EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion
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The Last Book I Read Was...
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Merritt
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May 15, 2018 07:51PM
Scythe
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Popular Aussie news journalist (among other things) Tony Jones has successfully added thriller writer to his "among other things" with a great read, The Twentieth Man. It's based on true Aussie events, but there's plenty of artistic licence making for an exciting novel. Loved it!
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read and very much enjoyed Jade City by Fonda Lee recently. I've actually been having a bit of a hard time because I've tried to read other things since then and nothing has measured up so far. :P
Just finished the audio version of Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. WOW! It is amazing Tara, not only survived, but she overcame living a nightmare childhood. If you "enjoy" reading riveting memoirs, this is right up there with The Glass Castle!
Joseph Coelho's gorgeous children's picture book If All the World is about a young child and Granddad and . . . remembering Granddad. A new favourite!
5★++ I've included some illustrations here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It's a feminist Uptopian story written and serialized in 1915. Although somewhat dated Gilman's points must have been cutting edge at the time. I enjoyed it and gave it 3 stars.
Just finished listening to Outlander by Diana GabaldonHere's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Mick Herron”s London Rules, his latest visit to the Slow Horses of Slough House. Still an entertaining bunch of demoted (“demented”?) spooks.
4★ My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished
March Violets by Philip Kerr
a terrific detective novel which is set in 1936 Berlin during the rise of the Nazi Party as the Olympic Games are about to begin. The mystery part is good but when you add the vivid historical setting it really puts the story over the top, I gave it 5 stars.
I learned something myself from a couple of vividly illustrated, picture book biographies for young kids. I expect more than a few parents and teachers could benefit from these. I included a few pictures so you can see what they're like.Bonyo Bonyo by Vanita Oelschlager is the true story of a poor Kenyan village boy with dreams of becoming a doctor.
Link to review of Bonyo Bonyo
Harriet Tubman by Isabel Sanchez Vegara is the story of a young girl who escaped slavery and joined the Underground Railroad. (And we're still waiting to see if she'll be on a new $20 bill!)
Link to review of Harriet Tubman
I finished The Broken Girls by Simone St. James.A nice mystery thriller with a dash of the Gothic set in the 1950s and the present day in Vermont.
The Picture of Dorian Gray I reread this for the second time in a couple of months. I forgot my book when I went to the lake house and it was all I could find. It is not a favorite. I just needed some entertainment when everyone else was out in the boat.
A terrific read for anyone interested in old Australia - and I mean OLD. Academic, but easy. (Footnotes are unobtrusively at the back.)Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Aussie author Billy Griffiths does what it says - uncovers some wonderful history, archaeological and cultural.
5★ Link to my review
Recently finished The Kreutzer Sonata, by Leo Tolstoy. It was my first time ever reading Tolstoy, so I dove right in with high hopes! This novella addresses many topics, including abstinence, jealousy, the deceitful nature of the traditional marriage ideals and the role of music in society and human relationships. It was a fantastic short read, albeit a quite intense start to Tolstoy. Looking forward to know more about his works!
Just read a classic Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot mystery, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. You don't need to have met the little Belgian detective before to enjoy this clever whodunit!
4★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Edge of the Light I read this with my niece. It features high school age chars dealing with issues ranging from dealing with an aging grand father to how do you help an addict.It is very different from all the other Elizabeth George book I have read. It is well written. It is providing much coverstion opportunities between my 17 year old niece and I
I finished:
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Now starting:
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
Scariest storm I've ever "lived through" in a book! Jesmyn Ward's award-winning Salvage the Bones is a novel inspired by her own experiencing Hurricane Katrina.
Link to my review
This "series" is such a great publication to make readers aware of what's on the publishing horizon. Buzz Books 2018: Spring/Summer: Exclusive Excerpts from Forthcoming Titles by Patrick DeWitt, Sheila Heti, Kristan Higgins, Ottessa Moshfegh Allison Pearson and 35 More has heaps of excerpts for you. Some of these are out now, and some will be soon.
5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And the next in the series is Buzz Books 2018: Fall/Winter: Exclusive Excerpts from Forthcoming Titles by Stephen Carter, Jude Devereaux, Leif Enger, Barbara Kingsolver, Sarah Perry and 35 MoreThe excerpts are from books due to be published in the American autumn and winter (generally after September).
