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Evaine, I will look out for those short stories. I like Dorothy L Sayers, I read Strong Poison last year, and I'm currently enjoying the repeat of the televised series on one of the digital ITV channels.
Foolishly, I volunteered to write a paper on Franz Kafka and his work for our local literary society. I have just finished the translation of The Trial, his long story, novel or whatever it's defined as. It doesn't fit neatly into any category. It's difficult and surreal but, although written around 1920, it resonates with the current situation of people being imprisoned without trial and subject to torture. In some sense it is boring and annoying but it is difficult to express why it stays in the mind.
I'll look out for the Peter Wimsey repeats - I can never decide whether I prefer Edward Petherbridge or Ian Carmichael. They both have their charms.
Meanwhile, I've just started Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, on the recommendation of a friend.
The first chapter almost made me throw it across the room - it was set on an archaeological site, and it was All Wrong! However, I persevered, and the main character did get the telling off she thoroughly deserved for her earlier unprofessional behaviour. Thank goodness Kate Mosse made her a volunteer rather than a professional digger. She has researched the history thoroughly, as far as my knowledge of the Cathars goes.
A small digression: three characters have now admired themselves in mirrors so the author could describe their appearances. I thought that was something novice writers were advised not to do.
I'm reading short stories in womens' magazines such as 'Woman's Weekly', 'Take a Break Fiction Feast' at the moment, as I'm still on the Short Story Writing course. I'm looking forward to getting back to my novels, I've got over 80 novels on my bookcases, all waiting to be read, as I just can't stop buying them!!
Having just joined this forum, I'm fascinated to go through the list of books that have been discussed. I have just finished A Room with a View by E.M. Forster - one of those books I've been meaning to ... but never quite got round to .... for years. I'm due to discuss it at my next local Borders reading group in September. It took me a while to get into Forster's writing style, but once there I was hooked. I felt as if I was watching the opening of a lily set in a small pond of stagnant water, as Lucy emerged from her childhood to explore her emotions within the society that existed in the early 20th Century. Now if only I could write like that!
I'm reading Not The End of The World, by Glaswegian writer Christopher Brookmyre - spur of the momeny decision, because someone got me tickets for "An evening with Christopher Brookmyre" in Glasgow in a couple of weeks. However, I'm impressed so far. Not usually the kind of thing I read, but it's one I can't put down.
I have just spent the evening reading a book that's been on my shelf for a little while. A friend of mine sent me the original French version, but I decided to read the translation first: "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie ("Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise"). It's a gripping read, and I honestly can't remember the last time I read a book in a single evening. I'd recommend it to anyone.
I'm rather staggered at just how prolific Talkback has become. There now seems to be more contributions in a day than there was in a week twelve months ago. Reading all that I've missed is becoming a full time occupation.
I've just finished The Bluebird Cafe by Rebecca Smith.
It was easy to read - a fairly lighthearted look into the lives of a few people - and I enjoyed it because it moved along at a fair pace and the writer was able to get into the heads of even quite minor characters.
The only problem (apart from a non sequitur at the top of page 185) was that it stopped suddenly - as though the writer thought "That's enough of that. Time to start the next book"!
A good book to read at bedtime or whenever you want to relax.
Ages ago, I got an omnibus edition of three novels by three different fantasy writers: Wizard of the Pigeons by Megan Lindholm, Fevre Dream by George RR Martin and Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist.
I already knew Wizard of the Pigeons was good, but I hadn't read the others. However, both George RR Martin and Raymond Feist are big names in fantasy, so I thought I'd better get round to reading something by them eventually.
Fevre Dream was basically vampires on Mississipi river boats, with lots of detail about how the paddle steamers were built, and what it was like to be a river boat captain in the wild days of river boat races. Good if a bit gruesome.
I've just started Faerie Tale. Raymond Feist usually writes stories set in a fantasy world. This one is set in this world, but with odd and scary things happening to the characters. It's covering the same sort of territory as Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman, and I'm enjoying it very much.
Currently reading Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston. So far it's a fast paced adventure type, and seems to be keeping me hooked.
I went to the library with the list of all the books recommended on the "Adventure fiction" thread that I started way back, but dissapointingly couldn't find any of them. But one of Douglas Preston's other books *was* on the list, so I thought I'd try this one (plus, anything with dinosaurs is a winner for me).
Recently finished Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson. *That* was a good read, if a little slow to get anywhere. I'm now looking for the sequel to it in the library (which also wasn't in when I last went - grrr).
