This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Dibble

The Sign of The Four by Arthur Conan Doyle.

SarahBM

I gave up on patriot games. 100 pages in and it just wasn't grabbing me. I found it quiet cheesey and unrealistic tbh. So I started Those Who Walk Away by Patricia Highsmith

eire4

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Literally dozens if I had time to think about it.
Tony Cascarino, Roy Keane, Paul McGrath, Paul Lake, Puskas, Tony Adams, Robert Enke, Alex Ferguson,

I really could go on and on but that's just my opinion, I love Zlatan and expected a lot but was left really disappointed.

Paul McGrath's I would highly recommend. Amazingly frank and honest about how bad his alcoholism was.

biZrb

I'm almost finished Brideshead Revisited, really enjoying it. Can't wait to watch the series when I've finished the book.

Wyldwood

Finished a quick read of Kate Mosse's The Taxidermist's Daughter. It started out very promisingly but got a bit ridiculous towards the end, quite far-fetched.

heathledgerlove

biZrb wrote: »

I'm almost finished Brideshead Revisited, really enjoying it. Can't wait to watch the series when I've finished the book.

One of those rare occasions where the screen adaption is just as great as the book

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Still reading War & Peace. It's a strange book.... it's interesting enough and the chapters are all fairly short so it's easy enough to read but it still seems to be taking me forever to even make a dent in it's massive page count. I never have that "just one more chapter" feeling when I finish one...

There are so many different characters and at the start they're not even really connected to one another that much so it's a bit of an effort to remember who everyone is every time it jumps to Moscow or the war or wherever. I assume they become more interconnected as the book goes on?

Swiper the fox

I'm reading the newest book from Kevin Maher, author of The Fields which I enjoyed a couple of years ago. It's called last night on earth and it's shaping up nicely so far, there are some passages that will rank with the very cream of comedy writing while also dealing with quite serious issues, in that way it is similar to The Fields.

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami and I have to say I loved it. It was one of those books I was sad to see end.

It's the first time I've read a Murakami book and I am eager to check out more of his work.

Belle E. Flops

I finished 'The Letter' by Kathryn Hughes. I liked it but didn't love it. The idea for the story was really good but from about halfway on it became really predictable and there were so many coincidences where characters luckily managed to bump into each other etc, and that annoyed me.

I'm just starting 'The Amber Keeper' by Freda Lightfoot

antonymin

Just started "South of Broad" by Conroy. Seems OK up to now.

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. I thought it was very good. It was my first time reading something by Greene. I thought the character of Ida was very compelling and larger-than-life and a nice contrast to the monster that was Pinkie.

Aenaes

I'll be reading Brighton Rock in the near future. Greene is fantastic.

heathledgerlove

Finished Love and Summer, William Trevor; took about two weeks even though it’s really short and had big enough typesetting. Disappointing I must say; not very engaging. I presume it was supposed to be about forbidden love in the twee setting of countrified 1950s Ireland but I was never convinced. Reminded me – thematically – of, say, Bridges of Madison County and though that book is a little silly at least I remember there being passion!

Quote: ‘A ceremony her afternoon adorning of herself had become this summer, the occasion each time finished with another dab of eau-de-Cologne, another touch of lip salve.’
I read this sentence several times and its composition still confuses.

Might try his short stories next time. At some stage.

Swiper the fox

heathledgerlove wrote: »

Finished Love and Summer, William Trevor; took about two weeks even though it’s really short and had big enough typesetting. Disappointing I must say; not very engaging. I presume it was supposed to be about forbidden love in the twee setting of countrified 1950s Ireland but I was never convinced. Reminded me – thematically – of, say, Bridges of Madison County and though that book is a little silly at least I remember there being passion!

Quote: ‘A ceremony her afternoon adorning of herself had become this summer, the occasion each time finished with another dab of eau-de-Cologne, another touch of lip salve.’
I read this sentence several times and its composition still confuses.

Might try his short stories next time. At some stage.

Trevor is very unusual, I've read quite a lot but I don't know what brings me back. Lucy Gault is probably the best of them although some of the old short stories are really great.
I read Love and Summer when it was shortlisted (maybe longlisted?) for the Booker and my feelings were similar to your own. When I read Felicias Journey it felt as if it was set in the 1950s but could hardly believe when the evidence was stacked up that it seemed to be set in the 1980s.

Busi_Girl08

I finished The Martian, probably one of the best books I've read all year.

I started nEvermore, a collection of short stories inspired by (or written by) the works of Edgar Allen Poe. So far so good! The first story had a good chill to it alright.

Birneybau

Busi_Girl08 wrote: »

I finished The Martian, probably one of the best books I've read all year.

