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Post by HalcyonDaze on Apr 14, 2017 18:48:00 GMT -5
A friend is a climate scientist - I don't really talk about his work anymore. Apart from the horrors of what he is working on, the stupid Government here keep on defunding his employer.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Apr 14, 2017 18:51:58 GMT -5
40. Murder at the Mansion (Reverend Annabelle Dixon Mystery, #1) - Alison Golden Cosy mystery set in Cornwall with a female vicar doing the sleuthing. Very light. (so light I actually forgot I'd read it)
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 15, 2017 2:59:39 GMT -5
Sounds like a good one for me during term, Hal. In fact I think I've downloaded some of hers.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 17, 2017 11:51:53 GMT -5
9) Kim Stanley Robinson, New York 2140
A book that I wanted to read so much that I bought it in hardcover and then took it traveling with me despite it being 625 pages long!
Robinson is the author of those books about terraforming Mars and other interesting sci-for topics. But then he turned his attention to the dystopian shit that's going on in realtime; hence this novel, which is set in a flooded New York of the 22nd century.
What I loved most about this book was its hopefulness- he's done his research on how communities in disasters set up mutual aid societies and such to pull each other through. I also love the fact that he spends a lot of time with the culpability of the financial community & capitalism. If you've been keeping up with this stuff, you'll love this book. The only thing I regretted about it is that he didn't include a bibliography.
Even if you aren't a lefty climate change nerd, I think you'll enjoy this one. Another for my best of year list.
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 21, 2017 2:22:22 GMT -5
Hahaha, I've just realised I made Queen's sig line! Woo hoo! #24 Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Der Richter und sein Henker [The Judge and his Hangman] A modern German classic, very slim - readable in one sitting. It's a murder mystery, slow-paced but interesting. I liked it. #25 Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You This was on a load of book of the year lists in 2014, I think, but I didn't read it then. The book opens with the death of a teenage girl and the rest of the story is focused on the different members of her family, their secrets and building up the reasons why she died. It's a lot about family, how we fail to communicate with those we love, and racism in the US (the parents are white and Asian and it's set mostly in the 70s). It's really well-written and a quick read, but honestly, if I had known it would be so unrelentingly sad I might not have picked it up. I appreciate that the ending tries to be redemptive but it didn't take away from the sadness of the rest of the book for me!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 21, 2017 3:45:29 GMT -5
22. WeirDo, Anh Do. Bought, along with another children's book to celebrate the reopening, yesterday, of Lismore's book shop, which like many downtown shops got flooded a couple of weeks ago. Wonderful illustrated book for every kid who thinks he or she doesn't fit in. Just love Anh Do's sense of the ridiculous. 23. Other Voices, Other Worlds, the Global Church Speaks Out on Homosexuality, edited by Terry Brown. Brilliant book, showing there are no black and white answers, or pat bible quotes, to answer the question of sexuality in the church, and especially the current question of same sex marriage. Hats off to Bishop Terry for his work in collecting and editing thoughts on the subject from Anglicans around the world. I learnt a good deal about my own spiritual development and theology in general, as leading Anglican theologians shared their wisdom and experience. This book will be shared and recommended widely. 24. A Skeleton in the Family, Leigh Perry. This was my latest audible audiobook, for my long road trip. The idea of this book is pretty silly, but the characters grew on me, and I really enjoyed the investigation of how Sid, the family skeleton, was murdered.
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Post by Queen on Apr 21, 2017 5:02:18 GMT -5
Hahaha, I've just realised I made Queen's sig line! Woo hoo! And I've made Liiisa 's sigline Red letter day.
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Post by Oweena on Apr 21, 2017 6:49:59 GMT -5
Quickie away for a 3 day weekend resort read: The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer.
One word review: Meh.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 22, 2017 21:41:23 GMT -5
Took a break from my interesting historical biography of Alexandre Dumas' father to read Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. I saw the musical performed live by amateurs once, many years ago, and it was pretty much what I expected. Crazy character aunt takes in orphan boy and raises him. It was pretty good but too long, and sometimes a little too slapstick if a book can be slapstick.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 23, 2017 3:35:15 GMT -5
25. The Diva Paints the Town, by Kristen Davis. I thought I'd love a cozy mystery about decorating a house, given that I love the decorating shows on tv, but I found this one mediocre and the multitude of characters confusing. It may have been better to start with the first of the series, but it seems I read a book with the same title by a different author! This author did manage to tie up many of the threads in the last few chapters, for a good finish.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 23, 2017 19:37:57 GMT -5
10) Kate Braestrup, Here When You Need Me
This is a memoir by a woman who is a Unitarian chaplain in the Maine game warden department; she goes along with the wardens when there's someone lost or who has died in the woods, to help their worried/grieving loved ones. It could easily be simplistic, overly religious, or maudlin, but it's none of those things. She is a loving person who cares deeply about other people and gets to work with other caring people in an emotionally tough job. And she agrees with me that "everything does NOT happen for a reason"; things simply happen because of cascading/interacting factors.
