bobblybear

I hope you have a great reading year in 2018, Laura!

Have a great reading year in 2018!

Have a great reading year in 2018, Inver.

I am. It's a simple game, and that's what I like sometimes.

Last film I watched was Blade Runner 2049. Hmmm, overall I was disappointed. It was way too long, and not much seemed to happen.

I finished watching Mindhunter on Netflix which was brilliant. Now I'm hooked on Ozark. So good to see Jason Bateman in a non-comedy role.

I hope you have a great reading year in 2018!

Welcome to the forum! I hope you have a great reading year in 2018.

Have a great reading year in 2018!

Have a great reading year in 2018, June. I read Sapiens last year and really liked it. There were a lot of things to think about in there, but I recall struggling a bit towards the end. You have also read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. I hope you liked it! I had no pre-conceptions when I started it so I was very surprised at how good it was. I also read his Last Man In Tower, which was possibly even better than The White Tiger.

I wish you a great reading year, Chrissy.

I hope you have a great reading year in 2018! I see you have Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche on your TBR pile. I read it very recently and absolutely loved it, so I hope you enjoy it when you get to it. You also have quite a lot of Steinbeck on your list. Several of his books were £0.99 on Kindle last night, and I fortunately managed to buy them in time!

I remember struggling with this one, and I don't think I finished it. It's the first and last book by Adam Nevill that I will read.

I was so disappointed in End of Watch. The supernatural element just ruined it for me. Wizard & Glass is my favourite of the series too. I need to give it a re-read this year, I think! I love A Short History of Everything. I read it every couple of years, and always pick up on something new.

I hope you have a great reading year in 2018! I haven't read those two Jodi Picoult books, but I'm sure I will read them at some point as I do like her. I read Small Great Things by her this year, and that was quite good (if a bit saccharine sweet).

I wish you a great reading year in 2018!

A few more mini-reviews, as I'm still playing catch-up on 2017. After You - Jojo Moyes This is the sequel to Me Before You, so it's in the same vein but I didn't find it as enjoyable. What made the first book so likeable was what Will Traynor had to endure and his relationship with Lou Clark. A story with Lou on it's own was nowhere near as interesting, to the point where I have forgotten what a lot of it was about. Very average. 2/6 We Have Always Lived In The Castle - Shirley Jackson Merricat is the young woman narrating the story. She lives alone with her sister Constance, isolated from the world as much as possible. Constance was acquitted of the murder of their entire family a few years ago, and since then they have been shunned by their village community. When a long lost cousin shows up wanting to building a relationship, Merricat is instantly jealous and has other ideas. This is the first book I've read by Shirley Jackson, and I have to say I enjoyed it right from the start. It had a very dark, menacing feel to it, but in a very understated way. Hints are subtly dropped about what happened in the past. I didn't read the blurb before starting the book, so this was effective for me. It was a short book, just over 150 pages but it really packs a punch. I have since bought a couple more Shirley Jackson books, but have yet to read them. Highly recommended if you are in the mood for something disturbing. 