Polka Dot Rock
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Posts posted by Polka Dot Rock
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I'm a bit worried about Half of a Yellow Sun as I read Purple Hibiscus a while back and was pretty unimpressed...
Half of a Yellow Sun is a much better book than Purple Hibiscus
I found Purple Hibiscus to be quite similar to a few other books I've read, whilst Half of a Yellow Sun felt like an original (to me). It's a war novel with a difference, I suppose! -
Priority books for the coming month:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun (PC)
Kell, I thought this book was brilliant
I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! (I posted my thoughts a couple of weeks ago: Review here)The Name of the Rose - U EcoI'll be keeping an eye out for your comments on this: I think we may be reading extracts from it for one of my MA courses...
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I love learning new things about different countries through fiction.
It's one of literature's greatest assests, isn't it? You can learn so much about so many different subjects from it.
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(one warning is that I'm not always convinced by novels that shift in and out of reality and dreams, unless it's done very well).
I know what you mean - those scenes are, however, written well. They're also very short (as the whole novel is, thinking about it). There's a twist to those dreams but that might spoil a minor narrative point so I won't say what it is
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Hey Andy!
I hope you don't mind, but I've just finished reading a book that I thought you might be interested in: The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (trans. Daniel Hahn). There's more info about it on Arcadia's website. From reading your blog, it seemed like it could be up your literary street, lol.How's the Roth continuing to shape up?
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(You seem to have re-discovered your reading Mojo again, Michelle!
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I have now started Dracula and I can hardly put it down. It is fantastic and I am so glad I am finally reading it. I have meant to do so for ages and am at last catching up a bit with reading circle books!
Hey Andrea!
I'm glad to read that you're enjoying Dracula: it's one of my favourite books. It's such a pacey 'romp' (), isn't it? I think Mina is my favourite character, and one of my all time favourite literary characters. Where are you in the story so far? -
I've given it (another) revamp: Months are now from the current month descending so I/you can see what I've read most recently, and - next to those books that have them - there are links to corresponding Reviews I've posted on the forum
(To Be Read and Wanted lists have had general updates too)That's the admin stuff out of the way!
Yesterday, I finished The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa (trans. Daniel Hahn) and I really enjoyed it: I definitely want to read it again and it's so short that there's no excuse for not doing so! It's very provocative and also, once again, provides some little snippets of the political background of modern Angola. I learn so much about different African countries through fiction!
I shall write up my full thoughts on it very soon.
I've decided to embark on Meg Rosoff's latest, Just In Case, which I've been looking forward to: her style is amazing - it's certainly a gift to be have that confidence in what teenagers can and want to read. She aims really high and I love that about her. For example, this novel is definitely about a teenager having an existential crisis but is waaaaaay more ambitious than Catcher in the Rye. Great stuff so far!
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Very true!
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I've been popping the small flyers in any books I sell
I've been hoping that someone will join up because of it and I can take the glory! Would be ace if it happened SOON tho'... -
8 this month for me which is double the most I have ever sold in a month before:)
Wow!
If you don't mind me asking, what did you sell? Were they new releases or classics, for example?No-one wants the ones I've just added.. and they new/excellent <sulking> lolAw!
Don't worry, Michelle: I'm sure someone will want them! As I've said previously, I recently sold one I thought no-one would ever request!I think sales can be very influenced by trends/new releases and even articles - I've just sold Norwegian Wood and I think it might be because Murakami's new (paperback) release has been reviewed over the weekend.
Also, it's holiday time: perhaps a lot of people are buying their holiday reads from GM!
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I find a lot of books that I want to read in charity shops, (mainly books that were first published a while ago) whereas Woolworths or Asda tend to stock mostly new releases.
Me too: in supermarkets, there's very rarely anything I really want to read but I manage to find a lot of books on my 'Wish/Wanted' list in charity shops
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Just a quick update on selling progress - I've just looked at my records, and I've averaged between 1-3 books a month (I've been selling since March). Business is picking up again!
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I haven't checked for a while, but they were anything around
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are there scary books?
Hmm... Not really, although there was a fairly gruesome moment in a fight scene during the first book that scared the beejezus out of me!
(It was unexpected!) -
...The vast majority of charity shops that I know of are really expensive for books.charity shops in my town charge more then what woolworths and asda are charging for books. plus the clothers aswell.
