Seeing as my second thread has hit 200 posts, and there is a nice round 1/4 of the year to go (come to think of it, that's more of a pointy figure than a round one), I thought I'd start another thread to cover the next three months.
The January-April thread is
here.
The May-September thread is
here.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 11, 2009, 7:45pm.
These are the books read so far this year - but only touchstones for the excellent/interesting/bizarre/otherwise noteworthy books because I refuse to wrestle with over 200 touchstones.
1.
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn
3.
Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
4.
The Food of Love - Anthony Capella
5.
Service with a Smile - PG Wodehouse
6. Lord of Scandal - Nicola Cornick
7. The China Governess - Margery Allingham
8.
People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
9. Miss Verey's Proposal - Nicola Cornick
10. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer
11. The Temptation of Rory Monahan - Elizabeth Bevarly
12. When Jayne met Erik - Elizabeth Bevarly
13. Mrs Pollifax Pursued - Dorothy Gilman
14. Secret Cinderella - Dani Sinclair
15. Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley
16.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino
17. A Civil Contract - Georgette Heyer
18. Jingo - Terry Pratchett
19.
Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum - Richard Fortey
20. The Discovery of Chocolate - James Runcie
21.
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
22. The Heir and the Spare - Maya Rodale
23. Dark Fire - C J Sansom
24. Slightly Scandalous - Mary Balogh
25. You've Got Male - Elizabeth Bevarly
26. Marrying the Captain - Carla Kelly
27. My Lord Footman - Claire Thornton
28. To Deceive a Duke - Amanda McCabe
29. Housemaid Heiress - Elizabeth Beacon
30. The Good Neighbor - Sharon Mignerey
31. Slightly Wicked - Mary Balogh
32. The Sassy Girl's Checklist to Living, Loving and Overcoming - Michelle McKinney Hammond
33. My Nerdy Valentine - Vicki Lewis Thompson
34. Talk Nerdy To Me - Vicki Lewis Thompson
35. A Comfortable Wife - Stephanie Laurens
36.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
37. Speed Dating - Nancy Warren
38. Slow Hands - Leslie Kelly
39. Once a Cowboy - Linda Warren
40. Irresistible Forces - Brenda Jackson
41. Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - BJ Daniels
42. Kiss Me Deadly - Michele Hauf
43. Stranded with a Spy - Merline Lovelace
44. The Luck of the Bodkins - PG Wodehouse
45. The Marriage Bed - Laura Lee Guhrke
46. Slightly Married - Mary Balogh
47. Simply Unforgettable - Mary Balogh
48. The Bride's Baby - Liz Fielding
49. Price of Passion - Susan Napier
50. Snowbound - Janice Kay Johnson
51. Baby Bonanza - Maureen Child
52. A Very Special Delivery - Linda Goondight
53.
44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith
54. Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry
55.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale
56. Heart of the Sea - Nora Roberts
57. Dancing in the Moonlight - RaeAnne Thayne
58. Simply Love - Mary Balogh
59. Simply Magic - Mary Balogh
60. Pale Moon Rider - Marsha Canham
61. Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith
62. Love Over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith
63. Slightly Dangerous - Mary Balogh
64. Simply Perfect - Mary Balogh
65. Seducing Mr Darcy - Gwyn Cready
66. Unmasked - Nicola Cornick
67.
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin
68. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate - Alexander McCall Smith
69. Slightly Tempted - Mary Balogh
70. Slightly Sinful - Mary Balogh
71.
Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer
72. The Money Man's Seduction - Leslie LaFoy
73. The Right Attitude to Rain - Alexander McCall Smith
74. The Careful Use of Compliments - Alexander McCall Smith
75. Hot Water - PG Wodehouse
76.
Pistols for Two - Georgette Heyer
77. Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
78.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
79.
Approaching Easter - Jane Williams
80. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway
81. The Bad Quarto - Jill Paton Walsh
82. The World According to Bertie - Alexander McCall Smith
83.
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
84.
Inferno - Dante Alighieri (trans. Dorothy L. Sayers)
85. Blest Atheist - Elizabeth Mahlou
86. Money for Nothing - PG Wodehouse
87.
The Warden - Anthony Trollope
88.
Beyond Heaving Bosoms - Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
89. The Adventures of Sally - PG Wodehouse
90.
The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
91.
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh
92. The Sweetheart Season - Karen Joy Fowler
93. Dogs and Goddesses - Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart & Lani Diane Rich
94.
Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope
95. Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss - Deb Marlowe
96.
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
97. The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett
98. Married by Mistake - Abby Gaines
99. Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
100. The Mind Readers - Margery Allingham
101.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying - George Orwell
102. A Radical Encounter with God - Greg Haslam
103. The Major and the Country Miss - Dorothy Elbury
104.
His Lady Mistress - Elizabeth Rolls
105. Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride - Elizabeth Rolls
106. A Country Miss in Hanover Square - Anne Herries
107. A Compromised Lady - Elizabeth Rolls
108. The Duke's Cinderella Bride - Carole Mortimer
109. The Billionaire Next Door - Jessica Bird
110.
