All About Books discussion
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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Enchanted: The Faerie and Fantasy Art of Linda Ravenscroft. Hmmm. Pretty pictures. Here is my review
I finished reading Of Human Bondage and posted my review on another thread. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Can't you please add only one or two sentences about the book? I don't like to read reviews and adding only a few words could help to understand if it could be an interesting book and if it's worth to look for it.I know we are all different and some people like to read reviews so your links to your reviews surely help; but it would be helpful for people like me to read also only one sentence to know what the book is about ;)
dely wrote: "Can't you please add only one or two sentences about the book? I don't like to read reviews and adding only a few words could help to understand if it could be an interesting book and if it's wort..."I second this request! :)
dely wrote: "Can't you please add only one or two sentences about the book? I don't like to read reviews and adding only a few words could help to understand if it could be an interesting book and if it's wort..."Actually, that's a good point, dely. Just a sentence would be good.
Dely and Eleonora - the book I mentioned is a book of pictures. They are very attractive, but I had strong reservations about them. I expressed exactly what I thought about them in my review though, so I'd prefer not to have to do it twice. Can't you "skim" a review to find out if a book's your sort of thing or not?
Or read the blurb? Alice linked to the Goodreads page with the blurb, and so did I. That tells you one or two sentences about the book.
Jean wrote: "Dely and Eleonora - the book I mentioned is a book of pictures. They are very attractive, but I had strong reservations about them. I expressed exactly what I thought about them in my review thou..."
Jean, maybe it's just worth saying briefly whether you would recommend it or not?
Gee, once sentence from a motor-mouth like me is going to be hard!
Bette BookAddict wrote: "Gee, once sentence from a motor-mouth like me is going to be hard!"Ha ha ha!
I'd like to hear one or two sentences about what people think of books too, whether it was particularly good or bad, otherwise this thread is just becoming one long link to reviews ;)
If you like girly things then yes, they are pretty. If as a feminist you dislike the objectification of women, then no. I would not recommend it because in my opinion it is subversive sub-Art. But they are very pretty pictures. Hence 3 stars. My review attempts to be considered and objective. My reactions, not so much.Some books it will be easy to say a couple of sentences about. Others aren't. Hence my initial "Hmmmm".
Diane S. wrote: "Finished The Marrying of Chani Kaufman, a look into the orthodox Jews and their culture as it pertains to their faith and marriage customs. Lighter but interesting read.3stars How is that?". https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Personally, I like to write a review and I also like to post my review in the groups I am a member of.Just my two cents worth.
I do too but we can do both. Can we not?
Can't it be up to the individual? Some people just write a couple of sentences. There's something to be said for a personal reaction, but often you might as well just read the blurb, then. I spend a long time on my reviews, and I don't then want to have to do a precis version of it as well. My initial post linked to the blurb, my star rating, my review, and had the comment, "Hmm. Pretty pictures." If I spent any more time on it then it would begin to feel like a second review!
I like the links to reviews, it's just nice to keep the conversation flowing on this thread too, which requires a few more words than just a series of links. Now Jean that brief description certainly got me interested. I'm intrigued what sort of picture book you've just read that could offend feminists!
I hope that my thoughts haven't come across as criticisms. I know we're all friends here and take suggestions and comments in good faith, but sometimes in text talk the friendly tone isn't conveyed very well :)
Jean wrote: "Can't it be up to the individual? Some people just write a couple of sentences. There's something to be said for a personal reaction, but often you might as well just read the blurb, then."
I would agree with you. Just because the name of the thread has changed doesn't mean reviewing is a requirement :) everyone is welcome to post only reviews here or post what they thought without a review or post reviews with a few sentences also or just to post that they have just finished something without saying anything about it. It's entirely up to you. I don't want anyone to feel pressured to review if they don't want to - you can write as much or as little as you like in your comment. People can always ask someone if they would recommend a book, which would facilitate a nice bookish discussion :)
I would agree with you. Just because the name of the thread has changed doesn't mean reviewing is a requirement :) everyone is welcome to post only reviews here or post what they thought without a review or post reviews with a few sentences also or just to post that they have just finished something without saying anything about it. It's entirely up to you. I don't want anyone to feel pressured to review if they don't want to - you can write as much or as little as you like in your comment. People can always ask someone if they would recommend a book, which would facilitate a nice bookish discussion :)
I agree with both of you, Pink and Becca. Variety always makes a thread more interesting anyway. So a few extra thoughts dotted around will be good. At first I was reluctant to post a link to any review I had written, in case it counted as "self-promotion". But it seems to be common practice in this group, and I feel is very useful for us all.
