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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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    #7892
    otnomart
    Registered Users Posts: 4,065 ✭✭✭otnomart


    Just started: The Snakes by Sadie Jones


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    #7893
    eire4
    Registered Users Posts: 6,642 ✭✭✭eire4


    Huntergonzo wrote: »
    Definitely on the hit list, Collins in particular I'm keen to read about.

    Go for it. I have read both books and I thought Tim Pat Coogan did a great job with both biography's. Would for sure recommend them both as very good reads.


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    #7894
    eire4
    Registered Users Posts: 6,642 ✭✭✭eire4


    Did a quick change of tempo and enjoyed some of my favourite comics from when I was younger reading volume 2 of Tintin which included the Books The Broken Ear, The Black Island and King Ottokar's Sceptar. Still a fun read.


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    #7895
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    This is Happiness by Niall Williams


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    #7896
    Wyldwood
    Registered Users Posts: 1,162 ✭✭✭Wyldwood


    Apeirogon by Colum McCann.

    This is the heartbreaking story of the friendship that develops between Rami and Bassam after the deaths of their daughters in the Palestinian Isreali conflict. Theirs is a peace mission that takes them all over the world. I loved the story, upsetting as it was, but I didn't like the delivery.
    I know I'm in a minority here but the 'stream of thought' mode of writing, while being very well researched and detailed, just made the flow of the narrative disjointed for me. I know my concentration is off and that possibly made it more difficult to enjoy. Maybe a re-read another time might be on the cards.
    Having said all that I would recommend it and I'm a big McCann fan.

    I'm also listening to Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light on BBC. It's an abridged version but I'm enjoying it as I couldn't get into a 900 page long book right now.

    Here it is for anyone looking for it

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gcvz?fbclid=IwAR3QGRijv7leBv7XG1-w3Q96qEZo8nSLvmlTWA4t5hR4vZDZDwgIJoFVVcE


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    #7897
    Xofpod
    Registered Users Posts: 711 ✭✭✭Xofpod


    Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel. Sat on my shelf for years. Despite universal acclaim from everyone I know who's read it, I think it was my general lack of interest in matters around the British monarchy that put me off. A fairly ridiculous mental block if this was the case, and thoroughly enjoying it so far


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    #7898
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Last night I started The Paper Bracelet by Rachel English


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    #7899
    Daisies
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,644 Mod ✭✭✭✭Daisies


    What else would you read in a pandemic but a book about a pandemic. Started Getting to Zero by Sinead Walsh and Oliver Johnson on Sunday. It's a book about the Enola pandemic in Sierra Leone. About half way through already


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    #7900
    KJ
    Registered Users Posts: 1,053 ✭✭✭KJ


    Just finished A Clockwork Orange. Enjoyable after you get to grips with the language used. I do now refer to things being bezoomny and horrorshow though.


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    #7901
    Daisy78
    Registered Users Posts: 1,029 ✭✭✭Daisy78


    The island that dared by Dervla Murphy.


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    #7902
    Wyldwood
    Registered Users Posts: 1,162 ✭✭✭Wyldwood


    The Foundling by Stacey Halls. Finally a book that I got engrossed in during this mess.

    Love the way Halls can weave a story based on historic happenings. The Foundlings came about after she visited the Foundling Hospital and heard the stories of how women had to leave their children there with a token to identify them should they be in a position to retrieve them at a later date.


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    #7903
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan


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    #7904
    AndrewJRenko
    Registered Users Posts: 28,528 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    Boulevard Wren by Blindboy Boatclub

    Gripping, bizarre, surreal, stomach churning - like a set of David Lynch films set in economically deprived parts of Ireland. The writer is clearly amazingly well read himself.

    51903501._SX318_SY475_.jpg


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    #7905
    KJ
    Registered Users Posts: 1,053 ✭✭✭KJ


    AndrewJRenko wrote: »
    Boulevard Wren by Blindboy Boatclub

    Gripping, bizarre, surreal, stomach churning - like a set of David Lynch films set in economically deprived parts of Ireland. The writer is clearly amazingly well read himself.

    51903501._SX318_SY475_.jpg
    I preferred his first book. I found the second one trying too hard and showing too much of his Kevin Barry influences. Still enjoyable though.


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    #7906
    eire4
    Registered Users Posts: 6,642 ✭✭✭eire4


    Finished Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Lady of Avalon which is another historical fiction novel from her Arthurian series and carries on from where The Forest House left off. Definitely an improvement on the previous book but still not much better then slightly above average for me. The way the book is put together it is almost like 3 mini books in one that lead into one another.


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    #7907
    Wyldwood
    Registered Users Posts: 1,162 ✭✭✭Wyldwood


    Enjoyed The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor. Based on the true story of Grace Darling and written with two parallel related stories a century apart one in in the 19thC and one in the 20thC.