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
111.
Till We Have Faces - C S Lewis
112. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
113.
The Archivist's Story - Travis Holland
114. Suddenly You - Lisa Kleypas
115.
Dr Thorne - Anthony Trollope
116. Mr Impossible - Loretta Chase
117. Lord Libertine - Gail Ranstrom
118.
Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome
119.
Lord of Scoundrels - Loretta Chase
120. Summer Moonshine - PG Wodehouse
121. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Høeg
122. The Last Hellion - Loretta Chase
123. Gift from the Sea - Ann Schmidt
124.
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
125. The Birds our Teachers - John Stott
126.
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
127. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
128. A Prudent Match - Laura Matthews
129. Express Male - Elizabeth Bevarly (
130.
Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin
131. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - Alexander McCall Smith
132.
1984 - George Orwell
133. The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho
134.
Arthur and George - Julian Barnes
135.
The Dig - John Preston
136. The Case of the Late Pig - Margery Allingham
137. Listen Up: A practical guide to listening to sermons - Christopher Ash
138. Dear Fatty - Dawn French
139. Stuck in Shangri-La - Kasey Michaels
140. Mr Mulliner Speaking - PG Wodehouse
141. Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
142.
Flaubert's Parrot - Julian Barnes
143.
What Happens in London - Julia Quinn
144. Try To Resist Me - Janet Dailey
145. The Lady Chosen - Stephanie Laurens
146. Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett
147. Western Weddings - Gillian Hart, Kate Bridges, Charlene Sands
148. Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess - Christine Merrill
149. Private Confessions - Lori Borrill
150. The Maverick Preacher - Victoria Bylin
151.
Sharpe's Company - Bernard Cornwell
152. The Fashion in Shrouds - Margery Allingham
153. Excellent Woman - Barbara Pym
154. Lord of Fire - Gaelen Foley
155.
Hogfather - Terry Pratchett
156. The Fleeing Heiress - Gayle Buck
157. The Eligible Miss Elliot - Victoria Hinshaw
158. The Surgeon - Kate Bridges
159. The Rake's Defiant Mistress
160. The Wicked Lord Rasenby
161. Desperately Seeking a Duke - Celeste Bradley
162. Lord of Ice - Gaelen Foley
163. A Most Unconventional Courtship - Louise Allen
164.
The Wedding Officer - Anthony Capella
165.
Overture to Death - Ngaio Marsh
166. Marrying the Mistress - Juliet Landon
167. Talk of the Town - Beverly Barton
168. Letting Loose! - Mara Fox
169. Death in Holy Orders - PD James
170.
Jane and Prudence - Barbara Pym
171. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips
172. Arousing Suspicions - Marianne Stillings
173. Satisfaction - Marianne Stillings
174. Killer Charms - Marianne Stillings
175. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers - Xiaolu Guo
176. Galahad at Blandings - PG Wodehouse
177. Midnight Madness - Karen Kendall
178. Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
179. Just Like a Man - Elizabeth Bevarly
180. Beau Crusoe - Carla Kelly
181. Love Letters from a Duke - Elizabeth Boyle
182. The Duke Next Door - Celeste Bradley
183.
The Knowledge of the Holy - A W Tozer
184. The Templar's Penance - Michael Jecks
185. Mort - Terry Pratchett
186. An Innocent Debutante in Hanover Square - Anne Herries
187. Runaway Lady - Claire Thornton
188.
The Scandal of the Season - Sophie Gee
189. Wild and Hexy - Vicki Lewis Thompson
190. Casual Hex - Vicki Lewis Thompson
191. The Earl's Untouched Bride - Annie Burrows
192. The Raven Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt
193. The Leopard Prince - Elizabeth Hoyt
194. Beth and the Bachelor - Susan Mallery
195. The Moving Toyshop - Edmund Crispin
196. The Homeless Heiress - Anne Herries
197. The Honeymoon That Wasn't - Debbi Rawlins
198.
Feet of Clay - Terry Pratchett
199.
Thud! - Terry Pratchett
200. Mistress: Hires for the Billionaire's Pleasure - India Grey
201. The Unexpected Mrs Poillifax - Dorothy Gilman
202. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
203. Vision in White - Nora Roberts
204. The Millionaire's Inexperienced Love Slave - Miranda Lee
205.
The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
206.
Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 1, 2009, 11:08am.
