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Alex's 2015 Reading Log


Alexi

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Hey Alexi I have had a thought! You could sign up for that program on TV  (Don't Tell The Bride) where the groom has a budget and organises the whole weddiing including your dress and the bridesmaids dresses and the hen night and it's all a big surprise for you....wouldn't that be great?

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Hey Alexi I have had a thought! You could sign up for that program on TV  (Don't Tell The Bride) where the groom has a budget and organises the whole weddiing including your dress and the bridesmaids dresses and the hen night and it's all a big surprise for you....wouldn't that be great?

:giggle2: I doubt we would get down the aisle ;) I've had to veto getting married at our local football stadium...

 

Although I'm fairly sure he suggested that as a wind up!

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Oh wow. I'm so behind with everyone's threads. Congratulations Alexi!! (I won't ask the D-word question :D)

 

I hope OH is on the mend :)

Thanks Andrea! He's much better than he was thanks. :) Still not driving though. Getting a prelude to when I have kids and am chauffeuring everywhere ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

#20 The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

 

Synopsis: Love isn't an exact science - but no one told Don Tillman. A thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don's never had a second date. So he devises the Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie - 'the world's most incompatible woman' - throwing Don's safe, ordered life into chaos. But what is this unsettling, alien emotion he's feeling? (From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: Well. For the first time in about a year I found a book that begged me to stay up until 2.30am to finish it in only two sittings. Love when that happens! 

 

You know how this ends from the minute you pick it up, but that detracts in no way from a wonderful story led by one of the most brilliant characters I have ever had the fortune to meet in literature. Don Tillman is a simply marvellous creation and makes this an utter joy. I actually laughed out loud at several points at his one liners - which of course he never intends to be funny. 

 

Having the book narrated by Don, who is some way - although never specified - along the autism and aspergers scale was refreshing and made for a completely different take on what essentially is a love story. He's looking for a wife via a questionnaire, and then Rosie stumbles into his life hellbent on looking for her biological father. That gives the story an interesting subplot, as well as being a rather successful plot device in itself to make our two main characters spend time together.

 

The plot is great, but it really comes to life because of it's main man. He's an unlikely hero, but I would challenge anyone not to root for Don Tillman. 

 

5/5 (It was fantastic) 

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#21 The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

 

No synopsis because I can't find one that doesn't spoil the first book!

 

After practically swallowing the first in the series in my haste to read it, I moved straight onto the sequel, thoughtfully purchased by my other half without realising that a) it was a series and b) therefore not knowing I hadn't read the first one. 

 

The fact it is set in New York (my favourite city in earth) won points, and I loved the odd collection of characters that Don, and therefore we, meet along the way. 

 

The plot in this one doesn't feel as smoothly worked out as in the first unfortunately, but fortunately the book is saved by our leading character. His edges have been smoothed a little but he's still socially awkward, doesn't understand subtlety and blunders through ridiculous situations. 

 

Some of the situations are a bit TOO ridiculous, but I love Don and will hope there is a third regardless. 

 

4/5 (I really liked it)

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#22 The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K Dick

 

Synopsis: Imagine the world if the Allies had lost the Second World War... Philip K Dick trips the switches of our minds with his vision of the world as it might have been: the African continent virtually wiped out, the Mediterranean drained to make farmland, the United States divided between the Japanese and the Nazis...In the neutral zone that divides the rival superpowers in America lives the author of an underground best-seller. His book - a rallying cry for all those who dream of overthrowing the occupiers - offers an alternative theory of world history. Does 'reality' lie with him, or is his world just one among many others? (From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: I was desperate to love this. Anna recommended it and it sounded like a book, and author, I would get on really well with. 

 

Alas. I just didn't get on with it. I don't know if it was the wrong book, wrong time, but I never connected with any of the characters, the pacing felt off and the plot dragged. 

 

I found the idea of the Axis powers winning the war simply fascinating, and horrifying in equal measure as the book described racism, the wiping out of Africa and the draining of the Mediterranean (!). However, after that I just felt it went downhill. I didn't care what happened to any of the characters, and I didn't feel I spent enough time with any of them as the book jumped between them continually. 