And LOL Pink you will have to read my review now to see why!
Precisely Jean! In fact I have just done so and think I can understand your feelings about it. I rarely look at art books, even though I have a few on my bookcases. Perhaps I should dig some out to look through more often, silly really that I don't do this, as I love walking around art galleries.
Jean wrote: "I agree with both of you, Pink and Becca. Variety always makes a thread more interesting anyway. So a few extra thoughts dotted around will be good. At first I was reluctant to post a link to any..."
I would agree with you, Jean, it should be up to the individual - for the reasons Becca puts so well above. But for me personally, I'm more likely to check out the book if you recommend it, otherwise I often don't bother clicking on the link. But we're all different, and it's good to have the variety of different ways of posting, as you say.
I like the variety of each person deciding how much about a book to post. I have an inordinate amount of free time, so I can use all the links and read as much as I like. I'm also a person who doesn't like to know too much about a book before reading it. (This is a compulsion of mine.) I don't want anyone to feel pressure about this site. I will try to give a short summary about the books I share, this will be fun for me (see "free time" above).
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham is a coming-of-age story about how a man who has a deformity (a club-foot) struggles with his work and love relationships. It is supposed to be Maugham's masterpiece. But I have one or two negative comments in my review. That said, I still think it's worth a read.
I just read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Fun read...truly bizzare and the vintage photos were a great concept.
Just finished We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. It was totally different to what I was expecting. I expected it to be a straightforward YA contemporary (I didn't do that much 'research' on it before I started it) but it was more of a mystery book. I would recommend it for people who like books with a bit of a twist!
I will post my review when I've written it ;-)
I will post my review when I've written it ;-)
I finished Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie and thought it was very good, maybe quite simply because Marie Curie had such an interesting life, rather than the author's writing skills. Fascinating and moving. Science details are explained just enough so you understand.....at least most of the time. Sometimes books go on and on and you drown in the details, but not here. You learn about her childhood, her devotion to science, her love for her children and husband and science. I repeated science twice, and that was done on purpose. As a person she is someone to admire, but neither are her failures shied from. I do recommend the book. Fine narration of the audiobook by Eliza Foss.
I'm glad other members had my same opinion. I didn't want to criticize how people use this thread but wanted only to suggest something that could be helpful in order to meet the needs of everybody.Like Shirley said, I check out a book only if a member writes a few words that catch my attention (also, not in every book page is a plot about the book) and I have expressed my opinions about reviews also in another discussion so I don't want to bore you writing always the same things.
If I would read: pretty nice picture book about faeries I would never go to the book page because I don't like faeries;
if I would read: pretty interesting book about Dali's youth I would surely check it out.
But of course, like Becca said, I don't want someone feels under pressure to do it. Mine was just a suggestion in order to avoid that the discussion would become a long list with links and, above all, in order to meet the needs of everyone.
Chrissie, that's exactly what I felt about it. Marie Curie's life was so fascinating and the author did well at keeping things concise and easy to understand, while still giving details about her scientific achievements. In the footnotes of my book it mentioned how little of merit was written about Marie Curie for many years, as her documents were kept under lock and key and nobody could access them. I liked finding out about her children and grandchildren's later scientific work too.
Pink wrote: "I liked finding out about her children and grandchildren's later scientific work too"Me too. It is cool how some of the kids followed in her footsteps. At the same time it is completely understandable that Eve didn't. Have you sen this book:Madame Curie: A Biography by her daughter? A friend told me it was even better.
Oh, and what the Nobel Committee said when she got her second prize REALLY annoyed me. I loved the speech she gave.
She really was a forerunner for women's rights, but she did it for her beloved science.
I haven't read Eve's book, but I would like to, I was surprised that she'd written it so long ago, just after her Mother's death. Ah yes, I LOVED Marie Curie's reaction to the Nobel Committee after her second prize. I read that section aloud to my daughter (as well as several others) and she's planning to read it now too!
Pink wrote: "Ah yes, I LOVED Marie Curie's reaction to the Nobel Committee after her second prize. I read that section aloud to my daughter (as well as several others) and she's planning to read it now too!"I am Swedish so you can understand how I reacted.
That will be fun discussing it with your daughter. Is she in science? Physics? Chemistry?
