Vodkafan's 2011 reading list

[willoyd]

I just finished The Winter King. It was a good story, with lots of period detail.

As opposed to Winter King by Thomas Penn, which is firmly on my Christmas present list!

[Weave]

Did you enjoy 'The Hunger Games' VF?

[vodkafan]

Did you enjoy 'The Hunger Games' VF?

 

Hi Paula yes I did. Sorry I did not write a proper review, I am trying to squeeze as many books in to December as I can. I think it was a very good series for YA; it was moralistic and very black and white, which is what kids respond to at that age. I thought the author was sensible not to have the heroine winning the whole war, just her little part of it. And also her learning about different types of love and having to make choices in an adult way. I am going to try to get my daughter to read these, although anything I recommend she tends to deliberately veto.

[vodkafan]

I just finished The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

That makes 60 books read in 2011. Next one up was supposed to be the Angela Carter short storie book for the Reading Circle, but I don't have it with me so I am starting something else. It is a spiritual self help book so it doesn't matter if I don't finish it and dump it half way through.

[vodkafan]

Didn't even start the self help book. Have read 3 stories of the Bloody Chamber book now. Just been reading one short story a day to let it sink into my brain . Will be finished by Christmas.

[vodkafan]

Finished The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Exciting, strange and weird. That is is folks ! 61 books for 2011 done and dusted. Has been a great pleasure reading along with you all....you have been the only constant good thing in my whole year. Thank you.

[frankie]

yeah, but then it was like all the information was all about America and although the guy's way of looking at the world was interesting, I thought how is this going to affect me or anything I do? I just switched off. I got so many good books on my kindle right now...

 

Well, you are right there, what good does it do when you don't feel like reading it and it's just so not of your world. Sorry for pestering you Hee!

 

Uniform Justice by Donna Leon

 

This was a quick read I picked up at work. It is a murder mystery, not my usual thing but I enjoyed it well enough. I think it is one of a series set in the city of Venice. The Venetian detective is Commissario Brunetti, a left wing liberal socialist sort of guy. (There seems quite a lot of politics in the book, and it is easy to see where the author's sympathies lie, as all the "good" characters seem to share Brunetti's politics)

The Venetian Police seem to be corrupt when they are not simply inept. Brunetti however has a couple of good men to help him; the observant and sensitive Inspector Vianello and the capable Pucetti, the only uniformed officer that seems to have any common sense.

Also in the office he has the beautiful but mysterious Signorina Elettra who seems to be able to extract any needed information from the computer whether legally or ilegally. Sorry but to me Miss Elettra just seemed a pale imitation of Lisbeth Salander.

The plot followed a fairly linear course. A boy at a military school has been murdered and everybody seems intent on covering it up.

The ending however was not quite what I expected which is why I thought it was worth reviewing. Some may not be satisfied with the ending!

 

This was interesting to read. My ex's Mum gave me this as a Christmas present last year (we were going to go to Rome to celebrate her husband's 60th Birthday, I was invited as well but when broke up with BF, the invitation still stood but I felt awkward about it and didn't go in the end eventhough they wouldn't have minded, they're all awesome people) but I still haven't read it. It'll be interesting to read a crime novel that's not located in the UK or USA. Something completely different!

 

 

Actually, that material is in the book too!

 

Bloody hell.

 

 

Unbearable Lightness- a story of loss and gain by Portia de Rossi

 

I didn't know who Portia de Rossi was when I started reading. This is not about her relationship with Ellen Degenares (who she credits with saving her life every day) but about her unnatural relationship to food when she was growing up, which was linked to her self esteem.

Although she obviously is not a natural writer, she tells her own story in her own words which have a scary power . I didn't know anything about bulimia or anorexia. It was shocking. Things came to a head eventually when she collapsed during filming an action film. She weighed 82 pounds and was too weak to do the stunts.

At the end she has some things to say about women in our culture which make sense.

It was a good read.

 

I'm curious: if you didn't know Portia de Rossi, how did you discover this book and why did you want to read it? This has been on my wishlist since I saw the book in bookshops last year. I've read about eating disorders before, but it's the kind of thing that no matter how much you've read about it, it's still just awful and shocking and surprising.

 

Haven't read SOTW yet but I will. Regarding Angel's Game, superlatives spring to mind; mysterious, dark, sensuous, but also witty and funny. It is also delicious because it is about writing and the love of books. At least it has been so far.

 

Oh you are in for a treat! SoTW is one of my most favorite books of all time!

 

 

I thought Shadow of the Wind was marvellous

 

Haha, I seem to recall you liked it very much

 

Finished The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Exciting, strange and weird. That is is folks ! 61 books for 2011 done and dusted. Has been a great pleasure reading along with you all....you have been the only constant good thing in my whole year. Thank you.

 

I'm looking forward to reading The Bloody Chamber myself, I might pick it up in the next 2-3 days.

 

And I'm looking forward to seeing how's your reading next year! See you on the forum voddy

[willoyd]

I just finished The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

I know you enjoyed the start of this, and aren't putting up any detailed reviews (nor am I...end of year book reading rush!), but I'd be interested to know what you thought of this by the end, as it's high on my TBR list. Shadow of the Wind was superb, so have great hopes for this.

 

Well done on hitting 60+, something I've not recorded (my best was in fact last year - 55). Was 61 a special target? There's a note of finality in your last post - does that mean you're not likely to read any more this year? Personally, hoping to hit 50 by the end of the year, but need a big surge this week similar to one a couple of years ago when we get snowed in if going to do it.

Edited December 24, 2011 by willoyd

[julie]

_{Hi VF}

_{I was wondering the same about Angel's Game, whether you thought it was as good as Shadow of the Wind ?}

[vodkafan]

Thanks all, haven't read Shadow Of The Wind yet, but Angel's Game , was very enjoyable, I may try to review it in January. 61 was not a special target, anything over 50 beat last year though.