I started nEvermore, a collection of short stories inspired by (or written by) the works of Edgar Allen Poe. So far so good! The first story had a good chill to it alright.

I started reading it and thought it was one of the most badly written books I've ever read. Might go back to it.

Flitting between the above, 'The Girl in the Spider's Web' (very early days) and recently finished 'Purity' by Jonathan Franzen which I was a bit disappointed in.

Having a bit of bad luck with books at the moment.

Das Kitty

Birneybau wrote: »

I started reading it and thought it was one of the most badly written books I've ever read. Might go back to it.

It certainly scores low in the beautiful language stakes, and in the characterisation stakes, but the plot is dynamite and more than makes up for other short-comings.

I recently finished Station Eleven by Emily St.John Mandel. I enjoyed it. It's very gentle for a post-apocalyptic set novel.

Callan57

The Green Road by Anne Enright

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Seems to be a book that divides opinion but I enjoyed it.

heathledgerlove

Finished The Commitments in a matter of hours, I was actually roaring with laughter, the turn of phrase and bantering was just utterly hilarious; also fascinating that a novel can be composed almost entirely of dialogue and still manage to drive the plot forward.
My only quibble would be that the dialogue was of course written in that particular style with the – dash and no continuous indication of which character is speaking ( is this device from Joyce? Idk..)
I wouldn’t mind this so much only for all of the characters – all of the Commitments – with the exception of Joey the Lips, had pretty much exactly the same personality and style of speech.
Overall though, very more-ish: I’ll launch into The Snapper and The Van that were included in the Barrytown Trilogy I got down the charity shop :P

Censorsh!t

Have finally gotten round to reading Stephen King's The Stand

But of course I would start reading it the day I get a ferkin' flu, which was somewhat terrifying!

I'm about 400 pages in and am really enjoying it. I've put it off way too long

Daisy78

Spill simmer falter wither by Sara Baume

Gonzovision

Having finished 'Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar' by Tom Holland, which was an absolutely brilliant read, I read 'The Prisoner of Heaven' by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, mildly disappointed, not down to the story or the writing, but it ended so abruptly. Part of the 'Cemetery of Books' series, it really is a lovely read, but the story was only taking off when it ended.

Next on my list, which I started this morning is 'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World' by Peter Frankopan. Getting very good reviews, so hoping it lives up to the hype.

Mr.Nice Guy

I finished Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I thought this was great. I haven't seen the film version by Hitchcock so I came to the story not knowing what to expect. I found it really gripping.

And that Mrs Danvers character as well..so creepy!

heathledgerlove

Decline and Fall was readable enough, but definitely could not be ranked as even one of Evelyn Waugh's average works; it is far and away from the brilliance of Brideshead and A Handful of Dust. Paul Pennyfeather was such a frightfully flat character that it was very difficult to stay invested; a dull protagonist bodes ill in a book where everything was contrived towards the comic.
As a first effort though, it works well to display the author's adeptness at wordplay, wry, dark humour and understated dialogue. Overall though, pure juvenilia that I would suggest would not usually be published beyond, say, a university magazine but no doubt was streets ahead of and surpasses many other 1930s Popular Penguin efforts.

Aenaes

I finished Great Expectations. It was enjoyable even if the plot was revealed in the introduction.

Now I'm reading The Power And The Glory by Graham Greene.

eire4

Finished a re read of Joseph O'Connor's powerful Star of the Sea set on a ship during an Atlantic crossing in 1847 admist the worst year of An Gorta Mor. An appropiate read given the National Memorial day for An Gorta Mor was the other week.

Ice Storm

Aenaes wrote: »

I finished Great Expectations. It was enjoyable even if the plot was revealed in the introduction.

This is why I now don't read introductions until after I've read the book. They seem to be aimed at people rereading the book. I genuinely don't understand why something containing massive plot spoliers is called an "introduction"!

Swiper the fox

eire4 wrote: »

Finished a re read of Joseph O'Connor's powerful Star of the Sea set on a ship during an Atlantic crossing in 1847 admist the worst year of An Gorta Mor. An appropiate read given the National Memorial day for An Gorta Mor was the other week.

That book is so good that I've even re-read myself, just last year. I love Joe O'Connor and that is probably his finest effort.

Fathom

Kings and Emperors, Dewey Lambdin.

heathledgerlove

eire4 wrote: »

Finished a re read of Joseph O'Connor's powerful Star of the Sea set on a ship during an Atlantic crossing in 1847 admist the worst year of An Gorta Mor. An appropiate read given the National Memorial day for An Gorta Mor was the other week.

