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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
I have completed The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, This is an author I cannot stop reading and there are so many books to choose from!My review; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Friday was publishing day for my first 5-star read of the year,
Dead Ernest by Frances Garrood. This is a poignant, moving and, at times, very funny look at love, marriage and family life.You can read an excerpt and my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
Heather wrote: "Has anybody read anything by Michelle Paver? I just devoured Dark Matter in one setting and I also loved Thin Air when I read it last year. I want her to write more!"I also loved Dark Matter, can't wait to try Thin Air!
I finished my recommendation swap book -- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It was great! I have posted more info in the recommendation swap thread.
Leslie wrote: "I finished my recommendation swap book -- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It was great! I have posted more info in the recommendation swap thread."That's a really good book Leslie:)
My review of The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recently finished When Breath Becomes Air by neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi. I thought it was a brave memoir, written with rawness and honesty. 4 stars. My review
I can't say enough good things about Anne of Green Gables, which I somehow hadn't managed to open until I started reading it aloud for the kiddos' bedtimes. What a beautiful novel. Perfect in every way. All the stars!
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Leslie wrote: "I finished my recommendation swap book -- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It was great! I have posted more info in the recommendation swap thread."Glad you liked it as much as you did,
Shirley, I read Thin Air first. I think I slightly preferred Dark Matter but her ability to create a sense of place is fantastic in both stories.
I did very much like Wildlife by Richard Ford, even though I found the title misleading and it was short. I do prefer long books generally.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thanks, Chrissie, I was not really aware of this novel/novella and have now added it to my tbr.
Finished Doctor Zhivago. Loved it even more than the movie. There's just no substitute for the stunning power of the written word. 4.5 stars.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've finished SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finished a Golden Age mystery called The Mystery of 31 New Inn, the 4th in the Dr. Thorndyke series. I found the characters as enjoyable as in the previous books but the mystery was a little lacking. 3*
B the BookAddict wrote: "Thanks, Chrissie, I was not really aware of this novel/novella and have now added it to my tbr."I am also consideringBetween Them: Remembering My Parents, but what I really want to read is Canada.
A Long Way from Home begins in twice-Booker winning author Peter Carey's hometown of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, in the 1950s. Quirky characters enter a Redex Reliability Trial around the continent and learn more about the country and themselves than they expected. 
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
I think it is one of those theatre play one NEEDS to read once in a lifetime, even more than one where possible.
It deals on science, and what science should do toward "common people" - in Brecht's words in order to help the Florentine housewife with problems regarding a glass of milk. If science does not arrive to help her there, no matter how "important" are the discoveries, it has lost its meaning.
Read Tanith Lee's Lycanthia: or The Children of Wolves and posted a review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2312862229.
LauraT wrote: "Finished a couple of days ago Galileo by Bertolt Brecht.I think it is one of those theatre play one NEEDS to read once in a lifetime, even more than one where possible...."
Brecht is a fantastic playwright.
Beartown is a wonderful book of friendship, betrayal and hockey....lots of hockey (but it's not a story about hockey; just centers around it). My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A bit of an average one Hush Little Baby by Joanna Barnard. My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another five-star classics read from me. 
The Souls of Black Folk Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just DNF Since We Fell
by Dennis Lehane.
Don't waste your time.
160 pages of dull, lazy, repetitive waffle about poor PTSD Rachel, completely unsympathetic, whose mother was a class A bitch. Followed by a familiar twist, a by-the-numbers scam, f**cking seen it 100 times before.
Apparently Lehane went back after writing the complex, stupid scam second-half, and then wrote 160 pages of crap background waffle about Rachel at the beginning, "just to pad out the length of the book". That's the real scam here.
I have completed How It All Began by Penelope Lively.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have been under the weather for the past few days & resorted to "light" reading, not being up to dealing with the complexities of Infinite Jest nor the harsh realities of Purge. I have finished a couple of mysteries (The Mystery of 31 New Inn and the audiobook of Game of Mirrors), a sci fi romantic adventure (Local Custom) and the audiobook of a Wodehouse (Psmith, Journalist).As you can see, I go through these less serious books quickly!
Leslie wrote: "I have been under the weather for the past few days & resorted to "light" reading, not being up to dealing with the complexities of Infinite Jest nor the harsh realities of [book:Purge|..."Oh dear, hope you are feeling better soon Leslie.
Read a short work by Stephen Baxter which is a follow up to H G Wells' War of the Worlds and apparently a prequel to Baxter's own novel-length sequel - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2319711846.
Pam wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I have been under the weather for the past few days & resorted to "light" reading, not being up to dealing with the complexities of Infinite Jest nor the harsh realities ..."Thanks Pam, I am better now though still a bit tired.
I have enjoyed Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara. I had a hard time in choosing between three or four stars.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I hope it has not been the flu, Leslie!
Chrissie wrote: "I hope it has not been the flu, Leslie!"It might have been but if so, a reasonably mild case based on what I have heard from others about this year's strain!
All About Books
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