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Your Book Activity - June 2019


Onion Budgie

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And now we're into June!  What's everyone reading this month?

 

I'm halfway through The Charioteer by Mary Renault.  I'm enjoying it, but the pacing has slowed to a crawl.  I'm hoping the second half gets a move on!  After I've finished this, I'm thinking about re-reading Wuthering Heights.  I last read it in my late teens, and can remember NOTHING except that it was a bit of a slog.

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How is it already June!? 

 

I'm about a quarter of the way through The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, which is good so far but not quite what I expected.

 

I hope The Charioteer picks up @Onion Budgie! I read Wuthering Heights years ago at school and mainly remember that I hated all of the characters! It would be interesting to see if you feel differently about it the second time.  

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I felt the same about WH as well, re-read it about 20 years ago and my opinion hadn't changed.  Trying to sum up courage to read again, but as Onion Budgie said, it's a bit of a slog!

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I've been re-reading The Naked God, book 3 in the Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton. I've really been enjoying my re-read. I did read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo at the same time as The Naked God, but I finished the former a few days ago (it was really good!).

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I can think of plenty of ways to describe Wuthering Heights, but have to admit that 'bit of a slog' isn't one of them!

 

I read it for the first time about 10 years ago, and absolutely loved it.  Rereading it about 4 years ago, I wasn't quite as fond of it, but still rated it 5/6.  I think I found it a just bit too dramatic second time around - maybe because I knew what was going to happen? - although the sense of place and time was palpable.  I can understand not liking any of the characters though! 

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Paper Towns by John Green. Two stars. I really wish I liked this one. I read TFIOS a couple of years a go because I was curious to all the fuss, and loved it. 

I did like some parts of the books, in particular part 3. However, I wasn't very enthralled with the rest. The main character was good. I liked him for the most part and his friends for the most part. I'll probably try another John Green book sometime in the future. 

 

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson. I must have had this author on my tbr for one of the longest times. I loved every page of this book. It was very cleverly done, as we follow two girls and their past. The twist at the end was great, I cannot believe I didn't see it coming. But I suppose that is a good thing. Would highly recommend but with a warning because of the subject matter. Five stars. 

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1 hour ago, Lau_Lou said:

Paper Towns by John Green. Two stars. I really wish I liked this one. I read TFIOS a couple of years a go because I was curious to all the fuss, and loved it. 

I did like some parts of the books, in particular part 3. However, I wasn't very enthralled with the rest. The main character was good. I liked him for the most part and his friends for the most part. I'll probably try another John Green book sometime in the future. 

 

I much prefer TFIOS over Paper Towns too.

 

1 hour ago, Lau_Lou said:

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson. I must have had this author on my tbr for one of the longest times. I loved every page of this book. It was very cleverly done, as we follow two girls and their past. The twist at the end was great, I cannot believe I didn't see it coming. But I suppose that is a good thing. Would highly recommend but with a warning because of the subject matter. Five stars. 

 

I've read two other books by this author and liked them. I'm glad you really liked The Ice Cream Girls, I have that one on my TBR :).

 

I'm still reading The Naked God, which I'll put down over the weekend to read my read-a-thon pile of graphic novels & manga, then I'll continue with it next week (while also reading another book next week).

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I've reached the last quarter of The Charioteer.  The pace is *finally* picking up.  I had faith, I knew it would.  It's almost exciting now!  Andrew or Ralph?  If it isn't Ralph, I'll be disgruntled.  Come on, Laurie. 

 

Next up will definitely be Wuthering Heights.  After reading all of your above comments, I can't wait to re-meet all of those ghastly characters!

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Finished Barring Mechanicals by Andy Allsop.  A slim volume, easy read, about his completion of the 2009 London-Edinburgh-London audax.  One probably for the cycling enthusiast (which I am), but still a well written, easily read (if not easily imagined!) account, with plenty of character.  Currently reading Georgina Howell's biography of the remarkable, fascinating, Gertrude Bell, Daughter of the Desert, later renamed Queen of the Desert. 

