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Post by bjd on Mar 19, 2022 8:06:24 GMT
She looks as though she would be a hoot. On her videos about Rome, she pedals around on a bike -- proving either bravery or a death wish -- in a red coat and red shoes, with her long white hair flying. Of course, very knowledgeable about her subject and I imagine she would be a great teacher.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2022 20:47:27 GMT
I just finished the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. Since it is in the category of "young adult" (i.e. teenage) fiction, it is a bit frustrating in its prissiness (no sex, no profanity), but that is not really a problem. I once lived in a youthful world without sex or profanity and remember how it was.
Reading this was actually an ordeal for me. The first volume was exciting, but the story slowed more and more in book two as the plot progressed. Things were dismal and bloody and book three was increasingly frustrating. I was ready for everything to be resolved but in fact it just got worse. People died or were maimed and there was an incredible amount of suffering. This seems very odd for me when things like that are deemed acceptable for "young adults" but nothing about sex or profanity.
In spite of all of this, I found the plot complications impressive since they went far beyond what is often presented in this sort of book. I could not figure out how things would end. I am pretty sure that this series must have traumatised quite a few teenagers.
If anybody saw the movie Chaos Walking with Tom Holland, it only covers about 10% of what is in the books and simplifies everything beyond belief.
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Post by bjd on May 10, 2022 5:34:04 GMT
I'm reading a detective story by Elizabeth George: Believing the Lie. I like her books, with the repeating characters and complicated stories. This one mostly takes place in Cumbria, a place I can sort of imagine thanks to Lugg's photos of her trips to the west coasts of Britain.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 10, 2022 5:57:23 GMT
I am reading Madame Bovary, I believe for the third time. Whichever time this is, it is every bit as satisfying a it ever was. There is a reason that several excellent writers over time have characterized it as perfect. Unlike some other enjoyable books that I can't wait to get back to because I want to know what happens next, Madame Bovary makes me want to get back to that perfectly realized world because I want to experience excellence some more.
I mean, look at this ~
... sorrow was engulfed within her soul with soft shrieks such as the winter wind makes in ruined castles."
Since I can't read French, I can only assume the original is every bit as wonderful, if not better.
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Post by fumobici on May 10, 2022 14:30:23 GMT
I am reading Madame Bovary, I believe for the third time. Whichever time this is, it is every bit as satisfying a it ever was. There is a reason that several excellent writers over time have characterized it as perfect. Unlike some other enjoyable books that I can't wait to get back to because I want to know what happens next, Madame Bovary makes me want to get back to that perfectly realized world because I want to experience excellence some more. I mean, look at this ~ ... sorrow was engulfed within her soul with soft shrieks such as the winter wind makes in ruined castles."Since I can't read French, I can only assume the original is every bit as wonderful, if not better. I started in on an Italian translation of that and got sidelined, I need to dig that out and finish it. Thanks for the prompt!
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Post by bixaorellana on May 10, 2022 14:53:32 GMT
I started in on an Italian translation of that and got sidelined, I need to dig that out and finish it. Thanks for the prompt! Oooooo ~ I can only imagine how lush it would be in Italian!
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Post by fumobici on May 11, 2022 14:36:21 GMT
My main surprise was how hilarious it is. I left the book in Italy, so I'll pick the story up again when I'm back.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 11, 2022 15:23:08 GMT
True! It did make me wonder how many people throughout the years have missed how tongue in cheek much of the book is.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 12, 2022 14:29:11 GMT
It was considered completely immoral by many people when it was published. Instant bestseller. There was even a trial for obscenity in 1857.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 16, 2022 4:27:11 GMT
The night after I finished Madame Bovary I got all bummed out when it was time for bed & I realized that there was no more of Emma's world for me to enter. Looking through my large stash of books, I decided that Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions would be the best choice for my next reading. I like to go to something quite different from one book to another. I think, though, that the universe is pushing me into French thought and literature. The supposed main thrust of the book is slightly boring me, but some of the asides, notably a digression on Vicomte de Chateaubriand had me fascinated & even pulled me away from the Auster book so I could look up Madame de Récamier. Be that as it may, I mostly trust Auster as a writer, so am looking forward to continuing with this book & seeing where he takes the reader.
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Post by bjd on May 16, 2022 5:55:48 GMT
Has anyone read Shuggie Baines, the book that won a prize (was it the Booker?)? I took it from the library but realized I didn't feel like reading about hard lives in Glasgow so took it back. I understand it's a good book though.
Meanwhile I'm coasting along mentally reading Judge Ti books by Van Gulik. I found about 6 in a book box a few weeks ago.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 17, 2022 14:22:34 GMT
After having watched the series, I am now reading This Is Going to Hurt. Halfway through, I am finding it pleasant but insignificant. The television adaptation definitely brought it to life more. (at least so far to the point I have reached in the book)
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 14, 2022 14:56:50 GMT
On to a bit more nonfiction, I read Antichute by Julien Dufresne-Lamy. I had never read anything by him except one of his young adult novels about the dangers of social media, quite well done and short enough for the generation that needs to get back to TikTok and Instagram as soon as possible. I will try to read one of his "adult" novels since I am intrigued by the fact that due to what he has written, he has not seen his parents for years.
