Poppy's Paperbacks 2010

[poppyshake]

I'm going to carry on with the same system ...

 

Books I love I'll highlight in purple

Books that I like a lot ... green

Books that I like... blue

The rest ... black

 

Books Read 2009

 

Books Read 2010

 

December 2010 (6 read plus 2 short stories)

Something Special - Iris Murdoch (short story) 8/10

Letter to My Daughter - Maya Angelou 7/10

The Summer Book - Tove Jansson 9/10

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch 10/10

Giving up the Ghost - Hilary Mantel 9/10

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (re-read) 10/10

Canon Alberic's Scrapbook - M.R. James (short story) 8/10

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving 9/10

 

November 2010 (9 read plus 2 short stories and 2 plays)

A Midsummer Nights Dream - William Shakespeare 9/10

Something Sensational to Read on the Train - Gyles Brandreth 8/10

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 9/10

Shakespeare - Bill Bryson 8/10

The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe (short story) 9/10

Howards End is on the Landing - Susan Hill 10/10

Ruby's Spoon - Anna Lawrence Pietroni 10/10

Letters from Father Christmas - J.R.R. Tolkien 10/10

Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare 8/10

Old Filth - Jane Gardam 8/10

The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allan Poe (short story) 8/10

Something Rotten - Jasper Fforde 10/10

The Blue Flower - Penelope Fitzgerald 10/10

 

(2 listened to)

 

Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson read by William Roberts 8/10

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 9/10

 

October 2010 (8 read)

Good Behaviour - Molly Keane 10/10

The Girl with Glass Feet - Ali Shaw 8/10

The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde 9/10

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 7/10

The Sea - John Banville 9/10

Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë 8/10

The Secret History - Donna Tartt 9/10

The Metamorphosis (and other stories) - Franz Kafka 9/10

 

(2 listened to)

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth read by Bill Wallis 10/10

Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde read by Gareth Armstrong 9/10

 

September 2010 (3 read)

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman 9/10

Little Hands Clapping - Dan Rhodes 9/10

Mr Rosenblum's List - Natasha Solomons 9/10

 

(2 listened to)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle read by Simon Prebble 8/10

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club - Charles Dickens read by Simon Prebble 10/10

 

August 2010 (6 read)

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy 9/10

Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde 9/10

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro 10/10

Cranberry Queen - Kathleen DeMarco 8/10

The Wives of Henry Oades - Johanna Moran 9/10

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen 9/10

 

(2 listened to)

Snobs - Julian Fellowes read by Richard Morant 6/10

Labyrinth - Kate Mosse read by Maggie Mash 6/10

 

July 2010 (8 read)

The Still Point - Amy Sackville 8/10

Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer 9/10

Buddha Da - Anne Donavan 8/10

The Rapture - Liz Jensen 5/10

Mudbound - Hillary Jordan 8/10

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam - Lauren Liebenberg 10/10

Gypsy Boy - Mikey Walsh 8/10

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami 8/10

 

(7 listened to)

The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin read by Jilly Bond 7/10

The Information - Martin Amis read by Steven Pacey 8/10

At Home: A Short History of Private Life - written and read by Bill Bryson 8/10

Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death - Gyles Brandreth read by Bill Wallis 10/10

Mr Golightly's Holiday - Salley Vickers read by Michael Maloney 9/10

A Star Called Henry - written and read by Roddy Doyle 8/10

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides 8/10

Edited December 30, 2012 by poppyshake

[poppyshake]

June 2010 (5 read)
Tatty - Christine Dwyer Hickey 9/10
The Room of Lost Things - Stella Duffy 8/10
The Undrowned Child - Michelle Lovric 8/10
Scottsboro: A Novel - Ellen Feldman 8/10
Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez 9/10

(4 listened to)
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver read by Dean Robertson 9/10
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie read by Lisette Lecat 8/10
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (Unabridged) read by Simon Slater 10/10
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire (Unabridged) read by John McDonough 10/10

May 2010 (12 read)
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh 9/10
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides 10/10
Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky 8/10
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson 9/10
The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki 7/10
The Road - Cormac McCarthy 10/10
The Wild Things - Dave Eggers 8/10
Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín 8/10
Girl in a Blue Dress - Gaynor Arnold 7/10
Ark Baby - Liz Jensen 9/10
The Colour Purple - Alice Walker 8/10
Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales - Angela Carter 8/10

(3 listened to)
The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Unabridged) performed by a cast 10/10
Amenable Women - Mavis Cheek (Unabridged) read by Joanna David 8/10
Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke (Unabridged) read by Allan Corduner 9/10

