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Lucy's books '09/'10


Lucybird

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Star Gazing by Linda Gillard

 

Synopsis (from Shelfari)

 

Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. While Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, and yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to "show" her the stars?

 

Review

 

I really liked this but can't quite put my finger on what it is (yes helpful, I know!). Most of all I liked Keir. He wasn't perfect, but perfect would have made for a boring book, and I think most of his faults were more mistakes than flaws, which is the best type of fault. Marianne I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with. I admired how strong and independent she was, but at times her logic was so....wonky. I understood it but never agreed, even though I guess parts of it were caused by Keir's mistakes. I kind of devoured it, I've read books faster, but still I only started it Sunday and have been really reading it in my gaps from work, I even almost missed my bus stop on the way to work today!

I was so relieved when they decided to get married at the end, and annoyed at Marianne for not just leaping at the chance. I did expect it to be Keir though and I think it might have been better if we only found out when Marianne did, or at least as close as possible. I guess most people would realise when she sensed him.

 

I prefered this one to Emotional Geology, and am looking forward to reading more Linda Gillard.

 

4/5

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Not sure which of these 4 to read next:

 

This is Your Brain on Music- Daniel Levitin

The Lucifer Effect- Phillip Zimbardo

Norwegian Wood- Haruki Murakami

A fraction of the whole- Steve Toltz

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If you don't mind me suggesting, I'd say go for Norwegian Wood! I'd like to hear your thoughts on it, I want to read it myself at some point. Also, I think Gyre is reading it at the moment and you could compare notes :icon_eek:

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I just thought of something else I liked about Star Gazing, or maybe just Linda Gillard's style in general. It has some of the easiness that chick-lit has- and which is the main reason I read it- but it doesn't make me feel (for want of a better word) guilty for reading trash. Because it isn't trash. Even though it has the same love themes that chick-lit has, and I guess to a certain extent the same plotline (you know; boy meets girl, falls in love, there's a conflict, they break up, they get back together and live hapilly ever after), it's different. It seems more carefully thought out and research. The characters are characters in their own right rather than the usual 30somethings you find in chick-lit who are all basically the same. And it's not your usual heroine which makes it seem more...realistic I guess, because they aren't like the 'perfect' girl.

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Lucybird, I was very interested to read this post and it's given me a lot to think about.

 

I do work hard at making my books "easy to read", by which I mean I try to make them hard to put down. (That's a lot to do with style and not having any superflous verbiage during which the reader can think about making a cup of tea or switching on the TV. :D )

 

As for my heroines (and heroes): if they bored me, I couldn't write them, so I have to make them interesting to me. That means they're going to be thoughtful types, probably non-materialistic. They also tend to have been around the block a few times and have often suffered losses of various kinds. (My characters are much older than chick lit characters.)

 

But I think the main thing that distinguishes my characters from those in chick lit (and I'm not saying they're better, just different) is that I make my characters complex and conflicted. They tend to be reflective types, which might come with age I suppose.

 

I was once asked by a 20-something journalist why I didn't make the heroine of EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY 25 (which would have made the book much more commercial). I said I'd made my heroine 47 because I was 50 and wasn't interested in writing about women half my age. I thought my own age was more interesting.

 

I suppose what I'm saying is that because my characters are older, they've done a lot of living and a lot of thinking. That makes them interesting people. But they're driven by the same basic needs as anyone else, so there's always love at the heart of the story - and not just romantic love. In my books there's always a need for friendship and I show characters offering support and companionship.

 

In my 4th novel (not yet published) one of the heroes says "Time and kindness heal most wounds." I think that's what my books are about. Time and kindness.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can't imagine Emotional Geology with a 25 year old, it just wouldn't be the same! I do like that your characters are older, chick-lit is very samey it's nice to have a difference

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Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

 

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

 

Review

 

You know what I'm really bad at wriiting good reviews...what do you think that say about me?!

Anyway I thought this book was beautiful. It wasn't what I expected really, I expected more of a classic love story I suppose...but this wasn't that. I much prefered Midori to Naoko. There was something kind of sweet about Naoko but I found her, I'm not sure if boring is the word but she certainly didn't bring the same kind of excitement as Midori. I am probably more like Midori...but a bit more conventional!

In fact I prefered reading about her illness than actually reading about her, whereas with Midori I was always looking forward to what she might say next. I was glad when Watanabe realised that he really loved her.

I didn't expect there to be as much graphical sex descriptions in it either. It didn't put me off but I can imagine it might for some people

 

4.5/5

 

Am reading The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde now, and am still reading A Fraction of the Whole

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You're not bad at writing reviews at all, Lucybird! I think I'll add Norwegian Wood to my wish list.

 

I hope you enjoy The Big Over Easy. I have about 100 pages ago and am really enjoying it so far.

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You're not bad at writing reviews at all, Lucybird! I think I'll add Norwegian Wood to my wish list.

 

I hope you enjoy The Big Over Easy. I have about 100 pages ago and am really enjoying it so far.

 

It was Mac's review that made me add it, so in comparison my review is rubbish!

