frankie

Oddly enough, I will read murder mysteries / thrillers by men in English, but for some odd reason I'm not interested in Finnish male crime / thriller authors. I fear their characters will be too masculine and one-worded and basically, brutes I know I'm being silly, but I'm prejudiced for some reason With foreign crime fiction, I'm more liberal Onto other business: I've had a few busy and tiring weeks behind me. Boss's apartment went under construction, so to speak, and last week we did a lot of packing up and moving of furniture. I was also called in last Sunday to work for 5 hours... It was a very short weekend, and it was really tiring. Also, last week my 30 hours per week went up to 35 hours per week (bigger salary, wohoo!), and so I've been working longer hours and as it's all new to me and there was the packing up and the move to a temporary apartment, it's taken a toll. This week we've spent at the new apartment, where we will be staying for 6 weeks. I like the place, it's clean and practical and there's less room for me to have to clean It's going to be vacation-like... Boss will also be trying to cut down on her work load and have a bit of a holiday, as much as she can, being an entrepreneur and running a business. The whole thing's been tiring but now the most difficult part is behind us and now it's good times ahead. We live in this cottage next to the sea.... It's lovely!! We did a BBQ yesterday... The weather's not been too nice, it's getting colder and the sun isn't shining, but it's okay. I think my last read being terrible, and the work being erratic and more demanding in the past 2 weeks or so, my mojo's gone awol... I've picked up maybe 10 books to read, but none have stuck. It's getting really annoying. Today, however, I have the day off and my parents are visiting, too, and so we'll go shopping. I hope to find a new purse, shoes, and some clothes. I also want to buy an ink cartridge for the printer I got from a friend. She's boss's neighbor and she's also having to pack up her stuff, and so she wanted to get rid of some things that were taking up space and which she didn't need anymore... She told me she uses the printer so rarely the ink always dries up! I've wanted a printer for a long time now, so I'm really jazzed! The thing is also a copy machine and a scanner, all in one, so it's bloody brilliant. I'll be scanning all of my old childhood pictures soon!

Yay! I can't wait to hear what you think My mistake: for some reason I thought your 'you' was more of a general 'you', and not a specific 'you' aimed at MrCat. Meaning, I thought you'd think most other people wouldn't enjoy the book. I didn't realize you were as in tune to MrCat's tastes in books that you would know what s/he might like. My apologies! I now realize I'm not very knowledgeable in many other people's book tastes on here... I feel like my 'book game' is slipping and I need to up my game

Welcome to the forum! Both of those are on my most favorite books -list! So going by my other favorites and your criteria, I would suggest : The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie Crippen by John Boyne Gold by Dan Rhodes The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (especially if you like dogs and/or animals) Under the Skin by Michelle Faber The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Edit: If you'd like to browse, here's a thread of the top 10 books, by the members of the forum. Feel free to contribute to the thread!

Cool! Oh yeah, my most fave read of the year by far It's not for everyone, I hope you shall like it Awesome! Not your average read, was it... What next? Maybe This Is Life I would recommend it! What? So even though you loved it, you don't think someone else would? Personally, I didn't find any flaws in the book I thought it was a great thriller. I have maybe 50 pages left of Charlotte Street by Juliette Mead. It's so boring and so not worth my time.

They change the names here in Finland, too, on occasion. I think one reason is the one Athena's mentioned above. The other one is that if there's a name that bears some sort of meaning in English, they want to translate that into the other language and give it the same meaning in that language. For example, Sirius Black is Sirius Musta in Finnish, 'musta' being 'black' in Finnish. And another example: Snape I believe was Rowland's idea of a name that is snappish and makes one think of a snake, too. In Finnish, the character was named Kalkaros, which reminds the reader of 'kalkkarokäärme', a rattle snake. It also makes me, personally, think of the word 'kolkko', which means 'dreary'. The Finnish translator did a really fine job with the series and she's actually published a book on the translating process and what thoughts went into it I love it that I'm able to read the series in both the original English, and Finnish, and they are both so fabulously made. Athena, what is Snape called in Dutch? Did they translate his name into something, too? I'm happy you didn't struggle with the writing like I did I saw you gave it 5/5 on Goodreads?

Oops I'm glad you survived the first few chapters and weathered the great number of characters to remember in the beginning. Yep, it's a bit of a slog, but in my opinion, so rewarding Enjoy!! How's it going? Glad to hear you loved it! I've not been able to get into any novel in the past few days. I have read maybe 60 pages of Charlotte Street by Juliette Mead but I'm not sure if I'll finish... It's not quite what I wanted it to be.

In my humble opinion, it's a good thing Can't read too many of his books in a row, as they get samey, but definitely good as standalones. (Not that they are a series to begin with.) But I know his not everyone's cup of tea! Awww, it's a shame you're finding it exhausting It's a long novel, but if you get into it and like it, it'll read quickly! Well perhaps not quickly, but you get sucked into it and it doesn't feel as long! I reeeally liked it, and loved that there was so much of it

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks ladies! I agree, it's healthy to be a bit lazy every now and then It's fun!

