All About Books discussion
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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Another new favourite. Romance, but not soppy. Julie Cohen has put a couple through quite an obstacle course in Together 5★ 
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Having read half of The Age of Innocence, and not enjoying it one speck, I decided to dump it. This explains why:My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Twelve-Mile Straight. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished a really good piece of historical faction/ murder-mystery
The Mitford Murders by the author of the Downtown Abbey books, Jessica Fellowes. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. My review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished
Half Past by Victoria Helen Stone which I read in one sitting. Excellent read. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. Surprisingly good. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Leslie wrote: "I finished the worst book I have read this year - Project Alpha.My review explaining why I disliked it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Complete tripe Leslie but I enjoyed your review at least!
Read a collection of 1930s mostly supernatural stories by Robert Bloch, The Opener Of The Way and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2119930883
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After having seen all your comments, I really regret I couldn't manage to find it; I'll keep on looking
Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* wrote: "Just finished a really good piece of historical faction/ murder-mystery The Mitford Murders by the author of the Downtown Abbey books, ..."Ooh that sounds right up my alley!
I finished Camus' The Stranger which I was a little surprised to find I loved! I read the Matthew Ward translation which I found easy to read & once I got started, this short French classic flew by.
I have completed The Fixer by Bernard Malamud and found it exceedingly gripping and intense.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished The Resurrection of Joan Ashby and it was quite good. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The Place of Stones: A Novel. 4 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have completed My Father Is a Book by Bernard Malamud's daughter. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates by Des Ekin and gave it 3 stars.I'm not going to write a review on this one. I found the book a bit dry and was under the impression that the author didn't have adequate recorded facts of the particular Baltimore incident to base his book on, and thus had to draw upon other similar incidents of the Barbary pirates' capture of white slaves to make up the story. But I was glad to have learned a bit about the history of the Barbary coast pirates of 17th century Europe.
Just finished
Cold Blood by Robert Bryndza.Enjoyed it but didn't think it was the best book in the series. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Fixer by Bernard Malamud and found it exceedingly gripping and intense.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I have a paperback copy of that which I got from my folks when they moved. Was this your first Malamud book? I have heard that The Assistant is better than The Fixer...
I finished The English Patient which I am sorry to say I found dull. I should have known that it wasn't my kind of book when I saw that it had won the Man Booker Prize! Only 2* from me...
Leslie wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Fixer by Bernard Malamud and found it exceedingly gripping and intense.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
..."
Of Malamud's, I have read two short story collections, The Assistant and The Fixer. The Fixer was definitely my favorite, so far.
Leslie wrote: "I finished The English Patient which I am sorry to say I found dull. I should have known that it wasn't my kind of book when I saw that it had won the Man Booker Prize! Only 2* from ..."I really didn't like it either.
Leslie wrote: "I have a paperback copy of that which I got from my folks when they moved. Was this your first Malamud book? I have heard that The Assistant is better than The Fixer... .."
I have read three of Bernard Malamud's books. The Fixer and The Assistant I have given four stars, but I feel The Fixer is better. It is so intense. It puts you
there in a prison cell, unjustly accused with no resources available. It is like you ARE Yakov and feel his plight. It is so frustrating and horrible.His moral strength feels utterly right and not in the least overdone. It is a more difficult book to read than The Assistant, but it stands out as a book that is unique, not in what it sets out to do but in how well it succeeds. I have also read A New Life and liked that too. The Assistant reflects events in his father's life and A New Life events in his own. He too went to the Pacific Northwest to teach . His daughter was born in Oregon while there, but on the whole I think his writing is more "Malamudian" when he writes about about Jews and Brooklyn. My next book will be Dubin's Lives, which will mirror his own infidelities. His books represent events in his own life. I like how you have average characters struggling to be good but often failing.
Leslie, read your book! It is very good, but by no means an easy read.
Enjoy a free, quick thriller: The Most Dangerous Game. A classic short story. 5★My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Albert wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I have completed The Fixer by Bernard Malamud and found it exceedingly gripping and intense.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/sh..."
So far that is my favorite too! There is in fact a reason why that one got a Pulitzer! I didn't know when I first picked it up that it was based on a real person's experiences.
Leslie wrote: "I finished The English Patient which I am sorry to say I found dull. I should have known that it wasn't my kind of book when I saw that it had won the Man Booker Prize! Only 2* from ..."Either a person likes Ondaatje's writing or you don't. I do, but some of his books are better than others, but you have to feel attuned to his writing.
Mod
My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
It's a good one Patty!
Chrissie wrote: ".Either a person likes Ondaatje's writing or you don't. I do, but some of his books are better than others, but you have to feel attuned to his writing.."I agree, Chrissie. Personally, I like him.
My review of Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon):https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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All About Books
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