Claire's book list 2012

[chesilbeach]

I've done it. I've just finished A Carpet Ride To Khiva, the last of the books on my TBR challenge, and another cracking read.

 

I do have four tree books still to read that have been added to my shelf since I first started the challenge, but apart from holiday and reading circle books I've read all 59 books that were on my TBR list. The four books include two I bought on my trip to Bath, one I won in a competition and one I've borrowed. These will be my next reads, and then I truly will be back to book buying, but trying to stick with buy one, read one!

[bree]

May I be the first to say

 

Wonderful chesilbeach!

[chaliepud]

Congratulations!!! Where's the paaaarty??!!

 

[bree]

(ah I knew there was one smiley I'd missed !)

[willoyd]

I've done it. I've just finished A Carpet Ride To Khiva, the last of the books on my TBR challenge, and another cracking read.

 

Impressive, well done!

Have just bought A Carpet Ride to Khiva in yesterday's Kindle Daily Deal, so hope it's a good read! Given the number of books to read on my shelves (virtual and otherwise), don't think I will ever emulate your feat.

[lauraloves]

Congratulations :D I am so pleased for you

 

Just wanted to say that your challenge for the year has really inspired me to do something about my TBR soon and well done to you :D

[chesilbeach]

Thanks very much, guys!

[vodkafan]

Wow last time I looked you still had 5 to go Claire. Well done!!

[Kidsmum]

Yay well done Claire it must be so liberating not to have a TBR pile

[frankie]

Oh lordy lawwwwd!! I just realised what your new sig is like, then read the previous Book Activity thread and realised that you've actually come to the long expected ZERO TBR!!! I just had to rush over and say well done, good on you Claire! Oh boy, you must be so excited. When can we expect a picture of your empty bookcase?

 

Now I must go and read your previous posts, to see if you are already planning on spending a few hours on some online bookshops this weekend, to see what takes your fancy... Oh boy. I cannot honestly even imagine what you must be feeling like. Congratulations! You are inspirational :readingtwo:

[poppyshake]

Well done Claire .. you never ever wavered. Now comes the fun bit

[frankie]

I'm sorry, I'll be posting a few replies now, some of them might be long-ish, I hope you don't mind

 

It does make me wonder about the editing process at times. I felt exactly the same about the later Harry Potter books - are the editors not allowed to comment on this sort of thing when an author is successful? Are they only asked to check spelling/grammar and story line inconsistencies? I'm always fascinated by the role of an editor, and I guess that they're all different in their approach, and, for example, from what we read of the editing of the last Harry Potter book, it was multiple editors who had different chapters to edit - how can that work?! The thing with The Children's Book is that I think despite the chapters I felt were extraneous to the book, I still enjoyed it, and it most of them weren't until the latter parts of the book, by which point you're engrossed in the story and can sort of forgive it.

 

This is where I left off regarding to your reading log. Your thoughts on the subject were so insightful that I felt I needed time to reply and then I never had the time, especially when you’d kept on reading logging and I was getting so far behind

 

I never knew the last HP book had various different editors And it’s been quite a long while since I’ve last read the book, and I’ve only read it once. But I do remember I was getting a bit frustrated and bored with some of the camping scenes on it. And your post has made me wonder if my getting bored was what Rowling was planning all along, if it served some kind of purpose. But what purpose could that be? And is it truly so that if it had been a ‘lesser’ author, the editors would’ve put their foot down and told the author to cut the crap.

 

But then again, eventhough I was frustrated, I kinda appreciated it all, because it was all the more pages to read before the most intriguing book series in a long while came to the final end.

 

 

Can one chance meeting ruin your life? In Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd, academic Adam Kindred finds himself the prime suspect in a murder and decides to go into hiding by not using his mobile phone, credit cards, etc., and living rough in order to avoid the police, while trying to find out why the man he's accused of killing, was murdered in the first place.

 

This seems like a great read, it’s going on my wishlist!

 

 

Have just finished The Year Of The Death Of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago. Incredible writer, and so unique in his style, and a great read. Will need to think about it before I write a review, although I'm a few behind now anyway.

 

Is this your first Saramago? I believe some of his books are on the 1001 Books list and he’s one of the authors I’m curious about. Was the book difficult to get into/are his books difficult?

[frankie]

The book follows Jacques Rebière and Thomas Midwinter from their early meeting as teenagers both interested in medicine and the mind, through their education and on to their careers during the early years of the development of psychiatry and psychology, taking them to London, Paris and Vienna.

 

I'm finding it really difficult to put into words how I felt about this book. I loved reading it, found it a compelling read, but I can't put my finger on why. It's well written, well plotted, and I loved the way through the early chapters the story alternated between the two main characters. The subject matter is intriguing and although I've seen some reviews by critics which didn't appreciate some of the long passages about the brain and the investigative nature of this area of medicine, but it was actually very interesting to read, as I remember when reading Saturday by Ian McEwan where the main characters was a neurosurgeon, and found the detailed description of brain surgery in full on medical terms quite tedious to read.

