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Post by Karo on Sept 4, 2008 15:51:27 GMT -1
Oh, Joyce Carol Oates is great.
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Post by Kez on Sept 5, 2008 7:36:29 GMT -1
I just finished The Book Thief, that was very good. Incredibly sad but very good.
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Post by Chris on Sept 5, 2008 9:38:59 GMT -1
I've just finished this one... ... ..'tis "Three wonderfully original, linked novellas that form the basis of John Barlow's dazzling first book. and they are all, remarkably, based on fact. A winged cat named Thomas-Bessie wreaks havoc in a Yorkshire workhouse, then also in the minds of a succession of owners. A romance between two pork-pie makers is celebrated with a donkey wedding in the Yorkshire village of Gomersall(pronounced Gummersul) And the strange career of Le Grand Michael Mulligan-who eats ANYTHING for a living-is narrated by his apprentice Captain Gusto, who quietly develops his own taste fo the job."
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Post by bagpuss on Sept 16, 2008 5:08:53 GMT -1
I have developed a PD James addiction. In the space of 6 weeks I have read Death In Holy Orders, The Murder Room, The Lighthouse and am half way through an earlier one called Devices and Desires, and the brand new hardback - and I never buy hardbacks. I'm just worried about what I'll do when I've exhauseted the back catalogue. Recommendations please!
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Post by Kez on Oct 29, 2008 13:22:04 GMT -1
OK bought Lionel Shriver's new one at lunch. Seems to be ok so far!
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Post by astralweeks on Oct 31, 2008 4:20:47 GMT -1
Been an aaaaaage since I visited this thread.
I only managed to finish Kevin about 2 wks ago and, I have to say, I found it a struggle. Whether it was Shriver's method of telling or just the subject matter at this point in time, I'm not sure.
I'm still not really getting into fictional stuff, after reading a lot of non-fiction, so that could be it too. Knowing that, even though it seemed well researched in parts, it wasn't actually real, kind of put me off, I suspect.
Re Jodi Picoult, I've read a few of hers and am about 2/3 the way through Vanishing Act at the moment. Again, not totally grabbing me, I have to say..........maybe it's the baby brain!
Others I've read of hers are 19 minutes, Keeping Faith and My Sister's Keeper - all good reads but this latest one is dragging for me.
Anybody read any Torey Hayden stuff? Autobiographical books about her teaching work with phychologically disturbed/damaged children. Love her work and that maybe the reason I can't get into these other stories, as hers are based on her own experiences, rather than fictional tales.
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Post by birch on Nov 6, 2008 12:15:53 GMT -1
I finished reading Marge Piercy's 'Sex Wars' not long ago. Fascinating - and very educating - read about US women's struggle for the right to vote. As usual Piercy fills out the picture in so many colours by following a handful of 'main' characters whose life situation varies a lot.
I never knew about the so-called Comstock laws before reading this book. Seems there has been an on going campaign for incorporating a fundamentalist interpretation of the bible into the country's constitution for quite some time!
Anyone else read this book?
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Post by mkk on Jan 11, 2009 2:16:30 GMT -1
just finished a new one - still alice by lisa genova. about a women with early onset altzheimers (at age 49). sounds like it would be depressing, but it really wasn't....it was sad, it was reality but well written.
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Post by bagpuss on Jan 19, 2009 14:45:01 GMT -1
Alice Sebold - discuss.
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Post by Karo on Jan 31, 2009 12:24:00 GMT -1
I thought the lovely bones was crap.
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Post by Sara on Feb 3, 2009 1:14:29 GMT -1
I'm about 80 pages into Kitchen Confidential. It's great.
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Post by tc on Feb 3, 2009 11:06:46 GMT -1
I just read most of Tess Gerritson's books. Very easy reading. Medical thrillers. They read like screenplays.
Now reading Jay McInerney - the Good life. Excellent so far.
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Post by mkk on Feb 3, 2009 12:31:12 GMT -1
yeah, i read kitchen confidential, good read. you'll never look at a kitchen the same way!
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Post by cvillecmd on Feb 4, 2009 8:05:09 GMT -1
I love Kitchen Confidential, great book. I really enjoyed The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Right now I am reading that Madonna book written by her brother, my mom gave it to me for Christmas, I get desperate for English reading material here, man is he ever a TERRIBLE writer. Terrible.
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Post by Sara on Feb 20, 2009 6:32:24 GMT -1
yeah, i read kitchen confidential, good read. you'll never look at a kitchen the same way! it wasn't SUPER revelatory for me, especially after watching his show, but I did still enjoy it a lot. The whole story about the crazy guy who he just keeps hiring anyway because of the bread he makes was great. Am currently finishing up a collection of essays/articles he's written, The Nasty Bits. And then I'm onto Nick Hornby's Shakespere Write for Money.
