This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Huzzah! · 05-04-2014 10:48am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Lorna Doone has just been sitting there looking at me for 3 days now. I think I'm going to have to do the unthinkable and not finish it

I used to always have to finish books and then I realised life's too short! There are so many books that I want to read on my bookshelf alone, if I've given a book a chance and it hasn't grabbed my interest, I won't finish it. Don't get me wrong: I still struggle to abandon a book. I try and read at least a third of it before I give up and if it's a book someone has recommended/loaned to me, then I generally will finish it.

I'm currently struggling through We Need New Names. I might need to follow my own advice!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 05-04-2014 11:21am

^ Yeah,
i usually get 3 books from the library, the loan spell is 3 weeks and I'd get all 3 read and back in that time. I'm on my 5th week with Lorna Doone, which I'd take as a sign it's not happening.

SarahBM · 05-04-2014 12:16pm

Finished reading My Cousin Rachel this morning. Very good book. I think I enjoyed the play more but would give it 4/5.

Next is Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption for the Light House Cinema Book Club. 20 years since the film was out. Looking forward to my second outing with Stephen King, I really enjoyed Misery!

implausible · 05-04-2014 3:48pm

SarahBM wrote: »

Finished reading My Cousin Rachel this morning. Very good book. I think I enjoyed the play more but would give it 4/5.

Next is Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption for the Light House Cinema Book Club. 20 years since the film was out. Looking forward to my second outing with Stephen King, I really enjoyed Misery!

I'm jealous, read that collection of novellas (The Body aka Stand By Me is in there too) a few months back and it was fantastic. When I was a teenager reading King's horror stuff, I never realised the quality of his writing. Reading him in my thirties is a joy, as I now can appreciate and savour every word.

minnow · 05-04-2014 10:55pm

Starting Cornac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses". I really enjoyed Child of God and The Road, so looking forward to getting stuck into this.

Aenaes · 08-04-2014 2:00pm

I finished My Ántonia by Willa Cather. It's nice story and deserves to be a classic of American literature.

I got A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, can't wait to start it. I watched the first season of the tv series and really liked it so I decided I would read the books before watching any more.

Callan57 · 08-04-2014 2:48pm

Auschwitz The Nazis & The 'Final Solution' by Laurence Rees

adrian522 · 09-04-2014 10:36am

minnow wrote: »

Starting Cornac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses". I really enjoyed Child of God and The Road, so looking forward to getting stuck into this.

My favorite MacCarthy book. Hope you enjoy it.

Kilgore__Trout · 12-04-2014 11:03am

Reading The Terror by Dan Simmons. It's a slow burn, but he's one hell of a writer.

Callan57 · 12-04-2014 3:05pm

Started on The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides - haven't formed an opinion yet

minnow · 12-04-2014 4:19pm

Callan57 wrote: »

Started on The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides - haven't formed an opinion yet

I love his writing but the plot of this one never gripped me like Middlesex - now that is a great book! I lost motivation towards the end with this one to honest.

Has anyone read The Virgin Suicides? Is it better than the movie?

Swiper the fox · 12-04-2014 10:16pm

minnow wrote: »

I love his writing but the plot of this one never gripped me like Middlesex - now that is a great book! I lost motivation towards the end with this one to honest.

Has anyone read The Virgin Suicides? Is it better than the movie?

Middlesex is a stone cold classic, absolutely phenomenal book, Virgin Suicides is a really good book (of course it's better than the movie, what forum is this??:p)
Marriage plot very disappointing by the standard Eugenides had set, still a decent book though.

cookiecakes · 14-04-2014 3:44pm

Finished The Interestings on Friday. Loved it but I do always have a soft spot for books about groups of people coming together at stages though out their lives..Started The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. It hasn't really grabbed me yet but I'll stick with it. Off work next week, so am aiming to get stuck into The Goldfinch or The Luminaries. After that, it'll finally be back to Americanah

Aenaes · 14-04-2014 6:01pm

I finished A Game Of Thrones last night, found it really good even though I'm generally not much a reader of fantasy. It was somewhat ruined by my watching of the tv series first so I can't wait to start the second book without knowing what is going to happen.

