Just finished Reading (2016)

[Paul]

Tell us about the books that you have finished reading in 2016

[Paul]

Finished The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story Of Italy And Its Citrus Fruit last night. Lovely books about the citrus groves of Italy My review is here

[Jason]

Nothing Is Strange totally mad short stories in this collection, really enjoyed reading them. first book of 2016 completed. woohoo

[Rachel]

Finished The Girl You Left Behind ny Jo Jo Moyes yesterday, 1st book of the year!
A beautiful tale that is half set in 1916/7 occupied France and the other half in modern day London. A real page turner, I sped through it needing to know the outcome.

[Paul]

Just finished Alex Through the Looking Glass: How Life Reflects Numbers, and Numbers Reflect Life. Not a bad maths book for those that want an easy re-introduction to it again. My review is here

[Richard]

Happy New Year!

Just finished Under the Frog by Tibor Fischer.

Three stars - some merit but some problems too.

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

[Paul]

Happy New Year Richard!

[Kevin]

Just finished Great Expectations. First Dickens I've read other than Christmas Carol. Sorry I didn't read it sooner. Looking forward to diving into more of it.

[[deleted user]]

I finished "Paper Towns" by John Green and am half way through "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith.

"Paper Towns" was pretty good if you like YA, which I do have a soft spot for.

Also thoroughly enjoying my current read. 2016 is off to a good start.

[Felecia]

I've read Alexander and Alestria, Left to Tell, Madame Bovary and A Worn Path.

[Richard]

Kevin wrote: "Just finished Great Expectations. First Dickens I've read other than Christmas Carol. Sorry I didn't read it sooner. Looking forward to diving into more of it."

Love Great Expectations. Must admit I passed on Dickens for years, but have read a few in recent years and it really opened my eyes. Always knew the stories were great, but didn't appreciate what a fantastic writer he was until I actually read the books. I'd highly recommend Bleak House in particular.

[Sam]

I finished reading Heidi recently. It was lovely, albeit simplistic and unrealistic. A great book for kids and beautiful language.

[Danielle]

Just finished Alias Grace. Started of like my sort of read and I enjoyed it overall. But I found it a bit too long.

[Jackie]

I finished reading The Madness of a Seduced Woman. The story itself was v good but good grief the book was far too long, in my opinion. The second half was much better than the first which pushed up my rating from a 2 star to 3.

[Seraphina]

Have just finished Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. Really enjoyed it, love her writing. She'd a fascinating upbringing. First 5 star of the year. Starting The House of the Spirits

[Joy]

I galloped through A God in Ruins at the weekend - great read, couldn't put it down.

[Paul]

Is it a worthy Costa Winner then Joy?

[Lisa]

January is starting off with a roar.

I finished 3 books so far:
Green on Blue which I though was a good look into the life of 2 Afghan brothers during a war that they got caught in the middle of. My review is here...https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Then I read Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology which was another good book but I cannot believe how people get duped into believing such nonsense especially when Leah is such a "ball" breaker, lol. My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Lastly I finished Finding Audrey which was sad and very funny at the same time. It is about a girl who has an anxiety problem and lives with an addicted to games older brother, a sweet younger brother, a neurotic mother and a clueless father. There were many funny scenes in the book between the kids and the parents.

[Paul]

Finished Pondlife: A Swimmer's Journal at lunchtime today. Really lovely memoir aboutA. Alvarez regular swims at the Hampstead Ponds. My review is here

[Toyah]

I just finished The Little Prince last night, and plan to finish The Catcher in the Rye this weekend so that I can start The Kite Runner.

[Jon]

Finished Hawking's A Brief History of Time. More than a little challenging at times, but worth reading:

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

[Wendy]

Finished Life of Pi, really enjoyed it but thought it was longer than it needed to be. It's been sat on my shelf for ages so glad to have got it read finally and wondering what took me so long!

[Paul]

I read that late last year Wendy. Enjoyable but not exceptional.

[Wendy]

Must admit I only started it because we recorded the film over Christmas and I didn't want to watch the film before I read the book - sad I know!

[Paul]

That is the only way Wendy.

[Jan]

Home for Christmas and finished a book sooner than I expected (miraculous!), so I grabbed one there by Jack London that I'd never heard of: The Iron Heel. Wild! Told as a memoir from early 20th century many centuries in the future (with footnotes to explain our barbaric system of that era). It is more ideological than Ayn Rand ever was, only from the opposite perspective.

[Joy]

Paul wrote: "Is it a worthy Costa Winner then Joy?"

