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Your Book Activity - January 2020


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Peter Pan I did not get the hype with. I can say I was entertained at some points but overall not for me. 2 stars. 

 

Are You There God, Its Me Margaret. By Judy Blume.

Loved this. 

 

I didnt know what to read when I had finished this so I decided to do a test to see and it came out with Harry Potter. So that is what I am reading. Never ever read it before! But I can say I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. 

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18 hours ago, Onion Budgie said:

I finished Birthday by Meredith Russo, which was a very good and fast read.  Next up, I've picked out Dorian by Will Self, which is a reimagining of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.

 

I have Birthday on my TBR, glad you liked it!

 

11 hours ago, Lau_Lou said:

Peter Pan I did not get the hype with. I can say I was entertained at some points but overall not for me. 2 stars. 

 

Are You There God, Its Me Margaret. By Judy Blume.

Loved this. 

 

I didnt know what to read when I had finished this so I decided to do a test to see and it came out with Harry Potter. So that is what I am reading. Never ever read it before! But I can say I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. 

 

It's nice you're enjoying Harry Potter more than you thought you would. Happy reading (hopefully)!

 

I'm currently reading Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller. I've only got maybe a third or a fourth left to read, so I'm hoping to finish it later today. So far it has been a fast and good read, that's made me think.

 

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First book of the year completed, one of my Christmas presents: The Summer Isles by Philip Marsden.  The story of his solo sail up from Cornwall up the west coast of Ireland, and on to the Summer Isles.  Beautifully written.  5/6.

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Just finished 'The Fake Date' by Shari Lapena. The writing was a bit all over the place, but generally it was an intriguing thriller.

 

Now I'm doing a buddy read of 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott, which is one of my all time favourite books. I just hope that friend enjoys this book as much as I do!

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On 1/9/2020 at 10:20 AM, Lau_Lou said:

Peter Pan I did not get the hype with. I can say I was entertained at some points but overall not for me. 2 stars. 

 

 

Even as a child I disliked Peter Pan, I can't think of any concrete reason for this ... I just did :lol: 

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5 hours ago, Chrissy said:

I'm reading Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch.  

 

I love this Rivers of London / Peter Grant series. They manage to be engaging, nuanced and humorous, while forwarding an at times pretty intense plot arc. A pleasure to read. :)

 

They are certainly my favourite series of current novels (and the next one's out in just over a month!)

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8 hours ago, Chrissy said:

I'm reading Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch.  

 

I love this Rivers of London / Peter Grant series. They manage to be engaging, nuanced and humorous, while forwarding an at times pretty intense plot arc. A pleasure to read. :)

Completely agree, I love them too!

 

3 hours ago, Raven said:

 

They are certainly my favourite series of current novels (and the next one's out in just over a month!)

:yahoo:
 

I’ve just got two short stories left in Tom Cox’s Help the Witch but I have no idea what I want to read next!

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Looking at the global moment and especially because my partner is from India and right now India seems to be going through a moment of great distress, after much research and reading around, I am reading the works of this great Indian thinker called BR Ambedkar. For college, I am also reading some intense class work in Concepts of Biology and finding it quite dry. To take the pressure off, I am also re-reading The Little Prince because this book always, always helps me make sense of the world and find peace in myself. I am glad that this community is reading so much diverse stuff and would like to add some of it into my own reading pile! :) Happy reading, Folx!

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So far this year I’ve read The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella and today I finished A Not Quite Perfect Family by Claire Sandy. Tomorrow I start The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien as a group read with my daughters. I feel like I need some fantasy after all of the contemporary reads.

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Completed my second book of the year, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy,a book group choice.  Outstanding: 5/6.

 

Now moving on to my other group's read for this month, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, which looks rather substantial (to seriously understate the case!).

Edited by willoyd
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8 hours ago, Kazloumy said:

So far this year I’ve read The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella and today I finished A Not Quite Perfect Family by Claire Sandy. Tomorrow I start The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien as a group read with my daughters. I feel like I need some fantasy after all of the contemporary reads.

