Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime
[quote=forget-me-not]How are you finding it Philip? That's one of the few I have left to read, I've heard it's even more surreal than his usual stuff?[/quote]
I love it. It's the first book of his I've read/am reading, and I will be working through the rest afterwards. It is quite surreal, but amusingly so. For long enough you are wondering how the wild sheep chase will come into it, and then it slaps you in the face. I love his writing style and his metaphors are world class.
[quote=tunna]A great read. And the play is on at the Cottesloe at the moment, if you're within reasonable distance of London. Reviews are good.[/quote]
Tried to win tickets to go, but am still waiting to receive them, so I guess I wasn't lucky. I live in Cornwall, so a bit of a way to go anyway.
[quote=paperbackwriter]This is brilliant. What a wonderful adventure MoiraQ, to receive a bundle like that, and work your way through the treasure[/quote]
It is an adventure and has been an eye opener too.
Now reading A S Byatt's The Children's Book. A bit of a strange one and slow to warm up, but her books often are and I find they are generally worth pursuing.
She does go on a bit sometimes though.
P G Wodhouse, 'A damsel in distress'. I've read all the Jeeves stories and lots of other PGW stories but I don't remember reading this one. It's not as good as the Jeeves stories.
Until I'd found who AS Byatt was, I used to wonder why some people asked me if I was related to anyone named "Drabble", as I understand that AS Byatt was born Antonia Susan Drabble. My surname is Byatt, hence why some people asked, I guess.
[quote=BuickMackane]Trying to fly through Bukowski's Post Office before the library police come and take it back[/quote]
Doing the same with Writer's and Artist's 2012. My own are older versions and usually I can never get near this in the library. Don't you find though when you have to rush through something that you never get a chance to look at it?
Just finished East of Nowhere by Robert Chalmers - wot a great book! Was reading it at all sorts of hours. It's been ages since I found a book that was unputdownable!
Just finished The Wild Sheep Chase and am about to go onto a book I'm sure someone mentioned on here. It might have been Liz. I have a vague recollection of her mentioning it maybe once, or twice. :)
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Just finished The Air Loom Gang by Mike Jay about the intriguing James Tilly Matthews who was committed to Bethlehem (Bedlam) Hospital for accusing Lord Liverpool of treason. A fascinating study of socio-politics at the time of the French Revolution, the history of the three Bedlam and other asylums as well as the emotive subject of schizophrenia.
Yesterday I started reading the crime thriller The Devil's Chimney by Tin Larrick. Set in my home town of Eastbourne - good so far!
Just finished FULL HOUSE by Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes, Romantic Thriller, with some delicious moments of slapstick which are pure Stephanie Plum. Marvellous characterisation by inner monologue.
Just started CATCHING FIRE, Suzanne Collins, second in THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy.
[quote=paperbackwriter]Just finished FULL HOUSE by Janet Evanovich [/quote]
I'm completely up to date with the Stephanie Plumb series, PBW. I love Janet Evanovich's SP books. So you're saying Full House is worth a read?
[quote=Island Girl]So you're saying Full House is worth a read?[/quote]
The plot and female MC are not as wacky as S Plum, although she has her moments. Her inner monologue is really great though. The male lead is good, because he is almost a too-good-to-be-true hero but we take a lot of convincing, which is how it is in real life.
The plot is more straight-laced than the muddles our Steph normally gets herself into, and of course, there is no Lula or Grandma Mazur (comic relief) and no Ranger or Morelli to make your knees tremble. This is because she has written it with a co-author, and it is a crime-thriller type of thing with a strong romantic sub plot.
It does have its wacky moments though, and you can tell where JE has done the writing and it is pure slapstick.
You should enjoy it, I hope so.
I'm now about to start MOCKINGJAY which is Book Three in The Hunger Games series. I am also working my way through Twenty Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias (Writers' Digest Books) to get my outline structure nailed before Nano kicks off. This is by far the best book I've read so far on plotting. He explains the bits other tutors leave out.
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress. She's won 3 Nebula and 1 Hugo Award, amongst others. I'd love just one of those - I'm not greedy. Gotta get published first.
*sighs*
I finished Me Before You - Jojo Moyes - this morning.
I loved it.
Here's my review:
Sometimes you find a book that you enjoy so much that you devour all the extra pages at the back - the acknowledgements, the Q & A and the bit about the author. This is what happened with this book.
It was recommended to me, and in the beginning I was worried that it was going to be Chick Lit - not a favourite genre of mine. It wasn't. It was the compelling and moving story of Will and Louise, told (mainly) through Louise's words.
At the beginning of the story Louise still lives at home and desperately needs a job to help out her parents financially. The options are limited, but there is a six month opening to be the carer of a quadroplegic, Will. At first he is difficult, but as the story unfolds we begin to understand his situation and see the relationship develop between them into something very meaningful.
The question of ethics arises and throughout the book we share Louise's hopes and fears whilst understanding Will's point of view. This is a book that will stay with you long after closing the cover.
Bought at the airport - having decided against 50 shades - Jonas Jonasson's
The Hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared.
I'm only on p73 of 387, and I have to finish it in 10 days so I can leave it for my son to read.
It's weird and funny - and what happens after the man climbs out of the window seems so logical despite being ludicrous.
I am glad I bought it.