 

It's been almost two weeks since I read it now, at the time, I sang its praises, but now I'm not sure what to say really, a good read, very compelling, but just hasn't made a big enough impact to remain with me.

 

I think I shall agree with you and enjoy all the medicine related passages. The brain is a fascinating subject of research. It’s bloody well one of the most important things in life, wouldn’t one agree? Although if it’s described with the utmost of details and page after page, I could see myself getting weary of it… I still think I shall like the book. Chaliepud has surely convinced me, I’ll be damned if I dislike it!

 

Have been perusing the list of authors appearing in the autumn book festival that the bookshop Topping & Co in Bath are running later in the year. There are quite a few writers I'd like to see, so may try and get tickets for some of the events.

 

A book festival! Oh how I envy you! Who are the authors that you’d like to see, and who are attending? Is there a website I could take a look at? I’m so envious, I mostly read foreign literature, and the foreign authors that visit Finland are rare and few I’m really happy for you, though. When does the festival take place? I expect a lengthy report, please

 

I'm already planning some things for next year too! I'm definitely going to go ahead with the Persephone challenge, to read through their entire catalogue. Currently at just under 100 books in total, I've read five already, and am going to look at getting the entire catalogue on my shelves. I'm going to set myself the goal of at least one book a month, and I'm already getting excited about it, as I've loved all the ones I've read so far.

 

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what exactly are the Persephone books? I think I’ve taken a look at them before, but I could never really see a theme. It is a certain publisher? A certain theme?

 

 

I know it may seem odd to some, but maths was my favourite subject at school, and I'm still interested in the subject, so one of my Christmas presents a couple of years ago, was The Music of the Primes by Marcus Du Sautoy

 

I don’t think I would ever read a mathematical book, but I just wanted to say that I don’t think you are odd at all: maths used to be one of my favourite subjects at school, too. I even liked it better than my English classes, at certain times. During junior high school I had the kindest English teacher ever, and the most annoying maths teacher. In senior high it was the other way around

 

But your fascination and interest in maths certainly explains a few things about you: your neat lists, and intriguing stats

 

PS. Fear not, the replies weren't as lenghty and numerous as I'd feared

[chesilbeach]

Wow last time I looked you still had 5 to go Claire. Well done!!

Yay well done Claire it must be so liberating not to have a TBR pile

Oh lordy lawwwwd!! I just realised what your new sig is like, then read the previous Book Activity thread and realised that you've actually come to the long expected ZERO TBR!!! I just had to rush over and say well done, good on you Claire! Oh boy, you must be so excited. When can we expect a picture of your empty bookcase?

 

Now I must go and read your previous posts, to see if you are already planning on spending a few hours on some online bookshops this weekend, to see what takes your fancy... Oh boy. I cannot honestly even imagine what you must be feeling like. Congratulations! You are inspirational :readingtwo:

Well done Claire .. you never ever wavered. Now comes the fun bit

Thank you all! I'm actually still a bit in denial that I've actually done it, if I'm honest. I've got the four tree books I mentioned in an earlier post to read (although I've read two of them today already) but I know what my first purchase will be once I've finished those.

 

Frankie, I'll post a picture of the empty shelf tomorrow.

Edited September 1, 2012 by chesilbeach

[frankie]

Thank you all! I'm actually still a bit in denial that I've actually done it, if I'm honest. I've got the four tree books I mentioned in an earlier post to read (although I've read two of them today already) but I know what my first purchase will be once I've finished those.

 

Frankie, I'll post a picture of the empty shelf tomorrow.

 

I can't wait to see the pic And to hear which book is going to be your first purchase!

[chesilbeach]

I'm sorry, I'll be posting a few replies now, some of them might be long-ish, I hope you don't mind

No problem - I'll take the answers one at a time though! My eyes are a bit tired after all the crying I did through A Monster Calls this afternoon, so not sure how long I'll last in front of the screen this evening.

 

 

This is where I left off regarding to your reading log. Your thoughts on the subject were so insightful that I felt I needed time to reply and then I never had the time, especially when you’d kept on reading logging and I was getting so far behind

 

I never knew the last HP book had various different editors And it’s been quite a long while since I’ve last read the book, and I’ve only read it once. But I do remember I was getting a bit frustrated and bored with some of the camping scenes on it. And your post has made me wonder if my getting bored was what Rowling was planning all along, if it served some kind of purpose. But what purpose could that be? And is it truly so that if it had been a ‘lesser’ author, the editors would’ve put their foot down and told the author to cut the crap.

 

But then again, eventhough I was frustrated, I kinda appreciated it all, because it was all the more pages to read before the most intriguing book series in a long while came to the final end.