 

The ending was unsatisfactory and felt unfinished, and the pacing seemed all wrong. It felt slow up until the last 20% when it then raced forward before fizzling out. 

 

However, the synopses of least two of Dick's other books really intrigue me, so I won't be giving up yet. Hoping it was just wrong place, wrong time. 

 

2/5 (It was ok)

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Great reviews :)! I'm glad you enjoyed the Don Tillman books! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the Philip K. Dick book so much. I haven't read that one, my boyfriend owns it but he read only half the book (I'm not sure it's my kind of story). I did read two other books by the author and loved them.

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Nice reviews. :smile:  I loved The Rosie Project. Don is such an interesting character. Oddly though, his name makes me think of an older person. I automatically think of someone in their 60s even though he is a lot younger. I don't know why that is. :dunno: I haven't read The Rosie Effect, but it's on the wishlist. I'm not in a huge rush to read it, just because I don't want it to spoil my thoughts about The Rosie Project.

 

I also have The Man in the High Castle on my TBR pile. I hope I get on with it a bit better that you did. :readingtwo:

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Great reviews :)! I'm glad you enjoyed the Don Tillman books! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the Philip K. Dick book so much. I haven't read that one, my boyfriend owns it but he read only half the book (I'm not sure it's my kind of story). I did read two other books by the author and loved them.

 

 

Thanks Gaia! I will definitely try him again and see if I get on better. Not giving up yet!

 

 

Like Athena, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed both the novels! :exc: Well said, Alexi: Don's an unlikely hero, but like you said, who wouldn't root for the man. He's such a darling :wub:

 

  

 

I just want to read more about him to be honest :D hope there is a third!

 

Nice reviews. :smile:  I loved The Rosie Project. Don is such an interesting character. Oddly though, his name makes me think of an older person. I automatically think of someone in their 60s even though he is a lot younger. I don't know why that is. :dunno: I haven't read The Rosie Effect, but it's on the wishlist. I'm not in a huge rush to read it, just because I don't want it to spoil my thoughts about The Rosie Project.

 

I also have The Man in the High Castle on my TBR pile. I hope I get on with it a bit better that you did. :readingtwo:

The only Don I know is a relative of mine who is 89 so I know where you're coming from :giggle2: I would say the second is definitely wRoth your time but not as good as the first - although whenever are they?!

 

Been reading Middlemarch this weekend and doing some more planning for my US trip in Septrmber and then the wedding. Have set a date now and am planning honeymoon - priorities ;)

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Been reading Middlemarch this weekend and doing some more planning for my US trip in Septrmber and then the wedding. Have set a date now and am planning honeymoon - priorities ;)

I hope you have fun with all of these things :)!

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Been reading Middlemarch this weekend and doing some more planning for my US trip in Septrmber and then the wedding. Have set a date now and am planning honeymoon - priorities ;)

I'm a bit behind with Middlemarch :blush: I'll try and catch up this week.  :readingtwo:  :readingtwo:  :readingtwo:

 

Good luck with the wedding planning! :D

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#23 The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 

Synopsis: Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

 


And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

 


Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

 


Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train… (From Amazon)

 

Thoughts: This was a very slow burner for me, and I really struggled to empathise with the character of Rachel - particularly initially. She does have redeeming features and as we get to know more of her history it does become easier, but at the start I hated her. 

 

What makes this particularly difficult is she is our narrator - but is she a reliable one? She gets the same train every day to the extent that she feels involved when one of them goes missing. Not taken seriously by the police, she worms her way into the lives of the people left behind on the same street. So far, so unstable. 

 

And the problem is most of the characters aren't likeable. While that isn't a prerequisite for enjoying a book, it does make it harder to invest in their lives. Quite honestly I wanted to throttle all of them at at least one point in the story. 

 

However, by halfway I have to admit I was hooked. I wanted to know how events would turn out and how the pages all fitted together. It's a clever plot, made the more interesting because I do get a commuter tram myself and stare at the same houses every day as well. It was a situation I could relate to - even though I'm normally too preoccupied with my book to care about the lives of the people behind the fences!

 

I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling the plot, but this is very readable and I devoured it in about four days. Initially, the jumping around in timeline was confusing, but it does all begin to slot together. 

