bobblybear

Hello Floridatilly and welcome to the forum. As you enjoyed Gone Girl, have you read Gillian Flynn's other two books? I read them this month and thought they were very good....in the same style as Gone Girl, so hopefully you would enjoy them.

Hello Lindz, and welcome to the forum. I loved The Pillars of the Earth.....thought it was a brilliant read. If you like historical fiction, what about The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. It is set in Victorian London, and is a brilliant read.

Hello Sophie, welcome to the forum.

I shall add it to my wishlist, as I have read a couple of Morpurgo books (War Horse, and Shadow) and enjoyed them both.

I don't do any sort of seasonal reading. I'm happy to read any kind of book regardless of the time of year.

You may enjoy it, so I wouldn't necessarily rely on my opinion. It was well-written and easy enough to read, but the plot just didn't excite me like I'd hoped it would. I will definitely pop by The Maze Runner thread once I'm a bit more of the way into it (started reading it, but got distracted by Inner Space on TV which I haven't seen since I was a kid ).

Capital - John Lanchester Capital is set in a fictional street in London called Pepys Road. It starts with a description of the architecture of the houses and how they came to be built - each slightly different from it’s neighbours - and how the street has changed over the years, from it’s humble working class beginnings, to a very affluent street housing bankers and football stars. The residents of Pepys Road have been receiving anonymous postcards which show a photo of their house and the simple message on the back: ‘We Want What You Have’. This plot runs through the story, but is actually very peripheral to it, and only pops up occasionally. The main meat of the novel lies in the characters who live and work on Pepys Road. Each of these people are from very different socio-economic and racial/cultural backgrounds, and they all have their own story to tell. There isn’t really a plot to speak of. Instead it’s almost a purely character driven book – a story all about people and the minutae of their lives, what drives them and what keeps them up at night. The author does it so well, and each character is a fully drawn individual with so many different sides to them - good and bad. Of course, there were some stories and characters that I preferred to others, but they were all so well written that I loved reading about all of them. It was just shy of 600 pages, but I loved every minute of it and it could have even been longer. It’s not a fast-paced book; in fact not a whole lot happens in it, but it is still such a compelling read because the characters read like real people. I haven’t read any others by John Lanchester, but will be reading more of his other books for sure. One of the best reads of the year for me and definitely one to be read again at a later date. 6/6

Thanks, Athena. I've read some great books since then, so that makes up for it.

The Crow Road - Iain Banks I really looked forward to reading this, but I found it a big struggle, aside from the very engaging first chapter. Set in Scotland it follows the life of Prentice McHoan through his early adult years. There are a few plot lines, the key one of which is centered around his missing uncle, but on the whole it seemed like a mish-mash and I struggled with what the story was supposed to be or what direction it was going. It just seemed to.....meander aimlessly. The timeline jumped back and forth, and in some chapters we were seeing things through Prentice's point of view, and then others were through his father's point of view, and then also when his father was a lot younger. It was as though there were several books, but they had kind of got jumbled up together. Maybe that was Iain Banks' style, having only only read one other by him (The Wasp Factory), I don't know. I also struggled with the large number of characters, most of whom were given the vaguest of personalities, and I found it very difficult to keep track of who they were throughout the book. Because I struggled with it, I read it in very small chunks with a fair bit of time in-between which of course doesn't help. It wasn't all bad though. There was some parts of it that I found interesting to read, especially the story of what may have happened to his uncle, but that was only a small section of the book. The remainder of the book left me uninspired and it was a real struggle to finish for me I’m afraid. It’s a shame as I loved the opening chapter but it was all downhill from there. 2/6

The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman Ok, this is going to be a bit of a crappy-pants review, purely because I don't remember much about the book. Our narrator has returned to the place he grew up which has triggered many memories, most of them about three women (well, two women and one girl) who lived in the farm down the lane. One of them – Lettie Hempstock, who is the youngest – always claimed that the pond in their garden was the ocean, and that she, her mother and grandmother had crossed it to get to where they are now. The story then jumps back to when the narrator (can't remember his name) was a boy and he met the Hempstocks for the first time. It’s a mythical story and quite typically Gaiman. Unfortunately I’m not a huge Gaiman fan (why do I buy his books then? ), so a lot of it passed me by. I don't really enjoy fantasy, but I can appreciate when a story is told well and in rich detail. That was the case with this book, but because it's not a genre that I'm interested it, in just didn't impact me like it has impacted others. 2/6

Thanks, Athena. Thanks, Pontalba.......was such a cracking read! I hope you enjoy it when you get to it. Yep, I'd be mighty annoyed if I'd bought Weird Things.....for £5. A definite rip-off, and not the sort of book that you would re-read either. Hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it.