 

I have My Not So Perfect Life on my TBR. Did you like it? I liked The Hobbit. I too feel like I need to switch up genres.

 

7 hours ago, willoyd said:

Completed my second book of the year, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy,a book group choice.  Outstanding: 5/6.

 

I'm glad this was a book club read that was really good (as opposed to usually when you don't like the book group choice books)!

 

I finished reading With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo yesterday (which was a nice read). I'm not sure yet what I feel like reading next, but I have a lot of chores and things to do today, so I might not pick another book just yet, until I'm further done with those tasks.

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14 hours ago, Athena said:

 

I have My Not So Perfect Life on my TBR. Did you like it? I liked The Hobbit. I too feel like I need to switch up genres.

 

 

I'm glad this was a book club read that was really good (as opposed to usually when you don't like the book group choice books)!

 

I finished reading With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo yesterday (which was a nice read). I'm not sure yet what I feel like reading next, but I have a lot of chores and things to do today, so I might not pick another book just yet, until I'm further done with those tasks.

Yes, I did like My Not So Perfect Life.  Sophie Kinsella always tends to write about the female protagonist with career goals, many obstacles in her way and with a heart of gold. Some bits were laugh out loud funny. It’s a nice break from the thrillers and dense fantasies I love to read. It’s a little bit tongue in cheek and predictable, but I have to say, It’s a feel good book at its best. :)

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23 hours ago, Athena said:

I'm glad this was a book club read that was really good (as opposed to usually when you don't like the book group choice books)!

 

I think the reality is a bit more positive!  Apologies if the following is a bit long-winded, but I hope it's of some interest, and helps explain.

 

I belong to two book groups, the selections for which are done in different ways.  Even without considering the detail of those selections, it's probably inevitable that a higher fraction of the books I don't like are group selections, simply because I don't have any say in most of them - I'm not likely to select books for my own reading that I'm likely to dislike after all! 

 

Then, there's the method of selection.  One group (A) is an independent group which I joined a few years ago that meets in members' homes.  Selections go in cycles: at the start of a cycle, each member nominates two books to the book co-ordinator (which happens to be me at present), who makes sure there aren't any duplicates, repeats etc.  I then allocate a book to each month (mainly out of a hat!) and circulate a reading programme to the end of the next cycle (about 15 months at present).  The other group (B) is a more recently formed one based in my local library, and using the library system's stock of reading group books.  Every cycle we each select one book off a list of these.  Each month, central services sends out a set of one of these for us to read next month.  A highlight of each meeting is opening the box and discovering which book we're reading next month (only the group co-ordinator - not me in this case! - has the list of our choices). Both groups have fun trying to guess who selected that month's book!

 

The result is that Group A has more control over the books being read, and there is distinctly more variety in the genres and authors too (the list for the second group is dominated by fiction, of which most is literary fiction).  The result of that is that I find I enjoy a  higher proportion of Group A's books - more consideration is given by each nominator too.  Having said that, there's been a fair amount of 'good' reads from both groups.  In the last year the distribution has been:

 

Group A:  read 10, ****** 1, ***** 2, **** 2, *** 2, ** 3, * 0,  average = 3.6

Group B:  read 11, ****** 0, ***** 1, **** 3, *** 3, ** 1, * 3,  average = 2.8

 

Having said all that (!), the fact that All the Pretty Horses provided a good score, may partly be down to the fact that it was my nomination (Group A)! Of the books above, my nominations scored a 6 and a 5 in Group A, and the 5 in group B, undelrining the biases outlined above (I am glad to say they proved popular with other members as well).

 

I ought to emphasise that I absolutely don't mind there being a higher proportion of books I don't like - half the point to a reading group for me is to be introduced to a wider range of authors and books (which is why I do find the Group B list a bit frustrating at times I have to admit). And every year there's at least one major discovery for me: this year it was George Mackay Brown, whose book for the group (A) I loved - I'm exploring more of his writing this year - and who more than compensated for some of the 'dross'!

Edited by willoyd
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