Anyway, Antichute is about the fact that he started to lose his hair at a young age, and it was a big trauma. He consulted some expensive specialists in France but ended up going to Istanbul for a transplant (hair transplant and plastic surgery capital of the world). So the book is just about his experience, the people he met there, the specialists, the endless transplant operation and the awful wait to see it if really worked or not, which takes about a year (scabs, lotions, special shampoos...). It is not the sort of thing that I would have ever wanted to do, but vanity rarely has a unsurmountable price.
The subject has not been covered all that much as far as I know, the literary value was evident, and I am glad that he is happy now.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 27, 2022 17:17:31 GMT
Just finished Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Absolutely charming ...I gobbled it up.
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Post by bjd on Jun 27, 2022 18:06:38 GMT
I discovered some detective stories by Peter Tremayne. The heroine is Sister Fidelma, a nun and advocate in 7th century Ireland. Of course, I am reading them out of order because I just found one and enjoyed it, so take the others at the library as I find them. Some set in Ireland, some in Brittany.
The author is apparently a specialist in the Celtic world. I do find annoying the use of Irish words and place names, mostly because I am incapable of pronouncing them, their spelling being completely unrelated to pronunciation.
I also just read a book by Kate Morton, The Shifting Fog. The story of an aristocratic family in early 20th century England, told from the point of view of a young maid. Not bad.
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Post by rikita on Jul 3, 2022 19:25:23 GMT
after having read "unorthodox" by deborah feldman a couple of years ago, i started "überbitten" now. just read a paragraph or two though, then didn't have time - but since i am going on vacation in less than a week, i hope i'll have time to continue then.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 5, 2022 17:11:00 GMT
I'm reading Marcher à Kerguelen by novelist François Garde, although this is a non fiction essay of his hike across Kerguelen with some companions. It is an island that is part of the French Antarctic territories. It seems like a little fleck of nothing to most of us, like Saint Helena or Pitcairn, but it is actually as big as Corsica. The non permanent population is 110, all members of the scientific community living in Port-aux-Français. The hikers were dropped at the other end of the island and had a tight schedule to get across the island in time for the next ship.
So far things are not going well. But since the book was published, I am pretty optimistic about the outcome.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 5, 2022 17:35:29 GMT
I'm reading this book, Kingmaker: Winter Pilgrims, which I purchased because it was on deep discount and because it's recommended by Hilary Mantel. The ebook sellers often offer the first book in a series at a cheap price to get people hooked on the series. To my delight, I see this one is still only 99 cents, as I wholeheartedly recommend it. The Wars of the Roses are fairly bewildering in the sense of keeping track of who was claiming what and which justifications were used. This book does a good job of capsulizing the details behind the claimants and their adherents, but I still have to pay attention. I see the reader reviews are all over the place, and Amazon's precis is downright terse. To me the book succeeds on several levels: the history of course, which seems well researched; lots of textural details on everyday life of people both high and low are well woven into the story; realistic-seeming pictures of military aspects; and the way the fortunes of the two main protagonists and the people they meet along the way engage our sympathies and attention. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H4EM530/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title
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Post by bjd on Jul 16, 2022 6:21:22 GMT
Yesterday at the library I found a book in English by Peter May -- a Scot who lives in southwestern France. I have read several of his other books, detective stories, some set in China, some in Scotland and some in France, almost all in translation because I usually get them from the library.
Anyway, the book I found yesterday, The Critic is set near Gaillac (50 km from Toulouse) and a wine-producing area, so that is the background to the book. What is driving me crazy is the number of times he throws in French words for things that have a perfectly good word in English, like terrasse or boulangerie instead of a bakery. I can understand that he will use chai or maybe château, even though most wine producers in the Gaillac area are not chateaus. I feel like writing to the guy and complaining.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 17, 2022 15:36:31 GMT
That drives me crazy too in so many books. However, I suppose it appeals to quite a few people who need to feel "elsewhere" (or should I say "dépaysés"?) On other travel forums, it amuses me how there seems to be a 50/50 split between the people who want to use the local words and the others who use the translations. But even so, I myself am split on certain terms. It pains me to see people talking about the 6th district of Paris instead of the 6th arrondissement, but I totally understand what an unwieldy term "arrondissement" must be for most people.
