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Post by riverhorse on Jan 5, 2013 2:46:23 GMT 2
Kate - I have just finished reading 2 books based on the Spanish Civil War - "The Seamstress"by Maria Dueñas, and "Winter in Madrid" by CJ Lansom. It really got me interested in this slice of modern history and it was interesting to see the same historical characters popping up in both novels.
I'm glad I found this thread - was faffing around in the Amazon Kindle store looking for inspiration so now have a few more tips! Thanks!!
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Post by riverhorse on Jan 5, 2013 2:51:50 GMT 2
Oh, and with so many people reading 50 Shades, where's bill_and_ben when you need him, to provide an in-depth critique. I will never ever forget his hilarious review of Eat Pray Love!! I read it over and over and every time ended up weeping tears if hysterical laughter!
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Post by snkysally on Jan 5, 2013 18:28:43 GMT 2
Based on Kate's recommendation,I'm reading The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 6, 2013 6:32:49 GMT 2
I finished book 3 of The Hunger Games (what's it called? Mockingjay?) and started the book my cousin wrote, which at first glance seemed, let's call it "derivative" of THG. But I'm a little ways into it and it's not bad so far. I was worried I'd really dislike it, and then what do you say to your cousin?? But luckily it's quite readable (I'm about 1/10 of the way through).
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Post by kneazle on Jan 6, 2013 9:42:18 GMT 2
I keep forgetting to post here! I finished The Kingmakers Daughter by Philipa Gregory on New Years Eve Day - it kind of reminded me of a real life Game of Thrones minus the incest.
I'm now reading Winter of the World by Ken Follet which is the second of his 21st Century trilogy.
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mei
Happy Potters
Posts: 90
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Post by mei on Jan 6, 2013 13:48:45 GMT 2
First book of 2013 finished! After all the mentions on the book challenge about it, I finally got hold of The Night Circus at the library last week. Beautiful book, really glad to have come across it. Great read.
Now onto another TT recommendation - Julian Barnes.
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Post by katcalls on Jan 7, 2013 15:34:00 GMT 2
I LOVED the Night Circus. For a lack of a better word, I found it magical.
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 7, 2013 15:39:57 GMT 2
Oh thanks you guys; I hadn't decided whether I was going to read "Night Circus" or not yet, and now I will.
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Post by snkysally on Jan 7, 2013 20:42:39 GMT 2
I LOVED the Night Circus. For a lack of a better word, I found it magical. Haha, it's true though! It was a wonderful read.
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Post by rikita on Jan 7, 2013 23:22:40 GMT 2
finally reading a book again... called "das wunder der ersten lebenswochen" (the miracle of the first weeks of life) - my mom gave it to me...
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mei
Happy Potters
Posts: 90
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Post by mei on Jan 8, 2013 0:07:37 GMT 2
kat, yeah, that's what I thought too. I found myself reading it slowly to enjoy it more.
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Post by brodiebruce on Jan 8, 2013 0:47:57 GMT 2
I have a couple of books in the to be read pile - there's American Gods and also Life of Pi. Reckon I'll be able to start on them in a week or so.
The freelance stuff is a bit full on right now on top of the day job so even the commute is w*rk. Thankfully I'm not a laptop wanker.....but if you see someone watching a video iPod touch with bodypump or combat going then that's possibly me.
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Post by littlevixen on Jan 8, 2013 2:12:15 GMT 2
read a couple of books this year.
first up was The King Makers Daughter - another in the Phillipa Gregory series. Quite enjoyed it though some parts were a little hard to keep straight what with all the queens involved.
next up was Have you seen her? by Karen Rose. This one was just a filler really. was ok but nothing special. the romance running through it was lame.
finally - i'm about half way through The Twelve by Justin Cronin. This is the second book in the trillogy...the first book (The Passage) was basically a rip off of Steven King's "The Stand" but the second book is providing more background and is so far proving to be quite enjoyable.
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 8, 2013 5:48:23 GMT 2
I've just finished a young adult sci fi book called Deviants by Maureen McGowan. It's set in a dystopian world and has a strong young heroine. Not bad.
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Post by katcalls on Jan 8, 2013 8:10:41 GMT 2
I just finished Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
The last 30% was better than the first 70% but boy it was a slog initially. It's a shame that he was trying to show off so much with his prose as the characters and the denouement itself was quite compelling.
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Post by brodiebruce on Jan 8, 2013 11:34:07 GMT 2
finally - i'm about half way through The Twelve by Justin Cronin. This is the second book in the trillogy...the first book (The Passage) was basically a rip off of Steven King's "The Stand" but the second book is providing more background and is so far proving to be quite enjoyable. I liked it. Didn't think it was that much of a rip off of the stand at the time but in retrospect I can see the similarity with the plague/military bit. Is The Twelve still in hardback? I have that much reading to do that I might as well wait until it's in paperback!
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Post by littlevixen on Jan 9, 2013 6:19:01 GMT 2
Is The Twelve still in hardback? I have that much reading to do that I might as well wait until it's in paperback! the copy I bought is paperback. I also have a giant stack of books waiting for me to read. My biggest problem is that I can't resist buying new books and then I just HAVE to read them regardless of the number of books I already have waiting!
