Nollaig
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Posts posted by Nollaig
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I loved his style until it got really weird. If NOGOA forgoes the really weird, then it might just work. Not sure about the violence but hey I picked up The Ritual in an attempt to scare myself, so I'm all for it
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I remember the Girls books! And the tv show that was briefly adapted from them. I loved Ellie. I never read much else by Wilson, though.
I'm glad your reads are (mostly) enjoyable lately
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I decided to dip a load of chicken in some caramelized onion hummus, and it was *so* delicious
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Not at all, I don't expect to like all of them, we're different people so of course we won't always agree. And I honestly forget where the recommendations come from by the time I actually get round to reading them, so I won't even know if I dislike something you recommended
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I should probably read The Psychopath Test, as I am very interested in mental health. Great review
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That's so frustrating! Hope you can get a *decent* copy of the cover that you actually want!
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The only trouble with reading from a list, is that I feel compelled to read the whole list! It's certainly given me a focus for the last couple of weeks, but also means I've bought more books than I intended.
I think next year, I'll have to plan for it, and save a bit of money before hand so I can splurge in one go and get the shortlisted books all together. 
Haha I can understand that - I guess I'm fortunate in that I'm content to take only what sounds interesting from a list. (I do try to be fairly open minded though, my criteria for selection are quite forgiving
)Great reviews as usual. I like the sound of Half Bad. I'm pretty sure you contribute more to my Wishlist than any other one person on this forum!
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Someone else on here couldn't even finish No One Gets Out Alive.... but given that we feel the same about The Ritual I might give it a go, because I do like the sound of it
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I've seen the thing where you can 'blow' eggs out of their shells... doesn't work for me. Or most people I know. It does however loosen the membrane inside the shell, so the egg peels much more easily the regular way.
I don't see that potato method working for me either
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I found The Humans so funny at the start I couldn't help but instantly love it. Totally appealed to my cynical attitude towards humans
I found myself immediately recommending it to a few people once I'd finished. It is very good.
I'm reading World After by Susan Ee at the moment, and its proving quite interesting - I like that she doesn't shy away from making things difficult and scary. Also reading Pawnee by Leslie Knope, in small doses, due to the display of it on my computer and tablet being terrible. (Best €12 I ever spent - not.)
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That happens to me a lot, Janet. There are several books I've loved and read multiple times (The Magicians, for one) about which I've simply never managed to write a coherent review.
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There isn't even any way to zoom in - on the computer I can double click to magnify text, but it only works on the footnotes!
It's hardly worth complaining about, I just won't ever buy a book like that on Kindle.
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Beautiful acoustic version of my favourite song off Andrew McMahon's newest album. He played it on Saturday night when I saw him, too, which was awesome
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Nope, no settings. If they just showed ONE page at a time, like they do with every other book, it would be fine. That should at least be an option.
I might buy the physical version eventually, but I was impatient to read it
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I bought it today for my Kindle but it displays two pages at a time, so it turns sideways and is unreadable on a small device
Having to read it on my laptop, on which it still has pretty tiny writing. Not hugely impressed, given that I paid nearly the price of a physical book for it -
Today I had a pizza. One of those sauce-stuffed crust ones. I didn't eat the whole thing, but I came close, and it sat in my stomach for 2.5 hours digesting and making me feel uncomfortable.
I'm looking forward to NOT eating pizza again for quite some time.
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I had a terrible few days, health-wise, due to going to London and coming back to a house devoid of food. I went shopping today and bought healthy food for the rest of the week.
The upside to this is, I've had McDonalds, O Briens' Sandwiches, Cadbury Snacks (the pink ones, they're going out of production dontcha know!) and Giant Buttons, Vanilla Coke (bless you, England), pizza, jelly sweets and cake in the last 4 days - and honestly, not one of those things made me go 'I want to go back to my old eating habits'. I'm perfectly content to resume my healthy eating tomorrow, which is such a massive thing for me. It means I really stand a chance of losing the excess weight once and for all.
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Great reviews, Noll. You're having an excellent reading year, aren't you?! So glad that you're spending more time with us on the forum, too.
This, very much this!!
Awwwwwwww thank you ladies, that's so sweet of you to say
I'm trying really hard to be as involved as I can be because I know I have a tendency to wander off and that has resulted in me hugely drifting away from quite a few people I used to talk to frequently.I am having a good reading year, and my mojo is still fine at the moment - I dunno why but I'm not questioning it, just enjoying my books!
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I suspect I'll run out of steam at some point during the year, so I'm really just trying to cover as much ground as possible now to keep the goal attainable
Though I'm doing better than I have any year in the last 3 or 4, so that's good. -
WHAAAAT?!! That's so awesome! I have to read that
I also want to read her other book, which I think is an autobiography.
edit: by her I mean Amy Poehler not Leslie Knope
I know right? I had no idea such a book existed! It looks so good.