And here's the list
from 1 October:
207. Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett (412pp; rated 5)
208. Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett (381pp; rated 5)
209. Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym (254pp; rated 4)
210. Love and the Single Heiress - Jacquie D'Alessandro (394pp; rated 2)
211. Blue Jeans and a Badge - Nina Bruhns (248pp; rated 3.5)
212. The Bachelorette - Kate Little (182pp; rated 3.5)
213. The Sweet Dove Died - Barbara Pym (168pp; rated 4)
214. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes/But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes - Anita Loos (243pp; rated 4)
215. Light Thickens - Ngaio Marsh (251pp; rated 4)
216. Giotto's Hand - Iain Pears (262pp; rated 4)
217. Frost in May - Antonia White (221pp; rated 4½)
218. Trust a Cowboy - Julie Christenberry (209pp; rated 2)
219. Diamond in the rough -Marie Ferrarella (211pp; rated 4)
220.Her Warrior King - Michelle Willingham (297pp; rated 1.5)
221. Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife - Michelle Styles (299pp; rated 2)
222. Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett (333pp; rated 4)
223. Pyramids - Terry Pratchett (380pp; rated 4)
224. To Kiss a Count - Amanda McCabe (293pp; rated 2.5)
225. Richard III - William Shakespeare (100pp; rated 4)
November226. Guardian of the Flame - T. L. Higley (391pp; rated 3)
227. Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey (222pp; rated 5)
228. The Truth - Terry Pratchett (444pp; rated 4)
229. Bleak House - Charles Dickens (760pp; rated 4)
230. White Nights - Ann Cleeves (392pp; rated 4)
231. Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett (400pp; rated 5)
232. Bonjour Tristesse - Françoise Sagan (113pp rated 4)
233. Crampton Hodnett - Barbara Pym (216pp; rated 4)
234. Died in the Wool - Ngaio Marsh (235pp; rated 3.5)
235. The Brigadier's Daughter - Catherine Marsh (298pp; rated 2.5)
236. Mistress Below Decks - Helen Dickson (299pp; rated 2)
237. A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle (167pp; rated 3.5)
238. Siren's Call - Merline Lovelace (286pp; rated 3)
239. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones - Alexander McCall Smith (328pp; rated 5)
240. Honourable Doctor, Improper Arrangement - Mary Nichols (298pp; rated 3)
December241. Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett (494pp; rated 5)
242. The Franchise Affair - Josephine Tey (278pp; rated 4.5)
243. Cocktail Time - PG Wodehouse (256pp; rated 4)
244. Five Impossible Things to Believe Before Christmas - Kevin Scully (81pp; rated 2)
245. Zoology - Ben Dolnick (291pp; rated 3)
246. Somebody's Daughter - Rebecca Winters (29700; rated 1)
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, wczoraj, 7:55pm.
207.
Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
The Pratchett-reading kick continues. I have a horrid cold this week, so it's actually quite surprising that I haven't gone back to reading fluff romances devoid of anything but entertainment value. Not that this isn't entertaining - it's vastly entertaining - but it has actual content too.
This book was great - lively and entertaining, and with some of my favourite Discworld characters in Vimes and Sybil, and Carrot, and the Patrician.
Someone whose ambitions have overtaken his common sense is trying to oust the Patrician - and his chosen method is the dragon. Sadly, he's overlooked the fact that it can be quite hard to get massive fire-breathing beasts to follow your instructions - and that stealing a book from the Librarian can be almost as dangerous as stealing a city from the Patrician.
The Watch - consisting entirely of Vimes, Nobbs and Colon - suddenly finds its ranks increased rather considerably by the arrival of Carrot, a six-and-a-half-foot dwarf with a tendency to interpret instructions rather literally. Still, men like Carrot come in rather handy when you have a dragon to arrest.
The Amazonian Lady Sybil is a great character, and Errol the swamp dragon is adorable. This is definitely one of my favourite Pratchett books. 5/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 1, 2009, 11:37am.
Got you starred again, Caty!
208.
Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett
This completes my reading of the Discworld City Watch subseries, and I have really enjoyed them all.
This book works on a lot of levels: it's got all the usual wit and humour, and it also works as a police-procedural mystery. There are the usual troll-dwarf tensions, the Patrician is on fine form (although things go a bit awry when he - shock! horror! -
miscalculates) and the arrival in the Watch of the werewolf Angua brings just a little bit of extra chaos. 5/5.
I'm here too :)
#5/7
*Waves hello*209.
Some Tame Gazelle - Barbara Pym
From the back cover:
"Together yet alone, the Misses Bede occupy the central crossroads of parish life. Harriet, plump, elegant and jolly, likes nothing better than to make a fuss of new curates, secure in the knowledge that Count Ricardo Bianco will propose to her yet again this year. Belinda, meanwhile, has harboured sober feelings of devotion towards Archdeacon Hoccleve for thirty years.
"Then into their quiet, comfortable lives comes a famous librarian, Nathaniel Mold, and a bishop from Africa, Theodore Grote - who each take to calling on the sisters for rather more unsettling reasons."
I enjoyed this book, but not as much as the other Barbara Pym books I've read recently (
Excellent Women and
Jane and Prudence). The characters were as entertaining and well-written as I expected, and the merry-go-round of marriage proposals and unrequited love made a good story. I love the way Pym could show the essence and the quirks of a character and personality through her writing, and I find her humour appealing. I think, though, that there was too much about too many of these characters that I didn't like, which dropped it down to a 4/5.
also just here to star - both Pym and Pratchett are on my list of authors that I must check out one day (Soon).