5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...And remember, they are FREE!
I'm currently reading Ace of Shades! It's a solid 3.5 stars for me. It has interesting elements, but it needs a bit more idk passion for me to fully love it. I do, however, recommend it to everyone!
Helen Garner is one of Australia's best writers, whether it's long or short, fiction or non-, and she's a firm favourite of mine. This volume comprises 3 previous books in one, plus some. Love it! True Stories: The Collected Short Non-Fiction
5★ Link to my review
Just finished listening to Claire Danes narrate The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I really liked it although the ending left me wanting a bit more.
I'm enjoying Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. The Likeness is #2, in which Detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover.
4★ Link to my review
The Last Days of Café LeilaI loved the book. It is the story set in Iran. It tells a story that many Iranians experienced. It is multi generational. It is very different fromPachinko but tells the same kind of family saga.
The Man Who Planted Trees is a short 1953 "parable" by French Jean Giono. It makes a great conversation starter for both the dinner table and the classroom, but it needs to be read and read again by politicians!
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
She’s an itchy-footed Runaway. I enjoyed the title story of Alice Munro’s book of the same name. I’ve included a link to more of her stories online.
Link to my review
I just kicked
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
Rating: 1 star
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yesterday, I finished the audio version of The Great Alone. Wow! I just loved it! (5 stars)Today, I just finished the audio version of Pax. I thought it was a well written young adult story and enjoyed how the 2 main characters grew throughout their alternating chapters.
Uprooted
Rating: 4 stars
I finished this today. I'm sick, and wanted something light to read, and found this amongst the books my friends lent me. I'm really not into YA books, but I really enjoyed this one. The setting and the magic system seemed lacking (specially after reading Sanderson's Mistborn), but the fairy tale aura was refreshing, and I really enjoy anything folklore-related.
Just read The Choke by Aussie author Sofie Laguna, who wins prizes with her work.
4.5★https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished The Broken Girls and it was amazing. I absolutely recommend it if you're looking for a slightly scary gothic thriller type thing.
I just finished To Kill or Be Killed. I recommend if you’re into comics and/or psychological thrillers!
I finished two books today:
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I added these two books to my Currently Reading pile:
The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by neuroscientist David Eagleman is what I would take to a desert island because I’ll never get tired of enjoying his imagined afterlives, each only a few pages long.Some are funny, some scary, some philosophical, all entertaining. A FAVOURITE!
5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - an unbelievable time travelling scenario but an important book. It was gripping; really glad I read it. It's a 'must-read'.
I just finished listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude and absolutely loved it. It was another one of my "driveway listening" books as I would listen on my way home, but when I got home I would continue to listen in my driveway. It's genre is magical realism and there's a lot of subtle, off-center fantasy-type "magic" that happens in the book. It was enough that it would throw me every once in a while as I listened, and it really added to the charm of the book. I had tried to read it in tree-book form a couple of times, but never got very far. I suggest you try the audio book version as it was just easier to get into.
Catherine wrote: "I just finished listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude and absolutely loved it. It was another one of my "driveway listening" books as I would listen on my way home, but when I got h..."I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude but didn’t have an audio version. I did find an extremely useful family tree illustration some kind person created, and it certainly helped me visualise the different generations of people with the same name. I added it and link in my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What a wonderful, convoluted mystery, and I enjoyed all seven!The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 5★ by Stuart Turton
5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I just finished listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude and absolutely loved it. It was another one of my "driveway listening" books as I would listen on my way home..."Thank you for the chart! That's the one thing that kept me a little annoyed - keeping all the characters straight was HARD. So many have the same name. But, their behavior was different, vastly different in some cases.
Catherine wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I just finished listening to One Hundred Years of Solitude and absolutely loved it. It was another one of my "driveway listening" books as I wo..."Glad the chart helped. I'm getting to the point where I'd like a program with a cast of characters and footnotes, I think!
This is one of those books that I used to feel everyone has read but me. I've meant to read The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories by Carson McCullers for many years and finally did.
Link to my review
PattyMacDotComma wrote: Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Aussie author Billy Griffiths does what it says - uncovers some wonderful history, archaeological and cultural..."That looks interesting - ta. Have you read Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe? I found it brilliant - wish I could afford to buy numerous copies and give it away to spread the information and insights.
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