April 2010 (15 read)
A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True - Brigid Pasulka 10/10 review
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway 9/10 review
The Woman in Black - Susan Hill 8/10 review
The Colour - Rose Tremain 7/10 review
The Crowfield Curse - Pat Walsh 8/10 review
The City Of Thieves - David Benioff 9/10 review
The Red House Mystery - A.A. Milne 8/10 review
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez 9/10 review
Temeraire - Naomi Novik 8/10 review
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 6/10
Fever Crumb - Philip Reeve 8/10
A History of the World in 10½ Chapters - Julian Barnes 8/10
The Elephant Keeper - Christopher Nicholson 8/10
The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho 7/10
Set In Stone - Linda Newbery 8/10

(5 listened to)
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky read by Alex Jennings 9/10
Middlemarch - George Eliot read by Harriet Walter 8/10
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens read by Hugh Laurie 8/10
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley read by Richard Pasco 8/10
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (Unabridged) read by Trevor White 10/10 review

March 2010 (16 read)
The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson 7/10 review
Gold - Dan Rhodes 10/10 review
Stardust - Neil Gaiman 9/10 review
One Day - David Nicholls 8/10 review
Of Bees and Mist - Erick Setiawan 8/10 review
The Ostrich Boys - Keith Gray 7/10 review
The Behaviour of Moths - Poppy Adams 8/10 review
The Magic Toyshop - Angela Carter 8/10 review
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley 9/10 review
The Children's Book - A.S. Byatt 7/10 review
Timoleon Vieta Come Home - Dan Rhodes 7/10 review
Brixton Beach - Roma Tearne 7/10 review
Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman 7/10 review
Arthur & George - Julian Barnes 10/10 review
The Girls of Slender Means - Muriel Spark 8/10 review
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom 9/10 review

(5 listened to)
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland (Unabridged) read by David Thorpe 9/10 review
Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame read by Alan Bennett 8/10
Winnie The Pooh/House at Pooh Corner - A.A. Milne read by Alan Bennett 8/10
Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll read by Alan Bennett 8/10
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfield BBC dramatisation 8/10

February 2010 (8 read)
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman 10/10 review
Tales of Terror from the Black Ship - Chris Priestley 8/10 review
Puppet Master - Joanne Owen 7/10 review
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga 7/10 review
Fine Just the Way It Is - Annie Proulx 6/10 review
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters 9/10 review
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon 7/10 review
My Favourite People and Me (1978-88) - Alan Davies 6/10 review

January 2010 (7 read)
American Gods - Neil Gaiman 9/10 review
What I Was - Meg Rosoff 7/10 review
The Yellow Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzzbee 8/10 review
The Shipping News - Annie Proulx 10/10 review
Look Back in Hunger - Jo Brand 7/10 review
December - Elizabeth H. Winthrop 7/10 review
Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke 8/10 review

Edited November 29, 2013 by poppyshake

[poppyshake]

My TBR pile ... so far

Leviathan - Phillip Hoare
The Outcast - Sadie Jones
Away - Amy Bloom
The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
9987 - Nik Jones
Un Lun Dun - China Mieville
Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell - Richard Greene
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
Articles of Faith - Russell Brand
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The Robe of Skulls - Vivian French
Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold
Brick Lane - Monica Ali
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Outside of a Dog - Rick Gekoski
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Reader - Bernhard Schlink
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
Speaking for Themselves - the Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill - Mary Soames
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig
The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry
Booky Wook 2 - Russell Brand
My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead - Jeffrey Eugenides
The Chapel at the Edge of the World - Kirsten McKenzie
Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirlees
Along the Enchanted Way - William Blacker
Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead - Paula Byrne
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
The Black Prince - Iris Murdoch

Edited November 29, 2013 by poppyshake

[poppyshake]

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Waterstones synopsis: After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the time until his release ticks away, he can feel a storm brewing. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But the storm is about to break...Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Gaiman's epic novel sees him on the road to the heart of America.

Review: Quite a large book .. over 600 pages long and a bit of a challenge but well worth the effort. Once I had familiarised myself with Gaiman's version of the world I thoroughly enjoyed it. Always intriguing and downright bizarre at times Neil uses mythology, magic and legend and mixes them with modern day themes of consumerism and greed (the new Gods). I thought Shadow was an excellent central character, I didn't start off liking him particularly but ended up quite fond. The only problem with the book that it is a little graphic and crude in places .. otherwise I would have given it 10/10.

