Brida Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 (edited) ...thread about books. I though I'd give this reading list/log thing a go, though I know it won't be updated as often as most of the others. Books of 2010 (Goodreads) Books of 2011: - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - Starter for Ten by David Nicholls - A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon - On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan - The Rich Boy by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Waste Lands and other Poems by T.S.Eliot - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami - Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Amsterdam by Ian McEwan TBP CHALLENGE - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami The Remains of 2011 TBR: 1. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 2. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan 3. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan 4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon 5. A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe 6. Snow by Orhan Pamuk 7. Dead Famous by Ben Elton 8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 9. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald 10. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper 11. Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee Feel free to comment, ask, tell, recommend etc Edited November 21, 2011 by Brida update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Wow, you have really good books there, enjoy:smile2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 (edited) Thanks, most of the ones listed are there because of the BCF Any in particular you want to mention...? Edited November 16, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Nineteen Eighty Four and The Five People You Meet in Heaven are such lovely books, you will enjoy them. I also keep hearing/reading really good reviews of The Book Thief so must try and read that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 - The book thief by Markus Zusak- The 5 people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom (currently reading) - Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek - The lovely bones by Alice Sebold - 1984 by George Orwell - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt The first two are on my shelves waiting for my attention (along with all the others). The 4 others I have read and really enjoyed. Nice variety of books you have there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I loved The Book Thief very good and deeply moving I also like The Lovely Bones again sad but well written, I hope you enjoy them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 Thank you all for your posts, I've actually started reading 1984 last month, but it destracted me from studying so I had to stop xD And The 5 people... has been interesting so far. He's about to meet the 3rd person now, don't know who to expect I like the whole seeing a story from 2 different points of view theme, it's so true that sometimes we just think about otherselves and fail to notice how our actions affect other people. As for The lovely bones, the sadness is what appeals to me the most. I sometimes don't understand why I like reading books that are sad and make me feel emotional even though they're fiction I guess I'm just masochistic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 2, 2010 Author Share Posted July 2, 2010 Went to the library today and picked up 1. The book thief 2. Catch 22 3. Ghost children 4. The Gaudi key all of which are on my tbr list. Now I don't know what to start with I tried Ghost children but I'm not in the mood for it right now so I'm gonna start TBT along with The 5 people... I'm currently reading. Libraries are mean. They just make you borrow more books and mess up your *reading* plans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Hope you enjoy all your books Brida , The Book Thief is one of my favourite reads ever and I loved Catch 22 although I listened to it rather than read it. Libraries are not the places to go when you're trying to read all the books on your TBR, they have seriously messed up my plans this year. Good luck with The Book Thief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 2, 2010 Author Share Posted July 2, 2010 Thanks Yeah, tell me about it. I'm going to try to avoid them for a while now, until I at least finish these 4 So far I've heard nothing but good things about The book thief, so I'm really excited about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 1. The book thief 2. Catch 22 These are two of my favourite books. I hope you enjoy them as much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 3, 2010 Author Share Posted July 3, 2010 Thank you, I hope so too. Catch 22 is usually considered a classic, sort of. Not maybe in the Shakespeare/Austen/Dickens/Balzac/Tolstoy kind of way but a must read lets say. So I decided to read it for the sake of my serious-reader-ness. If such a thing exists So far The book thief seems to be a fast read, pretty straight forward, although I have a feeling it still hasn't started to be as...I dunno, extraordinary as everyone's described it. I mean, for a book over 500 pages long, maybe I should expect it to be a bit slow for the first 50 pages, it certainly does have enough space/time to evolve :eek2: Of course, it's also possible that I've created a certain expectation of it being unbelievably fantastic by the comments of everyone else, that nothing can live up to it I dunno, I just dunno...On with the reading, and we'll see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 So far The book thief seems to be a fast read, pretty straight forward, although I have a feeling it still hasn't started to be as...I dunno, extraordinary as everyone's described it. I mean, for a book over 500 pages long, maybe I should expect it to be a bit slow for the first 50 pages, it certainly does have enough space/time to evolve Of course, it's also possible that I've created a certain expectation of it being unbelievably fantastic by the comments of everyone else, that nothing can live up to it I dunno, I just dunno...On with the reading, and we'll see what happens. I enjoyed The Book Thief and would probably read it again, but I didn't think it was as brilliant as so many seem to think it is. So you are not alone in your thoughts on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 Then it's not just me It is a good read, by all means, but still, I think I might have had too big expectations. Anyway, I am hoping to finally finish The 5 people you meet in heaven, I've got about 30 pages left and I can't seem to finish the darn book Not that it's bad, I just hate it when I've got a few pages left of a book and it takes me a week (or more) to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 (edited) YAY! Review time Bare with me, this is the first review I've ever written * The five people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom* Synopsis: Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in the toil of his father before him, fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. Then he dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life. Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer is as magical and inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. This book was an ok read. Nothing more, nothing less. On the other hand, this book is one of those that leave you thinking. It's true that sometimes only a change of perspective (and also, a few pieces of information given to us because we were not aware of them) can explain some events, and give them meaning. Or at least show us that things don't happen for nothing - everything happens for a reason (that's what I always say to myself, and was glad to see it mentioned in the book ). It is sad at times, and painful, but all in all I think it's pretty optimistic, don't you? The story itself is interesting, simple, imaginative, and probably suggestible in a way in describing the afterlife (I know it's just the author's ''vision'' of it) to those who are looking for, I dunno a positive description of heaven I guess As I said, as a read it was ok, but boy does it leave you with tons of questions/ideas after finishing it Edited July 17, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Review time again. *The Truth about Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell* Synopsis: When she was nine years old, Melody Browne's house burned down, taking every toy, every photograph, every item of clothing and old Christmas card with it. But not only did the fire destroy all her possessions, it took with it all her memories - Melody Browne can remember nothing before her ninth birthday. Now in her early thirties, Melody lives in a council flat in the middle of London with her seventeen-year-old son. She hasn't seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody doesn't mind, she's better off on her own. She's made a good life for herself and her son and she likes it that way. Until one night something extraordinary happens. Whilst attending a hypnotist show with her first date in years she faints - and when she comes round she starts to remember. At first her memories mean nothing to her but then slowly, day by day, she begins to piece together the real story of her childhood. Her journey takes her to the seaside town of Broadstairs, to oddly familiar houses in London backstreets and to meetings with strangers who love her like their own. But with every mystery she solves another one materialises, with every question she answers another appears. And Melody begins to wonder if she'll ever know the truth about her past. In the info about the author on the back of the book, Lisa Jewell is said to be a popular chick-lit author. Not being a fan of the genre myself, I didn't have high expectations; I had visions of shoes, bags, cheesy date scenes, make up, unpaid credit card bills...well, you get the picture. But I was wrong I was very wrong, because not only is the book not about that, it's actually pretty enjoyable and gripping. It has a lot of twists to keep the reader interested and is filled with sadness (and hurt) at times but also with happiness and gratitude. I liked how the grown up Melody and Melody as a child are different, and I think they're both pretty realistic. What I also liked was how she progresses as a character, both growing up from 3 to 9 years old, and the 33-year old Melody changing from who she think she is, to who she really is. For me, an unexpectedly fun and interesting book, good choice for a summer read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 Fantastic reviews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 Thank you catwoman glad you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 I did. I love reading people's reviews. You never know when you are going to find a review for a book that you would not normally read, yet the reviewer amde it sound so tempting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 18, 2010 Author Share Posted July 18, 2010 That's exactly how I feel, I think half of the books on my tbr list are there because of reviews here on the forum (The 5 people you meet in heaven for example) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catwoman Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 It was because of BCF I started reading Twilight. I was a huge vampire fan before, but was worried that I would hate Twilight. Because of the reviews on here I decided to read it. I also found people like Japser Fforde, and Jack Kerely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 19, 2010 Author Share Posted July 19, 2010 Not a Twillight fan myself I read the first part and it was a let down vampire-wise, I was expecting the vampire thing to be the main subject (what I was really expecting was something in the lines of Anne Rice's stuff ), and it turned out to be...romance Not that there's anything wrong with romance, I'm actually looking for a good *non cheesy* romance book atm (aah, who am I kidding, I'd probably go for the cheesy stuff as well ), but it was just...not my thing I googled Jasper Fforde, his stuff sounds quite crazy Research time on the BCF for me again ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 26, 2010 Author Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) I don't know what's going on, usually my reading mojo's at its high during the summer, but this year I haven't been reading much. I have tons of books I was excited about reading, and I start reading them but I don't feel like continuing. It's not even a problem of not liking them I'm just not in the mood for them atm. I miss reading a book and being so absorbed in it that I can't stop reading, and when I'm not reading it, I hurry to finish whatever it is I have to do just to be able to continue reading What should I reeead *weeps* That said... There were a few lines in the book (Ghost Children) that made me laugh, just because they were sort of ridiculous. Well, to me anyway. She's talking about a serious subject and says something like ''She loved him, but she couldn't marry a man who pronounced 'baths' to rhyme with 'maths' (...) '' I know what she means, but it's still funny Esp out of context lol. Well, that's the end of this random rant, sorry about that. Is this considered off topic btw? Edited July 27, 2010 by Brida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Well, that's the end of this random rant, sorry about that. Is this considered off topic btw? This is your own thread, so I think you are allowed to go off topic if you want. I'm not the boss, though, so don't take my word for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 ^^Well there was no punishment (yet) so I guess it's ok (Or it's because of the fact that not many people read this thread so no one's noticed ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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