bobblybear
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Posts posted by bobblybear
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Great reviews, Frankie. I've heard loads about The Secret Life of Bees but never actually knew what it is about. Uncle Tom's Cabin is also one I heard mentioned, but I always thought it was something to do with Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
I've just downloaded it onto my Kindle as it's free (and so naturally doesn't count towards my yearly limit on book purchases 
).Love the story of Molli and the tortoise, but I too would struggle to read about the dogs' tails being docked.
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The Painted Bridge sounds like my kind of book. I have added it to my wishlist.
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I started Treasure Island last night, and it's pretty good so far. I'm surprised by how readable it is, as I was expecting to struggle.
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I also blame the Kindle Daily Deal I mean how can you resist some of them at 99p each. I don't see myself cutting back though.
I think this was my downfall last year. I've been a lot better so far this year (early days though, isn't it?), and resisted buying books just because they sound interesting. I only plan on buying the Daily Deals if it's something that I already have on my Wishlist.
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I've just started two new courses on Coursera, both introductory - one about Astrobiology....
Oooh, I bet that will be very interesting!
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Thanks Janet, I shall leave Gulliver's Travels for later I think. Toilet humour does make me laugh though, so it might be my kind of book.
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Thanks Steve and Kylie!
Looks like it's Treasure Island for me then!! After that, then I'll probably make The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes my next classic though it sounds like I can probably read it in between other books. 
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I'm trying to clear my pre-2012 book purchases, and a few of them were classics so I'm going to tackle one of them next.
I'm a bit nervous about it as I haven't found them the easiest to read in the past. I didn't enjoy Pride and Prejudice, even though everyone raves about it.
Soooo....from the following list, which would be the most recommended to start with?
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
I've looked on the Classics forum, and can't decide as there are opinions going both ways.
Any help, pretty please?
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Finished Six Seconds by Rick Mofina. Pretty good overall.
I'm going to tackle a classic next - makes me a bit nervous as I've not got along great with them before.
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Apple squash.
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Thanks Devi. I have added them to my wishlist as they sound like my kind of books.
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Ready Player One sounds like a fun read, especially as I grew up in the 80's and love all the nostalgia of the 'good old days'. Needless to say, I've added it to my wishlist.
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I'm about half way through Six Seconds by Rick Mofina. It's pretty good, fast-paced and entertaining.
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I hope you enjoy it Alexi. It's a very riveting read, and quite heavy-going because of the subject matter. It has to be one of the most comprehensive true-crime books I've read.
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The Drowning Pool - Syd Moore
Sarah Grey is a recently widowed thirty-something, with a young son Alfie. After the death of her husband she moves to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex to get away from it all and start over.
While there, she and her friends inadvertently hold a séance and she starts having visions of a young woman, obviously in distress and demanding help. Pine cones and cockle shells appear for no reason in her house, mysterious phone calls are made, and her son keeps referring to ‘the burning girl’.
The Drowning Pool refers to a place in Leigh-on-Sea which was used to test if women were witches. They would bind these unfortunate women from thumb to toe, and if the woman sank and drowned she was innocent but if she floated she was a witch and was hanged at the gallows. Bit of a rough deal, really!!
It started off brilliantly, and I was quite spooked by various happenings in the book. Unfortunately, I felt it somewhat deteriorated into a cross between a cheap romance novel and a second rate investigative thriller. The characters were dull and left undeveloped, with a few obvious red-herrings thrown in there as to what their motives would be.
Apparently it’s based (loosely) on an actual local legend of the sea-witch Sarah Moore, from the same town.
This is a debut novel, and I probably won’t read any more by this author. From Amazon reviews though, there seem to be more people who like it rather than dislike it.
2/6
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I hope you get a chance to read it, Brian. It's well worth it. It's long and sometimes a bit of a slog, but it's never boring, and I can't think of anything that they could/should have omitted. It's very interesting to look on Street View at some of the places they talk about, and where the crimes took place (even though it's years later!). It's a very bleak area and makes me admire the detectives even more for being able to do what they do without sinking into some serious depression.
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Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets - David Simon
David Simon was a Baltimore Sun reporter back in the 1980’s, and in 1988 he spent a full year (1st January - 31st December) with the Baltimore Homicide Unit as a ‘police intern' and documented his experiences.
It's a mammoth book, and I did have to put it down and read some lighter books in between, as it's heavy going and there not much joy and happiness to be found!
It starts with a 'typical Baltimore murder' as an introduction to the area, the detectives and the public they have to deal with. It was a bit slow in the beginning and I was slightly worried it wouldn't hold my interest as it’s nearly 700 pages long. I needn't have worried though! After this introduction, the book focuses on a few specific cases, which run the length of the book, but as the book follows a calendar year it is interspersed with many other cases they come across, while still dipping into the main cases every couple of months or so, to check their progress.
It covers all aspects of working in homicide, such as police procedures, forensics, how to check a crime scene, interrogation techniques, autopsies and the judicial process (with a bit of a dig at jurors). It shows the gallows humour, the pecking order, the bickering between the detectives, and the dedication (and sometimes not) they show towards solving the cases.
It’s very thorough and detailed, and in a way it’s almost like a textbook (with a bit more personality) because Simon doesn’t involve himself in the scene. He tells it from a very impartial point of view, and you don’t ever see his opinion or involvement, which I think I preferred.
It’s a bit dated, but this doesn’t detract from it at all, and the only time I really noticed is when he mentions that there was only one female among 36 detective and sergeants.
If you are into true crime books, then definitely read this one. I've always been more interested in the psychological and profiling side of it, so I didn't think it would appeal as much, but I was wrong. It covers everything you could ever want to know about the inner-workings of a homicide unit - fascinating readng indeed!
5/6
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I made a start on Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad today, I only managed a handful of pages before I had to do something else. If the Goodreads reviews are anything to go by it would seem that its a book people either love or hate.
I've had this one for a while, and I too have heard many opposing views of it. Some people really hate it, which is what has put me off reading it even if it is only just over 100 pages.
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Great review of White Fang. I've heard of it of course, but didn't know anything about the story. Bought it for my Kindle - well, downloaded it as it was free.
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Stephen King - The Stand (BCF recommendation)
Stephen King - 11.22.63 (BCF recommendation)
Garth Stein - The Art Of Racing In The Rain (BCF recommendation)
Marcus Zusak - The Book Thief (BCF recommendation)
Jay Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why (BCF recommendation)
I've read four of those, and thought them all excellent. Thirteen Reasons Why is on my TBR list based on recommendations from here.
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Chewing gum, but in a minute I'm going to have Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan Bread.
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Bottle of water.
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I'm about 80% through The Drowning Pool. It's ok...has gone downhill slightly.
Once I've finished, I'm going to read Off With Their Heads!: All The Cool Bits in British History. It's a short read, a children's book, but I think it's what I need to start with as my knowledge of history isn't the best.
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Bristol Library is gorgeous! I'd love to have our library look like that.
Instead, this is our monstrosity. It's recent building (maybe two years old), funded from lottery money I think. Would have looked nicer if not for the green.
Athena's Reading List 2013
in Past Book Logs
Posted
I read this last year and really enjoyed it. It's a very well written and interesting story.