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Matthew's List
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I loved His Dark Materials Trilogy!
I thought Cloud Atlas was fantastic - one of my favourites ever and have read everything by David Mitchell so far - bit of a fan! My brother couldn't get into it at all though.
I thought it was a fascinating idea of a book, very well executed. Six stories spanning over hundreds of years with all these things that connected the characters. It's like a cross between Lost and something by Isaac Asimov! I can understand why some people might not like it, it's not exactly a traditional book, and I found the first of the six stories the least engaging, perhaps because of the writing style / time period involved. All the other stories and characters were immediately interesting to me and I was severely tempted to read ahead to find out how it would end.
Zoe: I've been wanting to read His Dark Materials Trilogy for a while; wasn't allowed to read it as a child. My best friends bought me a beautiful edition of the trilogy for Christmas. Can't wait to read the final two books of the trilogy.
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If I can get hold of a copy of Cloud Atlas I might give it another go then. I didn't get past the first story I don't think!
(12) Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill ***(13) Matter by Iain M. Banks ****
(14) The Optimist by Laurence Shorter ***
Heart Shaped Box was alright - it wasn't my kind of book, but the story was pretty interesting and engrossing, and I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I actually had no idea when I bought it that he was the son of Stephen King, I just liked the cover and the blurb sounded interesting! Don't know how you feel about book to movie translations Lynne, but it is going to be made into a film at some point.
Sometimes the films don't do the books justice, I have seen most of SK's films which he has done over the years and some have been disapointing - as I have a Cineworld Unlimited card I have been seeing more films so will go and watch it when it comes out!
(17) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson ****(18) Cyber-Killers by Ric Alexander ***
(19) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson ****
(21) The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank ***(22) Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie ***
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(24) FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer *****Amazing book. Very different to the TV show, which is just based on the concept of the book, rather than the storylines. There are some shared elements, but only one shared character. It's heavier on the physics discussions than the show, but very interesting and I was frantically reading it to find out what was going to happen!
Matthew wrote: "(24) FlashForward by Robert J. Sawyer *****Amazing book. Very different to the TV show, which is just based on the concept of the book, rather than the storylines. T..."
I was holding off reading this as I thought it might spoil my enjoyment of the tv show, but I might give it a go now! Have read Rollback by the same author and enjoyed that
I also loved Flash Forward, I never got into the TV show but the book was excellent!
Lynne wrote: "I also loved Flash Forward, I never got into the TV show but the book was excellent!"Yeah the TV show is pretty different. I have been watching it, and was initially quite excited by the concept, and it was supposed to fill the Lost shaped hole that's about to be created, but it's been a bit disappointing for me. Probably isn't going to even get a second season... :(
Jo wrote: "What did you think of The Lovely Bones?"I liked it quite a lot, which I wasn't expecting since it's not my normal type of book. It was very emotional in parts, the scene with the little brother and the monopoly piece was especially moving. Would definitely recommend it to read, and I will probably check out the movie soon to see how well it carried across.
Jo wrote: "That's pretty much what i thought of it. There was one bit i didn't like but i thought the rest was really good and it wasn't something i would normally read. Let me know if the movie is good."Which bit didn't you like? (if you can talk about without too many spoilers)
Jo wrote: "It will spoil it so anyone that hasn't read it shouldn't read any furtherSPOILERS!!!
Ok, i didn't like the bit where she went into Ruth's body. I think it was just too happily ever after. Th..."
Yeah that part was weird; either I wasn't reading it properly or it just came out of nowhere. Also, isn't it really odd (and kinda gross) to have sex using another persons body? In terms of the facts of life, I treated the book like a fantasy story; I don't think that the things that happen in the book are possible, but the world where it is possible is interesting and that's what she wrote about... Sorry if that doesn't make any sense!
SPOILERS!!!I wondered which bit you meant because I felt exactly the same - I didn't like the "body possession" either - I know this sounds strange given that it is a fantasy but that stretched the realm of possibility for me. Up to that point I was completely going with the story and then it lost me - like you've said a bit gross too.
(27) Daemon by Daniel Suarez *****Wow. Best book I have read all year; utterly amazing. Stayed up until 4am this morning to finish it because I just had to know how it ended. Very impatient for the sequel now!
Jo: Yeah I did. I preferred Norwegian Wood, which had a more satisfying conclusion in my opinion. From what I've read about Kafka on the Shore, you have to read it a couple of times to truly appreciate it and get everything you can out of it, so I definitely plan on reading it again at some point soon! (29) World War Z by Max Brooks ****
Jo wrote: "I am reading Norwegian Wood now. I understand what you mean by the ending not being that satisfying. I am looking forward to finishing this one now i hear you prefer it! What did you think of w..."
Ooh thanks for (inadvertently) pointing out that I forgot to give World War Z a rating! I really enjoyed it, I haven't read any of his other books, and I have no intention of getting the Zombie Survival Guide, but I thought WWZ was brilliant. It's very well written and researched; lots stories of different people from everywhere in the world and how they experienced the war. I definitely recommend it!
How did you find American Gods? I wasn't quite sure of it when I read it last year. I have a couple more of Neil Gaiman novels on my shelves, maybe try him again before long!
Lynne wrote: "How did you find American Gods? I wasn't quite sure of it when I read it last year. I have a couple more of Neil Gaiman novels on my shelves, maybe try him again befor..."I thought it was pretty good. It was slow to get going and a little confusing, but I really liked the storyline, definitely kept me hooked. I'll probably read some more Gaiman if I get the chance.
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How did you like it? It's on my TBR list.
Been away from GoodReads for so long; chaos of moving to London and starting new job has taken up much of my time lately. (38) Death Force by Matthew Lynn ***
(39) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini ****
(40) Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold ****
(41) Starter for Ten by David Nicholls **
Oooo not many left now Matthew, only four to go!
UK Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Player of Games (other topics)Across the Nightingale Floor (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Iain Banks (other topics)Lian Hearn (other topics)
Charles Stross (other topics)
David Mitchell (other topics)
Konstantinos (other topics)
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Here's what I've read so far:
(1) The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith ***
(2) Northern Lights by Philip Pullman *****
(3) Trail of Blood by Michael McBride ***
(4) Join Me by Danny Wallace ****
(5) The Prodigal Mage by Karen Miller ***
(6) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell ****
(7) The Adventures & Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle ****
(8) Incompetence by Rob Grant ***
(9) Cell by Stephen King ***