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Post by sophie on Jul 27, 2020 8:56:26 GMT -5
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. This brick of a book has been sitting around, mocking my ability to read quickly. It is a slow read but beautifully written and has the ability to shove the reader directly into the 1500’s and the world of Thomas Cromwell. The last of the trilogy which got the two Man Booker prizes, it is not a fast read but well worth it especially if you read the previous two books but it stands alone without any major problems.
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Post by Oweena on Jul 27, 2020 19:22:47 GMT -5
Sophie you've more stamina than me. 875 pages, I just can't face that right now.
Yesterday I finished: The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper. Historical fiction about the younger sister of Louisa May Alcott. It follows the actual trajectory of her life, often focusing on how she tried repeatedly to not live in her older sister's shadow. She went on to study painting in Europe and was known for her still lifes and copies of masters. Two of her paintings were selected for the Paris Salon, so she had legitimate talent. It was a super fast read for me and since I didn't know anything about her story the end which is true to what happened was unexpected.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 28, 2020 20:35:16 GMT -5
36) Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maid of Mars
Well, that was kind of dumb! Martian fantasy novel by the author of the Tarzan books. One thing I can say about Princess Thuvia, though, is that she's kind of a badass - she's good at knife-fights, she can pilot a Martian propeller-ship, and she can tame the ferocious banth! The other plus about this novel is that now I know where ex-figment Barsoom got his screen name.
This was one of the books that I got in the grab bag from a local used bookstore. Dumb! Overwrought! But amusing.
Yaaay now I can read the new David Mitchell novel
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 29, 2020 3:41:38 GMT -5
Liiisa, I watched the movie John Carter of Mars recently. Burroughs’ heroines were remarkably liberated for his time. And I already knew the origin of Barsoom, from references elsewhere!
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Post by sprite on Jul 29, 2020 11:24:11 GMT -5
We have Always Lived in the Castle--Shirley Jackson
Suitably creepy. i was slightly disappointed that someone didn't die who I wouldn't have minded dying. It made for a sort of interesting backstory of your local 'creepy old ladies in a creepy old house' legend. But all i could think about were practicalities; winter, the electricity being cut off, running out of flour (there's a lot of baking).
Two sisters and their uncle live contentedly and quietly in the family mansion after a dinner where all other members of the family died. (it doesn't take the reader long to work out how/what/why.) They are hated by the local villagers, with only the youngest going out for groceries and library books twice a week. rarely, a wealthy family friend will visit for tea. This has gone on for some time, but one day, cousin Charles arrives, and he wants to help...
As expected, it doesn't go well from there. Not a long read, well-written, lyrical. I will look for more Jackson, as I only knew her from 'The Lottery.'
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 29, 2020 17:35:23 GMT -5
Oh yeah - that is a creeeepy novel.
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Post by Oweena on Jul 29, 2020 21:34:57 GMT -5
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown.
I first read this book when I was 16 or 17 and it had a huge impact. Everything she writes about was so relatable. Such as what it's like to grow up in a family that both is and isn't yours. Or having a desire to improve the circumstances you grew up in. And to accept what makes you different and will never be acceptable to your loved ones.
It was a great re-read for me.
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Post by scrubb on Jul 29, 2020 22:25:42 GMT -5
Has anyone ever found that following an author on social media puts you off reading them? I'm trying to finish a travel book and while it's interesting the author is very vocal/political on twitter and much more grumpy than she seems in the book. Not exactly, but I remember reading an essay by Malcolm Lowry once that put me off reading his famous "Under the Volcano". He'd written and published this piece just to say "Every word I wrote was pure gold and all those editors who wanted me to make changes were just idiots, and I'm totally vindicated that I refused to listen to anyone by the fact that I wrote the best book ever!"
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Post by scrubb on Jul 29, 2020 22:34:09 GMT -5
Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penney. It's part of her mystery series about Armand Gamache, the head of the Surete in Quebec. I've only read the first one before, and this is the 14th, but I didn't feel like I'd have to go back and read the rest to catch up.
