Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 1,251-1,300 of 10,319

[Chris]

I have just finished The Nine Tailors by Dorthy Sayers.

That makes 350 books completed.

[Nicola]

Chris wrote: "I have just finished The Nine Tailors by Dorthy Sayers.

That makes 350 books completed."

Congratulations Chris. I'm barely over 100 on the combined lists and on 99 on the 2012. I've got a long way to go...

[Luke]

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (review)

[Daniel]

Kafka on the Shore

[Daniel]

L'Écume des jours

[Rebekah]

The Betrothed

I don't know if I did not have a good English translation, but I found it boring, preachy, and poorly paced

[Nicola]

Fahrenheit 451 - I knew so little about this book that I didn't even know that it was a dystopian fantasy before I started it. That didn't lower my enjoyment in reading it though - an excellent book.

[Eva]

Nicola wrote: "Fahrenheit 451 - I knew so little about this book that I didn't even know that it was a dystopian fantasy before I started it. That didn't lower my enjoyment in reading it though -..."

Unfortunately, Fahrenheit 451 is not on the list! (which still suprises me, it really should be)

[Kirsten]

The problem with many lists is they somehow consider genre-fiction (crime fiction, science fiction, etc) as somehow inferior.

[Nicola]

Emu wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Fahrenheit 451 - I knew so little about this book that I didn't even know that it was a dystopian fantasy before I started it. That didn't lower my enjoyment in read..."

I tried to find it on my list a couple of days ago and couldn't see it. I assumed I'd made a mistake and accidentally deleted it because I mess around with my spreadsheet all the time, that it 'must' be on the list. Well I don't regret reading it that's for sure.

Who knows maybe the next list will take off Interview with a Vampire and put it on instead...

[Carol]

read Rebecca the other night, it was fun and a quick read.

[Tytti]

Kirsten wrote: "The problem with many lists is they somehow consider genre-fiction (crime fiction, science fiction, etc) as somehow inferior."

I find it strange that two Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries are on the list. There are so many books in English there already and I have come across many classics that I thought would automatically belong to the list but they aren't there. Probably because they have been written in another language.

[Joana]

Just finished "Gone With the Wind" and I'm still amazed at how much fun I had through these 1000 pages. Wonderful story that will surely stick with me for a long time. An easy 5/5 stars for me.

[Joana]

Nicola wrote: "Anna wrote: "David wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Anna wrote: "David wrote: "Bleak House. My favourite Dickens out of those I've read so far."

The BBC mini-series is excellent too! If you ..."

I still have to watch a lousy BBD adaptation :) I'm completely addicted to them and can't resist looking out for them as soon as I finished the books. Anyway, I still believe "North and South" is my favorite of all time.

[Kirsten]

Just finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad as performed by the inestimable Kenneth Branagh. Wonderful!

[Melanti]

Tytti wrote: "I find it strange that two Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries are on the list. There are so many books in English there already and I have come across many classics that I thought would automatically belong to the list but they aren't there. Probably because they have been written in another language. ..."

The Nine Tailors, I think was because of how she incorporated the pattern of the bells into the book as a whole, and Murder Must Advertise because of how it works as both a murder mystery and a novel which the editors thought was unusual for the time period, as well as its depiction of the advertising industry. (The later books in the series are a lot more layered than the first couple.)

But it's been months since I read those entries and I may be misremembering. I can look it up, if you like, next time I get my hands on a copy of the list.

I do understand what you mean though. I love Douglas Adams, but do we really need *three* books by him on the list? One would do! Surely there's better and more influential books out there than the Dirk Gently duology.

[Tytti]

Thanks, Melanti. It might be interesting but I guess that's enough for me, I might read them some day but not because they are on the list.

It just makes the list less useful for me because the books only from England and USA make up over 600 books of the list. And if you add the rest of the English speaking world, it is well over 700 books. So I rather concentrate on the non-English books.

[Steve]

Just finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Becky]

The Cement Garden. Creepy and unsettling. I recommend it!

[Luke]

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (review)

[Diana]

I just finished Contact by Carl Sagan it was really good and a surprisingly quick read considering the scientific terminology and theories used that I know nothing about. I loved how Sagan worked his idea of science and theology together.

[Becky]

City Primeval by Elmore Leonard

[Dee]

Read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night.

[Jim]

Read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Jim

[Diana]

David wrote: "Read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night."

I thought this one was really kooky and fun, I've already read the second one The Restaurant at the End of the Universe are you planning on reading the rest of the series?

[Dee]

Diana wrote: "David wrote: "Read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy last night."

I thought this one was really kooky and fun, I've already read the second one The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

I think I will. I love his sense of humour. I actually read So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish a while back, but going to go through them in order now.

[Ellinor]

I just finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Overall I really enjoyed it. But it will keep me thinking for a while, there are also still many open questions. I often found it a bit scary too. And I always kept thinking whether the author meant to tell us something and if so what?

[Judith]

Memoirs of a Peasant Boy - Vilas
Cutter and Bone - Thornburg
The Birds - Vesaas

All worthy of the time investment and more!
The Birds
Cutter and Bone
Memoirs of a Peasant Boy

[Nicola]

Possessing the Secret of Joy - Not a pleasant or enjoyable read. The subject matter was always going to make it a bit unsettling but the main character was frankly horrible and I was glad to see the end of her.