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I've just written and posted reviews for three books in my thread:
The Humans by Matt Haig
The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
I've also discovered the existence of the informational book Pawnee by Leslie Knope
I absolutely have to read that.I'll have a little spare cash as of tomorrow, I think I might do a Book Depository run and pick up some books I really want.
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Three new reviews posted above - and I'm one book shy of being a quarter of the way to my annual reading goal
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Penpal - Dathan Auerbach
Genre: Horror/Psych Thriller
Synopsis: Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt you, then Penpal is a story that you won't soon forget, despite how you might try.
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Review: I loved this book. I - loved - this - book. I suspect I am going to reread this book before the month is out. Now, that said, it is not without flaws. Flaws which, admittedly, I took little notice of while reading the book and which didn't really impact how I felt about it. These flaws were issues for other people who read it, I noticed afterwards - things like the narrator recalling events from his childhood at age 6 such as exploring the woods and swimming largely unsupervised in a local pool, which generally children age 6 don't do unless they've got insanely neglectful or oblivious parents. Other reviews claim it is terribly written. I'll be the first to admit that I don't usually care if a book is a little badly edited or written as long as it has a good story, but I honestly thought this one was very well written. If you're willing to give it a go despite those potential issues, the only flaw it has is that it is not told chronologically, and is recalled in fragments spanning years which are told out of order, often without immediate clarification about where they fit into the story. If used well, that can be a great device. It is not used well here, so that's where the .5 of a star went.
Now, onto what I loved about this book. I had no idea what this story was really about - and I'm not going to tell you because I want to to read it for yourself. I realised fairly early on where it was going, although I could never have guessed at the specific events that occurred along the way. I also never would have seen the end coming. And I loved it. I felt that it was a fantastically unnerving story, not told in the voice of a child but a brilliant recollection of a child's view of things by an adult remembering his past. The more disturbing details are touched upon quite indirectly, drawing on the weary knowledge of the adult mind that the world can be a screwed-up place to fill in the blanks that our narrator's childhood self was oblivious to. Each individual event was like a miniature short story, which ultimately had to be slotted into the bigger picture, and which ended with an unforseen twist, which, mostly of the time, left me utterly creeped out. The initial setup, the actual acquisition of the penpal shall we say, is one of my favourite things I've ever read. No internet, no social media, no technology at all. A very neat idea, gone horribly awry.
This isn't a long book, so it's a quick and easy read. Scary is not the word, except perhaps if you have children of your own. But it is chilling, absolutely chilling. Highly recommended read.
Rating: 4.5/5 -
The Ritual - Adam Nevill
Genre: Horror
Synopsis: When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step.
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Review: I'm not a regular reader of horror novels, although I felt very okay reviewing Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Possibly because that was more supernatural/psychological horror than traditional Blair Witch horror, but either way, reading this book was definitely me stepping off the beaten track and as such if you're a horror aficionado then take my opinion with a pinch of salt. I did enjoy this novel, for the most part, but I enjoyed it in the way I enjoyed the film The Ruins - it was something that was distinctly entertaining and for the duration of time I spent with my eyes affixed directly to it, but which I'll never feel inclined to return to after this review. My reference to The Blair Witch Project was apt, because this book feels very similar in style (less witch, more Pagan god).
I've never been a fan of the woods, because too many horror films set in them scared me as a child, and I will admit this book scared me. Which is unusual. I had to actually sit up in bed, turn on the light, and distract myself for a while before attempting sleep. This novel is highly readable, and despite its length I tore through it in two days, eager to find out what happened. I found the 'bestial presence' genuinely unnerving and compelling - I really wanted to know what it was. I also genuinely liked the characters, even if I didn't exactly think much of them, and I felt that the balance of character development - in conversations between them about their friendship and subsequent drifting apart - versus the actual horror and suspence, was great.
All those positive things said, it still felt lacklustre. As I said, it's forgettable. And, about two thirds of the way in, it takes a bit of an unusual turn, which I seriously did not like. It made logical sense, I guess, but it also seemed a little too far off the wall and made the transition from 'this feels unnatural' to 'this is downright impossible' without enough credibility to hold itself up, even with the suspension of disbelief. I definitely only kept going towards the end to find out what would happen. I have since heard lukewarm reviews of Nevill's other books, and despite the readability of this one and the fact that it did scare me, I don't think I'd bother picking up any of the others.
Rating: 3.5/5
Noll's 2015 Book Blog
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Ah yes, sorry I never remember who has said what about books
I'll just get a digital copy of it and give it a go at some point, but I'm in no rush anyway.
His characters in The Ritual were pretty decent (apart from a few thrown in at the end who totally did not ring true!)