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 9, 2013 6:44:51 GMT 2
I started the book "E=MC2" this morning. It's the biography of the formula. The author says he wants to make it understandable without trying to explain all of relativity. I've only read 17 pages and they're just the introduction and a few pages about Einstein's early life, so far, but I have reasonably high hopes.
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Post by brodiebruce on Jan 9, 2013 8:21:12 GMT 2
the copy I bought is paperback. Thanks! Shame, can only find it in hardback over here - apparently paperback is released in April. It is on Kindle but I prefer my books analog!
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Post by OnlyMark on Jan 9, 2013 9:08:29 GMT 2
I started the book "E=MC 2" this morning. I started on that once, but didn't have the energy.
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 10, 2013 0:09:29 GMT 2
Obviously you needed to have more MC^2
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norv
Happy Potters
Posts: 21
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Post by norv on Jan 10, 2013 21:29:30 GMT 2
I loved The Passage. So much so that I bought The Twelve in hardback cos I couldnt wait another 6 months. It's very disappointing. One ridiculous coincidence after another and his style began to grate once I had lost interest in the plot
Is there any trilogy of books that can sustain itself beyond the first one (His Dark Materials excepted)? I'm gonna give them a miss from now on
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 11, 2013 0:16:08 GMT 2
Just finished books #1 & 2 for 2013.
1) David Haskell's "The Forest Unseen."
This is a science book that made me cry on the bus! Definitely will be on my Best Books list for 2013.
Haskell is a biology professor who decided to sit in the same place in this patch of old-growth forest in Tennessee roughly once a week over the course of a year, and just observe. This book is the result of his observations there.
I likely would have enjoyed this book even if it was just a scholarly list of his observations of seasonal changes in the eastern North American woodland, but Haskell adds so much to this book, both in his explanations of the science going on behind the changes he observes but also in how he talks about we humans' place in evolution and in the ecosystem. This isn't a difficult book and it isn't a preachy book; instead it's an exultant book, ecology told essentially from a Buddhist viewpoint. Really, please believe me and go read this book. I recommend it both to people who already read this kind of stuff all the time, but especially to those who don't. It's accessible and fascinating and beautiful... just go read it.
2) Paul Auster, The Red Notebook
Don't be too impressed with my prodigious reading speed - it's the size of a deck of cards. This is a collection of stories that are billed as "true stories" - all stories of serendipity and coincidence that happened to Auster or his friends. I love thinking about things like this, so it was a fun read. We all have these uncanny things that we can't explain, and this book sets you to remember them. I enjoyed it, and I don't like all of Auster's stuff.
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 11, 2013 12:58:55 GMT 2
OK, and since I am reading short books right now for whatever reason, I've gone and read another one,
Colm Toíbín, The Testament of Mary
In which Mary the mother of Jesus talks about her son's final weeks and what her life has been like since then. Don't worry about this being too religious - I would think a devout Catholic might find it shocking. Mary is a conservative elderly woman who didn't like her son's activism or religious teachings or the company he kept, but she feels terrible guilt and pain because of the circumstances of his death. Her description of these feelings are gut-wrenching for a parent to read. It's a sad book, but fascinating to hear these tales (that you've heard a million times if you were brought up in the Catholic church) told from this very different and skeptical perspective.
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Post by itsasmallworld1 on Jan 11, 2013 13:45:47 GMT 2
Liii that book sounds really interesting! bookmarked.
My worst fear came true. I am at work and forgot my kindle. Life technically sux right now.
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Post by Scrubb on Jan 11, 2013 19:34:23 GMT 2
Yesterday morning I finished my "take off and landing" paperback. (I fly to work and can't use my kindle for take offs and landings, of which there are 3 each, so have to have a paperback too.) It's called "Annabel" by Kathleen Winter and it was quite good. It's set mostly in Labrador in a small community where most of the men are trappers who are away for the winter.
It's about a hermaphrodite, and while it's quite well done in a lot of ways, and a good read, it's just not as good as Middlesex.
And this morning I started "Old Town" - can't think of the author's name at the moment, but it was translated from Chinese in 2006.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 12, 2013 1:12:35 GMT 2
started "Big Bear, Little Bear" (by David Brierley) on the train journey back from exam week. it is a truly excellent political thriller!
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Post by rikita on Jan 12, 2013 10:11:35 GMT 2
thanks to the many doctor's appointments and ctgs, i actually finished the last book in a few days - usually i need weeks. only reading magazines now though, maybe i will start a new book tomorrow...
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Post by Liiisa on Jan 16, 2013 3:06:05 GMT 2
(again, this is x-posted so ignore if you've already seen this)
4) Mo Yan: Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh
This is a collection of short stories by Yan (or should I say Mo), winner of last year's Nobel for literature. The stories deal with how the rural Chinese have dealt with poverty and problem caused by the regime - which sounds a little grim, but it actually has a lot of humor in it. The final story reads a little too much like a sociological essay, but I recommend it on the whole. I especially enjoyed the preface, where we are told how he became a writer, since he had very limited education.
Now I'm reading the latest César Aira, which is odd ( which is no surprise).
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Post by Orla on Jan 16, 2013 3:13:13 GMT 2
Just today started The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure.
As a kid I loved the Little House on the Prairie books so I can relate to McClure's obsession (to a certain point) with Laura Ingalls Wilder.
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