This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

minnow

minnow wrote: »

Flying through "Glow" by Ned Beauman, after really enjoying "The Teleportation Accident" a few months ago. Very Martin Amis-like in terms of witty style and language.

Finished it in 5 days. While the writing was witty and entertaining, the story left me disappointed.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, am about to return to Murakami after a six month break, "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle".

ivytwine

Just finished Swamplandia! and really, really enjoyed it. Seems to be a bit of a Marmite book going by Goodreads.

The end was incredibly dark. I have to say it rang true sadly....

Have a huge amount on the shelves now- maybe I will launch into Life After Life next.

ivytwine

mel84 wrote: »

Absolutely loved wolf hall-- any other recommendations from this author??

I'd highly recommend anything else by her. I've read two non-historical ones, Beyond Black and An Experiment in Love and loved them both.

MagicMarker

My 30 year old self is, for the very first time, reading Harry Potter. Don't judge me.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Been reading The Commonwealth of Thieves by Tom Keneally. It's essentially a history of the founding of Sydney as a penal colony and the history behind the decision to send convicts rather than settlers.

I don't usually read non fiction books but I've been a bit obsessed with Australian history lately so I picked this one up in the library after reading Daughter's of Mars by the same writer.

It's really interesting so far, I'm not that far into it but it doesn't read like a history book, if you know what I mean. It's not all just facts and dates and that kind of thing, it's much easier to read and to take in than just reading the sort of history books we had at school.

ivytwine

MagicMarker wrote: »

My 30 year old self is, for the very first time, reading Harry Potter. Don't judge me.

I brought up all seven to Dublin (my arm still aches from dragging the case!) with the intention of rereading them. I can't wait. I'm going to blog my reviews

The first three are very much children's books, with The Prisoner of Azkaban on the border. But they're great- you're lucky getting to read them for the first time!

SarahBM

MagicMarker wrote: »

My 30 year old self is, for the very first time, reading Harry Potter. Don't judge me.

Awh I want to go re-read Harry Potter now

I have too many other books to read first, before I go re-reading stuff though.

Belle E. Flops

I would love to get hypnotised or something so that it was as if I had never read the Harry Potter books before. I still get excited when I pull them out to reread them but it's never the same as the first time.

MagicMarker

I doubt that my first time reading them will be as good as other people's first time, considering I'm now an adult, but I'm enjoying it none the less.

Amirani

Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos. Enjoying it so far.

Just finished Flash Boys by Michael Lewis the other day. I'm very happy to be in a position where I can read regularly again.

Belle E. Flops

MagicMarker wrote: »

I doubt that my first time reading them will be as good as other people's first time, considering I'm now an adult, but I'm enjoying it none the less.

As was said already the first 3-4 books are very much children's books but from the 5th book on they get darker.
Maybe I still adore them because I grew up with HP but I just love the escapism of that world.

SarahBM

I was a bit late to the Harry Potter party myself. I only read the first one when I was 17 I think. But I have read them a few times since.
Its been a while now, so I really want to read them again.
I like reading childrens books though. I dont see anything wrong with it. I got funny looks on the train once, and I think it was because I was reading Matilda. Sure who cares what you read. Reading is a wonderful thing that is so personal because everyone has completely different tastes and what makes you laugh might make another person cry, or what you find to be a great story, another might find to be completely irritating. who sure who cares. as long as you feel good about it and enjoy it.

I wish I had more time to read.

ivytwine

SarahBM wrote: »

I was a bit late to the Harry Potter party myself. I only read the first one when I was 17 I think. But I have read them a few times since.
Its been a while now, so I really want to read them again.
I like reading childrens books though. I dont see anything wrong with it. I got funny looks on the train once, and I think it was because I was reading Matilda. Sure who cares what you read. Reading is a wonderful thing that is so personal because everyone has completely different tastes and what makes you laugh might make another person cry, or what you find to be a great story, another might find to be completely irritating. who sure who cares. as long as you feel good about it and enjoy it.

I wish I had more time to read.

I reread both Matilda and The Witches recently and loved them both, still fantastic stories. I reread Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass at least once a year. Some children's books are just plain amazing!

Huzzah!

Meathlass wrote: »

Halfway through Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann not as good as Transatlantic so far.

Next up is The thing about December by Donal Ryan which I'm really looking forward - loved The spinning heart

I've started The Spinning Heart and loving it so far. It's not at all what I was expecting.

