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Post by scrubb on May 10, 2019 20:00:44 GMT -5
Finished the one I mentioned above (not sure why I bothered) - Tea Cups and Tiger Claws by Timothy Patrick. A low class woman has identical triplets, a duchess wants them, the mother sells 2 of them but hangs on to one, who grows up driven to try to buy the biggest house in the snotty town they live in. And she's a psychopath who kills along the way. It's slightly funny near the beginning, but not really. Pure schlock. Only 2 characters who are even vaguely likeable and everyone else is a cliche.
The most irritating part was that the author didn't bother to keep his timeline consistent - a character is 30 when her mother is 40, although her mother was over 20 when she was born. She's 40 when she adopts a kid who's 7, then 60 when he's 18. ETc.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 11, 2019 6:46:34 GMT -5
Well, I'm now reading something that makes Prince of Tides look like a work of great genius in comparison... not every bookbub purchase is a winner. PSA: Do not but things by Timothy Patrick. Or at least not the one called Teacups and Tiger Claws. I agree. Bookbub comes up with some doozies. One of the things I can’t abide is poor editing and proof reading.
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Post by Liiisa on May 12, 2019 6:19:04 GMT -5
22) César Aira, Birthday
Another one of Aira's tiny books. This one isn't a novel like his others, but more like reflections on his writing and on thinking and ideas. I enjoyed it and likely will refer back to it.
Now I've embarked on a gigantic tome about musical taste, so I'll get back to you all in November or something. It's a topic that fascinates me but I've already skimmed a little because he spends a lot of time explaining to you why he's about to explain something to you, which is probably why it's 600 pages long. But anyway, onward.
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Post by Phar Lap on May 12, 2019 19:24:26 GMT -5
Each time I see the thread title, I think of The Darling Buds of May.
Who else remembers watching this? A young Catherine Zeta Jones played the eldest daughter, Mariette. Remember she married the accountant who came to see things Pop's way!
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Post by Liiisa on May 12, 2019 20:46:03 GMT -5
Ha ha ha oops... I thought it was a somewhat garbled reference to that "Lusty Month of May" song from Camelot.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 13, 2019 2:11:55 GMT -5
Yes, of course! The series was based on the books by H. E. Bates and the title is also a Quotation from Shakespeare. CZJ was about 19 at the time and looked so natural and lovely.
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Post by Liiisa on May 13, 2019 5:08:34 GMT -5
Aaaand now I know why the band The Darling Buds named themselves that. Never looked into it because I couldn't stand The Darling Buds.
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Post by Oweena on May 13, 2019 16:38:44 GMT -5
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Wonderfully written, can highly recommended.
Now I'm sad all over again about the slide down to shitistan that our country has taken since the Obamas were in the White House.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 16, 2019 6:27:38 GMT -5
27. Death of a Dapper Snowman, Angela Pepper. My favourite character in this book is Geoffrey, the Russian Blue cat, whose detective abilities became more obvious towards the end of the book. A fun read with a bunch of characters with lots of room to develop over a series.
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Post by Webs on May 16, 2019 12:40:25 GMT -5
Listening to "the Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters"
Really enjoying it. 3 sisters who are not close are sent on a journey by their dying mother, to India and stuff ensues.
Debating on what book to bring to Italy with me. Might buy one there.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on May 16, 2019 20:52:55 GMT -5
Oh good - I have that book on a wish list.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 17, 2019 1:26:45 GMT -5
Oh. I'm now reading Eating Animals, as mentioned further up in this thread, and I think I may have to stop tinkering around the edges and go fully vegetarian, if not vegan. I'm not finished with the book yet though so may discuss in more Detail later.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 17, 2019 1:33:58 GMT -5
As far as other books are concerned:
#31 Zsuzsa Bank, Der Schwimmer (The Swimmer) A quiet, slow novel about two children in communist Hungary whose mother escapes to the West, leaving them behind. Their father takes them around the Country to stay with a succession of relatives. I found this very slow to read, but beautiful.
#32 Sarah Moss, Ghost Wall A very short novel (novella?) about a Girl whose father is obsessed by Iron Age Britons and takes the Family to a re-enactment camp for the summer. Naturally, it turns pretty dark. Spectacularly structured, loved the Northern accents. Can't believe that something that can be read in a few hours can deal with so much. Was my first Moss but it won't be my last.
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Post by Liiisa on May 17, 2019 6:02:42 GMT -5
Ooooh lillie! I'm so glad you liked "Ghost Wall." Absolutely one of my favorite books so far this year.
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Post by Queen on May 18, 2019 6:05:55 GMT -5
The Race to Save the Romanovs Helen Rappaport
Fascinating, new sources, comprehensive coverage of all the attempts, and rumoured attempts to rescue the last Tsar and his family. She evaluates the rumours and the sources, to see if any real attempt was made, or could have ever been successful.
She comes to the conclusion that the family were unlikely to have accepted living in exile, and certainly any offers of rescue were met with conditions - the family stays together, no bloodshed, servants come with, and don't want to leave Russia. Plus Russia is big, cold, icy....
It's had me researching family trees all over the place and watching various royal documentaries.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 18, 2019 10:35:49 GMT -5
28. Birthdays can be Deadly, Cindy Bell. An interesting cozy mystery set in a retirement village. Maybe not as good as a later one in the series I’ve read previously, but it did introduce continuing characters well. Some of the behaviour of the amateur sleuths was a bit rash, especially as one of them is a retired police detective.
