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Your Book Activity - April 2017


Athena

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12 hours ago, chaliepud said:

Yes, so far, but I have Two Brothers and The First Casualty on my TBR and will definitely get to at least one of them in the next month or two. :)

 

I've pretty much liked all the Ben Elton I've read. :)  I remember one of the members here really didn't like Two Brothers though. 

 

Yesterday, I finished Girl on a Train which was quite a good read. I must get round to writing all my reviews of the year  - they're going to be very short at this rate as I'm so behind!

 

Today, I'm going to start my last library book  - The Killing 3 by David Hewson (and I must not get more out when I next visit the library! :giggle2:). I'd rather watch it but Netflix is failing me in that respect, so the book version it is! I hope it lives up to the tv experience. :)

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22 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

I've got one chapter left to listen to in The Hound of the Baskervilles so hoping to finish that this afternoon. :)

 

I actually finished it this morning. :)

 

On 4/4/2017 at 5:10 PM, Janet said:

I finished that last week (I forgot it was a Counties Challenge Book as I read the alternative).   Hope you enjoy it. :)

 

I did @Janet.  Not sure if you saw my post in the Audiobooks thread, but Audible have now released a PDF to go with the Sherlock Holmes collection which is a big index of what books and stories are in which parts and which chapters they match up to, so you've go a reference point to find out where to start listening to something specific. :) 

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Ooh, forgot to say, I collected a new book from Waterstone's today.  I had a full £10 stamp card, and loads of points on my reward card, so I treated myself to Storm In A Teacup by Helen Czerski in hardback, because it's such a beautiful book and effectively cost me nothing!  I've been dying to read it since I heard her on the Book Shambles podcast, and we've also watch a series she made for the OU which BBC Four broadcast called Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics.  I'm usually reluctant to have anything to do with physics after a terrible year studying it at school, but Helen makes it sound fascinating and approachable, and the subtitle of Storm In A Teacup is The Physics of Everyday Life, and I'm really excited to read it.

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8 hours ago, chaliepud said:

No, not comical, there was a little dry wit in Time and Time Again but certainly not funny. I don't cope well with funny books, it seems that the moment I am told something is funny, I find it to be less so? 

 

Ah yes, I'd forgotten you're not into funny books :unsure: Just as well Elton writes not-funny books, too :D Something for everyone! 

 

I'm nearing the end of Popcorn, and I'm hoping to find something as easy to read. 

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Hi there! April seems to be a good month for reading :biggrin: Just finished Goethe's The elective affinities and The loser, which is a novel by Thomas Bernhard centered on a fictional relationship between pianist Glenn Gould and two of his fellow students. I didn't enjoy the former so much, but really loved the latter. (And once again, sorry for my poor English)

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Almost two thirds of the way through An Awfully Big Adventure now, and hoping to finish it this afternoon.

 

We went down to Bridport and Chesil Beach yesterday, so visited all my favourite bookshops there, and I always feel obliged to buy a book in the independent bookshop there, and lucky for me, they had a Persephone book I didn't have already, so I bought myself The Persephone Book of Short Stories.  After reading the Katherine Mansfield short stories a few weeks ago, I've got my appetite for short stories back, so looking forward to reading this one.  I think I might try and make it a dip in and out of book rather than try to read them all in one go.

 

I've also been looking ahead for my next English Counties read, and I've downloaded On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin. :smile:

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I went to a book fair today. The books are very cheap there - they're the copies that can't be sold in bookstores because there is very slight damage to them, often imperceptible. There are three of them a year in cities near me - two in Gent, one in Kortrijk - and they last for four days.

 

In the past, I've noticed that if I attend every one every year, you see the same books again and again and you don't find very much. But if you leave some time between them, it feels like those first book fairs again, where you'd come home with a big bag of books without having paid an exorbitant amount. This happened today as well - I think it had been two years since I went to one.

 

I came home with ten books for a total of 40 euros.

 

  • Faithless, by Karin Slaughter
  • The Returned, by Seth Patrick (based on Les Revenants, a French show I loved)
  • Onsterfelijke laatste woorden, by Terry Breverton (original title: Immortal last words)
  • Restless, by William Boyd
  • The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, or the Murder at Road Hill House, by Kate Summerscale
  • The Bone Garden, by Tess Gerritsen
  • The Miniaturist, by Jessie Burton
  • Alice, het wolvenmeisje, by Kristin Hannah (original title: Magic Hour)
  • Ijzige stilte, by Wulf Dorn (original title: Kalte Stille, English title: Cold Silence)
  • De Stad, by Stella Gemmel (original title: The City)

The next challenge will be to find space on my bookshelves... very happy with my catch, though!

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How nice you went to Het Boekenfestijn!! It's true what you say, if you go really often you usually find the same books. Leaving time between visits definitely helps. I'm glad you were able to find some nice books for a great price :smile:. I believe my sister has read Alice, het wolvenmeisje (Magic Hour) and liked it.

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I've never gone on a Sunday before, but it was very nice! Not too crowded and there were still plenty of books.

 

There's been times I went and the prices were quite expensive - for Het Boekenfestijn, that is. They do totally ruin you when it comes to prices for books - De Stad was 8,50 € and I almost didn't buy it because it felt so expensive... I knew I'd regret it if I didn't, though. Glad to hear your sister liked it, it seems very interesting! 

