Lucybird Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 (edited) You can easily see all my review on My Blog as well as reading them on this thread. Number of Books Read: (8) January (8) The Truth Between Us- Dalene Flannigan How to Be a Woman- Caitlin Moran House of Silence- Linda Gillard The Unit- Holmqvist Ninni I'd Know You Anywhere- Laura Lippman The Fry Chronicles- Stephen Fry Untying the Knot- Linda Gillard Sing You Home- Jodi Picoult February () March () April () May () June () July () August () September () October () November () December () To Be Read () To Be Read Pile (28) Dracula- Bram Stocker Atonement- Ian McEwan The Wizard of Oz- Frank L Baum The Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafron Emma- Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen Persuasion- Jane Austen Rebecca- Daphne De Maurier Charlotte's Web- E.B White Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen Oryx and Crake- Margaret Atwood Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffenegger Jonathon Strange and Doctor Norell- Susanna Clarke Little Women- Louisa May Alcott A Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin The Good Angel of Death- Andrey Kurkov The Picture of Dorian Grey- Oscar Wilde The Testament of Jessie Lamb- Jane Rogers Bears, Recycling and Confusing Time Paradoxes- Greg x. Graves Tweeting the Universe- Marcus Chown and Govert Schilling Mockingbird- Kathryn Erskine The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald Harvesting the Heart- Jodi Picoult The Crimson Petal and The White- Michel Faber Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See Supersense- Bruce Hood The Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde Currently Reading 1Q84 (Books 1 and 2)- Haruki Murakami A Long, Long Way- Sebastian Barry Edited January 30, 2012 by Kell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 (edited) Rory Gilmore Booklist Challenge (started 2010) Have decided to take part in this challenge. I'm not actually expecting to read all the books in my want to read list but am going to see how many I can read without actually giving up on reading other books! Will be adding to my TBR pile as I get hold of books. For books I read as part of this challenge in 2010 have a look at my old thread or my blog. What I want to read: Atonement by Ian McEwan The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Beloved by Toni Morrison Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Emma by Jane Austen Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien Frankenstein by Mary Shelley George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy The Gospel According to Judy Bloom The Graduate by Charles Webb The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Hamlet by William Shakespeare Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare Henry V by William Shakespeare High Fidelity by Nick Hornby The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (Have started this one as a reading circle book on here but couldn't get past the first 100 pages, still I may go back to it) Macbeth by William Shakespeare Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers The Sonnets by William Shakespeare Sophie's Choice by William Styron Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon And have read: Pre-challenge To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront� Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger Brick Lane by Monica Ali Babe by Dick King-Smith Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt 1984 by George Orwell Books read '10 Gone with the Wind- Margaret Mitchell Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides The Complete Polysyllabic Spree- Nick Hornby Wicked- Gregory Maguire The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky High Fidelity- Nick Hornby Books read '11 Everything is Illuminated- Johnathan Safran Foer A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius- Dave Eggers Snow White and Rose Red- The Brother's Grimm Rupunzel- The Brother's Grimm Books Read '12 Edited January 1, 2012 by Lucybird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Reserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Reserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 The Truth About Us- Dalene Flannigan This book was given to me free of charge in exchange for a honest review. Synopsis (from Amazon) What happens when the past catches up to the present and the truth surfaces? Three women, roommates back in college, find their lives forever altered when one of them feels compelled to confess the secret sin of their past. And whose truth is it? ‘The Truth About Us’ weaves the past and the present in a page-turner that explores the shifting quality of truth, and the cost of secrets. Review Well I can honesty say that this is probably the best self-published novel I’ve read to date. (Not that I’ve read many, but I think I’ve read enough to be sure of that much). I often find that when stories are up to scratch with self-published novels there are problems with editing, which is understandable as the author won’t have a whole team of editors and proofreaders behind them. I found few problems with editing with this book though, there were only a couple of times I thought something should be changed (and I’m really bad for spotting things like that). Readability wise it was a quick and easy read but more substantial than easy reads tend to be. I really felt for the characters, especially Erica, and even understood Jude up to a point. I’m not sure I can exactly side with Grace but it certainly is somewhat of a moral dilemma, especially when taken with the twist at the end. I must admit that I found Jude the most interesting character, she just seemed so naive in a way that was kind of difficult to understand. 