willoyd Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) I must admit I know very little about William Golding - Lord of the Flies is the only one of his I've heard of. Well, I'm no expert by any means. However, I do have his trilogy To The Ends of the Earth on my shelves ready to read - 18th century naval historical fiction. The first volume, Rites of Passage won the Booker (which of course is no guarantee that it's a good book!). It was shown as a mini series on BBC a few years ago (starring the now ubiquitous Benedict Cumberbatch?). like The Catcher in the Rye, which I loathed! Having dipped into it, I can't say that I'm at all anxious to actually read it! Edited January 3, 2013 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Ah, Benedict Cumberbatch! I loved him in Sherlock and in War Horse. I didn't see Rites of Passage though. I really couldn't recommend TCITR! On the plus side, I'm going out with a friend for lunch today and I've engineered it (with her blessing!) that we're going to go to a garden centre in Whitchurch on the outskirts of Bristol so that I can pop to Stockwood library and pick up Mary Hooper's Petals in the Ashes. Thank goodness for being able to borrow books from counties surrounding Somerset! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleighjane Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hmm, I've only read three of the books in your TBR list. I look forward to seeing what you think of Let the Right One In. I wonder, do we both have The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared because of that 20p kindle deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hi, ashleighjane. I had my copy of THYOMWCOOAWAD as a Christmas present from the lovely Kay. I'm not sure about Let the Right One In - I was given it on World Book Night, but it doesn't sound like something I'd rush to pick up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleighjane Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hi, ashleighjane. I had my copy of THYOMWCOOAWAD as a Christmas present from the lovely Kay. Ah! I've had a look at it on goodreads, and it looks like it might be a good read I have no idea when I'll get around to reading it though. My TBR list keeps getting longer I'm not sure about Let the Right One In - I was given it on World Book Night, but it doesn't sound like something I'd rush to pick up... All I'll say is that I found it rather disturbing. Since I read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right before it, it made me have questions about Swedish authors! That said, ignoring the disturbing elements, I did enjoy reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 All I'll say is that I found it rather disturbing. Since I read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right before it, it made me have questions about Swedish authors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 I'm just under half way through Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - so far, so good. I also acquired my first book of 2013 - Petals in the Ashes by Mary Hooper. I got it from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 The Diary of a Somerset Rector had been on my Wish List for years after I came across it on a genealogy forum. Long story, but my maiden name was Moon. I was born and grew up in Kent, and moved to Somerset when I got married. Moon is a name which is very common here, and I'd often joked that I might be related to people here. Fast forward about 18 years and I started doing my family tree online. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my g-g-Grandad and my g-g-Grandmother were both born within four miles of where I live now! I've since discovered that a few generations before that are local to here too! Anyway, to cut a very long story short, I was going through my parents-in-law's books in 2011 (after they'd both died), and I found this book in amongst my father-in-law's books - he was a priest so I guess he got it for the 'Rectorish' element of it. I don't know if he ever read it, but it's special to me because it belonged to him. Despite Peter living here from the age of 14, we grew up in the same village in Kent and have known each other all our lives - and therefore I'd known his Mum and Dad since I was born. How lovely to have that family connection to a book much better than having family silver to pass on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 (edited) I'm just under half way through Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - so far, so good. That's refreshing to hear. I've mostly heard of it described as depressing book, and have never felt like picking it up. Will look forward to your review after you read it completely Janet. Edited January 5, 2013 by bree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 How lovely to have that family connection to a book much better than having family silver to pass on It is! Thanks. That's refreshing to hear. I've mostly heard of it described as depressing book, and have never felt like picking it up. Will look forward to your review after you read it completely Janet. Thanks. And, well yes, it's not a terribly uplifting story so far - and I don't imagine it's going to have a good ending for Tess! I'm still enjoying it though, although I'm not finding much reading time of late. Shelfari keeps reminding me that I've read 0 books this year, which means you're behind target... Charming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 I finally finished book #1 of 2013! Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891) by Thomas Hardy..... (C)..... 5/5 I loved it! http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/biggrin.png Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Good to see you enjoyed it so much Janet I'm planning to attempt some Hardy in the not too distant future, so glad for the recommendation and that you got 2013 off to such a good start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 Thanks, Alex. It's very bleak! The story is excellent though. In 2011 I read The Mayor of Casterbridge and loved that too. Best of all, the Hardys are free on Kindle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I finally finished book #1 of 2013! Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891) by Thomas Hardy..... (C)..... 4½/5 I loved it! Yay, glad you liked it, I really must read it again as I read it over 20 yrs ago and can only remember that I likes it! . I'll see if its free on my kobo.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 Thanks. It'll be on Project Guttenberg -- I'm sure they're Kobo compatible files? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I finally finished book #1 of 2013! Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891) by Thomas Hardy..... (C)..... 4½/5 I loved it! Wonderful - I think I'll be brave and pick it up this year! Thanks Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Glad you enjoyed Tess, Janet, must say i found it a very depressing read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Wonderful - I think I'll be brave and pick it up this year! Thanks Janet I hope you enjoy it. Glad you enjoyed Tess, Janet, must say i found it a very depressing read It's not the most uplifting of novels, I agree. However it is a cracking story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Finished book #2, Petals in the Ashes by Mary Hooper, which is the sequel to her book At the Sign of the Sugared Plum. Review for this (and 'Tess') to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 2 books read that is a good start Janet. I bet the Tess book was not slim either ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I have the first in the series on my TBR and only heard good things. Must get to it soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thanks, VF. My copy of Tess was 403 pages long, but it was a 'Wordsworth Classics' version so the print was small (I read some of it on Kindle too, but the book was a birthday present so I read some of it in book form as it would have felt wrong to read it all on Kindle when someone was kind enough to buy it for me!) - the Penguin Classics version is around 600 pages, although I imagine some of that is analysis. Alex - I read part 1 on Kindle (it was a 99p daily deal last summer) - I read part two in an omnibus edition that I got from the library. They're great books as they are YA but not told in a patronising manner. I hope you enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 You are getting the hang of this Kindle thang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Last year I read 15/76 books on Kindle - so about a fifth of them. I imagine I'll maybe read more on it this year (although I'm counting Tess as a paper book seeing as it was a gift). I still don't like paying for books on it - especially if they're cheaper in paper form. I'm glad I have it, but I still don't see it replacing books in my life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 when I first had my kindle I thought it would replace books for me. But then I often found that a book I wanted on Amazon would be far cheaper to buy second hand in paperback- sometimes only a penny! (plus postage, but it still often beat the kindle price). Then again I could not keep away from charity shop paperbacks either. So I think it will be about 60/40 for me this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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