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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
I have just read Code Name Verity, an amazing story of war and friendship. My review :https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
I finished The Humans by Matt Haig late last night. What a cool book! I don't like saying too much as I don't want to spoil it for anyone but it's definitely worth a read.
Finished reading Georges Bataille's Blue of Noon. It was supposed to be a prophetic novel that predicted very well the forthcoming doom of Europe already in 1935. The rise of Fascist forces in many countries and the inevitable WAR were already foreseen in it. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished readingThe Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War IIReally interesting and well told.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It took me five days to finish this doorstop sized novel; The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. 5★ Highly RecommendedI'm feeling sad that the novel has come to an end. .
My review is: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Completed reading Alexandros Papadiamantis' The Murderess. It is an interesting novella set in 1903 Greece where to give a girl in marriage the parents had to pay a heavy dowry. So when girl children were thus a problem, a old lady finds out a solution - to kill them in their birth. And this novella is about this old lady. A gripping story.Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have just read...Milk-Blood
by Mark Matthews.
It's a horror novel. I recommend it. Check the link, there aren't spoilers.
Just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I've been meaning to read this for years. There were parts that were difficult to read, but it was a very good book overall. I definitely experienced some culture shock.
I finished my ARC of Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston 5★My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Kristi wrote: "Just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I've been meaning to read this for years. There were parts that were difficult to read, but it was a very good book overall. I definitely e..."Yes, I recall feeling some culture shock when I read that! Especially the feet-binding aspects...
Kristi wrote: "Just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I've been meaning to read this for years. There were parts that were difficult to read, but it was a very good book overall. I definitely e..."I found it the same - hard to read in parts, but well worth it.
I just finished Dollbaby: A Novel - 5 stars. Here's my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And also An Orphan's Tale: A Novel - 3 stars.
Shirley wrote: "Kristi wrote: "Just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I've been meaning to read this for years. There were parts that were difficult to read, but it was a very good book overall...."It wasn't just the foot-binding that was shocking to me. I had a really hard time understanding the relationships between men and women, between women, between families. The relationships were just so foreign to me. I felt very grateful to be a modern American woman after reading this book!
I have finished The Painter. I think it's worth reading, but I didn't exactly enjoy it. I didn't trust the narrator or care for the plot. I think the author tried to do a little too much. This book was a bit of a disappointment to me after really liking The Dog Stars. I guess that doesn't sound like a recommendation, but I do really like Heller's writing. This book just wasn't for me.
I just finished David Copperfield. Most everyone adores Charles Dickens, but I have trouble with his writing. I DID like this one more than both Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. My review explains what I liked and disliked: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., and anything that might spoil it for those readers considering reading it is hidden.
I finished reading Sonya Hartnett's Thursday's Child this evening. For a YA book it's dark and somewhat horribly twisted. But saying that I've found the whole YA genre to be dark. It's written very well though and I would recommend it.
Mod
I think this is one of his best!
LauraT wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I just finished David Copperfield. Most everyone adores Charles Dickens, but I have trouble with his writing. I DID like this one more than both [book:Great Expectatio..."I have preferred it over his other novels, but his writing style really isn't for me.
I just finished Summer House with Swimming Pool by the Dutch author Herman Koch. I've read mixed reviews on this book, but I liked it a lot. It's very much on the order of his last book, The Dinner, which I also liked a lot. The writing is dark at times with flashes of humor. Both these books deal with upper middle class families who face problems with their teenagers.
Chrissie wrote: "I just finished David Copperfield. Most everyone adores Charles Dickens, but I have trouble with his writing. I DID like this one more than both Great Expectations and [boo..."I'm the same with Charles Dickens. Didn't enjoy Great Expectations at all but I've been recommended David Copperfield before so shall have to give it a go sometime.
Katie, I won't repeat my reasons for not really liking his writing style since it is above in my review. More and more readers have contacted me and voiced similar opinions. I am done with Dickens, but I am glad I gave him fair try. I can also see why some people might like the stories.
I finished They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan. It is a book everyone should read, even those who know of Sudan's ethnic violence.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "Katie, I won't repeat my reasons for not really liking his writing style since it is above in my review. More and more readers have contacted me and voiced similar opinions. I am done with Dickens,..."Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. You like Fyodor Dostoyevsky; I like Charles Dickens. We both like Carson McCullers...
Leslie wrote: "You like Fyodor Dostoyevsky; I like Charles Dickens. We both like Carson McCullers... "Leslie, exactly! I want to read McCullers' The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories. i have not gotten to that yet. .....
I've just finished reading Anna Karenina and loved it.Here's my 5-star review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It was my first attempt at a Russian novel and must say I'm impressed. I'll definitely try more of Tolstoy's works.
