Your Book Activity - November 2016

[Madeleine]

Has anybody read Danielle Steel before? I am reading Sisters at the moment.

I am on chapter six and she has managed to tell me the same things she told me in previous chapters about the girls (I think in case I the reader forgets) over and over again. Are all her books like this?

I read a few several years ago, they were all full of perfect women who were good at everything they did, including one woman who managed to re-design a hospital lounge whilst her daughter was in a coma.  The actual plots weren't bad, but I couldn't stand the characters!

[willoyd]

Back on to David Copperfield again. I'm enjoying it but I have to read it in longish stretches to get with the flow of the wording.

 

I'd agree - Dickens, and indeed most Victorian writers - need time.  They don't always fit in with our modern lifestyle, but I find them all the more rewarding when given that time, especially Dickens himself.  Copperfield took me a few goes to get going, but I finally knuckled down when we chose him as a book group choice a couple of years, and it turned out to be one of my all-time favourites.

 

I've just finished Mark Cocker's Claxton - a collection of articles from his Guardian column over several years, giving a year round view of the natural history (primarily birds, as that's his main thing) around his home village in the Yare Valley in Norfolk.  Excellent read.  I don't think I got the most out of it, as work kept intruding, but it's one I'm likely to return to; Cocker is one of my favourite nature writers (I adored his Crow Country), with an involving poetic touch.  Have moved on to Mark Kermode's The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, which appears (after about 100 pages) to be a thoroughly entertaining diatribe on the state of modern cinema (his early description of a visit to his local multiplex with his teenage daughter is all too horribly familiar!).

Edited November 22, 2016 by willoyd

[Nollaig]

Finished Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes. 4 Stars (4.5, if I was still doing halves), which means I enjoyed it more than twice as much as the other book I read by her. Thought the ending was a teensy bit meh and I had some issues, but overall, great on nearly every level.

 

Not sure what's up next!

[Athena]

I finally finished Lord of Chaos (TWoT book 6) last night. I'm hoping to get through my next book, The Long War by TP and Stephen Baxter, a hell of a lot quicker.

Well done on getting through it, it's a long book (but one of the better ones I thought). I hope you enjoy The Long War, I haven't read that one yet. 

 

What is this TWoT you speak of?  It can't be 'total waste of time', I don't think! 

 

I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  It's great, but I haven't got much time to read so I'm not even a third of the way through yet and I've been reading it nearly two weeks. 

Haha .

 

I'd be curious to know what you think of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children once you've finished it .

[frankie]

I finally finished a book I feel like I've been reading for ages. Not worth mentioning! And then I started reading This One Is Mine by Maria Semple. Oooh I like it so far! It feels like reading is fun again! 

[More reading time required]

What is this TWoT you speak of?  It can't be 'total waste of time', I don't think! 

 

I hope it's not, I've still got 8 books to go!  It's Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.

[Lau_Lou]

I read a few several years ago, they were all full of perfect women who were good at everything they did, including one woman who managed to re-design a hospital lounge whilst her daughter was in a coma.  The actual plots weren't bad, but I couldn't stand the characters!

I am not a big fan of characters who over are too perfect.

I think it could be a good book if she didn't remind us of what we already know.

[Madeleine]

Yes one of the books I'm reading is a bit like that, the author keeps saying the same thing over and over again.  We get it already!

[Janet]

I'd be curious to know what you think of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children once you've finished it .

I'm enjoying it so far.

 

I hope it's not, I've still got 8 books to go!  It's Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time.

Hehe - thanks!

[bobblybear]

I'd agree - Dickens, and indeed most Victorian writers - need time.  They don't always fit in with our modern lifestyle, but I find them all the more rewarding when given that time, especially Dickens himself.  Copperfield took me a few goes to get going, but I finally knuckled down when we chose him as a book group choice a couple of years, and it turned out to be one of my all-time favourites.

