Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 3,201-3,250 of 10,322

[Peter]

The World According to Garp by John Irving. I really enjoyed it and a book that truly deserves to be on the list.

[George P.]

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, a couple weeks ago. LONG, but an excellent education on recent Chinese history, in a nearly "novel" format. I rate it 3.5 stars, would be higher if edited down a little (not advocating leaving out some history, just some detail).

[George P.]

Karina wrote: "Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Such a heartbreaking and haunting story. I absolutely enjoyed every minute of reading this."
I read it a few years ago. I didn't love it, but it was certainly gripping and well-written. I want to read his Go Tell It on the Mountain one of these days.

[Nicola]

In the last few days I've finished off:

Keep the Aspidistra Flying - Our monthly group read. Interesting but a bit of a slow read because I found the main character so aggravating I could only handle him in small doses.

3 stars

Junky - A fictional tale of a non-fictional subject. Very informative.

3 1/2 stars

The White Tiger - I found this very funny as well as extremely interesting.

4 stars

The Return of The Soldier - Sweet, delicate writing but dreadfully unsubtle. It didn't impress me very much.

2 1/2 stars

Thank You, Jeeves - Hilarious as all of his novels are. I was surprised at the inclusion of the 'n word' and that for half of it Bertie was running around with boot polish on his face. Considering that I don't think this is either his cleverest or his funniest book I'm wondering if that is precisely the reason that this one was chosen for the list.

4 stars

Evelina - Just plain good fun. If you like Jane Austen you will probably like this.

4 stars

The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale - a novel which pries into the nature of evil. It's rather unpleasant in places and relies less on action than human interaction to form the basis of the plot.

3 1/2 stars

[Ed]

14 more books since my last update:
Lolita
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids
The Iron Heel
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
The Immoralist
Where Angels Fear to Tread
The Mountains of Madness
Mr. Norris Changes Trains
We
39 Steps
The Cubs and Other Stories
The Quiet American
Good Morning, Midnight
Kidnapped

Total= 175

[Diane]

Remembering Babylon by David Malouf.

[Ed]

Diane wrote: "Remembering Babylon by David Malouf."

ah...I see you gave it one star.....i hated it too.

[Dree]

Finally finished Martin Chuzzlewit, for my second long read from the 1001 list this year. I finished 28 books from the list this year, but was waylaid in the fall by my decision to take a coursera course on Greek and Roman Mythology. I will be reading Ovid in 2017.

Edited: 28 books! I have read 28 books from the lists this year, with 2 being over 800 pages. I lost a line somewhere.

[Nicola]

The Sun Also Rises - I thought this was one of the most boringly flat books I've ever read.

1 star

The Third Policeman - This on the other hand was an unexpected delight. I wasn't expecting much and it turned out to be a crackerjack box of wonder and surprises.

4 stars

[Diane]

Finished The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. Trippy.

[George P.]

Ed wrote: "Diane wrote: "Remembering Babylon by David Malouf."
ah...I see you gave it one star.....i hated it too."

His novella An Imaginary Life seems better-liked, though not on the list. It's in my to-reads.

[Sarah]

Back after a Boxall break!

Just finished A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens.

[Petra]

Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico

[Diane]

Sarah wrote: "Back after a Boxall break!

Just finished A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens."

I was wondering where you've been! It's good to take a break every once in a while. I am headed in that direction myself.

[Amanda]

Just finished Ben-Hur, which was a good book this time of year. My review is up at http://1001everything.blogspot.com

[Bam cooks the books]

Read The Island of Dr. Moreau for my 'Around-the-year-in 52-books challenge: a book I'd seen the movie version of but never read.

[Carol]

Peter wrote: "The World According to Garp by John Irving. I really enjoyed it and a book that truly deserves to be on the list."

absolutely one of my favorites have you read A Prayer for Owen Meany? If not you should

[Carol]

Diane wrote: "Finished The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe. Trippy."

Trippy indeed

[Carol]

Pet wrote: "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico"

What did you think of it? One of my all time favorites

[Ed]

Quicksand by Nella Larsen-
excellent

[Diane]

Finally finished one of the larger books on the list (around 2500 pages, although the app does not indicate this): The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin. I read it in 5 separate books translated by David Hawkes.

[Diane]

Finished Ashes and Diamonds by Jerzy Andrzejewski.

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished The Godfather by Mario Puzo. An easy read with some interesting thoughts. The prose is a little blocky... listing what is happening rather than describing it. But all the suddenly there is a chapter here and there that completely makes up for it. Like the chapter seen from the undertakers point of view.

