Easy Reader Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 (edited) Sorry about this getting myself prepared nice and early for next years challenge 1. Historical Fiction (Pre-WWII) historical fiction 2. Romance / Erotica - February 3. Horror / Thriller 4. Crime Fiction / Mystery - January 5. Fantasy / Urban Fantasy July 6. Science Fiction / Steampunk September 7. Classic (pre-WWI) 8. Modern Classic (post WWI to 1980s) 9. War 10. Supernatural / Paranormal 11. Autobiography /Biography / Memoir April 12. Newly Published in 2012 October 13. Children’s / Young Adult June 14. Comedy / Satire May 15. Action / Adventure August 16. Graphic / Illustrated Novel 17. Saga 18. Speculative Fiction 19. Mash-Up 20. Western March ones in bold are the ones I think I will aim for Books I already have and am hoping to read in 2012 Yes Man ~ Danny Wallace Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone Loving Frank ~ Nancy Horan Midnights Children ~ Salman Rushdie Angels and Demons ~ Dan Brown A Tale of Two Cities ~ Charles Dickens Dead to the World ~ Charlaine Harris 39 Steps ~ John Buchan Various ~ Agatha Christie White Teeth ~ Zadie Smith Books I am planning on reading in 2012 but don't currently have The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Silver Chair The Last Battle Digital Fortress ~ Dan Brown The Lost Symbol ~ Dan Brown Before I go to Sleep ~ S J Watson The Grapes of Wrath ~ John Steinbeck Stone Junction ~ Jim Dodge Authors I would like to try Nora Roberts Philip Pullman Now I have just got to match up the books with the genres Edited November 20, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) January - crime fiction / mystery The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo 7/10 The Girl Who Played with Fire 6/10 The Girl Who Kicked a Hornets Nest 8/10 February - romance Mills & Boons 4/10 All That Mullarkey ~ Sue Moorcroft 9/10 March - Western The Sisters Brothers - Patrick de Witt 8/10 True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey 10/10 April - Autobiography /Biography / Memoir Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama 7.5/10 The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again - Andy Warhol 6/10 The Fry Chronicals - Stephen Fry 7.5/10 May comedy- satire The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole 1999-2001 - Sue Townsend 7/10 Carry on Jeeves - P G Wodehouse 8/10 Charlotte Street - Danny Wallace 7/10 June - Children's books Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 8.5/10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 9/10 The Twits 4/10 The Magic Finger 3/10 George's Marvellous Medicine 6/10 There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom - Louis Sacher 5/10 Young Sherlock Homes: The Death Cloud - Andrew Lane 7/10 July - Fantasy One of Our Thurdsy's is Missing - Jasper Fforde 8/10 August - Action/Adventure Deception Point - Dan Brown 6.5/10 September - Steampunk Viridis - Calista Taylor 3/10 October - Newly Published in 2012 Casual Vacancy - JK Rowling 8.5/10 November - Histroical Fiction The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver 7/10 December - War War Horse - Michael Morpurgo 7/10 --------------------------------------------------- Books not part of the genre challenge Prince Caspian - C S Lewis The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie Murder is Easy - Agatha Christie Murder on the Links - Agatha Christie Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie Elephants Can Remember - Agatha Chrisite The Mystery on the Blue Train - Agatha Christie Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling At Bertrams Hotel - Agatha Christie Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris Mrs McGinty's Dead - Agatha Christie Why Didn't They Ask Evans - Agatha Christie Murder at the Vicarage - Agtha Christie Oh Dear Silvia - Dawn French The Sittaford Mystery - Agatha Christie Hercule Porriot's Christmas - Agatha Christie Edited December 31, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I just finished The Search by Nora Roberts, could be considered a crime novel.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I just finished The Search by Nora Roberts, could be considered a crime novel.. Thank you. I have got crime sorted I was under the impression that Nora Roberts would do for romance. I am thinking about doing another challenge alongside the genre one and that is to read an Agatha Christie book a month but only after I have read my genre books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hi Sally you made a good start with the Stieg Larsson books. Where they part of your Genre Challenge? What did you think of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have gathered up all the books I want to read this year and am matching them to genre's I haven't read them all yet am a third of the way through Fire its just building up to something now. Will try and do reviews on all 3 together when I have finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 I am still waiting to read all three of the Millienum trillogy before reviewing but I have got to mention somewhere on here the ending of The Girl Who Played with Fire - Really ???? Its all a little bit far fetched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I am still waiting to read all three of the Millienum trillogy before reviewing but I have got to mention somewhere on here the ending of The Girl Who Played with Fire - Really ???? Its all a little bit far fetched. Nah happens all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnbirduk Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I