 

I even found some space on my bookshelves ^^

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3 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

 

Almost two thirds of the way through An Awfully Big Adventure now, and hoping to finish it this afternoon.

 

 

Hooray, I finished it!  Not the worst book on the English Counties list, but far from one of my favourites.

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3 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

I went to a book fair today. The books are very cheap there - they're the copies that can't be sold in bookstores because there is very slight damage to them, often imperceptible. There are three of them a year in cities near me - two in Gent, one in Kortrijk - and they last for four days.

 

In the past, I've noticed that if I attend every one every year, you see the same books again and again and you don't find very much. But if you leave some time between them, it feels like those first book fairs again, where you'd come home with a big bag of books without having paid an exorbitant amount. This happened today as well - I think it had been two years since I went to one.

 

I came home with ten books for a total of 40 euros.

 

  • Faithless, by Karin Slaughter
  • The Returned, by Seth Patrick (based on Les Revenants, a French show I loved)
  • Onsterfelijke laatste woorden, by Terry Breverton (original title: Immortal last words)
  • Restless, by William Boyd
  • The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, or the Murder at Road Hill House, by Kate Summerscale
  • The Bone Garden, by Tess Gerritsen
  • The Miniaturist, by Jessie Burton
  • Alice, het wolvenmeisje, by Kristin Hannah (original title: Magic Hour)
  • Ijzige stilte, by Wulf Dorn (original title: Kalte Stille, English title: Cold Silence)
  • De Stad, by Stella Gemmel (original title: The City)

The next challenge will be to find space on my bookshelves... very happy with my catch, though!

 

Wow, you've had a great weekend! A great haul of books :smile2: I hope you like the Karin Slaughter book! She's one of my favorite thriller authors :yes:

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On 07/04/2017 at 3:43 PM, chesilbeach said:

I did @Janet.  Not sure if you saw my post in the Audiobooks thread, but Audible have now released a PDF to go with the Sherlock Holmes collection which is a big index of what books and stories are in which parts and which chapters they match up to, so you've go a reference point to find out where to start listening to something specific. :) 

Thanks - I hadn't seen it, @chesilbeach:smile:  I've only got 3 books left now, so I probably won't download it.  I wish it had come out before I started on them!

 

 

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2 hours ago, chesilbeach said:

 

Hooray, I finished it!  Not the worst book on the English Counties list, but far from one of my favourites.

 

I hated that one :lol: Which has been the worst for you? 

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14 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

I've never gone on a Sunday before, but it was very nice! Not too crowded and there were still plenty of books.

 

There's been times I went and the prices were quite expensive - for Het Boekenfestijn, that is. They do totally ruin you when it comes to prices for books - De Stad was 8,50 € and I almost didn't buy it because it felt so expensive... I knew I'd regret it if I didn't, though. Glad to hear your sister liked it, it seems very interesting! 

 

I even found some space on my bookshelves ^^

 

It's good it wasn't too crowded. I usually go during the week, in the hope that it's relatively quiet.

I agree, that is so true about the prices!

Nice :biggrin:.

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On 10-4-2017 at 11:53 AM, shirley said:

Finally picked up to read The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton - what i have read so far is good 

 

I look forward to reading your review. I wasn't 100% convinced when I bought it, so I'm curious what you'll think of it.

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On 09/04/2017 at 5:53 PM, chesilbeach said:

 

Hooray, I finished it!  Not the worst book on the English Counties list, but far from one of my favourites.

 

On 09/04/2017 at 8:36 PM, Alexi said:

 

I hated that one :lol: Which has been the worst for you? 

 

Oh - I loved it (gave it 5/6)! 

Can't resist putting my penn'orth in: worst for me has been The Stars Look Down, with The Well of Loneliness a fairly close second.

 

Just finished Sons and Lovers, my alternative for the Nottinghamshire choice as I've already read and thoroughly disliked Lady Chatterley's Lover, which I enjoyed far more than I thought I would (5/6 again). Have moved on to Mallard by Don Hale, a slim history of the build-up to its record breaking run (so, not about wildlife!).

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I really enjoyed The Stars Look Down :lol: 

 

The Well of Loneliness we totally agree on though. Sludge. 

 

I am currently reading The Go-Between by L P Hartley - the choice for Norfolk. It's going ok at the moment (50 pages in) but I am waiting for it get going. 

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On 4/9/2017 at 8:36 PM, Alexi said:

Which has been the worst for you?

 

Lady Chatterley's Lover by a country mile!  I detested that book.  Ugh.  I wasn't particularly keen on Wind In The Willows by I suspect that's because I didn't read it as a child and have no emotional connection to it, which I think can make a difference.  And as much as I adore ALL her other books, Jane Austen's Emma is her one book I just don't get on with.

 

3 hours ago, willoyd said:

Can't resist putting my penn'orth in: worst for me has been The Stars Look Down, with The Well of Loneliness a fairly close second.

 

Hmm, I've still got both of these left to read, and based on the reviews, I'm wondering how I'll get on with them. :lol:

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I've been reading Storm In A Teacup by Helen Czerski this week, and I'm completely adoring it.  I am putting it aside for the weekend though, as the new Jodi Taylor [i[Chronicles of St Mary's[/i] book was out yesterday and I had to work late, so I've only had time to start it this morning, but I'm already a quarter of the way through and it's as fantastic as ever. :wub:

 

I've also bought myself a new book today - Cream Buns and Crime by Robin Stevens.

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