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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 10, 2019 10:04:14 GMT -5
54. A Rule Against Murder, Louise Penny. The ending of this book was brilliant and made up for some slowness in the middle. The characters are perceptively drawn, and the setting beautiful. The mystery led in some completely unexpected paths, and loved characters from previous books in the series seen in a different light.
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Post by scrubb on Sept 10, 2019 17:49:32 GMT -5
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. By Gail Honeyman. I found it very readable, and liked it a lot.
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Post by sophie on Sept 12, 2019 11:30:31 GMT -5
Albatross by Terry Fallis. Fallis is a Canadian writer specializing in books which will make you laugh. This is his latest novel about a teenager who happened to be 'discovered' by his PE teacher and a weird algothrim that he was perfect for playing golf. Never mind he had never played golf and was aiming to be a writer; golf was his ticket to fame and fortune. As it turns out, he also happened to not be passionate about golf and how he treats his meteoric rise and life is funny. Light and relaxing fast read.
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Post by tucano on Sept 12, 2019 12:16:15 GMT -5
Bookmarking to come back.
Just started 'The New Silk Roads' (non-fiction) and also 'The Lost Heart of Asia' by Colin Thubron.
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Post by sophie on Sept 12, 2019 14:40:23 GMT -5
Tucano,I have just started the silk roads book.. introduction is excellent!!
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Post by tzarine on Sept 12, 2019 19:30:48 GMT -5
sophie
we met azar nafisi & she was lovely to the young tzarevich when tzar hosted her @ a uni reading event i really enjoyed reading lolita
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 13, 2019 6:28:17 GMT -5
55. Desperate Housedogs, by Sparkle Abbey. Good audiobook for a road trip, as it moves fast enough to keep the interest. I found the narrator’s Texan accent a bit annoying, but the plot and characters were believable, and there were good animal characters.
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Post by sprite on Sept 13, 2019 15:15:52 GMT -5
Just started "salt, fat, acid, heat", and have already used some of the ideas.
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Post by sophie on Sept 13, 2019 22:39:57 GMT -5
One Good Deed byDavid Baldacci. A new set of characters from this best selling author, with the setting being late 1940’s USA. Good action, characters are interesting and the plot is better than your average detective novel. Easy read, entertaining for a rainy day.
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Sept 14, 2019 3:46:15 GMT -5
I read the Leonie Swann book quite a few years ago. It was lovely. Not sure if anything else has been translated into English, because I would like to read more from her.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 14, 2019 6:34:38 GMT -5
51. Wallace Stegner, The Big Rock Candy Mountain
It's the story of a man and his family; the man is basically a willful child, but an incredibly talented and energetic one, but he drags his family all over the early 20th century west with various schemes. The end has the youngest son reflecting on his life with his father at the father's funeral, and one of the paragraphs on the last page felt so true that I cried.
The descriptions of the prairies and towns of those days felt real and fascinating - things like a Saskatchewan town in the flu epidemic of 1919 in the winter. I picked it up because I'd liked that other book by him that everyone reads, and I thought this one was good too.
The only downside was that there's some racist language in it, in the dialogue, but then it was written in 1943.
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Post by scrubb on Sept 14, 2019 17:09:50 GMT -5
That sounds intriguing, Liiiiisa. These days it doesn't take much in stories about old parents/end of life reflection to grab me (my dad turned 93 last week).
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 14, 2019 18:51:28 GMT -5
I thought of you, scrubb, since you're familiar with that Canadian territory.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 15, 2019 5:45:22 GMT -5
56. Look alive 25, Janet Evanovich. It must be hard to come up with 25 different plots with the same characters, but Evanovich has pulled it off, with Stephanie, Lula, Ranger and even Ella working in a deli making sandwiches. Pure escapism as usual.
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Post by mei on Sept 15, 2019 7:41:08 GMT -5
Just started 'The New Silk Roads' (non-fiction) and also 'The Lost Heart of Asia' by Colin Thubron. I also have the (previous version) of The Silk Roads waiting to be read (for a few years, to be honest. Its size is quite daunting. I like Thubron's writing, especially about (Central) Asia, so that second title sounds good too!
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 15, 2019 8:48:21 GMT -5
I also meant to say about that book that the father is a huge asshole sometimes, because of his self-centeredness and willfulness... ha, it sounds in my review above like I was kind of impressed by him. He was impressive, but you wouldn't want to be one of his kids.
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Post by sprite on Sept 15, 2019 15:04:27 GMT -5
Two Maigret audiobooks, turns out they're great for when doing work outside.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 16, 2019 6:38:23 GMT -5
57. Educated, Tara Westover. Great as an audiobook over four days of long road trips. I was attracted to this by my fascination with cults, and wasn’t disappointed. A fascinating account of a family of extreme Mormon Doomsday preppers, anti-vaccers, home schoolers and alternate medicine practitioners, and how three of their children escaped and achieved not only higher education, but Ph Ds. The author is the youngest daughter, and some of the stories she tells are graphic. The account of mental illness in the family, and the trauma caused by physical abuse and the denial of reality is absorbing and frightening. The triumph and healing she achieved is inspiring.