The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi (He's Finnish. He has a PhD in String Theory). It's quite the most remarkable and unusual sf book I've picked up in a few years. It's enchanting me.
Ploughing through Ulysses, James Joyce. Parts of it are almost incomprehensible(to me, anyway), but other sections really take my interest. Not a book for anyone with a short attention span.
[quote=paperbackwriter]The Hunger Games. I had to put a reservation on it in the library, to get it.Absolutely gripping from page one.[/quote]
I agree, PBW. I read the trilogy within 2 weeks (and I'm normally a slow reader) and I was hooked right from the begining. Never expected to enjoy them so much.
For the chic-lit fans. I finished reading AIR KISSES by Zoe Foster (Penguin Australia). I loved her writing style. I put up a review on Amazon (see Sheer Delight, the bottom one in 5 stars).
Comments
How are you finding it Philip? That's one of the few I have left to read, I've heard it's even more surreal than his usual stuff?
I'm on Murakami again too: South of the Border, West of the Sun
Recently finished The Accident - Linwood Barclay (one of my favourite writers, though not my favourite book of his).
I love it. It's the first book of his I've read/am reading, and I will be working through the rest afterwards. It is quite surreal, but amusingly so. For long enough you are wondering how the wild sheep chase will come into it, and then it slaps you in the face. I love his writing style and his metaphors are world class.
Just finished TRESPASS by Rose Tremain. Masterly. Satisfying in every way.
Tried to win tickets to go, but am still waiting to receive them, so I guess I wasn't lucky. I live in Cornwall, so a bit of a way to go anyway.
[quote=paperbackwriter]This is brilliant. What a wonderful adventure MoiraQ, to receive a bundle like that, and work your way through the treasure[/quote]
It is an adventure and has been an eye opener too.
She does go on a bit sometimes though.
Until I'd found who AS Byatt was, I used to wonder why some people asked me if I was related to anyone named "Drabble", as I understand that AS Byatt was born Antonia Susan Drabble. My surname is Byatt, hence why some people asked, I guess.
Doing the same with Writer's and Artist's 2012. My own are older versions and usually I can never get near this in the library. Don't you find though when you have to rush through something that you never get a chance to look at it?
That's quite often the case, but sometimes I find that having a limited amount of time gives you a kick up the arse, and it can just pour into you
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Absolutely gripping from page one.
I may need a box of tissues.
Light, by M. John Harrison. Bad.
Journey into Space, by Toby Litt. Ugly.
Yesterday I started reading the crime thriller The Devil's Chimney by Tin Larrick. Set in my home town of Eastbourne - good so far!
1946 Poetry and Chinese sketches of the English Lakes.
Sounds strange but very interesting.
Just started CATCHING FIRE, Suzanne Collins, second in THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy.
I'm completely up to date with the Stephanie Plumb series, PBW. I love Janet Evanovich's SP books. So you're saying Full House is worth a read?
Just finished page 1.
The plot and female MC are not as wacky as S Plum, although she has her moments. Her inner monologue is really great though. The male lead is good, because he is almost a too-good-to-be-true hero but we take a lot of convincing, which is how it is in real life.
The plot is more straight-laced than the muddles our Steph normally gets herself into, and of course, there is no Lula or Grandma Mazur (comic relief) and no Ranger or Morelli to make your knees tremble. This is because she has written it with a co-author, and it is a crime-thriller type of thing with a strong romantic sub plot.
It does have its wacky moments though, and you can tell where JE has done the writing and it is pure slapstick.
You should enjoy it, I hope so.
I'm now about to start MOCKINGJAY which is Book Three in The Hunger Games series. I am also working my way through Twenty Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias (Writers' Digest Books) to get my outline structure nailed before Nano kicks off. This is by far the best book I've read so far on plotting. He explains the bits other tutors leave out.
*sighs*
I loved it.
Here's my review:
Sometimes you find a book that you enjoy so much that you devour all the extra pages at the back - the acknowledgements, the Q & A and the bit about the author. This is what happened with this book.
It was recommended to me, and in the beginning I was worried that it was going to be Chick Lit - not a favourite genre of mine. It wasn't. It was the compelling and moving story of Will and Louise, told (mainly) through Louise's words.
At the beginning of the story Louise still lives at home and desperately needs a job to help out her parents financially. The options are limited, but there is a six month opening to be the carer of a quadroplegic, Will. At first he is difficult, but as the story unfolds we begin to understand his situation and see the relationship develop between them into something very meaningful.
The question of ethics arises and throughout the book we share Louise's hopes and fears whilst understanding Will's point of view. This is a book that will stay with you long after closing the cover.
The Hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared.
I'm only on p73 of 387, and I have to finish it in 10 days so I can leave it for my son to read.
It's weird and funny - and what happens after the man climbs out of the window seems so logical despite being ludicrous.
I am glad I bought it.
Read a whole book of haiku in a couple of bus rides today. Even wrote a couple, too.
Gosh, you're brave. Are you proceeding at a snail's pace?
I'm worried that the reading time required might well exceed my life expectancy.
I agree, PBW. I read the trilogy within 2 weeks (and I'm normally a slow reader) and I was hooked right from the begining. Never expected to enjoy them so much.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0749007273/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_sr_5?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewpoints=0