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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Sammy Jennings

...continued from this thread

A Good School by Richard Yates

Slight, but some great moments

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SarahBM

I unfortunately got nowhere near finished Dune for cinema book club, however it was starting to grow on my so I think I will finish it. But I am going to take a break for a while to read Lying in Wait which I have wanted to read for ages. And maybe Harry Potter. Also still only half way through Sapiens, which I am also determined to finish and I would love to continue on reading the Tarzan books.
I am doing a social media ban for Dare to Care starting Saturday for a whole week so that means I will have loads of time on my hands for reading!

Callan57

Hrududu wrote: »

I did the same double whammy and for years thought the same as you. But then I went back and reread Pride and Prejudice years later and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

I had the same experience with George Eliot

Hrududu

Xofpod wrote: »

I did the double whammy of Jane Austen in secondary school. Pride & Prejudice for the Inter, Emma for the Leaving.

Suffice it to say, I'm with Mark Twain on the subject: "Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone."

I did the same double whammy and for years thought the same as you. But then I went back and reread Pride and Prejudice years later and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Fathom

THE GIRL WITH THE LOWER BACK TATTOO
by Amy Schumer

Nemanrio

Has anyone read The Alchemist? Is it worth a read?

MOD - I moved this in here as it's a more active thread and more likely to get an answer

Fathom

LOVE WARRIOR
by Glennon Doyle Melton

SarahBM

Arghus wrote: »

I will get around to reading all of her novels...eventually.

I preferred Sense and Sensibility.

Xofpod

echo beach wrote: »

And that is why nobody should HAVE to read a book in order to pass an exam. It is enough to put you off for life but if you are of the vintage to done the Inter then it might be time to reconsider your prejudices and try it from an adult perspective. You might be surprised to find that it isn't the way you remember it at all.

I did, and it was.

echo beach

Xofpod wrote: »

I did the double whammy of Jane Austen in secondary school. Pride & Prejudice for the Inter, Emma for the Leaving.

Suffice it to say, I'm with Mark Twain on the subject: "Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone."

And that is why nobody should HAVE to read a book in order to pass an exam. It is enough to put you off for life but if you are of the vintage to done the Inter then it might be time to reconsider your prejudices and try it from an adult perspective. You might be surprised to find that it isn't the way you remember it at all.

Loafing Oaf

Marco Santagata's Dante biography

Xofpod

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

If the mood strikes again I'd recommend Emma.

I did the double whammy of Jane Austen in secondary school. Pride & Prejudice for the Inter, Emma for the Leaving.

Suffice it to say, I'm with Mark Twain on the subject: "Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone."

Arghus

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

If the mood strikes again I'd recommend Emma.

I will get around to reading all of her novels...eventually.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Arghus wrote: »

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Was kind of in the mood for reading some classics. It strikes me sometimes. I'd read some Jane Austen before, Persuasion, which I remember being quite good but I'll be damned if I can actually remember any of the plot. Anyway, P and P is the big one and it was unread: so I read it. Yes, it is an absolutely enjoyable book that I'd recommend to anyone. I didn't bother reading any Austen for ages because, well, you know, I'm a boy and that crap was for girls - right? But, no, not really. She was a genius and the perfection of her prose and the cutting irony of her observations are breathtaking. There was a few moments in the initial chapters where I did find myself rolling my eyes at the OTT drama of ladies catching cold all because they got their frocks wet and such. Jaysis, they'd want to toughen up these wimmin, said I. Fast forward a hundred pages later and I was well wrapped in thinking that this Mr. Darcy character was some audacious cad indeed. So the novel worked it's magic pretty effectively - even if we all know the story inside and out by now.. There were a few biting exchanges between characters throughout that were so mean spirited but yet so scrupulously polite that they made me purr with pleasure. Can't say fairer than that.

If the mood strikes again I'd recommend Emma.

Arghus

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Was kind of in the mood for reading some classics. It strikes me sometimes. I'd read some Jane Austen before, Persuasion, which I remember being quite good but I'll be damned if I can actually remember any of the plot. Anyway, P and P is the big one and it was unread: so I read it. Yes, it is an absolutely enjoyable book that I'd recommend to anyone. I didn't bother reading any Austen for ages because, well, you know, I'm a boy and that crap was for girls - right? But, no, not really. She was a genius and the perfection of her prose and the cutting irony of her observations are breathtaking. There was a few moments in the initial chapters where I did find myself rolling my eyes at the OTT drama of ladies catching cold all because they got their frocks wet and such. Jaysis, they'd want to toughen up these wimmin, said I. Fast forward a hundred pages later and I was well wrapped in thinking that this Mr. Darcy character was some audacious cad indeed. So the novel worked it's magic pretty effectively - even if we all know the story inside and out by now.. There were a few biting exchanges between characters throughout that were so mean spirited but yet so scrupulously polite that they made me purr with pleasure. Can't say fairer than that.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - I'm not really too mad for crime and mystery novels. I've read a few and have always managed to come away disappointed. Can't say I found that to be the case with TBS. Chandler was the real deal. Okay, maybe he wasn't a master plotter - TBS is a pretty, you could say needlessly, convoluted and coincidence filled novel, but what's plot when you have atmosphere, vivid characters and a genius for simile that's probably the best I've ever read. This book was pure reading pleasure. Wit and cynicism about life that feels hard earned is there on every page. But there is honor and heart too - Marlowe can be a bit of a dick but he has principles... somewhere. The dialogue between characters is hard, fast and as smart as hell. And those similes. Awww man: "I was empty of life as a scarecrow's pocket's" - that one is cool. "Under the thinning fog the surf curled and creamed, almost without sound, like a thought trying to form itself on the edge of consciousness" - that one is beautiful and will always stick in my mind when I look at the sea. There's hundreds more in there just as good. Pure gutter poetry elevated to high art. Excellent book.

isntlee

Reading Heat by George Monbiot, it's good, pretty clearly attempts to outline how carbon emissions could be dropped by 90% world-wide; turns out that grocery home-delivery will save polar bears.