I've just finished reading Brokeback Mountain. I was looking for clues to incorporate into my short stories so someone will turn one of them into a film! It must have taken a lot of work to transform (right word?) it into a film.
I read Borkeback Mountain a while back (admittedly after I saw the film). It was a lot shorter than I expected after the film, but still good. I think most of the scenes in the book are in the film, practically word for word in some cases.
The DVD has a behind the scenes making-of kind of thing, and the people who did the screenplay adaptation said that basically to make it into a feature film they had to exptrapolate a lot about Jack and Ennis's family lives from little things that were said or hinted in the story, since the book mainly fucuses on the times they are together.
Pretty good adaptation, nevertheless. The bits that the screenplay created still felt true to the original, even though they weren't actually in it.
Just started reading "Watching the English" by Kate Fox, a book about the 'hidden rules of English behaviour'. Kate's an anthropologist, so I'm looking forward to some observational gems...
Have just finished reading "Talk to the Hand" by Lynne Truss (of Eats, Shoots & Leaves fame), all about 'the utter bloody rudeness of everyday life' as she puts it. An ok book, more of a personal rant than anything else, but funny in places.
Finished "Fleshmarket Close" by Ian Rankin yesterday, most excellent. I generally read more non-fiction than fiction, but do enjoy crime novels enormously.
I am currently reading The Razor's Edge by William Somerset Maugham. I've previously read two of his books, The Painted Veil and Up At The Villa. Both were very good and beautifully written.
I am currently reading The Razor's Edge by William Somerset Maugham. I've previously read two of his books, The Painted Veil and Up At The Villa. Both were very good and beautifully written.
"An authentic historical epic" ........ that's what it said on the first website when I put "Sandra Worth" into Google! (She should be forbidden ever to write about English history again.)
I wanted to check whether my suspicion was correct - that the writer of such quasi-historical junk was actually an American.
With apologies to any Americans who prefer to tell the truth.
Crazy Love by Tom Lennon. Actually, I've just finished it. I recommend it. It's unusual in that it's sort of written in the second person, but he's really talking to himself throughout. 'Paul is twenty-eight, married, with a baby ... But [his] life is a lie ... designed to his his homosexuality.'
Having just finished Inkheart (Cornelia Funke) I have just about devoured Island By Jane Rogers on the bus to and from work today. A very quick read, about a girl who never knew her mother and now at 29 she feels her mother should pay for her miserable life and has gone to find her and kill her - haven't quite finished yet! I do however fancy a really good love story, having just watched Pride & Prejudice. Other than Jane Austen - can anyone recommend a good love story?
OK, thanks for the recommendations. However, since I read on the bus, I'm not sure a book that sad is right for me - I cry at the least bit thing. I don't want to have the rest of the bus in hysterics! Maybe Wuthering Heights could be next on the list.
Thanks again!
have just finished 'magyck' by angie sage. as far as kids books go, it was very well written, was very imaginative. but it isnt anywhere near as good as the redwall books or tamora pierce's books.
i think now i shall read 'kidulthood' by noel clarke. its based on the screenplay of a tv programme (going by the same title). cant quite remembers the full storyline, but i think tis along the lines of, someone kills themselves at a school due to bullying and the programme/book follows how different people deal with and carry on.
At the moment, too many! No, you can never have too many books on the go at one time. Salam Falls by Jodi Picoult which I am finding a brilliant read and the way in which you are drawn into each characters situation in short snippets makes it for easy and enjoyable reading. Vinegar Soup by Miles Gibson, odd but interesting. Love Lessons by Jacqueline Wilson. The woman can do no wrong really. Tim Burton Interviews edited by Kristian Fraga. A fascinating book, allowing me to crawl inside the mind of my favourite director of all time. Othello by you know who (for college) and have just finished A Room With A View by EM Forster (also for college), which I adored, especially the chapter featuring the first act of spontaneous passion from George to an unsuspecting Lucy!
kidulthood was short and got right to the point. very quickly read as it is so short. but it shocks you as you soon realise that what happens in the book is becoming more and more real each day. i would recommend it unless you're not a fan of extensive use of strong language and casual sex remarks, some which had me feeling a bit nauseous.
i have just started (you may well have picked up that i generally read one book at a time) 'daughter of the forest' by juliet marillier. first impressions so far, even after a few pages, are that it is beutifully written, very descriptive and a good variation on the fairy tale from which she got the idea.
despite my last comment in the previous brackets, i am also going to flick through 'why men don't have a clue & women always need more shoes' by allan and barbara pease. looks quite interesting, ho humm.
