MrCat Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (458 pages) Another impressive read by Jodi Picoult. I am always astounded at how effortlessly Picoult writes her books. I'm not into trial books at all and normally find them a bore, but I find myself racing through her page turners. Nineteen Minutes did not disappoint. Sterling, New Hampshire is an ordinary small town that is shattered by a school shooting at their local High School. Switching off between the past and present, Picoult tells the captivating story of how an entire community is touched by the tragedy and it's effect on certain characters- from the shooter, it's victims and survivors. A gripping story, definitely a highlight of my reading year. Read with Gaia, it took me no time at all, I just could not put it down and couldn't wait for the conclusion- which is a shocking twist. *applause* Does she have ANY books that are not "dramatic"? i read My Sister's Keeper while waiting for my plane a few years ago and it bored me to death. I just don't get the big fuss about her. Also, imo, I think she writes her books effortlessly because the quality of the writing is very bad. I guess one could build a good story around a drama and I guess she raised some (weak) moral questions but she dropped the ball on everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Some very interesting reviews, Anna. Sorry the Follett didn't come up to expectations. I've enjoyed his spy novels a lot in the past, and his Pillars of the Earth was excellent although I've yet to read it's sequel. The only Massie I've read is Nicholas and Alexandria......years ago. Very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Does she have ANY books that are not "dramatic"? i read My Sister's Keeper while waiting for my plane a few years ago and it bored me to death. I just don't get the big fuss about her. Also, imo, I think she writes her books effortlessly because the quality of the writing is very bad. I guess one could build a good story around a drama and I guess she raised some (weak) moral questions but she dropped the ball on everything else. To each their own, I guess! Some very interesting reviews, Anna. Sorry the Follett didn't come up to expectations. I've enjoyed his spy novels a lot in the past, and his Pillars of the Earth was excellent although I've yet to read it's sequel. The only Massie I've read is Nicholas and Alexandria......years ago. Very good. I didn't know Follett wrote spy novels! I read Nicolas and Alexandria too, enjoyed it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Oh, yeah, in fact Follett wrote spy/WWII stuff first. The Eye of the Needle, and Key to Rebecca are top rated. There were more, but those two are the two that come immediately to mind. I know that Needle was made into a film with Donald Sutherland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 The Long Walk by Stephen King (388 pages) Ray Garraty is our "hero" in this race... a race to the finish where the losers are shot dead after three warnings. It's May in Maine and 100 boys set out on The Long Walk. Chosen by a volunteer lottery, the prize is a lifetime of wealth and wishes fulfilled. Ray strikes up friendships and conversations as he walks along the roadways of his home state, cheered on by spectators. One by one the boys drop out and fall dead... Grim and dark, but good, this book goes by as fast as the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I'm glad you liked The Long Walk, nice review . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 I'm glad you liked The Long Walk, nice review . Thanks! It was "just" a book though, I didn't feel particularly enlightening or anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Thanks! It was "just" a book though, I didn't feel particularly enlightening or anything Well, in my personal opinion, not all books have to be particularly enlightening. I know there are people who disagree, though. For me, I'm happy if I really enjoyed reading a book . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More reading time required Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Fall of Giants and Winter of the World (Century Trilogy books 1 & 2) by Ken Follett (865 & 832 pages) Wow- these two books of three are extremely complicated. Set during WWII, Fall of Giants has so many characters and so many generations, it's hard to follow. Follett takes on historical fiction, following five families that connect loosely through out many of history's landmark events of the second world war, in Russia, England, Italy and the U.S. Honestly, I would not recommended the books to anyone as there are just too many characters and generations to follow. One of the worst books of the year for me, these difficult reads were a major disappointment in Follett's work, as I really enjoyed Pillars of the Earth and was anticipating reading them. In the end, I decided enough was enough and I passed on the third book, Edge of Eternity... continuing with yet another generation of these characters seemed ridiculous and unnecessary. Ah, it's a shame you didn't like them. I didn't find them that bad as I was interested in the history but I agree that it was difficult to keep track of the characters sometimes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More reading time required Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 The Long Walk by Stephen King (388 pages) Ray Garraty is our "hero" in this race... a race to the finish where the losers are shot dead after three warnings. It's May in Maine and 100 boys set out on The Long Walk. Chosen by a volunteer lottery, the prize is a lifetime of wealth and wishes fulfilled. Ray strikes up friendships and conversations as he walks along the roadways of his home state, cheered on by spectators. One by one the boys drop out and fall dead... Grim and dark, but good, this book goes by as fast as the race. The Long Walk is a great story, I've read it several times. It's so brutal and horrific. It sits nicely alongside The Running Man (which is so much better than the film version). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Ah, it's a shame you didn't like them. I didn't find them that bad as I was interested in the history but I agree that it was difficult to keep track of the characters sometimes! I did like the way the historical events came up. The Long Walk is a great story, I've read it several times. It's so brutal and horrific. It sits nicely alongside The Running Man (which is so much better than the film version). Oooh- I've never read that one... sounds good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt (341 pages) I loved this book and sped through it in two days . I put off the last 23 minutes just to make it last a little longer! Lucy (Lucien) Minor is from a small village called Bury. He has no purpose in life until he receives the position of Undermajordomo (which he is sure is a made up word, let alone job) in a castle some ways away. Thus Patrick deWitt creates a whole cast of characters: Mr. Olerglough, Agnes, Klara, the Baron Von Aux, Memel, Mewe, Adolphus- I was going to say who these people are, but decided that could be giving away too much. Patrick deWitt, in a book of extremely short 1-3 minute chapters, uses dry humor (much like his The Brothers Sisters) and strange unfamiliar words to tell this... well, story, unlike any other I have read. Hearts "refuse to unravel", feet move "up and