 

I didn't particularly like the ending, but then ending these sort of books is quite hard to do I always think. Definitely a page turner, even though there are characters you will hate and moments you have to suspend disbelief for. 

 

4/5

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#24 The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

 

Synopsis: ‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

 

(From Amazon)

 

 

Thoughts: I'm not sure what to make of this book. I didn't particularly enjoy reading it, but it has stayed with me. I've been thinking about it ever since I finished it three days ago. 

 

This is a heavy novel, that deals with grief and one man's descent into mental illness following the death of his brother in childhood. Mental illness and depression are very close to my heart, and it was a difficult read for me. 

 

However, I did find the book a bit too repetitive and meandering. I realise that is an accurate portrayal of the protagonist's mental state, but it doesn't make for an unputdownable, involving read. 

 

That said. The emotions in this book are so well-drawn. The total grief the family feels which time has not healed is wonderfully depicted, the agonies of the different stages of mental illness are well illustrated and I closed the book feeling like I had been a part of the main character, Matthew's life. 

 

So while I didn't particularly enjoy reading it as such, I feel I have to rate it highly simply because it has pulled me in and won't leave me alone. 

 

4/5

 

 

In other news, I have acquired 25 books more than I have read. Not good for the reduce pile by one target!!

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I just realized I respond to you all the time, but then delete it!  I don't want to sound silly!  :typing:

I'm glad you liked Girl on a Train, that is coming on vacation with me.  And ya, you acquired 25 books more, but also a fiancé :)

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I'm glad you enjoyed Girl and... sort of? enjoyed Shock? I just finished Shock myself and I really enjoyed it, though I did feel a tad uninvolved myself - I felt a lot of the characters... or something... were/was a bit flat. But I thought it was a very accomplished novel.

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Can't multi quote on the phone :(

 

Anna - huh?! I sound stupid all the time. I find the trick is to embrace it ;) The fiance is not helping, he keeps buying me books when I get nearer my target :giggle2:

 

Noll - I do know what you mean. The characters of Jacob and Matthew's Dad in particular weren't overly developed, but as he talks of his mental illness being very selfish and self involving that sort of made sense to me.

 

Although whether Filer meant it like that who knows!

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Noll - I do know what you mean. The characters of Jacob and Matthew's Dad in particular weren't overly developed, but as he talks of his mental illness being very selfish and self involving that sort of made sense to me.

 

Although whether Filer meant it like that who knows!

 

Yeah I'm not sure really if he did intend that, but I dunno!

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Nice reviews. :smile:  I loved The Rosie Project. Don is such an interesting character. Oddly though, his name makes me think of an older person. I automatically think of someone in their 60s even though he is a lot younger. I don't know why that is. :dunno:

 

:lol: His last name, Tillman, makes me think of Till Lindemann, from Rammstein.... So... Yeah... :D 

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  • 2 weeks later...

My goal this year was to be on 276 books by the end of the year (down by one from 1 Jan 2015). My visit to the library this afternoon has now taken the total to 306. 

 

Nightmare. 

 

I've been having a rather tough time at work and at home in recent weeks, so although I'm still reading a lot I'm turning to easy, quick reads which don't need a lot of thinking. I'm revisiting the St Clare's series after the success of our Malory Towers reread. 1 1/2 books in and I've already had two midnight feasts - much more satisfying :D

 

I've decided to take a leaf out of Claire's book and not feel pressure to review everything I read - most of them, but any light-hearted, quick reads like that (or my upcoming guilty pleasure Janet Evanovich) I won't bother. 

 

That only leaves me two books behind :giggle2:

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Sorry to hear you're having a tough time, Alex  :empathy:
 
 

I've decided to take a leaf out of Claire's book and not feel pressure to review everything I read - most of them, but any light-hearted, quick reads like that (or my upcoming guilty pleasure Janet Evanovich) I won't bother.


Glad to know my apathy is wearing off on others! :lol:

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Sorry to hear you're having a tough time, Alex  :empathy:

 

 

 

Glad to know my apathy is wearing off on others! :lol:

Thanks Claire :empathy: Hopefully it will pick up soon! We are now going into the traditional quiet time at work (tumbleweed across the office quiet) so quite looking forward to that.

 

I prefer to think of it as efficient use of time, rather than apathy :D

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