The Sunday paper. I'm two thirds of the way through my first novel and it's happily fence-posted right to the end so I have to rattle on with it. Any time spent on reading a book would feel like time lost, I'm afraid.
'The Other Side of the Story' by Marian Keyes for the second time. I usually find that I either skim through a book or I read each page twice before going on to the next one. Then a year later I will read that book again. This method cuts the time I can spare from writing/editing.
And as for keeping up with WN&WM and Times2...
I've just bought Further Under the Duvet by Marion Keyes, not a novel but a collection of her journalism.
I picked it up last week and glanced at the start(after seeing a brief clip of her reading from one of her books on the Reader,I... programme, and enjoying her style) so went into Smiths today and bought a copy.
Was reading this while I was making the evening meal, it is wonderful, there are really short little personal perspective things, and items that she had published in Marie Clare magazine. Plus some short stories. The piece about the fashion shows is really good, with her description of the models with a rather exagerated lifting their legs up high, and the description of the clothes.
If you see it, buy it.
Im reading the unfortunately-titled Fingering the Family Jewels by Greg Lilly and struggling a bit with the names. Apart from the unbelievable Walterene, theres Emma, Edwina, Ernestine, Eleanor, Earl, Erwin, and Edward, all before page 26.
From a sea of Es to Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell. I got stuck half-way through, but have now made it to the end. It was worth it.
And I was also stuck on Bertram Copes Year by Henry Blake Fuller, but I ploughed on until the end. It was first published in 1919 when people had to be pretty careful what they wrote about homosexuality. By the end, I was left feeling that I still didnt know or like the main character. Maybe thats what the author intended.
Currently reading Supergrasses and Informers by James Morton, the thing is it is written by an author who has an incredible amount of knowledge on the subject, to the point where you can get information blind a lot. I nearly put it down forever a few times but am now within 40 pages of finishing, not a straight read. My punctuation author would find his footnote information complex to understand, he holds strong views on that.
I've just finished Richard Mabey's Home Country, a sort of autobiography which mentions many of the places I hold dear, like Norfolk, Hay-on-Wye and Warwickshire. Richard Mabey wrote Food for Free, and other books on making the most of natural resources, and is a wonderful writer on natural history.
I have had a bit of time off work and have had a binge on buying books; my bookcases are choc-a-block with unread titles, fiction and non-fiction. So I have declared war on them, my mission is to read them and not just buy them. I finished that one I mentioned previously in one sitting and am now reading A.P. Herberts classic The Secret Battle; an excellant read.
A friend lent me Marco's Pendulum, by Thom Madley, a young adult adventure set in Glastonbury. I started reading it last night and couldn't put it down. He's got Glastonbury spot on, has obviously read TC Lethbridge for the pendulum bits (I used to dowse a bit, but I lent the book out and never got it back) and his dialogue is brilliant, from the main character thirteen year olds to hippy grandad, and everyone in between.
If I was to compare it to anything, I'd say a modern Alan Garner's Wierdstone of Brisingamen, I think.
Highly recommended.
having finished 'daughter of the forest', i am now reading the second book in the septimus heap series but angie sage, flyte. dont you just love reading the children's books of today? angie sage's writing is soooo imaginative and original. i would reocmmend these books (first book in the series is 'magyck') to those who enoy fantasy writing and those who enjoy reading new childrens books.
my opinion of 'daughter of the forest'? it was absolutely brilliant! it was so beautifully written and captured the magic of our celtic past. i will read the remaining two books int he trilogy, but need to read alternative authors in between. has anyone else read anything else by julliet marillier?
Comments
Meanwhile, I've just started Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, on the recommendation of a friend.
The first chapter almost made me throw it across the room - it was set on an archaeological site, and it was All Wrong! However, I persevered, and the main character did get the telling off she thoroughly deserved for her earlier unprofessional behaviour. Thank goodness Kate Mosse made her a volunteer rather than a professional digger. She has researched the history thoroughly, as far as my knowledge of the Cathars goes.
A small digression: three characters have now admired themselves in mirrors so the author could describe their appearances. I thought that was something novice writers were advised not to do.
reading a kids book now :D- magyck by angie sage. slight confession, it was the cover that got me and persuaded me to try it out :P.
