|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2023 16:32:28 GMT
Thanks for that Bjd. I'm on the fence about Atkinson, so welcome your recommendation of that book. I am reading two books right now, both of which I recommend highly. One is Galore by Michael Crummey I've only read one other of his novels, a book that immediately convinced me that I had to find more by him. Galore is set in the same region and time period in Canada as the other one I read, but is entirely different in treatment. What will pull you in is the overwhelming beauty of his writing and the rich world building will have you transfixed. The other book I'm reading and which I also love, is Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr. Are there any committed readers who have not yet read All the Light We Cannot See? It is a wonderful introduction to this author, although I happened to have read his About Grace first, a book I plan to re-read simply because of the breadth of the author's imagination. His Cloud Cuckoo Land disappointed me, but I'll have to give it another chance on the strength of how many people like it. At any rate, Memory Wall is again dazzling me with the strength of Doerr's always believable imagination and the excellence of his prose. www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/05/memory-wall-anthony-doerr-reviewI'll put this over in the digital book thread, but here is your chance to snap up Memory Wall for only $1.99: www.amazon.com/dp/B003L786UK
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jan 25, 2023 18:55:30 GMT
All the Light We Cannot See. i’ve read it three times. Once I read it while in Saint Malo. I’ll have a look at Memory Wall.
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Jan 25, 2023 19:47:05 GMT
I have not read any of Doerr's books; thank you for the recommendations ...Memory Wall sounds particularly like something I would like to read.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Feb 6, 2023 7:20:53 GMT
I just read a book by a Canadian author, Giles Blunt. It's called Until the Night in English. It turns out that it's one of several featuring the same detectives based in a small city in Ontario (my guess is it's where Mich lives although the name is changed). Of course, it's February, cold, snowy and part of the book takes place high above the Arctic Circle at a research station. I liked it.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Mar 8, 2023 15:22:35 GMT
I just finished a book by Ian MacEwan, Machines Like Me and People Like You. In French, of course, but it's quite good. Set in 1982 but not quite -- the Beatles are still around, Alan Turing is still working, Argentina won the Falklands War and Thatcher has been replaced by Denis Healey. The main character in the book has just bought a robot that looks human. Lots of questions about morality, being human.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Mar 8, 2023 16:30:54 GMT
My oldest granddaughter, who will be sixteen in May, has always been a writer. I’m reading the first book in a "cyberpunk dystopian" trilogy she’s plotted out, complete with character illustrations. It’s not the kind of book I typically read so, while I’m really enjoying seeing how her creative talents have matured, I’m also finding it to be a little bit of a labor of love. She’s asked me, and her aunt, to read with a critical eye, and discuss any plot holes we might see. I’ve already picked up on one thing having to do with trains. Something she wouldn’t have experienced. Her book also appears to have many questions about morality and being human, and almost parallels a bit my experience of growing up in a somewhat segregated society. Lots of deep, heavy questions about human interactions and the origin and development of human behavior.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Mar 8, 2023 16:48:38 GMT
It’s great that she’s writing and I’m sure you’ll continue to encourage her. Makes a nice change to hear youth doing that.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 8, 2023 19:05:31 GMT
Htmb, your granddaughter sounds like a talent to watch for in bookstores when she is a little older. It's very impressive and admirable that she is tackling ethical issues and the like while also able to create a compelling plot.
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Mar 8, 2023 19:38:10 GMT
Htmb , what a privilege that she trusts you to share her writing with you .
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Mar 8, 2023 23:29:23 GMT
Thanks all. Yes, it’s a real privilege and I appreciate how she’s trusted me enough to let me read her draft. It’s like getting a look inside her brain and seeing what she feels as being most important. Lots of youthful optimism, for sure.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Mar 29, 2023 17:57:28 GMT
I found an interesting book at the charity shop: The Angel of Munich by Fabiano Massimi. It's set in Munich in 1931 and Hitler's niece is found dead in the apartment she shares with him. Two policemen are put on the case, then it has to be wrapped up quickly, reopened by Himmler...
|
|
|
Post by whatagain on Mar 29, 2023 20:14:36 GMT
Great to have a writer in the family.
I just had a call from a friend who will send me his book : 'mon avcdaire'.
A wordplay, i let K translate but it is about a man (my friend) nearly dying from an AVC (accident vasculaire cetebral : blood vessel exploding and depriving the brains from oxygzn). His fight to recover, to get back a normal life. Or as normal as possible.