Anyway, I generally liked it quite a bit. The author occasionally works a bit too hard to set up a red herring, but she has good enough characters to keep me reading and enjoying. IN this one there's a bizarre will, with unexpected executers, and a side plot of an ex-protegee of the main character's going back to the street to try to take over the drug trade in a new street drug much stronger than fentanyl.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 30, 2020 4:51:41 GMT -5
scrubb I think "Under the Volcano" sounds incredibly unpleasant anyway. I thought of reading it recently because it was in one of those lists of Important Novels but then read a description and was like no, I can live without that.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jul 30, 2020 11:08:48 GMT -5
45. A Story to Kill. Lynn Cahoon. An interesting concept fora cozy mystery, not a B&B, but a writers’ retreat. An interesting cast of characters, lovely setting, good plot and a teaser at the end about an on-going mystery.
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Post by scrubb on Jul 30, 2020 15:07:37 GMT -5
I should say, about the Armand Gamache series, that every time I read his name I think "ganache" and start craving sweets.
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Post by mei on Jul 31, 2020 12:08:49 GMT -5
#15 just in time for this month: The Dutch house by Ann Patchett.
I really liked it although it feels like a slow paced book. But I think that's also what I needed right now.
It follows the life of a brother and sister, their family history and the house they spent their childhood in.
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Post by sophie on Jul 31, 2020 17:58:15 GMT -5
The German House by Annette Hess. Someone one here ( I thought) read it and gave a thoughtful review.. I couldn’t find it however. A thought provoking read, it takes place in West Germany in 1963. The main character is a translator at the first Auschwitz trial, and she learns more about her country, her family and herself during the process. Recommended.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 31, 2020 21:04:20 GMT -5
37) David Mitchell, Utopia Avenue
I loooovvved this book!! Set in 1967-1968, the tale of a British psychedelic band. I became so attached to the characters and the story, plus the fact that so much of the milieu and the nascent musical scene was familiar ground, that I couldn't put it down. Well, I guess the fact that I read a 574-page book in 2 days tells you something about that.
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Post by Liiisa on Aug 1, 2020 5:20:17 GMT -5
Plus mei - they play at Paradiso, the place in Amsterdam where we saw the Decemberists with Cookie lo these many years ago.
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Post by riverhorse on Aug 1, 2020 9:57:21 GMT -5
Since I spent much of July reading it and have just finished the book, I'm going to put it in the July thread.
The Last Train to London by May Waite Clayton. A fictional account of the real-life Dutch woman who was largely responsible for organising the Kindertransport trains to take Jewish children to safety in Britain. Her name was Geertruida Wijsmuller. The novel has various strands in it, of differemt fates that eventually all get caught up together. At times it's really gutwrenching reading, the anguish of parents hurriedly organising their precious children to go on such a dangerous and unknown journey into an uncertain future must have been terrible.
I am now going down a Google rabbit hole reading more about the life of Tante Truus, as she got the children to call her.
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Post by lillielangtry on Aug 1, 2020 12:54:42 GMT -5
Mariana Leky, Was man von hier aus sehen kann Don't know if this is available in English, sorry. It's a gentle, rather humorous German book set in a small village. The main character is a girl (who becomes a woman over the course of the book). Her grandmother dreams of an okapi, and when that happens, someone always dies the next day. Who will it be and will the villagers act on their deepest desires in case it's soon too late? I was taken by surprise by this novel actually moving me to tears at the end, which doesn't happen often!
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Post by Liiisa on Aug 1, 2020 17:48:59 GMT -5
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Aug 1, 2020 23:00:18 GMT -5
The German House by Annette Hess. Someone one here ( I thought) read it and gave a thoughtful review.. I couldn’t find it however. A thought provoking read, it takes place in West Germany in 1963. The main character is a translator at the first Auschwitz trial, and she learns more about her country, her family and herself during the process. Recommended. I read it - but I am not sure if I've got around to recording it here yet. I have recorded it on Goodreads. I ended up down the google rabbit hole after that book, reading on the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials.
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