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Ooshie's Reading List 2010


Ooshie

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I wasn't going to do a list this year because I had missed a few months, but I never keep a note of what I read, and I am beginning to long for a nice list to keep track of it all! So, I'm going to start one now (May), and gradually add as many books as I can remember that I read earlier in the year too. I will probably add short reviews too, although maybe not of everything I read. Feel free to make any comments you like! laugh.gif Looks like around 72 books read this year.

 

January to April

 

So far I can remember...

 

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith

Black Lands - Linda Bauer

The Crossing Places - Elly Griffiths

Bungalow 2 - Danielle Steele

Don't Look Twice - Andrew Cross

Strangers - Anita Brookner

Perfect Match - Jane Moore

Sacred Hearts - Sarah Dunant

Home - Marilynne Robinson

Long Lost - Harlan Coben

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick

The Gate House - Nelson DeMille

The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber

The Stand - Stephen King

 

Well, I didn't exactly remember all the above, I have to confess they were in a pile on the floor by my bed waiting to be put in a bookcase - I will have to have a look at other piles around the house now :biggrin:

 

May

 

Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Apple by Michel Faber

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

Shadow by Karin Alvtegen

Bad Blood by S J Rozan

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

 

June

 

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell

The Best of Times by Penny Vincenzi

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

 

July

 

Possession by A S Byatt

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I Can See You by Karen Rose

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Shack by Wm Paul Young

The Earth is the Lord's : A Tale of the Rise of Genghis Khan by Taylor Caldwell

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson

The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy

 

August

 

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Post Commander by Patrick O'Brian

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Room Swept White by Sophie Hannah

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

 

September

 

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

 

October

 

Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly

Confessions of a Fallen Angel by Ronan O'Brien

Vanity Fair by W M Thackeray

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

 

November

 

Into the Blue by Robert Goddard

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

The Small Hand by Susan Hill

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis

Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain

 

December

 

The Snow by Adam Roberts

The Big Snow by David Park

The Folio Book of Christmas Ghost Stories

Edited by Ooshie
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Q & A by Vikas Swarup

 

I wouldn't have chosen to read this book on my own, as a novel set in the slums of India wouldn't have appealed to me, but I am very glad that it was chosen as the May Reading Group book.

 

I found it a quick and easy read and thoroughly enjoyed the whole story -even the more tragic parts - and I particularly liked the way it was presented almost as a series of interlinked short stories.

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Am I correct in thinking that you also picked The Crimson Petal and the White purely because it was on the Rory Gilmore book challenge? That's already two books that you wouldn't have chosen on your own, but decided to read them because of BCF :D This is the best place isn't it, one gets so many great recommendations and one can "read outside the box". I'm really glad you liked Q&A, it was one of my favorite reads last year :D

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Yes, that's right - I had never even heard of TCP&TW until the Rory Gilmore book challenge! And I will be reading The Apple as a result of that, too. I love the way the forum is expanding my reading horizons; I have always read a lot, but I guess I had got into a bit of a rut with the type of books/authors I was choosing.

 

Oh, and I had never heard of Wicked either, which I'm reading now - Rory Gilmore again! :D

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Wicked by Gregory Maguire

 

The story of Elphaba, a green-skinned girl, who grows up to be The Wicked Witch of the West in the classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A marvellously imaginative story of the experiences which shape Elphaba, and of how she came to be perceived in the way she was.

 

I found Wicked a well-written and imaginative book, and enjoyed reading it. I am going to have to buy The Wonderful Wizard of Oz now, though, as I haven't read that yet!

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The Apple by Michel Faber

 

Having thoroughly enjoyed reading The Crimson Petal and the White (I still find myself thinking about the characters now, several weeks after finishing it), I was really looking forward to this collection of seven short stories which gives more glimpses into the pasts and futures of some of the characters.

 

Having finished it, though, I actually wish I had just contented myself with TCP&TW and not tried to prolong the experience. The short stories were well enough written, but I didn't really find they added anything to my enjoyment, and I have the feeling I will continue to think of the characters just as I knew them in the novel and without the extra details.

 

I haven't decided yet whether to keep The Apple to re-read at a later date, or give it away.

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I've been wanting to read Wicked for a long time but they didn't have it at the library so I've been putting it off. But after your review I think I will try buy it instead cause it seems so good!

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The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

 

The story of 99 year old Roseanne, who has been held in a mental hospital since she was a young woman. As the hospital is closing, her psychiatrist has to assess her to decide whether she needs continuing psychiatric care or whether she can be returned to the community, and the book follows the story of her life both from her own memories and from the records that are held in various institutions; there is an interesting twist to the tale towards the end. I found this book a very moving read, and well written, but quite depressing as it deals very much with the inhumanity of ordinary people to someone in need. Having said that, there are some characters who do not fall into this category, and the various strands of the story are tied up well at the end.

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The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

 

A fast moving and easy to read crime novel, this follows reporter Jack McEvoy on the final story he will write after being made redundant. He is determined that his story will be the best he has ever written, and follows up on a phone call that usually he might have ignored. He discovers a serial killer - but the serial killer has discovered him, too...

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A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

The story of newly married Americans Margaret and Patrick, who move to Kenya, this book is descriptive of the politics and poverty of that country as well as the animals and scenery (of both countryside and city). They make friends with a British couple and join them on a climbing expedition during which there is a fatal accident, with detrimental effects on both themselves and their marriage which are explored throughout the rest of the book.

 

I found this book slightly confusing, as to begin with the language etc made me think the book was set in the 1940s or 1950s, but later there are references which show it was later; I'm still not sure exactly when it was set.