am still waiting to read all three of the Millienum trillogy before reviewing but I have got to mention somewhere on here the ending of The Girl Who Played with Fire - Really ???? Its all a little bit far fetched. I am 3/4's of the the way through, a shaky beginning but turned into a good read so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 I am 3/4's of the the way through, a shaky beginning but turned into a good read so far Well I didn't like Fire as much as I did Tattoo but the far fetched ending of Fire does make a good start to Hornets nest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest last night I am giving it an 8/10 as an averaging score as I think the first half deserves 7/10 and the second half 9/10. Definitely my favourtie of the three books but I am so glad I have finished them now it seemed a long hard slog getting through them esp reading them back to back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 (edited) All That Mullarkey ~ Sue Moorcroft From Amazon Revenge and love: it’s a thin line … The writing’s on the wall for Cleo and Gav. The bedroom wall, to be precise. And it says ‘This marriage is over.’ Wounded and furious, Cleo embarks on a night out with the girls, which turns into a glorious one night stand with… Justin, centrefold material and irrepressibly irresponsible. He loves a little wildness in a woman – and he’s in the right place at the right time to enjoy Cleo’s. But it’s Cleo who has to pick up the pieces – of a marriage based on a lie and the lasting repercussions of that night. Torn between laid-back Justin and control freak Gav, she’s a free spirit that life is trying to tie down. But the rewards are worth it! Ok so February was Romance month. I decided to read one Mills and Boons (randomly selected from the library) and another random book selected from the romance section on my kindle. For my kindle romance I settled for the above book as it didn’t sound too slushy and because it was a very reasonable price of 86p. I didn’t have high expectations for it and found myself rolling my eyes in the early stages. Some of it was predictable but not in a way that ruined my enjoyment of it and but the end I was pleasantly surprised to find I was enjoying it. I hadn’t come across Sue Moorcroft before but will definitely read some of her other books some time in the future. 9/10 Edited March 1, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 (edited) March is Western month I was hoping to do westerns later in the year to see what westerns others had read and enjoyed to copy them but I knew I wouldn't have time for reading much this month so went for the genre that I had the least books of to read and I only had one western lined up so it had to be that. The Sisters Brothers - Patrick de Witt from amazon Oregon, 1851. Eli and Charlie Sisters, notorious professional killers, are on their way to California to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm. On the way, the brothers have a series of unsettling and violent experiences in the Darwinian landscape of Gold Rush America. Charlie makes money and kills anyone who stands in his way; Eli doubts his vocation and falls in love. And they bicker a lot. Then they get to California, and discover that Warm is an inventor who has come up with a magical formula, which could make all of them very rich. What happens next is utterly gripping, strange and sad. Told in deWitt's darkly comic and arresting style, THE SISTERS BROTHERS is the kind of Western the Coen Brothers might write - stark, unsettling and with a keen eye for the perversity of human motivation. Like his debut novel ABLUTIONS, THE SISTERS BROTHERS is a novel about the things you tell yourself in order to be able to continue to live the life you find yourself in, and what happens when those stories no longer work. It is an inventive and strange and beautifully controlled piece of fiction, which shows an exciting expansion of Dewitt's range I have been quite busy last few weeks so have only been able to read the odd page here and there which has made my reading of this book a bit disjointed so I didn't fully enjoy it as much as I think I would have done if I could have read it quicker and in larger chunks. Its quite funny in places but again I think if I had more time to read it I would have taken on board the wirtting style a bit more and would have enjoyed the jokes more. I don't think I am ever likely to re-read it but I am hoping it will be made into a film as I would like to watch that. Edited March 14, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) Murder is Easy - Agatha Christie From Amazon Luke Fitzwilliam could not believe Miss Pinkerton’s wild allegation that a multiple murderer was at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood – or her speculation that the local doctor was next in line. But within hours, Miss Pinkerton had been killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Mere coincidence? Luke was inclined to think so – until he read in The Times of the unexpected demise of Dr Humbleby… I started reading this and though "oh no, I saw this on tv and I remember who did it and why" but surprisingly that didn't spoil my reading of it and I was even led down the path of thinking it was someone else altogether but what surprised me the most was I wasn't who I thought it was even though that character was in this book. I think I either I have got to televised stories mixed up or they changed the tv version. Anyway I think this has to be my favourite AC to date I really enjoyed the characters in it and found them more alive than in other books (although that could be because I am becoming more accustomed to AC's style. 