MagicMarker

Finished The Sorcerer's Stone, really enjoyed it I must say. I didn't even see the twist at the end coming!

SarahBM

MagicMarker wrote: »

Finished The Sorcerer's Stone, really enjoyed it I must say. I didn't even see the twist at the end coming!

You mean the Philosopher's Stone. right?

MagicMarker

SarahBM wrote: »

You mean the Philosopher's Stone. right?

Yeah yeah yeah!

I think I may move straight on to Chamber of Secrets...

Callan57

I have two Richard North Patterson books to get read this week
The Devil's Light & Fall From Grace

OakeyDokey

Started The Fault in our Stars about 20mins ago. I wanted to see what all this fuss is about.

Will report back once read.

hairyprincess

Huzzah! wrote: »

I've started The Spinning Heart and loving it so far. It's not at all what I was expecting.

I really enjoyed it, brilliant book

hairyprincess

OakeyDokey wrote: »

Started The Fault in our Stars about 20mins ago. I wanted to see what all this fuss is about.

Will report back once read.

You may need some Kleenex! It's a lovely read. Enjoy!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

OakeyDokey wrote: »

Started The Fault in our Stars about 20mins ago. I wanted to see what all this fuss is about.

Will report back once read.

If you're 12 and have never read another book ever you'll like it.

Swiper the fox

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

If you're 12 and have never read another book ever you'll like it.

This place is turning into a tween book club:pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Swiper the fox wrote: »

This place is turning into a tween book club:pac:

Well, if it is what they are mostly reading this week what can you do?

Lisha

Callan57 wrote: »

Finished Burial Rites by Hannah Kent last night - superb for a first novel, I found it really gripping and by the last page the tears were pouring down my face & that was at 3am
(I'm too lazy to check back to see who recommended it here but whoever you are a big thank you).

Next for me is Philippa Gregory's, The White Princess

I just finished 'the white princess' I really enjoyed it.
It was so well described and so clear that I could see it all perfectly in my head.

Just hoping the library get in 'burial rites' soon.

Slightly off topic in tk maxx today I picked up 2 different sets of 'horrid Henry' books for 7 euro per set of 4. Fantastic value. A very happy 6yr old boy in my house.
I got a set of 5 books for 10€ for 4 yr old daughter. Daughter said 'this was her goodest day of her life'

I love love love love love that they love books too

Belle E. Flops

I don't think it's fair to look down on people's choice of book.

I have gone from reading Hemingway 'the old man and the sea' to 'Alice In wonderland' to The Beautiful and the Damned' by F Scott Fitzgerald to 'Divergent'. I am constantly moving between classics, children's books, fiction etc.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to look down on people's choice of book.

I have gone from reading Hemingway 'the old man and the sea' to 'Alice In wonderland' to The Beautiful and the Damned' by F Scott Fitzgerald to 'Divergent'. I am constantly moving between classics, children's books, fiction etc.

I don't think it's right to look down either. If I'm in a position to give an opinion on a book it obviously means I've read it too. If I thought it was rubbish though I'll say it.

Callan57

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to look down on people's choice of book.

I have gone from reading Hemingway 'the old man and the sea' to 'Alice In wonderland' to The Beautiful and the Damned' by F Scott Fitzgerald to 'Divergent'. I am constantly moving between classics, children's books, fiction etc.

Likewise, I move between genre also & have no problem following Tolstoy with a trashy bestseller. Mind you I've never actually read HP unless reading a few chapters to my niece when babysitting counts.
I'd rather see people reading even if it's not "great literature" they are reading that twiddling about with a video game. Each to their own I say & anyway if they are posting here they are at least open to being nudged towards other genre.

Belle E. Flops

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't think it's right to look down either. If I'm in a position to give an opinion on a book it obviously means I've read it too. If I thought it was rubbish though I'll say it.

Well that's fine and disagreeing over books often makes for interesting debates. It does bug me though when people look down on someone for reading something that isn't high brow enough.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Callan57 wrote: »

Each to their own I say & anyway if they are posting here they are at least open to being nudged towards other genre.

I like to look at it as being a bit like "gateway drugs". You start of dabbling in something quite soft and maybe that leads to something a bit harder and then you realise the soft stuff wasn't great and there's much better out there. This is only a metaphor, don't do drugs, kids!

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

Well that's fine and disagreeing over books often makes for interesting debates. It does bug me though when people look down on someone for reading something that isn't high brow enough.

