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Alexi

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Posts posted by Alexi

    Claire's book list 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I'm like you - I have largely grown out of rom coms after reading a lot of them in my late teens and then when I picked up reading again once I left university. Conversely, I love rom coms in movie form! Not sure why that it - probably because I can concentrate less on movies than I do books for some weird reason, but I definitely like my romance on screen!

     

    Having said that, I do have a few lying on my TBR, either left over from a time I was reading more of them or because I have really enjoyed the author in the past, and I enjoy revisiting them very occasionally - normally on beach holidays :D 

     

    I am happy to read romance, I just prefer (most of the time!) if it isn't the main focus of the book. 

     

    I read The Devil Wears Prada when it first came out and hated it, but loved the film. I am an odd specimen I realise. 

    Alexi's Reading 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I'm wondering that too - my Dad loves Hardy and has been on at me to read him for years. I suspect it may be the writing style though - I highlighted a few snippets that really irked to share in my review, but it seemed like he'd swallowed a thesaurus at times and I felt the story suffered from overwriting if that makes sense.

     

    I love Dickens, who is flowery and is probably too fond of the comma over the full stop, but his writing really adds to the flavour of his stories I feel, and his stories are fabulous! I felt Hardy's plot came second to his desire to show off his writing style at times.

    Alexi's Reading 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Exciting news! I have finally finished Far From the Madding Crowd! Quite glad to get to the end of that one, to be quite frank. I will enjoy writing the review I suspect!

     

    In the meantime, have ploughed on with this months RC choice, A Very Long Engagement.

    June's Around the World Book Challenge

    in Reading Challenges

    Posted

    I'm not really interested in how long the challenge takes me, it was more about expanding my reading horizons, so I am trying to read a novel for each country - although I will possibly have to revise that for some of the more obscure nations I suspect :D

     

    The São Tomé one sounds well worth a go, have added it to my wish list.

    Your Book Activity - May 2014

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Oh dear.  :(

     

    Have you read any other of his books.

      

     

    Not yet, but my Dad has been trying to get me to read the Mayor of Casterbridge for ages because it's one of his favourites.

     

    I really struggled with it too. In my opinion it gets much better, but perhaps not for a while.

    Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better! That I'm not alone and that I should persevere! :D

    Your Book Activity - May 2014

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    Not getting on at all well with Far From the Madding Crowd. Am having to force myself to read 20 pages at a time and would consider abandoning...but for the fact it's a classic and I feel it must get better, and it's on the English Counties Challenge list.

     

    Please god it gets better... I'm just under halfway through.

    Worst movies you've seen?

    in Music / TV / Films

    Posted

    The worst movie I have ever seen is Open Water. In fact, I saw a few crap ones at the same time around then (2005) because we were students and got cheap tickets, then we saw so much crap because we went every Thursday we abandoned it and went to the pub instead ;)

    pontalba's 2014 Reading List

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Thanks, Alexi. :)  Oh, what a great trip!  How long do you plan on staying?  Have you been before?

    I've been to the US a few of times - love it! I did LA/Vegas/San Francisco last time I went, and I've been to Colorado a couple of times, and New York once, when I was about 10 and therefore far too young to appreciate it! Going with my OH who adores the US and NY, I'm really excited :)

     

    Naoko sounds great - another for the wish list! :D

    Alexi's Reading 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Great review! I'm glad you enjoyed the book, though it's a shame the second half was less good (the book is on my wishlist).

      

     

    Thanks Gaia, hope you enjoy it when you get to it :)

     

    Great reviews, Alexi.  You've confirmed my thoughts on Life After Life, I was really on the fence about it, but I don't think I'll pick it up now.  An, for me, that's a good thing!  :roll::D

      

     

    Too many books, too little time?! ;) I didn't mean to put anyone off, but glad to have helped anyway! I need to live forever so I can read all the books I want to before I kick the bucket.

     

    Great review, and you've pretty much summed up my thoughts on the book. Some parts of the first half deserve top marks, but I really struggled to enjoy the second half.