9/10 Edited March 19, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey I never really knew the story of Ned Kelly, my previous knowledge had been based on a weetabix advert from the 80's (the police had Ned surrounded and he had his metal head guard on and warned the police off because he was about to eat his weetabix only to find he couldn't fit the spoon into the mouth slit of his head guard) and a breif mention of his story in a Bill Bryson book where he travelled across Australia which I don't remember much of what BB said other than he made it sound interesting. When this book came up on Kindle's daily deal I thought I would get it as you never know one day I might read it. When I finished the Sisters Brothers for my March Western I thought I had enough time left to read another western(ish) so gave it a go. I was gripped from the beginning. The books is written as if Ned Kelly himself had written notes/memoirs to his daughter and as I have mentioned on another thread I was under the impression that he really had written it himself until I read some reviews and found the error of my ways. I was disappointed to find that it isn't actually a true account but I soon overlooked that and carried on reading it as it it was. I found some of the writting hard to get to grips with at the start of the book and then again at the end as all the action started to heat up but I got the general gist. I was frequently looking up stories on the internet to see how much of what was in the book was true and found it all a little but confusing as there does seem to be lots of conflicting point of view of what really happened. This is easily the best book I have read in ages I really enjoyed it and would love to find out more about Ned Kelly - the first thing I would like to know is did he ever really have a daughter everything I have read online so far hasn't mentioned her. 10/10 Edited March 28, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Australia is only West if you go the long way around. Westerns are usually set in America but we forgive you 'coz you're nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 I know that thats why I have mentioned that its western(ish) I shall even go back and bold that for you. it read like a western therefore it counts as a western Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arukiyomi Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 hey in these post-postmodern times, surely everything is east AND west Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 What a great review on the Ned Kelly book, thanks! I have the book on my TBR pile but for some reason I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I'm looking forward to reading it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Barack Obama: Dreams from My Father (A Story of Race and Inheritance) Dreams from my Father is Barack Obama’s memoirs of his early years through to just before he went to University to study law and were written before he became president. The book is broken down into three sections. First section. All about his childhood and his relationship with his mother and his grandparents. He spent most of his childhood living with his white grandparents. I really enjoyed this first section of the book and warmed to Barack’s grandfather who seemed like such a sweet guy but I did feel that it was very much “a story of race” it seemed like everything centred around his race (and I am sure he was very conscious of it) but I also feel he could have thrown in a few stories that were about being just a kid. I felt the race issue did make his storytelling a little protracted Second section. In his early 20’s when he was working in Chicago as a community organiser. This section of the book Barack was a community organiser trying to help poor black families in predominately black areas have the same opportunities for education and employment and the same living conditions as those in richer white areas. The organisers it seemed did have trouble getting people to help and then getting the people who needed the help to make the most of the help given to them. I can image it was a bit like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Third section. Visiting Africa and getting to know his fathers family there. The final section of the book I did find a bit confusing as it was largely made up of Barack retelling stories that had been told to him by his brothers, sister, aunties and grandmother during his stay in Africa. It was difficult to keep up with who was telling the story and who the story was about but I was also getting a bit bored of the book by then as it was becoming quite protracted. On the whole I enjoyed the book it was easy to read, easy to get an idea of what sort of person Barack is. Not at all patronising and mostly humble with a few pats on the back (mainly in the middle section) but I was hoping to find out more about Barack Obama the person but I think me reading it knowing he is president was expecting too much from it where as when he wrote it he was effectively a no-body so probably didn’t feel the need to express too much of who he is just give his observations. Having said that I am sure if he thought he could be president when he was writing it I would have been a very different book perhaps a bit more guarded. Also I would have liked to have had some pictures in the book as I have come to expect from auto/biography and memoirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again I had this book lined up for auto/biography/memoirs month as the description said this “autobiography of Andy Warhol…” so I have to say that I was disappointed in the fact that I wouldn’t consider it a autobiography more “thoughts and ramblings of ….”