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bethany725

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Everything posted by bethany725

  1. Just wanted to update everyone that I made it to and from London safely! The book shoppes were fabulous - I have to say that I think my favorite was the new(ish?) Waterstones near Piccadilly. I mean honestly... it was pretty much heaven. I brought back a whole extra bag of books (husband's frequent flier status allowed for extra baggage), and even read a few books while I was in London! Totally a success. Thanks to everyone who helped out by giving me suggestions! I appreciate it!
  2. This is amazing, Vodkafan! Thank you so, so much! I'm more than happy to both split them up over multiple days (I'll be there about 5 days), and also happy to walk quite a bit... NYC living prepared me for lots of walking, so I'm good to go there. I appreciate you grouping these together for me - gives me a lay of the land, and a plan about how to break things up over a few different outings. Excited to make it to as many of these as I can!
  3. My trip IS soon! I'm compiling my list today to start building out my routes, so I came back to this thread for reference. I'll be leaving Friday, arriving Saturday. I think the bookstores I'm going to hit up for sure are in the following areas... Anyone know which may be good to group together, just in terms of proximity? Foyles - Charing Cross, SOHO Secondhand stores off from Charing Cross, towards Trafalgar Square (Cecil Court) Waterstones - Piccadilly Lutyens & Rubenstein - Notting Hill Daunt Books - Marylebone (seems like everyone suggestions this one as the best Daunt Books... is this accurate?) Primrose Hill Books
  4. This is awesome... Thanks, James. I will definitely visit Cecil Court!
  5. This is awesome - Thank you, guys! I HOPE I have to buy an extra suitcase or mail my large volume of books I find.
  6. Hi guys I'm planning a trip to London for a week, and plan to spend a day just visiting different bookstores around the city. I've started doing some research and compiling a list... then it hit me that you guys would probably be a great resource. If it helps to know, I'd like to visit both some chains and independents, and I read mostly fiction novels. I'm also hoping to just visit some stores that maybe have a unique or special atmosphere, even if their book topics aren't things I buy all the time. Some of the ones I'm eyeing so far are... Daunt Books Clerkenwell Tales Waterstone's Stoke Newington Book Shop Any suggestions? Thanks so much! Beth
  7. Be sure to shoot me a message when you track it down and start reading it... I'll be curious to hear your thoughts, Weave!
  8. Review for "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt: I ran hot and cold with this one... The writing was beautiful, and really brought the characters to life. I can almost SEE Boris in front of me, and I can hear his voice EXACTLY when I read the passages spoken by this Ukrainian misfit. Same for Andy... Through Theo's descriptions, I can just see him poking his glasses up on his nose, and hear him wheezing and sniffling due to his apparent need to live in a bubble. There were days when I couldn't put this book down due to being so drawn in, and then, on the flip side, there were days when the prose made me want to do anything BUT keep reading this story. It's heavy-handedly beautiful, as opposed to beautifully heavy-handed. The story is compelling, especially through Theo's time in NYC towards the beginning. However, soon after, his time in Vegas seemed to stretch on forever, and unnecessarily so. The compulsion picked up again upon his initial return to NYC, and then through the latter part of NYC and into Amsterdam, I was frustrated again at just how long things were dragged on. The horse... He was dead. As for the last 30 pages, I was about fed up and I couldn't help but resort to skimming... The ending felt incredibly self-indulgent to me. There are actually some wonderful Theo-learned lessons delivered during the last (15-page) stream of consciousness, but they're so far buried within the rambling that one must really FOCUS to pull them out, and after 755 pages of running hot and cold, focus wasn't my strong point at the time. Overall lessons for me: The power of the human spirit's will to survive, despite life being downright sad sometimes. One bad decision leads to another, sometimes as quickly as a sweater unraveling. And "We can't choose who we are and what we want." (I actually pulled out one of Theo's life lessons in those last 15 pages.) It's one of those books where you both love and hate so many of the characters, and you feel both so hopeful and hopeless simultaneously about life, and despite some quirks along the way, any author who can make me feel that is someone I'm likely to try again.
  9. Your favourite read of the year? Your favourite author of the year? Your most read author of the year? Your favourite book cover of the year? The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, the one you read least of)? The book that most disappointed you? The funniest book of the year? Your favourite literary character this year? Your favourite children's book this year? Your favourite classic of the year? Your favourite non-fiction book this year? Your favourite biography this year? Your favourite collection of short stories this year? Your favourite poetry collection this year? Your favourite illustrated book of the year? Your favourite publisher of the year? Your favourite audiobook of the year? Your favourite re-read of the year?
