bobblybear
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Posts posted by bobblybear
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Ugh, how irritating!!
Hopefully it won't spoil it too much for you, but I think you won't get the full impact of the ending. -
Wow, that's a big difference! The last chapter must have been good.
It completely changed the book. Once I finished it, it made sense, whereas prior to the last chapter I had no idea what to make of it or what the animals represented.
Which one was that
?An appallingly unfunny book called Missing Gretyl by Si Page. It was nasty, judgemental and tried to be funny (but was actually malicious) about certain classes/groups of people. Mind you, it has an average of 4.5 stars on Amazon, but I just hated it.
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What a shame
. I have the book on my TBR.It's very different to his other books, and feels disjointed. Not many positive reviews on Amazon for it.
I've now started The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. Great so far....glad to see he's his usual funny self.
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I have finished The Red House by Mark Haddon. Overall, it was a disappointment.
Now I will be reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I have high hopes for this one.
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Boy! That's quite a change in rating! All great reviews, BB!
I've only read one of Crichton's books, Air Frame....it was ok, but not something that made me want to seek out all of his writing. Sorry it was so horrible!
Thanks, Pontalba. Yeah, the rating did change drastically. It was one of those books where the ending completely turns it on it's head and it makes sense.
I enjoyed Airframe when I read it; I've enjoyed most of Crichton's books, but this one was definitely his worst.
, but it must be a stinker of a book..... It's not my lowest score. Last year I gave a book 0/6.
Fancy something utterly stupid -- definitely sells it.
I had no idea that Michael Crichton had died. I wonder if it was still needing re-writes; it sounds appallingly bad.It's been a while since I read a Michael Crichton book, but I don't recall any of them being as poorly written as this one. I think it would have been best left unfinished and unpublished.
Hahaha I had seen Micro on Goodreads before and was wondering about it..... definitely avoid then!
Yah, one to avoid.
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Orange and Pineapple squash.
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This still amuses me
Glad I've amused you!
Been struggling to get on with Life After Life ~ Kate Atkinson.....too much jumping back and forward and can't/couldn't get to grips with it. Thinking I might just abandon now, but too long since I picked it up to read.
Yep, I had to give up on it (or maybe I skimmed it through to the end).
I liked the idea of that book, but just couldn't get into it!
That was exactly my thoughts on it.
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Micro - Michael Crichton
Seven graduate students are recruited by a very lucrative micro-technology company who draws them in with promises of cutting-edge technology and a significant boost to their careers. They head to an island in Hawaii where the company is based, but soon find out that they have been misled and something very sinister is going on.
This was such a silly book. From what I gather, it was incomplete at the author's death in 2008 and finished off by Richard Preston (he of The Hot Zone).
I don't know who wrote what, but I have to say the dialogue is appallingly weak (some of the characters responses are so odd and outright stupid!) and the people are completely one-dimensional. We don't ever get to know them, and ultimately end up not caring about them.
The story is far fetched too, but still I found it very fast paced and easy to read. The hardback copy of just over 400 pages long, and although I'm slating it, I ended up finishing it in 3 days. Purely entertainment for those moments when you just don't want to use your brain.
Avoid if you want a serious book....pick up if you fancy something utterly stupid.
1.5/6
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Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel
This is a very odd book, and when I borrowed it I was hoping for something like Life of Pi, which I loved.
Henry is a semi-successful author, who is about to have his next book - which he thinks is spectacular - published. He is shocked to the core when his publishers criticise and reject his latest manuscript. In a moment of pique, decides to abandon writing altogether and find something else to do with his time, and takes on a variety of different jobs.
One day, he is contacted by a taxidermist who happened to enjoy his published work, and is seeking his help with a play he is putting together. The play is based on two animals that are in the taxidermist's shop - a donkey and a howler monkey – and their unusual friendship.
Slowly Henry gets more involved in the taxidermist's life (who is a very odd person) and seeks to find what has driven him to write this play and what it was really about.
