Sarahrob Posted October 25, 2006 Posted October 25, 2006 Am now reading The Abortionst's Daughter by Elizabreth Hyde, as it's the Posh Club book for October & we're meeting next Tuesday to discuss it. I'm only a couple of chapters in so far, but it seems easy-reading & quite interesting... I have that on my TBR pile but have never got round to reading it as I thought it would be very heavy going. Nice to know it's not - I may actually read it!
Louiseog Posted October 25, 2006 Posted October 25, 2006 Not heavy at all. A summer read. Quite enjoyable
Kell Posted October 25, 2006 Author Posted October 25, 2006 Finished The Abortionist's Daughter last night & it was rather enjoyable - definitely recommended for a light read. Although it's easy to read, it still makes you think a bit about ethics & what you might do if you were in that situation. It's more of a character piece, though, focusing on the people & their relationships with one another, & only really looking a the events to see how they effect the various characters as they progress. Very nicely done. Have now moved onto The Angel Stone by Livi Michael, which is proving rather interesting too.
Kell Posted October 30, 2006 Author Posted October 30, 2006 Am now reading Dying Light by Stuart McBride, the sequel to Cold Granite which I read a short while ago. This one's just as gritty so far & I'm absolutely loving it - McBride is definitely an author to watch in the future!
Kell Posted November 2, 2006 Author Posted November 2, 2006 Dying Light was excellent - just a tad better than Cold Granite even! Very impressed - I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for anything else written by Macbride! Will be starting on The Secret Purposes by David Baddiel for the BCF Reading Circle today...
Kell Posted November 9, 2006 Author Posted November 9, 2006 It took me longer than usual to finish The Secret Purposes, but it was definitely worth taking a little time over this one - what an excellent book! if you haven't read it, I heartily recommend it. Forget your expectations of Baddiel the funny-man & be very pleasantly surprised. After such a great read, I hope my follow-up isn't a disappointment - I'm moving on to Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller for the posh Club November read. Actually, on second thoughts, I think I'll read something quick & light in between & go for Undead & Unemployed by Maryjanice Davidson, then move onto Notes...
Kell Posted November 10, 2006 Author Posted November 10, 2006 I haven't got a copy yet, but as I'm beign sent another couple of books to review direct from a publisher, as well as having the Posh Club book to read, I might join in with The Shining later on. i certainly intend to read it though!
Weave Posted November 10, 2006 Posted November 10, 2006 I am very impressed with your reading so far Kell..
Kell Posted November 10, 2006 Author Posted November 10, 2006 LOL - thanks, Gyre! I try to be varied, but sometimes I get stuck in my ways a bit with genres or authors, & I do tend to love a lot of the books that are aimed at teens & young adults these days (I think I maybe missed out a bit when I was a kid by jumping straight to adult fiction - & by that I don't mean the naughty stuff - LOL!). I've been trying a few foreign authors as part of the Olympic Challenge, but I haven't got round to all that many of them just yet, although I have quite a few just waiting to be read. At the moment, Im' in the mood for something a bit lighter & pulpy after having read a couple of darker, more serious books, just to wake my brain up again & get me a bit more excited.
Weave Posted November 10, 2006 Posted November 10, 2006 Variety is the spice of the life, I am very much down that road myself, I use to stick to a specific genre (horror) and that was it, but I have been various books over the last year which has really broadened my outlook - book wise...
Kell Posted November 11, 2006 Author Posted November 11, 2006 Finished Undead & Unemployed - fun, light read that I finished in no time at all. I'm still in a lighter mood though, so I'm going to give Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb a go...
Kell Posted November 13, 2006 Author Posted November 13, 2006 Despite having quite the tackiest-sounding title I've ever come across, Bimbos of the Death Sun turned out to be a lot of fun & far better than I expected. It's a murder set at a sci-fi/fantasy convention & one of the authors (& a main character) has written a hard sci-fi novel called BotDS, so that's where the title comes from. It's definitley worth picking up if you've ever been to, or know anyone who's ever been to, a convention - it'll certainly give you a giggle! So, from one contemporary sci-fi themes to more sci-fi with Oracle by Ian Watson: When Tom Ryan stops his car late at night on a dark road for a man dressed as a Roman Centurion, his first thought is that he's picked up one of those amateur re-enactors... but the man, Marcus Appius Silvanus, appears to speak only Latin. he insists the year is AD60 and that the British Queen is Boudicca - and that he and his men of the Fouteenth Gemina are in hot pursuit of her. Tom and his sister mary shelter the Roman, but inadvertantly attract the attention of an unscrupulous journalist. He's not the only one interested in the Ryans: An IRA terrorist who was once Mary's lover in Northern Ireland tracks her down to tell her the plane crash which killed her parents 20 years ago was caused by the British security services. Deep inm the English countryside, those same servants of the state are busy exploiting the theories of a young prodigy to build "Oracle", a probe that can view the past - and, they hope, the future, so that threats to national security can be stifled before they ever occur.
