pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) I'm keeping it even simpler this year than in previous years. Listing only in this section, and a list of previous book blogs, located here in the "past" section. http://www.bookclubf...ing-list/page-1 (2014) 109 books read http://www.bookclubf...3-reading-list/ 99 books read pontalba's 2012 reading list 65 books readpontalba's 2011 reading list 92 books readpontalba's 2010 reading list 74 books readpontalba's 2009 reading list 36 books read (I was distracted this year.) pontalba;s 2008 reading list 62 books readpontalba's books read list (2007) 59 books read http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/13235-pontalbas-2015-reading-list/page-1 Only 43 books read this year, but good ones! Edited January 16, 2017 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) BOOKS READ 2016 January The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango 4/5 Silence by Mechtild Borrman, translated by Aubrey Botsford 3.50/5 The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David A. Goodman 3/5 Lay Down My Sword and Shield by James Lee Burke 3/5 February Dictator by Robert Harris 4/5 The Innocent by Harlan Coben 4/5 Who Is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall 3/5 Disclaimer by Renee Knight 4/5 March Deceptive Cadence by Kathryn Guare 3.5/5 The Man of Feeling by Javier Marias 5/5 Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus 4/5 Sackett's Land} To The Far Blue Mountains} by Louis L'Amour 4/5 The Warrior's Path} April Prime Suspect by Lynda LaPlante 4/5 Darker Domain by Val McDermid 3/5 Prime Suspect 2 by Lynda LaPlante 4/5 Bridge of Spies by Giles Whittell 3.5/5 Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser 4.5/5 Virgins by Diana Gabaldon 4/5 Abandon by Blake Crouch 4/5 Borkmann's Point by Hakan Nesser 4.5/5 Even the Dead by Benjamin Black 5/5 May The Given Day by Dennis Lehane 4/5 Live By Night by Dennis Lehane 4/5 World Gone By by Dennis Lehane 4/5 New Yorked by rob Hart 3/5 Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben 3/5 Down River by John Hart 4.5/5 Keller's Fedora (a novella) by Lawrence Block 5/5 City by Clifford D. Simak 5/5 The Passage and The Twelve (rereads) by Justin Cronin 4.5/5 June The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin 4.5/5 The Defence by Steve Cavanaugh 4/5 New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey 3/5 The Life I Left Behind by Colette McBeth 3/5 July Night Film by Marisha Pessl 3/5 The Time Traders by Andre Norton 5/5 The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves 4/5 The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place by Jennifer McCartney 3/5 Willnot by James Sallis 5+/5 The Killer is Dying by James Sallis 5/5 The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North 4/5 The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith 3.5/5 August Vanished (a Nick Heller Novel) by Joseph Finder 3.5/5 Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 4/5 SPQR by Mary Beard 3/5 The Man Who Would Not Be Washington by Jonathan Horn 4/5 Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbo 4/5 The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell 5/5 Havana Nocturne by T. English Damage by Felix Francis 3/5 The Return by Hakan Nesser 4/5 September Special Deliverance by Clifford D. Simak 3/5 Way Station by Clifford D. Simak 2.5/5 October The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison 2/5 Shaker by Frank 0/5 unfinished Blackhouse by Peter Man 4/5 November The Girl From the Sea by Shalin Boland 3/5 Good Behavior by Blake Crouch 4/5 The Lewis Man by Peter May 4/5 The Chess Men by Peter May 4/5 December Leonard by William Shatner 3.5/5 Edited January 16, 2017 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Keeping this one open, just on account of "because". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Ok, I'm open for business. Reviews to follow....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango a flexible 4/5, perhaps 3.75/5 Henry Hayden apparently has no past. Or at least a past that he will broadcast in any way. Even his wife doesn't know anything about his childhood, or young adulthood. He is any and everything to whomever he is with at that moment. A loyal, loving husband, a cheater with his mistress, a loyal friend. And he truly is all these things. In other words, a chameleon. But how was this chameleon created? What are the mysterious gaps in his life? On top of that, he is a famous author........but not really. He and his wife are the only ones that are aware that she is the true author of the detective series that has made him famous. How his life becomes completely unraveled is a study in chaos and the dumbest of mistakes. The blurb claims the book is "compulsively readable", and I have to agree. Recommended for fans of books like The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. Edited January 2, 2016 by pontalba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Kate. That sounds very interesting. Picking on just one mystery, why would his wife let