Your Book Activity 2023

[France]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:12 AM, Brian. said:

I'm about 150 pages into the mammoth Shogun by James Clavell and so far I'm really enjoying it.

I read that years ago when I was living in Hong King and loved it.

[France]

On 3/12/2023 at 5:01 AM, Chrissy said:

I have been reading About Time by Jodi Taylor, a roaring romp through the ages with the Time Police. This is the fourth book in her Chronicles of St Mary's spin off series, and so far is as enjoyable as the previous three. Escapism reading at it's finest! 

I've just listened to this on Audible and it's a hoot!

[muggle not]

1 hour ago, Bel-ami said:

I have that on my TBR shelve(s) - have always been daunted by the size!

Shogun is an epic of a book but a book to enjoy from start to finish. I read it many years ago and still remember that I enjoyed it very much. Actually, I enjoyed almost all of Clavell's books

[lunababymoonchild]

On 7/23/2023 at 10:12 AM, Brian. said:

I'm about 150 pages into the mammoth Shogun by James Clavell and so far I'm really enjoying it.

I read this many years ago too and it's well worth the effort.

[poppy]

Have just begun Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell and it bodes well, the first couple of pages had me chortling. My first Thirkell.

[itsmeagain]

Jeffrey Archer. I only know him as a Tory politician. His short stories , the characters are rather one dimensional, little depth, with certain omnipresent features. The men are obsessed with money and fantasies of women in stockings and suspenders, police uniforms etc. Like a privileged,  upper class version of a fifteen year old boy...I am still reading,  to see if anything improves.

Edited July 27, 2023 by itsmeagain

[MrCat]

Shogun is one of the books that everyone in my country had before 1990. I am not sure why it was so popular back in the day but most people from the older generation always speak well of if. I read almost 20 years ago and it was indeed great. Continue with Tai-Pan if you are enjoying Shogun.

 

I am currently reading Breath by James Nestor. It is a bit new ageish so take what he is saying with a grain of salt but there is some useful info there as well.

[Hux]

Started 'A Heart So White' by Javier Marias.

[Brian.]

On 7/24/2023 at 2:56 PM, Bel-ami said:

I have that on my TBR shelve(s) - have always been daunted by the size!

 

I'm about halfway through it now and I'm still really enjoying it. I recommend giving it a go.

On 7/24/2023 at 3:41 PM, France said:

I read that years ago when I was living in Hong King and loved it.

 

On 7/24/2023 at 4:56 PM, muggle not said:

Shogun is an epic of a book but a book to enjoy from start to finish. I read it many years ago and still remember that I enjoyed it very much. Actually, I enjoyed almost all of Clavell's books

 

On 7/24/2023 at 9:58 PM, lunababymoonchild said:

I read this many years ago too and it's well worth the effort.

 

On 7/27/2023 at 1:22 PM, MrCat said:

Shogun is one of the books that everyone in my country had before 1990. I am not sure why it was so popular back in the day but most people from the older generation always speak well of if. I read almost 20 years ago and it was indeed great. Continue with Tai-Pan if you are enjoying Shogun.

 

 

It's definitely worth the effort and I'm already looking forward to reading others in the series. I actually read King Rat a few years ago and thought that was excellent but I will read the rest of the books in the correct chronological order.

[muggle not]

5 hours ago, Brian. said:

 

I'm about halfway through it now and I'm still really enjoying it. I recommend giving it a go.

 

 

 

 

It's definitely worth the effort and I'm already looking forward to reading others in the series. I actually read King Rat a few years ago and thought that was excellent but I will read the rest of the books in the correct chronological order.

I envy you. I wish I had all of Clavell's books to look forward to. To my knowledge, I believe I have read all of his works. Enjoy them.

[willoyd]

Just finished two non-fictions: 

Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories by Thomas Grant: viewing social development of the 1960s-80s through the lens of one (famous) barristers major cases (Penguin Lady Chatterley case, George Blake, unilateral nuclear disarmament protestors, Last Tango In Paris and Romans in Britain obscenity trials etc. Fascinating read, very easy. 5 stars.