  10. Keeping mine pretty short, focusing on a bit of a "unversal list" that I'd recommend to just about anyone regardless of gender, age (within reason), cultural background, and interests. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese (with the disclaimer to stay with it to get past the first 150 pages or so) Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay (with the disclaimer that it's very sad in parts) The Fault in our Stars - John Green
  11. I saw Disney's new animated feature, "Frozen", last night. Loved it! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/ http://movies.disney.com/frozen - warning: link has sound as soon as you open it http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/frozen_2013/
  12. I'm about 1/4 of the way through "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb... Decent so far, but I wouldn't say it's "riveting" or anything.
  13. To Read The Shadow of the Wind -Carlos Ruiz Zafon Pride and Prejudice -Jane Austen The Goldfinch -Donna Tartt The Secret History -Donna Tartt And the Mountains Echoed -Khaled Hosseine Longbourn -JoBaker Eleanor & Park -Rainbow Rowell Read The Goldfinch -Donna Tartt (3/5) Rating Scale: 1-5 (5 being highest)
  14. Sounds like you have some great reads coming up -- I agree with the majority: "Room" was definitely my favorite of last year, and "The Book Thief" and "THG" were both reads I really enjoyed, also! I'm kinda jealous you get to start at the beginning with all of these.
  15. Old thread, but I tried a great recipe last night and this seemed the most likely place to put it. http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/easy-pasta-salad/ - It was so easy and healthy, and made for great leftovers for lunch today! Hope this can be useful to someone.
  16. Okay, I have no idea YET why I shouldn't finish this near a train, but I have a feeling I'm going to bust out laughing as soon as I get to the part in the book that makes that clear to me!
  17. Just started "Anna Karenina" on the train this morning.
  18. I just finished reading this novel, although over here, it was called "The House at Tyneford." I found this book to be really strange.... Did anyone else find the ending so strange with Mr. Rivers?
  19. I just finished "The House at Tyneford" and thought it was really strange... I can definitely see the similarities to Downton Abbey, for sure, but I found it really strange towards the end. I'm glad every one else seemed to like it!
  20. I hope you do! I've read two books since then, and while both were good, they just haven't compared. "Cutting for Stone" has just stayed with me, and I think about it all the time... I hope you have the same experience if you try it.
  21. Thanks so much, Ben! I hope you're doing well and your reading is off to a good start!
  22. I'm about 80 pages into "Ellis Island" by Kate Kerrigan. SUCH a different read than the book I just finished ("Cutting for Stone" which was much more difficult yet fulfilling reading), but I'm still liking it!
  23. Loved it... TOTALLY dense, so much detail, which made me very hesitant at first. And it's LONG, so I knew it could be a mountain to climb with that much detail. Before too long though, I was totally sucked in and couldn't put it down. It's one of those books that really 'stays' with you after you turn the final page. I read this for my 'real life' book club, and we had the meeting last night. Everyone really enjoyed it, and felt as strongly about it as I did. I think it can be a real project, but it's really worth it and I even felt like a stronger reader when I finished it... It kind of stretches you!
  24. Read: Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese Ellis Island - Kate Kerrigan Night Road - Kristin Hannah The Crying Tree - Naseem Rakha The House at Tyneford - Natasha Solomons Fifty Shades of Grey Fifty Shades Darker Fifty Shades Freed The Postmistress - Sarah Black To Be Read: Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue Smuggled - Christina Shea Hothouse Flower - Linda Riley This Perfect World - Suzanne Bugler Trespass - Rose Tremain Anya: A Novel - Susan Fromberg Schaeffer The Violets of March - Sarah Jio Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 - Marcus Luttrell SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper - Howard E. Wasdin The Kingdom of Childhood - Rebecca Coleman Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami The Baker's Daughter - Sarah McCoy The Lost Wife - Alyson Richman The Seamstress - Sara Tuvel Bernstein Light from a Distant Star - Mary McGarry Morris When We Were Strangers - Pamela Schoenewaldt The Bunglow - Sarah Jio
  25. Fun! Here are mine: Your favourite read of the year? Room -Emma Donoghue Your favourite author of the year? Lisa Scottoline emerged as a new fave for me. Your most read author of the year? Suzanne Collins, since I read her trilogy Your favourite book cover of the year? Revolution -Jennifer Connolly The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, the one you read least of)? Slammerkin -Emma D. The book that most disappointed you? Mrs. Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children -Ransom Riggs The funniest book of the year? I guess Summer Rental -Mary Kay Andrews. Didn't read many funnies! Your favourite literary character this year? Daniel in The Violin of Auschwitz Your favourite children's book this year? Is "Mockingjay" considered children's? Your favourite classic of the year? N/A Your favourite non-fiction book this year? The Glass Castle -Jeannette Walls Your favourite biography this year? N/A Your favourite collection of short stories this year? N/A Your favourite poetry collection this year? N/A Your favourite illustrated book of the year? N/A Your favourite publisher of the year? ? Your favourite audiobook of the year? Not too good w/audiobooks.. My mind wanders.
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