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Dan's lists 2009


DanC_84

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Boo indeed, it's a beautifully written book which requires full attention! :D

 

I'm reading that author's second book atm, she seems to have sacrificed some (or a lot) of the poetic writing, but she HAS included a whole Historical Fiction element, so that's cool. :D

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Boo on work. :D

 

Yeah it is horrible right now. We just settled on our house yesterday and I haven't even been able to go over and look at it yet, I didn't finish up work until after 11. Its going to be a terrible 2 weeks for me I think.

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Yeah it is horrible right now. We just settled on our house yesterday and I haven't even been able to go over and look at it yet, I didn't finish up work until after 11. Its going to be a terrible 2 weeks for me I think.

 

Does not sound like fun. Good luck! :D

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Ugh.. :lol: How disappointing. New houses are so exciting and you can't even go look at it! I hope you get a surprise break in there for A) your book and :D your new home, more importantly! :D

 

Haha, thanks Beth. Normally I wouldn't mind but it is just shocking timing. I am going to attempt to put in a massive week so that I can have the weekend off to move.

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I finished reading 'A Certain Slant of Light' by Laura Whitcomb over the weekend. I found it to be a very enjoyable read - 8/10.

 

My main criticism of the book was that it wasn't long enough. I felt it would have been good to have extra time for character development before it started to really get into the details of the story and the relationship between Helen and James.

 

The part of the book I enjoyed the most was definately her perceptions of the family she lived with, particularly Cathy. I always like novels with portrayals of extreme religious families in them and I found this one to be pretty cool.

 

Next up for me is 'The Coffin Dancer' by Jeffrey Deaver.

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I have The Coffin Dancer to read, Dan. I'll get on to it as soon as I've finished this one so we can chat about it, eh?

 

Hope you're well, fella.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Whoa! Dan! Norwegian Wood is a tremendously good book. You're going to really, really, really love it. The guy is a thoroughbred genius.

 

I'm actually excited for you.

 

Bizarre, ain't it? :lol:

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Hey Dan, long time no speak, how's things with you? :lol:

 

Glad to see the readings going quite well, you are 4 books in front of me now. :lol:

 

Hey Ben, things are pretty good. Unfortunately I have been mentally busy at work this month so the reading has slowed a bit. Hope everything is good at your end.

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I finished reading 'A Certain Slant of Light' by Laura Whitcomb over the weekend. I found it to be a very enjoyable read - 8/10.

 

My main criticism of the book was that it wasn't long enough. I felt it would have been good to have extra time for character development before it started to really get into the details of the story and the relationship between Helen and James.

 

The part of the book I enjoyed the most was definately her perceptions of the family she lived with, particularly Cathy. I always like novels with portrayals of extreme religious families in them and I found this one to be pretty cool.

 

Next up for me is 'The Coffin Dancer' by Jeffrey Deaver.

 

 

I'm so behind, it's unreal. I agree that it was too short, but you know she's writing another book related to this? 'Under The Light' about where the two kids (I can't remember their names! :lol:) went, while Helen and James were in their bodies.

 

I also loved the ending, I thought there was a major Donnie Darko sense of, everything seemed disjointed and was falling apart but in the end everybody ended up a little better for it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally finished 'Norwegian Wood' by Haruki Murakami last night.

 

I found my experience with this book to be really weird. Around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through it I was kind of a little disappointed. Its not that I thought it was a bad story, or that it was poorly written, just that I didn't really seem to be identifying with any of the characters particularly well, and character identification is typically a pretty significant factor in my enjoyment of a book. Anyway, around this point I asked myself if I really cared about what happened to any of the characters in the book. The answer was no, which disappointed me a little.

 

Having said that, the last 100 pages of the book might be the best I have ever read of any novel. Everything started to change, I started to really empathise with Watanabe and Midori and I really got involved in the story. I stayed up until after 1am last night to finish as I just couldn't put it down. Fantastic last 100 pages, loved them.

 

One of the strangest things about the book, and something that I have read from accounts from others that have read it, is the sexual encounters in the book. THe way they are described in somewhat odd, almost as if the character becomes detached from the situation and just gives a straight out scientific account. Anyway, it was kind of cool and weird at the same time. I'm not sure I have ever read a book that treated sex in that fashion.

 

Overall I really enjoyed it. I gave it 8.5/10. I couldn't really give it any higher than that as the first 2/3 of the book was a slight let down for me, but it definately made up for it in the last 100 pages. I will definately be reading more of Murakami.

 

Not sure what is next up. I will peruse my TBR pile tonight after work before arriving at a decision I think.

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I'm so behind, it's unreal. I agree that it was too short, but you know she's writing another book related to this? 'Under The Light' about where the two kids (I can't remember their names! :irked:) went, while Helen and James were in their bodies.

 

I also loved the ending, I thought there was a major Donnie Darko sense of, everything seemed disjointed and was falling apart but in the end everybody ended up a little better for it.

 

Really? That should be pretty cool. I'll definately give that one a read.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finished 'Love Lives'. Wasn't too bad, gave it 7/10, probably not as good as the other Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees books that I've read, but still fairly enjoyable.

 

Next up I am going to read a book I have wanted to read and had on my pile for quite some time, but just never got round to it - 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finished 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson last weekend, but haven't been able to update this thread as I've been a little busy.

 

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Synopsis:

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

 

My rating: 9.5/10

 

My thoughts:

 

I loved this book from start to finish. It was a real page-turner, one of the best I have read so far this year.

 

I think the thing I enjoyed most about the book was how engaging the characters were. From the main character Mikael to Lisbeth to Henrik Vanger and even Erika I found each character really engaging and interesting to read about. It was one of those books where you came to truly care about the characters and what happened to them and even in some cases could become protective of the characters. I particulalry enjoyed Lisbeth's weirdness and I thought Larsson got that part of her character across very well.

 

As far as the actual story was concerned I felt it was brilliant.

I did not see the twist coming in relation to Hariet still being alive AT ALL and I would be interested if everyone else was the same. I don't know, it just felt like the author did a great job of just getting me focused on it being a murder.

I seemed to be in suspense for massive chunks of the book which is always a good sign for books like this one.

 

I have ordered to second book in the trilogy online and can't wait for it to arrive so that I can find out what happens in the next installment. Awesome book, loved it.

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