Guest ii Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 (edited) I decided to edit this one a bit, for several reasons. 1) I'm absolutely terrible at upkeeping my list of books read. I try, as always, to be better. 2) There's no point in me keeping a 'currently reading' list, as I'm alternating between several books at the same time. And because I am absolutely terrible at upkeeping the list. 3) 'Next up' list are useless, as I always go by what feels right, instead of previously made plan. Plus I'm absolutely terrible at upkeeping any such list. So, I'll just try, okay? Well, I do post about the books in my blog, and my challenges are there, so this is my blog. Edited January 27, 2009 by ii updating, in a way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 (edited) What: Where Have All The Boys Gone? by Jenny Colgan Where/When/Why: On the plane coming back from the States after the Holidays. When you're stuck in a plane with nothing to do but to watch the same movies over and over again, while a fat man drools on himself at the other side of the isle, you want something light and fluffy to distract you. Or champagne. Or both, please. Synopsis: (from Amazon.co.uk) Where have all the men gone? Faced with 25, 000 more women than men in London, and gleeful media reports that it's statistically more likely for single women to be murdered than get married, Katie is reached an all-time low. But all is not lost ! Another hilarious high-concept romantic comedy from Jenny Colgan. While Katie's glad it's not a man's world any more, she'd be quite pleased if there were more men in it - or at least single ones, anyway. More likely to get murdered than married, according to gleeful media reports, Katie resigns herself to the fact there's no sex in the city and heads for the hills - or the Scottish highlands, to be precise. Despite the fact she's never been a girl for wellies - and Fairlish is in the middle of nowhere - the tiny town does have one major draw: men. Lots of them. But while Katie relishes the chance to do battle with armies of admirers, she's not reckoned on going head to head with her grumpy new boss, Harry, shadowy developers intent on destroying the beautiful countryside and Mrs McClockerty, the least suitable hotelier since Norman Bates. At least there's the local eye-candy to distract her, including gorgeous newshound Iain. But he is at loggerheads with Harry, and Harry despises her. Life in the country might not be one big roll in the hay but can Katie ever turn her back on the delights of Fairlish and return to city life? Opinion: Not the worst I've read, that's for sure. At times it was down-right funny. The thing that got me, though, was that the book was inconsistent. Not in the story, but in the quality. Let me explain: the first bit, in London? Almost boring. The bit about Scotland: boring at points, really funny sometimes. The dialogue in the book was really good. It was the descriptive parts that dragged it down. I was slightly surprised at this, 'cause often it's the forced and unnatural dialogue that makes a book a bore. As for the ending, well, that was quite predictable. But then again, which chic-lit ending isn't? So pretty average in every way, I must say. Nothing truly brilliant, but not a total bore either. Grade: 5/10 Edited June 12, 2008 by ii it wasn't a review, just an opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I hope you like Sense and Sensibility! It's one of my favorites. I haven't read those others by Paulo Coelho - I've only read The Alchemist (which was great) and The Valkyries (which was weird). I'll be interested in hearing what you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I'm sure I will, thank you. I've read it before, too, so I pretty much know what to expect as far as liking goes. BF is a huge fan of Coelho's. I've only read The Alchemist myself so far, but I can't complain. Coelho has a style very different from anything else I've come across. But I'm excited about those books, so will see. I'll keep you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I had completely forgotten, that upon my return from States after New Year I also read Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. It was a grim story, and the simplicity of Hemingway's style and the, well, grimnes of the story was further highlighted by the festivities before. So in a way it served as a detox, as crazy as it sounds. A simplifiction of things, if ever Hemingway can be called simple. His style is simple, yet there's a lot getting said in those few words. I liked it. I really did. Grade: 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 (edited) I've read much since updating this the last, but as most of it has been school books, I don't think you're interested in reviews... Also, I've started and dropped several books, simply because I've forgotten to finish them due to lack of time. But finally, partly due to my recent sickleave, I managed to finish a book (at least one worth mentioning), and I'm glad I did. Waiting by Ha Jin The blurb: For more than seventeen years, Lon Kong, a dedicated doctor, has been passionately in love with an educated, modern woman, Manna Wu, but back in his traditional home village lives the humble, loyal wife his family chose for him years ago. Every summer, he returns to ask her for a divorce and every summer his compliant wife agrees but then backs out. This time, after eighteen years' waiting, Lin promises it will be different. Opinion: I'm not going to review this much. I just finished it and Waiting is one of those books where you have to let it settle down in your mind for a while to fully grasp what you just read. Ha Jin says so much with so little, in todays information-overflow it is refreshing to see something so simple and delicate as his writing. Often we say a book is beautiful when we really mean eloquent or emotional. But this time the story is truly beautiful. There's no other word for it. It's a love story as beautiful as it is delicate, yet resilient and strong, it kind of felt like reading cherry blossoms. Grade: 10/10, easily. Edited June 12, 2008 by ii opinion, not a review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 This time a re-read, but to my defence I hadn't read it in ages. Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 ...everyone knows this book... I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Sorry about that, prospero and heather. I'm just so used to everyone knowing that, just like everyone knows Winnie-the-Pooh and Bambi that I assumed you all would know Le Petit Prince too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Don't let it happen again! You may only read books with which I am familiar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I promise, from now on I will check with you first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 At least you've learned your lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I do hope you're familiar with the book I'm currently reading, I think it's been translated as "the long engagement" or something like that. They made a movie out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 No. However, as I am now blonde I shall let this aberration pass until your next chosen read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 That is very kind of you. Do me a favor, though, and look up the books I bought today, as I cannot wait to start them. Especially the one by Miriam Toews. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 (edited) What: Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger Where/When/Why: Post-exam and pre-written assignments reading, when somehting light and fluffy is just the ticket. Blurb: Three best friends. Two Resolutions. One year to pull it off. Emmy is newly single. Having always dreamed of wedding plans, she's now buying take-out for one. Adriana is about to turn thirty. Are her days as a party girl running out? Leigh has a gorgeous boyfriend and a great job. So why isn't she more excited about her perfect life? The three best friends make a pact over raspberry mojitos one night - this year everything is going to change. Emmy is going to find a man on every continent for some no-strings fun. Adriana wows she'll secure a fiv-carat Harry Winston diamond on her fourth finger. And Leigh can't think of what she needs to change - until literary bad boy Jesse Chapman starts to get under her skin. Game on. Opinion: Horrible. Absolutely, without a dubt, one tree chopped in vain. First, the "three best friends"... you wouldn't know that they're so close if that you weren't told that all the time. There's no chemistry between the characters, there's rarely even scenes of them together. The characters are very one-dimentional (Emmy's the pathetically romantic one, Adriana the too-good-to-be-true-beautiful maneater, Leigh is only the sum of her neurosis), and display no development. Or well, like with the plot, there's the result, not the journey. Oh, and the plot, the story, the telling! The story jumps a LOT. And almost every major development is told from afterwards. The story jumps, and then the reader is informed, recapped, what happened in the time we skipped. It's told to us instead of letting us find out. I drove me crazy! Also, there's no arch in the story. There's no start/middle/finish, but the end of the book just wraps up everything in the now-familiar recapping way. *PIM* everything's solved! (because, see, this all happened while we weren't watching) We're all happy now! And it wasn't even funny. Edited June 12, 2008 by ii concistency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eschulenburg Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I think I remember hating the first book she wrote. It's good to know I won't be missing anything by skipping this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly2008 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I think I remember hating the first book she wrote. It's good to know I won't be missing anything by skipping this one. Was it 'Everyone Worth Knowing'? I didnt like that at all, and after watching the film 'Devil Wears Prada' I realised them two books are very alike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I liked Devil Wears Prada, the first one. The movie was horrible compared to the book. And DWP was waaaaaay better than this third one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Chasing Harry Winston sounds terrible ii. I'm amazed you managed to finish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Me too, FishAndChips. Me too. I did use it for tossing things around yesterday when I was upset. It flies well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Lol. Aw I hope it wasn't certain comments on here that upset you. Fwiw I thought you were unnecessarily attacked yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Thank you. No, nothing to do with this forum. I was just having a bad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Are you OK now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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