 

I'm liking The Big Over Easy so far but not as much as the Thursday Next series I don't think

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The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

It's Easter in Reading; a bad time for eggs; and no one can remember the last sunny day. Humpty Dumpty, well-known nursery favourite, large egg, ex-convict and former millionaire philanthropist is found shattered beneath a wall in a shabby area of town.

 

Following the pathologist's careful reconstruction of Humpty's shell, Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his Sergeant Mary Mary are soon grappling with a sinister plot involving cross-border money laundering, the illegal Bearnaise sauce market, corporate politics and the cut and thrust world of international Chiropody.

 

As Jack and Mary stumble around the streets of Reading in Jack's Lime Green Austin Allegro, the clues pile up, but Jack has his own problems to deal with.

 

And on top of everything else, the Jellyman is coming to town...

 

Review

 

Have been meaning to write this for nearly a week but don't really have much to say. I really liked it, but not as much as what I've read from the Thursday Next series. It was funny and I loved all the nursery rhyme references. In a way that bit was better than the book references in the Thursday Next books because I'm more likely to know the original stories. My favourite character was Jack, I really thought he was great.

 

4/5

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If you're going for Jasper Fforde I'd personally recommend the Thursday Next series (starting with The Eyre Affair) over the nursery crime ones, I don't have a review of the first but there are reviews of the next 2 in this thread

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Things I want my Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

'My beautiful girls. If you've read this, you'll know it contains some - not all, but some - of the things I want my daughters to know. And the greatest of these is love ...' How would you say goodbye to those you love most in the world? Barbara must say a final farewell to her four daughters. But how can she find the words? And how can she leave them when they each have so much growing up to do? There's commitment-phobic Lisa. Brittle, unhappily married Jennifer. Free-spirited traveller Amanda. And teenage Hannah, stumbling her way towards adulthood. Barbara's answer is to write each daughter a letter, finally expressing the hopes, fears, dreams and secrets she couldn't always voice. These words will touch the girls in different - sometimes shocking - ways, unlocking emotions and passions to set them on their own journey of discovery through life.

 

Review

 

Hmm main thing which struck me about this book was it was more chick-litty than I expected, pretty good chick-lit but still more than I was expecting. I have nothing against chick-lit but I only usually pick it up if I'm after an easy read, I enjoyed it enough but if I realised how chick-litty it was I don't think I would have been looking forward too it so much. It also didn't have as much actual grief narrative as I was expecting- in a way it was just an added dimension, all the other problems were seperate really the only way it was connected was in how the daughters couldn't speak to their mother which was a bit of an over used comment- why didn't they talk to her about any of their problems when she was alive- they would have surely if they suddenly wanted too? It just seemed to be put in to link back really- to stop topic straying too much.

Overall an enjoyable enough read but don't expect it tobe anything great

 

3/5

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I really liked it, but not as much as what I've read from the Thursday Next series.
Does this mean I can read the "Nursery Crime" novels if I haven't read all the "Thursday Next"s (I got halfway through "The Well of Lost Plots" and got sidetracked... :))?
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Yes BookJumper! 'The Big Over Easy' and 'The Forth Bear' are not connected to the Thursday Next series, except a slight overlap that has more relevance to Thursday Next than the NCD books.

 

Lucybird, I love the conciseness of your reviews! :)

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The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

 

Review

 

Don't really have much to say about this book. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, just pretty much middle of the road. Maybe I would have got more out of it if I was an Austen reader but I'm not! I didn't feel a particular attachment to any of the characters, I quite liked Greig and I found Prudie a bit cold but I didn't really care that much about any of them. It was an enjoyable enough read but I've read plenty better

 

3/5

 

I love Jane Austen but I didn't think much of this book either.

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Does this mean I can read the "Nursery Crime" novels if I haven't read all the "Thursday Next"s (I got halfway through "The Well of Lost Plots" and got sidetracked... :))?

 

Yes you can. As Chrissy said there is a slight overlap but nothing important to the plot of either (at least not as far as I've read). I was going to do the same except The Big Over Easy came up on the reading circle here

 

 

Lucybird, I love the conciseness of your reviews! :)

 

lol thanks. It's not really intentional but in ways I think it's better than longer ones

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  • 3 weeks later...

I started a book blog today so will be posting links to that rather than repeating myself from now on, but still feel free to comment here (and I'll still be changing the first post)

 

 

December- Elizabeth H. Winthrop

 

Review

 

3.5/5

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is Your Brain on Music- Daniel Levitin

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive explanation of how humans experience music and to unravel the mystery of our perennial love affair with it. Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience.Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language. In "This Is Your Brain On Music" Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it, and its role in human life.

 

Review

 

2.5/5

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For One More Day by Mitch Alborn

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

'Every family is a ghost story ...' As a child, Charley Benetto was told by his father, 'You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy, but you can't be both.' So he chooses his father, only to see him disappear when Charley is on the verge of adolescence. Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been destroyed by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits rock bottom after discovering he won't be invited to his only daughter's wedding. And he decides to take his own life. Charley makes a midnight ride to his small hometown: his final journey. But as he staggers into his old house, he makes an astonishing discovery. His mother - who died eight years earlier - is there, and welcomes Charley home as if nothing had ever happened. What follows is the one seemingly ordinary day so many of us yearn for: a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain the family secrets and to seek forgiveness.

 

Review

 

5/5

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