This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Daisy78 · 25-05-2020 08:58PM

Bitta non fiction... The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant.

Busi_Girl08 · 26-05-2020 03:13PM

Finished Circe, one of my favourite books read in a while.

Starting A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood for a book club.

Xofpod · 27-05-2020 09:34AM

The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead

Wyldwood · 27-05-2020 10:25AM

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. Not his best work but readable.

Next up The Lost Letters of William Wolfe by Helen Cullen

otnomart · 28-05-2020 08:08PM

Finished three books which I had started months ago and set aside:
The Sea by John Banville - sorry to say I did not like it. (I enjoyed one of his Quirke novels though)
Notes from the Cévennes: Half a Lifetime in Provincial France by Adam Thorpe - loved it
2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino - quirky oddball novel set in Philadelphia

Now reading Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris.
Love his humour, this is the third of his I have read so far.

KJ · 29-05-2020 10:19PM

John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Callan57 · 30-05-2020 06:34PM

The Thief of Time by John Boyne

Swiper the fox · 30-05-2020 07:10PM

KJ wrote: »

John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Best book ever for me, I’ve read it twice and only started listening on audible in the past few days (haven’t read it in over 10 years), the reader on audible is superb, dramatises every part, highly recommended

KJ · 31-05-2020 09:32AM

Swiper the fox wrote: »

Best book ever for me, I’ve read it twice and only started listening on audible in the past few days (haven’t read it in over 10 years), the reader on audible is superb, dramatises every part, highly recommended

This is my first time reading it. I've had the books for maybe a year or 2 and never got around to it but then I was inspired to read it after watching a documentary last week about some Australians who set out to cycle the route taken in the book. It's called Bikes Of Wrath if you're wondering.

branie2 · 31-05-2020 11:11AM

The First Lady, a thriller by James Patterson

New Home · 31-05-2020 07:02PM

I love Donal Ryan, but "Slanting of the sun" is a cruel book.

31-05-2020 08:10PM

New Home wrote: »

I love Donal Ryan, but "Slanting of the sun" is a cruel book.

Can you elaborate?

New Home · 31-05-2020 08:55PM

I felt like I was being beaten up to a pulp while I was reading it. One story sadder and meaner than the next. No respite. Cruel. Beautiful writing, but cruel.

31-05-2020 10:18PM

I find a lot of modern Irish writers can write like that, characters almost cartoonish in their unrelenting cruelty. And while I do enjoy those books and characters at times, sometimes I think they are a bit easy, and that thinking of something horrific is an easier way to provoke emotion than to create a truly engaging narrative. But I'm nitpicking...

New Home · 31-05-2020 10:23PM

Well, to be honest, they didn't feel "cartoonish" or over the top, their cruelty exaggerated for entertainment/ shock value. They genuinely felt like real people, which made them even more abhorrent to me.

Xofpod · 01-06-2020 01:56AM

New Home wrote: »

I felt like I was being beaten up to a pulp while I was reading it. One story sadder and meaner than the next. No respite. Cruel. Beautiful writing, but cruel.

I agree, and it feels like a deliberate, studied cruelty. Very out of tone with his other books, and, to be honest, feels a little trying-too-hard. My least favourite of his work. That said, I'll read anything he writes. Probably the best irish writer currently working, this aside.

otnomart · 01-06-2020 01:28PM

I lost my girlish laughter by Jane Allen
Hilarious satire of 30s Hollywood,
real life characters are thinly disguised and easy to guess.

Busi_Girl08 · 02-06-2020 10:56AM

Flew through Psychology of Time Travel - really enjoyed it - very fun angle on time travel as an industry and the psychological impacts of it.

Started Where the Crawdads Sing last night, liking it so far.

All that fandango · 03-06-2020 08:14PM

Highly recommend The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary.

Sinister Kid · 04-06-2020 10:17AM

All that fandango wrote: »

Highly recommend The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary.

Her latest book The Switch is a lovely read too.

Xofpod · 04-06-2020 05:20PM

Before the Fall, Noah Hawley.

echo beach · 04-06-2020 05:43PM

Xofpod wrote: »

I agree, and it feels like a deliberate, studied cruelty. Very out of tone with his other books, and, to be honest, feels a little trying-too-hard. My least favourite of his work. That said, I'll read anything he writes. Probably the best irish writer currently working, this aside.

I preferred Slanting of the Sun to the novels but will also read everything he writes.
Sadly ordinary people can be cruel, mostly unintentionally rather than deliberately, and he has an ability to portray that in a way that forces you to confront the fact it could be you.

New Home · 04-06-2020 06:50PM

echo beach wrote: »

I preferred Slanting of the Sun to the novels but will also read everything he writes.
Sadly ordinary people can be cruel, mostly unintentionally rather than deliberately, and he has an ability to portray that in a way that forces you to confront the fact it could be you.

No, never. Not ever, ever, ever. That's the thing, none of the people he portrayed in that book were unintentionally cruel. They all knew exactly what they were doing. If you have a scrap of empathy, a conscience, or you have a concept of ethics, you stop yourself before behaving like that. The one exception I can make, at a push, is the Syrian kid.

I agree with the point that he has a gift for portraying so many different people.

Sinister Kid · 06-06-2020 05:31PM

Since my last post about 6 weeks ago I've read / listened to audiobook -

The Holiday - T.M. Logan
The Switch - Beth O Leary
The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James
The Jetsetters - Amanda Eyre Ward
Heartburn - Nora Ephron
I Found You - Lisa Jewell
Normal People - Sally Rooney
The Guest List - Lucy Foley
The Girl Who Drank The Moon - Kelly Barnhill (Kids book, Highly reccommend!!)
The Harper Connelly Mysteries x4books - Charlane Harris
(1.Grave Sight 2.Grave Surprise 3.An Ice Cold Grave 4.Grave Secret )

Callan57 · 07-06-2020 08:55PM

Blacklands by Belinda Bauer

HalloweenJack · 07-06-2020 10:14PM

The last few books I've read were:

Things Fall Apart - A sad story but a very interesting one. It was a well structured story too with an ending that tied things up fairly well.

Norwegian Wood - My wife loved it and wanted me to read it. I liked it, almost like a Japanese version of Normal People. The development was good but the ending left me a bit frustrated.

John Crow's Devil - This was breathtakingly written. The pace was a bit all over the place but the detail and style was incredible.

eire4 · 09-06-2020 09:37PM

Finished George RR Martin's Fevre Dream. It was written before he became big time with the Game Of Thrones series although this is a stand alone vampire novel rather then fantasy which he is know for. I liked it albeit not quite at the Anne Rice vampire novel level.

Callan57 · 10-06-2020 11:23AM

Finished Blacklands by Belinda Bower in the early hours ... gripping read.

Next is Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

_Godot_ · 11-06-2020 04:01PM

A book I ordered just arrived today, called Hollywood Wants to Kill You. Seems good so far.

Callan57 · 12-06-2020 12:05AM

Finished Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent ... excellent read

Next is Heresy by S J Parris

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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