. I didn’t learn anything about Andy that I didn’t already know and I didn’t know much to start with. Having said that there were a few humorous moments in the book that did make me laugh out loud in the earlier part of the book but then it trailed off and became boring. I don’t think I will bother reading anything else of his but would be interested in reading biographies about him by someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Murder on the Links – Agatha Christie Product Description On a French golf course, a millionaire is found stabbed in the back… An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course. But why is the dead man wearing his son’s overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse… Not the best AC I have read but it took no time at all to read and had a clever plot there was nothing that made it stand out as being particularly brilliant. Destination Unknown – Agatha Christie Product description A young woman with nothing to live for is persuaded to embark on a suicide mission to find a missing scientist… When a number of leading scientists disappear without trace, concern grows within the international intelligence community. Are they being kidnapped? Blackmailed? Brainwashed? One woman appears to have the key to the mystery. Unfortunately, Olive Betteron now lies in a hospital bed, dying from injuries sustained in a Moroccan plane crash. Meanwhile, in a Casablanca hotel room, Hilary Craven prepares to take her own life. But her suicide attempt is about to be interrupted by a man who will offer her an altogether more thrilling way to die… Lets just say I was glad to finish this one. Not AC’s usual style, there were no murders, and it was difficult to keep up with who was pretending to be who/what. There didn’t really seem to be much point to the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 (edited) The Fry Chronicles – Stephen Fry I have had this book sitting in my tbr for quite some time, I have slightly been putting it off thinking that it would be very “wordy” and would slightly go over my head but it didn’t at all. I really enjoyed the style it was almost like catching up with an old friend reminiscing about the good old times. No story was too short nor too long. It mainly focused on his uni days and his earlier television appearances some of which I remember and I am even tempted to watch Black Adder now which I have always avoided in the past. It was my first book by Fry but wont be my last I will have to look out for Maob is my Washpot now. Edited May 8, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 (edited) The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999-2001 – Sue Townsend I found this book by chance in the library I didn’t even know it existed. Although I have followed Adrian through the ages I have never been much of a fan but I have to say I think this book finally endeared him to me. I thought the inclusion of some woman called Sue Townsend publishing some of his diary entries in the paper was funny but having just read some of the reviews on Amazon it seems I am in the minority on that one. Also Amazon reviews hold a lot of complaints about continuity errors which I happily overlooked I only had problems keeping up with which of his two children were which. Edited May 8, 2012 by Easy Reader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again Thanks for the interesting review! This is a book that's on my wishlist, among with quite a few Andy Warhol titles, written by/about him, and I'm disappointed to hear you didn't find it very enjoyable nor a good autobio, but I am thankful now that I know I am better off if I don't expect too much from the book. Maybe that way I'll find it a decent read. The Fry Chronicles – Stephen Fry I have had this book sitting in my tbr for quite some time, I have slightly been putting it off thinking that it would be very “wordy” and would slightly go over my head but it didn’t at all. I really enjoyed the style it was almost like catching up with an old friend reminiscing about the good old times. No story was too short nor too long. It mainly focused on his uni days and his earlier television appearances some of which I remember and I am even tempted to watch Black Adder now which I have always avoided in the past. It was my first book by Fry but wont be my last I will have to look out for Maob is my Washpot now. I agree on your review of this And I was also really keen on watching Black Adder right after I finished the book. Haven't had a chance to do so, though, unfortunately. What did you think of the end? When Fry is first introduced to cocaine? Didn't it just make you go 'arrrrrgh, I can't believe you ended the book with this kind of a cliffhanger??' ? It drove me nuts, for one! The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999-2001 – Sue Townsend I found this book by chance in the library I didn’t even know it existed. Although I have followed Adrian through the ages I have never been much of a fan but I have to say I think this book finally endeared him to me. Awww, yay! I'm happy for Adrian for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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