Alice, once you start with the Russian classics you will stay smitten! Great characterizations.
Just started Ballad this morning. Then on to her short stories.
I've finished reading Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe some days ago. I've been reading this book for a while now, and I was truly happy to finish it. I liked the book, though I have to admit I had a very hard time reading it. It was a very depressing read, even though in a very different manner than Hardy's Tess d'Urbervilles... Even though Moll Flanders is in some ways similar to Tess, there are huge differences between the two characters, their circumstances and each story's outcome... I tend to compare them because they are both very depressing, though in different ways. I didn't love Moll Flanders, but I am not sure about whether disliking her or not. I have yet to think about it and analyze the character, circumstances, and the story. Even though the book is depressing, I would still recommend it.
You Know When the Men Are Gone eight short stories about the soldiers and their wives living at Fort Hood. In spite of the name most of the stories are really about what happens when the men return home from deployment.
I've finished reading Moby Dick today. I knew not what to expect from this book and I have to admit that I was a little surprised by it (in a good way). I have yet to read some interpretations and see how people used to think about this work. What surprised me greatly was the book's technical style -I expected it to concentrate more on the characters and on Ahab's behavior and being. I was surprised to see how many chapters were written about how whales are, how were the people who used to hunt them and so on. It was a pleasant surprise, though I would have liked it if there would have been more details about Ahab (a very interesting character). Well in the end it was a very good read.
Finished The Undertaking, a book about two people who meet in a very unusual way, one goes on to fight on Germany's eastern front, approaching the nightmare of Stalingrad and the other waits at home where things rapidly fall apart. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Recently finished Flora - 3 stars.Also finished The Thing About December- 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yesterday I have finished To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It's the first book by her I was able to finish but it was really hard though she has a wonderful poetic language, is able to make a deep insight of human feelings and thoughts and is also able to put them down in words. It was hard because of the writing style.I would however recommend to try it.
Thank you, Dely. I like hearing all different pov on a book. When people explain why they liked or disliked a book it is easier for me to determine how I will react, even if I never will be sure.
Mod
Same with me: now I've read several of her books, but I can't say I love her writing style...
Chrissie wrote: "Thank you, Dely. I like hearing all different pov on a book. When people explain why they liked or disliked a book it is easier for me to determine how I will react, even if I never will be sure."I think, seen that she is so beloved by a lot of people and is important in the history of literature, that it would be worthwhile to give her a try.
LauraT wrote: "dely wrote: "Yesterday I have finished To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It's the first book by her I was able to finish but it was really hard though she has a wonder..."
Perhaps one day I will try another book by her but I must be in the right mood.
dely wrote: "I think, seen that she is so beloved by a lot of people and is important in the history "Makes sense. I feel I ought to have read at least one of her books.
Finished Life Drawing an inside look at a marriage between two creative individuals.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished reading Alberto Moravia's Conjugal Love. It is a short and dense work that deals with the fact of Conjugal Love - Love between the spouses. Can there be love between the spouses even when there are defects? The answer given in this novel is very interesting. Besides, it is a must read for any aspiring writer as there are many references to the act of writing. FOUR STARS.
Ramona wrote: "I've finished reading Moby Dick today. I knew not what to expect from this book and I have to admit that I was a little surprised by it (in a good way). I have yet to read some interpretations and ..."Yes, I found that to be a surprise too. I think that was the style of writing at the time, as Victor Hugo also writes like that (which also surprised me!).
I finished this morning Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier. I have read other books about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and I was surprised abut how much more I learned. It reads as fiction. It is extremely fascinating to hear what happened to Lewis AFTER the expedition. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My latest two reads Jamaica Inn and To Kill a Mockingbird were both very very good (in different ways of course.) I'll have to start being careful what I pick so as not to skew my star ratings...
Yesterday I finished Bittersweet. It's definitely not as good as The Thorn Birds but nevertheless an enjoyable read . 3.5 stars if I could. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished All the Light We Cannot See last night. I was as good as the GR ratings led me to believe it would be. It's of course sad, since it's about a blind French girl and a German orphan during WWII, but it was an amazing read.
Finished reading Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore. This was a treat for all bookworms. I had a lot of fun reading this book. Once I started reading it, it was difficult to put it down. A real page turner. Everyone should read it!
Kristi wrote: "I finished All the Light We Cannot See last night. I was as good as the GR ratings led me to believe it would be. It's of course sad, since it's about a blind French girl and a Germ..."Kristi, I did NOT like how the author mixed the fantasy of the jewel with the serious content of the war. Nope, I was very disappointed. Most people love it, but not me.
@RahatI've been wanting to read Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore for ages now but the Central Library here does not have it. I might have to buy it now :-)
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All About Books
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