Swiper the fox · 15-04-2014 1:20pm

I read the new Sebastian Barry book "A Temporary Gentleman" last week, continuing on the story of the McNulty family from the Secret Scripture and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty. It takes a while to get into it to be honest but fans of Sebastian Barry won't be disappointed overall. It's very interesting trying to piece together and remember the information we already know from previous books and see a new perspective on it. Overall I'd rate it below Secret Scripture and well below A long long way but still it's a decent read. It may be a coincidence or not but it's the first time his recently deceased mother (the actress Joan O'Hara, probably best known now as Eunice from Fair city) has appeared in one of his books (a semi fictitious representation) which chronicle his family history.

I started on This Sporting Life the other night, I've seen the movie with Richard Harris years ago, so far the book is a bit of a drag so after about 80 pages I may have given up on it. Started reading a Baseball book called Bottom of the 33rd last night which seems really good although it won't sell much copies in Ireland, anybody with an interest in sports books could do worse than read about baseball, it seems t inspire great writing as well as the best sports movies (IMO).

Aenaes · 15-04-2014 2:23pm

I started reading The Stranger by Camilla Lackberg last night but had to give up on it. It's the fourth installment of Swedish crime novels, I'm not sure if it was the translation or just the horrible dialogue but I wasn't continuing with it.

Now reading Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout. Another murder mystery book, featuring private detective Nero Wolfe. Apparently they're a pretty famous series of books although I had never heard of them before.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 15-04-2014 2:28pm

Not to hijack the thread but as quite a few people read it... what do we think of The Goldfinch winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. I find it very hard to believe there wasn't a better book than that in the past 12 months.

Tom Joad · 15-04-2014 3:34pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Not to hijack the thread but as quite a few people read it... what do we think of The Goldfinch winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. I find it very hard to believe there wasn't a better book than that in the past 12 months.

I personally think it was well deserved and absolutely loved the book. It would be very high on my all time list too but not too many agree with me here!

eire4 · 15-04-2014 5:37pm

Finished a re read of Stephen Donaldson's A Man Rides Through. I must say I much more have enjoyed the 2 book Mordants Need series then his more highly touted Thomas Covenant series.

SarahBM · 16-04-2014 8:26am

Finished reading Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption last night. It was good.
Ordered the Adjustment Team by Philip K Dick online, thinking it was a novella. I got a land when I opened it. It's only 43 pages long. I'll probably get it read at lunch time.
Then I'm gonna get a head start on Jurassic Park for nxt months Light House book club. Also want to try read the Phantom of the Opera which is short enough.
I have ordered the other 2books from the D'Artagnan Romances so I plan to re-read the Three Musketeers the minute I'm finished college work for the summer.

paddyh117 · 16-04-2014 9:56am

Tom Joad wrote: »

I personally think it was well deserved and absolutely loved the book. It would be very high on my all time list too but not too many agree with me here!

Awards are always subjective - I personally thought it was an excellent piece of writing and enjoyed it thoroughly, and don't understand the negativity (mostly here!) surrounding it.

I'm sure there's more people that like it than dislike it however.

IvyTheTerrible · 16-04-2014 11:09am

paddyh117 wrote: »

Awards are always subjective - I personally thought it was an excellent piece of writing and enjoyed it thoroughly, and don't understand the negativity (mostly here!) surrounding it.

I'm sure there's more people that like it than dislike it however.

You don't understand the negativity? Art is subjective, I can dislike something and you can like it, isn't it as simple as that?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 16-04-2014 11:11am

I just thought it's a very basic book, if that makes sense. For all the praise it got I was expecting something life altering and amazing but it's just like any number of other so so books I've read. Nothing special. Obviously that's just one opinion.

paddyh117 · 16-04-2014 1:04pm

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

You don't understand the negativity? Art is subjective, I can dislike something and you can like it, isn't it as simple as that?