him take the credit for books she is writing? Good luck with your reading this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Have a great reading year in 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Kate. That sounds very interesting. Picking on just one mystery, why would his wife let him take the credit for books she is writing? Good luck with your reading this year! Interestingly, she was just the sort of introverted person that didn't crave any sort of fame or recognition. She'd been writing books way prior to meeting Henry, and simply threw the finished manuscripts in a drawer. That personality played into his, and they melded pretty well. She was the one person that could accept him as he presented himself. And thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Have a great reading year in 2016 Thanks, Anna! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Have a great reading year in 2016, pontalba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 I wish you lots of happy reading in 2016, Kate !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Happy new book year, Kate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Happy reading year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Thanks, all! It's starting out pretty nicely. I have two more books on the go. Patrick Modiano's Occupation Trilogy and Silence by Mechtild Borrmann. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I hope you have a really amazing reading year in 2016! I like the sound of The Truth and Other Lies, it's going on my wishlist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Thanks, frankie. Just finished Silence by Mechtild Borrman, translated from the German by Aubrey Botsford. I suppose it's about a 3.50/5...hovering . I may or may not write up a real review later, but will say now that as mysteries go it was interesting, although not riveting, and kept my interest enough to finish. There was an unexpected (sort of) twist near the end that added quite a bit to the story. Basically a man whose father has died finds some identity papers and a come-hither photo of an unknown woman in a box in the late father's desk. The story unspools from there uncovering a murder 40 years previously and possibly causing another death in the stories time frame of the late 1990's. The relationships are quite convoluted, and I had some slight trouble keeping some of the characters straight at first. The book ended rather abruptly, summing up various fates as though in a documentary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Happy Reading in 2016 Kate! Hope it's a good reading year for you .. and good in every other way of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Happy reading, Kate! As always, I love reading your reviews and all about the gems you find during the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Happy Reading in 2016 Kate! Hope it's a good reading year for you .. and good in every other way of course Thanks, Kay! I'd looked at your new thread the other day but wasn't sure if you were open for business. I hope your year, reading and all ways is great! Happy reading, Kate! As always, I love reading your reviews and all about the gems you find during the year. Thanks Kylie. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Happy Reading in 2016, Kate ! I`ve already Kimpled your first book ; it really grabbed me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted February 3, 2016 Author Share Posted February 3, 2016 Happy Reading in 2016, Kate ! I`ve already Kimpled your first book ; it really grabbed me. Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! I've read a couple more, The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David A. Goodman....only a 3/5 and one must be a fan of Star Trek. Really! Also read Lay Down My Sword and Shield by James Lee Burke, only a 3/5 also. Surprisingly. First in what is so far a three book series. This one was written back in the 1970's, and the era and Burke's young writing shows. I've also read about one-third of the second in the series, published in 2009. I doubt I'll continue. While Burke's writing is really gorgeous.....lyrical and so very evocative of place and exceedingly descriptive of personalities.....the real brutality of the stories is so truly hurtful that it's difficult to read. I've read 7 or 8 of his Dave Robicheaux series, The Neon Rain and Heaven's Prisoner being the first and second of them. In the second one, his opening description of the Gulf of Mexico is so absolutely wonderful and true that it almost brings tears to your eyes. But they are brutal too, increasingly so as the series continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Just wanted to say its good to see you around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Good to see you, Kate . The James T. Kirk book sounds nice, but I don't know if I'm enough of a fan to get all of it (seeing as I haven't seen everything yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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