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Post by bagpuss on Feb 24, 2009 8:48:37 GMT -1
I'm reading "Necropolis: A History Of London And Its Dead". Shame I don't still have my black hair. I'd look well goth with that in my hand.
Though, I did get some funny looks when I was reading it in Starbucks. ;D
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Post by katyr on Feb 24, 2009 12:47:47 GMT -1
I thought the lovely bones was crap. Utterly shit. One of the worst books I've ever read. Gave up just a few pages from the end because I just didn't care. Currently reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It's really different to how I expected, I'm only about a quarter of the way through and I've had to blink back a few tears already. It's really quite sentimental. Which isn't what I expected after the hellish gore fest that was Blood Meridian. It's great, my favourite of his I've read so far. I'm just scared something really awful is going to happen.
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Post by bagpuss on Feb 24, 2009 12:56:49 GMT -1
I thought the lovely bones was crap. Utterly shit. One of the worst books I've ever read. Gave up just a few pages from the end because I just didn't care. It was just.. "What? Why? Eh?". Joined the exclusive club of "Thrown Out Of The Window For Its Sheer Fucking Pointlessness", along with Bridget Jones' Diary and Atonement.
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Post by katyr on Feb 24, 2009 13:12:12 GMT -1
Shamelessly, cloyingly, relentlessly, manipulatively sentimental; patronisingly-written nonsense. Some people will buy anything. It made me angry. I liked Atonement though.
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Post by bagpuss on Feb 24, 2009 13:18:01 GMT -1
Shamelessly, cloyingly, relentlessly, manipulatively sentimental; patronisingly-written nonsense. Some people will buy anything. It made me angry. I liked Atonement though. I finished it, but only to spite the bloody thing.
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Post by Kez on Mar 6, 2009 14:45:30 GMT -1
I'm reading Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. I kinda liked it at first but I guessed the end about half way through which is always disappointing. I find it difficult to stay with characters I don't really like much. Alright though, nearly finished it.
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Post by katyr on Mar 9, 2009 12:18:57 GMT -1
Jesus fucking Jesus fucking Christ. Just finished The Road, literally hardly able to see the pages through not just tears but huge, rasping sobs. At work. Thank God nobody came in.
I've never read anything quite like that, it's taken me ages to get through it because I've needed to take a few days off here and there just to survive the experience. I honestly can't bring myself to recommend it because it's just too traumatic, but it's one of the best books I've ever read in my life and (and I mean this, honestly) I don't think I'll ever be quite the same again. What an incredible writer he is. But no more Cormac McCarthy for me. It just gets way too far under my skin.
Don't read it. Save yourselves!
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Post by tc on Mar 9, 2009 12:31:19 GMT -1
oooo, now I am really tempted to read that. It's like 'don't touch the switch !!!'
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Post by katyr on Mar 9, 2009 12:36:26 GMT -1
I think a lot of the reason I found it so upsetting is because there's a little boy in it who's roughly the same age as Fin. It's a brilliant book, K. It's dark as fuck though, and about as disturbing as a book can possibly get. Read it at your peril.
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Post by tc on Mar 9, 2009 12:43:07 GMT -1
I like dark books. Truly, I do. Or VERY fluffy
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Post by katyr on Mar 9, 2009 12:44:49 GMT -1
Oh trust me, they really don't come any darker than this one.
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Post by tc on Mar 9, 2009 12:51:39 GMT -1
Let me recommend Tess Gerritsen's Vanish to you. It gallops along, keeps you gripped but isn't horrifically dark. It felt like I was reading a tv script.
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Post by dearling on Mar 12, 2009 17:12:35 GMT -1
The most disturbing book I never finished was The End of Alice. About pedophilia from the pedo's perspective. Well written, but too creepy for me because it WAS so well written. I love AM Homes, though.
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Post by Kez on Mar 16, 2009 9:59:18 GMT -1
Just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Absolutely fantastic. Really recommend it. Sad but beautifully written.
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Post by tc on Mar 18, 2009 12:32:41 GMT -1
In despair in the library yesterday, I ended up taking out 'Adrian Mole - The Cappuccino Years'.
I HATE choosing books, the choice seems to be chick lit or crime or very heavy political stuff.
Oh and I see Tony Parsons every lunch time in the Cafe Nero near my new office. He was giving me funny looks today as I was quietly weeping through a particularly heart wrenching episode of the West Wing on my iPod. GOD, the last series is brilliant.
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