Michelle & Lovesreading: I hope you don't mind me asking - how much do those charity shops usually charge? I've read similar comments over the last months on the forum from different members. My local charity shops and those I used in Manchester are all very cheap.
The few I've been to in London are reasonable, too.
I wonder why they vary?
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Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The limits of fifteen-year-old Kambili's world are defined by the high walls of her family estate and the dictates of her repressive and fanatically religious father. Her life is regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, and more prayer. When Nigeria begins to fall apart during a military coup, Kambili's father, involved mysteriously in the political crisis, sends Kambili and her brother away to live with their aunt. In this house, full of energy and laughter, she discovers life and love - and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family.After enjoying Half of a Yellow Sun, I thought I'd read Adichie's first novel. And what a debut! This is a highly atmospheric book about a timid, naive young girl who is part of a family that, to the outside world, is a model of perfection. Yet Kambili, her brother Jaja and her mother are basically prisoners in their own home, with her charismatic father seemingly controlling every aspect of her life.
The first part of the book takes place at Kambili's family homestead and I found these opening chapters very intense and quite claustrophobic: I felt like I was being slowly crushed! This clearly shows that Adichie found a very effective way of conveying that sort of emotional repression and fear.
I'm not sure how I'd have felt if the whole of the novel was like that. However, the sense of oppression lifted once Kambili's aunty, Ifeoma, enters the narrative. I really enjoyed the scenes between Ifeoma and her family, as they were feisty and likeable characters. These were the moments that really reminded me of one of my favourite novels, Nervous Conditions, especially the tenuous relationship between Kambili and her female cousin.
It's very hard to discuss this novel without revealing the plot! It is a solidly constructed Bildungsroman narrative, yet it may have felt a little 'generic' if it hadn't been for the elements of Nigerian politics that subtlety infiltrated through the novel. This is was set it apart from other novels that deal with journeys into adulthood and self identity and, like Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie interweaves actual events in Nigeria with the plot development of her characters.
(15th July - 20th July)
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Has anyone read 'Wicked' by Gregory Maguire?
Hey H&D!
I read Wicked early on this year and posted a review of it... Here!Overall, I quite enjoyed it but I felt the first half was much stronger than the latter parts. (Funnily enough, I only sold my copy last week!)
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I received books marked as "good" that were in almost perfect condition, which was a lovely surprise!
Yes, that's happened to me too! Only thing is, it makes me paranoid that ones I've sent might not have been quite up to scratch
But I am honest and I think I have quite high standards when it comes to book condition The GM staff are great so if anyone does exploit/abuse their descriptions, I'd imagine they'd sort it out without fuss.
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Also good to see Greg Grunberg in the show - I love that guy.
What's he been in before? I thought I recognised him!
I feel quite sorry for his character - that's one superpower I definitely wouldn't want! (And how grisly was that murder scene?!
Do you reckon the murdered parents of that little girl were other 'super humans'?
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Fair enough, that's understandable
It's the literary critic in me emerging (clearly I'm in practice for September ) -
I enjoyed it: I think it'll start off as a slowburner then once the storylines are developed and interweaving, I think it'll become addictive!
First impressions are that I like the blonde woman, and the male nurse is kinda cute!He he, he is kinda cute. And so is the Professor's son, I thought
Wednesday nights are looking up! -
Hmm... But I don't necessarily think that all novels should be 'correctives' to modern malaise. Surely we need novels to also be horrible and show humanity's nasty side? Holding an unflattering mirror up, as it were.
I always think it's interesting how at the end, we see capitalism prevail -
As Cathy Linton and Hareton* both assume their 'rightful' (i.e. hereditary) positions as the owners of both properties. Although technically they'd both go to Hareton* if they married... *(I can't remember how to spell his name! And I can't check as I'm at work *grumble*)
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Aw, Thanks Emma! I shall wear it with pride
Oh I hate arguments: they always stop you from doing anything useful!
I think you're managing to cope very well with a baby AND reading HP at the same time!
Book Mooch!
in Book Buying
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I've just joined BookMooch.com after seeing Louise mention it in her reading blog - does anybody else use it? Do you prefer to other swapping sites?
Also, does anyone think it would be also worth signing up with Read It, Swap It?