Paul wrote: "Is it a worthy Costa Winner then Joy?"

Yes!! It's quite different from Life After Life in that it is set in just one time-stream, our world, and in some ways it's just a family saga. However we are told the story of Teddy (Ursula's brother in Life After Life) not in chronological order. Ive tried to analyse, how the author can create such tension and involvement in chapters aboutTeddy's earlier life, when we know he lives to old age - but I can't see why it works; it just does. The themes are of personal responsibility and forgiveness, with echoes from Life After Life about how small decisions matter. Issues about the conduct of the second world war are raised, especially the question of whether the bombing of German cities could be justified and there are no easy answers.

[Jo]

I have finished Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking. I found it fascinating, though it was probably longer than it needed to be.

Re A God in Ruins, I usually love Kate Atkinson, but I didn't get on that well with Life after Life so still wondering whether to give God in Ruins a go or not

[Paul]

Finished The Masked City a couple of days ago. Not a bad sequel, and an improvement in writing from the first book, but has some flaws still. My review is here

[Wendy]

Just finished A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway A really good read if 1920s Paris or the antics of Hemingway and other authors working there at the time is of interest to you.

[Paul]

I have never read a single Hemingway Wendy. Maybe this year

[Paul]

Finished Last Night in Montreal by the very talented Emily St. John Mandel too. Very good indeed, contemporary, edgy and slightly disturbing too. My review is here

[Jan]

Paul wrote: "I have never read a single Hemingway Wendy. Maybe this year"

Hmm, may give A Moveable Feast a try. I liked (but wasn't enamored of) For Whom The Bell Tolls. A Farewell to Arms got somewhat interesting by about halfway through. I'm not sure if not being a Hemingway enthusiast make me a philistine or not.

[Tytti]

I added The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas to one of my (too) many challenges. It might interest people interested in that era. Never read anything by Hemingway, either.

[Jan]

There's a wonderful joke about Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein at Stein's deathbed:
Toklas: Gertrude, Gertrude, what's the answer?
Stein: Alice, Alice, what's the question?

[Wendy]

Jan wrote: "Paul wrote: "I have never read a single Hemingway Wendy. Maybe this year"

Hmm, may give A Moveable Feast a try. I liked (but wasn't enamored of) For Whom The Bell Tolls. A Farewell to Arms got som..."

I have never read any of his novels - I only really picked up A Moveable Feast because I am interested in the era - that said I will definitely be adding one or two to my continually growing list of books to be read!

[Paul]

Mine is off the scale Wendy

[Joy]

Finished The Gun Seller, a facetious spy story. It was ok, amusing in parts, but I think Hugh Laurie made the right decision to stick with the acting.

[Danielle]

Finished The Penguin Lessons: What I Learned from a Remarkable Bird which I adored. And listened to The Loney. Don't ask me what The Loney is about as I didn't understand.

[Richard]

Just finished Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life a biography of one of my favourite authors.

You probably need to have read at least some of her work to appreciate it - but she is a really interesting subject anyway. Her first novel wasn't published until she was in her 60s. She then went on to win the Booker and be nominated two further times. Inspiration for us all!

Her life - and particularly how that influenced her writing is fascinating.

My five star review of the biography is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Paul]

I have the The Penguin Lessons to read from the Library Danielle. Will avoid the other that you mention then!

I have never heard of Penelope Fitzgerald Richard. What is your favourite book of hers?

[Bella]

I added Penguin Lessons, too. I love penguins!

[Jackie]

Finished Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney. I chose to skim read through the second half because it was becoming a chore to read it.

[Danielle]

I read The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald last year and was impressed. Hope to read The Blue Flower this year.

[Paul]

Finished A Darker Shade of Magic this week. Has a a Neverwhere feel about it at times, but much more fantasy and not quite as sinister. My review is here

[Joy]

Paul wrote: "Finished A Darker Shade of Magic this week. Has a a Neverwhere feel about it at times, but much more fantasy and not quite as sinister. My review is here"

I read this last year but wasn't as keen on it as you - I found it a bit predictable.

[Paul]

Most series are a bit predictable. Apart from GoT as Martin is prepared to kill almost any character off.

[Paul]

Just finished One Wild Song: A Voyage in a Lost Son's Wake. It is a moving tribute to his late son as he comes to terms with his death on a sailing trip to South America. My review is here

[Toyah]

Just finished Talking with Serial Killers by Christopher Berry-Dee. Now trying to decide what to read next!

[Jon]

Finished Disgrace by J M Coetzee. Good, but bleak:

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