At least nobody says 'coffee shop' instead of café. (I have actually seen that, so 'nobody' is a lie.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2022 15:39:24 GMT
I'm reading a book that I bought to re-read & featured back in April in Digital Reading & Listening. It's The Book of Salt, by Monique Truong. I remember being charmed by it the first time because it's a fictionalized look, set in 1929, at the domestic life of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein purportedly told by their Vietnamese cook. The cook is tenuously based on a real person who made a brief appearance in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. I first read it so long ago that it feels new again. It's a good story overall, but the truth is that I don't care for Truong's writing, which I find self-indulgent and somewhat purple. Oddly, if I read the book at night the style hardly bothers me, whereas in the daytime it's irritating.
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Post by casimira on Aug 2, 2022 13:57:13 GMT
As soon as I saw it on the display table at the local bookstore, I snatched up Last Chance Texaco, Adventures of an American Troubadour by Rickie Lee Jones.
Difficult to put down it's such a good read.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 29, 2022 17:28:02 GMT
I’m reading God an Anatomy written by an atheist theologian Francesca Stavrakopoulou. Terrific book but you need to concentrate. There’s a lot of information.
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Post by bjd on Dec 29, 2022 19:22:16 GMT
I was just thinking that nobody has posted on this thread lately, so thank you, Mick. In fact, it was to say that I just finished another Peter Tremayne book about Fidelma but see that I mentioned them back in June.
In my book box finds, several books by Arthur Upfield, a series of detective stories about a mixed-race Australian called Napoleon Bonaparte, Boney for short. The books are all set in Australia and are not very recent. The one I just read was published in 1931 so certain things, like getting his tracking ability from his Aboriginal mother and his logical thinking from his English father, would not be acceptable today.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 29, 2022 22:17:59 GMT
bjd wrote: I discovered some detective stories by Peter Tremayne. The heroine is Sister Fidelma, a nun and advocate in 7th century Ireland.I love this sort of thing, so will have to find this series. Yes, good to see this thread brought back to life. I'll quote myself from the digital thread, because that's where I left a little review of some of my recent reading. The book was The Castilians and it was one about which I suspended judgment, suspecting that it wouldn't be all that good. I was wrong! The author not only did extensive research, she is quite good at fleshing out her characters. As the story moves through all three books (apparently a fourth is forthcoming), you painlessly absorb a great deal of fascinating history. There may be a tad more than you wanted to know here & there in the series, but it's reassuring to know that in-depth research was done. And hey -- the second book teaches you how to be a galley slave, should you ever need a career change. " style="max-width:100%;"] I joke, but I did read all of the series one right after the other. Just to ice the cake, each one is quite cheap to buy: www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08NT4VXDH/allbooksAlso in the semi-recent past I read The Winter Soldier, by Daniel Mason who is a dream of a writer. bookmarks.reviews/reviews/all/the-winter-soldier/I just finished The Maiden of All Our Desires, about the plague raging through 14th century Europe. The setting is a convent & its surrounding forest. It was a frustrating read because of the unevenness of the writing. It's not that the author can't write, but he spends so much time on some things that they become boring, and then not enough time on things about which the reader would like to know more. That means when he jumps around in time, you're left scrabbling to make sense of what's going on. Still, I would read another book by Manseau because parts of this one were quite good. Right now I am reading How to be a Tudor, by the wonderful Ruth Goodman, she of The Tudor Farm, The Victorian Farm, etc. fame. It's a non-fiction book examining the daily life of people in that era. She is every bit as fun and informative on the page as she was on tv.
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Post by lugg on Jan 3, 2023 19:06:33 GMT
Has anyone read Shuggie Baines, the book that won a prize (was it the Booker?)? I took it from the library but realized I didn't feel like reading about hard lives in Glasgow so took it back. I understand it's a good book though. Several months later I saw your post - yes I did and after I bought it for my DIL too.We both "enjoyed" it .. Certainly not an easy read. I will probably read it again. Currently reading ( just started ) Shrines of Gaiety I was a huge fan of Kate Atkinson in her early days but not so much latterly. Have hopes for this book though it remains to be seen if it will draw me in to reading any future books.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 6, 2023 2:03:45 GMT
I'm curious to hear what you think of Shrines of Gaiety, as I feel the same as you about Kate Atkinson. Don't know what it was about Shuggie Baines, but I was never tempted. Your comment might push me to be more open-minded. Sometimes I'm just turned off by a cover -- A Little Life comes to mind. Couldn't even stand to look at it! And speaking of covers, you all have to see this. What the doo-dah are they trying to convey here?! Great price, though ~
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Post by bjd on Jan 6, 2023 7:49:53 GMT
Anybody who buys that book on the strength of the cover photo risks disappointment!
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Post by lugg on Jan 6, 2023 19:07:38 GMT
Anybody who buys that book on the strength of the cover photo risks disappointment!
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Post by bjd on Jan 25, 2023 6:09:38 GMT
Speaking of Kate Atkinson -- I just read a book of hers, "One Good Turn", and really liked it. It's set in Edinburgh during the Festival and it's quite amusing.
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