I also loved the talk about the Solvay Library in Brussels. We lived nearby and once I asked if I could come in and take a look around. Yup, they let me in even though I had my dog with me. It is open just for conferences usually.
Pictures of the library: https://www.google.se/search?q=solvay...
Mod
I've heard all the good and all the bad about this book!
dely wrote: "I'm glad other members had my same opinion. I didn't want to criticize how people use this thread but wanted only to suggest something that could be helpful in order to meet the needs of everybody...."I second your opinion again :)
Chrissie, yes my daughter is studying chemistry and biology A-levels, so she likes her science and wants to continue along this route at University. She is not a fan of physics though!
Just now completed reading Agota Kristof's Yesterday and I liked it a lot. It is a novel that speaks about the tenacious hold of the Past from which one can never escape. I would recommend it for those interested in the themes of memory and the Past.
Becca - your comments were spot on, as Shirley said.Shirley - if we link to both the book page and our review, then readers can choose whether they want to "check out the book" as you say you prefer, and just look at the blurb, or get a bit more information and opinion and read someone's review.
Dely - You see you actually have the same reservations as I expressed in my review!! I agree that a book about Salvador Dali would be far more interesting, and feel that I was misled in this case, because the title of the book included the words "Art" and "Fantasy", both of which did appeal to me.
But this is my personal opinion, and it is not fair of me to just say "pretty pictures of fairies", as I felt forced into doing, when the illustrator herself clearly does not feel this to be so. She has built a whole world view and life-style around her concepts. It is not mine, but I have to respect it. My review, I think, does precisely that (or as well as I can do it, anyway.) And Pink understood why I felt as I do, after she had read it. But she didn't take my word for it, as you would have to if I had to sum it up quickly.
I don't post in this thread very often, and certainly don't link to many of my reviews. Of the four I've written this week(ish) I only posted one, which I thought others might like to read. (And actually I was only only prompted to add this book of illustrations because the thread had been renamed to encourage reviews. I probably still won't use it much, since I then have to spend even more time on links and additional short comments.)
Anyone who never reads reviews, and yet looks for recommendations, is just going to get a lot of bias, surely. "This was good" or "I didn't like that" and so on. I can't really see the point of that. A good review aims to help a reader, not browbeat them! You can always look at the final (or first) paragraph for a summing-up if you don't want to read the whole thing.
Jean, I think continue as Shirley and Becca stated. Post however much or little you like here, with personal feelings a plenty or just a link. Personally I would never have clicked on your review if you hadn't drawn me in with your extra brief description, but that shouldn't mean you need to put a brief description every time you want to link one of your reviews! Do what suits you best. I hadn't even noticed the recent change of thread title, just agreed that posts had got a bit stilted above for my own taste, with lots of links but no descriptions of what books were about or if people liked them. Though again, just because that's what I like to read, doesn't mean everyone else does!
I tend to only post here if I've particularly loved or hated something, such as with the Madame Curie book, which has pushed a few more people to pick it up and discuss it, which perhaps they wouldn't have done so quite so quickly otherwise.
Jean wrote: "Becca - your comments were spot on, as Shirley said.Shirley - if we link to both the book page and our review, then readers can choose whether they want to "check out the book" as you say you pre..."
I don't want you to misunderstand, it wasn't an attack to how you use this thread, but it was for all the members that do the same thing (you are not the only one). And it wasn't an "attack" or a critique, mine wanted to be only an advice, a mere request, a help for other members like me. If you, or someone else, don't want to add a few words I don't want you feel forced but it would be helpful for others ;)
Btw, I have finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I think it is a 3 stars book for me. It is wonderfully written, I loved the detailed descriptions and it could be considered a pageturner because I wanted to know who, when and why. But at the end I didn't feel emotions reading it, it was very distant from me and I couldn't relate to the main character.
However, I had to read it for my "novel cure" challenge, it was suggested for people with low self-esteem. Well, compared to the main character, the second wife, I'm not a person with low self-esteem and I'm not a weak person like her. I feel much better after reading this book, I feel strong and my self-esteem increased a lot!
I've finally finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I haven't read nearly as much Victorian literature as I would like, I never saw the widely acclaimed attraction to it. But The Woman in White really shone for me. It combined interesting plots of mystery and romance with the typical dense descriptions of Victorian literature, making it really readable. It's now on my 'favourites' shelf, and has received a well deserved 5 stars from me.
I'll definitely be exploring more of Collins' work!