I'm sorry to hear you weren't in the mood and were tired. But at least you enjoyed all the books you read! I hope the next read-a-thon is more fun for you I'm adding to Sunday: Sunday: 660 pages of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell Overall progress: August Thursday: . 166 pages of The Blackbird sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson Friday: .........60 pages of The Blackbird sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson Saturday: .....94 pages of The Blackbird sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson ...................124 pages of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell Sunday: .......60 pages of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell 504 pages for me, my personal record. I thought I'd read more on Sunday but I had to go to the library and do the dishes and then I got lazy

That would explain things Scandal is great! I so loved the first season I should re-watch it before moving on to the second season. So much was happening! I finished watching the seventh season of Modern Family and now there's no more of it :( I'm missing it! I don't know what to watch next... I'm in serious need of another 20-something-minutes comedy show to binge on! Started watching Brief Encounters as I was browsing a TV series site. I spotted it because of Sharon Rooney I think it'll be a good one!! Had to stop, though, because I need to visit the library today. Will continue later.

"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date, I sing to myself as I hurry down the road - half-walking, half-running." The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell

Bukowski is something else I started reading The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell. Still reading fluff, but this time fluff in English

Not that I've read any of Irving's books myself, but my boss has said that Garp isn't his best novel. Do you think you'd like to try some other one?

That's a good plan, I hope it comes to fruition for you! I don't think I'll be as lucky... I'm one of those who'll die at 67, I think. If not sooner. Sigh! To be quite honest, I don't think I've read a Finnish murder mystery that I'd recommend to any foreigner... Actually, I just thought of one, but it's not been translated into English. Not many of the Finnish mysteries are, unfortunately! The world seems to be more taken with the Scandinavian ones, leaving us poor Finns behind. There are a few series that have been translated into English, but I've not read those myself. They've not appealed to me for some reason. I guess I prefer Finnish female authors than male authors... At least when it comes to crime fiction. I didn't realize that until now Maybe I'm prejudiced... A country house mystery... As you see, I'm having major problems coming up with one murder mystery so I'm afraid your order is too long I'll keep my thinking hat on...

Adding to my yesterday's progress: Saturday: ....94 pages of The Blackbird sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson (thus finishing the novel. It was utter crap.) ....................124 pages of The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell Well it can't be worse, that's for sure! Thanks, I'm enjoying my current read just fine We see 'em, we're at 'em like wild beasts! I hope Sunday's much nicer for you and you'll be refreshed and reading a'plenty Edit: I've just realized that this is so far my most successful read-a-thon, page-wise! My last record was 438 pages and I've already topped it by 6 pages, and I've still got the whole day ahead of me

Saturday: ....94 pages of The Blackbird sings at Dusk by Linda Olsson (thus finishing the novel. It was utter crap.) Moving on to something else

The next book in the series is The Empty Chair! I've not read that one yet I really should get going with the series again... So glad you liked the novel!!

This is from Madeleine: R — Reading Regret: Having trouble remembering what I've just read! This! Very much this!!

It's like a bad rash!

Nice haul! I've seen Gretchen Rubin's books at the library and they intrigue me, but I don't know if I would like them if I read them... So, very much looking forward to your thoughts!

Masochist

Only 94 pages, thankfully! It reads very quickly, too, so shouldn't take me long at all Multiple books... It's really tough when there's not just one you really want to read, but multiple! I so know what you mean... I have so many library books I've been dying to get to, but now I also have 9 new books I've bought this week that I'd really like to read, and it's so difficult to choose when you just want to read them all, right now!! I started reading We Were Liars some months ago, but didn't like the way it was written... I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it when you eventually get to it! I hope you can make a definitive choice soon and have fun reading today

I think we posted at the same time, I just edited my post the third time to say I'd found The Midwife's Confession It's been driving me crazy! Maybe it won't bother me anymore, now that I got it off my chest

Thanks for the explanation, that really helps! I don't think I knew Picoult's books usually have a court case. Or maybe I did, but had forgotten. I don't mind court cases, but if she has them in each of her novels, it'll get repetitive for me Good to know that I can avoid those if I opt for Chamberlain's books! I like families and family secrets very much, so if I like this book, I'm definitely going to look for more of Chamberlain's novels Do you know, for some reason I thought Chamberlain's books are all about midwives and their troubles back in the day. So I've never gone for her books before. Not that I wouldn't mind reading a book or two about that subject matter, but not a whole bunch of them. I think maybe I'm confusing her with another author? Googling now... Jennifer Worth! Yes. Or maybe Chamberlain had one book about midwives and I then assumed that her books are like Worth's. My biggest gripe with Chamberlain, however, is the fact that every time I see her name or write her name, I find it hard not to include an 'e' at the end of her name To me, 'Chamberlain' looks unfinished, where as 'Chamberlaine' is the finished 'product' Edit: Now googling to see if she's written any midwife novels... And I've just learned that she's American! I thought she was British, for some reason. Edit2: The more I think about it, yes, I think I knew Picoult usually does court cases, but I'd just forgotten about that detail. Edit3: Okay, she's written a book called The Midwife's Confession!! And that's probably why I thought all her books are about midwives As I was confusing her with Jennifer Worth, as well... Problem solved! Thanks Athena, this was a very useful rap session