julie Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Kate I'm glad you found a good book, as it sounds like the last few have been duds ! You're still reading at a good steady pace ,so that's a good thing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Thanks Gaia and Julie. I've just been mucking about, kind of at loose ends reading this and that...skipping around. One I wanted to add to my list here are Up Above the World by Paul Bowles. I am putting it down at about 2/3rds done. It's an odd story, awkwardly told I find. A couple, the husband a doctor, evidently retired and his much younger wife are taking a cruise and debark at a small town in Spain. To say they are an odd couple is an understatement. There is not the usual communication one would expect in a married couple and this is what partially brings trouble to them. I've only given the beginning bare bones of the story. It takes some extremely unpleasant turns and I have decided that I just don't want to find out what happens. Some books overcome that skin-crawling feeling by beautiful writing, or interesting and complex characters. For me at least, this book doesn't come up to even those standards. I find the writing stilted, and out of date. Which is odd as the copy write is only 1967. Certainly I've read far older books that don't have that "dated" feeling. I expect it is only Bowles style I don't care for, or appreciate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas by Edward Klein 3/5 A highly entertaining gossip fest that chronicles the supposed Blood Feud between Bill/Hillary Clinton and President Obama and his wife Michelle. Klein's possibly fallacious extrapolation of certain events and personality traits make interesting, if not trustworthy reading. The truth is, we don't know, and probably will never know the truth about any of our politicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Kate Good idea, tossing the book you weren't enjoying . You have a lot more good ones waiting on you,so no use wasting time on something you really do not enjoy . Now the Clinton /Obama one sounds quite interesting . I guess I never knew there was such a clash between the 2 .. Would you say it's mostly the men or the women ? And you're right, how will we ever know , it could all just be made up stuff, but possibly true . I'd guess there'd be a lot of disharmony amongst some of the politicians .. I think once in awhile it's evident ,such as on the Inauguration Day when the new President and wife come into the White House with the old ... when they walk out together, once in awhile their faces and body language kinda give away their opinions of each other . Edited July 14, 2014 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Kate Good idea, tossing the book you weren't enjoying . You have a lot more good ones waiting on you,so no use wasting time on something you really do not enjoy . Now the Clinton /Obama one sounds quite interesting . I guess I never knew there was such a clash between the 2 .. Would you say it's mostly the men or the women ? And you're right, how will we ever know , it could all just be made up stuff, but possibly true . I'd guess there'd be a lot of disharmony amongst some of the politicians .. I think once in awhile it's evident ,such as on the Inauguration Day when the new President and wife come into the White House with the old ... when they walk out together, once in awhile their faces and body language kinda give away their opinions of each other . I feel it is both the men and women. I feel much of it could have started with misunderstanding, and snowballed from there. Of course it doesn't help that Obama and Hillary were rivals in 2008. But the rivalry seems to have been in place prior to that in any case. They are polar opposites politically, in spite of belong to the same party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 The Unquiet Grave by Steven Dunne 5/5Detective Inspector Damen Brook, a disgraced Derby detective has been assigned to the Cold Case Unit of Derby Constabulary. His superiors feel burying Brook in cold cases will further punish the just returning from suspension policeman. Brook is assigned to work with retired Inspector Clive Copeland to comb through decades of unsolved murders. The files he is handed are child murders that go back 60 years.Dunne has built a suspenseful police procedural that is multi-layered, and complex. It is rife with emotional connections that span six decades of friendship, trust, and unrequited love, and a murderer that operates with a cold cunning and twisted logic that is ever so patient.Rarely have I read such a complex murder mystery, it satisfies on all levels. Dunne's prose is clear and concise, cutting to the heart of the matter eloquently. His character building is impeccable and thorough. The reader knows these characters, and finally their motivations.Highly Recommended. This is one of the books our Michelle so kindly sent over the pond a while back. They've been languishing on the top of the stack right here in the study. Finally! I'm so happy I've gotten to read this one. Now I have to read Dunne's prior stories! Thanks again, Michelle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I'm glad you enjoyed this one ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Thanks, Gaia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 American Gods by Neil Gaiman 4/5 This was a reread for me, and I feel I got more out of it this time around. Gaiman's account of an ex-con named Shadow being recruited by a "god", Wednesday, aka Odin is more an indictment of modern civilization. But it is also a quest novel, in that Shadow is searching for himself. Why Wednesday recruits this particular ex-con becomes clear later in the novel. American Gods is fantasy based in reality, of a sort. To go into any of the fantastical events in the story would be spoilers as far as I am concerned. Let it suffice it to say it is the story of the rising future drowning out the past. But that isn't all, by a long shot. There is a wonderfully ironic twist near the end that changes everything. A couple of twists in fact. The story is interspersed with stories of the gods, some of their worship, some of their inception. All fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 This book is on my wishlist, I'm really glad you enjoyed re-reading it . I'm currently reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane which I'm enjoying so that should move any Neil Gaiman books on my wishlist up (so to speak). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Thanks. How are you liking your current Gaiman? I have it here on the shelf, started it a while back, but wasn't too inspired to read more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm over half way through and it's quite good. I have to say it's quite different from anything I've read before. It's really a unique story. I was hoping to finish it today but that didn't happen. I'm on page 160 out of 225. I'm pleasantly surprised by it. I don't think it'll be a 10/10 rating but I am quite enjoying it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 I'm over half way through and it's quite good. I have to say it's quite different from anything I've read before. It's really a unique story. I was hoping to finish it today but that didn't happen. I'm on page 160 out of 225. I'm pleasantly surprised by it. I don't think it'll be a 10/10 rating but I am quite enjoying it . Good to know, thanks Gaia. I'll definitely get back to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 The Dinner by Herman Koch 4/5"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."No, this isn't a review error, I'm not reviewing Anna Karenina. The Dinner by Herman Koch is the story of an ostensibly happy family. Until their fabric threatens to be torn apart by an act of violence. The dinner of the title is being held by the pair of parents (the fathers are brothers) whose 15 year old sons participated in, and/or instigated the act of violence. One of the fathers is a politician with a very high profile, in fact he is running for Prime Minister of Holland at the time of the dinner.The story is told within the parameters of the dinner, aperitif, appetizer, main course, dessert, and digestif. The back story is told in the same manner, with of course, the meat of the tale told in "main course". Long simmering resentments rise and fall during the actual dinner giving a framework to the tale of violence. I say violence in general because the boy's act does not stand alone unto itself. There is a familial pattern that is taking place that becomes more and more clear as the reader progresses.How far would any parent go to protect their child? I believe this book is one very interesting and disturbing answer to that question.Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I'm so glad you liked this one! I haven't read it myself (shame on me.. I don't even own it), but since the author is Dutch etc. I'm glad you liked it. It seems a famous book, having been translated into English, maybe I should buy/read it some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Thanks, Gaia. It's funny, I wasn't even going to read it. My husband had read it a while back and didn't care for it, so it want way down in the pile for me. Our tastes are very similar. But he saw a thread on The Dinner on GoodReads and was intrigued by the variety of posts and was moved to reread it. Hah, I don't know if it was his mood when he read it the first time or what, but he liked it better enough for me to immediately read it, to compare thoughts on it. I'm really glad we did read it together, as we could bounce ideas between us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 That's amazing Kate . It's so nice you and Charles talked about it together. I love it when things like that happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 The Dinner sounds very good. It's always interesting when a book gets a lot of really low ratings ,plus a lot of high ones, but not very many in between . It makes you curious about it . It would be nice to be married to someone who reads the same books as you .The Hubster reads, but all he reads about are nonfiction war books. I occasionally read one of the same ones but rarely ,so we don't have much to talk about in the reading arena , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 It would be nice to be married to someone who reads the same books as you .The Hubster reads, but all he reads about are nonfiction war books. I occasionally read one of the same ones but rarely ,so we don't have much to talk about in the reading arena , My boyfriend mainly reads non-fiction World War II books too, as well as some manga and other books. He doesn't read often at all. So I can relate . It's good we have this forum, isn't it, so we can talk to each other about the books we like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 We do have a lot of fun. It's funny. We were discussing some of the bizarre happenings in the book The Dinner in a restaurant the other day and all of a sudden I wondered if the people in the adjacent booth could hear us and thought we were discussing real people! /giggle/ Gave me quite a turn for a moment! Every couple has different patterns, love is what counts. And, I think we all have that. I saw this article on NPR this morning...it's one of the most emailed stories. I absolutely love the idea! http://www.npr.org/2014/07/19/332312641/a-shot-and-a-book-how-to-read-in-bars?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20140727&utm_campaign=mostemailed&utm_term=nprnews We used to go in Starbucks and occupy a couple of easy chairs sometimes to sit and read, and I enjoyed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 the Dinner seems to be a real marmite book - I really didn't get on with it, but I know I ordered it due to a) the promising plot and b) the good reviews on Amazon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 the Dinner seems to be a real marmite book - I really didn't get on with it, but I know I ordered it due to a) the promising plot and b) the good reviews on Amazon! I was thinking exactly the same thing, Alexi. Marmite! LOL One day I really have to buy a jar of that stuff and try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I was thinking exactly the same thing, Alexi. Marmite! LOL One day I really have to buy a jar of that stuff and try it. Oooh, you've never tried Marmite?! I love it, but can see why so many don't. The Dinner is on my wishlist. I've heard many mixed comments about it and the plot sounds interesting. It hasn't tempted me enough to buy it yet, but it is on my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted August 1, 2014 Author Share Posted August 1, 2014 I'm almost finished another book by Koch, Summer House With Swimming Pool. Very twisty. Good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 We haven't got marmite here in the Netherlands. I looked it up but I don't think it's similar to anything we have here. I'm not sure if I would like it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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