it does best. It's all set in England, so you get descriptions of the countryside and London life, but nothing abroad. There's elements of romance that remind me of A room with a view, female relationships and class commentary that remind me of A passage to India and dysfunctional family relationships that remind me of Where angels fear to tread.
Mod
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I found this a very enjoyable read as well Chrissie!
Pink wrote: "Chrissie, honestly I think if you want more than social commentary about the English during this period, then maybe skip it. That's what it does best. It's all set in England, so you get descriptio..."Hmm, you are confirming what I suspected. Thanks for your help.
Greg wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I am all smiles after completing White Fang. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I found this a very enjoyable read as well Chrissie!"
Yeah, it does leave you smiling.
You know those people you enjoy except when they relate intimate details to you a little too loudly in public? CRINGE! That's Audra.Katherine Heiny's new Standard Deviation is a lot of fun.
4★ Link to my review
I have finished The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Only 2 stars because I decided to finish it, but I can't rate more than this such a book full of racism and colonial mindset. What did the author teach to the children of her time?! Nope, I can't stand racism so the fact that it was the typical mentality of her age can't be an excuse.My English review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Beth wrote: "My review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (audio)I loved it!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Glad to hear that not only you liked the book but that the LibriVox recording was better than the one available through Hoopla - I will have to keep that in mind for when I read/listen to this.
Tracey wrote: "My thoughts on Cats eye by Margaret Atwood https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."That is my favorite Atwood so far.
Three books finished: A beloved children's classic that I just didn't get, another beloved children's classic that has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and a brilliant tiny book that I can't recommend highly enough.65.
The BFG by Roald Dahl. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
66.
The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
But it was written in the XIX Century!!! I've found it so sweet, and tender!!! Remember it was considered by Roal Dahl one of the best book for children!!!! It is colonialist and "racist" in a way, but as a child of its time.
LauraT wrote: "But it was written in the XIX Century!!! I've found it so sweet, and tender!!! Remember it was considered by Roal Dahl one of the best book for children!!!! It is colonialist and "racist" in a way, but as a child of its time. "I know but despite this I felt an unpleasant feeling till the end that didn't allow me to enjoy the book. Though it was the typical colonial mentality it isn't an excuse to make such racist remarks. I can't stand that mindset of "superiority", it makes me angry.
I just gulped this down in three reading sessions: Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee. I'd read Mukherjee's stories, and always wanted to read more of her work. This was fabulous. If you're in the mood for a story about immigration, about India, or about the US, this is a good one! My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read book 3 in Jayne Castle's St Helen's trilogy, Orchid and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2108841818.
I finished Empire of Glass. 2.5 stars rounded up. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
LauraT wrote: "But it was written in the XIX Century!!! I've found it so sweet, and tender!!! Remember it was considered by Roal Dahl one of the best book for children!!!! It is colonialist and "racist" in a way, but as a child of its time..."I have to say that I share your view, LauraT.
I think it is important to keep in mind that how we react to a book now can be very different to those readers who read it when it first came out! We are creatures of our time. Both views have to be acknowledged. So, dely , I can understand your view too.
When I read The Secret Garden as a little girl, I adored it. I have not reread it, so I do not know how I would react now.
Children' books are in a category of their own. The attitude of the adult who reads the book to a small child or discusses the book with an older child is all important. I am thinking of The Story of Little Black Sambo, I never saw that as a book of racism, for which it is criticized today. That is because it was not read to me with that intent.
So many factors together affect how you perceive a book!
Chrissie wrote: "So many factors together affect how you perceive a book!"Yes, this is true. What bothers me can be easily accepted by others and vice-versa. We don't give the same importance to the same things.
I also agree that all depends how a parent reads or discusses the book with a child, but I have seen that in several reviews no one talks about the racist remarks so maybe those parents don't see them and don't talk about them with their children. So how do these children grow? Thinking that if they go to India they will fall ill and that people there aren't "real" people but only black servants. Or I dare say it's because there's such a lot o' blacks instead o' respectable white people. What should a child think? That only white people are respectable. I can't stand such things, it makes me sick. The more I think about it, the more I get angry with this book.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "So many factors together affect how you perceive a book!"Yes, this is true. What bothers me can be easily accepted by others and vice-versa. We don't give the same importance to ..."
OK, I can understand where you are coming from. We both agree on the need to talk with children about books. Also,the more you read, the more you learn and the more critical you become. ......hopefully.
But, dely, I loved the book and did not even pay attention to those words. Yeah, I guess I should have but I think we are one of our time. I hope you can understand that having read it some 55 years ago and being a child when I read it, I simply didn't scrutinize it analytically. This does not mean that a reader necessarily agreed with all that is said.
Chrissie wrote: "But, dely, I loved the book and did not even pay attention to those words. Yeah, I guess I should have but I think we are one of our time. I hope you can understand that having read it some 55 years ago and being a child when I read it, I simply didn't scrutinize it analytically. This does not mean that a reader necessarily agreed with all that is said. "We can see how reading the same book a person gives more importance to a few sentences and other readers to other parts of the book. I think that I'm the weird one because this book has a lot of raving reviews and the ones that point out the racist remarks are only a few. At least I know that I'm not the only one who noted them and gave them importance. At the end every one of us has a different reading experience with the same book.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "But, dely, I loved the book and did not even pay attention to those words. Yeah, I guess I should have but I think we are one of our time. I hope you can understand that having rea..."I also think that whether you read it first as a child or as an adult plays a big role.
Mod
That is my favorite Atwood so far."
Wow Leslie and Tracey!
The book really touched me. I related to its depiction of childhood very deeply. Most of my offline friends who read it thought it was too dark .. I'm so pleased to find others that liked it! :)
Mod
I liked that one too Kathleen!
Leslie wrote: "Tracey wrote: "My thoughts on Cats eye by Margaret Atwood ..." Greg wrote: "The book really touched me. I related to its depiction of childhood very deeply. Most of my offline friends who read it thought it was too dark .. I'm so pleased to find others that liked it! :) ..."Me too! It's my favorite of hers as well, and for that same reason. I read it many, many years ago, and still vividly remember some of the childhood scenes, and the things I learned from reading them.
An engaging cosy with darker overtones,
That Last Weekend: A Novel of Suspense by Laura DiSilverio rated 4☆ from me. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Captive by Marcel Proust this morning. I quite enjoyed this installment of this massive work (Remembrance of Things Past Volumes 1-3 Box Set). I continue to find the narrator creepy.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
An action packed spy thriller set in post WWII England
Concerning Blackshirt by Roderic Jeffries https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I had lots of fun with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read a not great Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel - Child of the Hunt - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2118262802.
I finished Under the Net yesterday - it wasn't as funny as I had anticipated but I liked Murdoch's writing. I look forward to reading some of her other books such as The Black Prince and The Sea, the Sea.Then I spent most of today reading (& finishing) the penultimate McGee mystery/thriller Cinnamon Skin. A solid entry in the series which could be read as a stand-alone but benefits from the reader knowing what happened in the previous book.
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