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[Karen]

So far this year I've read Tombland, my Christmas treat, but sadly I was a bit disappointed. It did go on a bit... Then a quicker read, Lie With Me, which was funny and frustrating in equal measure! Have now started The Boy in the Snow - interesting so far. It's the second in the series, so I'll have to go back and get the first one

[Jim]

I tend to agree with you about Tombland. It was almost two books, and the problem was you got a detective story with historical novel stuck in the middle of it. So you rather lost track of the detective novel
I did enjoy it but it was harder work than it needed to be

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Finally finished my first book The Husband probably only a 3*

[Lisa]

My first book is taking a long time. To be honest it's a bit torturous and could do with a serious edit. Very much a curate's egg I'm afraid, but I will persevere as nobody else seems to have succeeded.

[Patti (baconater)]

I'm still not quite finished my first book of the year.

Washington Black

Just a few pages left.

Very Victorian writing style. It's okay. I'm hovering between giving it three and four stars. Will decide when I finish.

[Pam]

Big catchup - have read and reviewed the following:

Gone South by R A MacCammon - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2653061378.

Hitler's Girls: Doves Amongst Eagles by Tim Heath - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2679671250

The Black Friar by S G Maclean - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2680546173

Mystery Walk by R A McCammon - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2653212301

plus two books by Diana Wynne Jones:

Minor Arcana - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2679685374 and
Hexwood - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2679724116"

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Started The Innocent

[Patti (baconater)]

I just finished Sai King's Elevation

Absolute magic.

[David]

Just finished rereading The Inimitable Jeeves - excellent, of course.

Just started rereading For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Just finished The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money - Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!

Just started Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence - heard the author on a couple of podcasts and she intrigued me enough to get the book

[Jemima]

A Pinch of Magic was disappointing, maybe the blurb hyped it too much.

Now on to Children of Time which is a Space Opera Group Read for January. Strangely, it seems I've read the first section before. I wonder if the author included it in an anthology somewhere in the past? I don't recall reading any of his books before.

[Lee]

Not finished my current read yet, but just started The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway.

[Kath]

Lee wrote: "Not finished my current read yet, but just started The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway."

I read The Old Man and the Sea a couple of years back for my local book group. Didn't really get on with it. I found the style very distracting too, with repetitions of a word in the same sentence.

[Lee]

The language is kept pretty simple but i think it's fairly affective. Only a third of the way through it so far though.

[Kath]

When I read later that Hemingway was a bullfighting fan I wasn't surprised. He also used 'and' four times in one sentence. Made me growl!

[Jim]

Kath wrote: "When I read later that Hemingway was a bullfighting fan I wasn't surprised. He also used 'and' four times in one sentence. Made me growl!"

Another famous writer who really needed to listen to his editor?

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Being Hemingway's editor would be the fast route to insanity!

[Jim]

Gingerlily - Weird and Silly wrote: "Being Hemingway's editor would be the fast route to insanity!"

I suspect as much, but to be honest I've avoided reading him and I only saw the first bit of 'for whom the bell tolls'

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

As for being James Joyce's editor...

[Jim]

Gingerlily - Weird and Silly wrote: "As for being James Joyce's editor..."

That is why God created gin :-)

[Patti (baconater)]

Thank God for gin.

I'm having one now.

[Jim]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Thank God for gin.

I'm having one now."

only one, it's been a good day when gin is a reward as opposed to a therapy :-)

[Pam]

This one annoyed me - The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2683554462.

[Jud]

I finished Gilded Cage and have started Dying Games, both audiobooks.

[Jud]

Finished Vanity Fair, I loved it but boy is it full of dislikable characters, kind of the point though :o)

I only wish I hadn't read it straight after watching the TV series, I think that's why I struggled a bit. Too much Vanity Fair in too short a time!

Going to read Dying Games on kindle and audiobook now :o) First time using Whispersync properly!

[Natasha]

Just finished I, Claudius by Robert Graves. Thank goodness that's over. ...

Just started Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

[Jud]

Less than 24 hours! Not bad. Dying Games was amazing! No idea what I'll read next. Shall maybe read a little more of Harry Potter y la cámara secreta before starting my next english novel.