The only thing I would add to this conversation is that if people do recommend books, then I am more likely to want to read them - especially those of you that I have got to know a bit over this last year. I know if you check the Goodreads ratings there is always someone who will give a book 5 stars and 1 star, but I tend to ignore those, as I don't know who's written them. But if it's one of my friends from this group, I tend to put more importance on what they think. For example, Jean said I might like Villette as I liked Jane Eyre, and even though I haven't read it yet, I haven't forgotten it. So I do place importance on what others think, especially if I have chatted with them in the threads.
Aw Dely, I think I loved Rebecca more than you did, it really spurred me on to join in with the du Maurier readalongs this year. Have you read any others? I think My Cousin Rachel has been my favourite so far.
I've heard a lot of good things about My Cousin Rachel!
dely wrote: "Jean wrote: "Becca - your comments were spot on, as Shirley said.Shirley - if we link to both the book page and our review, then readers can choose whether they want to "check out the book" as yo..."
That's interesting to read what you thought of Rebecca - I have never thought of it in that way, but I guess most of us would be strong compared to the main character - I'm glad it made you feel stronger! I think it's just a great story and I too like the detailed descriptions. One of my favourite books.
Holly wrote: "I've finally finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I haven't read nearly as much Victorian literature as I would like, I never saw the widely acclaimed attracti..."
I have heard so much about this book recently, from various quarters. I think I will add it to my ever-increasing "to read" list!
Holly wrote: "I've heard a lot of good things about My Cousin Rachel!"Yes, that's good, too!
Pink - thank you. Like you I only come on this thread occasionally, for instance if I have found a book different from my expectations. I have usually said a word or two, before linking, but sometime it's hard. At least that one acted as a "teaser" :)Dely - no, I did not feel it was a personal attack, but there is a place Goodreads provide for us to talk about a specific book, ("your review") so that our thoughts do not get lost, and I link to that place, as do others who want a little more depth.
I would be very sad if nobody actually read or even "skimmed" my reviews. After all, we are all keen readers here, and my reviews are not as long as even a short story would be!
In the light of that, and to perhaps provide some encouragement to you to at least try reading a review, (not just mine of course!) here is a link to my review of Rebecca, which you say you have just read. You never know, you might actually enjoy reading it. You might feel it brings back the story a little, or makes you see things a different way. I hope you give it a try anyway :D
And I'm glad you got some encouragement from the book. A lot of us seem to enjoy reading Daphne du Maurier
I'm behind with my Daphne du Maurier books now Jean, didn't get around to Frenchman's Creek in May, so I'm hoping to add it in this month, before the next one!
I've now realised there were 7 further posts I hadn't seen before my previous one! So I hope it made sense... goodness knows how that happened. I expect I forgot to "refresh" my page :(Pink - Yes, I too am behind with Daphne du Maurier, and had to ask Shirley a while back if she'd mind postponing our read of The Scapegoat for a bit. This month I'll be reading Jamaica Inn (again) with Tracey.
Shirley - I think you're right that we tend to place more reliance on suggestions and reviews by friends, whom we might have got to know quite well. And it's more fun then too, after all :) Also, I regularly read the reviews of someone who isn't in any of my groups, but whose judgement I rate very highly.
As for Daphne du Maurier, I have just listened to one of her rare plays, The Years Between, set in the war. I found it very dated at first and wondered why on earth it had ever been resurrected, but ended up thinking it was really quite good! Sort of sub-Noël Coward. If I get time, and can drag myself away from all this chatting, (LOL) I will review it.
I've been reading this thread since yesterday and I decided to put in my two cents . Reading a book is such a personal , individual experience and how we react to a book and share or not share that response is also an individual thing .I have written reviews or in some cases just short comments on most of the books I have read since 2013 , but not all . I love sharing my thoughts and like Jean , hope that someone in the GR universe will read it and maybe even enjoy it . When I love a book , I'm always thrilled when some else does too . I also enjoy reading reviews and have read some wonderful books because of someone's thoughtful comments . I have also decided not to read a book because of someone's thoughtful comments .
Having said that , I think it's a matter of choice to write or not write a review , to read or not read a review . I'm glad that it's been discussed here that we can post in this thread as it works for us .
If I had not read Jean's review of a book that we both loathed , I may not have found this group , so thanks , Jean!
Jean, I noticed that you postponed The Scapegoat and hopefully I'll join in later with this too. Are you still planning on reading her book about Branwell Bronte, I have it marked down for July, but not sure if this is still the plan?
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