SaraPepparkaka Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Two mysteries read. "The dead of winter" by Rennie Airth and "The delicate storm" by Giles Blunt. Both set in winter, both average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 More books read. "Wicked lovely" by Melissa Marr. A traditional paranormal romance, I believe this to be YA. Worth a read if paranormals are your thing. "The colour of magic" by Terry Pratchett. I still have SO many unread Discworld books, but at least now I've read the first one. "Betty Blue" by Philippe Djian. Unusual, to say the least. It's almost always worth reading a book someone recommends here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I finally read Purge by Sofi Oksanen. It was indeed her best book yet, the other two that I have read were good, but this one just seemed better put together. And all kinds of tragedies, plus a bit of uncertainty about just how everything will work out in the end. Sad, but excellent reading. Well worth what little I spent on it on my surprise visit to the booksale last week. I also think I made an excellent choice to buy this for my best friend's birthday, I always aim to find some special book that I think she wouldn't buy for herself, and extra credit if it's a Finnish writer since she lives abroad. How did I miss this post, I have no idea! I'm really happy that you enjoyed Purge, it was a really excellent read. Really sad, but just amazing. I think Oksanen keeps getting better and better with each book she writes, and I cannot wait for her next novel. I think it's a really good idea that you got Purge for your friend, I have to admit I bought a copy of it and gave it to Kylie when I got here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 Now for some lighthearted reading, "Slightly Shady" by Amanda Quick. Perfectly acceptable to kill time in the hospital waiting room. Entertaining but will not leave a lasting impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Now for some lighthearted reading, "Slightly Shady" by Amanda Quick. Perfectly acceptable to kill time in the hospital waiting room. Entertaining but will not leave a lasting impression. Happy reading Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 Thanks Weave! So, from lighthearted to "Lost souls" by Poppy Z Brite. That's a contrast to say the least. Blood and gore, and honestly she must have been trying to cram as many disgusting things as possible into one book (drugs, alcoholism, incest, rape...). And still, I didn't hate the book, and found myself even caring for many of the characters. By now I've read a LOT of different versions of vampires. It almost makes me want to meet one, to see how they REALLY are. Maybe they do sparkle.. And one day I would like to visit New Orleans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Butter Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 And one day I would like to visit New Orleans. Me too, Sara! I want to see the Neville Brothers at Tipitina's while munching on a po' boy ... Will you book the tickets or shall I? (Note to Pontalba: is Tipitina's still there?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Roland, I will let you know when the tickets are booked! (Mind you, it may be some years before I make that trip.. ) I've read a mystery by a Swedish author. I wonder if there are authors in Sweden who write other kinds of books anymore, or do they all just write detective stories? This one was written by Camilla Läckberg, not a bad choice at all for when you feel like reading about murders. The book was called "Tyskungen", (apparently not translated to English, at least an English translation doesn't show up on Camilla Läckberg's homepage. "The German kid", loosely translated. It's a word borrowed from Norway, where it is/was used for the children with Norwegian mothers German soldiers left behind after the second world war.) I guessed how it would end already in the beginning, I even thought it obvious who the killer was, but still enjoyed reading about the characters, especially the quirky people who work at that police station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 20, 2010 Author Share Posted November 20, 2010 "Mystique" by Amanda Quick. I needed to read a little "happily ever after". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 Still in the mood for "happily ever after", and read two Lisa Jewell books, "Ralph's party" and "One-Hit Wonder". Not bad as far as chick-lit goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Still in the mood for "happily ever after", and read two Lisa Jewell books, "Ralph's party" and "One-Hit Wonder". Not bad as far as chick-lit goes. Great reads Sara, I love 'Ralph's Party', its one of my favourite books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 2, 2010 Author Share Posted December 2, 2010 Lisa Jewell does have a talent for feelgood books. I finished "I shall wear midnight" by Terry Pratchett, and it's a lovely read. It's the best one yet about Tiffany Aching, well, possibly with the exception of the first one. The Nac Mac Feegles are in good form, reforming a wee free police officer. Many witches have a part in the story, including one who apparently is a wizard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 5, 2010 Author Share Posted December 5, 2010 One for my UN challenge: "Face to face" by Chyngyz Aitmatov, for Kyrgyzstan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 9, 2010 Author Share Posted December 9, 2010 A visit to the Trusted Local Library resulted in some great books, the above mentioned "Face to face", but since then I've read Muriel Barbery "The elegance of the hedgehog" and "Bara vanligt vatten" by Kajsa Ingemarsson, too, both of which I found on that same visit to the library. "The elegance of the hedgehog" is a piece of genious, but I seem to remember someone here saiyng that they saw the ending coming a mile away. I didn't, I was really surprised. Kajsa Ingemarsson is a Swedish writer who does NOT write murder mysteries. At least not in this book, and this was the first I've read by her. This book is instead a book about a writer who writes murder mysteries and has a complicated - to say the least- life. Chick lit in the style of Marian Keynes in the way that it also deals with serious issues. I checked Kajsa's homepage and