Just finished Reading (2015)

[Paul]

I really don't know Tytti. There are good and nasty types in all walks of life.

[Jon]

Just finished Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. A great adventure story and an excellent chronicle of a real life tragedy:

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

[Joy]

I was given a free Kindle copy of Divergent and I found it a most enjoyable easy read for the weekend. (I haven't seen the film - hadn't heard of it or the book till offered this one.) It's a sci-fi adventure in the same mould as The Hunger Gamesand rips alongf at a good pace.

[Pat]

If any of you have read All Quiet on The Western Front you will look at people and wars differently. Our book group read it a few years ago and the ending was a shock. Fabulous book. Not a word out of place, and thin.....always a bonus.

[Pat]

If any of you have read All Quiet on The Western Front you will look at people and wars differently. Our book group read it a few years ago and the ending was a shock. Fabulous book. Not a word out of place, and thin.....always a bonus.

[Jo]

Just finished Human Remains by Elizabeth Haynes which was rather disappointing after the other one of hers I have read, Into the Darkest Corner. I am on a bit of a bad run at the moment. Need a change of direction I think, need to find a real cracker.

[Jackie]

I finished The Son by Philipp Meyer and gave it 5 stars. Fab book, imo, quite brutal in places.

[Paul]

Jo wrote: "Just finished Human Remains by Elizabeth Haynes which was rather disappointing after the other one of hers I have read, Into the Darkest Corner. I am..."

Oh dear. I had a run like that earlier in the year.

[Tytti]

Pat wrote: "If any of you have read All Quiet on The Western Front you will look at people and wars differently. Our book group read it a few years ago and the ending was a shock. Fabulous book. Not a word out..."

I read it in "high school" and wrote a report about it and/or presented it somehow with my partner. I can't say I remember much about it, maybe because it was for school. I remember better how we came to choose it than actually reading it... I doubt there was much new in it for me, though. I think it's basically what I would expect from a war novel, which is why I am a bit confused by all the recommendation requests for romance novels and like set during WWII.

[Jo]

But then I had a run in the summer of back to back wonders, got very liberal with my four and five star ratings, so I was due a few duds! I just want a fantastic story, don't ask for much....

[Paul]

A Charles Cumming book perhaps?

Just finished The Buddha Of Suburbia over the weekend. not bad, but not exceptional.

[Karen]

I've just finished The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - wow! what a book! i've still got tears in my eyes so a definite 5 stars from me!

[Richard]

Just read The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novelhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show... by Anthony Horowitz. I'm not a Holmes fanatic - so no preciousness about someone other than Conan Doyle writing a new story - and actually thought this was pretty good. Faithful but not just pastiche. Full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Seraphina]

Interesting, I have moriarty on my shelf so hoping they don't necessarily have to be read in order

[Richard]

Seraphina wrote: "Interesting, I have moriarty on my shelf so hoping they don't necessarily have to be read in order"
Haven't read Moriarty Seraphina, but don't think they do need to be read in order at all. I gather they're very different, and there's no follow-on in terms of plot. Moriarty (almost) doesn't feature in House of Silk. In notes at the end of the book though Anthony Horowitz says the character had fascinated him and felt he had unfinished business with him - hence the follow-up.

[Paul]

Finished At Hawthorn Time over the weekend. A melancholy tale, but beautifully written. My review is here

[Tytti]

Richard wrote: "I'm not a Holmes fanatic - so no preciousness about someone other than Conan Doyle writing a new story - and actually thought this was pretty good."

I am pretty sceptical of reading about any characters that someone else has created. I do remember reading some Holmes stories as a kid after I had finished all our library had from Doyle but being disappointed. I think particularly Holmes is difficult because he is so different and I like him especially because of that.

[Pat]

We all loved Holmes in book club except ex policeman who hated it. He was hopping mad, and very sarcastic, that anyone could think you could do detective work in manner he does.

[Tytti]

Well, of course there is some dramatic license but then again Holmes was based on a real person who did that sort of things and worked with the police, too, so I wouldn't call it that unbelievable. They had little to go on those days.

[Pat]

It was very funny when ex detective explains it. "Yes of course we all sniff the soil like that. Tosh!" (or words to that effect). Haha

[Paul]

Just finished The Man Who Made Things Out Of Trees. A really good book by Robert Penn who cuts one ash tree down and with assistance of craftsmen goes on to make 45 different objects from it. My review is here

[Jackie]

Finished The Distance Between Us by Maggie O'Farrell. Bit disappointed with this one. Her writing was still very good but I didn't think too much of the storyline, too predictable. I wouldn't particularly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read any of hers but fancies giving them a go.

[Tytti]

I finished a book! The one I started some six months ago and had to get it as an ebook from the library to read the second half. I hadn't read much about Ingrians so it was interesting to read about an ethnic group that is pretty much disappeared these days. I was also surprised how much there was actually happening in Leningrad during the siege, people going in and out. It was also our independence day on Sunday so it was appropriate reading really.