Did i not clearly state that it's subjective?? I wasn't having a go at anyone that dislikes it - and it is very simple - I merely stated that i couldn't understand how people could read it and not think it was good.....that statement in itself implies that the process is a subjective one.

paddyh117 · 16-04-2014 1:07pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I just thought it's a very basic book, if that makes sense. For all the praise it got I was expecting something life altering and amazing but it's just like any number of other so so books I've read. Nothing special. Obviously that's just one opinion.

Again fair enough - it's your opinion. My opinion is it's an excellent piece of fiction. I was unaware that a book was required to be "life altering" in order to be considered for awards....who knew??....I've never read any book that has been "life altering" - some are considerably better than others, but life altering? ..none.

paddyh117 · 16-04-2014 1:16pm

Back on topic.....finished The Ocean at the end of the Lane, from the author that brought us Stardust - essentially a children's book, but none the less enjoyable.

Halfway though The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) and again an enjoyable read, but neither amazing nor life-altering in any way.

Wyldwood · 16-04-2014 7:57pm

I read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry based on Kerry4Sam's thread and it is a beautifully written, sad and poignant story of life and loss and the overriding message is that it's never too late to make amends.

On to the latest Nesbo book, Police, now.

4umbrellas · 16-04-2014 11:36pm

Will Self - Umbrella. It was a gift. Haven't really got into it yet.

SarahBM · 18-04-2014 2:08pm

read the Adjustment Team in a few hours (Im a very slow reader) and then started Jurassic Park. Only about 50 pages in but I really like it so far. Should be studying, but sure the sun is shining and I have a book to read god dammit !

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 18-04-2014 2:59pm

Just finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd). I am a snotty blubbering mess.

It's a children's novel but it's astounding. Dowd thought of the idea when she herself was battling breast cancer. She died before she could write it though and Patrick Ness took her characters, premise and beginning and finished it.

It's about Conor, 13, who is trying to deal with his mother's battle with cancer. He has the same nightmare every night and one night a monster arrives at his window, but it's not the monster he's expecting, the one from his nightmare.

It's a beautiful story and the illustrations are really atmospheric and add so much to it. It's not very long, I read it in one go. I would highly recommend it though. Just don't read it in public.

Belle E. Flops · 18-04-2014 3:14pm

I am currently reading Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Absolutely love it.

It's so imaginative and one of those books that has me torn whether to fly through it and see how the story unfolds or to read it slowly and just savour it.

beauty101 · 19-04-2014 12:34am

Just started Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a bit, erhm, weird so far!

Last week I finished Middlemarch, I was reading it for about 3 months (for me that's extremely long as I'm a quick reader), I liked it but found it a tough read and emotionally quite draining!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 21-04-2014 1:28am

Half way through Bereft by Chris Womersley.

Set in Australia just after the end of WW1. Quinn Walker returns to his small town home ten years after he fled from accusations that he raped and murdered his 12 year old sister. He hides out in the bush where he meets a young girl who seems to be living wild out there on her own. She helps him hide and sneak home to visit his dying mother. It soon becomes clear that they share a common enemy and she wants Quinn to do something about it.

I'm loving it so far. I've been reading a lot of Australian books lately, there's something about the settings, especially in Western Australia that I love. This one is ticking along nicely and I've no idea where it's headed. Good stuff so far.

Callan57 · 21-04-2014 11:25pm

Finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides ... it was Ok but nothing to get excited about.

Anyway now it's back to Auschwitz which I left aside while on holiday

Rothko · 21-04-2014 11:41pm

I recently finished reading Dubliners which I thought was brilliant.

I've just started The Great Gatsby and I'm enjoying it. Although it seems that popular opinion seems to be divided on it sometimes.

Ipso · 22-04-2014 6:43am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Half way through Bereft by Chris Womersley.

Set in Australia just after the end of WW1. Quinn Walker returns to his small town home ten years after he fled from accusations that he raped and murdered his 12 year old sister. He hides out in the bush where he meets a young girl who seems to be living wild out there on her own. She helps him hide and sneak home to visit his dying mother. It soon becomes clear that they share a common enemy and she wants Quinn to do something about it.