 

I'm about three-quarters of the way through, and while I am enjoying it, it is a bit of an effort to read. I'm finding it fascinating and amusing with how different peoples' behaviour and attitudes were back them. Everyone is always crying with joy or on the verge of crying with joy at the drop of a hat. And the women are treated like such delicate beings, very girlish and sensitive! I find Uriah Heep a bit repulsive with the way he is described, as constantly writhing and wringing his creepy hands. I've often heard the name mentioned, but never actually realised he was Dickens' character.

 

I should be finished with it in a couple of days, then I can carry on with REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.

 

 

Finished Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes. 4 Stars (4.5, if I was still doing halves), which means I enjoyed it more than twice as much as the other book I read by her. Thought the ending was a teensy bit meh and I had some issues, but overall, great on nearly every level.

 

Oooh, glad you enjoyed it....it's far better than her other books, isn't it?

 

I bought a few more Kindle books today which were on offer.

 

I bought The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (all 5 books for only £3.79), The Road by Cormac McCarthly and Outlander by Diane Gabaldon.

[Lau_Lou]

Five books for £3 79 is amazing!

[Inver]

Oh dear...have to say I'm on a bit of a go slow with my reading again, enjoying both books, but getting nowhere fast.

 

Secret Lives ~ Diane Chamberlain and the Little Paris Bookshop ~ Nina George

[Nollaig]

 

Oooh, glad you enjoyed it....it's far better than her other books, isn't it?

 

 

Yep. Found myself relating way too much to the OCD character. Can't even remember her name now, I'm terrible. I know Stuart's name, he was nice. XD

 

I finished The Smell of Other People's Houses, which I didn't get into as fully as I would have liked - I kept getting confused about how the characters were related, and overall it was really quite odd and unlikely. But I dunno, there was something about it I loved, so I've given it a tentative four stars for now.

 

Few books to choose from now, grabbed a few in the Black Friday Kindle sale, but I think I'm gonna go with The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen. 

[Athena]

I bought The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (all 5 books for only £3.79), The Road by Cormac McCarthly and Outlander by Diane Gabaldon.

 

I hope you enjoy all of these ! I quite liked the 5 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books when I read them many years ago.

 

Oh dear...have to say I'm on a bit of a go slow with my reading again, enjoying both books, but getting nowhere fast.

 

Secret Lives ~ Diane Chamberlain and the Little Paris Bookshop ~ Nina George

I look forward to hear what you think of Secret Lives, I haven't read that one yet.

 

I haven't been reading the past few days, but am I the only one who's already thinking a little bit about how I'm going to set up my new book blog thread in the new year?

[shirley]

Started A Cotswold Christmas by Kate Hewitt this morning - will be reading this one at work and Me Before you by JoJo Moyes been looking forward to this one.

[MrCat]

I have finished reading The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, Life of Pi by Yann Martel and I am almost done with Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. With the exception of the first book, my disappointment is off the charts. 

 

*hides away from people throwing rocks* 

[Onion Budgie]

I was disappointed by Life of Pi too, MrCat.  By the rave reviews, I was expecting something quite different.  But all of the zoology and religion in the first half, and then the interminable stretches of inaction in the second, ah, no thank you.  

 

In other news, I have ALMOST finished Middlesex.  Faaaaaantastico.  10/10 would recommend.  

 

After Middlesex, begins my Christmas reading!  And nothing says Christmas quite like a crime novel filled with murder, recriminations and ill humour.  

[bobblybear]

Five books for £3 79 is amazing!

 

I know - such a bargain!!

 

Secret Lives ~ Diane Chamberlain and the Little Paris Bookshop ~ Nina George

 

Is this the first Diane Chamberlain book you have read? I've always enjoyed her books but I don't think I have read this one.

 

Yep. Found myself relating way too much to the OCD character. Can't even remember her name now, I'm terrible. I know Stuart's name, he was nice. XD

 

I think her name was Lisa. I thought it was very cleverly told, the way he (was it Lee?) manipulated her friends into believing he was good as gold, and she was bonkers. I must read it again. A lot of people said that the OCD bits were too repetitive but I didn't think so; it was a necessary part of the story.

