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Your Book Activity - July 2015


Kylie

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No, I haven't bought it as yet.  Some of the reviews have been a bit discouraging so I was waiting in the hope they'd balance out a bit :lol:

 

I didn't hear that about the reviews, Karsa, hmm.  I'm really enjoying it so far.  Lots of 80's pop-culture references, similar to RPO, so it's lots of fun! :D

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I then went on to Marc Morris' The Norman Conquest.  I haven't read any history for a while - the scholarship has changed somewhat since my day and I get tired of the same old hamfisted political agendas.  Therefore, it was nice to find out that Morris is a pragmatist and just puts his evidence forth without twisting facts to fit a theory.  I really loved this one, and have ordered his volumes on King John and Edward I on the strength of it.  I've also breezed through Michael Wood's In Search of the Dark Ages since I was last here.  Woody is always entertaining and I'd missed this one first time round.

Good to hear that about the Marc Morris book - one I've been intending to read for a while.

 

The Michael Wood book was based on his series, which I remember above all else for one of the best bits of television I can recall. Apparently, something went wrong one day they were meant to be recording (weather?), so Michael Wood just dived into the local history library, extracted an old Anglo-Saxon charter that described a local parish/estate set of boundaries, and then he just went out with an OS map to see if he could follow them on the ground, with a camera crew in hot pursuit! It made for brilliant TV, as it was so immediate and vivid particularly given his infectious energy and enthusiasm. Sadly, I gather the tapes of the series were never kept, and it's one of the few Wood series that doesn't have an available DVD. There's no equivalent chapter either in the book (although he mentions Anglo-Saxon charters in the introduction). A real pity, as the rest of the series was gripping too. [

 

Inevitably, all this Anglo-Saxon and Norman history made me want to re-read my Bernard Cornwells, so I've dived into The Last Kingdom again after many years.  It's like soaking in a warm bath.  Love it.  Even though this series does start to get repetitive after a while, revisiting young Uhtred is a joy.

Yes, he's good at fiction - I really enjoyed his Sharpe series. Given your comments above about history though, I can't say the same for his non-fiction history of Waterloo. It's very popular, and very vivid, but it's horrible history, and I threw it in the bin after less than a hundred pages in frustration. Tim Clayton's book was infinitely better - again no axe to grind, just trying to tell it as it was. Edited by willoyd
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I never managed to see Michael Wood's first series, Willoyd.  I only really discovered him when he did In Search of Troy.  I do wish I'd seen the Dark Ages one - it sounds great.

 

Thanks for the tip on Cornwell's Waterloo history.  I shall avoid it, although I have to say I have never actually read the Sharpe series, and never watched it on TV.  I keep promising myself I'll catch up with it one of these days.

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Picked up The Wimbledon Poisoner again today, and I'm enjoying it so much!  Actually chuckled out loud a couple of times, really good comic writing. :)

 

Also made a detour to Waterstone's on the way home and picked up Robin Stevens new Wells & Wong Mystery, First Class Murder, and it was in an offer, so also bought Darkmere by Helen Maslin.

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Now I am on to (thanks mom!) The Lady of the Rivers, Philippa Gregory's 3rd book in the Cousins War series :wub:

 

I really need to start this series, or at least the first book. I have loved everything else I have read by her. :smile:

 

I have Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84 and The Elephant Vanishes.

 

The three of us could read Nineteen Minutes together, if you like? I don't know if you like that sort of thing, all reading the book around the same time, or whether you prefer to just read it when you feel like it. It's what the 'Group Reads' subforum is for, so we could do that some time later in the year if you and Anna want to?

 

 

You should read Kafka on the Shore. I haven't read IQ84 yet. I think I did read The Elephant Vanishes, but Murakami's short stories don't leave an impression on me like his novels do.

 

I have no problem if the three of us read Nineteen Minutes together. It should be fun! :D

 

Which other ones do you have?  I've read all of his novels, apart from Rainbows End (until now, anyway), so may be able to help :smile:

 

Hmmm, quite a bit, actually. I think I might have most of his books. I did try reading The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge but I don't remember much about it, as none of his short stories drew me in. Maybe you could tell me which novel of his you think is the best to start with. I probably have it. :giggle2::smile:

 

Which reminds me, I am sure there are many good reads that people on this forum could recommend to me, but I already have so many unread books on my shelves, I can't take a chance at being influenced to BUY anything more. :blush2::smile:

 

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Picked up The Wimbledon Poisoner again today, and I'm enjoying it so much!  Actually chuckled out loud a couple of times, really good comic writing. :)

 

Also made a detour to Waterstone's on the way home and picked up Robin Stevens new Wells & Wong Mystery, First Class Murder, and it was in an offer, so also bought Darkmere by Helen Maslin.