9/10

Edited November 29, 2013 by poppyshake

[poppyshake]

Audiobooks 2010

 

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland (Unabridged) read by David Thorpe 9/10

Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame read by Alan Bennett 8/10

Winnie The Pooh/House at Pooh Corner - A.A. Milne read by Alan Bennett 8/10

Alice in Wonderland/Alice Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll read by Alan Bennett 8/10

Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfield BBC dramatisation 8/10

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky read by Alex Jennings 9/10

Middlemarch - George Eliot read by Harriet Walter 8/10

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens read by Hugh Laurie 8/10

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley read by Richard Pasco 8/10

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (Unabridged) read by Trevor White 10/10

The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Unabridged) performed by a cast 10/10

Amenable Women - Mavis Cheek (Unabridged) read by Joanna David 8/10

Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke (Unabridged) read by Allan Corduner 9/10

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver read by Dean Robertson 9/10

Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie read by Lisette Lecat 8/10

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (Unabridged) read by Simon Slater 10/10

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire (Unabridged) read by John McDonough 10/10

The Information - Martin Amis (Unabridged) read by Steven Pacey 8/10

The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite - Beatrice Colin (Unabridged) read by Jilly Bond 7/10

At Home: A Short History of Private Life - Bill Bryson (Unabridged) read by Bill Bryson 8/10

Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death - Gyles Brandreth (Unabridged) read by Bill Wallis 10/10

Mr Golightly's Holiday - Sally Vickers (Unabridged) read by Michael Maloney 9/10

A Star Called Henry - Roddy Doyle read by Roddy Doyle 8/10

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffery Eugenides (Unabridged) read by Nick Landrum 8/10

Snobs - Julian Fellowes (Unabridged) read by Richard Morant 6/10

Labyrinth - Kate Mosse (Unabridged) read by Maggie Mash 6/10

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Unabridged) read by Simon Prebble 8/10

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club - Charles Dickens (Unabridged) read by Simon Prebble 10/10

Oscar Wilde & the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth (Unabridged) read by Bill Wallis 10/10

Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde (Unabridged) read by Gareth Armstrong 9/10

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth (Unabridged) read by Bill Wallis 10/10

Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson (Unabridged) read by William Roberts 8/10

Half of a yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Unabridged) read by Adjoa Andoh 9/10

TBLT

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami (Unabridged) read by Rupert Degas

Edited December 20, 2011 by poppyshake

[BookJumper]

The only problem with the book that it is a little graphic and crude in places .. otherwise I would have given it 10/10

Oh dear still, I already have this one on my shelf so I can't really not read it now, can I?

 

Oh, and - congrats on your first read of the year !

[poppyshake]

Oh dear still, I already have this one on my shelf so I can't really not read it now, can I?

 

Oh, and - congrats on your first read of the year !

 

Thanks BJ .. and really there isn't too much graphic content .. it's only a really small part of the 600 odd pages and it is fairly easy to skip without losing your way (really, I read those bit's with one eye closed). Neil does seem to have a habit of putting in the odd graphic scene and I didn't think the book actually needed it because it is such an extraordinary read.

My OH has gone shopping and I asked him to try and pick up 'Neverwhere' or 'Anansi Boys' for me .. I'm a bit hooked on Gaiman at the moment.

[Kell]

Poppy's right - it really is a tiny bit of graphic-ness )is that even a real word? I suspect not - LOL!) in the grand scheme of things and the book sitself is very enjoyable and well worth reading even if you decide to skip the little bits of graphic-ness, so please don't dismiss it from your list as I think you'd probably really enjoy it overall.

 

And Poppy - Neverwhere is awesome - I like it even more than American Gods (ti was the first Gaiman I read other than his joint effort with Prathcett - GOod Omens- which is fantastic).

[BookJumper]

Neverwhere and Anansi Boys are fantabulous, as indeed is Good Omens - I hope you get to read them all soon, Poppy .

 

@ Kell: 'graphicness' is a real word !

[poppyshake]

He picked up both the books for me .. so I'm really happy. As it was in exchange for a paperback that my sister bought me for Christmas (I already had it), I was only expecting one of them ... but he said they were side by side on the shelf and he couldn't decide .. ahhhhh .... there's a lot to be said for indecision after all!

[BookJumper]

Yay for your OH's indecision bless 'im!

[poppyshake]

What I Was - Meg Rosoff

Waterstones Synopsis: 'I'd been kicked out of two boarding schools and the last thing I wanted was to be here, on the East Anglian coast, in a third. But without St. Oswald's, I would not have discovered the fisherman's hut with its roaring fire, its striped blankets, its sea monster stew. Without St. Oswald's, I would not have met the boy with the beautiful eyes, the flickering half-smile, and no past. Without St. Oswald's, I would not have met Finn. And without Finn, there would be no story. Shall we begin?'

Review: I liked this book but I didn't love it. The 'I' in this book is an elderly man reminiscing about his youth and in particular his friendship and infatuation with Finn ... 'the boy with the beautiful eyes'. It is quite well written and descriptive but a bit slow in parts and though it did draw me in by the end I wasn't nearly as impressed with it as I was Meg's other book How I Live Now. Quite a short book so can be read in one or two sittings .. especially on a cold wintery night (such as last night).

7/10

Edited November 29, 2013 by poppyshake

[Peacefield]

Looks like a great list, Poppy!

