Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 2,201-2,250 of 10,244

[Nicola]

Amy wrote: "Nicola wrote: "The Castle of Otranto - Pathetic. I'd say that Walpole must have written this as a joke but apparently he thought it was the best thing he had ever written. Thank goodne..."

It was actually 'the' first. I accept its historical importance and I am not even sorry I've read it due to that importance. But I'm glad it's short and I'm glad the genre has much better examples which were actually entertaining and enjoyable to read.

It was so bad it felt like a parody of itself. Which of course is a complete impossibility.

[Kirsten]

Just finished reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1001 Books to Read Before You Die #35

[Jennifer W]

Out of Africa, her writing was nice, but I didn't get much out of it.

[Wendy]

Just finished Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee and it left a very bitter aftertaste. It's very well-written and a fairly quick read, but the highly uncomfortable subject matter (from teacher/student affairs, to violent rape, to the killing of dogs) was not at all pleasant. I have no idea how to rate this one.

[Wendy]

Finished Breakfast at Tiffany's. I haven't seen the film but I liked the novella just fine. I'd had the impression that it would be romantic and whimsical, but it turned out to be quite cynical, I thought. Random observation: Holly Golightly is the total antithesis to Sylvia Plath, though for some reason the one reminded me of the other.

[Linda]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. I listened to this which was read by the author. I think this elevated the "reading" experience as Palahniuk's inflections while reading are quite unique. This book is weird, grossly descriptive, yet has a dark humor that I loved. There was a scene near the end that I couldn't stop laughing at, among numerous bits sprinkled throughout the book. I gave it 4 stars.

[Nathan]

It took 2+ months, but I finally finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It wasn't that the book was bad or hard to read, but darn work cut into my reading time. I've never seen the movie version, and after reading the book, I don't think I want to.

[Dree]

I did it. I finished Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. It took me 4.5 weeks (long for me to finish anything fiction). The first 200 pages were not so bad. The last 150 were a slog. The middle was just tiring.

I am very glad I read this, and I am very glad to be done.

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished The Iron Heel. A dystopian novel about an American oligarchy vs socialists at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was ok. I found the first part of the book most interesting, while the later part of the book with detailed description of war in cities... well, it was probably new and insightful at the time where the book was written, but not any more. Some people have complained about the amount of footnotes. There are a lot, but they worked fine for me as a flowing commentary to the story from the future.

[Wendy]

Nathan wrote: "It took 2+ months, but I finally finished Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It wasn't that the book was bad or hard to read, but darn work cut into my reading time. I've never seen the mov..."

Don't see the film! Nicholas Cage affects the worst Italian accent ever, and it's painful. The best parts are the Greek scenery for sure, but I seem to remember that much of the plot is changed or abbreviated. The book is so much better (surprise!)

[Wendy]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Finished The Iron Heel. A dystopian novel about an American oligarchy vs socialists at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was ok. I found the first part of the book most inte..."

Heh, good job! I'm not sure you sound enthusiastic enough that I want to give this one another try, but I'm glad you got something out of it...and finished it, too :)

[Kirsten]

Just finished reading The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#36 in the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die challenge.

[Mia]

I finished The Iron Heel too.

[Mia]

I just finished Pierre and Jean by Guy de Maupassant.

[Dree]

After the quake by Haruki Murakami. 3 stars, it was fine but nothing special. I am not a huge fan of magical realism/fantasy type stuff.

It was a great break after slogging through Pamela, however. Nice short, fast stories. What a relief.

[Ellinor]

Yesterday I finished Choke, a weird book which I liked a lot more than I expected. I seem to be in a phase of weird books right now. Last week I read The Wasp Factory, a very very strange book.

[Meg]

Finished 'The Master and Margarita' yesterday. Fantastic read, very funny in parts although the ending lost me slightly. 5 stars.

[Amy the book-bat]

Just finished The 39 Steps at about 2am. I would have liked a stronger ending, but overall, the book was worth a read. 3*

[Marina]

I just finished Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. Better than North and South, in my opinion.

