Athena Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'm glad you enjoyed this book so much . A pleasant surprise! What did you think of The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 He also wrote Minority Report, so that might be included as well! Could well be! I'm glad you enjoyed Sugar and it's interesting that it reminds you of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I've been meaning to read this for sometime - my girlfriend did a while back and thought it was great. Have you seen the film adaptation with Emma Watson, too? I'd be interested in watching that, I've heard good things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Could well be! I'm glad you enjoyed Sugar and it's interesting that it reminds you of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I've been meaning to read this for sometime - my girlfriend did a while back and thought it was great. Have you seen the film adaptation with Emma Watson, too? I'd be interested in watching that, I've heard good things. I haven't seen it! It didn't get made a big deal of here, not like The Fault in Our Stars. I would like to see it in the future though, I'd like to compare it to the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) The Painted Veil- W Somerset Maugham (175 pages) When Kitty meets her future husband Dr. Walter Fane, it takes several times for him to make an impression. Desperately shy but in passionate love, Walter over comes his fears and after a few encounters and dances, he convinces her to marry him. Two years into their marriage, Walker discovers Kitty’s adulterous affair. Walter gives her an ultimatum: either he will make an issue out of their divorce, therefore harming an upcoming promotion for her lover or accompany him into a poor province in China that is at the heart of a cholera epidemic while he serves as doctor at the post. After Kitty is told by her lover he will not divorce his wife for her, Kitty reluctantly follows her husband, fearful she is being sent to her own death. Set in London, Hong Kong and a small, dirty, impoverished, cholera stricken Chinese province during the 1920’s, the book is just simply beautiful. The relationship between Kitty and Walter reminds me some of messed up Tennessee Williams marriage, while some of Kitty’s inner thoughts bring to mind Vivian Leigh’s portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara. A solid character, Kitty is a superficial woman, which goes well with the complete jerkiness of Charley, her lover. Walter is a very dark and morbid character. I held off on this review until I saw the movie again. Naomi Watts plays Kitty and Edward Norton as Walter, they were both heavily involved in the project and the movie is simply gorgeous, dare I say just as good as the book. The novel was first published serialized, in five parts in 1925. Edited September 10, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Make Me (Jack Reacher #20)- Lee Child (402 pages) Woohoo! Just about everyone knows I am a HUGE Jack Reacher fan, I have been eagerly awaiting this book and Lee Child makes it well worth the while with Make Me. The book starts off typical Reacher: stepping off a train at a random location, just because. This is a formula readers of the series are used to and how most Reacher books begin. Reacher is an honorably discharged Army investigator, a vagabond who travels with only a folding Army toothbrush. He buys his clothes (Army surplus, sometimes at hardware stores, usually grey or tan canvas) in each town and presses them in between the mattress and box spring of his hotel bed, throwing away his previous duds. The character of Reacher is a special one, all 6 foot 5 and 250 pounds of mysterious, but Child gives him enough back story and character to have held interest in 20 Jack Reacher books and 5 short stories. In Make Me, Reacher tackles something he normally does not and this makes the book refreshing and current, which was unexpected but not necessary. Lots of action in this one too, which is always appreciated. thank you Mr. Child for another Reacher… til next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I've always found the Reacher books to be perfect "popcorn for the mind", perfect for getting me out of a reading slump as you know just what you're going to get. I romped through loads in one go (I think I'm around #14 or so) a while back now, but I've still got a few left for a rainy day. I'm glad you enjoyed Make Me and it was worth your eager anticipation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm glad you enjoyed the 20th Reacher book !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 I've always found the Reacher books to be perfect "popcorn for the mind", perfect for getting me out of a reading slump as you know just what you're going to get. I romped through loads in one go (I think I'm around #14 or so) a while back now, but I've still got a few left for a rainy day. I'm glad you enjoyed Make Me and it was worth your eager anticipation... Oh boy, did I try and make them last longer! I only got into the books maybe 3 years ago, so I had the canon to go through til I caught up. Now I just wait with everyone else They are great popcorn for the mind And were good for pulling me out of slumps. I'm glad you enjoyed the 20th Reacher book !! I need my own Reacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Have you ever thought about writing Jack Reacher fan-fiction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Have you ever thought about writing Jack Reacher fan-fiction? Diane Capri beat me too it. Besides, all I wanna do is see his abdomen scar... apparently, its quite impressive. *whistles and walks away* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Diane Capri beat me too it. Besides, all I wanna do is see his abdomen scar... apparently, its quite impressive. *whistles and walks away* But... perhaps for your own private pleasure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolf woolf Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 The Painted Veil- W Somerset Maugham (175 pages) It is now on my wish list. It looks like an interesting book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) It is now on my wish list. It looks like an interesting book. I think you would like it The movie is beautiful too (but I think I said that in my review already ) Edited September 18, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 20, 2015 Author Share Posted September 20, 2015 (edited) Requiem (Delirium Series, Book 3)- Lauren Oliver (343 pages) I’m scared, I want to say. I have a bad feeling. I love you and don’t want you to get hurt. But again, it’s as though the words are trapped, buried under past fears and past lives, like fossils compressed under layers of dirt. The more I think about Requiem and the whole Delirium trilogy, I must say, I am very disappointed. I thought for sure, reading around 1100 pages of a series should get me some pay off, bonus, etc. Nope. Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy falls flat in each thread began in the previous two books. As I look back, this book has made the first two even worse. Oliver’s strength is in creating this one character, Lena, and making an entire three books about her. Unfortunately, she is a very self-absorbed character and I didn’t care about her all that much. I much preferred her Romeo, Alex. Oliver’s weakness is the amount of plot holes, details and logical facts missing and characters that aren’t fully developed. It is hard to even believe I stuck it out for 1107 pages. An omnibus of four short stories float around, why couldn't these be contained in the books? It reminds me of how a news reporter sometimes needs the news anchor to ask them a question, so they can get the material they couldn't fit, in their story. And speaking of pages 1100- 1107 or even 1000- 1107… there are so many ways this book could have ended, I have to agree with one reviewer who called this book/ series a disappointing mess and massive waste of time. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I mean, really? The end sucked. I hated the switch off between Lena and best friend Hana, married to a man committed against the resistance Lena fights for (I guess she does). While I was reading, it was nice, now when I think back, it left even more questions than it answered. Why should I have to buy 9 dollars in short stories to cover that? Edited September 20, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Yikes, that sounds painful. Shame you wasted so much time on it Hopefully the next thing you pick up will be better... or at least shorter if it's going to suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 It's a shame you didn't like Requiem. I hope your next reads will be more enjoyable . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) It's a shame you didn't like Requiem. I hope your next reads will be more enjoyable . Yikes, that sounds painful. Shame you wasted so much time on it Hopefully the next thing you pick up will be better... or at least shorter if it's going to suck I don't really feel I wasted time, just kind wish I had taken the time to read something else on the pile instead, ya know? Loving my current read, Robert K Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra though, so thanks! But its 560 pages so. Edited September 25, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I don't really feel I wasted time, just kind wish I had taken the time to read something else on the pile instead, ya know? Loving my current read, Robert K Massie's Nicholas and Alexandrea though, so thanks! But its 560 pages so. That makes sense. I'm glad you're loving your current read. It wouldn't be a book for me, but I'm glad you're enjoying it. That's quite long for such a book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted September 29, 2015 Author Share Posted September 29, 2015 (edited) Nicholas and Alexandra- Robert K Massie (562 pages) Three hundred and four years after a shy sixteen year old boy, the first Romanov, had reluctantly accepted the throne of Imperial Russia, it disintegrated into a Soviet Republic. Robert K Massie’s history of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov’s reign and execution is amazing. Perhaps more famous for their death than for their life, Massie explores many questions we have about the early 1900’s to around 1920 in Russian history. Explaining how Nicholas could have allowed the takeover of his country and the murder of his family, how Alexandra stocked his cabinet with Rasputin supporters and what role the mystic played in her son’s life, a hemophiliac. Massie also handles the arrest of Nicholas, the Romanov imprisonment, and their startling end at the hands of soviets. Lots of details are given in this book- what they ate, what they did for leisure, what their clothes looked like and were made of, how much the Tsar visited the front and background on the War (I). Maybe two and a half sections of the book is devoted to the role Rasputin had on the family, especially the Empress’s decisions, of which I was surprised of. As a whole, Rasputin was quite the character in history according to Massie, smelling like a goat, hypnotizing with his grey eyes, standing over 6 feet tall. His prediction of his own death turned out to be true- a death that included poisoning, shooting, beating and drowning- and the vision of the Romanov dynasty crumbling after his assassination. More focus could have been shed on the Romanov daughters, but the amount of research into the tsarevich’s hemophilia was extensive. Massie’s selection of letters to and from Nicholas and Alexandra are perfect, and are helped along by a diary Nicholas kept, a few sentences, but enough to show you what he knew and when. The amount of work Massie has put into this book seems so effortless, and he has a great way of telling it. The execution of the Tsar’s family was needed not only in order to frighten, horrify and dishearten the enemy, but also to shake up our own ranks to show there was no turning back, that ahead lay either complete victory or complete ruin…This Lenin sensed very well. Highly recommended. Edited September 29, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I have Nicholas and Alexandra on my kindle. Excited for it now after your review - thanks Anna! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) I have Nicholas and Alexandra on my kindle. Excited for it now after your review - thanks Anna! Just a warning- the page numbers and percentage in the ebook were off because of an Epilogue, Family Tree and excerpt from Catherine the Great Edited October 3, 2015 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Oh eurgh. Definitely shouldn't count excerpts from future books, I never read them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 I never do either! Its like, I think people can find a sample on Amazon, an actual bookstore (oh the horror!) or somewhere They shouldn't be included at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 A bookstore??? What is this of which you speak?? ...I think you know perfectly well, groans my bank manager... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 ...I think you know perfectly well, groans my bank manager... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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