bobblybear

Looks nice, Tim. Congrats!

I must read Wild Swans this year. I haven't read a negative thing about it.

Nice reviews. The Giver is a book I have heard mentioned a lot but didn't really know what it was about. It sounds fascinating, so I shall be adding it to my wishlist.

So glad you are enjoying it. There is so much detail in that book, it was really interesting to read. I need a break before starting Judas Unchained, though it is on this years TBR pile. I'm 50% through Midnight's Children. It's a bit of a struggle, with a lot of ups and downs. I have also been distracted by a new phone to play with, so I really must pull myself away from that and carry on reading. I downloaded the Kindle app for it and that's pretty good.

I'm about 18% through Midnight's Children. I'm having mixed feelings about it, and have yet to see anything worthy about it yet.

I struggled with the first 20 odd pages because it just seemed like random rambling, but it has now picked up and is starting to seem coherent. I hope so too! I was a bit worried to start with, but it seem better now.

Revenge of the Tide - Elizabeth Haynes I have read all three of Elizabeth Haynes books now, having been blown away by Into The Darkest Corner which was her first novel. Ultimately I was disappointed by Revenge of the Tide, as I was expecting something very similar to her debut, in terms of originality and emotion, and depth of character. Revenge of the Tide is told in two timelines, which is the same style as her first book. The book introduces the main character, Genevieve who is just starting a new life on a houseboat (called Revenge of the Tide). She has recently moved from London, where we learn she was a saleswoman turned pole-dancer, and it's hinted that she is hiding from someone. At her housewarming (or should that be 'boatwarming'?) party, a body washes up alongside her boat. The body belongs to a friend and former colleague from the club she worked at. The story then backtracks to Genevieve's life in London, and how she got started with pole dancing and the events that followed which led to her eventually leaving London. It interchanges with the present, with certain current events triggering off more revelations from her past. It actually started off as a pretty good mystery, but the ending was a real letdown. The story was building up to something dramatic but what actually happened at the end was a whole lot of nothing, so it turned out to be quite disappointing. With a different ending, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. 3/6

Ooh, glad you are enjoying Pandora's Star. It is complex, isn't it? I finished The Invisible Ones this morning. Quite good, but with a twist that I need to think about. Midnight's Children is up next for me.

Hello Gisty. Welcome to the forum!

I have this on my wishlist, based on a previous review I read on here. If I recall, the review wasn't particularly glowing, but the premise had me interested. Think I will keep it on my wishlist for a while longer, rather than buy it.

I bought Midnight's Children this morning, for the Reading Circle (though I'm a bit behind). I was reading reviews on Amazon, and it seems it's a 'love-it-or-hate-it' book. It will be my next read after The Invisible Ones, which I should finish in the next couple of days.

Athena, I hope you enjoy Pandora's Star. I finished it (for the second time) last month. It's such an epic book with so many characters and storylines....the world he describes is so complex but still quite easy to grasp (and I usually have problems with things like that). I'm about 50% through The Invisible Ones. Good, but not as good as The Tenderness of Wolves. Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes comes out tomorrow - I'm quite excited! I shouldn't buy it, because I have so many other books I want to read, but I know I will.

Flowertown - S G Redling In a mid-sized town in Iowa, a local chemical company had a pesticide leak, which contaminated the local water supply and the town's residents. The government’s only solution was to quarantine the town, and create a self sustaining population, aided by a government-run medical centre that regularly tests the townspeople for the effects of the pesticide. The drugs to treat them give them a sickly sweet smell, hence the town’s nickname – Flowertown. This story takes place about seven years after the chemical spill. Ellie is one of the ones trapped in Flowertown. She is getting by as best as she can, with a reasonably steady job, and a steady supply of drugs - which is about the only thing she has to look forward to. Then there is a series of bombings in the town, and Ellie (stirred by her conspiracy-theorist best friend) starts to wonder if Feno Chemicals (the company responsible for the spill) is behind it all. She starts to dig into their background, which brings her to the attention of the government officials who now run the town. I enjoyed it. It’s pretty easy to read and fast paced. It's not the most memorable of books, but it passed the time. Ellie is a likeable enough character, though I could do without the constant descriptions of how smelly and dirty her and her friends were. Yuck! The whole premise is unbelievable, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment. 3/6

It's a shame Leviathan Wakes wasn't as good as the synopsis sounds. It sounds like it would be a great read from the description.

