This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 21-08-2013 01:23AM

I think this same conversation about Catcher in the Rye took place here a while back too.

I read it first when I was about 15 or 16 and thought it was amazing. Then i read it again when I was 22 and thought Holden was such a pain. I wanted to slap the fupp out of him.

salacious crumb · 21-08-2013 09:40AM

Read it for my leaving cert 20+ years ago. Must actually read it again.

Just about to start Robert A. Heinlein's J.O.B., book swaps ftw...

SarahBM · 21-08-2013 06:17PM

Well I did it, I finished Of Mice and Men. I apologise if I offend anyone but I thought it was crap. What was the point like.

Back to the Count of Monte Cristo. Getting stuck into it now.

My Aunt asked me to read The Spinning Heart and let her know what I think, she said if I think its good she will get it. LOL

Can some one tell me if the Kite Runner as depressing as A Thousand Splendid Suns? Im hesitant to pick it up. and I have borrowed the film off my friend and I would prefer to read the book first.

Swiper the fox · 21-08-2013 06:28PM

A Thousand splendid sons is quite uplifting in comparison,:p both are brilliant though, probably not your cup of tea.

The Spinning Heart is a fantastic book, no way any Irish person could dislike it, not much to bring a smile to your face though.

Nobody could be offended by someone elses opinion on a book unless they wrote it, I love Of Mice and Men and Steinbeck in general, we all have different tastes.

emeraldstar · 21-08-2013 06:58PM

SarahBM wrote: »

Well I did it, I finished Of Mice and Men. I apologise if I offend anyone but I thought it was crap. What was the point like.

Can't say I loved it either. I read it last year as I felt it was something I should have got around to reading long ago, and I finished it just so it would be something I could check off the list.

SarahBM wrote: »

Back to the Count of Monte Cristo. Getting stuck into it now.

Haven't returned to The Count yet!

Currently reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. It's okay.

fruvai · 21-08-2013 07:35PM

Just finished Thomas Pynchon's V. and am now reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis which is a doddle in comparison

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 21-08-2013 07:45PM

I don't get how some of you can read more than one book at a time, or put one down to read something else then pick it back up again. Once I start something I have to finish it or give up on it before I can move on.

SarahBM · 21-08-2013 09:13PM

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't get how some of you can read more than one book at a time, or put one down to read something else then pick it back up again. Once I start something I have to finish it or give up on it before I can move on.

I normally would not read more than one book at a time, but since I started doing a book club with my friend I have. I am addicted to goodreads.com and I have many lists. I like to tick things off my lists so I thought since of mice and men was only 100 I would just read it over the wknd to get it out of the way, but unfortunately it ended up being more of a chore. :mad:
The Count of Monte Cristo is a massive book so in fairness its going to take me ages as I am a very slow reader. I "paused" it so I could read the Hunger Games which I had been planning to read on my wk off for ages. Im glad I did.
I have read a lot of books in the last few months that I felt I had to read or I would be missing out, Life of Pi for example. And the gas thing is, the books I have picked for book club I have actually disliked/hated. But then again, I read Dangerous Liaisons for the Light House book club, I would never have picked that up my self and I loved it!

And THEN there are all the books I would love to read again like the Hobbit etc. :rolleyes:

Sorry for the long post.

Belle E. Flops · 21-08-2013 11:16PM

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't get how some of you can read more than one book at a time, or put one down to read something else then pick it back up again. Once I start something I have to finish it or give up on it before I can move on.

I always have a few books on the go depending on what I feel in the mood to read. Usually there's a novel (or two), a book with short stories (like Dorothy Parker's stuff, or Edgar Allan Poe etc) and a book of poetry.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-08-2013 12:02AM

Maybe it's just me then. I'm easily distracted so I need to focus on one at a time. I use Goodreads too and I notice a lot of people do seem to have more than one on the go at a time.

hairyprincess · 22-08-2013 12:15AM

After looking for some recommendations I found Trinity by Leon Uris in my local charity shop today. Turns out my sister read it about 35 years ago and she highly recommended it. Its really long though!! Almost 900 pages; the smell of must may overpower me before I get near the end!

I also bought The Dinner by Herman Koch, it seems to be on a lot of peoples top tens.

I downloaded Alice in Wonderland, Wuthering Heights and Ulysses to the kindle for the holidays, I'm thinking I may need to extend my stay!

I downloaded Alice in

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-08-2013 12:27AM

hairyprincess wrote: »

I also bought The Dinner by Herman Koch, it seems to be on a lot of peoples top tens.

I downloaded Alice in Wonderland, Wuthering Heights and Ulysses to the kindle for the holidays, I'm thinking I may need to extend my stay!

I went to London last December and I must have seen as many copies of The Diner as I did Fifty Shades of Grey in the airport lounge, on the plane, on the train, at bus stops, in my hotel. Everyone was reading it.

Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books. It's quite a surprise if you think you know what it's about based on the soppy film versions that have been made :eek:

Belle E. Flops · 22-08-2013 09:33AM

Wuthering Heights is fantastic, I'm thinking I'll read it again around Christmas timel. And I have to say Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favourite books.
I never heard of The Diner though. I must look into it.

salacious crumb · 22-08-2013 09:46AM

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I don't get how some of you can read more than one book at a time, or put one down to read something else then pick it back up again. Once I start something I have to finish it or give up on it before I can move on.

There are a few books I can dip in and out of (old favourites I've read many times) if I've got nothing new to read.