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    #7908
    eire4
    Registered Users Posts: 6,642 ✭✭✭eire4


    Finished a re-read of The Adventures of Tintin Volume 3 which contains The Crab With the Golden Claw, The Shooting Star and The Secret of the Unicorn. Always was my favourite graphic novel/comic when I was a kid and even now still a fun re-read.


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    #7909
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Starting Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman


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    #7910
    Sinister Kid
    Registered Users Posts: 7,503 ✭✭✭Sinister Kid


    I've been reading more chick lit than usual lately. I think my brain needs a soft squishy distraction from the chaos in the world at the moment.

    Since the lock down began I've read...

    Interlude in Death - J.D. Robb
    Grown Ups - Marian Keys
    The Husbands Secret - Lorraine Moriarty
    Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella
    Postscript - Cecelia Ahern
    My Sister The Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
    The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley


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    #7911
    Joe_ Public
    Registered Users Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    Sinister Kid wrote: »
    I've been reading more chick lit than usual lately. I think my brain needs a soft squishy distraction from the chaos in the world at the moment.

    Since the lock down began I've read...

    Interlude in Death - J.D. Robb
    Grown Ups - Marian Keys
    The Husbands Secret - Lorraine Moriarty
    Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella
    Postscript - Cecelia Ahern
    My Sister The Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
    The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley

    Havent read the Braithwaite book but didnt think it came under the 'chick lit' banner. Also, I'd strongly advise ever using that term within 400 yards of Marian Keyes and only then if you have your best trainers on ;-)


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    #7912
    Sinister Kid
    Registered Users Posts: 7,503 ✭✭✭Sinister Kid


    Joe_ Public wrote: »
    Havent read the Braithwaite book but didnt think it came under the 'chick lit' banner. Also, I'd strongly advise ever using that term within 400 yards of Marian Keyes and only then if you have your best trainers on ;-)

    Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
    I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.


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    #7913
    Joe_ Public
    Registered Users Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    Sinister Kid wrote: »
    Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
    I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.

    Ha! Was only kidding really. I read the other one on the booker list, Girl, Woman, Other and liked it a lot. Was disappointed they felt they had to give Atwood the prize as well because i didnt think her book was quite in the same league.


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    #7914
    AndrewJRenko
    Registered Users Posts: 28,528 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    KJ wrote: »
    I preferred his first book. I found the second one trying too hard and showing too much of his Kevin Barry influences. Still enjoyable though.
    I'm about half way through the second one, so it's difficult to compare. I've put it to one side to accommodate the book club schedule. The second book seems marginally less gut-churningly gross than the first one. The guy obviously is amazingly well read.


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    #7915
    Xofpod
    Registered Users Posts: 711 ✭✭✭Xofpod


    Sinister Kid wrote: »
    Very true! The chick lit I was referring to would be Sophie Kinsella & Cecelia Ahern... I definitely would't put the others into that category!
    I enjoyed My Sister The Serial Killer but I don't think it deserves the all hype it has gotten.

    My sister the Serial Killer is in my pile (actually bought it for my wife but I don't think she was too impressed) - what's the general verdict?


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    #7916
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Xofpod wrote: »
    My sister the Serial Killer is in my pile (actually bought it for my wife but I don't think she was too impressed) - what's the general verdict?


    I read it back in Dec & I enjoyed it. Very original but dark & oddly funny. It's a short but intriguing read.


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    #7917
    Daisies
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,644 Mod ✭✭✭✭Daisies


    Flew through My Friend Anna in 3 days. Started Born A Crime last night.


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    #7918
    Sinister Kid
    Registered Users Posts: 7,503 ✭✭✭Sinister Kid


    Callan57 wrote: »
    I read it back in Dec & I enjoyed it. Very original but dark & oddly funny. It's a short but intriguing read.

    I agree with this but on the other hand, I think because of the hype surrounding it, I was expecting something less predictable, a twist or something a bit more dramatic.


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    #7919
    KJ
    Registered Users Posts: 1,053 ✭✭✭KJ


    Really enjoying Senan Moloney's The Phoenix Park Murders at the minute.


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    #7920
    Callan57
    Registered Users Posts: 4,160 ✭✭✭Callan57


    Finished Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman ... amazing insight into a Hasidic community in NY. I was aware of the existence of this orthodox Jewish community but didn't know it was so introverted and fundamentalist nor did I know it's origins are only post WW11, I had assumed it went back much further.
    I've now read Educated, Unfollow & Unorthodox so I think that is more than enough of ultra-conservative sects for a while.

    Next is Scrublands by Chris Hammer


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    #7921
    The White Feather
    Registered Users Posts: 5,425 ✭✭✭The White Feather


    Callan57 wrote: »

    Next is Scrublands by Chris Hammer

    I really enjoyed that book. Reviewed it as well


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