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Parenthesis' Picks 2012


Parenthesis

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I had to wade through a rather lengthy (and ever growing) list of books that I want to read, however, after many changes of mind and heart, dithering, umming and ahhing I was finally able to the whittle the list down to the books listed below. I have long wanted to revisit some of the classics, hence several 'rereads' added to my list. There are many and varied reasons to each book choice on my list...everything from recommendations to sheer whimsy.

 

Book List 2012

 

Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

The Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Detective - Arthur Hailey

My Left Foot - Christy Brown

The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Shades Of Grey - Jasper Fforde

Daughters of Shame - Jasinder Sanhera

The Sound of One Hand Clapping - Richard Flanagan

Red Mist - Patricia Cornwell

The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng

The Schopenhauer Cure - Irvin Yalom

Cold Granite - Stuart McBride (and subsequent sequels)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Marianne Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Winter's Bone - Daniel Woodrell

The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman

The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

S'pose I Die: The Evelyn Maunsell Story - Hector Holthouse

Firefly Summer - Maeve Binchy

Gallipoli - Les Carlyon

The Merchant’s House - Kate Ellis (and as many of the complete Peterson series as practical)

Tobacco Road - Erskine Caldwell

Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld (Though classified as young adult fiction my interest in the Steampunk movement has me wanting to read this book)

The Casual Vacancy - J.K. Rowling (when released in the latter part of the year)

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut (reread)

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (reread)

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand (reread)

The Silmarillion - J.R.R Tolkien (reread)

The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus (reread)

 

And remember, it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind! :P

 

Note: I also read to my son so I had to take into account time taken reading my son's books when considering how many books to list of my own. Perhaps I should list the books I read to him as 'books read', too...

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Hi Parenthesis :006: I have Cloudstreet, Never Let Me Go & The Potato Peel Society on my TBR pile as well so I'll look out for your reviews on them. I listened to The Uncommon Reader on audio last year & really enjoyed it, I have a soft spot for Alan Bennett as we are both from Leeds :smile:

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Cloudstreet is definitely worth reading. I read it a couple of years ago now, and I'd recommend it very highly indeed. Tim Winton is generally considered to be one the the leading modern Australian novelists, as you'll know, and Cloudstreet shows why - it's a touching, at times funny and always engaging book. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

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Hi Parenthesis :006: I have Cloudstreet, Never Let Me Go & The Potato Peel Society on my TBR pile as well so I'll look out for your reviews on them. I listened to The Uncommon Reader on audio last year & really enjoyed it, I have a soft spot for Alan Bennett as we are both from Leeds :smile:

 

Hello, Kidsmum! :smile: All four books were added to my 'Want To Read' list due to recommendations from others...hopefully they'll all live up to their words of recommendation.

 

Cloudstreet is definitely worth reading. I read it a couple of years ago now, and I'd recommend it very highly indeed. Tim Winton is generally considered to be one the the leading modern Australian novelists, as you'll know, and Cloudstreet shows why - it's a touching, at times funny and always engaging book. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

 

I have heard only good things about Cloudstreet, and I understand that it was made into a mini series, though I have not had the pleasure of viewing it. A close friend recommended Cloudstreet to me, she's a huge Tim Winton fan and holds all his books in high esteem.

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Hi Parenthesis, nice to see your book list. Lots of those are new to me, I have only read 2 on your list (Slaughterhouse 5 and Never Let Me Go)

I see that you want to read Daughters Of Shame. Have you read the first one, Shame ? My ex wife's own story is somewhat similar to Jasvinder Sanghera's.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Parenthesis, nice to see your book list. Lots of those are new to me, I have only read 2 on your list (Slaughterhouse 5 and Never Let Me Go)

I see that you want to read Daughters Of Shame. Have you read the first one, Shame ? My ex wife's own story is somewhat similar to Jasvinder Sanghera's.

 

Hello, Vodkafan. I have the strongest feeling that the list I posted will change greatly over the coming months. ;) I find most things that Kurt Vonnegut wrote are worth the read. Without giving too much away, what did you think of Never Let Me Go?

 

I have read Shame, it is the reason I want to follow on with Daughters of Shame. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to walk in the shoes of Jasvinder Sanghera or indeed, your ex-wife. I found Shame a haunting, poignant read and at the same time inspirational and uplifting.

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Hello, Vodkafan. I have the strongest feeling that the list I posted will change greatly over the coming months. ;) I find most things that Kurt Vonnegut wrote are worth the read. Without giving too much away, what did you think of Never Let Me Go?

 

 

 

I agree about Vonnegut. I found Dead Eye Dick a good one of his , although reviewers don't seem to rate it very highly. Aah..difficult to tell you about Never Let Me Go without giving anything away. Worth a read though, my main reaction to the book was to pray that such a situation never comes true in real life.

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