I have just finished Revival. It was an ok read, but the storyline never pulled me all the way in. I think I will read The Maze Runner next.

I looked at my Kindle purchases a few days ago, but none of them had the option to return for refund, as that's what I wanted to do.

I'm just over 40% through Revival so I think I will finish it in the next few days. Good going so far....

I read Oryx and Crake when it first came out but I didn't particularly enjoy it. I can't remember why, though. I wouldn't mind giving it another re-read at some point to see if my opinion has changed.

The Maze Runner is the Kindle Daily Deal (UK). Only £0.99 so I bought it.

Yes, but why offer the discounted price (and it's a huge discount - over 60%) two days after release? Why not offer the discounted price immediately, or a few months later?

I gave it 2/6 so I must have been feeling generous. I've just skimmed through this thread. It's quite interesting reading my reviews a year or so later. Some books I can barely remember reading. I certainly have strong feelings about some of them.

The Tenderness of Wolves is a brilliant read - very atmospheric and moving. Like Frankie says, we did a Reading Circle on it last year and had quite a few things to discuss. I read Cat's Eye many years ago, but unfortunately can't remember much about it. I know it's not one of my favourite Atwood's but I don't recall disliking it either. I'm about 10% through Revival. It started a bit slow but things are picking up now.

Had roast pork, roasted potatoes, stuffing, yorkshire puddings, and green beans, with loads of gravy. So yummy. Deciding whether or not we should have that morello cherry pie or not.

I bought this last year but have yet to read it. It's one of the first books I see when I turn on my Kindle, so I think I looked at it recently but didn't actually start it. I didn't know it was non-fiction though. I mean, I knew what it was about but I thought it was written as a novel.

No idea there was a sequel to Florence & Giles (though from the sound of things, it's a 'loose' sequel). I've added it to my wishlist.

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - Jen Campbell As the title says, this is a collection of odd off-the-wall things that customers have said in bookshops. It’s very short, and I easily finished it in an hour. There are some humorous parts to it, but most had me shaking my head in disbelief. I got it cheap – probably £0.99 – but currently it’s £5.39 which I think is far too much for what you get. 2/6

Can't say I blame you for giving up on A Long Way Down. I finished it, but just barely.

I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes Pilgrim is the codename chosen by the lead character, for the mission he has to take throughout the novel. He’s a bit of an enigma, who headed up a secret espionage section of the US government. Having retired and now choosing a more peaceful life in Paris, he gets reeled in by a seemingly perfect murder committed in New York. From there, the story takes many twists and turns in plot, and heads to many locations – Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan. The story is told in chapters which switch from Pilgrim’s point of view and then from his nemesis’ point of view, which makes for interesting reading as you get to see both characters and what drives them. I admit I liked Pilgrim's point of view best, but the Saracens’ story was still interesting to read. It's unusual that the "bad guy" is given as much story and detail as the "good guy", and I think it works well, and makes the Saracen a bit more interesting than some one-sided, character-deficient villain. This is one of the best thrillers I have read, and it hooked me from page one. It’s not what I would call fast paced; it is quite detailed and there is a lot of back-story, but that just adds to the layers of the story, and makes for more interesting reading. There’s only one extremely gory scene which appears slightly out of tone with the rest of the book, and had me skimming it rather than reading it (if you've read the book, you'll know what I mean). This is such a great book, and I will definitely read Terry Hayes' other books (if he writes more, and I hope he does). It’s received a lot of praise and a lot of ‘This is the best thriller of 2014’ type comments and I do have to say I agree (which is a relief as I have been let down many times by comments like that). It’s approximately 600 pages long and I was so gutted when it was over. I would have enjoyed it if it had been twice as long, I reckon! If you like any kind of spy thrillers then please, please, please read this book! You (hopefully) won't regret it!! 6/6