Just dropped in to thank you for your review of A.W. Tozer's book
The Knowledge of the Holy. What a terrific book! I just read it the other day and keep thinking about it, which for me, is a definite sign of a 5-star book.
Glad you enjoyed it, Stasia. It's an amazing book, isn't it?
210.
Love and the Single Heiress - Jacquie D'Alessandro
Historical Romance. The romance part was significantly more convincing than the historical part, and the suspense subplot felt tacked on. Meh. 2/5.
211.
Blue Jeans and a Badge - Nina Bruhns
Contemporary Romance with strong suspense element. The suspense part of the plot was well written, and the romance was mostly convincing - right up until the last chapter where, after an entire book in which she is driven by a particular goal/ambition, the heroine suddenly decided she wanted to move half way across the country, get married and have babies, and never gave another thought to the stuff that had been driving her for her whole adult life. I can see why the new stuff is now important to her, but not why the old stuff is now completely irrelevant. 3.5 out of 5.
212.
The Bachelorette - Kate Little
Contemporary Romance; re-read. Decent characters, well-written, coherent plot, nothing special. When I put this in my library, I gave it a 4/5 rating from memory. I enjoyed re-reading it, but I think it's a 3.5 rather than a 4 - just a little bit nearer to 'average' than to 'good' than I remembered.
213.
The Sweet Dove Died - Barbara Pym
I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other Pym that I've read, but I still think it's a remarkable book. I think it was less enjoyable for me because Leonora is such a horrid character; I know she's
meant to be selfish and spoiled and catty, and in that respect she's a masterpiece of a character, but it makes the book less fun than some of her others. No less powerful or interesting, but less fun. 4/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 8, 2009, 10:10am.
214.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes AND But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes - Anita Loos
Very clever and quite funny, but I'd had enough by the middle of the second book and ended up just scanning much of the remainder. In retrospect, it probably would have been better not to read the two books back to back, even if they are in one volume. 4 out of 5.
#11: Yes, it is.
#12: I have not yet read
The Sweet Dove Died by Pym. I will definitely be looking for it as I mean to read all of her books.
215.
Light Thickens - Ngaio Marsh
As rehearsals for a performance of Macbeth get under way, strange things start to happen. Strange and deeply unpleasant things. Superstitions lend a sinister edge to shocking pranks ... shocking pranks feed superstitions ... tensions mount ... and finally one night the claymore is used for real.
The murder and resolution in this story take up only the last hundred pages, and make a novella-sized plot. That doesn't mean, however, that the first half of the book is unengaging or superfluous. Marsh builds up the tension in a remarkable way, and creates a strong and chilling sense of impending doom. The characters are reasonably well developed but not brilliant, and the final resolution is perhaps a tad anticlimactic, but on the whole it's a very entertaining book. 4/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 11, 2009, 7:20pm.
I enjoy Ngaio Marsh's books, but have not yet read that one. I will see if I can find it. Thanks for the recommendation, Caty.
#16 You're welcome.
216.
Giotto's Hand - Iain Pears
A well-written, humorous and entertaining mystery. The ending was a little chaotic, but the characters are strong and the narrative is well-paced. 4/5.
#17: I enjoy Pears' Art History series. Not great literature by any stretch, but I had fun with them.
217.
Frost in May - Antonia White
An interesting coming-of-age story about a Catholic convert in an Edwardian convent school. I dare say I missed some of the Catholic nuances, what with being a low-church protestant, but on the whole I thought the book did a good job of showing some of the good and bad things about organised religion, and showing how good devotional practices can be misused and become burdens or weapons. 4½ out of 5.
>13 I like Anita Loos, but I know what you mean about reading them back to back...
I've got a copy of
Frost in May but have put off starting it as I only have 2 out of the remaining 3 in the quartet, and I have a feeling I'm going to want to read the lot one after each other.
I'm falling behind. Oops.
218.
Trust a Cowboy - Julie Christenberry
Contemporary Romance. Unconvincing plot, poor characters. Not impressed. 2/5
219.
Diamond in the rough -Marie Ferrarella
Contemporary Romance. Decent plot, strong characters. 4/5
220.
Her Warrior King - Michelle Willingham.
Historical Romance (Medieval Ireland). Don't ask. Just don't ask. 1.5/5
221.
Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife - Michelle Styles
Historical Romance (Regency). Book not
quite as bad as title. 2/5
222.
Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett
Fantasy: Discworld Industrial. Quite clever, some very good moments, but a bit too similar in tone to some of the other books. 4/5
223.
Pyramids - Terry Pratchett
Fantasy: Discworld gods. Quirky and entertaining, but not brilliant. 4/5
224.
To Kiss a Count - Amanda McCabe
Historical Romance. Meh. 2.5/5
I am officially bored and fed up with romance novels. Again. I am especially bored and fed up with bad, formulaic romance novels with stupid characters and poor settings, but even the better ones aren't really appealing to me. In fact, the chance of
any romance
not striking me as being inane, shallow and pointless is currently minimal. Even #219 struck me as being well-written but essentially shallow and pointless. Time for a break from the genre, I think. A long break. A
very long break.