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Post by lillielangtry on Sept 17, 2019 6:09:38 GMT -5
Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, Whoop! Atwood's much-anticipated follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale. I found it very readable, very enjoyable. Is it a perfect book? No. I don't think it has the weight of THT and it could even be a Little longer to flesh out the characters even more. A few plot turns struck me as too easy and the ending was a bit too tidy. But I'm very glad I read it.
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Post by Webs on Sept 17, 2019 19:16:56 GMT -5
Just finished "The Witches of New York" by Ami McKay. The story of three women during the year of 1880 as they practice and discover their own gifts. I enjoy gilded age novels when they don't scream about the virtues of men and leave women as naive waifs.
I'm starting the City of Dreaming Books by walter Moers - It's a bit of a fantasy where the protagonist is put in peril but it all exists in a world of books. It sounded interesting to read it but I can't really explain it.
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Post by Oweena on Sept 18, 2019 8:41:11 GMT -5
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Stories from his childhood and teen years in South Africa during apartheid and just after. Due to his white father and black mother, his birth was a crime, thus the title.
I could hear his voice in every chapter. The book goes quickly and I recommend it.
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Post by Oweena on Sept 18, 2019 8:43:40 GMT -5
51. Wallace Stegner, The Big Rock Candy Mountain It's the story of a man and his family; the man is basically a willful child, but an incredibly talented and energetic one, but he drags his family all over the early 20th century west with various schemes. The end has the youngest son reflecting on his life with his father at the father's funeral, and one of the paragraphs on the last page felt so true that I cried. The descriptions of the prairies and towns of those days felt real and fascinating - things like a Saskatchewan town in the flu epidemic of 1919 in the winter. I picked it up because I'd liked that other book by him that everyone reads, and I thought this one was good too. The only downside was that there's some racist language in it, in the dialogue, but then it was written in 1943. Stegner is in my top 5 authors. Have you read Angle of Repose? That's probably the other one you've read.
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Post by sprite on Sept 18, 2019 9:41:16 GMT -5
Don't you forget about me: Mhairi McFarlane the only problem with McFarlane is she doesn't write enough books. they are, on the surface, RomComs, but are sharp and funny, with great lead characters.
Georgina is nearly 30 and working a string of crappy restaurant jobs in the North East of England. After being fired because she wouldn't back up a lying manager, she gets a one-night gig working at a funeral reception. she's offered a permanent job that night, only to discover that one of the owners is her first love from back in high school, suddenly an incredibly hot (and feminist) man--only he has no idea who she is.
There's a slightly disfunctional family, great friends, a useful therapist, a snarky housemate, a jerk-off ex boyfriend, and a lovely dog. Will she get a proper job? will her mother ever respect her? will she find love? does it matter?
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 18, 2019 11:20:50 GMT -5
Oweena - actually no; the one I’ve read is “Crossing to Safety.” I’ll have to read this one you’ve mentioned too... someone else said something about that the other day.
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Post by sprite on Sept 19, 2019 12:43:59 GMT -5
In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan. Young adult fantasy.
I haven't finished it yet, but it would be remiss not to say, if you get a chance to read this, do. I had to gag myself with the duvet last night, I was laughing so hard. Itnis also quite poignant, as a teenaged misfit becomes more self aware.
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Post by Webs on Sept 19, 2019 13:51:51 GMT -5
Oh help, this audio book might drive me over the edge. The narrator is reading this book like the entire thing is a huge dramatic thing and the writing is... I can't explain it. I'm not enjoying it. And it's a 19 hour audio book.
I think I need to give this a pass.
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Post by sprite on Sept 19, 2019 16:32:16 GMT -5
skip to the end?
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 19, 2019 17:16:58 GMT -5
52) Neil Gaiman, Stardust Thank you sprite for telling me to read this after I'd said I saw the movie! It's written like a fairy tale, but like sprite said it's much less sweet than the film. They toned it down so much for the film that really, the only thing the two have in common is the bare bones of the plot... or maybe you could say that they're just two different ways of telling the same story, since the way it turns out is the same (just arrived at by a rather different route). It was good! Now I'm reading "The Vegetarian," which I'd been avoiding since it looked potentially gross and creepy, and it is indeed creepy. If it becomes gross, I'm going to abandon it.
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Post by Queen on Sept 20, 2019 3:48:14 GMT -5
All for Nothing Walter Kempowski
Fascinating but oddly distant. I thought that might be the effect of translation but I reading reviews it seems not.
This is set in East Prussia at the end of WW2, as the Russians are advancing. It centres on one family with various hangers-on and how they cope with forced change as their world collapses. There is the dark threat of Nazism hanging over everything but this family aren’t particularly political even though the father is in the army... he is stationed in Italy and effectively off stage for the whole book. It’s all the ways to survive and a thousand small betrayals.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 20, 2019 4:29:44 GMT -5
Ohhh I loved that book, Q. I think it was on my Best list for that year.
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