bobblybear

Finished Summer by Edith Wharton this morning. It was a pretty short read, but it still took me a couple of days. I really need to get up to date with reviews before I forget the details of what I have read. I'm a bit behind, but I'm feeling too lazy to put semi-cohesive thoughts down. I blame the heat! Updated reading plan: Hyperion - Dan Simmons While We're Far Apart - Lynn Austin The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt Safe House - Chris Ewen Plague - Lisa C Hinsley The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend The World's Greatest Idea - John Farndon - currently reading Megacatastrophes! - David Darling & Dirk Schulze-Makuch The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce World War Z - Max Brooks Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit - Ian Leslie I think my next fiction will be Plague, followed by The Sisters Brothers.

Great review. I've had it on my wishlist for ages - it always seems to be somewhere on the Top 100 Kindle books.

I've started Summer by Edith Wharton and I'm pleasantly surprised.

I read the book and didn't enjoy it all that much. I suspect it is very different (in fact, almost unrelated aside from the title) to the movie. My review is here. I gave it 2/6, but others have rated it much higher.

On the home run with Hyperion. I should finish it tonight. I think I will be googling it after I finish because I'm sure there are a few things that went over my head.

I love this style (presentations, e-mails, etc.), so I have just bought it for my Kindle. Sounds like a really great read, hopefully I will get to it soon.

Hello Osman and welcome to the forum.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

1- Who was your favourite character? The character I was most fascinated by was Queenie. She was only described quite superficially, but the little hints which were given about her made me quite interested in what has made her life the way it was. She was someone who never seemed to have any friends (aside from Harold) or partners in her whole life, and I was quite moved by her breakdown in the stationery room. I would probably say she was my favourite character because she just seemed to be so alone - maybe I just had more sympathy for her, than any of the others. I found her life (what little we knew about it) to be very sad (and I'm a sucker for sad characters, as long as they don't milk it!). It's quite difficult to answer because as the book went on the layers were slowly pulled back to reveal why the characters behaved the way they did. My initial thoughts about Maureen was that she was a miserable cow, but when the chapters were told from her point of view and her thoughts about herself and her actions, I had more understanding and sympathy. Harold was a likeable character. Even though he had great weaknesses in his life, he seemed to be someone who always wanted to do the right thing but was stopped by fear. 2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I really enjoyed the earlier part of the story, just as Harold was setting off on his long pilgrimage and the first stages of the pilgrimage. A large part of the reason is that he walked through areas that I live near, so it was quite exciting to see these places mentioned. 3- Was this the first book you've read in this genre/ by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? It's the first book I have read by the author, and I wouldn't mind reading more of her work but I won't be in a great rush to do so. Not sure what the genre is, but this year this is the third book I have bought where the book is based on a character just getting up and deciding to walk out and not come back (the other two are The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared, and Instructions for a Heatwave). Maybe it's my subconscious trying to tell me something? 4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I thought there seemed to be a large section of the book where not much happened. Harold described the beginning parts of his journey in a lot of detail, but as the time wore on, there didn't seem to be a whole lot happening. I know he couldn't describe everything that happened and every town he passed, but unfortunately I just don't recall too much of interest happening in the middle chunk of the book. 5- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Yes, I'd say it was, though I feel it lacked something. It didn't seem to have much excitement or enthusiasm in it, but maybe that was the how it was supposed to come across. Maybe it's was just supposed to plod along like Harold. It certainly wasn't as moving as I expected it to be. It was placid and lukewarm. I shall come back and answer the other questions in a little while.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce Harold Fry gets a letter one day from a long lost friend named Queenie. She informs him she is dying of cancer and he decides to post her a reply, but once he arrives at the post box he decides to keep walking. He makes the decision to walk to her in Berwick on Tweed, from his home in Kingsbridge, South Devon, believing that this will somehow save her life. It’s perhaps a bit of a silly reason for connecting with the book but he started his journey not too far from I live, and he described in detail some local places which I am familiar with, so I found the early parts of his journey very enjoyable. However, there was something about the story that was lacking. When you think of the effort Harold put through to achieve his journey, it seemed like the pay-off should have been much greater, or the conclusion should have been more powerful. Maybe some people will think it was strong enough, but for me it wasn't. Something about it seemed lukewarm all the way through, like it was a bit restrained, and I just felt like the character's weren't really transformed like they should have been. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. I just felt I should have enjoyed it more. 3/6

I feel like I'm so behind on everything. There's just not enough time! I'm only half-way through Hyperion. I'm enjoying it but it's not the kind of book I can read quickly. I can't guess where it's heading or how it will conclude, as it seems to be quite different to other books I have read. Or maybe because its sci-fi (or should that be SF? ) and therefore in my mind, a bit unpredictable.

I have added Who Runs Britain? and Boomerang to my wishlist. On the book-buying topic, I too don't buy paper books anymore. If I'm looking for a book, first place I look now is Amazon for the Kindle version. If it's not available on Kindle, then I try my library. If I still can't get my hands on it, I generally tend to push it further down my TBR pile. I think I would only buy a paper book again if I had no chance of getting the e-book version or the library copy.

I'm only a couple of chapters into Hyperion and I'm finding myself having to actually consciously think while reading it. I find the concept of a 'treeship' interesting but struggling to visualise it.

Awww, she looks lovely. I hope she gets better soon.

I finished Safe House by Chris Ewan. I really enjoyed it. It was fast paced, with some twists and turns but not over-complicated. I think I will start Hyperion by Dan Simmons as my next fiction read. Still going with The World's Greatest Idea as well.

Hi Jennifer and welcome to the forum!

Hello Tobi and welcome! I really like Fight Club too (the movie, as well as the book), but it's the only one of Palahniuk's that I have really enjoyed. What sort of dog do you have? I have a labrador named Reuben; I love taking him out for walks too.

I read Blue Heaven earlier this year, and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I remember it started off feeling a bit stilted, but soon after it picked up and started to flow a lot better.

You've summed up the same reason I didn't like Brick Lane. I just couldn't stay interested even though the blurb suggested it had everything that I would enjoy. I never ended up finishing it - it was just such a struggle!

Great review of On Beauty. I really enjoyed White Teeth, and keep meaning to read NW, but for some reason I seem to have ignored this one. It sounds like an interesting read, so that's another one on my wishlist!

I have Un Lun Dun on my wishlist. Someone on here mentioned it a couple of months ago and I thought it sounded so fantastically intriguing!

Feeling a bit lacklustre about The World's Greatest Idea by John Farndon. I was hoping it would focus on more tangible ideas, rather than things like Epic Poetry, Marriage, and Qi. I've picked up Safe House by Chris Ewan for my fiction read. It seems ok so far.

Updated reading plan: Hyperion - Dan Simmons While We're Far Apart - Lynn Austin The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt Safe House - Chris Ewen Plague - Lisa C Hinsley The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend The World's Greatest Idea - John Farndon - currently reading Megacatastrophes! - David Darling & Dirk Schulze-Makuch The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce World War Z - Max Brooks Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit - Ian Leslie

Hello Cosimo and welcome to the forum!

Hi Bethany and welcome to the forum! Sounds like your parents have dream jobs for book-lovers, especially your mum!