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 How to be a Woman- Caitlin Moran Synopsis (from Amazon) 1913: Suffragette throws herself under the King’s horse 1970: Feminists storm Miss World Now: Caitlin Moran rewrites The Female Eunach from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller There’s never been a better time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven’t been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain… Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should you get Botox? Do men secretly hate us? What should you call your vagina? Why does your bra hurt? And why does everyone ask you when you’re going to have a baby? Part memoir, part rant, Caitlin Moran answers these questions and more in How To Be A Woman - following her from her terrible 13th birthday (‘I am 13 stone, have no friends, and boys throw gravel at me when they see me’) through adolescence, the workplace, strip-clubs, love, fat, abortion, Topshop, motherhood and beyond. Review. Those who follow my Twitter feed will know that I had a bit of a girl crush on Caitlin Moran during this book. Honestly I just would love to be her friend! It’s almost difficult to see this as a feminist book simply because you feel more like you are reading something designed to entertain. I was pretty much constantly giggling and the tone of her writing is just so natural you feel as if you are having a conversation with her rather than reading something she has written. Indeed in some parts she even writes out what she imagines the reader might be thinking and answers it. You can just imagine her sitting there talking to herself as she writes. Yet it is a feminist book. It talks about what you may call ‘little’ feminist issues- high heels, waxing, and the occasional bigger issue, but it makes it much easier to relate to things you encounter on a day to day basis, and are so easy to accept that they don’t even seem to be issues. But she’s right, who decided heels are a good idea? They’re stupid, they just kill your feet! Why is it attractive to have no hair? Honestly you have to read this. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) House of Silence- Linda Gillard Synopsis (from Amazon) “My friends describe me as frighteningly sensible, not at all the sort of woman who would fall for an actor. And his home. And his family.” Orphaned by drink, drugs and rock n’ roll, Gwen Rowland is invited to spend Christmas at her boyfriend Alfie’s family home, Creake Hall – a ramshackle Tudor manor in Norfolk. She’s excited about the prospect of a proper holiday with a proper family, but soon after she arrives, Gwen senses something isn’t quite right. Alfie acts strangely toward his family and is reluctant to talk about the past. His mother, a celebrated children’s author, keeps to her room, living in a twilight world, unable to distinguish between past and present, fact and fiction. And then there’s the enigma of an old family photograph… When Gwen discovers fragments of forgotten family letters sewn into an old patchwork quilt, she starts to piece together the jigsaw of the past and realises there’s more to the family history than she’s been told. It seems there are things people don’t want her to know. And one of those people is Alfie… Review When I found out that Linda Gillard’s new book was only coming out in digital format I was disappointed. I didn’t have a Kindle and I wanted to read it (and honestly reading on my ipod really ruins the reading experience). So when I got my Kindle it was one of the first books I bought. Having really liked Emotional Geology and Star Gazing, and loving A Lifetime Burning, I had pretty high hopes for this one. Were my hopes met? Well I enjoyed it certainly, and although it took a little getting in to I didn’t want it to stop by the end. The old manor house and family intrigue put me in mind of Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours, and for some reason parts of plots began to blend in my head after I had read this one. It’s strange because apart from an old house and family secrets there is very little similarity. You don’t expect the same sort of secrets (even if at certain points it seems to be going that way you are shocked by it and expect even at the time for it not to be as it seems). There is the love element which The Distant Hours doesn’t have. The one love interest in the book is pretty classic Gillard. Not the strong handsome type of chick-lit but sensitive, and flawed with a past that makes him more that just ‘the love interest’. The other, at least initially, seems much more your standard ‘hero’ type, handsome, charming, witty, but somewhat fake. I liked them both though In fact for once I didn’t like the woman so much. Well maybe that’s not true, I did like Gwen. Maybe really I mean I wouldn’t have made the choice she did. I preferred Alfie most of the way through, and by the end it was quite a close call. I wouldn’t say it is Gillard’s best work of what I have read but still certainly worth the read. 4/5 Edited January 29, 2012 by Lucybird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 I'd Know You Anywhere- Laura Lippman Note: This book is also known as Don’t Look Back. For some reason when I put the IBSN number into goodreads it came up as I’d Know You Anywhere (which was the name I had known the book by before I bought it) even though in my Kindle it’s called Don’t Look Back. Synopsis (from Amazon) Eliza Benedict’s past returns to haunt her when the serial killer she escaped from as a young girl walks back into her life. The new nail-shredding novel from New York Times bestseller, Laura Lippman.25 years ago, he stole her innocence. Now he wants to get in touch.Eliza Benedict cherishes her quiet existence with her successful husband and children in the leafy suburbs of suburban Washington. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects – or wants – to hear from: Walter Bowman.In the summer of 1985 when she was fifteen-years-old, Eliza was kidnapped by serial killer Walter Bowman, who targeted young girls like Eliza in a sexually motivated killing spree. Now facing lethal injection on death row, Walter is keen to make contact with Eliza, seemingly motivated by a desire to atone for his sins before he finally meets his maker.Carefully, with some reluctance, she lets Walter enter her life, first by letter, then in person. Walter is keen to convince Eliza that he has changed but it becomes clear that Walter has more of an agenda than he first revealed. Cunning and manipulative, Walter is never more dangerous than when he can’t get what he wants, and he wants something very badly. Disturbingly, he seems to have an ally working in the outside, one who seems to know everything about Eliza’s life – including where she lives.As Walter once again manages to exert his malign influence, Eliza must draw on all of her reserves of wisdom and strength as the battle of predator and prey once more plays out and she must face the past head on if she is to survive.A taut and mesmerizing novel by the highly-acclaimed author of Life Sentences and Every Secret Thing. Review Note on review: For clarity I will refer to grown up Elizabeth as Eliza and young Elizabeth as Elizabeth. Ok so my vision of this book may be a little skewed by the fact that novels having their names changed is one of my pet peeves, I really don’t understand why thy do it, it just confuses everyone. I think I am at risk of going on a rant but I shall hold back and maybe do a musings post on it at some point in the not to distant future. As for the book itself. It was ok. As a crime novel it didn’t do great. There was no real mystery, especially as we saw the criminal committing most of his crimes. As a thriller I can’t say it was that great either. I was intrigued as to what Walter was trying to get from Eliza, but didn’t really expect anything very dramatic. The only real mystery I found in it was [highlight for spoiler]not knowing if Walter had actually raped his victims or not, and to be perfectly honest I didn’t really care, or at least I didn’t care enough to give it any real thought. When it came to the characters I didn’t like Eliza. She just seemed a bit pathetic to be honest. She talked about being worried for her kids but a lot of her actions don’t reflect that and seem to have been put in just for the author’s convenience. I preferred Elizabeth I think, she seemed more genuine, but maybe I only think that because that was the part of the story which most interested me. Walter interested me more, possibly that’s just the psychologist in me talking but I felt in a way we got to know him best, and in a way could understand him more. