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bobblybear

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    Your Book Activity - June 2013

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Struggling a bit through World War Z as I find some chapters/viewpoints more interesting than others. I'm about half way through, and hope to finish it this weekend.

     

    Bought a few Kindle books recently:

     

    Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

    The Dog Stars - Peter Heller

    The End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Pure - Julianna Baggott

     

    The Detonations have divided Earth’s inhabitants into two groups – the 'Pure' who were pre-selected into the protective Dome when the bombs fell, and the 'Wretches' who were left outside and had to fend for themselves. It is about nine years since Detonation. Pressia, a young ‘wretch’ has just turned 16, and is now required by 'law' to hand herself in to the OSR – a militia organisation of Wretches intent on taking down the Dome. Within the Dome, Partridge – the son of the Dome’s creator – hatches a plan to escape and find his mother who was left in the outside world.

     

    What I loved most about this book is the post apocalyptic world. I haven’t read anything similar in terms of the characters/mutations. Those outside during the detonations have become fused with whichever inanimate object they were in contact with at the time. Pressia has a doll’s head instead of a hand, as she was holding onto it at the time. Another character was in the midst of a flock of birds at the time of detonation and now has these birds (still alive) fused to his back. Dusts are fused with the earth and pull others down into the ground where they can devour them. Groupies used to be 7 or 8 people, and is now one massive body with an assortment of arms and legs.

     

    I really liked the imagery of this; it was so original to anything I have read before.

     

    As for the story itself, while enjoyable there wasn’t anything too remarkable to it. If you took it out of the particular unique world, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much, and it would have lost it's originality. Having said that, I did still enjoy it, and I shall still read the sequels. Apparently movie rights have already been sold, and I think it would be great to see it on the big screen, given that it is such a visually-orientated story.

     

    4/6

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    A 1950's Childhood: From Tin Baths to Bread and Dripping - Paul Feeney

     

    This was a Kindle deal, and I thought it would be an interesting read as I’m quite curious about life in the earlier decades. Unfortunately I ended up skimming a fair bit of it. It started off well, but it became a bit disjointed and the later sections of the book just seemed to be lists that spanned numerous pages, of things like TV shows of the time, or well-known celebrities. It just didn’t hold my interest. I don’t think it’s because I wasn’t a child of the 1950’s. I’ve read a few reviews on Amazon and the negative ones share the same view as mine, mainly that it just became a series of lists and not much more.


    I’m sure there are better books about life in the 1950’s out there.

     

    1.5/6

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted


    The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber


    Set in Victorian era London, the story follows the life of a very popular and highly recommended young prostitute named Sugar, and her desperate desire to escape the life that was forced upon her at a young age.

     

    Reluctant perfume heir, William Rackham is trapped in an unhappy marriage, with a daughter he barely knows or wants to know. He seeks out a way to improve his life, and is recommended a visit to Sugar. Following their ‘interactions’ he decides he must have her exclusively, with Sugar at the same time seeing Rackham as her meal-ticket to a better life.

     

    The book has an unusual writing style with an omniscient narrator who introduces us to the city and characters at the beginning, and occasionally interjects with some narrative, telling the reader a few key things they would otherwise be unaware of. I quite liked this style – I didn’t find it pulled me out of the story; it was just another dimension to the tale, and I quite enjoyed the brusqueness of the narrator.

     

    It’s a pretty long book, at over 800 pages but I really don’t think much of it could be trimmed without losing significant parts of the detail and characters. A minor warning: it’s very graphic in it’s descriptions of sex and Victorian life. That didn’t bother me, although some parts did have me cringing with the way they were described.

     

    All in all, a very engaging and interesting story, I think a pretty realistic approach to describing life in Victorian London and both ends of the social ladder.

     

    5/6

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Will this be your first endeavour in the Adrian Mole books? They're great :smile2:

     

    I read the first Adrian Mole book years ago, when I was probably only 12 or so. Needless to say, I didn't understand it and didn't particularly like it much. So I figured I'd give it a re-read as I'm sure I like it a lot more now that I'm (much) older.

     

     

    I haven't heard of the other books, but The Unlikely Pilgrimage is supposed to be good :) Happy reading!

     

     

    Thanks. I have pretty high hopes for The Unlikely Pilgrimage, as it sounds like my kind of book. :boogie: But even if I don't like it, at least it's one off my TBR pile. :giggle:

     

    I really liked Hyperion, I hope you like it too :). The Unlikely Pilgrimage I'll read in a bit too.

     

    I hope I'll like Hyperion. I've heard many good things about it on here recently; I enjoy sci-fi although sometimes I find it can be a bit too heavy. Hopefully that won't be the case! :blush2:

    Your Book Activity - June 2013

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Have finished Brick Lane at last .. it didn't look like a big book but was 490 pages plus. I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped .. 

     

    I didn't enjoy Brick Lane either, even though I had high hopes for it. I had read many positive things about it and it looked like a book I would enjoy. However, I didn't even end up finishing it.

     

    I'm about 80% through Now Then Lads: Tales of a Country Bobby. I'm really enjoying it - it's a very interesting read.

    Verna's Reading List 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I loved The Book Thief; it was such a moving story.

     

    I had to give up on The Lacuna, even though I really enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible. It just didn't grab me in the same way.

     

    I plan on reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry later this month for our Reading Circle Group, and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is on my wishlist, because it just sounds brilliant.

    What you should read next

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    I'm reading World War Z, and it suggests my next read should be Day by Day Armageddon by JL Bourne.

     

    Most of the books suggested are in the same genre (zombies, post-apocalyptic), but there are some odd ones in there, like Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden and Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture In All Its Moods. :D

    Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I know I'm a few reviews behind, but I've selected the next chunk of books to read (in no particular order):

     

    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

    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

    Your Book Activity - June 2013

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Nearly finished with The Devil Wears Prada. I'm enjoying it but I've come to realise that it's pretty much 350 pages of the same scenario over and over.

     

    I've had to give up on Worm. I found it too heavy on the technical side, and it just wan't holding my interest. I was hoping for something like The Cuckoo's Egg which was a bit more adventurous rather than techy.

     

    My next non-fiction from my reading plan is Now Then Lads: Tales of A Country Bobby by Mike Pannett.

     

    Once that's done, I shall plan my next 10 or so books. Might sound sad, but I'm quite looking forward to choosing the next lot to read. :readingtwo:

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