bobblybear

I've read all of them. Wizard and Glass (book 4) is my favorite, and I think it went downhill from there. However I'm really enjoying my re-read of The Drawing of the Three - enjoying it a lot more than the first time I read it - so maybe I will enjoy the last few books of the series, this time around.

Great review, and you've pretty much summed up my thoughts on the book. Some parts of the first half deserve top marks, but I really struggled to enjoy the second half.

Thanks! I need luck (and time!).

I've put Pandora's Star aside for the moment, and picked up The Drawing of the Three (the second book of the Dark Tower series). It's good to read it again.

Thanks, Athena. I read it a while ago, but am still catching up with reviews. I'm about 7 behind.

Decaf coffee.

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson In a snowstorm in 1910, Ursula Todd dies at birth before she is able to take her first breath. The story then tracks back to her birth, and this time she lives, only to lose her life again a short while later. Then, again, she is born and due to small changes from her previous life, she lives a bit longer. Each seemingly insignificant event that occurs changes the path of Ursula’s life. I found the concept interesting, and the book was well written, but there was something in the story that didn’t hold my interest, especially towards the end. It wasn’t necessarily down to the repetitiveness of it; I think it was partially the length of the book (545 pages, but to me it felt like it was about 1,000 pages) and the focus of the second half being solely on WWII. The parts of the book I enjoyed most were the differing paths that Ursula's life took, and that we - the reader - could see what minor event had led to such a large change in her future. I felt this part wasn't the focus of the second half, which made me struggle to keep my mind on the book when I was reading it! This book garnered a lot of hype and a few rewards, so I was very disappointed that I didn’t enjoy it was much as most. I’m in a minority though, and most people have rated it very highly but it just didn’t grab me. 2/6

Charles Dickens –vs-- Neil Gaiman Vladimir Nabokov –vs-- Terry Pratchett George Eliot –vs-- Edgar Allan Poe Paulo Coelho –vs-- JRR Tolkien E M Forster –vs-- Jane Austen Edward Rutherford –vs-- Oscar Wilde Leo Tolstoy –vs-- Gabriel Garcia Márquez Fyodor Dostoyevsky –vs-- Donna Leon Stephen King –vs-- George Orwell Peter F Hamilton –vs-- Franz Kafka

Nice review of Misspent Youth. I shall add it to my wishlist. I'm reading Pandora's Star at the moment, so it will be interesting to see the connections between the two.

The Humans sounds really interesting. I went to add it to my wishlist, but it was already on there.

I don't have much time to watch anything at the moment, but I have been making time for Dexter. I'm only on the 7th episode of the first season, so I have lots of catching up to do.

Nice review, and one I keep meaning to read. There's a movie with Kevin Costner in it, but I haven't seen it so can't say if it's any good or like the book.

I didn't get on with it very well, but I'm in the minority. Hope you enjoy it.

Sounds like an interesting book, but this part just turned my stomach!

Nice review of Life After Life. I think you enjoyed it much more than I did. I found the second half dragged terribly, and I really struggled to maintain interest, which meant that I lost track of what was going on.

May he rest in peace. I have One Hundred Years of Solitude on my shelf, waiting to be read. I've had it for about 10 years, but for some reason I just haven't picked it up. I must get around to reading it soon.

Hello Clare - welcome to the forum.

Hello Alanna - welcome to the forum!

I'm about 30% through Pandora's Star. Such a brilliant book! It will take me a while to finish it, but it's well worth it.

Quite a few I've had to skip as I'm not familiar with the authors, but here goes: Margaret Atwood --vs-- George Orwell --vs-- Daphne Du Maurier Vladimir Nabokov --vs-- John Banville Samantha Hayes --vs-- Stephen King Edward Rutherford --vs-- L.E. Modesitt Sophie McKenzie --vs-- Leo Tolstoy Peter F Hamilton --vs-- Chris Manby Franz Kafka --vs-- Bernard Cornwell Hilary Mantel --vs-- Terry Pratchett Charles Dickens --vs-- Salman Rushdie Robert Jordan --vs-- Edgar Allan Poe Donna Leon --vs-- Paul Auster Elizabeth George --vs-- E M Forster Tash Aw --vs-- Oscar Wilde Maggie O'Farrell --vs-- George Eliot Virginia Woolf --vs-- JRR Tolkien Fyodor Dostoyevsky --vs-- Edith Wharton Conn Iggulden --vs-- Jane Austen Neil Gaiman --vs-- Sophie Kinsella Gabriel Garcia Márquez --vs-- William Faulkner Paulo Coelho --vs-- Rebecca Gable

I've started doing this as well, except I have lumped the pre-2012 books in one category (on my thread). On my Kindle I have the collections sorted by Year Purchased and Year Read, and as I read them I move them from one collection to another. I've read a lot this year, that I purchased in 2011 and 2012, but a lot of the ones from 2010 just don't appeal. I'm sure I will get through them eventually.

It was probably me, as I remember commenting on it recently. My review is here. I didn't believe the voice of the main character either - in my review I said that he sounded like a 5 year old rather than an 11 year old.

I'm all over the place with my reading at the moment. I started Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton, last night. It's a re-read, and because I vaguely remember parts of the story I'm pretty excited to be reading it. Alongside this, I'm reading Pets in a Pickle and 1,227 QI Facts to Blow Your Socks Off.

I read A Kiss Before Dying last year (or possibly the year before) and really liked it. There's a movie with Matt Dillon starring, as well.

This morning I finished The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole, which was average. I'm now reading Pets In A Pickle by Malcolm Welshman. I also have several reviews to catch up on, but as usual I'm struggling to write them.