Glad you're enjoying The Wimbledon Poisoner Claire .. made me laugh anyway  :blush2:  :D Woohoo for the new Wells & Wong! :cows::D Hope it's every bit as good as the last two  :smile: 

Am going to start The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon which lovely Diane sent to me :hug:  

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Which reminds me, I am sure there are many good reads that people on this forum could recommend to me, but I already have so many unread books on my shelves, I can't take a chance at being influenced to BUY anything more. :blush2::smile:

That makes sense :).

 

EDIT: I've finished Jaclyn Moriarty - Ashbury / Brookfield 3: Het Ongelofelijke Schooljaar van Scarlett M. (Becoming Bindy Mackenzie) and have decided to read Jaclyn Moriarty - The Spell Book of Listen Taylor next, which it turned out I had on my shelf and I hadn't realised it was the same author until I finished the three books in the series and I looked up the author's website.

Edited by Athena
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Glad you're enjoying The Wimbledon Poisoner Claire .. made me laugh anyway  :blush2:  :D

I finished it this afternoon - thought the end was a bit too drawn out, but on the whole, I thought it was really good!

 

Woohoo for the new Wells & Wong! :cows::D Hope it's every bit as good as the last two  :smile: 

Let's hope so! Might read it this weekend :D

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This morning I've made a start on Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End.  Forty pages in and hooked already.

 

I have this one, and a few other Vernor Vinge novels, but I keep not picking any of them up. I would love hear your thoughts when finished.

 

Which other ones do you have?  I've read all of his novels, apart from Rainbows End (until now, anyway), so may be able to help :smile:

 

Hmmm, quite a bit, actually. I think I might have most of his books. I did try reading The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge but I don't remember much about it, as none of his short stories drew me in. Maybe you could tell me which novel of his you think is the best to start with. I probably have it. :giggle2::smile:

 

:lol:

 

Well I always recommend A Fire Upon the Deep - it's the one I started with.  I've read it twice and it's one of my favourite science fiction novels.  This is assuming that you like stories set on other worlds and with weird and wonderful aliens :D  

 

Also, the prequel - A Deepness in the Sky - is fabulous.  They're only linked by one character - the stories are completely separate, so they can be read in any order (or not at all!).  More detail on both of them here  :smile:

 

I'm about 250 pages into Rainbows End, and it rocks, so far :smile:

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:lol:

 

Well I always recommend A Fire Upon the Deep - it's the one I started with.  I've read it twice and it's one of my favourite science fiction novels.  This is assuming that you like stories set on other worlds and with weird and wonderful aliens :D  

 

Also, the prequel - A Deepness in the Sky - is fabulous.  They're only linked by one character - the stories are completely separate, so they can be read in any order (or not at all!).  More detail on both of them here  :smile:

 

I'm about 250 pages into Rainbows End, and it rocks, so far :smile:

I will definitely pick up one or the other when I am ready for my next sci--fi read. I have both! :D I love stories with weird and wonderful aliens. I read The Mote in God's Eye years ago and that was a great read. I will have to read that one again some day!

 

In other news, I finished The Doll: The Lost Short Stories by Daphne Du Maurier and it was better than I expected. I have just started on The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings. :readingtwo:

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I will definitely pick up one or the other when I am ready for my next sci--fi read. I have both! :D I love stories with weird and wonderful aliens.

I may have to buy it again when the new SF Masterworks edition is published next year, just for the cover  :D 

 

 

I read The Mote in God's Eye years ago and that was a great read. I will have to read that one again some day!

 

I've not read that one - I'm guessing you'd recommend it? :smile:

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I may have to buy it again when the new SF Masterworks edition is published next year, just for the cover  :D 

 

 

 

I've not read that one - I'm guessing you'd recommend it? :smile:

Ooooh, that is a nice cover. :D

 

Yes, definitely! Get a copy if you can. It's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It's an old book, written in the early 70s, but one of the best books about first contact I've read. The most difficult part of the book for me was the scientific terminology and it dragged a little in the beginning, but it wasn't that bad. The "Moties" were fascinating. ;)

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Ooooh, that is a nice cover. :D

 

Yes, definitely! Get a copy if you can. It's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It's an old book, written in the early 70s, but one of the best books about first contact I've read. The most difficult part of the book for me was the scientific terminology and it dragged a little in the beginning, but it wasn't that bad. The "Moties" were fascinating. ;)

 

It's gone on the wishlist :D   I loved their book The Legacy of Heorot, so high hopes :smile:

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