Desert island book

eire4

Swiper the fox wrote: »

That book is so good that I've even re-read myself, just last year. I love Joe O'Connor and that is probably his finest effort.

It is a classic isn't it. He weaves the story together brilliantly.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

About half way through War and Peace now and everyone is really starting to piss me off.

Callan57

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

About half way through War and Peace now and everyone is really starting to piss me off.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Callan57 wrote: »

Have you read it? I'm slowly growing to hate everyone.

ivytwine

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

About half way through War and Peace now and everyone is really starting to piss me off.

It's not very likely I'll ever read this book... This review is more than sufficient

Callan57

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Have you read it? I'm slowly growing to hate everyone.

Read it about 3 or 4 years ago, quite liked it once I got into it but it is definitely an acquired taste. The BBC did a great job on it years ago, can't recall the year but there were lots of Sonyas and Natasha's the following year

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Callan57 wrote: »

Read it about 3 or 4 years ago, quite liked it once I got into it but it is definitely an acquired taste. The BBC did a great job on it years ago, can't recall the year but there were lots of Sonyas and Natasha's the following year

They've done another one that should be on soon. I don't hate the characters but they're really trying my patience. I've just got to the bit where

Natasha falls madly in love with Anatole and is maybe about to elope

mejulie805

Almost done with 'A Thousand Acres' which I am loving but reading too slowly. Going to re-read Mockingjay before the movie comes out, but don't know if I'll take a stab at anything else before JK/Galbraith's novel comes out 22-10!

Paddy Samurai

Only a chapter in but not really mad about it so far.For some reason the first line of the book put me off .But I like McCammon so hopefully things will change.

World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books ''Swan Song'' and ''Stinger'' in this gripping new novel, ''The Border'', a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations.

Callan57

Tonight I am starting The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

Thomas998

Red Notice, but I already think I love it.

SarahBM

Finished the Reckoning was brilliant! I loved it.

Starting the silence of the lambs now!

Birneybau

SarahBM wrote: »

Finished the Reckoning was brilliant! I loved it.

Starting the silence of the lambs now!

Great book, 'Red Dragon', the first in the series is also worth a read. Yet to get onto the prequels myself.

I'm currently reading 'The Girl In The Spider's Web' at the moment, and halfway through am feeling it's all a bit meh.

SarahBM

Birneybau wrote: »

Great book, 'Red Dragon', the first in the series is also worth a read. Yet to get onto the prequels myself.

I'm currently reading 'The Girl In The Spider's Web' at the moment, and halfway through am feeling it's all a bit meh.

It's for the Light House Cinema Book Club, and I haven't seen the movie in years, so really looking forward to it. I'm only 2 chapters in but I like it already.

I recently received a gift of the Millennium Trilogy on audio book. And I got the first book for a Euro in a second hand shop, so having avoid them because I thought they had been over hyped, I think I will give them a go.

But keeping in the Halloween Theme, Frankenstein is next.

Das Kitty

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler

Just done with it. There's some lovely prose in there. The subject matter is also interesting. But the story is slight. So slight that to provide page-turning tension, the author relies on concealing information from the reader. Which I'm generally okay with, but in this case you're given a version of events, and then later told it wasn't true, which annoyed me.

Now, a major theme is how human memory functions, the forgetting, the creation of false screen memories we make to deal with hard things. And in the cases in the book where it's dealing with that, I'm A-OK with it. But there are a lot of times where the narrator knows the truth, but tells the story differently for not good reason other than to maintain the tension. Maybe I'm mis-reading it. But I did find it irritating.

Wyldwood

Just finished Regeneration, the first book in Pat Baker's World War 1 trilogy. Despite it's very disturbing subject matter, post traumatic stress disorder, it's a great read.

Barker mixes fact with fiction in the story of how the war affected those in the thick of the action watching friends and foe die all around them. Very well written, although a lot of the medical terms went over my head and kindle dictionary came into it's own. It's certainly a book that makes you think carefully of the futility of war and the attitude of those in command.

Must get the next two books in the series now.

Aenaes

I finished The Power And The Glory by Graham Greene. I didn't realise it was actually historical and that Mexico tried suppressing Catholicism by force.

Now reading "The Day Michael Collins Was Shot by Meda Ryan.

SarahBM

Aenaes wrote: »

I finished The Power And The Glory by Graham Greene. I didn't realise it was actually historical and that Mexico tried suppressing Catholicism by force.

Now reading "The Day Michael Collins Was Shot by Meda Ryan.

I read that book when I was 14 and decided to do my leaving cert history essay about the assassination of Michael Collins. Very interesting book. Enjoy.