vickyh Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 That's an impressive list. A very varied list of books as well. I have never made a list of what I have read but will for 2012. I so often loose track of what I have read that would be nice to get a snapshot of the year and just see how many books I am going through. What did you think of Wolf Hall? This has been on My bookshelf since it came out but never got round to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Personally I thought Wolf Hall was just alright, I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads. It had some brilliant sections but the rest of it was quite boring to me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style either. It took me a long time to get used to it, especially as Mantel uses "he" a lot. Most of the time "he" is Cromwell but most of the characters (and there are A LOT) are male and several times I had to re-read passages to understand. I recommend reading it though, it's such a marmite book and people seem to either love it or hate it. I only started making a list of books I've read last year. It's been really interesting to look back and see what I read, some books I'd completely forgotten about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Personally I thought Wolf Hall was just alright, I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads. It had some brilliant sections but the rest of it was quite boring to me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style either. It took me a long time to get used to it, especially as Mantel uses "he" a lot. Most of the time "he" is Cromwell but most of the characters (and there are A LOT) are male and several times I had to re-read passages to understand. I recommend reading it though, it's such a marmite book and people seem to either love it or hate it. Very true, and I think it's a shame. I loved it, and gobbled it up in a couple of days, but my mate gave up on it after 100 pages and found it unreadable. It's probably my favourite period of history, so maybe that made me like it more, I don't know. The 'he' issue is definitely there. I wonder if she'll abandon that in the sequel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Very true, and I think it's a shame. I loved it, and gobbled it up in a couple of days, but my mate gave up on it after 100 pages and found it unreadable. It's probably my favourite period of history, so maybe that made me like it more, I don't know. The 'he' issue is definitely there. I wonder if she'll abandon that in the sequel. It's my favourite period of history and I was really looking forward to reading a fiction story that centres around someone other than the usual suspects (Elizabeth, Henry and his wives etc). Is she writing a sequel? If she is I'll definitely give it a go but I'd probably borrow it from the library rather than buying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Very true, and I think it's a shame. I loved it, and gobbled it up in a couple of days, but my mate gave up on it after 100 pages and found it unreadable. It's probably my favourite period of history, so maybe that made me like it more, I don't know. The 'he' issue is definitely there. I wonder if she'll abandon that in the sequel. Can I add my twopence worth too? Like Karsa, I absolutely adored it - indeed it was my book of the year for 2009 and remains in my top half dozen or so all-time favourites. It's not my favourite period (that would be the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century) but I thought Mantel got right inside Cromwell's head and fleshed him out into one of the great fictional characters. I actually liked the 'he' issue, as Karsa terms it, as I felt that was reflecting what Mantel was tryig to show, that Cromwell was almost distancing himself from himself - as if he's outside his own body looking down on himself. Once I got into the book (rather quickly!), I never had any problems with it. Rather it added to the depth of character being portrayed. As you can see, it really is a marmite book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 I'm glad you enjoyed it Willoyd. It just wasn't my cup of tea despite my best efforts to get into the book. I finished Spiral by Paul McEuen Synopsis (from goodreads): In this riveting debut thriller by one of the leading researchers in nanoscience, the race is on to stop the devastating proliferation of the ultimate bioweapon. When Nobel laureate Liam Connor is found dead at the bottom of one of Ithaca, New York’s famous gorges, his research collaborator, Cornell professor of nanoscience Jake Sterling, refuses to believe it was suicide. Why would one of the world’s most eminent biologists, a eighty-six-year old man in good health who survived some of the darkest days of the Second World War, have chosen to throw himself off a bridge? And who was the mysterious woman caught on camera at the scene? Soon it becomes clear that a cache of supersophisticated nanorobots—each the size of a spider—has disappeared from the dead man’s laboratory. Stunned by grief, Jake, Liam’s granddaughter, Maggie, and Maggie’s nine-year-old son, Dylan, try to put the pieces together. They uncover ingeniously coded messages Liam left behind pointing toward a devastating secret he gleaned off the shores of war-ravaged Japan and carried for more than sixty years. What begins as a quest for answers soon leads to a horrifying series of revelations at the crossroads of biological warfare and nanoscience. At this dangerous intersection, a skilled and sadistic assassin, an infamous Japanese war criminal, and a ruthless U.S. government official are all players in a harrowing game of power, treachery, and intrigue—a game whose winner will hold the world’s fate literally in the palm of his hand. Thoughts: I loved this book. Right from the beginning it had me hooked and I could not read it fast enough. It was very scientific at times (the author is a professor of physics at Cornell University) but any jargon used was explained in a manner that was easy to understand, especially as science was not my strong subject at school. The plot was well thought out, as were all the characters. Rating: 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Sprial sounds good. I've added it to my Wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 I finished Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris. I had enjoyed the other nine books in the Sookie Stackhouse Series but Dead In The Family was a real disapointment. I felt the plot was weak, especially with the ending. I felt like Sam and Bill were just there for the sake of being there. They really brought hardly anything to the book and I kept expecting their subplots to actually go somewhere. 2/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 I finished Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag. It was a really good read. It is a crime novel set in 1985. Due to when it was set the police have to solve the murders and catch the serial killer using techniques available then. No DNA testing (first DNA evidence presenting in a US case wasn't until 1987). No computer on every desk. Not everyone owning a mobile phone (apart from the few people willing to carry one around in a suitcase!) . Fingerprints matched by eye. Criminal profiling was really quite new and distrusted by police forces who viewed it as "hockus pockus". The plot focuses on a criminal profiler who goes to a small California town to help catch a killer. The killer preys on women and kills the in a very unusual way (glues their eyes and mouths shut and destroys their eardrums). The latest murder victim was discovered by children and what is more chilling was the first chapter focuses on her murder whilst inserting quotes from a child talking about what a great man their father is. The first chapter ends (don't worry I'm not giving anything away) with the murderer talking about picking their child up from school. From then on it's a rollercoaster of a ride. The lack of forensics means that only good old fashioned detective work and the fairly new profiling can find the killer. Sadly though, I worked out the killers idenity towards the middle but despite that, it was a great read. I might have worked it out but the police didn't and I kept willing them to check this or to look there. The book was well written and I guess the author really captured what it was like to be a police officer in 1985 (I can't say for sure how true to reality it is. I wasn't born till nearly 5 years after the book was set and my knowledge of 1980s policing is from tv programmes). 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 The Book Of Human Skin - Michelle Lovric I couldn't get into this book at all. I thought the characters were unlikable and the plot was really quite boring. I managed to make it half-way though then just gave up. I just could not bear to spend my birthday and christmas reading this book. 1/5 I am still reading Jude The Obscure as well but I might put it on hold until the new year and read something more modern over the Christmas period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 I just finished The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher. I thought it was a well written book and really interesting. 4.5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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