 

 

I hope you enjoy all of these ! I quite liked the 5 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books when I read them many years ago.

 

I haven't been reading the past few days, but am I the only one who's already thinking a little bit about how I'm going to set up my new book blog thread in the new year?

 

I haven't read all 5 of them; I think I have only read the first 3 but I do recall enjoying them.

 

I haven't thought about the new blog yet! This year has just gone too fast! I expect mine will be set up the same way it is this year.

 

In other news, I have ALMOST finished Middlesex.  Faaaaaantastico.  10/10 would recommend.  

 

I must read this! I have it on my Kindle, so I have no excuses!

 

I'm still reading David Copperfield....very near the end, but I had to put it down last night because I was getting a bit frustrated with Mr Micawber's ramblings.

[Nollaig]

I think her name was Lisa. I thought it was very cleverly told, the way he (was it Lee?) manipulated her friends into believing he was good as gold, and she was bonkers. I must read it again. A lot of people said that the OCD bits were too repetitive but I didn't think so; it was a necessary part of the story.

 

I didn't find it repetitive either, I thought it was well written - what did annoy me though was 

the way her friend (also can't think of her name, but Sonya springs to mind) turned on her and chose to believe Lee over her - which was a necessary plot point to bring about the isolation and complete social destruction of the main character, but it felt so fake. I can't imagine such a good friend turning on someone like that, no matter how convincing Lee was.

 

[Peacefield]

I am in one giant book slump.  I can't seem to get excited about anything I pick up, but I think that's because I've had so much weighing on my mind the past few months.  I think I'm enjoying In the Unlikely Event, but haven't given it much of a chance lately.  Hopefully I'll get the mojo-ness back soon!

[willoyd]

  Have moved on to Mark Kermode's The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, which appears (after about 100 pages) to be a thoroughly entertaining diatribe on the state of modern cinema (his early description of a visit to his local multiplex with his teenage daughter is all too horribly familiar!).

 

Which I finished late last night.  It was an easy read,and Kermode makes some valide points, but in the end he did rather take his time to get there - too many diversions and too much chatty fill for this to rate more than a 3/6.  With work being the ghastly slog it is at the moment, this took rather longer than I expected - just over a week.  Have now moved on to Simenon's The Shadow Puppet, another in the Maigret series (my first this year).  Should be a quicker read.

[Nollaig]

Finished The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen, and... it started off great but I just couldn't relate to anything from the halfway point on, so it got two stars in the end.

 

Started The Call by Peadar O'Guilín, but I also nabbed Some Will Not Sleep by Adam Nevill, which is a short story collection which I may also start this evening.

[Lau_Lou]

I have read/completed the following this month:-

The Girl On The Train = 4 stars

Ameliaranne Goes Digging = 3 stars

Pride and Prejudice = 1 stars

A Study In Scarlet = 5 stars

After You = 5 stars

You and Me Always = 4 stars

[MrCat]

P%P one star? What? 

[chesilbeach]

I am in one giant book slump.  I can't seem to get excited about anything I pick up, but I think that's because I've had so much weighing on my mind the past few months.  I think I'm enjoying In the Unlikely Event, but haven't given it much of a chance lately.  Hopefully I'll get the mojo-ness back soon!

 

I'm the same at the moment - my reading has been appalling again this month.  Hope you find your mojo again soon, peacefield   

 

Finally finished my second book of the month yesterday Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens which was another great children's book in her Wells and Wong Mysteries series, but it's taken me almost two weeks to finish it   

 

Can't face anything remotely deep and meaningful at the moment, but started another children's book today - Cogheart by Peter Bunzl, and read 80 pages at lunchtime and I'm hooked.  Hopefully, this will be the start of my mojo kicking back in before my Christmas break.  Fingers crossed!