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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
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Kathleen
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Apr 18, 2018 06:42AM
I finished White Teeth by Zadie Smith, which I've been meaning to read since it came out--can't believe 17 years went by!! There was so much hype about it then, and now I understand why. It won't be a favorite, but it's very, very well done. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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My review of A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James B. Comey:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. 4.5 stars. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished listening to The Girl on the Train on my run today. It was an interesting story; perfect pace for running. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What a wonderfully satisfying read Susan Glaspell's short story, A Jury of Her Peers is! I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's a link to a free copy of this 100-year old gem and others in my review.
4.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished my reread of A Town Like Alice -- an amazing book! I have decided to increase my previous 4* rating to 4.5*.
I have completed Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder. It was not perfect, but very good.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Leslie wrote: "I finished my reread of A Town Like Alice -- an amazing book! I have decided to increase my previous 4* rating to 4.5*."I'd like to read that.
Sorry--I just realized I posted this in the wrong thread. I moved it here.I read The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. The setting is pre-Saxon England with mythical creatures, knights, pixies, good monks and bad monks, ogres, and a dragon. The area is surrounded by a mist that causes personal and collective memory loss. Against this backdrop, Axl and Beatrice, an elderly couple, set off on a quest for find their son.
The novel is not really about pre-Saxon England. I think it is a meditation on memory--its efficacy, and the role it plays to foster or impede reconciliation on a personal and/or collective level.
An amazing novel.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Leslie wrote: "I finished my reread of A Town Like Alice -- an amazing book! I have decided to increase my previous 4* rating to 4.5*."This was such a good book. Glad you enjoyed it again, Leslie.
Canadian author David Chariandy has already won an award for Brother, his story of Trinidadian migrant brothers and their struggling mother in Canada. Well worth a look.
4,5★ My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Pearls on a Branch: Arab Stories Told by Women in Lebanon Today by Najla Khoury, a collection of Arab folktales transmitted orally for many generations.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read Gateway to the Moon. 4.5 stars rounded up. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Rusty The Squeaky Robot is a cute new children's picture book by Neil Clark that shows how very different "people" can join together to make a joyful NOISE!
5★ Link to my review
Chrissie wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I finished my reread of A Town Like Alice -- an amazing book! I have decided to increase my previous 4* rating to 4.5*."I'd like to read that."
Chrissie, I think that you would like it and Robin Bailey does a wonderful narration.
I finished a couple of lighthearted books recently: The Enchanted April and Miss Buncle Married. Both of these had a gentle humor and some romance, similar in style to Angela Thirkell and Miss Read. A nice break from my more serious books!
I finished Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. I very much enjoyed this book. It's thought-provoking, funny, heartbreaking and engaging. It is a sequel and the first book, The Sparrow, should be read first.
I'd love to say so much more about this book but don't want to give away the story.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just stuck in a short story--The Verger by W. Somerset Maugham.Read it .I have provided a link to it in my review. It will not take but a few minutes.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "I just stuck in a short story--The Verger by W. Somerset Maugham.Read it .I have provided a link to it in my review. It will not take but a few minutes.
My revie..."
Chrissie, I replied only yesterday to your comment on my review of The Story of My Experiments With Truth. I have been very busy and then I went away for a short vacation so I hadn't seen earlier your comment.
I don't know if you have seen my reply because I know that sometimes you (and also me) don't receive always notifications.
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I just stuck in a short story--The Verger by W. Somerset Maugham.Read it .I have provided a link to it in my review. It will not take but a few m..."
No, I have not seen your reply! I will go check now, and thank yo
you for telling me here. I hope you have had a nice vacation!!!!!!!!!
Chrissie wrote: "No, I have not seen your reply! I will go check now, and thank yoyou for telling me here. I hope you have had a nice vacation!!!!!!!!!"
I don't like it when people think I ignore them only because the email notifications don't work.
Yes, I had a lovely time. Thank you!
Finished two completely different books:Finished
by E.M. Forster -- 2 StarsMy Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished
by Holly Madison -- 4 StarsMy Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of Summer at the Garden Café by Felicity Hayes-McCoy5 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
dely wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "No, I have not seen your reply! I will go check now, and thank yoyou for telling me here. I hope you have had a nice vacation!!!!!!!!!"
I don't like it when people think I ignore..."
Since we all KNOW GR often misses stuff, it is totally ridiculous to assume anything other than that there is a Gr error.
I am glad to hear your vacation was good.
I am three quarters of the way through Pachinko. The first part was enjoyable and engrossing with all the detail about the family's daily lives. Now as we move through the generations the author seems to be telling the story with more sweeping brush strokes, jumping through years and it feels like she is killing off characters so as not to have to deal with their life trajectory.
Esther, I hear your sarcasm. I have been unsure but have now decided to skip the book.
Esther wrote: "I am three quarters of the way through Pachinko. The first part was enjoyable and engrossing with all the detail about the family's daily lives. Now as we move through the generati..."
This is one I can't decide about either.
In her new book West: A Novel, author Carys Davies takes a man obsessed with finding the giant creatures he's heard about on a long, dangerous journey, leaving his little girl at home.
Link to my review
What Happened to Michael, by, N F Paupe is a crime thriller set in England. It tells the story of Ann, who has lost her son and how she copes with the loss while at the same time desperately trying to find out what happened to him. It is not your usual cliché thriller book, and some of the passages are extremely well written. Very emotional and touching but also exciting at the same time. The twist is a masters touch! Excellent, My review here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...It wasn't what I expected it to be, I wouldn't recommend it.
Chrissie wrote: "Esther, I hear your sarcasm. I have been unsure but have now decided to skip the book."Actually I would say read it. I will probably give it 4 stars.
The first 1/2 was very enjoyable and the author created a real connection with the characters. It also conveys a wonderful amount of information about Korean everyday life.
My whole problem is with 'sagas' which is why I tend to avoid them. It always seems that about 2/3-3/4 of the way through the author starts rushing to reach the end.
I felt the same way about The Poisonwood Bible.
I finished Circe by Madeline Miller. I found the portrayal of Circe disappointing and unlike the Circe of the Odyssey.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read the sequel to Rider at the Gate by C J Cherry - Cloud's Rider and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2228499001.Also read: Fox's Earth by Anne Rivers Siddons, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2370498624.
My life has been crazy, so it's been a while since I updated my recent reads. Here's what I finished up so far this month:
Olalla by Robert Louis Stevenson ★★★☆☆ Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking ★★★★☆ Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind by Mark Noll ★★★☆☆ Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Invasion of Canada 1812-1813 by Pierre Breton ★★★★★ Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have finally completed The Merry-Go-Round, another by W. Somerset Maugham.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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