Janet Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 I'm not sure of "open-minded" I think "simple-minded' is more fitting I'm perfectly certain that's not true, but it did make me chuckle! I don't think I've said happy reading 2013, so happy reading 2013. I can't believe you don't have any books to read - I hope your delivery turns up tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 I intend to rate the books as - ★★★ : loved it ★★ : liked it ★ : didn't like it (I don't seem to have too many nuances, and this should suffice!) That is absolutely brilliant bree!! Do you mind if i copy your idea for when I FINALLY get round to finishing a book this year so I can start a new list? I always struggle with deciding where to place a book in a 10 point system Organising them into lists according to their stars is a great idea too. (dare I ask if your books have arrived yet?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleighjane Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Oh, I hate when that happens! My local courier isn't very reliable, and sometimes the links showing when delivery is due show my books as being on their van for over a week:( Other times, they deliver them to my work instead of my house, because my house is slightly more inconvenient to get to - which would be fine, but I only do 2 days a week in that workplace, so if I just miss them or am off sick or on hol it can be ages before I actually get them! Hope yours come soon and you really enjoy them when you receive them That sounds like a terrible service! Do you mean that they deliver to the work place even after instruction to deliver to your home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 My first batch of books did arrive (I can now get mum to send over all the unread books I left behind in Bangalore - and I should be well-stocked for a while) Have started on The Tenderness of Wolves which was the Reading Circle pick for this month. Thank you all you lovely people for dropping in and wishing for the books to arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 That sounds like a terrible service! Do you mean that they deliver to the work place even after instruction to deliver to your home? Yes:( Parcels addressed to house, but they deliver it to workplace anyway. With books its just mildly irritating, but once they did it with my son's extremely expensive new laptop for uni, he was going frantic when it didn't come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Sat up late last night and managed to complete The Tenderness of Wolves (Alya - my two year-old -had a restless night, and would only sleep on my lap) I'll get my thoughts together and post about it, hopefully today (as I really want to keep this blog updated unlike the last one). Have meanwhile picked up The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - a book I've been wanting to read for quite sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I intend to rate the books as - ★★★ : loved it ★★ : liked it ★ : didn't like it May I use your rating system? please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 Are you people serious? First poppy and now you Devi! I'm sure you both have more in-between emotions than me - but okay go on if you want to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Are you people serious? First poppy and now you Devi! I'm sure you both have more in-between emotions than me - but okay go on if you want to! I've just always been taught to ask first if I want to use someone elses thing - call it an old habit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I've just always been taught to ask first if I want to use someone elses thing - call it an old habit! I asked very politely .....but didn't wait for a reply, and just did it anyway It's a wonderfully straight-forward system bree, (have you heard of the KISS principle?) Only problem I have is making the stars Do you use the asterix and make the size bigger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 It's a wonderfully straight-forward system bree, (have you heard of the KISS principle?) Only problem I have is making the stars Do you use the asterix and make the size bigger? You mean this? The stars - that's just the geek in me showing off - it's a text character - but not on the key-board. You can copy-paste it poppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid (for my benefit ....not yours! ) Good thinking, I'll keep a copy of the stars somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) 1.'The Tenderness of WolvesStef PenneyFirst published: 2006Awards: Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2007), Costa Book Award for First Novel; 2006 Costa Book of the Year (2006)Setting: Canada, 1867Synopsis (from behind the book):As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a woman steels himself for the journey of a lifetime. A man has been brutally murdered and her seventeen- year-old son has disappeared. The violence has re-opened old wounds and inflamed deep-running tensions in the frontier township - some want to solve the crime; others seek only to exploit it.To clear her son's name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man's cabin and head north into the forest and the desolate landscape that lies beyond it...Thoughts:Some beautiful writing in this book. The book had me completely engrossed from the beginning.Evocative descriptions of winter landscapes, perceptive observations on people, an interesting present-tense narration, and lots of little "mysteries".I turned page after page eagerly and then somewhere towards the middle I realised the best was already past.Too many sub-plots, none of them fully fleshed out; too many puzzles which were either easy to guess, or fizzed out into rather bland explanations - and finally the rather pseudo-clever and I thought, rather irritatingly juvenile ending.The book left me disappointed - it never quite lived up the promise of the first 100 pages.Yes I liked the book, but sadly the beautiful words never did quite make up for the rather weak plot. Rating: ★★ : I liked it Edited February 2, 2013 by bree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) I am currently trying to decide if I should just give up on The Tenderness of Wolves and go back to Catch 22. Edited January 8, 2013 by Devi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 I am currently trying to decide if I should just give up on The Tenderness of Wolves and go back to Catch 22. Devi, I think you should stick with it - you may feel differently. There are mixed opinions in the reading circle thread - so please don't go by only my thoughts on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 (edited) Devi, I think you should stick with it - you may feel differently. There are mixed opinions in the reading circle thread - so please don't go by only my thoughts on it. So far I am on the fence about it, I wrote my latest thoughts on it in my reading thread. I both like and dislike it. I think I might give it a little bit longer. Edited January 8, 2013 by Devi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Great review Bree, i really liked the book all the way through but i agree the ending part with her name was silly but for readability i'd give it 5 stars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) Great review Bree, i really liked the book all the way through but i agree the ending part with her name was silly but for readability i'd give it 5 stars Wonderful that you enjoyed it completely (I hope its encouraged Devi to continue with it) The fact that I lost sleep to compete it may have made me more cynical and disgruntled than usual Edited January 9, 2013 by bree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) Started with Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone last night - around 50 pages in, and am really enjoying it. Had studied The Woman in White at school, and had loved it, so I was really hoping The Moonstone wouldn't disappoint. So far so good Edited January 9, 2013 by bree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Started with Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone last night - around 50 pages in, and am really enjoying it. Had studied The Woman in White at school, and had loved it, so I was really hoping The Moonstone wouldn't disappoint. So far so good I've heard many say they enjoyed The Moonstone more....I personally haven't read either yet (but own both) so I'll be interested in your opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I loved both The Moonstone & The Woman In White. I found two of his lesser known novels in secondhand bookshops, Fallen Leaves and No Name. I haven't got round to reading them yet so hoping that there not as well known because they aren't as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 I've heard many say they enjoyed The Moonstone more....I personally haven't read either yet (but own both) so I'll be interested in your opinion Hello Sofia I loved The Woman in White - and a 100 pages into The Moonstone - it's only proving to be better than I expected It's hugely entertaining - and building the suspense beautifully! I hope you decide on reading them both this year I loved both The Moonstone & The Woman In White. I found two of his lesser known novels in secondhand bookshops, Fallen Leaves and No Name. I haven't got round to reading them yet so hoping that there not as well known because they aren't as good. Thank you for those titles Kidsmum - I had no idea! I hope I can find them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Hello Sofia I loved The Woman in White - and a 100 pages into The Moonstone - it's only proving to be better than I expected It's hugely entertaining - and building the suspense beautifully! I hope you decide on reading them both this year hello I am hoping to read at least one of them....but preferably both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I loved both The Moonstone & The Woman In White. I found two of his lesser known novels in secondhand bookshops, Fallen Leaves and No Name. I haven't got round to reading them yet so hoping that there not as well known because they aren't as good. I always think of The Woman in White, Armadale, No Name and The Moonstone as Wilkie Collins's 'big four': all published in the 1860s (OK, TWIW in 1859!), when he was at his height. All definitely worth reading - people I know who have don't always agree as to which is his best (my favourite is TWIW). Don't know anything about Fallen Leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I've been wanting to read The Woman in White and The Moonstone for years, but I never seem to get around to them. Do you have a recommendation for which one I should read first, Bree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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