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Your Book Activity - October 2021


Marie H

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I finished Oscar de Muriel’s The Strings of Murder Audible. Enjoyable story, but the narration was hard work, and just a little too theatrical. Thankfully, following series I have bought Kindle versions.

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Finished a goosebumps Let's Get Invisible not one of my favourites and Haunted Whitby by Alan Brooke. 

 

 I have started on The Red Gloves & Other Stories by  Catherine Fisher and going to start on The Lovliest Chocolate Shop In Paris by Jenny Colgan. 

 

I want to read a few spooky stories this month and look forward to reading more Christmassy reads from next month. 

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7 hours ago, Madeleine said:

I'm about to start my first Oscar de Muriel book, in the Frey and McGrey series.

I'm excited for you!! I hope you love them too!

 

I'm a few chapters in to Lady Audley's Secret, but still also reading a chapter here and there of Silence in the Age of Noise.

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Still not reading, but I have been making purchases (but, of course!). I've been pretty busy of late, and have been relaxing with cryptic crosswords when I've had more than 5 minutes to myself. 

 

The GN Watchmen by Alan Moore is one I have been meaning to buy for ages, so just went and did! The other book is The Four Branches of The Mabinogi, a children's illustrated book by Sian Lewis and Valeriane Leblond,  recounting the oldest and most famous legends in Wales. 

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On ‎15‎/‎10‎/‎2021 at 5:32 PM, Hayley said:

I'm excited for you!! I hope you love them too!

 

 

Thanks Hayley, haven't read too much yet, so far it's reminding me a bit of a Victorian X Files! 

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On 18/10/2021 at 9:50 AM, Madeleine said:

so far it's reminding me a bit of a Victorian X Files!

I haven't seen/read X Files - maybe I'd like that too! 

 

I bought two books: Letters from the Dead by Sam Hurcom and People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield (they were in the 3 for £5 offer at The Works and I was buying The Testimony of Alys Twist by Suzannah Dunn for my sister, so that's my excuse :lol:)

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9 hours ago, Brian. said:

I've currently got two books on the go. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien and Candide by Voltaire. I'm only a few pages into Candide but I've been utterly charmed by The Hobbit and I'm about 2/3rds of the way through it.

I would expect nothing less of your reading of The Hobbit. :)  It is a delightful book.

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Listening to Ben Aaronovitch False Value (Rivers of London #8) and Alice Oseman Loveless.

 

2 hours ago, Raven said:

I think the two main things I took away from reading The Hobbit is that it gets better as it goes along and Dwarves are dicks.

 

*Raises one eyebrow* Tut tut, Raven. :giggle2:

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Just finished in fairly quick succession:

Orchard by Benedict Macdonald and Nicholas Gates - a beautifully written account of a year in the life of a traditionally farmed orchard in Herefordshire. Insights into the fabulous natural history of the orchard and the damage we're otherwise doing to our land abound.  One of the outstanding reads of the year, and straight on to my favourites list: 6/6.

Why The Dutch Are Different by Ben Coates - an interesting insight into Dutch culture from a Brit living in the Netherlands and married to a Dutch partner (although she's barely mentioned!).  4/6 - a good read.

That's my 70th book of the year, the first time I've ever hit 70 books before the end of October. 

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On 22/10/2021 at 1:48 PM, Raven said:

I think the two main things I took away from reading The Hobbit is that it gets better as it goes along and Dwarves are dicks.

 

 

I loved Lord of the Rings, even though not generally a fantasy fan. I was profoundly unmoved by The Hobbit (I think that best describes my feelings!) - it's a completely different sort of book. I might have enjoyed it as a child, but not now.

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2 hours ago, willoyd said:

 

I loved Lord of the Rings, even though not generally a fantasy fan. I was profoundly unmoved by The Hobbit (I think that best describes my feelings!) - it's a completely different sort of book. I might have enjoyed it as a child, but not now.

 

 

They certainly are very different books!

 

I made the mistake of trying to read The Hobbit straight after LotR, and failed badly (it felt like I was reading Tolkien Lite, for want of a better term).  I tried it again a few years later, however, and once I got past Rivendell the story started to improve and - the odd bit of singing aside - I found the last third of the book had a lot in common with LotR.

 

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I loved The Hobbit but I did actually read it as a child (well, probably a teen, I can't exactly remember!). I absolutely love the very first bit of the book, describing hobbit holes. If I could live in a fictional world, I think I would like to be a hobbit :lol:.

56 minutes ago, Raven said:

I made the mistake of trying to read The Hobbit straight after LotR, and failed badly (it felt like I was reading Tolkien Lite, for want of a better term).

I can see why it would feel disappointing if you were expecting more LotR. I had no other context for The Hobbit when I started it. 

 

 

3 hours ago, willoyd said:

That's my 70th book of the year, the first time I've ever hit 70 books before the end of October. 

Wow, congratulations! Do you have an aim for the end of the year?

 

 

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4 hours ago, Hayley said:

 

I can see why it would feel disappointing if you were expecting more LotR. I had no other context for The Hobbit when I started it. 

 

 

I knew The Hobbit wasn't going to be the same style as LotR when I started it, but I wasn't prepared for all the songs, and especially all the rather twee songs (when the Elves started singing to the Dwarves as they entered Rivendell I nearly threw the book across the room - that was the point at which I quit first time around!)

 

The Battle of the Five Armies, and the stuff with Smaug at the end of the book is pretty good, though.

 

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14 hours ago, Raven said:

and especially all the rather twee songs (when the Elves started singing to the Dwarves as they entered Rivendell

I forgot about that bit :lol:. Still less cringey than 'have they got any chips' in the film version though...

 

 

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