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[Jim]

Elle wrote: "I have Catch 22 on my Kindle. Bought it for my Brother but didn't really seem like my kinda book so I ignored it."

I'd say try it, you might find you love it ;-)

[Nigel]

Jim wrote: "Elle wrote: "I have Catch 22 on my Kindle. Bought it for my Brother but didn't really seem like my kinda book so I ignored it."

I'd say try it, you might find you love it ;-)"

Agreed. You should give it a go.

[L.A.]

Me too. I found once I started it that I was hooked; on the one hand wondering what all the fuss was about and on the other wanting to see how the story unfolded. In the end I went from being a great doubter to being glad I'd started it at last.

[Will]

Agreed. Catch 22 is fabulous.

A little word of warning, though. You might be tempted to pick up the belated sequel "Closing Time", but is nowhere near as good. I'd stick with Catch 22 only.

[Kath]

Ooh! I'll be looking for the new Fenton. Thanks, Joo.

[David]

Will wrote: "Agreed. Catch 22 is fabulous.

A little word of warning, though. You might be tempted to pick up the belated sequel "Closing Time", but is nowhere near as good. I'd stick with Catch 22 only."

I agree with Will here, and would also be cautious about his other books, like Good as Gold, Something Happened and God Knows, too.

A bit of a one-hit wonder.

[Kath]

A one-hit wonder for me in the sense that I wonder why that one was a hit...

[David]

Kath wrote: "A one-hit wonder for me in the sense that I wonder why that one was a hit..."

Odd, isn't it?

Usually, you and I tend to like the same things, but in this case....

[Stuart]

David wrote: "Will wrote: "Agreed. Catch 22 is fabulous.

A little word of warning, though. You might be tempted to pick up the belated sequel "Closing Time", but is nowhere near as good. I'd stick with Catch 2..."

I agree that I found the rest of his novels a complete let-down!

[Kath]

Did you all read it in your, ahem... younger days? There are some books I thought were amazing in my 'coming of age' years but they don't do it for me now.

[Michael]

I've just posted my review for Kevin Lucia's Through a Mirror, Darkly and it just didn't work for me. There's some good story there, but I found some of the writing style a barrier:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[David]

Kath wrote: "Did you all read it in your, ahem... younger days? There are some books I thought were amazing in my 'coming of age' years but they don't do it for me now."

Maybe, I initially read Catch 22 - and his others - when I was in my early-mid-20s or so.

[Natasha]

David wrote: "I agree with Will here, and would also be cautious about his other books, like Good as Gold, Something Happened and God Knows, too."

Apparently Joseph Heller spent eight years lovingly honing Catch-22. Once it became a bestseller, his publisher leaned on him to get more out fast, hence the poor quality of the follow-up books.

[Stuart]

Natasha (Diarist) wrote: "David wrote: "I agree with Will here, and would also be cautious about his other books, like Good as Gold, Something Happened and God Knows, too."

Apparently Joseph Heller spent eight years loving..."

That would make alot of sense. Each time I've read Catch-22 it has felt like the author had put all he had into every sentence as if it would be his only (and possibly entirely ignored) novel.

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

I tried to read Catch-22 when I was about 14 or 15 and couldn't. Perhaps I could get it now

[Patti (baconater)]

I've started The Sense of an Ending. I can't decide if I'm enjoying it or finding it incredibly pretentious.

[Kath]

Just finished THE THESEUS PARADOX, a thriller. I'm getting fed up of police personnel who flout the law they are supposed to be upholding - or maybe I'm just getting old. Feels cliched. Good, fast story but it didn't make five stars from me.

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

[Patti (baconater)]

Funny you say that, Kath. I've got fed up with police procedural for exactly that reason. I've not read one in ages.

[Kath]

I really feel that if the police are genuinely like that, we're all stuffed. And I don't mean full of dinner.

[David]

Just finished The Facts of Life and Death , which I really liked a lot and would recommend it to those that like this sort of thing.

Just started Scarlet Widow, which seems a bit of a departure for him. I like his horror books and the Katie Maguire books, but I can't remember him doing historical fiction like this before.

[L.A.]

I have just re-read The Color Purple for another group and am reading A God in Ruins on my Kindle. I'd forgotten how good Alice Walker's novel is and it reminds me to revisit the classics every so often.

[Pam]

Just finished Millennial Women andPhoenix in the Ashes

[Andrew]

Have just begun Void by David Staniforth. Excellent so far :)

[Kath]

I loved it, Andy!

Just finished The Missing Hours by Emma Kavanagh. I was offered it by NetGalley. Not out till April 21st and - pin back your lugholes - it's £9.99 on the kindle! They're havin' a larf!

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

Oh, edit to say I'm now reading Draw the Brisbane Line by Paul Fenton.

[Natasha]

Finished The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, which I didn't enjoy. I won't be reading any further.

Finished Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule, which I did enjoy. A pioneering lesbian novel, published in 1964, which made so many women realise they were not the only one.

