Your Book Activity 2023

[lunababymoonchild]

Sarah Bakewell, Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope. A favourite author of mine, I bought this in hardback

[Chrissy]

I recently finished the first two books in Alex Scarrow's TimeRiders series. A light and improbable romp through time, righting wrongs and occasionally causing them. Fast paced stories with (currently) nicely developing characters. I will pick up the others in the 9 book series as and when they pop up for 99p on kindle. 

 

Onto the Book Club Forum Book Club read for this second quarter! 'A book related to Charles Dickens'

For this I am starting with The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap by HG Barry. 

 

I have the book, Tom-All-Alone (also known as The Man In Black or The Solitary House) by Lynn Shepherd arriving soon. This one is described as The story of Tom-All-Alone's takes place in the 'space between' two masterpieces of mid-Victorian fiction: Bleak House and The Woman in White (Amazon UK) 

 

Very much looking forward to reading both of these. 

[lunababymoonchild]

I too bought The Man in Black and it will arrive tomorrow. Still currently reading Hard Times by Dickens himself and enjoying that. 
 

1 hour ago, Chrissy said:

Onto the Book Club Forum Book Club read for this second quarter! 'A book related to Charles Dickens'

For this I am starting with The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap by HG Barry. 

 

Interested to hear what you think of this.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading Pietr the Latvian, Maigret number 1 by Georges Simenon

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading The Man in Black, Lynn Shepherd part of the second Group Read

[lightningammil]

"The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion.

[timebug]

Just read the biography 'Ray Davies' by Johnny Rogan. Not a particularly satisfying read, as Ray Davies himself, as is quite well known, is not the pleasantest of men. Notoriously mean and tight fisted with money, angry and screwed up, he nevertheless wrote many great songs that were/are a part of the fabric of my life. Quite a detailed account of the history of The Kinks, it comes across as a labour of love rather than genuine admiration on the part of the author. Speaking of which, I.M.O Mr Rogan, who has written about thirty such books, does not strike me as a particularly good writer. His prose is often stilted almost forced, and I foubd this marathon sized tome a bit of a slog to finish. I did make it to the end, but came awy fairly dissatisfied with both the writer and the way the book was presented. Interesting enough, but I would earmark it 'only for the real diehard fan'!

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading Hear No Evil by Sarah Smith, e-book. It's set in Edinburgh in 1817!

[willoyd]

Just finished Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. A humungous read - found it very demanding and very rewarding.  My book for Columbia in my world tour.  5/6 stars.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope by Sarah Bakewell 

[willoyd]

Two short novels in quick succession, both excellent:

Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto **** (and a contender for book cover of the year)

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih *****, my book for Sudan (no, it's not a coincidence - the war was what prompted me to read this now).

[lunababymoonchild]

Started Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez on e-book (while I oil my father's ears!)

[willoyd]

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

[Hux]

Bought 'Auto da Fé' by Elias Canetti and really looking forward to (eventually) reading it.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Hux

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading : The Watcher, Charles McLean and Book of Longing, Leonard Cohen

[timebug]

I first read 'The Watcher' when it was published and have re-read it a few times. A haunting book full of imagery and almost hallucogenic allusions!

[lunababymoonchild]

2 hours ago, timebug said:

I first read 'The Watcher' when it was published and have re-read it a few times. A haunting book full of imagery and almost hallucogenic allusions!

I'm enjoying it so far

[Madeleine]

15 hours ago, willoyd said:

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

Any connection to social media usage?

[lunababymoonchild]

16 hours ago, willoyd said:

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - an investigation in why we're so seeing so many problems over concentrating, retaining attention and related issues (eg ADHD, children's development etc).  Fascinating.  5 stars.

 

21 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

Any connection to social media usage?

I was wondering about both of these myself

[willoyd]

On 5/16/2023 at 10:57 AM, Madeleine said:

Any connection to social media usage?

 

Absolutely - the early chapters focus on just that, and later chapters build on it.  There's a fair bit on the deliberate efforts by Facebook etc to make their apps as addictive as possible, and strong criticism of the business model they use (which Hari argues needs to be banned).  However, it's not just social media; Hari looks at issues of sleep deprivation, information overload (partly enabled by social media), presenteeism, over-protection of and lack of unstructured play for children....and so it goes on.  What I found particularly interesting is how it pulled together so many different themes with which I've worked (as a teacher and sports coach), eg the overstructuring of children's activities, and how that relates to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  I found it a very powerfully argued book, which explained so much and covered some hugely important issues that urgently need addressing.  Well documented too.

Edited May 17, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Finished Potiki by Patricia Grace, read for one of my book groups, and an additional book for New Zealand in my Read Around the World.

[Brian.]

It's been a while but I've finished a book, Gotti by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain. I picked this up after hearing Sammy Gravano mentioned a few times in a podcast series I listened to. I was keen to learn a bit more about the New York mafia and this book is highly reviewed. I'll write more detail in my book log thread but im summary I really enjoyed reading this, the subject is fascinating and it is really well written.

[lunababymoonchild]

Started The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's epic!

[poppy]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:47 AM, lunababymoonchild said:

Started The Karamazov Brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's epic!

 

This is the book that James Herriot said he read at night when he couldn't sleep. He found the Russian names at the start very soporific 😁

[lunababymoonchild]

1 hour ago, poppy said:

 

This is the book that James Herriot said he read at night when he couldn't sleep. He found the Russian names at the start very soporific 😁

I'm not surprised. And the explanation, which I read elsewhere, is just as confusing. As is the fact that the same character seems to have an unrelated diminutive. It's taking me a while to get back into the swing of it, but I just love Dostoevsky so will continue.