~Andrea~ Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 I'm really enjoying 11 months although it's flipping scary in parts. I'm glad I live with OH now, I just don't think I could read this if I still lived alone. Even with him in the house I'm still getting spooked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 15, 2008 Author Share Posted September 15, 2008 I put Eleven Terrible Months on hold while I went away for the weekend because it's a bit bulky for the plane, so I've now picked up Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie, which is a lot slimmer. I think I'll give up on Entertaining Angels since too much time's elapsed since I put it to one side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 Finished Five Little Pigs last night. It was a good ending. I thought I'd guessed but I was wrong. The book was a little slow, but overall enjoyable. Would def like to read more Agatha Christie. Now back to Eleven Terrible Months which was put on hold because it was too bulky to go in my hand luggage last weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 23, 2008 Author Share Posted September 23, 2008 Beginning to struggle with Eleven Terrible Months now. I am on Chris's story and I have two problems: 1) I'm not getting on with the style of Chris's voice - it's a bit rambling and while all the little asides do reveal his character, it's at the expense of the story telling. This section could do with a bit of editing IMO. The bit where he starts to explain how to use commas because he's just found out himself annoyed me a lot. Just what was the point of it? 2) I've already read and know the story, because part one, Sue's account takes you up to the end of the time-line. Chris's story is just a different viewpoint, with a few differences in some of the events. I find myself wondering why I need to go on reading. We shall see ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 I think I found Chris's section the hardest aswell. It's been a while now.. is there a third part? If so, I would recommend skimming Chris's section, rather than giving up. Although, I do think that some different things happened to him..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 23, 2008 Author Share Posted September 23, 2008 Yes there is, Sally the sister has a section. Thanks - I may well do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 I've now naughtily skipped straight to the final section - Sally's story, and I'm enjoying it much more than the middle section. I may return to Chris' story once I've finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyB Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Chris's story is just a different viewpoint, with a few differences in some of the events. I find myself wondering why I need to go on reading. We shall see ... I found Chris's story the saddest section and I was interested how the mother's point of view of events was at times different to his - although the book creeped me out and fulfilled a horror fix I was really taken by its portrayal of the family dynamic - it's something I think about a lot having teenagers myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 25, 2008 Author Share Posted September 25, 2008 Ah interesting. I think I am up for the horror aspect more than the story of a family aspect, so I found Chris bit frustrating in that way. Perhaps horses for courses then. Although as I say, I may go back and read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 (edited) Finished 11 months on Sunday, really enjoyed it in the end, although Chris bit could have been cut down a bit IMO. ETA: review of 11 months to come. Started The Mind of God by Paul Davis last night. A bit of light reading before bed, physics, maths and philosophy Still am determined to read it by xmas since it was a Christmas present (requested) last year. Edited September 29, 2008 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 (edited) Review of 11 Terrible Months - R L Royle This is the creepy story of an ordinary family living in a council flat through a severe haunting, for eleven months. I really enjoyed this book but did think it had some problems. First of all, being as it was, an account of the same set of events recorded by three different people, this book was always going to face certain difficulties: by the end of the first account the reader has already come to the end of the story, so why should they read on? if the accounts were to be realistic, certain events are going to be repeated threefold, how could they remain fresh each time? The author tackles these issues with some success and some failure. Some of the repetition felt repetitive, and some worked really well. I also thought that that the second two accounts should have been considerably shorter than the first, to give the reader an incentive to read on without thinking, 'oh i've got to go through all that again'. Account 3 is the perfect length, short and snappy and filling in the gaps of the other two. Account two however left me struggling. I thought it was far too long, and quite rambling. I do not need to see every idle thought in a characters mind, and a lot of Chris' account suffered from characterization-over-storytelling, and really could have done with some sharper editing (perhaps one of the pitfalls of self-publishing). That said, Chris' character and story were interesting, if overlong. In spite of it's flaws, Eleven Terrible Months is a compulsive read, and I found myself immersed in a world I kept wanting to return to. After I had finished the book it stayed with me for days. I loved the concept of this book, the ordinariness of the family and the writing was fresh take on the haunted house story. It's a shame that this book failed to deliver its full potential, and a good book could have been even better. 7/10 Edited October 5, 2008 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted October 5, 2008 Author Share Posted October 5, 2008 I started This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith last week, and so far it's excellent. The writing is first class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thoroughly enjoyed This Sweet Sickness. The protagonist is a real anti-hero and I think its testament to Highsmith's ability that she is able to create a character who is scary, unreasonable, obsessive, disturbed and at the same time sympathetic. 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 Well I finally finished Persuasion last night. I did enjoy it, but I wouldn't rush and read another Austen. She's very verbose, I do like the language, and I enjoyed the story and the characters, but it takes a bit more effort to read. I prefer modern prose, where the action is revealed rather than explained. I did enjoy the humour in it. 7/10. I'm still plodding along with The Mind of God. Hopefully I will make some good progress now I've finished Persuasion. I'm enjoying it though. It has some interesting ideas. I find Paul Davies much more accessible than say, Stephen Hawking. Although I don't pretend to understand it all completely, I have much more chance with him than SH. After just a few chapters of A Brief History of Time I was completely out of my depth. Next fiction book I think will be one of the Lucy Diamond ones from the comp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Started Over You by Lucy Diamond yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie2008 Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 I really enjoyed Over You. I would give it 8 or 9 out of 10. I have never read anything with a similar plot but I found it very lifelike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 Thanks for the comment. I've only read the first chapter as I'm trying to get other stuff finished before I get stuck in. I thought it sounded interesting. It looks like a good light read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted November 30, 2008 Author Share Posted November 30, 2008 Finally finished The Mind of God it shouldn't have taken me that long - but it was a hard read late at night (which is when I do most of my reading) Anyway, I enjoyed it. Some of it was tough - all the stuff on computation lost me a bit, but the stuff on physics and maths has whetted my appetite for more pop science. I might dig out and dust off my copy of The Quantum Universe. Anyway - The Mind of God was all about the big questions of the origins of the universe, why is the universe the way it is? Why do we have the particular set of laws of physics that we do? Is mathematical truth something that exists in its own right or is it just a human construction? why does anything exist? It's science bordering on philosophy and I found it very interesting. It asked some intriguing questions, such as, is space time discrete or continuous? Like, on a very small scale do things actually move about in little hops, or do we move through space in infinitely small increments? The answer is we may never know because however finely you measure, you could always go a little bit finer. There was also some interesting stuff about the paradoxes inherent in maths and logic and the limits of rational reasoning. Anyway - it's probably not for everyone, but if you're interested in physics/maths/cosmology/philosophy/metaphysics/theology then it might interest you as it has a bit of all of those, although its main content is the science. A bit heavygoing at times, but all in all it was right up my street. Next I think I'll start Informal Logic - yet more light reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 Started Informal Logic last night. I think I'll enjoy it though I hope it won't be too dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Finished Lucy Diamond Over You last night. It wasn't bad - a light enjoyable read. Then started Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Well i'm thoroughly enjoying both the books i'm reading at the moment. I've only just got started with Far from the Madding Crowd but really loving it so far. I love Hardy's imagery. Still quite early days with Informal Logic but am finding it really interesting too. Caught up with it a bit on the weekend. Hoping to get the Hardy read before Jan for the reading circle but not sure if that will actually happen. Hopefully I can catch up a bit over Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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