~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Books completed in 2011: Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevski (audio book) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (audio book) The Mayor of Castorbridge - Thomas Hardy (audio book) The Face - Dean Koontz What the Bible really teaches - Keith Ward Acid Row - Minnette Walters The little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry It - Stephen King The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel Bywyd Blodwen Jones Why there almost certainly is a God - Keith Ward The Little Friend - Donna Tartt Oliver Twist (audio) While I'm still an anglican - Caroline Chartres About Time - Paul Davies Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb Currently reading: Clean Code - Robert Martin God of Surprises - Gerard Hughes Edited December 9, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Unread books on the bookshelf: Acquired pre 2009 1 Minnette Walters - The shape of snakes 2 Minnette Walters - Acid Row 3 Logic - A very short introduction 4 Wilkie Collins The Woman in White 5 Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales (modern translation) 6 From the Holy Mountain - William Dalrymple 7 Alice through the looking glass - Lewis Carrol 8 Joanna Trollope - The men and the girls 10 Damaged - Cathy Glass 11 The Essential tales of Chekhov 12 Othello 13 The Merchant of Venice 14 The face - Dean Koontz 15 Julius Caesar 16 Twelfth night 17 A Winter's tale 18 Oliver Twist (audio) 19 The Mayor of Castorbridge (audio) 20 Frankenstein (audio) 21 Middlemarch (audio) 22 Crime and punishment (audio) 23 The French Leuitenant's woman Begin year size: 23 End year size: 16 Acquired 2009 1 The Soldier's return - Melvyn Bragg 2 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Coleridge 3 Collected works of Tennyson 4 The Secret of Crickely Hall - James Herbert 5 About Time - Paul Davies 6 It - Stephen King 7 The Great Turning points of British History 8 The Making of Modern Britain - Andrew Marr Begin year size: 8 End year size: 6 Books acquired 2010: 1 Arthur C Clarke - A Fall of moondust (Feb) 2 Tess Gerritson - The Apprentice (4 Dec) 3 The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's (11 Dec) 4 Bywyd Blodwen Jones (11 Dec) 5 Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles (16 Dec) 6 Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian (25 Dec) 7 Donna Tartt - The Little Friend (25 Dec) 8 Why I am Still an Anglican - Caroline Chartres (25 Dec) 9 What the Bible really teaches - Keith Ward 10 Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel Begin year size: 10 End year size: 4 Books acquired 2011 Clean Code - Robert Martin Why there almost certainly is a God - Keith Ward Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris I Partridge - Alan Partridge (audio) To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee/Sissy Spacek (audio) More Than Matter - Keith Ward Hens reunited - Lucy Diamond Search dogs and me - Neil Powell Silver Birches - Adrian Plass Six easy pieces - Richard Feynmann Think, a compelling introduction to philosophy - Simon Blackburn The everlasting man - G K Chesterton The great divorce - C S Lewis Brighton Rock - Grahame Greene (audio) The adventures of Sherlock Holmes volume 1 - Arthur Conan Doyle (audio) Blodwen Jones a'r aderyn prin - Bethan Gwenas (a novel for welsh learners Begin year size: 0 End year size: 15 Total Begin year size: 41 Max size: 41 Min size: 32 Current Size: 41 End year size:41 Edited December 26, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) The Wish List (will there ever be time?) Ambrose, David - Superstition Beah, Ishmael - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Bradbury, Ray - Something Wicked this way comes Barker, Clive - Weaveworld Challis, Sarah - Footprints in the sand Chesterton, G K - Orthodoxy Conan Doyle, Arthur - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Conran, Shirley - Savages Coupland, Douglas - Microserfs/JPod Du Maurier, Daphne - Rebecca Du Maurier, Daphne - The House on the Strand L'Engle, Madeleine - A Wrinkle in Time Greene, Grahame - Brighton Rock Greene, Grahame - The Third Man & The Fallen Idol Haugen, Gary (IJM) - Just Courage Highsmith, Patricia - The Talented Mr Ripley Hinton, Susan- Rumble Fish Hodgson, Burnett Frances - The Secret Garden Keyes, Daniel - Flowers for Algernon Koontz, Dean - The Mask Koontz, Dean - From The Corner Of His Eye Koontz, Dean - False Memory Koontz, Dean - Odd Thomas London, Jack - White Fang Neville, Adam - Apartment 16 Milne, A. A. Winnie the Pooh - complete short stories and poems Mitchell, Margaret - Gone With the Wind Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Travellers Wife Pargeter, Edith - The Heaven Tree Rayner, Jay - The Oyster House Siege Tolkein - LOTR Trueman, Terry - Stuck in neutral Trigell, Jonathan - Boy A Wheatley, Dennis - The Haunting of Toby Jugg Wyndham, John - Chocky Wyndham, John - The Kraken awakes Watson, S J - Before I go to sleep Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Shadow Of The Wind Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Angel's Game Ryan, Carrie - The Forest Of Hands & Teeth Zusak, Markus - The Book Thief Edited September 26, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Authors to try: Anthony Horowitz David Baddiel Anne Tyler Kelley Armstrong Tess Gerritson Sam Hayes Jonathon Coe John Updike H P Lovecraft Edited January 13, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Well I've been reading Les Mis for nearly 3 months now . I hope I'll finish it by the end of the month. I'm a little disappointed by my reading efforts last year. I only managed to complete 15 books, although I enjoyed some great reads, and I suppose not all of them were easy - the 2 on quantum physics were certainly no picnic, but very satisfying and another book was in a second language! I also read some great fiction, Pet Semetary and The Seance spring to mind, and discovered new authors noteably Robin Hobb, who I look forward to enjoying a lot more of. Another good thing: my TBR went down by 5 books overall which I am really pleased about. It's nice to finally make a bit of a dent rather than watch it grow year on year. Hopefully this year I'll do even better, get through the backlog and read a lot more! Edited January 19, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 24, 2011 Author Posted January 24, 2011 Started listening to Crime and Punishment audio book today. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 26, 2011 Author Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) When I first started listening to C&P in the car I found it really hard to concentrate and my mind wandered all over the place. However, loving it now. Think I was just really tired at first - I have been doing loads of overtime lately and worked a weekend (working 12 days in a row can really take it out of a girl) but after a few early nights am finally feeling back to myself. I love getting in the car now. I think audio books are going to become my new thing!! On page 975 of Les Mis - nearly there!! Edited January 26, 2011 by ~Andrea~ Quote
chesilbeach Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Hi Andrea - good to hear that you've been bitten by the audiobook bug! I have to say that since I've been able to use my iPod in the car, I've stopped listening to audiobooks and tend to stick with podcasts or music, but I can't deny that if we go on a long journey, I love nothing more than to listen to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter books to me Congrats on almost finishing Les Mis too, must feel like it's taken forever! Quote
~Andrea~ Posted January 31, 2011 Author Posted January 31, 2011 Congrats on almost finishing Les Mis too, must feel like it's taken forever! Oh you have no idea. I started it in October I've hit the 1000 page mark now so I'm on the home straight Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 7, 2011 Author Posted February 7, 2011 Finished Crime and Punishment today. I had no idea what to expect when I started listening to this, but wow - it was fantastic, a really gripping story, which has made my journey to and from work thoroughly enjoyable for the last week or so. Yes ok, it was abridged, so perhaps I missed out because of that, but hey, maybe I'll read the full book one day. Still I really enjoyed having Alex Jennings accompanying me in my car rides and relying this suspenseful and rather (in parts) gruesome tale. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 8, 2011 Author Posted February 8, 2011 I started listening to Frankenstein on audio today. I tried to read this book many years ago and found it rather dull and didn't get far at all. I am afraid I will have the same problem with the cd, although it is abridged which may help, but so far it is only faintly holding my attention. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 13, 2011 Author Posted February 13, 2011 Hurrah - I have fnished Les Miserables! It only took me four months lol. It was a cracking read, but I feel it could have easily been 400 pages shorter and been none the worse for it. The story is a real page turner, but there are so many asides, many of them rather dull, that really detract from the story and make the book much more of a chore than it needs to be. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 15, 2011 Author Posted February 15, 2011 Well as suspected I am finding Frankenstein unsufferably tedious. I am two thirds through it and will finish it for the sake of completion but cannot wait for it to come to an end. I started reading a theology book a couple of nights ago: What the Bible really teaches by Keith Ward. It's very interesting but I suspect I may need some light fiction to go alongside it. I have Dean Koontz's "The Face" on the bookshelf - I think it's calling to me lol. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 16, 2011 Author Posted February 16, 2011 Started "The Face" by Dean Koontz last night. Another tome - over 600 pages Hopefully it won't be another Les Mis (I am sure it won't be, I'll race* through it I know) *relatively - me racing through books is not a usual occurrence ) Quote
SaraPepparkaka Posted February 16, 2011 Posted February 16, 2011 Well, if the book was calling to you there's not much else to do! Happy reading! Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 18, 2011 Author Posted February 18, 2011 Thanks Sara - it's a great read so far Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 19, 2011 Author Posted February 19, 2011 I finished Frankenstein (audio) the other day and I think it's fair to say I HATED it. I listened to the whole thing just for a sense of completion but did not enjoy a word of it. I thought the writing was awful and the story stupid. Yes I know she was only 18 when she wrote it, all I can say is: it shows. Quote
Kidsmum Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 . Yes I know she was only 18 when she wrote it, all I can say is: it shows. That made me laugh, I've never really felt inclined to read Frankenstein maybe because I didn't find him particularly scary on screen. Quote
chrysalis_stage Posted February 19, 2011 Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) I personally loved Frankenstein, the emotion from the 'monster' moved me nearly to tears, but each to their own I wouldn't have been as moved if I listened to audio though tbf. Edited February 19, 2011 by chrysalis_stage Quote
~Andrea~ Posted February 21, 2011 Author Posted February 21, 2011 I think the emotion from the monster was really the best and most interesting part of the story. Quote
Maureen Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 Hurrah - I have fnished Les Miserables! It only took me four months lol. It was a cracking read, but I feel it could have easily been 400 pages shorter and been none the worse for it. The story is a real page turner, but there are so many asides, many of them rather dull, that really detract from the story and make the book much more of a chore than it needs to be. I do so agree! But you must feel good at having read it - at least I did! I promise - if you are joining in for April's book circle - it is nothing like Les Mis Quote
~Andrea~ Posted March 15, 2011 Author Posted March 15, 2011 Oh I did. I am very glad to have read it, but I do feel like giving Hugo a bit of a shake lol! I finished listening to The Mayor of Castorbridge today. It was a cracking listen, full of twists and turns - at one point I audibly gasped. It's typical Hardy though - expect no fairytale endings! Very enjoyable all the same. Quote
~Andrea~ Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 Finished The Face last night. Cracking read! Quote
~Andrea~ Posted April 1, 2011 Author Posted April 1, 2011 Finished What the Bible really teaches last night. I found it a very interesting and helpful read. It's subtitle is "A challenge for fundamentalists" and it criticizes lots of fundamentalist teachings, of which I have received my fair share over time! I really enjoyed this and it has helped me to see the bible in a new way. Hopefully I will be able to start reading it again, minus my baggage. Quote
Ooshie Posted April 1, 2011 Posted April 1, 2011 What the Bible Really Teaches sounds an interesting read, Andrea, I often think that many churches/christians just seem to make things up as they go along with no grounding in the Bible at all! Quote
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