It's not the kind of book I usually read; it was loaned to me by a colleague after a tragedy happened to someone I know. It took me a while to get to the point where I wanted to read it, but I'm glad I did, and recommend it. It's warm and reassuring in the same way that Solnit's "A Paradise in Hell" (about how communities come together in disaster) was, and I'd definitely add it to my "Good Things About People" shelf, if I had one.
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Post by lillielangtry on Apr 23, 2017 22:55:29 GMT -5
That is perhaps a shelf we need, liisa...
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Post by Webs on Apr 24, 2017 15:51:12 GMT -5
Just finished #27 Wintersmith, one of the Discworld books with Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men. I realize that these ones are aimed at younger readers but they are really excellent. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm re-reading the Tiffany Achings at bedtime. I'm trying to get up to The Shepherd's Crown by May 25th so I can wear the Lilac and read Chapter 2 on the same day. I've been listening to a lot of audio books lately. I'm just finishing "A Man Called Ove" which I'm glad I'm listening to before I read or see the movie. It's a delightful story.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 25, 2017 21:53:22 GMT -5
Finally finished The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss. It was really good. The story of Alexander Dumas' father, born to a Haitian slave and rose to become a General in the French Army during the Revolution.
It was also a good French history - I didn't know that Napoleon invaded Egypt, in hopes of being a new Alexander the Great, for example.
Recommended.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 27, 2017 7:20:03 GMT -5
26. Withering-by-Sea, by Judith Rossell. An excellent children's book with elements of mystery and magic in a lovely gloomy gothic Victorian setting. One of Hal's recommendations from last month, and one of two children's books bought to celebrate the reopening of the book shop in Lismore last week, after it was drowned in flood water, along with the rest of the CBD.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 27, 2017 20:51:39 GMT -5
11) Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories
This is a book that seems pretty simple - a fairy tale out of the Arabian Nights, kind of. But it's subtle and very amusing, particularly if you get some of the Hindi puns (or refer to the handy Hindi pun glossary at the back). A heroic tale about storytelling.
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Post by sophie on Apr 28, 2017 8:44:40 GMT -5
Lisa.. I LOVE that story! My favourite of all of his work.
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Post by Liiisa on Apr 28, 2017 19:07:11 GMT -5
sophie - I think I still like "MIdnight's Children" better, but agreed that it's a great book. I love Haroun's attitude.
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Post by scrubb on Apr 29, 2017 21:59:31 GMT -5
Just read "A Choice of Enemies" which is an early Mordecai Richler. I liked it quite a lot more than the last early book of his that I read. His characters always seem painfully real to me, and Norman Price was a bit heart breaking.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on May 1, 2017 2:53:14 GMT -5
41. The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert.
A book club book. I did enjoy it over all but there were parts that dragged a bit for me. And I just can't believe that such a wonderful book was written by the Eat, Pray Love woman. Totally different style - this was very decent historical fiction.
Looking forward to the discussion tonight.
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Post by scrubb on May 1, 2017 20:56:08 GMT -5
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Post by lillielangtry on May 2, 2017 13:32:24 GMT -5
Oh, I've got a couple left for April.
#26 Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie - I downloaded this to my Kindle ages ago as a free classic. It was pretty good.
#27 Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life - Liisa, I see you've read this... It's certainly an incredibly absorbing book and has made me think, but I can't decide if I liked it. It's very long, and contains a lot of very detailed description of self-harm. In some ways I felt it was manipulating the reader (even more so than any book does) and that it tipped over into a sort of "misery porn" where the horrors were just piled on. It's a wonderful portrait of long-term friendship though, although it then undermines itself on that point somewhat (I don't want to spoil). so yes, conflicted. But I've been speaking to everyone I know about it.
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Post by mei on May 2, 2017 15:40:15 GMT -5
hmm, interesting to read your review of A Little Life, Lillie. I'm seeing it in every bookshop I go to, and have heard good/mixed reviews so I'm curious.... might see if I can find it in the library.
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Post by Liiisa on May 2, 2017 19:25:34 GMT -5
lillie, it was utterly miserable, wasn't it. But yeah, I listed it as one of my favorite books of last year! But it might be because of its intensity/absorbingness. I do remember thinking at the worst point "oh come on, this is too much," but then deciding that surely some people's lives are terrible like that.
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Post by scrubb on May 3, 2017 22:55:28 GMT -5
Now I'm curious about it too...
And like you, lillielangtry, I downloaded Sister Carrie years ago and haven't got around to reading it yet. Maybe your review will inspire me soon.
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Post by shilgia on May 5, 2017 12:43:30 GMT -5
I'm about 200 pages from the end of A Little Life and am similarly conflicted about it. It's such a wonderful portrait of a close friendship, written in such an observant, close-up style, but the dark parts are very, very dark.
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