Over the weekend, I've made serious inroads into
Bleak House,
The Earth: An Intimate History and
The Victorian Governess. Spending seven hours on a train can be a good thing.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 26, 2009, 7:52pm.
#21
The Earth: An Intimate History looks very good, so it has gone onto the wishlist. I'm glad you were so well prepared for your long train ride! I understand what you mean by being fed up with romances for a while. Sometimes they are just the thing, and sometimes you just need a break. From your comments, it's pretty easy to tell that it's time for a break - although when you said "Don't ask. Just don't ask." I was thinking "What? Tell me, what?"
Yes, do tell us! Enquiring minds want to know . . .
#22, 23 Annoying characters doing stupid things, mostly.
I understand romance novel burn out! I burned out on them for several years, and now try and put much more space between them. Btw, thanks for the rec of Beth and the Bachelor, I really enjoyed it!
225.
Richard III - William Shakespeare
Great drama, a somewhat ... um ...
flexible attitude to history, and scarcely a character alive by the end. There are the famous lines ("Now is the winter of our discontent"; "A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!") and some that really ought to be more famous ("fair Saint George,/ Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons!"). Very entertaining. 4/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, paź 31, 2009, 6:55pm.
#26: Very flexible attitude to history :)
226.
Guardian of the Flame - T. L. Higley.
Christian historical fiction - August Early Reviewers.
This engaging work of historical fiction interweaves the political and personal intrigues of Caesar and Cleopatra with story of the widowed keeper of the Pharos lighthouse and the scholarly work of which she is patron. The various strands, including a romance between the lightkeeper and one of Caesar’s centurions, are well balanced, and no one theme or plot dominates.
Three is a strong sense of period, and the political intrigue is fascinating – although the history is a backdrop rather than the focus of the events. The book itself is strongly focuses on the characters: Caesar is a real politician (sorry, politicians – but you know what I mean), Cleopatra is an ambitious and manipulative little madam, and the lightkeeper Sophia broods and rages from the top of her tower. The characters are not badly written, but are not particularly nuanced.
There are a few subplots which seemed a little tacked on to the rest of the story, most notable the identity of the lightkeeper Sophia’s servant Ares, and Sophia’s spiritual exploration of Judaism. I’d been very interested to see how the latter was handled, given that this book was billed as Christian fiction and yet set in Alexandria in 48BC; in the end, it was a negligible part of the book, given little space and making little impact on the story.
I wasn’t gripped by this book, but I did enjoy it. The tension held up well, and the ending was suitably dramatic, if overly tidy and somewhat predictable. The writing wasn’t dire, although neither was it particularly good; I did feel that it was somewhat rough and unpolished in places. As light (rather than serious, detailed and scholarly) historical fiction the book worked reasonably well. I wouldn’t go out of my way to read more of the author’s books, but I’d be willing to give them a read if I came across them while browsing; I wouldn’t specifically recommend the book, but neither would I advise anyone not to read it.
3/5.
#28 "this book was billed as Christian fiction and yet set in Alexandria in 48BC"
So, what is the point then? How can a book be Christian fiction if the setting is BCE? Is is just that the author is Christian?
I feel a rant coming on re: Christian fiction, so I won't say more, but I'm curious about your thoughts about it. Thanks for the candid comments, I think I'll give the book a pass.
#29 The strand of Judaism to which the character Sophia is drawn, which is that of the elderly Jewish scholar (Sosigenes) who works for her and encourages her to explore his faith, is one which looks very specifically to the imminent coming of a Messiah.
The conversation between Sophia and Sosigenes focuses on reconciliation with and relationship with God. Although it's dealing with Judaism rather than Christianity, it seems to me that it's written with the expectation that it will be read through the lens of Christianity, and that the reader is explicitly intended to see Sosigenes' faith as anticipating Christ. I couldn't decide (and so didn't comment in the review) whether or not Sosigenes' theology was anachronistic; it reminded me a little of Simeon in Luke 2, but I don't know enough about the varying schools of Jewish thought at the time to reach a definite conclusion. I did feel that the understanding of the identity and role of the Messiah was very 'Christian' for a Jew of the period, but whether impossibly so I couldn't say.
Really, though, there's very little time or space given to religion in the book. Maybe a couple of pages in total. If it didn't say "Fiction/Christian/Historical" on the back cover (and if I didn't know it was from a Christian publishing company) I'd never have put it down as Christian fiction.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 3, 2009, 2:28pm.
#30 I don't know enough about Judaism to say whether the position you describe is realistic or not. But it raises an interesting thought - would modern Christians even recognize the Jewish teachings of 1st century BC? How accurate/representative are the New Testament descriptions? Your last comments make me think that the cover label has as much to do with marketing than any real description, though. Thanks for the clarifications. Still giving the book a pass! :-)
#31 This whole thing has intrigued me a bit; I might have to go and find out more about 1stC BC Judaism.
