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I fished Night Sister last evening. It was ok but not great and definitely not scary just a bit creepy and I had the mares figured out almost from the beginning.
I started The Dog Stars that I bought some time ago and it has just been sitting unread on my Kindle. So far, so boring. It's a dystopian type book which I usually like. Hopefully it will get better because my patience is wearing thin.
Finished Cold Comfort Farm, enjoyed it quite a bit. A very nice read. ( did find some of the old British slang or even non-slang a bit to keep up with ). Next up The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Really hoping it grabs me- if not, I will try Plainsong which I know many of you have recommended.
* Written in my own heart's blood by Diana Gabaldon. It took me nearly six months (due to reading only at night) to get through this. I really love the Outlander series but this one was the most boring of the eight books. It got better in the last third and when it enden I was all about "What?!?! Not now!!!"
* The Wolves of London by Mark Morris. That was even for me a little too much fantasy. It was okay to read but I certainly won't get the second part of this series.
* Timecaster by J.A. Konrath. I haven't read that kind of fantasy yet. It was entertaining and a quick read.
* The Forgotten by Jacqueline Druga. I've read many end time books with zombies etc. But this one was just plain awful. Boring, actions that miss something in between but the author thinks you should know about...
* Zombie Patrol (Walking Plague Trilogy #1) by J.R. Rain and Elizabeth Basque. This one was quite okay but leaves much to be desired. It seems some authors just try to write a book in really a short time. You miss the depth of the different characters, the variety of speech and descriptions of places as well as actioins. Too bad! It could have been much better.
Right now I'm about halfway through DEAD: Steve's Story by T.W. Brown which is quite entertaining.
And when in bed I usually read "real" books. At the moment I'm a third deep into "The Diary of Anne Frank". We didn't need to read it at school so I thought I missed something along the way.
It is incredible how complex a 13 year old in these times thought. Her descriptions are precise and very moving. Sometimes I just need a break from fantasy
The Art of War. I also just finished (sort of) The Heart of Everything that Is. This was not really that good, but the reason I didn't finish is because I left the book out in the rain and it got wet.
And when in bed I usually read "real" books. At the moment I'm a third deep into "The Diary of Anne Frank". We didn't need to read it at school so I thought I missed something along the way.
It is incredible how complex a 13 year old in these times thought. Her descriptions are precise and very moving. Sometimes I just need a break from fantasy
Interesting note about Anne Frank. I am reading Simon Wiesenthal's "The Murders Among Us" and learned that Anne's father was the only one of Anne's family to survive the camps, and he forgave their persecutors. Simon and his associates actually found the SS officer that found them in the attic and took them away. Anne's diary was in an attache case that he searched through and he took the diary out and tossed it to the floor. Had he not done this, the story would never have come to light and millions of people would never know what it was like to be a persecuted Jew.
Interesting note about Anne Frank. I am reading Simon Wiesenthal's "The Murders Among Us" and learned that Anne's father was the only one of Anne's family to survive the camps, and he forgave their persecutors. Simon and his associates actually found the SS officer that found them in the attic and took them away. Anne's diary was in an attache case that he searched through and he took the diary out and tossed it to the floor. Had he not done this, the story would never have come to light and millions of people would never know what it was like to be a persecuted Jew.
Very interesting. I knew Anne's father was the only family member to survive. In one of my many college lit courses I took way back when, we read The Diary of Anne Frank (I read in high school too) and I remember learning more about what happened, but never learned the above. I might have to look into reading his book. At some point, I plan to read Miep Gies's book: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004QWZ5W...=IM63LSCMA09CS
I know I’m a minority of one on this thread with what I’m about to say, but I’m reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and I don’t like it. In fact, I dislike it so much that I’m not going to finish it.
There are a couple of things I don’t like about it, but chiefly it feels to me that the author rushed through it. Despite the fact that it’s 700+ pages, I feel like sometimes she just tossed in the first plot device that came to mind to move the story along. The minute I’m reading a non-fantasy book and think “that would never happen” it’s pretty much over for me, and there are several spots in the 250 pages I’ve read so far where that’s happened.
Spoiler
For example, the notion that no one would want an abandoned infant is preposterous. If a baby were found in the garbage, he would immediately go into foster care and there would be 10 families lined up to adopt him, even in South Dakota. There’s no way that a baby would end up at a monastery because no one wanted him.
Last night I was reading Jude’s reasons for moving from the U.S. Attorney’s office to a private firm and he was thinking about how he needed money but didn’t want to tell Harold. Most of his needs were related to medical care, and he was fretting about needing a new wheel chair, but if he were working for the federal government, he would have excellent health insurance. To get around that, the author throws in that Andy, the orthopedist, doesn’t take insurance. That is simply unbelievable. Maybe there are specialists who take cash or Medicaid only, but I’ve never heard of one.
There are other instances, but these are two that brought me up short. It’s entirely possible that it’s me and not the book. I know that fiction is fiction because it’s made up and that you have to be willing to suspend your disbelief or you’ll never get anywhere with it. But there were some jumps I just couldn’t make with A Little Life although I wanted to.
I know I’m a minority of one on this thread with what I’m about to say, but I’m reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and I don’t like it. In fact, I dislike it so much that I’m not going to finish it.
There are a couple of things I don’t like about it, but chiefly it feels to me that the author rushed through it. Despite the fact that it’s 700+ pages, I feel like sometimes she just tossed in the first plot device that came to mind to move the story along. The minute I’m reading a non-fantasy book and think “that would never happen” it’s pretty much over for me, and there are several spots in the 250 pages I’ve read so far where that’s happened.
Spoiler
For example, the notion that no one would want an abandoned infant is preposterous. If a baby were found in the garbage, he would immediately go into foster care and there would be 10 families lined up to adopt him, even in South Dakota. There’s no way that a baby would end up at a monastery because no one wanted him.
Last night I was reading Jude’s reasons for moving from the U.S. Attorney’s office to a private firm and he was thinking about how he needed money but didn’t want to tell Harold. Most of his needs were related to medical care, and he was fretting about needing a new wheel chair, but if he were working for the federal government, he would have excellent health insurance. To get around that, the author throws in that Andy, the orthopedist, doesn’t take insurance. That is simply unbelievable. Maybe there are specialists who take cash or Medicaid only, but I’ve never heard of one.
There are other instances, but these are two that brought me up short. It’s entirely possible that it’s me and not the book. I know that fiction is fiction because it’s made up and that you have to be willing to suspend your disbelief or you’ll never get anywhere with it. But there were some jumps I just couldn’t make with A Little Life although I wanted to.
Oh well. On to the next book!
Oh no, you're not. I did finish the book and then I fumed about it. It felt like I had been cheated out of three years of my life. I thought the writing itself was very good but everything about the plot was preposterous.
Oh no, you're not. I did finish the book and then I fumed about it. It felt like I had been cheated out of three years of my life. I thought the writing itself was very good but everything about the plot was preposterous.
Thanks because I was wondering if I was just being difficult to please. I agree about the writing--it's very good. But I couldn't make my peace with the plot--and not because of the darkness. Just because of the leaps I had to make.
Also--and this isn't the author's fault--I wanted it to be The Goldfinch or The Secret History and it wasn't either of those.
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