back" and words I've never even heard of are used (although they are in fact words... I looked them up in my Kindle dictionary). Recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More reading time required Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Oooh- I've never read that one... sounds good! They are both in The Bachman Books collection and have that same "bleak future" feel about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 They are both in The Bachman Books collection and have that same "bleak future" feel about them. This copy of The Long Walk was on my Kindle, but I do have a Bachman collection that I bought mainly for Rage. I didn't read The Long Walk til much later and haven't read the other two yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Well, in my personal opinion, not all books have to be particularly enlightening. I know there are people who disagree, though. For me, I'm happy if I really enjoyed reading a book . Agreed. And, truthfully, any book tells us something about the possibilities of human nature. Just to see how someone reacts.....if an author can imagine it, it's happened in real life. Sorta like "never say never". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I know I've sometimes got more out of a cosy mystery than a fancy literary book ; if some situation has resonated with me and made me reevaluate something, then the book has real depth, never mind if it has talking cats. Btw, autocorrect just tried to write " fancy lit tart " book. Hee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Agreed. And, truthfully, any book tells us something about the possibilities of human nature. Just to see how someone reacts.....if an author can imagine it, it's happened in real life. Sorta like "never say never". Very true! I know I've sometimes got more out of a cosy mystery than a fancy literary book ; if some situation has resonated with me and made me reevaluate something, then the book has real depth, never mind if it has talking cats. That's true! And talking cats . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 She- Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor (507 pages) This was a great, enlightening book by Helen Castor. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Focusing on strong women, Castor highlights Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitain, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and also included Jane Grey and Mary Tudor. Already knowledgeable about these women to an extent, it was highly informative in it's details. My only complaint is that it finished at 82% of the Kindle edition, page 457 of 507, including extras of Notes on Sources and Further Reading... but this is a chief complaint I have with a lot of books, tree and paperless. I will read Castor's Joan of Arc soon, I love her writing and anticipate her work on Joan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 I'm glad you enjoyed She-Wolves . You must know so much about all these women by now! How annoying about the book ending at 82%. When I read a physical book, I always check the page count (I flick through to the end of the book), and see if there's any extras or not, then see where the story actually ends (ie. sometimes there's an excerpt, so I check for that). Without reading the ending of the book, of course, I don't want to do that. That way, I'm less surprised when I finish the book because I know when it is that the story / book will end. I don't know if I'm the only one who does this? For Kindle books I do look up page numbers on Amazon (because, they are almost never on the e-book itself), but it's not the same as that doesn't tell you anything about excerpts or extras. Sorry about your book ending earlier than you thought it would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 (edited) I can't get enough lol It was sooo annoying! I guess flipping through is something you can't do on a Kindle. This book did show page numbers, but still said ____ out of 507. So very irritating.p. I guess I could go to the end, but I'm afraid I might see the end Edited to add: The worst is when there is an excerpt from the next book by the author! Edited August 5, 2016 by Anna Begins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 That is true! Though I've also had cases where I was reading book 2 of the series (where the order is important), and then the excerpt is for book 1. I'm like, what?! How does that make sense. I think I once had, I was reading a book in a series, where the order was important, and the excerpt was for a few books later on in the series, it would have spoiled the books in between. I can't remember what series this was, I think it was fantasy. I don't like it when the excerpt is for the next book. Sometimes the excerpt is for a book by another author. To be honest, I never read excerpts, nor samples. I only use samples if I want to have a quick idea of the author's writing style (using the Amazon website), but otherwise I never read them to be honest. I don't like cliffhangers, and excerpts / samples often end on when it's just getting interesting. I have no interest in reading a tiny part of a story, I want to read the whole story. No point in reading the excerpt for the author's next book that might be released next year . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 I saw the docu series of She Wolves and it was engrossing. The book sounds just as good. Grrr at the book finishing early ; I don't look at the end cos I don't want to risk spoiling, so sometimes I'm looking forward to 30 more pages of the story when it ends suddenly, for notes or an excerpt ( though I like getting a preview of the next book ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 I saw the docu series of She Wolves and it was engrossing. The book sounds just as good. Grrr at the book finishing early ; I don't look at the end cos I don't want to risk spoiling, so sometimes I'm looking forward to 30 more pages of the story when it ends suddenly, for notes or an excerpt ( though I like getting a preview of the next book ). Oooh- is it good??? I was thinking about buying it on Amazon. It's the reason I read the book! Lol we are opposites when it comes to the extras . But the same about the ends- my mom always reads the last page first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 Oooh- is it good??? I was thinking about buying it on Amazon. It's the reason I read the book! Lol we are opposites when it comes to the extras . But the same about the ends- my mom always reads the last page first I`d think you`d get more from the book than the TV series ; it was only 3 x 1hr and while I liked it, there are TV docus which I`ve liked more ( Michael Woods on China, Bettany Hughes and Mary Beard on most things ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 I`d think you`d get more from the book than the TV series ; it was only 3 x 1hr and while I liked it, there are TV docus which I`ve liked more ( Michael Woods on China, Bettany Hughes and Mary Beard on most things ). Good to know- because it's $15! A bit too pricey. I'd love to see a documentary on China... I love documentaries. Ken Burns is my favorite, but his focus is on the U.S.- he has one about the U.S. in WWII, one about the Civil War and the one I'm watching now is on our National Park's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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