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Post by scrubb on May 18, 2019 14:25:41 GMT -5
The Secrets of a Fire King, by Kim Edwards. I can't remember anything about her book "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" except that I liked it, so I'd had this on my to-read list for ages, but I hadn't realized it was a short story collection until I started reading. They are good - my theory is that short stories can't be all things, they just don't have the space. They have to either tell about a fascinating event, or they can be an allegory/symbolic type story, or they can be about the character. She does the second 2, and occasionally she adds in an exotic setting so that the events have an added exotic influence.
However, much as I enjoyed them, I"m not convinced that any of them will stay with me for very long. Although some of them do make you think, none of them leave you wondering about anything.
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Post by Oweena on May 20, 2019 21:14:25 GMT -5
Q, the Romanov book sounds interesting. When I was around 13 years old I was obsessed by them and read as many books as I could get my hands on.
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Post by mei on May 22, 2019 3:30:21 GMT -5
am currently reading The Sixth Extinction for my book club. Very interesting so far!
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Post by Liiisa on May 22, 2019 5:06:38 GMT -5
am currently reading The Sixth Extinction for my book club. Very interesting so far! I loved that, mei! Well, it wasn't particularly fun, but I really liked how she presented the topic.
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Post by sophie on May 22, 2019 8:17:58 GMT -5
The Island of sea Women by Lisa See. Really interesting novel set on the Korean island of Jeju where a type of a matriarchal society rules life and the women are sea divers. Over the past year or two I have read several novels set in Korea(or written by Korean writers ) and learned more about the society and history that I ever knew. This novel dealt with some of the internal conflict during and after WW2; it would have been hell to live there then. The violence is a disturbing feature of the novel.; not enough to give me nightmares but bad enough that I would mention it to others as a caution.
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Post by Oweena on May 22, 2019 8:25:53 GMT -5
The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris I've started on my quest to read the autobiographies of all the Democrats in the race for president. There wasn't anything revealing or new in this one, it felt very much like each chapter was a platform of her beliefs with short sprinkles and snippets of her life added in. She didn't go deep on much that is personal, and there's certainly nothing controversial in what she shared of her life. It was a safe bio, written in a lawyerly fashion. I learned nothing about her that I didn't already know from reading articles or watching her speak.
Little Faith by Nickolas Butler The latest book by the author of Shotgun Lovesongs that several of us here liked. This was a good book, it was a novel plot with characters I liked. You can tell Butler appreciates the outdoors from how he writes about the world and landscape around his characters, I found his descriptions of an apple orchard lovely. I'll now have to look for earlier work by him.
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Post by Queen on May 22, 2019 15:45:04 GMT -5
am currently reading The Sixth Extinction for my book club. Very interesting so far! Read it for book club a year ago - really impressive as well as rage-inducing.
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Post by Liiisa on May 22, 2019 19:06:30 GMT -5
23. Why You Like it: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste, Nolan Gasser
A 700-page tome on the science and psychology of musical taste by one of the musicologists who helped found Pandora, the streaming service.
I was really excited when I heard about this book, because I'm kind of obsessed with what it is with my personality that makes me have my taste in music. So I thought "wow! someone's finally done it!" Unfortunately, while a lot of it was interesting - he had long stretches of analysis of different types of music, coming from a musicological perspective - I just didn't get out of it what I wanted.
Maybe this is why Pandora doesn't really work for me - I'll start a station with something I really like and 10 minutes in they're playing something that (to me) is horrifying dreck that I can't turn off fast enough! I guess my taste in music will have to continue to be a mystery for now.
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Post by scrubb on May 23, 2019 21:54:28 GMT -5
Castles in the Air, by Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy (author of The Scarlet Pimpernel). A picaresque novel - kind of an anti-hero narrates it. He's a sort of detective/man who solves problems for cash in the early 1800s, not all that reputable though he pretends to be a gentleman. Not bad, sometimes amusing, but nothing special.
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Post by Oweena on May 24, 2019 13:04:00 GMT -5
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future by Pete Buttigieg
The 2nd book in my attempt at reading the books by the Democratic presidential candidates. He writes in an interesting way, he knows how to spin a story.
I really like this guy. He's obviously super smart, and while I'm guessing his path has been much more intentional than what he writes, he's definitely well-rounded. Speaks several languages, worked in the private sector, served overseas in the military, studied in the UK, volunteer on several campaigns before his own political career started, etc.
He's analytical and reads a lot which reminds me of Obama. He's got lots of fresh ideas and sees the world in a holistic way. It certainly wouldn't break my heart if he continues to do well in the race.
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Post by Liiisa on May 24, 2019 15:48:33 GMT -5
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Post by sophie on May 24, 2019 18:27:16 GMT -5
Donna Leon`s Unto Us a Son is Given. Another one in her wonderful mysteries set in Venice, with the same cast. An easy but enjoyable mystery. As an interesting aside, as society is changing and being more open about including visible minorities and gays, her characters (minor ones) are also changing as well, becoming more tolerant and open. Art imitating life!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on May 24, 2019 19:31:56 GMT -5
29. Aunt Bessie Assumes, Diana Xarissa. I’m loving Aunt Bessie, who is the quintessential cozy sleuth. Her friends, Doona and Hugh are great fun too. I’m looking forward to more visits to her seaside home on the Isle of Man.
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Post by sophie on May 25, 2019 18:47:22 GMT -5
The Little Red Guard: a Family Memoir by Wenguang Huang. Excellent memoir spanning the cultural revolution to the present time detailing the changing family and the changing attitudes to traditions. The author, of Han background, grew up in Xian and now lives in the States. This book is not in translation; he is an English author and translator. It makes me appreciate how deep his understanding of English must be in order to write a book in it, his second language. Well written, interesting and worth reading: recommended.
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