5/6 The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger A re-read. Holden Caulfield tells of a few days in his life after he gets kicked out of school for the fourth time. As he makes his way home to his parents he stops in to see various friends and acquaintances, and shares his views on them, and other things which happen on the way. It's not bad, but it's hard to see why it was so shocking at the time, as it's pretty tame. I doubt I will read it again, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. It just seemed a bit on the boring side. 2/6 The Whites - Richard Price Each copper has a 'white' – a criminal they know is guilty but has gotten away with it. The Whites follows four police officers, who are linked together by cases in the past. Each one has a white that they keep track of, checking in with them every now and then to keep them on their toes. When the white of the main character is murdered, he sets out to investigate who killed him. This leads him to discover that the whites of his colleagues from way back, are also being killed, and he and his fellow officers try to get to the bottom of what is going on. Good but very dark and gritty. Not a light book in any way, and the story has a few twists and turns. Overall it was good but not great. 3/6 Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Two Nigerian teenagers are in love, but after the political unrest in their country they end up going separate ways. Obinze goes to England, and Ifemelu goes to America. There they make an attempt to fit into their new separate lives in foreign countries. However, when one of them initiates contact it sets off the old emotions and eventually they plan to meet up in Nigeria again. I loved this. I love reading the immigrant experience and am fascinated by how people adjust to such a change and the struggle to find their security and that 'at home' feeling. This book starts off with Ifemelu getting ready to return to Nigeria and to hopefully meet up with her old love. She recounts her past, and through alternating chapters the book goes through both their lives from teenagers to the present. Really good book, one of the best of the year. Well written and a decent story. 5/6 The Lost City of Z - David Grann This is a true story but has been told in a novel format. I didn't actually realise it was based on actual events until I googled it. Percy Fawcett was a British Explorer who went missing in the Amazon in the 1920s. He was searching for a supposed lost city, and after his disappearance many rumours came to the surface about what may have happened to him. The author picked up on his story and decided (like countless others) to follow Fawcett's trail to see if he could find his remains or conclusive evidence of what happened to him. Overall very good if you like adventures stories. 4/6 Dark Matter - Blake Crouch Jason Dessen goes out for a walk one evening when he is attacked and knocked unconscious. He wakes up to find himself in a seemingly parallel life, in which his wife and career are very different. He needs to work out what is going on and how to get back to his family and his 'real' life. This one was a bit silly, and I think I read the majority of it while I was asleep with my eyes open. I need to learn to ignore books which are marketed as 'The Best Thriller you will read this year' etc. 1/6 Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng Lydia is the perfect daughter of Marilyn and James, touted to achieve that which her mother never could – to become a doctor. When she is found dead in a local lake, questions are raised as to what happened – was it murder or was it suicide? Her parents realise that they never really knew Lydia – was she happy, what did she want out of life? And poor Lydia - a girl who is so desperate for her parents approval that she ends up living their life rather than hers. I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, with a good story that could have easily been over sentimentalised, but instead was well balanced and believable. Highly recommended. 5/6