Started Decider by Dick Francis. Am nearly halfway through. It's my first Dick Francis and I'm loving it. Fantastically clear and concise writing and an intriguing plot.

[Rachel]

Started reading: Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children.
Finishing: First Veronica Mars book

[Karen]

Glad you're enjoying Decider Natasha - I enjoy his stories, usually clear and well paced - and even more important, my mum enjoys them as talking books! Well plotted and she can follow the story easily.
I've just finished a rather sweet enjoyable chick lit Wish You Were Here which Mum has sponsored with RNIB so I was keen to make sure it was 'suitable'!! And now am half way through In Bitter Chill which is v good so far, more my usual fare.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Just finished Cause of Death, really enjoyed it. On track to finish two more books this week

[David]

Just finished Scarlet Widow , which was pretty decent, getting better as it went on. It is intended as a first in a series apparently and does feel - at times - as though it is setting things up for later episodes.
A female 18thC apothecary detective in the New World does sound a bit of an over-contrived high concept, but it may work.

Just started The Black Echo, which again is another first in series.

[Pam]

Finished book 1 of the Llandor trilogy - Journey Through Llandor and now started book 2 The Road to Irriyan

[L.A.]

Just finished just started on my reads of Sandfords Davenport series. Really enjoying them.

[Kath]

Just finished Draw the Brisbane Line by P A Fenton. He's got a streak of dark humour in his work - probably in his soul! - which appeals to me a great deal.

http://www.ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk...

Just starting a couple of proof reads - but my next 'actual book' will be Sewing the Shadows Together.

[Patti (baconater)]

I've not read a Fenton in ages. I've enjoyed all I've read, though.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Just finished The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red enjoyed it and feel like googling it. Next paperback is Full Dark, No Stars but think I'll finish Endurance first

[Karon]

I've just finished Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes: a good psychological thriller. I particularly enjoyed it as it was based in the Medway Towns where I grew up. the author's description of Chatham had me laughing out loud.
I am now starting The Dressmaker of Dachau by Mary Chamberlain

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Just finished Endurance

[Patti (baconater)]

I started re-reading Aztec. I read and loved it many years ago. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the era and the country.
I'm excited to see its one of a series now. I may carry on when I finish this one. Unless I'm fed up, as its a great tome of a book.
.

[Jim]

I read it back in the 1980s, but never realised there was a series (perhaps there wasn't then)
Looking at the books, they're not really a series, just three books by the same author. The second one is set in a different part of the world entirely

[Patti (baconater)]

Aztec Autumn seems to be the second one, Jim?

[Jim]

It's interesting, he wrote Aztec in 1980, The Journeyer in 1984, Spangle in 1987. Raptor followed in 1992 and then he went back to the Aztecs in 1997 and stuck with them, except for a few sequels to Spangle as well.

[David]

Just finished Four Laws That Drive the Universe which was reasonable enough.

Just started The Northmen's Fury: A History of the Viking World

[L.A.]

A God in Ruins
It took me a while to get into this novel but once there, I found it difficult to put down. I understand why it has been nominated for so many accolades.

[David]

L.A. wrote: "A God in Ruins
It took me a while to get into this novel but once there, I found it difficult to put down. I understand why it has been nominated for so many accolades."

Me too. At first I didn't think it was a patch on Life After Life, but in the end I really liked it.

[Pam]

Finished The Road to Irriyan and onto book 3 of the trilogy, The Shadow of Mordican

[Jud]

I've just given up on The People of the Mist I was enjoying it but it was too slow and not really capturing my attention, I may go back to it at some point.

[L.A.]

David wrote: "L.A. wrote: "A God in Ruins
It took me a while to get into this novel but once there, I found it difficult to put down. I understand why it has been nominated for so many accolades."

Me too. At fi..."

I agree and thought that the first chapters of Life After Life caught my attention more quickly than this book. The jumping about in characters and time-scale took some getting used to and I did lose connection with the characters at times however, as the novel progressed, this irritated me less. Unusually for me, I wasn't trying to out-guess the writer with an ending.

[David]

I think that is why I am often loathe to give up on books, so many - like this one - have grown on me the more into them I get and often - like this one too - turn out to be amongst the best I've read.

I like the way the ending worked too.

[L.A.]

I'm the same about giving up - don't like doing it. The most worth while sticking with for me was Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. So many names to remember at the start that it was seriously hard for me - but stuck with it and I'm glad. Same with the other 2 in the trilogy, well worth it in the end. (Sorry, out of thread comment!)

[David]

I think I was all right with the Larsson books, but names that are hard to work out are sometimes a problem for me, which I usually solve by calling them something else instead.

[Lexie]

L.A. wrote: "I'm the same about giving up - don't like doing it. The most worth while sticking with for me was Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. So many names to remember at the start that it was seri..."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo took me ages to get into. I was at 15% when I nearly gave up, but asked on another thread and they said no, definitely stick with it, and I'm delighted I did. It was all the financial stuff at the beginning put me off.