Well, I have to be honest, I do tend to look down on people who think The Fault In Our Stars is anyway good. I honestly think that if you've read any other kind of book, even Harry Potter, you should be able to see TFIOS for what it is.

Harry Potter may be a kids series, or a teen series, but it is a well written series. There is character development, a pretty epic story arc, it's got humour and emotion and a lot of real life stuff among all the magic and what not.

A lot of "teen fiction" though is poorly written paint by numbers formulaic rubbish written by mediocre writers who are cashing in on a trend, or worse, written by ghost writers for publishing houses who are looking to cash in on a trend and maybe get a movie deal out of it.

MagicMarker

I finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Really good fun I have to say.

I think going straight onto the third book is a bit much for me! So will probably move onto something else and come back to HP in a few books time.

prq

Finished Slaughterhouse 5 by Vonnegut

Wyldwood

Finished Middlesex. It is very well written with great detailed descriptions. The characters are very well developed. You could feel the teenage angst of being different jumping off the pages. The second half of the book was better that the first part, in my opinion but overall it is an interesting story but not an outstanding one.

eire4

Finished a small little book about the 1913 Lockout in Dublin which included some very neat pictures from the period.

MagicMarker

I'm over halfway through 'Norwegian Wood' by Murakami. Really really enjoying it I have to say.

kylith

I'm reading Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin, one of his sci-fi books. I'm quite enjoying it so far, I must say.

SarahBM

Just finished the Lincoln Lawyer. It was good, but don't think I'd bother with the series to be honest.
I've started The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas. One of his lesser known books. But I think it will be good. Can't read now coz I'm on a bus. Looking forward to reading with a pot of tea when I.get home though.

ivytwine

I'm reading an interesting Kindle single about the lead-up to the First World War, it's called 1913:The Eve of War and it's by Paul Ham. Easy read and fascinating stuff!

a0ifee

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Well, I have to be honest, I do tend to look down on people who think The Fault In Our Stars is anyway good. I honestly think that if you've read any other kind of book, even Harry Potter, you should be able to see TFIOS for what it is.

Harry Potter may be a kids series, or a teen series, but it is a well written series. There is character development, a pretty epic story arc, it's got humour and emotion and a lot of real life stuff among all the magic and what not.

A lot of "teen fiction" though is poorly written paint by numbers formulaic rubbish written by mediocre writers who are cashing in on a trend, or worse, written by ghost writers for publishing houses who are looking to cash in on a trend and maybe get a movie deal out of it.

I think TFIOS is John Green's strongest book, but every time I read one of his books I come away wondering why I expected something any different from the last one :rolleyes:

Callan57

Fall From Grace by Richard North Patterson

Wyldwood

Margaret Atwood's Maddaddam. Loved the other two books in the trilogy so looking forward to this.

Swiper the fox

I'm about three quarters way through "The thrill of it all" Joseph O'Connor's new book. It is absolutely brilliant, an absolute must read for music lovers. He has created one of the best characters I've read in a long time, it's the father of the main protagonist, he's got a very small part in the book but absolutely everything he says is pure gold. Nothing here to dispute O'Connor's position as my favourite living writer.

Belle E. Flops

I've just finished the Night Circus. It was an enjoyable read. I thought it was a good story but I don't think it's a book I'd read again.

I'm going to start Game of Thrones next.

I've been watching the tv show, which I love. I've heard that season 3 and 4 deviate somewhat from the books so I'm looking forward reading them and seeing what happens instead.

Meathlass

Just finished The thing about December by Donal Ryan.

Starting Burial Rites tonight based on recommendations from this thread*:D

*I'll be back for ye on Monday if it doesn't live up to expectations

Huzzah!

Halfway trough We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. It's a well-written page turner, but it's a bit weird.

Aenaes

The Hourglass by Julie Parsons.

jackjustjumped

Rereading 1984. Sped through Robert Ludlum's Hades Factor. It was... entertaining.

SarahBM

jackjustjumped wrote: »

Rereading 1984. Sped through Robert Ludlum's Hades Factor. It was... entertaining.

1984 is great

Ice Storm

Australian novel Cloudstreet by Tim Winton.

It's about two families living in two halves of a big house in Perth. I'm nearly halfway through and really enjoying it.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Ice Storm wrote: »

Australian novel Cloudstreet by Tim Winton.

It's about two families living in two halves of a big house in Perth. I'm nearly halfway through and really enjoying it.

One of my favourite books. Love it. There's a great mini series of it too.