Portable Magic by Emma Smith. "A History of Books and Their Readers" - well, not really, more a collection of essays built around this theme. Narrower and drier than I'd hoped.  Reasonably interesting individually, but collectively far too samey in content and style for my taste. 3 stars.

[Brian.]

I finished Shogun by James Clavell yesterday afternoon. I'll write more about it in my thread but I loved it and as mentioned by others here, it was well worth the effort.

[lunababymoonchild]

Just finished Helter-Skelter, The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi (the man who convicted them) and Curt Gentry. This was epic at 949 pages long. I'm glad it was an e-book. 

[poppy]

Reading my second Angela Thirkell book in the Barsetshire series, High Rising. Am finding her a real treat, such a funny and witty writer. 

[willoyd]

Finished Travelling In A Strange Land by David Park, a book group choice, also counting for Northern Ireland in my Read Around the World.  More a novella (164 pages), it's a fairly intense read.  4/6 stars.

[Hux]

Bought 'War and War' by Krasznahorkai and 'Seven Years' by Peter Stamm.

[lunababymoonchild]

Still reading From The Depths for the BCF group read

[lunababymoonchild]

Having been impressed by Macmillan Collector's Library I have used an Amazon birthday token and bought :

 

The Art of War: Sun Tzu (Macmillan Collector's Library, 108) Sun Tzu, Jonathan Clements (Translator)

Poems for Happiness (Macmillan Collector's Library, 213) Gaby Morgan (editor)

Greek Myths: Heroes and Heroines (Macmillan Collector's Library, 352) Jean Menzies (editor) 

The Analects: (Macmillan Collector's Library, 330) Confucius, David Hinton (Translator)

Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses (Macmillan Collector's Library, 353) Jean Menzies (editor)

[lunababymoonchild]

11 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

Still reading From The Depths for the BCF group read

Finished

[poppy]

Just finished listening to The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. First read this as a set book at school and may have read it again since. Found the dialogue a little dated, reminded me a bit of Nevil Shute, another author I've enjoyed in the past,  but it’s still a good story.

[lunababymoonchild]

Currently reading Thomas Bernhard, Three Novellas. 

 

I'm still reading Poems of the Sea from Macmillan Collector's Library, so staying in touch with the group read

[Hux]

Just bought...

 

'Mysteries' by Knut Hamsun.

'Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead' by Olga Tokarczuk.

'The Setting Sun' by Osamu Dazai

'The Appointment' by Herta Müller.

[lunababymoonchild]

29 minutes ago, Hux said:

Just bought...

 

'Mysteries' by Knut Hamsun.

'Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead' by Olga Tokarczuk.

'The Setting Sun' by Osamu Dazai

'The Appointment' by Herta Müller.

I read Mysteries by Knut Hamsun. Didn't like it as much as Hunger.

[willoyd]

This evening, finished Johnson At 10 by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell.  Jaw dropping.  Long been a full on antifan of Boris Johnson, but what we, the public, saw at the time wasn't the half of it, particularly given the focus was more on his competence than his morals.  This was devastating in its critique of his time at no. 10.  Occasionally repetitive, partly down to its thematic rather than chronological structure, but in some ways that only went to make it even more starkly apparent what a disastrous prime minister Johnson was. At the worst possible time too. The referencing underlined the depth of research - considerable is an understatement! 4 stars.

Edited August 22, 2023 by willoyd

[muggle not]

Amazon had a free read for about 10% of a book that sounded interesting, so I downloaded "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride. My wife was also interested in the book so I downloaded it to her account as I can read all books in her account but she can't read any books in my account.

I believe that I will enjoy the book as it starts out in a small town in Pennsylvania in 1919 describing the immigrant Jewish community and the African Americans. The book jumps from one subject to another with an ending that embodies the love in a community, at least I think so. 🙂