it appears no one of her books are translated to English, but quite a few to German, and some to Dutch, and most of them to Finnish and Norwegian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 17, 2010 Author Share Posted December 17, 2010 (edited) "Samarkand" by Amin Maalouf. The story about Omar Khayyams verses until they end up locked in a safe on the Titanic. Potentially interesting, right? Well, not for me as it turns out. But it gets an entry in my UN challenge list for Lebanon. "With this ring" by Amanda Quick. Now, I would probably have enjoyed the above mentioned story if Amanda Quick had written it. (Or, Jayne Anne Krentz, but I believe she uses Amanda Quick for her historicals). Lots of stereotypes in this book. The hero is tall dark and lonely, the heroine is all kinds of nice and just never gives up (loves stray dogs and orphans, you know her, you've met her before), in this case where both have been married before, it turns out their marriages were unhappy so this is the first time they REALLY fall in love, the mystery is more or less obvious.. And STILL I enjoy reading it. Now, it could be that I love all romance books, of course. But it's not that simple. I also just read "The conqueror" by Brenda Joyce, and this book is certainly classified as romance. And I didn't like a single thing about it. The male leading character very nearly rapes the female lead on the first page, then continues to treat her like garbage throughout the book, she gets away from him, and THEN on page 415 of 421 he finds her and tells her he wants her back- and the daft woman goes with him. No, I certainly do not love all romance books. Some I throw as far away as possible and hope they won't find their way back. Edited December 17, 2010 by SaraPepparkaka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Now, it could be that I love all romance books, of course. But it's not that simple. I also just read "The conqueror" by Brenda Joyce, and this book is certainly classified as romance. And I didn't like a single thing about it. The male leading character very nearly rapes the female lead on the first page, then continues to treat her like garbage throughout the book, she gets away from him, and THEN on page 415 of 421 he finds her and tells her he wants her back- and the daft woman goes with him. No, I certainly do not love all romance books. Some I throw as far away as possible and hope they won't find their way back. It sounds like a book I would shout at Sara 'What are you thinking???', thanks for the review (and heads up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 "Samarkand" by Amin Maalouf. The story about Omar Khayyams verses until they end up locked in a safe on the Titanic. Potentially interesting, right? Well, not for me as it turns out. But it gets an entry in my UN challenge list for Lebanon. "With this ring" by Amanda Quick. Now, I would probably have enjoyed the above mentioned story if Amanda Quick had written it. (Or, Jayne Anne Krentz, but I believe she uses Amanda Quick for her historicals). Lots of stereotypes in this book. The hero is tall dark and lonely, the heroine is all kinds of nice and just never gives up (loves stray dogs and orphans, you know her, you've met her before), in this case where both have been married before, it turns out their marriages were unhappy so this is the first time they REALLY fall in love, the mystery is more or less obvious.. And STILL I enjoy reading it. Now, it could be that I love all romance books, of course. But it's not that simple. I also just read "The conqueror" by Brenda Joyce, and this book is certainly classified as romance. And I didn't like a single thing about it. The male leading character very nearly rapes the female lead on the first page, then continues to treat her like garbage throughout the book, she gets away from him, and THEN on page 415 of 421 he finds her and tells her he wants her back- and the daft woman goes with him. No, I certainly do not love all romance books. Some I throw as far away as possible and hope they won't find their way back. I have read loads of Amanda Quick/Jayne Anne Krentz and her other pseudonym Jayne Castle and they are great easy escapism, nothing horrible happens the mysterious twists are laughable but done with great tongue in cheekness. but I also know what you mean about the other type of 'romance' they are really sappy and I end up shouting at the book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 17, 2010 Author Share Posted December 17, 2010 I think you are onto something there with the tongue in cheekness, Pickle. And I can forgive characters for a lot of things, but in this case when I have seen nothing good about him and I'm on page 415 of 421, I do have a hard time believing that he does turn out to be a lovely husband (after his first wife conveniently hangs herself in the convent she was shipped off to. That must have been because she missed him so much, I'm sure. ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 I have been reading some more. "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater. I didn't fall totally in love with this book, but it was a good read. I really can't see how the sequel would work out, I thought it had a pretty good ending. And then "Metro 2033" by Dmitry Glukhovsky. You should read this one. Yes, I mean you. Excellent book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 21, 2010 Author Share Posted December 21, 2010 One read for my UN challenge, "Buying a fishing rod for my grandfather" by Gao Xingjian, a collection of short stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaraPepparkaka Posted December 28, 2010 Author Share Posted December 28, 2010 Well, I DID read something over Christmas, even if I wasn't online to tell you about it. "The marriage bureau for rich people" by Farhad Zama, a book in the same feelgood-genre as Botswana's no 1 lady detective, but not as good. "Murder on the Leviathan" by Boris Akunin, Erast Fandorin on a ship with a murderer. "Jemima J" by Jane Green. I didn't need this book to tell me I'd be happier if I lost some weight, I know that I should already. "Ready for love" by Debbie Macomber, two quite enjoyable romance stories (only everything just works out so nicely I don't really believe it..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.