227.
Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
My first by this author, and I loved it. Having read Shakespeare's
Richard III and now this book within the space of a few days, I've ordered a few more books about Richard III to find out more. And another couple of Josephine Tey books, too.
(To anyone who thinks they heard me say last week that I wasn't buying any more books until at least Christmas, I say: you must have imagined it! :) ) The subject matter here is fascinating, and I adore Tey's writing style. She had me hooked with the Midget and the Amazon and the cracks in the ceiling, even before Grant started on his Richard III quest. Wonderful.
5/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 4, 2009, 10:41am.
#32: My absolute favorite by her! You have some very good reading ahead of you in books by Josephine Tey.
BTW - What books about Richard III did you order? (I remember absolutely nothing about book buying promises, lol.)
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 5, 2009, 3:13am.
Aha! When someone I know IRL recommended Josephine Tey, I
knew I'd heard someone around here mention her. Now I know who it was.
I couldn't decide which Richard III books to get, but in the end I ordered
Richard III by Charles Ross and
Richard III: The Great Debate by Paul Murray Kendall. There were a couple more I liked the look of, too, but I thought that those two were more than enough to be going on with.
(I ought to know better than to promise not to buy more books: it usually leads to buy MORE than I do normally. We won't even go into what happened when the buy-one-get-one-free email from Waterstones arrived yesterday.)
I have read the Kendall book, but not the Ross one, so I will look for it. The Kendall book is very good, IMHO. Alison Weir also wrote one called
The Princes in the Tower that is very good, although I disagree with her conclusions.
BTW - there is a Richard III group here on LT if you are interested. I am sure they can give more reading suggestions.
I've gotten hooked on Josephine Tey this year too. Excellent writing. I'm spacing them out so I don't read through her books too quickly.
#37 I've located a copy of
The Sunne in Splendour tucked away in a corner of my dad's study. I shall try to get around to borrowing it.
I've been meaning to get to it since I read
Here Be Dragons about 15 years ago, but I'd forgotten that it was about Richard III so thank you for reminding me.
228.
The Truth - Terry Pratchett
Moveable type comes to the Discworld. Not one of my favourites by Pratchett, but still quite entertaining. 4/5.
229.
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
Comments are possibly a tiny bit spoiler-ishI was trying to catch up to the end of chapter 48 for the group read, and got carried away to the tune of about 200 pages in a day and a bit, and finished the book. I am feeling really rough at the moment with what is hopefully just a really bad cold rather than flu, and Dickens' meandering prose really appealed to me today.
I quite enjoyed large parts of this book. I often wished Dickens would just get to the point, but I did like the characters and the prose. I enjoyed seeing the story from the different perspectives, and I liked having Esther's narrative and the third-person narrative interwoven through the book. Very clever.
The sixty-three billion plot strands were all tied up far more neatly than I expected, and I was relieved that - in amongst the mass culling of characters and the plethora of deathbed scenes - some of the characters not only survived but actually had happy endings.
Still not a major Dickens fan, but grudgingly softening - and even picked up a copy of
David Copperfield this week...
4/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 11, 2009, 6:41pm.
Wiadomość została usunięta przez autora
'Scuse multiple deleted posts: I think my internet connection is sneezing almost as much as I am.Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 11, 2009, 6:02pm.
Congratulations on finishing
Bleak House, Caty!
I hope you get to feeling better soon.
Thanks, Stasia.
230.
White Nights - Ann Cleeves
I didn't like this mystery as much as the first of Cleeves's Shetland stories (
Raven Black which I adored and rated at 5/5), but it was still pretty entertaining. I was absolutely certain I knew who the killer was, and why - and I was completely wrong. Cleeves's characters are well-rounded individuals and the Shetland setting is wonderfully evoked, and you can
feel the difference in atmosphere when the protagonists are on the mainland. I definitely intend to get hold of the next book in the series,
Red Bones.
4/5.
231.
Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett
I was determined to wait until this came out in paperback to buy a copy but - as usual when it comes to waiting for books - I failed spectacularly. And I don't regret it.
A lot of people have commented that this is very different from a lot of the Discworld novels; I agree. It's softer, for a start. The biting satire of some books shows a little less fang here, but I don't think the story is weaker for that. The satire and wit are still there, they're just ... better-natured. More cheerful. Amused. There were fewer lines in the book which provoked hysterical laughter, but more which provoked broad smiles.
The new characters of Glenda and Nutt were excellent - classic Pratchett characters - as were the supporting cast of wizards and associated university staff. I also liked seeing a more relaxed side to the Patrician, and thought his character was very well developed. It's not necessary to know much about football in order to appreciate this book - at worst you'll miss a couple of jokes about the offside rule and half-time pies - but the football parts are pretty entertaining. The academic rivalry with Brazeneck, the invention of micromail, the candle vats and the thugs all add the expected detail and richness to the story, and the Academicals' first match is nothing if not eventful.
The Discworld books set in Ankh-Morpork are my favourites, and this was no exception.
5/5.