Looking forward to reading it.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 30, 2023 7:50:34 GMT
Brilliant htmb! How exciting (and what a responsibility!). You must have a very good relationship with your granddaughter You too Whatagain...an ibteresting and moving read I'm sure.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 30, 2023 15:33:16 GMT
I am reading The Books of Jacob and am completely hooked by it, even though it covers time, places, & history about which I know nothing. From the NYTimes book review: Set in the mid-18th century, “The Books of Jacob” is about a charismatic self-proclaimed messiah, Jacob Frank, a young Jew who travels through the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires, attracting and repelling crowds and authorities in equal measure.The author, Olga Tokarczuk, was a best-selling author in Poland for decades, [but] was not well known outside her homeland until she became the country’s first author to win the Man Booker International Prize in 2018 for Flights and the Nobel Prize for The Books of Jacob. www.britannica.com/biography/Olga-TokarczukI had never heard of Jacob Frank, so was unaware that he is a real historical figure who led the largest mass apostasy in Jewish history. sourceFrank is hardly the only fleshed-out and compelling figure in this remarkably rich story, as he is seen through the eyes of others who also come alive to us. The exoticism of that period of history in eastern Europe, the travels of Frank and his adherents back and forth across borders, the spotlights on every level of society make for a fascinating kaleidoscope of a book that is every bit as cinematic as anything Dickens wrote. I read an article about how much Tokarczuk admires her translator, Jennifer Croft, who is a breathtakingly admirable person in her own right. Even if you know nothing about her, her translation is so perfect that this long and fairly complicated novel written in Polish easily comes across as having originally been written in English. At any rate, if you're looking for a completely immersive book which will entertain and inform you over a long stretch (the book is over 900 pages long), pick up this remarkable work and start reading. Here is something extra which I found fascinating because of Tokarczuk's background -- she was born in Poland in 1962: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2018/tokarczuk/other-resources/
|
|
|
Post by whatagain on Mar 30, 2023 20:00:56 GMT
I need a good book...
I am reading 3 - all in french, i need to replenish english books, but not that easy here. I usually buy them in a second hand shop here or at airports.
So one is about Mussolini, by an author of the french academy : boring and non explicative. The guy expects the reader to know all around him. I know a lot, but am nevertheless lost ..
Another book about a german Kripo non nazi detective in Berlin in 43 : no real plot, too many unnecessary references to historical events and people. Best to read the stories of Bernie Gunther by Philipp Kerr.
The last one is good. About Valmy, and the beginning explains tbe situation that led to the french revolution. Brilliant. I loved his book about Waterloo, too.
Ah and a bad, real bad book about Napoleon. I consider that Boney was a criminal but this book is depicting him as so bad from birth (inc his parents) that i cannot adhere !
I need a good book...
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Mar 31, 2023 6:48:19 GMT
Whatagain, the book I'm reading is in French: L'Ange de Munich. Not as witty as Philip Kerr, but not bad.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 3, 2023 16:45:04 GMT
Bjd, I think of you as I read the book reported on in #2233, as I think it's something you would really appreciate.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 14, 2023 18:09:10 GMT
Bixa -- I looked it up and I'm sure it's interesting but over 900 pages is a bit daunting right now. Especially since my source of English-language books is about to dry up totally since Amazon has decided to close The Book Depository.
Meanwhile, I am just getting to the end of a re-read of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. I didn't remember anything about it and really enjoy it for a second time, if not the third.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 14, 2023 19:04:03 GMT
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 14, 2023 19:31:52 GMT
Thanks, Bixa. I bookmarked it and will take a longer look. There is also Momox in Germany which sells second-hand books.
The great advantage of the Book Depository is that it sent books all over the world for free. Then Amazon bought them, retained the free mailing but raised prices (competition for Amazon, obviously!). Now Amazon has decided to close it down completely as of the end of April.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 15, 2023 1:53:06 GMT
That is maddening. Better World Books does the same thing. You can check out the link, though, to see if you think it's worth it.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 25, 2023 14:20:50 GMT
Bixa, I decided to take advantage of the last opportunity to buy books in English using The Book Depository and took your advice: my copy of The Books of Jacob arrived today. It's massive!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 25, 2023 15:41:15 GMT
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 28, 2023 20:57:02 GMT
I'm reading a lot of science fiction anthologies atm...I'm 'between authors' having just finished a load of books by Jeremy Robinson (a bit too violent for me but entertaining if unchallenging)
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Apr 29, 2023 2:18:56 GMT
In honor of Earth Day last week, I’ve started reading Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING. Oof.
|
|
|
Post by whatagain on Apr 30, 2023 7:42:47 GMT
I am reading a book about the battle of Verdun, but not well written and, well could be more interesting.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Apr 30, 2023 9:03:14 GMT
I just finished a mystery that takes place in the Landes, where I live, so I always enjoy books that mention places I know or have been to. And am starting a detective story by an Australian author, Dead Girl Sing by Tony Cavanaugh.
Also halfway through a book by a French writer called Manook which takes place in Mongolia. Also a police book but interesting for the completely unknown to me culture and the depressing descriptions of Ulaan Baator and post-Soviet Russia.
|
|
|
Post by whatagain on Apr 30, 2023 13:47:42 GMT
I love polars (detecti e stories) in a foreign environment. Makes me feel like i don't waste my time reading it as there are cultural aspects evoked.
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on May 2, 2023 19:32:17 GMT
I'm reading Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. It's about ultra processed food (UPFs), industrially processed and designed to be addictive. Sounds very dry but it's very wittily written, well researched with a lot of interviews of scientists, doctors and nutrition experts...plus Dr van Tulleken's participation in a 4 week diet only eating UPFs... monitored by a medical and scientific team.
As I say it sounds very dry but I'm enjoying it tremendously. I've GOT to give up sweeteners....
|
|
|
Post by bjd on May 17, 2023 18:06:32 GMT
I just read a detective story called The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. It was pretty good, better than I expected after reading the book jacket. To my surprise, it turns out that Robert Galbraith is in fact J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.
|
|