I hope you have a great reading year, Alexi! I read Joyland a couple of years ago....can't remember the details, but I think I enjoyed it more than you did.

It's such a big book! Hopefully you are enjoying it? I don't think I have read Life Before Man, but I really enjoyed The Blind Assassin. Have you read Alias Grace? That is another Atwood that I have enjoyed. I re-read this a couple of years ago. Such a good book, and he covers all aspects of the crime. I'm doing the opposite. I'm boxing my books up, and it's taking forever. I'm now reading The Alienist by Caleb Carr. I only started it this afternoon, and it's good so far but written in an old-fashioned style that I know will take me a while to get into the flow of. Before that, I finished Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt. Still can't make up my mind about that one. I definitely didn't like it as much as The Sisters Brothers.

Happy new year all. I'm currently reading The Night Manager by John Le Carre. The first one of his I've attempted....I have to admit, I'm finding it a bit waffly, but the storyline itself is interesting. Did you enjoy Station Eleven? I absolutely loved it when I first read it a couple of years ago. I still have many reviews to finish off for 2017. I quite like the mini-review format so I think I will do that to finish them off. Then I have to start pulling together my reading lists for 2018.

A few mini-reviews: The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton This is one I had been looking forward to, but when I finished it I couldn't help but feel it was a very average book which had been marketed very well. There were a couple of storylines – one around the dollhouse full of miniature figurines, and another based around Nella's relationship with her new husband. There were many loose ends left at the end of the book; I couldn't see the connection between the two storylines, and I think the book would have worked just as well if the dollhouse plotline had been omitted. The story of Nella and her husband was interesting enough without adding on a gimmicky storyline that was distracting at best. Disappointing 2/6 The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas The story revolves around a supposedly cursed book called The End of Mr Y. Our protagonist stumbles upon this book in a second-hand bookstore, and attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding it. This leads her to a world of talking mice, time travel and strange men (possibly from the CIA) who are trying to kill her. It is an extremely cerebral and strange novel. It's the third book I have read by Scarlett Thomas, and I have enjoyed all of them on some level. This one was the oddest of all, and I know I lost track towards the end as I couldn't wrap my brain around all the concepts covered. Still it's well worth a read, but not a relaxing one! 5/6 End of Watch - Stephen King This is the last in the recent Stephen King trilogy, which started with Mr Mercedes. Bill Hodges is still operating as a private investigator with his sidekick Holly, and together they are pulled into a number of recent murders. Evidence at the crime scenes suggests that Brady Hartsfield (from the earlier books) is somehow responsible, even though he is in a vegetative state in a nearby hospital. Overall, this was a very disappointing finish to the series (which never wholly grabbed me anyway). A supernatural element was added and this changed the whole tone of the series into something that was frankly silly. 1.5/6 The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert Non-fiction book which covers the 5 extinction events that have happened since life began on Earth. Some scientists believe that we are now in the midst of the 6th extinction, helped along by our impact on the environment. The book breaks down each of these extinctions in separate chapters. There are also detailed sections covering some specific current extinctions (ie. particular species of frogs and bats). These - especially of the bats - were very upsetting to read. There was also a lot of focus on what effect humans have had. Pretty depressing overall. 5/6 Last Night in Montreal - Emily St John Mandel I loved Station Eleven, but this is a completely different genre, so perhaps it's unfair to compare the two. The main character, Lillia has a habit of abandoning boyfriends, literally overnight and with no explanation. When she does this with her current boyfriend Eli, he decides to dig deeper into her life and her part to find out why she does this. I wasn't all that taken in with the explanation and I found Lillia to be selfish, rather than an interesting character. I couldn't fully get her motives and found the premise behind it to be weak. Average. 3/6 The Jigsaw Man - Paul Britton Written by a forensic psychologist who has assisted in many high profile cases. Here he speaks of them and how his input has assisted in finding the guilty person. It has to be said though that he has now been disbarred from assisting the police after his involvement in the investigation of Rachel Nickell's murder (on Wimbledon Common). I wasn't aware of this when I started reading the book, and I think if I had it would has changed my mind about it. As it stands, I did enjoy it and it has to be one of the most interesting books on true crime I have read. 5/6 The Circle - Dave Eggers Set in the near future, The Circle is an organisation which links everything via social media to the nth degree. Full transparency and sharing of experiences and feelings is encouraged. Mae joins this company somewhat naïvely and is soon fully involved in this new lifestyle of sharing and oversharing. It begins to invade her private life and that of her family and friends. It's a very exaggerated view of what is happening today with Facebook and twitter etc., but perhaps too exaggerated so it lost some of it's impact. I thought this was a pretty poor book, followed by an extremely poor movie. 1.5/6 The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon - Brad Stone I thought this was a very balanced view of Amazon (and Jeff Bezos), and how it has grown to be the humongous company it is today. It is critical and complimentary in equal measures, but you can sense the admiration that the author has. It's hard to believe how much the company has achieved in such a short space of time. I liked reading how unique Bezos is in his management style, though I imagine he'd be pretty brutal to work for. Recommended. 5/6

I've read 71, which is very good going for me.

I've unfortunately given up on Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King. It was just too long and dragged out. Every time I would pick it up, I'd have to mentally steel myself to push forward with it. Oh well, at least it was a library book and not one I paid for! Yesterday I started Thin Air by Michelle Paver and I finished it this morning. It was a short read - only 200 odd pages - but very creepy and atmospheric. Next up is The Mountain Between Us. I haven't seen the film yet....always good to read the book before seeing the movie.

Same here....this year has been tough but I'm not sure why! I must be about 20 reviews behind, and I was trying to collect my thoughts on them over the last couple of days, but I'm really struggling. I hate to abandon this years reviews, but I may not have a choice. Maybe I will try to do some mini-reviews, but even that will be difficult given how much time has passed since I finished some of these books! Hopefully next year will be better for you.

I've started Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King. I managed to borrow it from the library and I'm enjoying it so far.