It was easy to read - a fairly lighthearted look into the lives of a few people - and I enjoyed it because it moved along at a fair pace and the writer was able to get into the heads of even quite minor characters.
The only problem (apart from a non sequitur at the top of page 185) was that it stopped suddenly - as though the writer thought "That's enough of that. Time to start the next book"!
A good book to read at bedtime or whenever you want to relax.
I already knew Wizard of the Pigeons was good, but I hadn't read the others. However, both George RR Martin and Raymond Feist are big names in fantasy, so I thought I'd better get round to reading something by them eventually.
Fevre Dream was basically vampires on Mississipi river boats, with lots of detail about how the paddle steamers were built, and what it was like to be a river boat captain in the wild days of river boat races. Good if a bit gruesome.
I've just started Faerie Tale. Raymond Feist usually writes stories set in a fantasy world. This one is set in this world, but with odd and scary things happening to the characters. It's covering the same sort of territory as Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman, and I'm enjoying it very much.
I went to the library with the list of all the books recommended on the "Adventure fiction" thread that I started way back, but dissapointingly couldn't find any of them. But one of Douglas Preston's other books *was* on the list, so I thought I'd try this one (plus, anything with dinosaurs is a winner for me).
Recently finished Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson. *That* was a good read, if a little slow to get anywhere. I'm now looking for the sequel to it in the library (which also wasn't in when I last went - grrr).
I read Borkeback Mountain a while back (admittedly after I saw the film). It was a lot shorter than I expected after the film, but still good. I think most of the scenes in the book are in the film, practically word for word in some cases.
The DVD has a behind the scenes making-of kind of thing, and the people who did the screenplay adaptation said that basically to make it into a feature film they had to exptrapolate a lot about Jack and Ennis's family lives from little things that were said or hinted in the story, since the book mainly fucuses on the times they are together.
Pretty good adaptation, nevertheless. The bits that the screenplay created still felt true to the original, even though they weren't actually in it.
Have just finished reading "Talk to the Hand" by Lynne Truss (of Eats, Shoots & Leaves fame), all about 'the utter bloody rudeness of everyday life' as she puts it. An ok book, more of a personal rant than anything else, but funny in places.
Finished "Fleshmarket Close" by Ian Rankin yesterday, most excellent. I generally read more non-fiction than fiction, but do enjoy crime novels enormously.
Like some of the writer's other novels*, this has the potential to give me nightmares - so why am I reading it at bedtime?!!
* Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem; Hawksmoor
The Razor's Edge is so far quite promising.
The Razor's Edge is so far quite promising.
I wanted to check whether my suspicion was correct - that the writer of such quasi-historical junk was actually an American.
With apologies to any Americans who prefer to tell the truth.
Thanks again!
i think now i shall read 'kidulthood' by noel clarke. its based on the screenplay of a tv programme (going by the same title). cant quite remembers the full storyline, but i think tis along the lines of, someone kills themselves at a school due to bullying and the programme/book follows how different people deal with and carry on.
i have just started (you may well have picked up that i generally read one book at a time) 'daughter of the forest' by juliet marillier. first impressions so far, even after a few pages, are that it is beutifully written, very descriptive and a good variation on the fairy tale from which she got the idea.
despite my last comment in the previous brackets, i am also going to flick through 'why men don't have a clue & women always need more shoes' by allan and barbara pease. looks quite interesting, ho humm.
And as for keeping up with WN&WM and Times2...
I picked it up last week and glanced at the start(after seeing a brief clip of her reading from one of her books on the Reader,I... programme, and enjoying her style) so went into Smiths today and bought a copy.
If you see it, buy it.
From a sea of Es to Sea of Tranquillity by Paul Russell. I got stuck half-way through, but have now made it to the end. It was worth it.
And I was also stuck on Bertram Copes Year by Henry Blake Fuller, but I ploughed on until the end. It was first published in 1919 when people had to be pretty careful what they wrote about homosexuality. By the end, I was left feeling that I still didnt know or like the main character. Maybe thats what the author intended.
An interesting read, if hard. Needs to be done for research, as there's a lot of detail and a whole chapter about Tiananmen Square.
If I was to compare it to anything, I'd say a modern Alan Garner's Wierdstone of Brisingamen, I think.
Highly recommended.
my opinion of 'daughter of the forest'? it was absolutely brilliant! it was so beautifully written and captured the magic of our celtic past. i will read the remaining two books int he trilogy, but need to read alternative authors in between. has anyone else read anything else by julliet marillier?