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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Finished Bel-Ami. It was my first Maupassant novel and I absolutely adored it. Rated it 5 stars. Will definitely be reading more of his works. Will post my review in a day or two.
Alice wrote: "Finished Bel-Ami. It was my first Maupassant novel and I absolutely adored it. Rated it 5 stars. Will definitely be reading more of his works. Will post my review in a day or two."Wow, that is praise indeed. I will bear this one in mind for the future...
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I liked it quite a lot, probably because it's a bit an undickensian novel!
O.M.G.Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel
Harper Lee, the reclusive author of the beloved bestselling novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will publish a second novel this summer, her publisher, Harper, announced Tuesday.
The novel, titled “Go Set a Watchman,” was completed in the mid-1950s, and takes place when Scout Finch, the heroine of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is grown up and looking back on her childhood. It features many of the same characters.
In a statement released by her publisher, Ms. Lee, 88, said that she wrote “Go Set a Watchman” first but was asked by an editor to rework the novel from the character Scout’s perspective. That book became “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a classic that has sold more than 40 million copies globally.
Ms. Lee never published another novel. She said in the statement she thought that the earlier book had been lost or destroyed.
“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” she said. “I hadn’t realized it had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”
New York Times 2/3/15
Nancy from NJ wrote: "Forget about Gone Girl, The Good Girl or The Girl on the Train, I just read what will most likely be on my 10 top reads list for 2015. The book title is The Memory Box by Eva Lesko Nataliano. If ..."I wouldn't even put THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN in the same league as GONE GIRL, but then again I still haven't finished it due to all the other books I'm reading. Nevertheless, that's quite a claim, and I'll read THE MEMORY BOX. A part of me though is getting a bit jaded with these authors trying to ride the coattails of GONE GIRL's success.
read Frankenstein and it was a pretty good and sad read.
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Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel
Harper Lee, the reclusive author of the beloved bestselling novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will publish a second ..."
Wow Terry, that is interesting news!
Hi all! To be honest, I can't keep up with all of these threads.
Am now reading Station Eleven...different?
Still thinking on The Sparrow and think I may have to read it again, it's playing on my mind - sorry, won't be setting up review on this one...so far still liking The Sparrow" better
Amber wrote: "read Frankenstein and it was a pretty good and sad read."Yes, Frankenstein is sad and many people forget or do not know that:(
Sandy wrote: "Amber wrote: "I just finished my first book for the women in horror reading challenge I made for myself and it is Be Careful What You Wish For which is a vampire short story set in ..."Yeah Sandy, so far here's what was on my list and what I have read:
1. Be Careful What You Wish ForRead*
2. FrankensteinRead*
3. Lucinda At The Window
4. Darlings of Decay
5. The Mysteries of Udolpho
I don't know what else I'll read for it but these are the horror novels I've found for free so far that are by female authors.
No problem. I'll let you know. Got that one for free on Smashwords with darlings of decay and be careful what you wish for and thanks.
Jean wrote: "Alannah and Leslie - I am loving Barnaby Rudge! I can remember having previously said that I didn't feel historical novels were Dickens's forte - well I now wish I could take that back..."I guess I like his historical fiction as A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorites. He does seem to include more swashbuckling type adventure in his historical novels & I enjoy that. :D
Glad you are enjoying it!
LauraT wrote: "Greg wrote: "Leslie and Alannah, I actually liked Hard Times but partly because of the Victorian-era problem it highlights. As a story, it isn't on the top tier of Dickens books for me,..."
I liked the plot - I just had so much trouble with the way the dialect was written! I found that one a real struggle to read.
Amber wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Amber wrote: "I just finished my first book for the women in horror reading challenge I made for myself and it is Be Careful What You Wish For which is a vampire short..."I'll be interested in hearing what you think of Mysteries of Udolpho -- I have heard widely different reactions to it.
Sandy wrote: "I finished Ethan Frome a few days ago. A solid 5 stars! My review is here."
I think that is my favorite Wharton of the ones I have read so far. But I haven't read The Custom of the Country, which I have heard people say is her best.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Amber wrote: "read Frankenstein and it was a pretty good and sad read."
Yes, Frankenstein is sad and many people forget or do not know that:("
That was such a surprise to me when I read it!
Janice wrote: "Hi all!
To be honest, I can't keep up with all of these threads..."
*grin* It is difficult! I think the key is to pick a few threads you want to keep track of & let the others go unread. Unless you have a lot of free time, in a chatty group like this it is very hard to stay on top of all the discussions!!
Terry wrote: "O.M.G.
Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Is to Publish a Second Novel
Harper Lee, the reclusive author of the beloved bestselling novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will publish a second ..."
I heard this on NPR this morning. Great news! :)
I just finished Regeneration which I picked up after reading Leslie's review. I enjoyed it although I didn't love it. I would like to finish the triology as it's a fascinating take on a period of history I like to read about.
I wrote a very short and not very detailed review
Edited to link to my review
I wrote a very short and not very detailed review
Edited to link to my review
Thanks Sandy, have changed it
Diane S. wrote: "Finished An Unnecessary Womanhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Great review, Diane. I've added this one to my reading list, thanks.
finished Station Eleven, just ok in my opinion.
Janice I just finished Sation Eleven this week too, and I agree with you. I liked it, but didn't love it.
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I just finished Amnesia Moon. I will definitely be reading more books written by Jonathan Lethem. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I like STATION ELEVEN quite a lot myself. I'm not sure it deserved to win the National Book Award, though.
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Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
It sound really interesting Petra!
I'll have to give a look!