[Diane]

To the North by Elizabeth Bowen

[Diane]

I have been on an end of the year reading marathon and have read a few short, lackluster books:

Worstward Ho
Black Dogs
Whatever
Story of the Eye (pure awfulness)

Let's see if I can squeeze in another one in the next 9 hours.

[Bam cooks the books]

Diane wrote: "I have been on an end of the year reading marathon and have read a few short, lackluster books:

Worstward Ho
Black Dogs
Whatever
[book:Story of the Eye|4368..."

Terrific job, Diane! Happy reading in the new year!

[Diane]

Bam wrote: "Diane wrote: "I have been on an end of the year reading marathon and have read a few short, lackluster books:

Worstward Ho
Black Dogs
Whatever
[book:Story o..."

Thanks, Bam!

[Dree]

Finished The Summer Book for a total of 29 list books read in 2016 and 175 total. Tuesday I get to pick up a few books from the library, including a list book or 2!

[Diane]

I was able to squeeze in a few more shorties for the end of the year:

Miss Lonelyhearts
Thomas Of Reading
The Unfortunate Traveller: Or, the Life of Jack Wilton
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

[Diane]

Finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino and Une vie by Guy de Maupassant.

[George P.]

Finished The Remains of the Day by K Ishiguro. I preferred his "Never Let Me Go", it had more of a weird tension to it. "Remains..." is a great psychological portrait of a very inhibited man though. My 2 previous finishes were non-list books of short stories by du Maurier and Murakami.

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished The 39 Steps. Guess it belongs on the list for some sort of historical importance? The beginning of the spy genre? I wasn't much entertained and it left me with nothing. 2 stars.

[Diane]

Finished Jack Maggs by Peter Carey. I really enjoyed it. Would be great to read back to back with Great Expectations.

[Nicola]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Finished The 39 Steps. Guess it belongs on the list for some sort of historical importance? The beginning of the spy genre? I wasn't much entertained and it left me with nothing. 2 st..."

Yeah. That's what I thought as well.

[Maggie]

Finished The Lord of the Rings. It's my first time reading it, and I can definitely see how it has won such a huge following over the years.

[Nicola]

I have recently finished:

Measuring the World - Very interesting but I'm always wary when fiction and fact mix. How much is real and how much totally made up? - 3 1/2 stars

The Nose - This would have been much better if I knew more about Russian society during the period. I know that much of the humour went over my head. - 2 stars

Rebecca - Wonderfully atmospheric, a little too slow though and I had worked out all of the twists and turns of the plot before they were officially revealed. I thought it was rather obvious so I'm not sure if it was written this way on purpose. - 4 stars

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - A reread. It's a wonderful story but a lot of the humour is meant to reveal very unpleasant truths. - 4 stars

[Diane]

Finished Howards End by E.M. Forster. ****

[Tyler]

I finished The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway today. It was very good for a first novel. There were some parts where you could tell he was still trying to find his style and voice, but there is some incredible writing as well.

[J_BlueFlower]

Nicola wrote: "Rebecca - I had worked out all of the twists and turns of the plot before they were officially revealed. I thought it was rather obvious so I'm not sure if it was written this way on purpose.”

Some of it you can guess from the beginning of the book, but the main one … the second last one... (what should we call it that contains no spoilers....?) was a complete surprise for me.

I did not think it was too slow. The beginning is about her being forced into another women's place and life in many ways. It is a good bit of story in itself.

[Nicola]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Some of it you can guess from the beginning of the book, but the main one … the second last one... (what should we call it that contains no spoilers....?) was a complete surprise for me"

I grew up on a literary diet of Agatha Christie's and quite a few other mystery books as well. I think I've just trained myself to pick up on clues based on what people say, don't say and their body language as reported in the text.

I went and read a few reviews after posting that and saw, that yes, many people didn't see the plot twists, that they were completely and utterly shocked. I do wish I hadn't because seeing what was coming long before it happened definitely decreased my enjoyment. It may be why I considered it slow, as I knew what was coming I kept thinking 'why are you drawing this out so much? You've already effectively told us what is going to happen, so move it along'.

[Sarah]

Just finished The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Loved the story!

[Diane]

Finished The Lion of Flanders by Hendrik Conscience.

[Bam cooks the books]

Just finished Ian McEwan's The Child in Time

[Diane]

On the Heights of Despair by Emil Cioran.

[Alice]

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

[Diane]

Rituals by Cees Nooteboom

[Diane]

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Böll

[Diane]

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré

[Karina]

Just finished Glamorama which took me a year to finish. I absolutely hated this book and I do not like to use the term hate lightly. It was AWFUL.

[Bob]

Solaris by Stanisław Lem. Different for a "science fiction" story, but an interesting look at memory and being in your head too much.