Maureen Posted November 14, 2006 Posted November 14, 2006 Kell, you are numbering them I hope? I want to know the number at the end of the year!! :-)
Kell Posted November 14, 2006 Author Posted November 14, 2006 Oh, yes, Mau - if you go right back to the start of this thread, right there in post No. 2, they all have a number next to them. I'm currently on the 111th title of the year!
Kell Posted November 14, 2006 Author Posted November 14, 2006 I decided to read Bitten & Smitten by Michelle Rowan instead, so Oracle will be next. B&S wasn't bad at all - a nice light read, but nothing new.
Kell Posted November 15, 2006 Author Posted November 15, 2006 Tell you what - I'm really enjoying Oracle so far - such a cool premise & so far it's been handled really well (I'm about a dozen chapters in at the moment). Hope it keeps it up!
Kell Posted November 21, 2006 Author Posted November 21, 2006 Have finally started Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, but so far (after 4 chapters) I remain unimpressed. I tried reading this one earlier in the year, but I wasn't very well at the time & attributed my inability to get into it to my illness. It seems it's a case of I'm finding the story rather dull & I don't particularly like any of the characters. I'll persevere a while longer, as it's the Posh Club choice for November & our next meeting is a week tonight, but if it doesn't improve soon, I don't think I'll be finishing it. I've yet to see the reason it was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2003...
Weave Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 Kell, you are one fast reader.... I am very impressed...
Kell Posted November 21, 2006 Author Posted November 21, 2006 LOL - thanks, Gyre. I've actually been a lot slower this month - been working such long hours that I've scarecly had time to myself & my lunches have been cut short. Have taken to reading in bed & then being barely able to get up in the mornings!
Michelle Posted November 22, 2006 Posted November 22, 2006 Have finally started Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, but so far (after 4 chapters) I remain unimpressed. I tried reading this one earlier in the year, but I wasn't very well at the time & attributed my inability to get into it to my illness. It seems it's a case of I'm finding the story rather dull & I don't particularly like any of the characters. I'll persevere a while longer, as it's the Posh Club choice for November & our next meeting is a week tonight, but if it doesn't improve soon, I don't think I'll be finishing it. I've yet to see the reason it was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2003... Well I really enjoyed it. I wouldnt say I liked any of the characters, but I found Barbara an intesting character. As I said in my review, I couldn't decide whether to dislike her, or feel sorry for her.
Kell Posted November 22, 2006 Author Posted November 22, 2006 I'm about 1/2 way through now, and I think I'll finish it after all, but Im' still finding it a bit of a slog, as I'm still finding it largely dull. I have to say, I can't stand Barbara - I find her the most annoying, self-centred, immature character ever & as for Sheba, well, talk about niaive - I just want to shake her & tell her to wake up!
Kell Posted November 23, 2006 Author Posted November 23, 2006 Well, i was a bit disappointed by Notes to be honest. I'm not even remotely tempted to try anything else by Zoe Heller & I cannot for the life of me understand why this was nominated for the Man booker Prize. Ah well. Have now moved onto Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda which is so far shaping up to be rather interesting. Masuda was at the poorer end of the Geisha world, it seems (I read Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki earlier on in the year & she was part of the elite, so this story is very different, while still sharing some basic elements). I'm absolutely fascinated by the whole concept of Geisha, so it's nice to see all the angles of it in factual accounts & memoirs like this.
Kell Posted November 26, 2006 Author Posted November 26, 2006 Finished Autobiography of a Geisha last nght - it was pleasantly honest & refreshing - certainly different than other Geisha memoirs I've read so far. Very enjoyable. Moving onto The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo. After 20 years, I thought it was time to revisit it!
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