Kurtosis

Reading Étape by Richard Moore at the moment. Each chapter covers a defining stage of the Tour de France through the decades, some famous, infamous and just plain wacky ones so far. It's a grand casual read and can dip in and out as each chapter is self-contained.

The last book I read was Robert Harris' An Officer and a Spy (having never read anything by him before) so am looking forward to checking out Conclave soon hopefully!

Ipso

Gonzovision wrote: »

Finished 'The Exorcist' and 'Psycho', two short reads but enjoyable nonetheless.
Looking forward to picking up 'Conclave' by Robert Harris tomorrow.

I also enjoyed The Exorcist, Legion is supposed to be very good (it was adapted as The Exorcist 3).

Gonzovision

Finished 'The Exorcist' and 'Psycho', two short reads but enjoyable nonetheless.
Looking forward to picking up 'Conclave' by Robert Harris tomorrow.

Xofpod

Just finished All That Man Is, David Szalay. Very good read, as long as you're not put off by the succession of flawed/unlikable main characters.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I've been reading An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg.

I had one of his short story collections, I think autobiographical, from the library a while ago but only got around to reading one or two of them. They were all focused on his childhood growing up on a ranch in Wyoming.

An Unfinished Life is fiction but is set on a ranch in Wyoming. Write what you know, isn't that what they say? Anyway. ...It's about a young girl and her mother, Jean, who walk out of an abusive relationship and end up back at her estranged father in law's ranch when their car dies and they run out of cash. He doesn't know he has a granddaughter because he blames Jean for his son's death and hasn't seen her since his funeral.

I'm not finished it yet but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's got a bit of a Kent Haruf vibe off it. For Wyldwood, or anyone else that's read Eventide and Plainsong, you might enjoy this too. Not as good as Haruf, I must say, but I get a similar feel. Funnily enough the book is dedicated to Haruf, so I guess there is some connection there.

ncmc

Was on holidays for two weeks so got a good bit of reading done the last few weeks:

Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout – Really enjoyed this. Took me a while to get into the way it is written, with the short story style and slow pace. But once I got used to that, I loved it. My enjoyment was slightly hampered by the fact that the last chapter was the first chapter of another of her books. I was so confused about where Olive came in to that story :mad: And I had to re-read that lovely ending as I initially thought there was another chapter :pac:. Lovely read though, 5 stars

Moving, Jenny Éclair – This is a nice little read. It’s the story of an old woman getting ready to sell her house and each room reminds her of her past. It builds into her and her childrens story. It’s a bit chick lit, but it was an enjoyable holiday read. I only knew Jenny Éclair as a comedian, I did not know she was an author, I’ll definitely look up some of her other books. 4 stars

The House at the Edge of the World, Julie Rochester – This one didn’t really grab me. It’s the story of a dysfunctional family in the aftermath of their fathers death. I normally enjoy family sagas in the vein of Jonathan Franzen, but this just never really took off and each of the characters was so unlikeable, you didn’t really care what happened them. There was a nice little side story about the painting of a large map that had potential, but it just didn’t really go anywhere. 3 stars.

The Summer Before the War, Helen Simonson – I was really looking forward to this one as it’s by the author of Major Pettigrews Last Stand, which I loved. Well, what a disappointment; it’s slow, boring, lazy, full of stereotypical characters and stilted dialogue. Nothing happens for 75% of the book and by the time the story starts to develop, it feels rushed and you’ve lost the will to care about the characters. Its almost 500 pages of nothing. A harsh 2 stars because I know the writer can do so much better.

Just started Black Eyed Susans, Julia Heaberlin which is our book club book this month. Thrillers aren’t my favourite genre but enjoying it so far and it’s fast paced which is a nice change from the previous snooze fest!

eire4

Finished a re read of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales a collection put together by WB Yeats. A fun collection of mostly local folklore although there is mixed in a few of the more famous stories.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Belle E. Flops wrote: »

I'm only a few chapters in but I really like it. If you've seen the first season it seems to be very true to the book, so far anyway. I'm looking forward to sitting down tonight and having a decent read of it.

I think I read that that first season on TV was the first 2 books.

biZrb

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Made a start on Donal Ryans new book last night, I'd say it's gonna be extraordianary again.

Didn't know he had a new one out, I've just finished reading a book so I think I know what my next book to read will be

Belle E. Flops

SarahBM wrote: »

Are the Poldark books good?

I'm only a few chapters in but I really like it. If you've seen the first season it seems to be very true to the book, so far anyway. I'm looking forward to sitting down tonight and having a decent read of it.

SarahBM

Belle E. Flops wrote:

Going between Poldark and 'The Execution Protocol' by Stephen Trombley. The latter is quite grim but very interesting all the same.

Are the Poldark books good?

I am struggling big time with Dune. Thinking I'll give it til Friday. Going to read Lying In Wait next.

Belle E. Flops

Finished Romeo and Juliet. Quite enjoyed it. It's my first time reading Shakespeare apart from when I was made to read his work for school and college.

Going between Poldark and 'The Execution Protocol' by Stephen Trombley. The latter is quite grim but very interesting all the same.

Swiper the fox

Made a start on Donal Ryans new book last night, I'd say it's gonna be extraordianary again.

Fathom

The Other Wives Club
by Shari Low

Callan57

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Is that part of the series of books she has? Or am I mixing her up with someone else?

You are correct it's Book 2 of her Neapolitan series - I have Book 3 Those Who Leave & Those Who Stay lined up on my Kindle too