[Paul]

Finished 84, Charing Cross Road over the weekend, and have only just had a chance to write a review, here. It is a really lovely book of correspondence between the author and the manager of an antiquarian book shop, strangely enough at 84 Charing Cross Road. Great stuff

[Annika]

I just finished the Millennium series and I'm already having withdrawals. I'm not sure if I want to read The Girl in the Spider's Web, has anyone here read it and if so, would you recommend it?

[Joy]

Over the weekend I read The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. It's a gentle romance which i found immediately engaging.

[Paul]

Finished Fingersmith for my Victorian one. Wasn't bad, but wasn't great either. My review is
here

[Paul]

Finished Sixty Degrees North: Around the World in Search of Home a few days ago. Thought it was a pretty good book overall. Has that mix of travel and personal memoir in a similar vein to H is for Hawk. My review is here

[Tytti]

Finnish isn't that unique, Paul, Estonians across the Gulf of Finland can almost understand it without even studying. :-) And before Stalin the whole coast used to be populated by Finnic speakers.

[Paul]

Finished very late last night The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island. Very funny, brilliant and classic Bryson. My review is here

[Joy]

Just finished The Crow Road. I found the first third somewhat rambling, but I became really gripped by it in the second half. So thanks, Paul, for encouraging me to keep reading.

[Paul]

Good. Glad you enjoyed it in the end Joy. I do like the way that Banks springs twist on you like no other author. Have you seen the BBC adaption of it? That is worth watching too.

[Joy]

No I've not seen the BBC version - I'll look out for it.

[Lisa]

I am late to this but The Crow Road is up there with my favourite books ever. Glad you stuck with it, Joy. The adaptation is indeed good, although old now. A young Peter Capaldi starring.

[Paul]

Joy wrote: "No I've not seen the BBC version - I'll look out for it."

Have you read The Wasp Factory by him? That is short, weird and shocking.

[Joy]

Paul wrote: "Joy wrote: "No I've not seen the BBC version - I'll look out for it."

Have you read The Wasp Factory by him? That is short, weird and shocking."

No, I don't think I've read anything else by him. Not sure I fancy The Wasp Factory - sounds very dark. I do think I might read The Crow Road again sometime though. Do you think the parts written in the third person are intended to be (view spoiler)[ accounts / storytelling by Uncle Rory, rather than the author's voice? (hide spoiler)].

[Paul]

It is pretty dark Joy. Perhaps The Steep Approach to Garbadale or The Business?

[Paul]

Finished Anthony Blunt yesterday. Good solid biography of a establishment figure, turned traitor. My review is here

[Sophie]

I've just finished Kiss Me First. I haven't got round to reviewing it yet but it was quite an intriguing premise, even if I didn't find the book itself "un-put-down-able". It's about a girl who is paid to take over a stranger's online presence so that the stranger can commit suicide without alerting friends and family. I gave it two stars, just because it's taken me about three weeks to read (where normally I'd probably be able to easily finish it within a day or two) and therefore wasn't particularly exciting but interesting for the ethical and moral issues it raises nonetheless.

[Patricia]

I was sick yesterday so I stayed in bed and read The Bridges of Madison County. A quick, easy read. Now to watch the movie and check both those off my lists.

[Pat]

Loved that book Patricia

[Jennifer]

I just finished reading "The Lost Years" by Mary Higgins Clark. I was skeptical at first because it had such bad reviews. I admit the backstory to the "Vatican Letter" was weak but that doesn't affect the suspense of : Who, When and Why?

I am not that great at writing Literature Reviews but this book was much better than I expected.

[Paul]

Anyone with the remotest interest in London should have a look at this book, Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital. Amazing photos taken by various crews as the infiltrate deeper into London Under. My review is here, but you really need to see some of the photos

[Richard]

Have had a run at a few books. So 5 star reviews here for Nora Webster - Colm Toibin's most recent novel: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and The Means of Escape by Penelope Fitzgerald: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jon]

Finished Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor and while it really wasn't quite what I expected and wasn't really my cup of tea, it had enough redeeming qualities to it:

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

[Paul]

Finished Treasured Island: A Book Lover's Tour of Britain yesterday. A most enjoyable jaunt about all things bookish. More review is here

[Joy]

Just finished Career of Evil. I enjoyed the development of Robin's backstory but as a whole I preferred the previous book in the series. For me the problem with this book was that the murder suspects were too similar in their backgrounds and characters and I struggled at times to remember which was which.

[Jon]

Finished God's War by Kameron Hurley. It's a flawed first novel, but worth reading:

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

[Paul]

We have a new 2016 thread Jon

[Amy]

Best book of my year and I don't mean of 2016. lol