     

     

    Thank you! :) I couldn't really out my finger on exactly what went wrong as it were, but I did think we lost some purpose. We weren't really led into what had changed to get her there in quite the same way maybe.

     

    I've wanted to get my hands on Life After Life for a while. It has had a lot of buzz. I'm glad you liked it. 

    It is such a bummer when the first half has you enthralled, and the second is just "meh".

    Thanks. My Mum thinks most endings let most books down - she often enjoys the first half more! I'm the opposite, I usually enjoy the second half more once I've got to know the characters, so this was even more frustrating really.

    Rutland - Set In Stone by Robert Goddard

    in English Counties Challenge

    Posted · Edited by Alexi

    No, we tried but it was 2.05pm which is apparently too late for lunch in those parts!

     

    I did go into Oakham though to have a look at the books in the charity shops. It's very "Range Rover territory" as my Mum would say ;)

     

    That's a gorgeous photo of Rutland Water, mine did not come out as well! It's very picturesque, but I think a weekend was perfect, any longer and it was a bit sleepy for my liking. :)

    pontalba's 2014 Reading List

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    How fun!  What part of the States are you visiting?  Do you get to take a long trip?  I love to travel, but don't get to lately, so I have to live vicariously through others.  ;)

    New York, Connecticut and Boston, so not the right part of the US, but more so than Northern England anyway ;)

    Alexi's Reading 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    #22 Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

     

    Synopsis: What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?

     

    During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.

     

    During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.

     

    What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?

     

    Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

     

    Thoughts: not sure what to think after finishing this one. I thought the first half was absolutely fantastic, but the book seemed to lose its way in the second half, when we relived World War II on several occasions. That's not to say I didn't enjoy reading about those times - I did - but I thought the overall narrative was lost a bit.

     

    However, I loved the Todd family and the supporting cast of characters, and I enjoyed seeing the effects apparently small events had on their lives. The difficulty in changing events was also interesting - the most striking example being Bridget and Clarence's trip to London for the Armistice in 1918!

     

    Atkinson is clever in weaving these plot lines together, and whatever life she lives Ursula remains Ursula, despite the terrible things that sometimes happened to her, family and friends.

     

    I think the best thing about this book was Ursula was no Forrest Gump - although she was close to Hitler in one of her lives, she was mostly just an ordinary girl trying to make the best of each of her ordinary lives - although taken together she and they were anything but ordinary!

     

    After halfway I thought this might be a 5/5, but on reflection I have downgraded it for a slight drop off in the second half.

     

    4/5

    Alexi's Reading 2014

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    I haven't been very well recently - struggling to shake off a few things really and not being able to rest very much due to the time of year.

     

    I ways away at the weekend (bad timing!) coincidentally to Rutland, with the nearest town being Oakham - I really should have read Set in Stone in situ as it were!

     

    Still, I did manage to get some reading done, so here are some reviews.

     

    #21 The Worst of Friends by Colin Schindler

     

    The Amazon synopsis is rather long winded, so this is a bit of a half assed review!

     

    This book tells the tale of Manchester City during the times of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison. The two took over as manager and head coach in 1965, when the club was struggling in the second division to rapidly falling crowds and profit margins, and within 3 years they were the English Champions.

     

    However, Allison (brought in as assistant/coach figure due to Joe's ill health wants to be top dog, and the house of cards comes tumbling down....

     

    This is a fictionalised account of real events, a la The Damned United (and one wonders whether David Moyes will have one written about his ill fated tenure in years to come!) but the author was granted unusual behind the scenes access when Mercer allowed him to train with the squad during his summer vacation from Cambridge in the early 70s. Relations between Mercer and Allison were already in the doldrums by then so the author's words ring truer from his insider knowledge of the time.

     

    It is interesting to read about the dynamic, the fictional Allison feels he doesn't get the credit for working day to day with the players, and while he is remembered fondly, Mercer has a road named after him and a statue at the new stadium.

     

    The 1960s and 70s are a fascinating time for Manchester football on both sides of the city and this adds to the intrigue.

     

    3/5

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