The majority of this was supremely boring, until the end when the whole book was transformed into something else entirely, and I fully appreciated the meaning behind it all. I wish I could have read it with knowing the ending in mind, but at the same time its not a book I want to re-read. The ending is very emotional, and I would recommend not having any knowledge about it before you start. Avoid online reviews as they blatantly give away the deeper meaning, and if you go into it blind, the ending is fairly shocking.
It's only short, under 200 pages and a lot of the pages are double spaced, as about half of it is reproductions of sections of the play.
Until the last chapter, the book was heading for a 2/6, but the last chapter pushed it to a 4.5/6.
4.5/6
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Once again I'm having to play 'catch-up' on reviews.
Frankly I'm surprised I remember anything about the books I've read. 
Our Endless Numbered Days - Claire Fuller
When Peggy was 8 years old she was taken away from the family home by her father, to live in 'die Hutte', in isolated woodland. Her father was a survivalist who was convinced that the end of the world was imminent and that their only chance for survival was far away from civilisation.
The book opens in 1985, when Peggy has just returned home as a 17 year old. We aren't yet told the circumstances of her return. The story goes back to her childhood in 1976 to give some background to her father, their lifestyle and what was the turning point which drove them away (or rather, which drove him to take them away). We follow Peggy as she is taken away by her father - not told they are leaving for good - and their life and struggle during the nine long years they were away. This is interjected by parts of her life in the present and how she is struggling to cope and to relate to her mother (and a brother she had never met) again.
There is of course a twist or two towards the end, one of which didn't surprise me that much, but the other one had me floored.
It felt shorter than it ought to be and I couldn't help but feel like something was missing, but I can't put my finger on it. I wanted a bit more detail about their life in the woodland, and even though that time period was covered thoroughly I just felt like some of the depth was missing. But still it was a solid read, which I enjoyed a lot.
5/6
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Nevermind! It's about quality rather than quantity!
I loved The Princess Bride - it's such a sweet little story. Have you seen the film? If not, I highly recommend it.
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Edit: I did a really quick scan through your TBR to see which book it was, but ... it was a big ass TBR list
:lol: So I didn't catch anything. Yah, it is a massive list.
The one I have is Columbine by Dave Cullen, which is rated very highly on Amazon.I don't know enough about the incident (although I have read Wikipedia etc., a long time ago) so I can't recall if there were any warning signs. The problem is that no one thinks that anyone (their children) is capable of such a thing until it actually happens. The parents probably thought their kids were just going through a phase of some kind. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.
I've added A Mother's Reckoning to my wishlist, as I'm sure it will be an interesting (albeit painful) read.
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I'm still madly into Fallout 4. I've also been playing some little android games on my phone which is always fun.
Today I bought The Last of Us - Remastered for the PS4. I've played it on PS3 and loved it, so hopefully it will be worth it.
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Grunt- Mary Roach release 6/7
I'm looking forward to this one, too. I've read all her other books and loved them.
I have no idea what I want to read next! Considering tackling A Little Life at last, but might also go grab M. R. Carey's new one or try a Claire North. Decisions!!
Ooooh, I hope you read A Little Life soon.....it's a heavy read, but you'll know pretty early on whether it's your kind of book or not.
I started to read Jojo Moyes - Me Before You 1: Me Before You. It's good so far
.Loved this book. It's not the genre I usually read so I was very pleasantly surprised. Glad you are enjoying it.
I started reading A Mother's Reckoning - Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy by Sue Klebold last night. I'm already completely engrossed.
Oh blimey, that will be an interesting read. She's the mother of one of the killers, right? I didn't know she wrote a book. I have a book about the Columbine shooting; can't remember who wrote it though. It's on my TBR pile and one of the books on my list that I want to read this year.
I'm struggling a bit with The Red House by Mark Haddon. I just find it awkwardly written.
I need to stick with it and read it in decent chunks rather than 10 minutes here and there. The problem is that every time I start reading it, I feel like I want to fall asleep, so I put it down and go do something else. I managed to get to the library today. I wanted to borrow the first Harry Potter book so I can give it a re-read, but it wasn't there anymore (even though I saw it on the shelf last week). It wasn't a total loss though, as I managed to borrow Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. It's been talked about on here recently so I'm very curious about it.