I'm loving it so far. I've been reading a lot of Australian books lately, there's something about the settings, especially in Western Australia that I love. This one is ticking along nicely and I've no idea where it's headed. Good stuff so far.

Any other Australian recommendations?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-04-2014 12:30pm

Ipso wrote: »

Any other Australian recommendations?

Anything by Tim Winton. I loved Cloudstreet, but it seems to divide opinion a lot. Dirt Music was good too and Breath is probably the one I'd say to read if you're only going to read one.

Then there's Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally, not really set in Australia but about Australian nurses in the war.

Looking back through my Goodreads list I haven't read as many as I thought I had. Some I read weren't that great but I still loved the settings. I do have quite a few on a "to read" list so I might get back to you with more in a while

Callan57 · 22-04-2014 4:03pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Anything by Tim Winton. I loved Cloudstreet, but it seems to divide opinion a lot. Dirt Music was good too and Breath is probably the one I'd say to read if you're only going to read one.

Then there's Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally, not really set in Australia but about Australian nurses in the war.

Looking back through my Goodreads list I haven't read as many as I thought I had. Some I read weren't that great but I still loved the settings. I do have quite a few on a "to read" list so I might get back to you with more in a while

I second Thomas Keneally and add Colleen McCullough, Markus Zusak, Kate Morton & Kate Grenville to name but a few
oh and Peter Carey

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 4:39pm

Finnegans wake.

bh ., lk biol;''''''''''''''''''

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-04-2014 4:59pm

Callan57 wrote: »

I second Thomas Keneally and add Colleen McCullough, Markus Zusak, Kate Morton & Kate Grenville to name but a few
oh and Peter Carey

Hannah Kent's Burial Rites is great too, if we're just naming Australian authors and not books set in Australia.

a0ifee · 22-04-2014 6:59pm

I have officially given up on human traces, it was becoming painful to read. Reading some good old F.Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Paradise to try and forget that tome!

SarahBM · 22-04-2014 7:23pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Hannah Kent's Burial Rites is great too, if we're just naming Australian authors and not books set in Australia.

I have heard a lot of good things about Burial Rites.

Callan57 · 22-04-2014 7:28pm

a0ifee wrote: »

I have officially given up on human traces, it was becoming painful to read. Reading some good old F.Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Paradise to try and forget that tome!

Sorry to hear that - I though it a profound and amazing read but each to his/her own.

Aenaes · 22-04-2014 7:31pm

Ipso wrote: »

Any other Australian recommendations?

Try Nevil Shute, particulary A Town Like Alice.

I finished Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, was grand. Typical detective story, one little slip of the tongue was the clue that was pounced on.

Now reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the second in the series. Have to say, I'm really getting into the mood of the whole world of it and I'm not much for fantasy novels. I especially love the stories of the uprising and how Robert Baratheon won the throne.
This will also be my first proper following of a series since Harry Potter.

Slattsy · 22-04-2014 10:30pm

Giving A Tale of Two Cities another go (wish me luck)

SarahBM · 22-04-2014 10:45pm

Slattsy wrote: »

Giving A Tale of Two Cities another go (wish me luck)

Best of luck!!!

Callan57 · 23-04-2014 10:01am

The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

IvyTheTerrible · 23-04-2014 12:41pm

Aenaes wrote: »

Try Nevil Shute, particulary A Town Like Alice.

I finished Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, was grand. Typical detective story, one little slip of the tongue was the clue that was pounced on.

Now reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the second in the series. Have to say, I'm really getting into the mood of the whole world of it and I'm not much for fantasy novels. I especially love the stories of the uprising and how Robert Baratheon won the throne.
This will also be my first proper following of a series since Harry Potter.

I'd second A Town Like Alice, I loved it!

Bosley1421 · 23-04-2014 12:43pm

Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-04-2014 6:11pm

Finished Bereft earlier.

Kind of an abrupt ending but at the same time it was kind of what the whole story was building towards so.... yeah. I really liked it.

Now it's either Dubliners or Room.....

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Comments