IvyTheTerrible · 22-08-2013 10:00AM

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Maybe it's just me then. I'm easily distracted so I need to focus on one at a time. I use Goodreads too and I notice a lot of people do seem to have more than one on the go at a time.

I can't read more than one book at a time, you're not alone!

Gamayun · 22-08-2013 12:18PM

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

I can't read more than one book at a time, you're not alone!

Whilst I've never read two novels concurrently I always like to have a short stories collection on the go. I find that if I'm getting bogged down in a long/dense book it's nice to read a short, self contained piece, kind of like a literary pallet cleanser. At the moment I'm making my way through Gogol and Garcia Marquez short story collections alongside novels.

Just finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Enjoyable, I preferred his philosophical musings to the characters though.

8mv · 22-08-2013 09:08PM

Currently trying to finish D Day by Antony Beevor. I'm finding it tough going - not as immediate as Stalingrad or Berlin. As with those books, I'm getting lost in numbered Battalions, Regiments, Units, Divisions, etc. The first few chapters deal with D-Day itself and the fascinating sequence of events of that invasion. I would have liked to read about the planning and lead up to those events, maybe starting from the retreat from Dunkirk. The bulk of this book deals with the steady progress of the allies spreading from NW France and while it is a very important historical event, there's not much variety in the descriptive passages.

Honey-ec · 23-08-2013 10:27AM

Bought Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and Alissa Nutting's Tampa yesterday. Haven't decided which to read first yet.

I also registered for this year's college modules, and the Lit one is "Literature of the 17th Century."

Going to be an interesting year, reading-wise so.

Monkeybonkers · 23-08-2013 01:10PM

Desperadoes by Joseph O Connor

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-08-2013 01:20PM

Finished "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry". It was a bit meh, to be honest. I struggled to finish it as much as Harold struggled to finish his walk. The dog was my favourite character.

Stinicker · 23-08-2013 07:02PM

Reading Inferno by Dan Brown currently, I've read all his past novels and this one dosen't disappoint either. Very good book.

SarahBM · 23-08-2013 11:36PM

Honey-ec wrote: »

Bought Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and Alissa Nutting's Tampa yesterday. Haven't decided which to read first yet.

I also registered for this year's college modules, and the Lit one is "Literature of the 17th Century."

Going to be an interesting year, reading-wise so.

Read Rebecca!!!

MagicMarker · 23-08-2013 11:41PM

Started Stephen King's 11/22/63.

Only 2 chapters in but it's started off really good!!

Callan57 · 23-08-2013 11:59PM

MagicMarker wrote: »

Started Stephen King's 11/22/63.

Only 2 chapters in but it's started off really good!!

Brilliant book - hope you enjoy it.

I've finished The Daughters of Mars - excellent about two Australian military nurses in WW1, loads of detail of injuries and treatments. Like it a lot.

Next I'm going to read The Dinner by Herman Koch ... heard a lot about this book - just hope it's as good as the reviews.

a0ifee · 24-08-2013 01:12PM

Started The Scorch Trials by James Dashner, it's the second in the Maze Runner series. Anyone else read them? I love them!!

Honey-ec · 25-08-2013 04:04PM

Finished Rebecca this morning. What an abrupt ending. Am I the only person who found the narrator supremely irritating?

Started Tampa earlier. I'm four chapters in and it's already viscerally sexual. It's going to make a lot of readers extremely uncomfortable, I think. I'm very tempted to give it to my brothers when I'm done, after having an extremely depressing conversation with them about female sexuality last night, which grew out of discussion of the incident at a concert last weekend that we're not allowed mention.

SarahBM · 25-08-2013 07:59PM

Honey-ec wrote: »

Finished Rebecca this morning. What an abrupt ending. Am I the only person who found the narrator supremely irritating.

I do think she got a bit irritating towards the end but over all I really loved the story, I couldn't put it down. What did you think of it over all though?
Planning to read My Cousin Rachel next. I saw the play last year in the Gate and I was totally blown away.

Callan57 · 26-08-2013 10:27AM

Finished The Dinner by Herman Koch - intriguing read.

This morning I started Attachment by Isabel Fonseca

Honey-ec · 26-08-2013 12:27PM

SarahBM wrote: »

I do think she got a bit irritating towards the end but over all I rest loved the story, I couldn't put it down. What did you think of it over all though?

I enjoyed it, but I was expecting much more of a ghost story, possibly because of the huge influence it had on Stephen King's Bag of Bones, which is a classic "haunted house" yarn.

I also identified far more with Rebecca than I did with the narrator. There were so many times that I went "Ah would you cop on!" that it kind of pulled me out of the story a bit.

I'll read it again in a few months and see what I think then. I find I tend to get a lot more out of second readings than I do the first one.

SarahBM · 26-08-2013 02:28PM

Honey-ec wrote: »

I enjoyed it, but I was expecting much more of a ghost story, possibly because of the huge influence it had on Stephen King's Bag of Bones, which is a classic "haunted house" yarn.

I also identified far more with Rebecca than I did with the narrator. There were so many times that I went "Ah would you cop on!" that it kind of pulled me out of the story a bit.

I'll read it again in a few months and see what I think then. I find I tend to get a lot more out of second readings than I do the first one.

I know what you mean, sometimes you just wanted to shake her and wonder what me man saw in her at all.

By the way I am really liking the Count of Monte Cristo!

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Comments