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The Phillip K Dick or Major Pettigrew?
I am finally reading again, slowly, but reading. I was going crazy not reading!
Sorry, the Major Pettigrew. It's not a very long book, but it seems to be never-ending.
Glad you are reading again. I'd go bonkers if I didn't read.
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It's been gorgeous here for the bank holiday. I've spend a few days at the beach.
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I have looked over this thread and Frankie's review on the last page. I am keen to read it now. Back in 2012 at the beginning of this thread I pledged that I would wait until I saw this book in a charity shop before I read it. Well, last week it happened! I saw the hardback version for a pound. Unfortunately I was waiting for my bus to work and didn't have a spare pound on me! The next day it was gone. Oh well.....
Oh, that's a bummer! I don't know if you belong to a local library, but you're bound to find a copy there. My local library has loads of copies.
Glad you loved it, bobbly!
As vodkafan mentioned my review on the previous page, I went back to see what I'd written. I thought I'd given it 4/5, and not 3/5... I guess now I would give it a 4/5. It was so much better than I was expecting. I have to admit that I was put off by the cover, and also a work colleague had said she couldn't get into it. But I'm glad I gave it a go, because I thought it was brilliant.
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. I love everything I've read by PKD! I love the synopsis, it's going on the list! Thanks and enjoy Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Thanks! It seems to be taking a long time to finish. I've been reading loads, but don't seem to be progressing!
This sounds like fun
. I love going to the library.Same here! Problem is that they didn't have the book I wanted. When I got home, I checked the online catalog only to find it was at another library.
Oh well, at least I got to visit a library I hadn't been to before. I felt I had to borrow something so I came away with Virus by Sakyo Komatsu. I haven't heard of it before, but it's a post apocalyptic book written in the 1960s, so it's a genre I like.I read Maria Semple - Where'd You Go, Bernadette yesterday and I'm currently reading Beth Revis - Across the Universe 1: Across the Universe.
I loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette. It was very quirky and original. Did you enjoy it?
I started reading This Is Life by Dan Rhodes last night, only 38 pages in but it seems very promising
This one is on my wishlist, so I will be interested to hear what you think.
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I'm about to make a Bacon and Cheese baguette for breakfast.
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Major Pettigrew was still upset about the phone call from his brother's wife and so he answered the doorbell without thinking.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson
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I've had a few this year that I couldn't finish.
The Ice Twins was the last one.....that was just dire. I think I was around the halfway point before I threw in the towel. I flipped to the end and skimmed that last few chapters and was sure I made the right decision.
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I finished reading this last night and I absolutely loved it. I struggled a bit in the beginning because there are so many characters, but after a while I became familiar enough with them. I didn't think of Harry Potter while reading it either but that's probably because it's been ages since I've read those books (but this makes me want to re-read the series).
It reminded me of Capital by John Lanchester, because of the huge array of various characters.I know a lot of people didn't take to this, but I'd heartily recommend it!!
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I struggled a bit with The Passage, and I never bothered picking the sequel up. I've forgotten a lot of the details about it too, but I remember being disappointed because I thought it would be my kind of book.
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Oh neat! I've never even heard of that Phillip K Dick!
I find PKD very hit and miss but I loved the premise of this one. People have been forced to live in underground bunkers in the belief that WWIII is raging on overhead. However, above ground everything is going on as normal and a group of hoaxers are working to preserve the lie.
I'm glad you enjoyed The Casual Vacancy
(it's on my TBR). I hope you enjoy The Penultimate Truth, I have it on my TBR.Thanks Gaia!
I'm also heading out to another smaller library in our local group of libraries. I've never been there before but they have a Michel Faber book I want to borrow (even though I'm kind of drowning in library books
) so I figured I'd have a look around.I'm now reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. Early days, but it's ok so far.
Bobblybear's Book List - 2016
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Ok - I'm curious now. What word was it?