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, lis 15, 2009, 9:36am.
I hate the fact that my local library is hit and miss with regards to Prachett's books because I have got to read them all in order, don't you know, and tackle every one of the ones on the chart :)
Stasia, can you get them on inter-library loan?
232.
Bonjour Tristesse - Françoise Sagan
Very beautiful, very sad and very French.
4/5.
#47: I probably could, but interlibrary loan is such a hassle I would rather not. I will probably just end up buying them all, lol.
#44: I have never heard of Ann Cleeves's Shetland stories. I will look for Raven Black. Thank you!
#49 All my guys (hubby and sons) love Pratchett's books. If you're like them, you'll want to read them over and over. Owning your own set may be a good thing. Plus, they should be easy to find in paperback, since they're so popular.
#51: I have only read one of Pratchett's books (not counting the one he wrote with Neil Gaiman) and I liked it, so that is why in this case, buying the series is preferable to interlibrary loan.
#51
Guards! Guards! is my favorite Pratchett, followed by anything with Vimes and Carrrot and the rest of the Watch.
233.
Crampton Hodnet - Barbara Pym
The usual Pym fare. A little less polished than some of the others - not unexpected for an early work - but there are some wonderful moments. The proposal scene made me laugh, and the girl who was annoyed about her unrequited love being requited and thus ruined was a great character. 4/5.
234.
Died in the Wool - Ngaio Marsh
A passable whodunnit, but I found it a bit drawn out and repetitive. I've read better by this author. 3½ out of 5.
Mostly I'm still avoiding romances for the time being, but I strayed back to them a bit this week.
235. The Brigadier's Daughter - Catherine March
Historical Romance: London and St Petersburg, 1876
Passably entertaining, but the heroine is stupid, selfish and annoying (although not as stupid, selfish and annoying as her sister) and isn't sufficiently redeemed to make me think she deserves a happy ending with her sensible and much-put-upon hero. Pacing and period detail were strong, I thought, but I wasn't keen on the plot.
Rated 2½ out of 5.
236. Mistress Below Decks - Helen Dickson
Historical Romance: Cornwall, North Africa and bits of ocean in between, 1721
Another stupid and reckless heroine, and the villain was a bit too comic-book. Again, the pacing and the period atmosphere were okay - but the cabin-boy-in-disguise bit and some of the North Africa sections were a bit trite, and I'd have appreciated a historical note about the accuracy or made-up-ness* of the piracy/slavery stuff.
Rated 2 out of 5.
237.
A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
Classic Crime
The first Sherlock Holmes story. I enjoyed it, but the structure was a little disconcerting. I have a pile of other Sherlock Holmes stories waiting; on the whole I like Doyle's writing, but I'm hoping the others in the TBR are less structurally confusing.
Rated 3½ out of 5.
238.
Siren's Call - Merline Lovelace
Historical Romance: Ancient Greece, 431BC
Strong character development and decent plot, though it feels a little repetitive at times. The heroine is reckless and a little annoying at the start, but is well-written and is redeemed. The regular use of
aye,
nay,
'tis,
'twould and the like is
really irritating; it bugs me at the best of times, but for characters who would have been communicating in classical Greek it is bizarre.
Rated 3 out of 5.
*There's a real word I want for this, and I can't think of it right now - and it's annoying me that I can't think of it. Anyone able to put me out of my misery?
Edited to correct annoying typoWiadomość zmieniona przez autora, gru 6, 2009, 5:19pm.
239. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones - Alexander McCall SmithI love the 44 Scotland Street stories, and this instalment was no exception. I like the gentle humour and the vividness and reality of the characters. I liked the character development in this volume, which is probably only fully appreciated by reading all the others first: only then do the sheer magnitude of Stuart's rebellion and Bruce's volte-face become apparent. 5/5
240. Honourable Doctor, Improper Arrangement - Mary Nichols With that title, it could only be a Harlequin/Mills & Boon. It's reasonably well-written, with a decently paced plot and sensible, well-rounded characters with distinct personalities. The romance part of the story sits comfortably alongside other plot elements, and if the ending is a little trite it's not unacceptably so.
While it didn't really engage me - I really shouldn't be reading these books, because I really do need a break from them - I would recommend it to fans of the traditional regency.
Edited to correct another annoying typo. Why can't I type this week?Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, gru 6, 2009, 5:22pm.
Somehow I've managed not to finish any books for a fortnight. I'm not sure how I managed that, although it probably has something to do with the many and varied books that I'm somewhere in the middle of.
Anyhow, I have finally finished another book.
241.
Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett
War, Discworld style. Polly Perks needs to find her brother, Paul. But Paul is a soldier - unless he's a prisoner or a casualty - so Polly pretends to be a boy and joins the army. Polly doesn't know a lot about the army, but even she can work out that her fellow recruits (not to mention the sergeant) are quite ... unusual. And Polly doesn't know the half of it.
Very funny, very clever and very powerful. One of the best Discworld novels, and strongly recommended. 5/5.
I am going to read the Discworld series one of these years, I promise!