[Amber]

Never Let Me Go Highly engaging book, although the writing often felt like the author was attempting to describe why people socialize to a clueless person.

[Winter]

Amber wrote: "Never Let Me Go Highly engaging book, although the writing often felt like the author was attempting to describe why people socialize to a clueless person."

Still the best book I have read this year among over 70 :)

[Amber]

Winter wrote: "Amber wrote: "Never Let Me Go Highly engaging book, although the writing often felt like the author was attempting to describe why people socialize to a clueless person."

Still the bes..."

Can't say the same, I didn't really like the characters and felt they were very removed/fake. Story is good though and very engaging.

[Winter]

Amber wrote: "Winter wrote: "Amber wrote: "Never Let Me Go Highly engaging book, although the writing often felt like the author was attempting to describe why people socialize to a clueless person."..."

I am very very weak for this type of story..

[Katherine]

Ah, finally scratched Catch-22 off the "to be read" list. It took me awhile, but this book comes together so completely at the end. This and The Things They Carried are probably my favorite war books.

[Diane]

Just finished Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Very thought-provoking.

[Fabian]

I just finished 1984 by George Orwell, one of the best stories I've read this year.

[Marina]

Just finished Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

[J_BlueFlower]

”The house itself was not so much. It was smaller than Buckingham Palace, rather gray for California, and probably had fewer windows than the Chrysler Building.”

That is the kind of language you will have to live with if you go through Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler ;-)

[Mia]

I just finished The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It was better than I thought.

[Nicola]

The Drowned World - Bleugh! Sexist, Racist and Pointless. All of which would have been forgivable if it was an interesting read.

1 star

[J_BlueFlower]

Animal Farm Still an important book. I think I read it as as a child/teen and it was better than I remembered.

[Mia]

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Lovely little story!

[Carol]

The Rainbow by Laurence.This book really spoke to me.

[Nicola]

One Hundred Years of Solitude - I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Love in the Time of Cholera; it was too disjointed and the magical realism got annoying, every person or event was bizarre which I eventually found to be tedious.


2 stars

[Kirsten]

Just finished listening to The Turn of the Screw, with eBook by Henry James

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#37

[Kirsten]

Just finished reading/listening to The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#38

[Mia]

I finished Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This was my first book from her and I can't wait to read more!

[Frances]

I just finished "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. I enjoy her style of writing and being transported back into 'Society' of the early 1800's. I am about to read next, another novel set in the same years, but by a contemporary author. It will be interesting to compare the authenticity of the styles. Anyone doing that in your reading of the classics?

[Kirsten]

Just finished reading my interlibrary loan, Shame by Salman Rushdie. (One of the 1000 Books You Should Read Before You Die challenge.)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Robin]

I just finished Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. It took a while to get used to the slang, but I really liked the book.

[Joe-Lin]

Just finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

[Kirsten]

Joe-Lin wrote: "Just finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood."

Loved it and its follow-up The Year of the Flood

[Ellinor]

Neither Oryx and Cake nor The Year of The Flood are List books however.

[Kirsten]

Ellinor wrote: "Neither Oryx and Cake nor The Year of The Flood are List books however."

Should be!

[Mia]

I just finished Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

[Winter]

Mia wrote: "I just finished Little Women by Louisa May Alcott."

Liked it?

[Jean]

I completed The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho.

[Winter]

Jean wrote: "I completed The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho."


I started it today, was it good?

[Bob]

The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson. It started slow but picked in the last third.

[J_BlueFlower]

The Long Goodbye - A Chandler book published in 1953, 13 years after the two first books The Big Sleep (1939) and Farewell, My Lovely (1940). If you read the three book close by, the time difference is quite visible. He seems a lot more tired and old in The Long Goodbye, he has stopped drinking as heavily as in The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. I liked the story a lot, but I liked the language better in the earlier books, the noir and irony was so sharp.