[David]

Just finished A Man Called Ove - excellent - 5 stars.

Just started The Bone Keeper

[Ash]

Just started Banquet for the Damned by Adam Nevill. First 100 pages are really good. Plenty of threat and intrigue.

[Patti (baconater)]

I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz yesterday.

A very well written book. Rather harrowing, of course.

Don't yet know which book I'll start today.

[Kath]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz yesterday.

A very well written book. Rather harrowing, of course.

Don't yet know which book I'll start today."

One of my friends abandoned that on the grounds that the writing was distractingly clunky.

[Kath]

Recent finishes - that I recommend.

http://ignitebooks.blogspot.com/2019/...
http://ignitebooks.blogspot.com/2019/...
http://ignitebooks.blogspot.com/2019/...

I've read a few I don't particularly recommend - and some I didn't finish.

[Patti (baconater)]

Kath wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "I finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz yesterday.

A very well written book. Rather harrowing, of course.

Don't yet know which book I'll start today."

One..."

Personal taste is always just that, isn't it?

Boring world otherwise!

I need a light, fluffy read at the moment. Hoping I find something suitable on my kindle when I retire tonight. Had no luck last night. I fell asleep reading blurbs.

[Jim]

Might be a market there, I'm going to concentrate on light, fluffy, blurbs :-)

[Natasha]

Just finished Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Wow. ... That knocked me out.

Just started The Book of Dave: A Revelation of the Recent Past and the Distant Future by Will Self. Very challenging!

[Lee]

Just finished ... Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Just started ... The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

[Kath]

Just finished The Wife's Shadow by Cath Weeks. Good stalker yarn, slightly sloppy eiditng.

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

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

Kath wrote: "Just finished The Wife's Shadow by Cath Weeks. Good stalker yarn, slightly sloppy eiditng.

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

eiditng. Brilliant!

[Kath]

HAHA! Bang to reights!

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Finished And sometimes I just sits? - 4*, I had a suspicion I would enjoy it as I like Jim's blogs, but it was really good - one even managed to make me laugh and cry in the same post!! So good I bought the other two as well, need to catch up on blogs then I'll be starting the next one.

[Patti (baconater)]

Kath wrote: "Just finished The Wife's Shadow by Cath Weeks. Good stalker yarn, slightly sloppy eiditng.

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

Just amde Dave jump because of my loud gaffaw!

Olve it!

[Kath]

But not necessarily in the right order, as the man said!

[Jim]

to be fair, they're a bit dog-centric to appeal to your cats :-)
But glad you liked it

and OK, I need to know, which one made you laugh and cry? :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Jim wrote: "to be fair, they're a bit dog-centric to appeal to your cats :-)
But glad you liked it

and OK, I need to know, which one made you laugh and cry? :-)"

The one that made me laugh and cry was ‘Sorting the monkeys at your circus, all for a Werther’s Original’. 2 that really touched me were ‘Funny what you learn’ – I even told a couple of people about this, so heartwarming that someone brought 8 ‘extra’ children with them when they probably had no idea what they were going to find when they got here, just a hope it was better than home. ‘They Did Not Grow Old’ – this made me cry.

[Jim]

tears and laughter are just a sign that we're part of things, not merely observers watching from the sidelines. I think they help to prove we're human

Glad you liked them

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Looking forward to the next one

[Jim]

you say the nicest things :-)

Somebody just messaged me on facebook, "Oh Jim, I do love your book. To me it's a breath of fresh air. I'm almost half way through (48%)..."

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Jim wrote: "you say the nicest things :-)

Somebody just messaged me on facebook, "Oh Jim, I do love your book. To me it's a breath of fresh air. I'm almost half way through (48%)...""

Only the truth! That's a nice comment. I'm off to read one of your blog posts to the cats

[Jim]

I am constantly amazed at the erudition of your cats :-)

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Finished The Innocent last night - I have read one of his Bolitar series and didn't enjoy it, but this one I did, so maybe I just need to stick to his standalones. Picked up my new kindle for the first time to start War - find it astonishing that his voyage to Africa took 2 weeks and he had to stay there for 3 years.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

Jim wrote: "I am constantly amazed at the erudition of your cats :-)"

I'm sure the vet can give them something for that.