Jump to content

~Andrea~

Book Wyrm
  • Posts

    3,553
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by ~Andrea~

  1. Oh that's a great suggestion! Do you know, I was toying with the idea of reading The Iliad this year. I'm not sure I have the resolve to tackle it yet, but if I did it would fit nicely into this category. That isn't to say I wouldn't join in with something else however, something a bit easier perhaps!

    • Like 1
  2. On 2/18/2023 at 3:54 PM, ~Andrea~ said:

    Quite pleased with how my reading is going so far this year. If I maintain a rate of 2 books per month that will be quite good for me, although I'd be happy with anything over a dozen books in the year to be honest.

     

    I managed 14 books in the end, so that's not bad, though not quite as good as I'd hoped!

     

    The second Persepolis graphic novel was just as brilliant as the first and I'd recommend both to anyone.

     

    I enjoyed the Harry Potter but was quite distracted by trying to remember the plot from the film!

     

    I also quite enjoyed the JoJo Moyes. The only thing I struggled with was the quite marked style change between the parts of the book set in World war 1 and the parts set in the modern day.

     

    So, a few final rather rushed thoughts and that's a wrap on my 2023 thread!!

     

    Happy new year everyone!!

  3. Ooh Victorian Era sounds great. I would recommend anything by John Harwood for spooky Victorian gothic suspense. I've loved all 3 of his books so far.

     

    I was thinking of reading something spooky for the end of the year, so I will have to think of something with a Victorian twist.

    • Like 1
  4. On 8/17/2023 at 8:43 AM, Hayley said:

    I still have the final few stories of From the Depths left and I’m not sure what I’m going to start afterwards! 
     

    How is Treasure Island going for those who started that? 

     

    I am very intrigued now by 'From the Depths of the Sea'!

     

    I recently finished Treasure Island and found it a very enjoyable pacy read! OK it's old so the writing style isn't modern but it's a good classic adventure story. It should have been a very quick read - it's not that long - and but for some other things going on for me at the moment I'd have read it a lot more quickly.

    The pirates are very menacing and proper villains, and the book has plenty of peril and danger in it and I loved that. Some of the characters are dark and dangerous and I wouldn't want to meet any of them in a dark alley. Highly recommend.

    A Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Aaaarrr!!

     

     

    • Haha 1
  5. On 7/22/2023 at 3:02 PM, ~Andrea~ said:

    Well I've started treasure Island - not that far in yet - and so far it's great. I think I'm going to love this!

     

    On 7/22/2023 at 3:33 PM, Chrissy said:

     

    I have this on my kindle, ready to read. I'll be making a start any day now! :)

    Hope you're enjoying/enjoyed it Chrissy. I had an extremely busy July and have only just got back to this! It's a real page turner so hopefully I'll fly through it.

    • Like 1
  6. When the first Harry Potter book came out I gave it a go but for some reason couldn't get on with it - (perhaps I found it over hyped) and so I never bothered with the series or any of the films. However my ex got me into the films, (when the fifth one was already out) by making me watch Azkaban. I was pleasantly surprised and became hooked. I then read the final two books when they came out so I could get in there before the films were released and I loved them. I have since watched all the films many times but never read any more than the last two books - until now.

     

    Someone loaned me the entire series so I am trying to race through them so that I can return them in a timely manner! I have enjoyed the first two and am looking forward to the third, which I think is where the series really takes off.

     

    • Like 1
  7. My Man Jeeves - P G Wodehouse

    I enjoyed the second Jeeves book - My man Jeeves although I was very confused when Jeeves and Wooster disappeared from the stories and Reggie Pepper and his valet appeared. Apparently Reggie was a an early prototype of Bertie Wooster. I preferred the Jeeves and Wooster stories but the others (half of the stories are Reggie Pepper) are also entertaining.

  8. 4 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

    Just bought The Rime of the Ancient Marriner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge as my poem for the sea. It's 66 pages long so I'll take my time and I'm sure that there will be others.

    Oh that's a brilliant read! I was just thinking that would be perfect for this.

     

    I might have a go at this. Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe and Moby Dick are all appealing to me.

    • Like 2
  9. Take my Hand - Dolen Perkins-Valdez

    Inspired by true events, this work of fiction tells the story of Civil Townsend, a family planning nurse to two poor young black girls in Alabama in the seventies. Appalled by the family's living conditions she takes them under her wing and gets them housing help and more, going above and beyond her first duty as a nurse. Although alarmed by the requirement to give such young girls birth control she nevertheless carries out her duties, only to find that the shots she is to give them are experimental. Worse is to come as the girls fall victim to what turns out to be a devastating medical scandal of immense proportions and Civil's fight to free them from poverty turns into a fight for justice on a scale she could never have imagined.

     

    I hadn't realised how much of this book was fictional as I read it. It was only when I came to the author's note at the back that I realised how much had been imagined. It is based on a real case of two young girls from Alabama, but the girls in this book, their family and the nurse (and her personal struggles which form a significant part of the story) are all imagined. I had taken it entirely at face value (assuming bits of it were re-imagined for dramatic purposes etc). Either way the story is truly gripping, very well written, and the extent of the medical scandal horrifying. I was surprised not to have heard about before. It feels like one of those books that is important, as it shines a light on a dark part of history that deserves to be remembered.

     

  10. The Flat Share - Beth O'Leary
    Tiffy and Leon share a single bed flat in London. They have just one rule, that they're never in the flat, or the bed, at the same time.

     

    I fancied something really light and easy to read and picked this up in a charity shop having never heard of the author before. It was good, a nice, light, easy, funny romcom with an engaging storyline and well written too. 

    However:

    Spoiler

    When they finally got together the few pages about how happy they were had me wanting to reach for the sick bucket. There were a few cliches too; I find the whole 'I've just had sex I must immediately phone my gal pals and give them all the details' something I just can't relate to but seems to happen all the time in books and TV! Also towards the end Leon was just a bit too perfect. I'd have preferred a bit more blokey realism, even if it was just the odd belch!

     

    But overall I enjoyed it and I'd try this author again.

  11. On 3/17/2023 at 1:54 AM, cringepop_offline said:

    @~Andrea~I am hoping to get my reading rates back up again too, I have a toddler who keeps me very busy. Let me know if you have any recommendations I am trying to build a new list from a perspective other then my own. Do you have a favorite sci-fi story? I would say mine is one by Philip K. Dick called 'Clans Of The Alphane Moon' but its always hard to decide they are all so good.

     

    Oh a toddler will definitely keep you busy!

     

    Well my favourite sci-fi reads are probably "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C Clarke and "The End of Eternity" by Isaac Asimov, both classics from the golden age of sci fi. I also enjoyed "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K Dick, and the Asimov short story "Nightfall One" is a must read for any sci fi fans.

     

    I know - so many great sci fi reads out there. It is hard to choose!

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...