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oh it's almost half of June! i'm currently reading Candida by Bernard Shaw and a book about HTML and Css in home.

but in the library i started today with Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles and Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz.

I watched Wuthering Heights.

hope you are enjoying reading your books this month!.

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Finished Georgina Howell's biography of Gertrude Bell, Daughter of the Desert, later renamed Queen of the Desert.  A straight 6 stars, making it my 125th book at that level, and the 40th non-fiction book (also the first this year, although I'm thinking about another, but a novel).  At a bit of a loss as to what to read next, as I almost always am after a book in which I've been so wrapped up.

Edited by willoyd
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On 6/2/2019 at 6:18 AM, Onion Budgie said:

And now we're into June!  What's everyone reading this month?

 

I'm halfway through The Charioteer by Mary Renault.  I'm enjoying it, but the pacing has slowed to a crawl.  I'm hoping the second half gets a move on!  After I've finished this, I'm thinking about re-reading Wuthering Heights.  I last read it in my late teens, and can remember NOTHING except that it was a bit of a slog.

I greatly disagree with you about Wuthering Heights! I happen to find it one of the most passionate books out there! The intensity of the character's provides a great deal of interest to me! To quote from said book.... "I cannot live without my life; I cannot live without my soul!" We can draw so much desperation from Heathcliff it simply pours out of him towards the reader. Emily Bronte was connected to emotions in ways most writers can only hope to achieve. Perhaps I could agree if you stated her novels were over dramatic or had too much intensity to be real but I would simply point out the goal is to get the reader emotionally invested. Bronte sought a bolder approach to modern (at least at her time modern) writings by focusing on her characters emotions rather than relying solely on plot to get readers through her books. I happen to believe this is evident in her novel Wuthering Heights and she certainly proves her point! Stories are much more exciting when the reader is emotionally invested! 

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3 hours ago, Dottiethedemocrat said:

I greatly disagree with you about Wuthering Heights! I happen to find it one of the most passionate books out there! The intensity of the character's provides a great deal of interest to me! To quote from said book.... "I cannot live without my life; I cannot live without my soul!" We can draw so much desperation from Heathcliff it simply pours out of him towards the reader. Emily Bronte was connected to emotions in ways most writers can only hope to achieve. Perhaps I could agree if you stated her novels were over dramatic or had too much intensity to be real but I would simply point out the goal is to get the reader emotionally invested. Bronte sought a bolder approach to modern (at least at her time modern) writings by focusing on her characters emotions rather than relying solely on plot to get readers through her books. I happen to believe this is evident in her novel Wuthering Heights and she certainly proves her point! Stories are much more exciting when the reader is emotionally invested! 

 

I disagree with me too!  I'm re-reading it right now, and am LOVING it. 

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I have started reading Philip Pulllman's 'The Book Of Dust Volume One :La Belle Sauvage'. Love the trio of books that form His Dark Materials,  and this is the start of a prequel series. So far, so fascinated. :smile:

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21 hours ago, Chrissy said:

I have started reading Philip Pulllman's 'The Book Of Dust Volume One :La Belle Sauvage'. Love the trio of books that form His Dark Materials,  and this is the start of a prequel series. So far, so fascinated. :smile:

 

It's great isn't it!? So weird, in a good way, to be back in the world of His Dark Materials. I can't wait for the next one to come out! 

 

I'm about half way through Folk by Zoe Gilbert. I was expecting it to be a fairly light read but it's actually really intense!

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I picked up a book I’ve been meaning to read for ages, Cocaine Nights by J G Ballard. I purposefully avoided reading the synopsis and it’s completely different to what I thought it would be like and I’m loving it so far.

 

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Finished a quick but very interesting read: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney.  Have ordered the book prior to this, TAALOLC Living to fill in a few holes assumed by the author. Have moved on to The Rhine by Ben Coates, a description of his journey from mouth to source (we cycled source to mouth a few years ago). Got off to a good start.

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