 

Enjoyable enough, I didn't like it as much as I usually like Anita Shreve's writing, although this might be more to do with the fact that I didn't enjoy the change of scene from small town America (where her books are more usually set) to Africa. It certainly didn't make me want to visit Africa.

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Shadow by Karin Alvtegen

A crime novel with a few twists, this follows the lives of writer Axel Ragnerfeldt (now totally paralysed and in a nursing home) and his extended family, their housekeeper Gerda Persson, and Kristoffer Sandeblom (who was abandoned in a theme park when he was four). All of them have secrets of one sort or another which are brought to light as the story unfolds.

 

This book suffered a bit because I had a gap of two or three weeks in the middle of reading it which meant I had lost the thread of the story a bit, but I did enjoy it and would buy another of the author's books if I came across it.

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Bad Blood by S J Rozan

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a fast-moving detective novel featuring private investigators Lydia Chin and Bill Smith and is part of a series - I already have another one as they were in a "buy one get one free" pack, and I expect that I will buy more of them.

 

Bill Smith has a cabin in Shoharie County, New York State at which he spends down time, but on this occasion a woman who lives locally has asked for his help to track down some goods stolen from her home. At the same time, a young family friend who has been getting into trouble with the law has disappeared and local gangsters are threatening his brother, who owns the local bar. Add in a bent police officer, and you have a well written, good read with plenty of action, which also contains striking descriptions of the scenery of New York State and the struggle farmers have to survive.

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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

 

The story of a young woman - Esther Greenwood - who gets a scholarship to college, is being courted by a student doctor, and wins a prize which gives her work experience in New York, but then suffers increasingly severe mental health problems.

 

I would normally have avoided this book like the plague as I often don't enjoy "literary" novels and can't see what the fuss is about, but thanks to the Rory Gilmore challenge I was brought out of my comfort zone (again!) and enjoyed it.

 

At first I worried that I might not be interested in what happened to Esther, but that wasn't the case at all. I enjoyed every page of the book, and although I thought I was going to be put off by one experience in particular

her electric shock treatment at the hands of Doctor Gordon

the second half of the book proved just as interesting as the first.

Edited by Ooshie
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Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

 

Brought up in Greenland before being taken to Denmark by her father after her mother's death, Smilla Jaspersen is an expert in snow and ice. When her young friend Isaiah falls to his death from a rooftop, the evidence of his tracks in the snow mean that she cannot accept the decision that his death was an accident and goes on to investigate the circumstances that led up to his death with great determination.

 

A thriller with an intricate plot, I enjoyed the character of Smilla, the descriptions of Greenland and its people and the storyline, and was fascinated by the descriptions of snow and ice. I did have to concentrate more than I usually do when reading - I usually just whiz through books, but if I tried to do that with Smilla then I found I had missed things and got a bit confused.

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The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

 

A collection of monthly essays, published over a two year period in a magazine, about the books Hornby bought and read.

 

I had enjoyed a couple of Hornby's other books, and so had been looking forward to this one, but didn't enjoy it at all. I wasn't interested in most of the books he read, and really didn't care what he had to say about them, even though the writing was mildly amusing.

 

I think this book suffered from me reading it all the way through like I would a novel. I have the feeling that if I had just read one essay at a time, a couple a week, I would probably have enjoyed it more.

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Ooshie, I'm sorry that the Polysyllabic Spree didn't get any better towards the end :) But at least you persevered and finished it, I'm quite proud of you :) It seems like you enjoyed Miss Smilla, though, happy to hear that! Now I don't have to worry about not seeing you in the future RG challenges ;)

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Thank you frankie :) I will definitely still be there for future RG challenges - I did manage to get to the end, and I still have my reading mojo, so it could have been much, much worse! ;)

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The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell

 

Scarpetta becomes entangled in a series of events which involve: Benton and one of his previous patients; Lucy and her partner Berger; the host and "expert" on a TV show Scarpetta appears on; and

a villain from a previous book.

 

 

I hugely enjoyed the first half dozen or so Scarpetta novels, and had read that with this one Cornwell had returned to her earlier form. While I did enjoy it more than the last few, it is still a poor imitation of her earlier work. To me, the main characters have all become totally depressing, and...I really don't like them or care much what happens to them any more. It took me a week to read, where usually I would have finished a Scarpetta book in a couple of days - or even one day if I was really enjoying it. :smile2:

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The Best of Times by Penny Vincenzi

 

"A hot summer's day. A crowded motorway. A split second that changes everything."

 

The story of how a motorway crash affected both the people involved, their friends and families, and how they got their lives back together again afterwards.

 

This was very easy reading, apart from the fact that there were so many characters that I kept forgetting who they all were! Thankfully, there was a character list at the front of the book so I was able to use that when I got confused. I thought the idea of the book was good, but at 880 pages it was just too long. I know Penny Vincenzi writes blockbusters, but I'm sure that if it had been a couple of hundred pages shorter it would have been a much better read. I enjoyed it well enough to finish it, but I don't think I will keep it to read again.

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The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

 

The story of nine year old Trisha, who gets lost in the woods while trying to get away from her mother and brother, who are arguing. The story follows her thoughts and experiences as she struggles to survive.

 

This book had sat on my shelf for several years waiting for me to read it. I am a Stephen King fan, but somehow the subject matter just didn't really interest me. Once I started it, however, I quickly got into the story. The woods and all Trisha's experiences in them are described so well that I really could see and feel what she was going through, and there is a gradual (and very successful) build up of tension through the story. Maybe not as out-and-out scary as many of King's books, but very much more enjoyable than I had expected.

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