 

I remember hearing a radio programme talking about the secrecy around the last HP book, and they said at the time that editors were seeing discrete chapters, but I think it was something like only a handful of people had seen the whole book before publication date. I don't know how true that was, and maybe this was only for the initial edit, and once it came down to the final revision, one editor did review it, but I wonder how different it might have been if it had had a single editor from the start.

[chesilbeach]

Is this your first Saramago? I believe some of his books are on the 1001 Books list and he’s one of the authors I’m curious about. Was the book difficult to get into/are his books difficult?

 

No, I've read at least four now, I think (might be five, I'll have to go back and check). His books are challenging to read. Some people find his style too much, as he doesn't use dialogue as such, although the characters speak, it's as if it's reported speech and can be difficult to follow. He also uses very long sentences and paragraphs - sometimes spanning pages - which may the writing dense and requires the utmost of concentration to really take it all in.

 

He's also a very political writer, and often chooses to write fiction based on historic events but concentrating on the ordinary human experience rather than the main protagonists of the event. There is sometimes satire and humour in his writing as well, but always challenges the reader to consider their own perceptions and opinions on the subject matter.

 

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis wasn't the most difficult or challenging of his books I've read, but I still enjoyed the experience of reading it. I think Blindness was the most difficult of his books I've read, mainly for the subject matter, but it has certainly stayed with me, and I'd probably say it was the best of his I've read. My favourite though, was actually the first one I read The Stone Raft which speculates on what might happen if the Iberian peninsula split away from mainland Europe and drifted out into the Atlantic Ocean. Fascinating.

 

So anyway, to sum up, a challenging writer to read, from both style, tone and themes, but for me, worth the effort.

[chesilbeach]

I think I shall agree with you and enjoy all the medicine related passages. The brain is a fascinating subject of research. It’s bloody well one of the most important things in life, wouldn’t one agree? Although if it’s described with the utmost of details and page after page, I could see myself getting weary of it… I still think I shall like the book. Chaliepud has surely convinced me, I’ll be damned if I dislike it!

 

It's not page after page of details, so I think you'll be fine with it. Having said that, there were some very detailed descriptions of the brain and how the various parts affect memory in Moonwalking With Einstein and that wasn't a problem either, but there was something about the way McEwan wrote the couple of pages of neurosurgery in Saturday that felt exclusive and I felt alienated from the text as a reader.

[chesilbeach]

A book festival! Oh how I envy you! Who are the authors that you’d like to see, and who are attending? Is there a website I could take a look at? I’m so envious, I mostly read foreign literature, and the foreign authors that visit Finland are rare and few I’m really happy for you, though. When does the festival take place? I expect a lengthy report, please

 

There are quite a few on the list I'd like to see, but I'll need to be a bit careful, as it's not that close to me, so I'll need to drive there and back in the evenings and need to make sure I choose the ones I really want to see. Here's a link to the list: http://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath/

[chesilbeach]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what exactly are the Persephone books? I think I’ve taken a look at them before, but I could never really see a theme. It is a certain publisher? A certain theme?

 

Ah, Persephone books. I'm so in love with them, I started a whole thread on them a while back! http://www.bookclubf...s.

 

Independent publisher, specialising in rediscovering novels and non-fiction from twentieth century (mostly) women writers, that are either written about women or for women.

Edited September 2, 2012 by chesilbeach

[chesilbeach]

I don’t think I would ever read a mathematical book, but I just wanted to say that I don’t think you are odd at all: maths used to be one of my favourite subjects at school, too. I even liked it better than my English classes, at certain times. During junior high school I had the kindest English teacher ever, and the most annoying maths teacher. In senior high it was the other way around

 

But your fascination and interest in maths certainly explains a few things about you: your neat lists, and intriguing stats

 

I loved maths before I started school. Most of my cousins will say their first memory of me is reciting my times tables at the age of three, and I remember getting my Mum to write sums for me in an exercise book as something fun to do on a Sunday morning when I was little! I loved English in junior school (age 7-11), but when I went to comprehensive (age 11-16), they put me in the second set, and I never felt the same after that. I always felt like I wasn't good enough, despite being near or at the top of the class most of the time. Even now, I still feel inadequate when it comes to writing. On the other hand, maths was mine, I was in the top set, and I loved it. No one could take that away from me, and I still love it today.

[julie]

Hi Claire

I'll add my congrats to you as well ! You have really done some major reading this year ,and it's not over yet ! Wow, you are speedy !

Will also be interested to see what you choose for your new books to start with .

Have fun

[chesilbeach]

Thanks Julie! I think it's that I'm impatient rather than speedy - can't wait to find out what's going to happen next, so I find it hard to put a book down!

[Kylie]

Congratulations Claire! I'm full of awe at your magnificent feat (not to be confused with feet, although I'm sure they're awesome too ).

[chesilbeach]

As promised, here's my (almost) empty TBR shelf! There's a few oversize books that won't fit on other shelves, and a reference book that I use occasionally, plus the one book I have left to read that I've borrowed recently.

 

Be inspired!

Edited September 3, 2012 by chesilbeach