Completed reading Muriel Spark's A Far Cry from Kensington. An interesting book. But I would recommend it mostly for the British (especially the Londoners). Here is the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I sped through Why Shoot a Butler?, which was a reread for me, and found I liked it even more than I had thought :) Here is my review, which has no spoilers.
Leslie wrote: "I sped through Why Shoot a Butler?, which was a reread for me, and found I liked it even more than I had thought :) Here is my review, which has no spoilers."enjoyed your review, Leslie.
Just a small thing:- when you use a link like here to lead to your review, it takes the reader right out of the discussion thread. If there are more posts on that thread, you have to go all the way back into the thread again:( I notice a few people use this method, but it's clumsy for me.
What's the alternative way of doing it Bette?
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LauraT wrote: "Just finished Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came. I really loke Agatha Raisins adventures!!!"ME TOO...she's my chip read when I need light release/escape - she's my daughter and mine's summer cottage must haves...
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Exactly: I read three or four of her books per year, no more, to have them longer!!!
B the BookAddict wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I sped through Why Shoot a Butler?, which was a reread for me, and found I liked it even more than I had thought :) Here is my review, which has no spoilers."enjoye..."
I just use the back arrow to get back to the thread, Bette.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Just a small thing:- when you use a link like here to lead to your review, it takes the reader right out of the discussion thread. If there are more posts on that thread, you have to go all the way back into the thread again:( I notice a few people use this method, but it's clumsy for me."
Instead of clicking on the link like you normally would, you should "right click" on the link and then depending on your browser you should be able to open it in a "new tab" or "new window." That way you won't have to reload the web page when you get ready to go back to it.
Pink wrote: "What's the alternative way of doing it Bette?"Yes, if, say Leslie said " I sped through Why Shoot a Butler?, which was a reread for me, and found I liked it even more than I had thought :) Here is my review, which has no spoilers": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
That's the way lots do it: Angela, Diane, Me, Chrissie, Amber, Julia, Candi, Monica for example. It's just a thought, that's all:)
Thanks, Chuck, for reminding me about the right click. I always forget to use it :)
I finished reading Bel-Ami a few days ago and rated it 5 stars.Here's my review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Heather wrote: "I just finished The Fault in Our Stars. Here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..."Heather, I don't get your review from this link. (The one you posted in the recommendation swap worked for me.)
That keeps happening even though I copied the same link. I will edit it later when I can get on my compuemrer
Bette - I read your comment last thing and it stopped me sleeping last night! How silly :(I think it's just personal preference, as others have pointed out. Gill's suggestion of using the back arrow is the easiest way (though Chuck's works just as well) - and is only one click. Since the gobbledegooks reviews open a new tab, which you then have to close, you also have one click! So there's no difference for the reader - neither is "more clumsy".
The difference is for the person posting. I prefer my posts to read with the English language rather than goobledegook, look clearer and more elegant, which is why I also would never post all in lower-case as some do. Clearly Leslie feels the same way, as hers was the post to which you were responding.
To be honest, I'd assumed that since the gobbledegook comes up because one has stopped the process of making links halfway, people who let it stay like that, and don't use the English language, either aren't too bothered about how it looks, and prefer the speed of being able to post quickly, or just don't know how to do it properly. Surely it's horses for courses. I much prefer to see less code myself - I hate to look at post after post with that - but it is a personal preference! I don't expect others to want to put in the same amount of time to get it right as I do. (I'll edit any typos I spot out as well.) But neither do I want to compromise and have my posts cluttered up with goobledegook!
(And yes, I am one of those sad people who use very little "textspeak", preferring to use the English Language.)
Jean wrote: "Bette - I read your comment last thing and it stopped me sleeping last night! How silly :(I think it's just personal preference, as others have pointed out. Gill's suggestion of using the back ar..."
I agree, I think it's just personal preference, as you say, Jean. And speaking as one who doesn't know how to overtype the link (so mine are always gobbledegook) that's the only way I know, and I guess it is quicker (?) Maybe we should all have some lessons! I personally don't find the instructions under (some html is ok) are very clear.
But I do find the back arrow always works for me and I never get thrown out of the thread, so maybe that is good advice here?
I sat and listened to The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt during a very long car ride. Parts were good, other parts less so.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yes, thanks Shirley. And I totally agree about the so-called "instructions" which only make sense if you know how to do it in the first place. LOL! I think I might have tried to build flat-pack furniture like that ...I'll work out some step-by-step instructions for this and post them in the technical tips thread in a day or two, just for those who would be interested to know how to do it :)
I'm the other way around to Shirley, I don't know how to link so that the full httml web address shows up, that's why I asked above. Like Gill, the back button always works fine for me and like Jean I prefer the aesthetically pleasing look of linking things the other way.
I don't think it matters which way we do things, but agree it would be good to know HOW to do them!
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Charbel, I started to like and seek out Canadian authors 25 years ago when I discovered Robertson Davies. He wrote a book titled Fifth Business. "Fifth business" comes from the theater. It refers to an actor who doesn't have a large roll, but without whom the action of the play or book cannot move forward. Davies used this as a metaphor for the Canadian in relation to the American. This is when I first became interested in Canadian literature. It's only recently that I became interested in authors of other countries. as well. (Some of it came from last year's AAB around-the-world challenge.) I've since read some great fiction from Africa, Asia, and South America. It has broadened my reading experience. 5 years ago I was probably reading only American and British authors. Now I try to read on an international scale. I've gotten lots of great recommendations from other members of AAB. As I read I like to think about the relation of the author's backgound and history to the themes of the book.