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Just as a matter of interest, did you do your spoiler by changing the colour of the text? You can still do spoilers the other way by either typing [ spoiler] at one end of the text you want hidden, and [ /spoiler] at the other end, but without the spaces - or by using the little symbol in the tool bar above the posts that is the third one along, next to the rubber, that looks a little like a stripey blue and green photograph. Of course, what you've done is perfectly acceptable - I'm just curious as to how you did it seeing as one can't see the code any longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 How to be a Woman- Caitlin Moran What an excellent review Lucy, this has gone straight to my wishlist! Thanks! You can still do spoilers the other way by either typing [ spoiler] at one end of the text you want hidden, and [ /spoiler] at the other end, but without the spaces - or by using the little symbol in the tool bar above the posts that is the third one along, next to the rubber, that looks a little like a stripey blue and green photograph. Thanks for that Janet, btw, I had no idea where the spoiler tag is in this new system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Just as a matter of interest, did you do your spoiler by changing the colour of the text? You can still do spoilers the other way by either typing [ spoiler] at one end of the text you want hidden, and [ /spoiler] at the other end, but without the spaces - or by using the little symbol in the tool bar above the posts that is the third one along, next to the rubber, that looks a little like a stripey blue and green photograph. Of course, what you've done is perfectly acceptable - I'm just curious as to how you did it seeing as one can't see the code any longer. I did change the colour, it's how I do it on my blog and I copied the review over, it seemed simpler to just do it that way. What an excellent review Lucy, this has gone straight to my wishlist! Thanks! Thanks I hope youo enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) The Fry Chronicles- Stephen Fry Synopsis< (from Amazon) Thirteen years ago, Moab is my Washpot, Stephen Fry’s autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge bestseller. In those thirteen years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director and presenter. In January 2010, he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least well known years of his life with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you and, above all, surprise you. Review As far as an autobiography of Stephen Fry is concerned Moab is My Washpot (which is about his life before he became famous) had really quite surprised me, I don’t pretend to know a lot about Stephen Fry. Just that I love watching him on television and think he is generally pretty awesome. Having read the first autobiography I had less expectations of this one in a way, I didn’t expect it to be at all predictable because in the first book his life seemed to differ so much from what was suggested by his television persona. In terms of what I would expect from Fry this was a little more what I had expected than the first book. You could certainly see parts of who he seems to be now coming out. In some ways it seemed a little self-obsessed (but can one really write an autobiography without it being a little self-obsessed?). I never really got the idea that he was elevating himself, if anything he was quite humble and even at times would tell himself off for being a little self-obsessed (which never seemed like he was pretending, more like he couldn’t understand why people would be interested). All the way through there was a certain level of disbelief that he had become famous. It was obvious he didn’t feel he deserved it, and from what he said in his more present voice he seemed still not to quite believe how lucky he has been. In a way this was the element of the book which most surprised me. On adding this book to goodreads I had a quick flick through the (spoiler free) reviews (it’s something I often do, just reading the first few lines of each review to get a general picture of how people found the book). I happened to catch sight of a review which suggested that the book was a bit to name-droppy (and no that isn’t a real word, I don’t care). This did cause me a bit of worry. I’m not one of those people who is really into celebrity culture (I think I am right in saying that this is the one celebrity biography I have read). However I don’t think I needed to be worried. There were maybe a few name-drops that were unnecessary but most of the time he mentioned people who were friends or who he had worked with, I don’t think you can really write a whole autobiography without mentioning any friends or colleges. The descriptions of Fry’s time at Cambridge were more interesting than I had expected too although not as interesting as when the ‘fame thing’ started. At time it had me laughing out loud but in general I wouldn’t describe it as a comic book- still it was almost worth reading just for Hugh Laurie’s reaction to Fry buying his first Apple Mac. Only real problem I had with it is that the way it ended made it very obvious that Fry intended to write another autobiography. Which almost forces you to read it. I mean his life isn’t over so I suppose another biography would be expected but I would like to feel I have more choice Oh and one more thing, there were a few points where I thought the Kindle edition might be different to the paperback. Just things which seemed to suggest you were on an e-reader. Does anyone know if there are any differences? 4/5 Edited January 31, 2012 by Lucybird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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