I'm so glad you enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth. I must read it again, as I have forgotten a lot of the detail of it.

It's a good one to start with. Hope you enjoy it.

Are you enjoying it? I've read all of Nicholas Evans' books and loved them all.

I've started The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney. Anyone read this one? I'm not sure what it's about yet, but I'm enjoying it all the same.

Congratulations! Have you read it before?

I wanted something light to read next, but I was looking through my tree-book TBR pile (which is alarmingly stagnant, and has been for the last few years) and have decided to read The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. It's not exactly light reading ( ), and I think a basic background in biology is recommended. I haven't studied Biology since high-school, so I'm a bit rusty on it, and struggling with some concepts, but I am still enjoying it.

I thought about giving it a 1/6, but I really hated it. I tend to skim through comments on Amazon, because I don't want to risk reading any spoilers, but this one had so many positive remarks with someone actually saying it's one of the best books they've ever read! I think I need to avoid books that are marketed as 'laugh out loud' funny, because often they're not. I mean The Rosie Project is marketed quite strongly as being funny, but it also has a unique character and story, and some meaning to it. Yeah, The Rosie Project was great! Thanks, Athena. I had some good reads after that one, so it's all good. I think the funniest books are one where it's unintentional....not forced joke after forced joke. You should read The Rosie Project....it's a great book.

I loved The Wind In The Willows when I was a child, but strangely I can't remember anything about it aside from the character names. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a pretty good read as well, helped along by the fact that a significant part of Harold's journey took him through areas local to me. It was nice to read about these familiar places.

Missing Gretyl: Only Fools and Trollops - Si Page, Mark Stibbe, Tony Trimmer This book was appalling. I didn't finish it. I can't remember how far I got through it, but it wasn't far. It is quite highly rated on Amazon, and I first heard of it via The Guardian book blog, where loads of people were talking about how brilliant and funny it was. Well, I didn't laugh once. The characters were vile, and nasty....real dregs of society, and the authors were obviously trying very hard to make them funny. Avoid. Then again, maybe it's me. On Amazon it has 58 5-star reviews and 2 1-star reviews. Go figure. 0/6

The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion Don Tillman is a 30-something genetics professor, with undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome. He comes to the conclusion that it is time that he got married, and so he sets out a project to find himself a wife. He creates a formal questionnaire, to filter out those who are not suitable - and with sort of help from his only two friends, begins the search to find his ideal partner. But then he meets Rosie, who is impulsive and pretty much the opposite of what he is looking for. She is also on a quest - to find her father - and their friendship builds as they try to help each other out. I really enjoyed this. It's a funny and light-hearted read, and I loved Don's personality, and especially the observations that he makes about what a lot of people classify as normal behaviour. It’s a bit predictable and you can probably spot the ending a mile off, but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of it. Highly recommended. 5/6

Extinction Point - Paul Anthony Jones A mysterious red rain falls, which appears to kill everyone in New York, except for Emily Baxter, a young reporter. While exploring the remains of the city over the following week, she sees odd growths – sort of like trees – and then strange violent creatures. Conveniently, the internet and mobile phone networks are still up and running, so she puts out a plea for anyone to contact her (on Facebook and Twitter). Shortly after, she receives a phone call from a group of researchers who are based in Canada, in a small area where they haven’t been affected by this red rain. They convince her to make her way up there, and after a little while she sets out on her bicycle and a few supplies. The book ends there which was a bit disappointing, but I guess it just makes way for more sequels. It was a pretty average read. Readable but not mind-blowing, and I may pick up the sequels but only when I run out of books to read (what do you think the odds are of that happening? ). It perked up a bit towards the end when I realised that Emily was getting a canine companion, but that was about the only thing that excited me about it. Too much time was spent by Emily just wandering around seemingly meaninglessly without actually doing much, when I just wanted her to get on with it a bit quicker. Anyway, like I say, it was an ok read but there are better ones out there. 2.5/6