#59 Go for it.
242. The Franchise Affair - Josephine TeyWhen Marion Sharpe and her mother are accused of kidnapping and beating a young girl, they call in country lawyer Robert Blair. Blair is certain the Sharpes are innocent, and they claim they have never seen the girl before - but the girl, Betty Kane, recounts details of the house and grounds that she could not otherwise have known. Just where was Betty Kane for those weeks, and how did she acquire those bruises?
A very well-written mystery, with strong characters and plenty of atmosphere. The ending is a bit obvious, but the
deus ex machina is acknowledged as such and it's so well put together that it doesn't seem contrived.
4½ out of 5
Edited to rearrange a couple of words to avoid any possible hint of spoilersWiadomość zmieniona przez autora, gru 17, 2009, 2:37pm.
Rachael (FlossieT) recommended this book as well. I hope to read it in 2010. Thanks for your great description.
It was fantastic, wasn't it? Love the way she writes. More Tey in 2010!
>62 I love the way she writes her characters, and she has a great turn of phrase. You learn so much about the town and about Blair in the first couple of pages, all from the way he sits in his office contemplating his tea and biscuits and wondering whether to leave early.
>64 I'd say it's a good place to start. I don't know whether Tey's Alan Grant stories are generally considered a series; even if they are, Grant is a minor figure who appears in a couple of scenes in
The Franchise Affair and he isn't the sleuth, so it stands alone.
Cool. Thanks!
I love Josephine Tey's books. I am hoping to get to them again in 2010.
243.
Cocktail Time - PG Wodehouse
Several parties who all want to get hold of an incriminating letter, a godson in urgent need of a few bob, a disgruntled swan and a butler suffering terrible pangs of unrequited love make life very interesting for the Earl of Ickenham, but he has just the scheme to sort everything out...
A very entertaining offering from Wodehouse, with all the usual elements, but not one of my real favourites. It's slightly unusual in being recognisably set in the 1950s, with references to television and certain characters having served together in the Home Guard.
4/5
244.
Five Impossible Things to Believe Before Christmas - Kevin Scully
A vaguely devotional advent book, of fairly indeterminate theological provenance with the occasional slide into Anglo-Catholicism. Of the five chapters, I found only the one on John 1 and the incarnation particularly interesting. The writing is apt to meander and there are a lot of vague asides, rather as if it were a set of transcripts of sermons that had rather got away from the preacher. It's concise enough, though, and might appeal to someone coming at the subject with significant interest but little knowledge.
2/5.
#70: I think I can safely give that one a pass. Hope your next read is a better one, Caty!
245.
Zoology - Ben Dolnick
A so-so coming of age story set in New York. 18 year old Henry Elinsky drops out of college and ends up spending the summer living with his brother in new York and working at the Central Park Zoo. There's a wide cast of characters, including Newman the Nubian goat, but few of them have much impact on either Henry or on the story: Henry is intensely self-absorbed.
There's an engaging quality to the writing and the characters are well conceived, but there's also a sameness and monotony to the story. For me, that made it a bit of a slog to get through parts of it. This is Dolnick's début novel, and as a first novel it's not bad. 3/5.
Sounds like I will be skipping that one too.
>73 And this one, too, I expect.
246.
Somebody's Daughter - Rebecca Winters
Category Romance. I had an hour and a half to kill and reading this seemed like a good idea. Now, not so much.
** Major Spoilers**Kit Burke, reeling from her mother's deathbed confession that Kit wasn't her biological child but was kidnapped as a baby, goes off to find her real family. In the course of her investigations (which she keeps entirely secret from her possible real family in order not to raise false hopes) she meets and falls (somewhat improbably) in love with a man whom she believes works for her possible long-lost brother. Except, he's hiding his true identity (because he believes she's up to no good) by posing as his own employee.
This being a romance, you know they can't be related, because that would do them out of their happy ending. Nevertheless, the whole midsection of the book when the hero and heroine discover they may be brother and sister is like something from the worst excesses of daytime TV. The fact that the dead mother was an alcoholic, and the man who skipped out on the family and whom Kit thought was her father turns out to be serving 20 years for armed robbery, doesn't exactly do much to negate that impression.
This book quite literally made me feel queasy. Seriously. This is one of very few books I have ever encountered that had an effect comparable (in kind if not degree) to bad shellfish. The prose style is very readable - but why would you want to? Unless you are a die-hard fan of Jerry Springer and stuff of that ilk, don't touch it with a barge pole.
1/5 (on the basis of readable prose - and the merciful blessing of there being no sex in the book, the presence of which would definitely have intensified the likeness to bad shellfish)
Wiadomość zmieniona przez autora, wczoraj, 8:00pm.
You are right, Caty. I am skipping that one as well!
I sure hope you get a decent read soon. Your recent streak of bad ones needs to be broken.
Sounds like a good one to skip.
I sometimes wonder how some books even get to be published.
Hopefully you will have a good read next.
Hope your next read is better than the last two!
(powrót do góry)