 

I've read the Albom and Irving, which were fantastic! I also have the Morton on my TBR shelf. I've also read The Little Friend, and can I ask, have you read her first book 'The Secret History?' I absolutely loved that one.

[poppyshake]

Looks like a great list, Poppy!

 

I've read the Albom and Irving, which were fantastic! I also have the Morton on my TBR shelf. I've also read The Little Friend, and can I ask, have you read her first book 'The Secret History?' I absolutely loved that one.

 

Thanks for the recommendations , it's nice to have good feedback on books before you read them (encourages you to move them to the front of the queue). I haven't read 'The Secret History' yet but so many people have said that they loved it that I must get around to it.

[Peacefield]

Thanks for the recommendations , it's nice to have good feedback on books before you read them (encourages you to move them to the front of the queue). I haven't read 'The Secret History' yet but so many people have said that they loved it that I must get around to it.

 

Recommendations are the best, Poppy! Since I've read both of Tartt's books I'll be completely honest with you so I hope you don't mind . I thought Secret History was far and away superior to The Little Friend. In fact I seem to remember taking the time to write out a list of all the things I didn't like about Little Friend. Who knows though, you might have completely different taste than me!

[poppyshake]

Recommendations are the best, Poppy! Since I've read both of Tartt's books I'll be completely honest with you so I hope you don't mind . I thought Secret History was far and away superior to The Little Friend. In fact I seem to remember taking the time to write out a list of all the things I didn't like about Little Friend. Who knows though, you might have completely different taste than me!

 

Thanks for being honest, from the reviews I've read .. you're not alone in thinking that so maybe I should wait and read 'Secret History' first .. because sometimes if you don't particularly like a book it does put you off reading more from the author.

[frankie]

Thanks for being honest, from the reviews I've read .. you're not alone in thinking that so maybe I should wait and read 'Secret History' first .. because sometimes if you don't particularly like a book it does put you off reading more from the author.

 

I've heard the same thing you and peacefield have, I've never met a person who's actually liked The Little Friend I intend to read it still though, but just need to be in a very particular frame of mind. The Secret History on the other hand is simply brilliant, a very captivating read

[Peacefield]

I've heard the same thing you and peacefield have, I've never met a person who's actually liked The Little Friend I intend to read it still though, but just need to be in a very particular frame of mind. The Secret History on the other hand is simply brilliant, a very captivating read

 

I think what made The Little Friend especially painful, at least for me, was that I had waited so long for Tartt's second release after having read and loved The Secret History back in '93. Ten years later The Little Friend comes walking along and ugh, such a let down!

[chesilbeach]

Yellow Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzbee (currently reading)

I loved this book! Not only was it a great read, but I loved the physical size and feel of the book I have, with the deckled edges to the pages. Hope you're enjoying it too

 

In Tearing Haste - Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories - Susanna Clarke

These are both on my wishlist - just trying to reduce my existing TBR before buying anymore books for the moment

[poppyshake]

I loved this book! Not only was it a great read, but I loved the physical size and feel of the book I have, with the deckled edges to the pages. Hope you're enjoying it too

 

I'm loving it too, mine has deckled edges .. my OH said 'they haven't cut the paper properly!!' ... and I had to tell him it was meant to be like that .. and he's a printer!!

 

The author's love of books and bookshops just oozes out of every page .. and it makes you want to go to a bookstore/cafe and just absorb the atmosphere .. unfortunately, my local 'Borders' closed and that was the only place where I could get good coffee and books.

[poppyshake]

 

The Yellow Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzzbee

Amazon's Synopsis: Buzbee celebrates the unique experience of the bookstore - the smell and touch of books, getting lost in the deep canyons of shelves, the silent community of readers - sharing his passion for books and interweaving throughout the whole a fascinating historical account of the bookseller's trade.

Review: This is the book for anyone who suffers from 'booklust', Lewis recounts his life as a book lover and a bookseller (albeit for others, he never owned his own bookstore). He thinks, breathes and practically eats books, describing the atmostphere of each beloved bookstore in glorious detail (I want to go to Paris now and see all the lovely shops he described and the bouquinistes - green wooden stalls full of books - that line the banks of the Seine). There is plenty of history too, tracing the printed word right back to it's origins.
A lovely read for anyone who has a passion for books and bookshops. I really enjoyed it.

8/10

Edited November 29, 2013 by poppyshake

[Kylie]

Lovely review, Poppyshake. I've had this on my wishlist for a little while now. It sounds great!

[poppyshake]

Lovely review, Poppyshake. I've had this on my wishlist for a little while now. It sounds great!

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get around to reading it ... it's for anyone who has a passion for books .. so that's all of us really

[Ben]

Lovely review, added it to my wishlist. Good luck with your reading in 2010.

[joe]

wow sounds such a good book, will add it to my list of books to read, thank you.