Get Shorty - The complete opposite, a light delightful little read although you did need to pay a bit of attention to the twisting of the plot or you'd get lost.

[Nicola]

Ellinor wrote: "I just finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Overall I really enjoyed it. But it will keep me thinking for a while, there are also still many open questions. I often found it a bit scar..."

I'm about to start reading this and I have been told by people that he is a writer who frequently leaves unanswered questions so I'm prepared for not having every plot line neatly tied up.

Everyone seems to like this book and his work in general so I'm looking forward to reading it.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Nicola wrote: "Everyone seems to like this book and his work in general ..."

Not everyone. I have decided to not read any more of his works after having read A Wild Sheep Chase, which I realize is not a list book. It was too weird for me and I understand it is pretty tame compared to a lot of his books.

[Dee]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Everyone seems to like this book and his work in general ..."

Not everyone. I have decided to not read any more of his works after having read A Wild Sheep Chase, which..."

I've only read two, but A Wild Sheep Chase is definitely a lot weirder than The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. He seems to write two kinds of books (some people criticise him for this), and those two (and 1Q84) fall into a weird metaphysical fantasy style that is very hard to describe.
I've not read any of what seem to be his more approachable works such as Norwegian Wood or Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage which are more romantic coming-of-age type narratives judging by reviews.

[Lauren]

I have finished the following books:

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This book took me about 3 months to read, but in the end I really enjoyed it. 4 stars.

The Curious Incident of the Doge in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I loved the perspective of Christopher in this book. Such an interesting read. I read it very quickly, and I highly recommend it.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

David wrote: "I've not read any of what seem to be his more approachable works such as Norwegian Wood or Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage which are more romantic coming-of-age type narratives judging by reviews.
"

Ha! Well, romantic coming of age is not especially appealing either.

[Karina]

Read The Pit and the Pendulum: by Poe. I'm surprised it took me so long to read this one but I loved it!

[Laini]

Finished Dead Souls last night, the second half really dragged for me, the tone changed completely and I didn't enjoy it half as much as the first half.

[Jonpaul]

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata. I'm still not quite sure whether or not I thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt more like poetry than narrative.

[Bookguide]

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. I was hoping for some redeeming insight after all the navel-staring, but unfortunately it never materialised: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nicola]

Jonpaul wrote: "Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata. I'm still not quite sure whether or not I thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt more like poetry than narrative."

I read it a bit fast the first time. Then I did a bit of googling of themes etc and read it again a bit more slowly.

I spent a bit of time in Japan and adding poetry to life is very traditional Japanese. The book was definitely a good example.

[Nicola]

Just finished Far from the Madding Crowd - a typically interesting but slow paced Hardy. I have no idea why it was recommended as a ‘happy Hardy novel’; possibly in comparison to some of his other work? Possibly.

The action sped up towards the later part of the novel but, obviously, you don’t read Thomas Hardy if you want an ‘on the edge of your seat, action packed rollercoaster ride of a novel!’. I listened to it on audio book so it was even sleepier :-)

[Catalina]

I just finished Alias Grace and The Hobbit. I loved both of them. Atwood is an amazing story teller.

[Wendy]

I just read The Mayor of Casterbridge, my second Hardy novel. I enjoyed it well enough, but not nearly as much as Far from the Madding Crowd. This one has a brilliant opening sequence in which a drunkard sells his wife at a fair, but overall the plot seemed more needlessly complex that FftMC, and the characters weren't as engaging (I thought).

I also did this one as an audiobook, so I wonder like Nicola if it just felt slower in that medium. I read Madding Crowd as a print copy, and sped through it in a few days. This one seemed to take forever!

[Ann A]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Everyone seems to like this book and his work in general ..."

Not everyone. I have decided to not read any more of his works after having read A Wild Sheep Chase, which..."

I'm also not much of a Murakami fan after reading Kafka on the Shore. I did buy 1Q84 on a $3.00 Kindle sale awhile back, so maybe I'll give him one more chance.

[Ann A]

In the First Circle
VERY good. Make sure you read the "uncensored edition".
(On the list it's "The First Circle", which is the "pruned and politically toned-down" version.)

[Ellinor]

Ann A wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Everyone seems to like this book and his work in general ..."

Not everyone. I have decided to not read any more of his works after having read [book:A Wil..."

Kafka on the Shore was my first Murakami too and I found it very weird and didn't enjoy it much. 1Q84 is a bit weird too but I enjoyed it so much more and it actually makes me want to read more of Murakami's books (something Kafka on the Shore didn't do).

[Aileen]

The Thirty Nine Steps, John Buchan. A nice quick read, though I think I still prefer the stage version.

[Carol]

Finished "Dead Souls" last night. Really enjoyed it and Gogol's writing is great fun.

[Joy]

I just finished Middlemarch by George Eliot. L-O-N-G.... But I made it through!

[Christine]

So far this month I have finished Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Invisible Man, Dracula, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

I did not care for The Invisible Man - I didn't think it was nearly as good as The War of the Worlds. I was disappointed.

The other three I liked. Dracula was best at the beginning, dragged a bit in the middle, but overall an enjoyable read.

My favorite was The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. This was the first Anne Bronte I've read, and I preferred it to her sisters' novels. A daring choice of subject matter for her time.

[Nicola]

Joy wrote: "I just finished Middlemarch by George Eliot. L-O-N-G.... But I made it through!"

Long but Good :-)