janeb
New Member
Posts: 25
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Post by janeb on Nov 1, 2010 14:15:09 GMT
well, I love my Kindle! Just back from 12 days in Tunisia and, whereas in previous years I've had to restrict my reading or pay excess baggage, this time I've positively wallowed in all sorts of good/ not-so-good / kids / beach reading material without a care in the world (apart from decisions about what to drink, of course! WV, in her inestimable way, had managed to download 95 books onto it before we left and I've read my way through 13 of them, admittedly some short (a couple of Agatha Christie) but others more chunky (some Trollope - Anthony NOT Joanna). So, all in all, I deem it a success, certainly for travelling. It coped with the beach, although I'm not sure how it would deal with being dropped in the sand. Have had it, and used it a great deal, and have only had to charge the battery once - so very economical to run.
Considering I'm such a book-person I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy using it and manage to 'lose myself in the book' without realising that it isn't one!
(oh, and it's MUCH easier to read in bed than some of the hardbacks I've been struggling with, recently)
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Post by anne on Dec 14, 2010 22:19:19 GMT
I want one now, Jane!
I'm reading The Hotel, which is the first novel (pub 1927) of Elizabeth Bowen - who I haven't read before. Enjoying it too, I wonder what will happen to these varied wealthy women staying in the Italian hotel, watching each other.
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Post by suze on Dec 15, 2010 8:52:14 GMT
I'm amazed you've got any time for reading, guppster!
I've just gobbled up another Sophie Hannah .. I do like her plotting and think she is very good at this crime thriller lark! I really DO read them too fast, can hardly remember it aterwards, like any guilty greedy addiction! I was even reading a few pages when my mate went to the loo while we were out on Monday!
I probably ought to think of a book or two for xmas break ... NOT something I will read in a day and a half!
urm,
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Post by Pauline on Mar 6, 2011 13:49:35 GMT
Read 2 library books & enjoyed them. 1st. 'Godfather of Night. My Life in America's Hidden Mafia' by Kevin Pappas. Another interesting auto-biography. Very informative & an insight into America's law & the way the FBI work. Also, he was brought up a Jehovah's Witness. And as happens, he sort of went back to it (up to a point) later on. ........................ 2nd. 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' by James M. Cain. A crime fiction which I ordered from the library. I wanted to compare the book with the DVD I have of the same name. Both the film & the book are good. They do differ though which does happen. In the book Cora has black hair, whereas in the film, played by Lana Turner, she has platinum blonde hair. And as usual, there are details in the book not shown on film. A great read. And no swear words, which makes for a quality classic. .......... I'll be off to the library tomorrow.
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Post by suze on Mar 6, 2011 22:09:10 GMT
I've been reading a novel which is mainly about Jamaican history, with a focus on the slavery on plantations, not really much new to me there, as I studied slavery in the States in great depth, but still she has made a decent yarn of it, typically I cannot recall title or author ... tsk!
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Post by anne on Mar 6, 2011 22:28:34 GMT
Truman Capote - Other Voices, Other Rooms - beautifully written fictionalized almost-autobiography of part of his boyhood, in rural Alabama. He was lifelong friends with Harper Lee (TKA Mockingbird), and she is portrayed in the novel as Joel's friend, Idabel.
Also reading a collection of Daphne Du Maurier's short stories (mostly her earliest ones), 'The Rendezvous.
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Post by Mark on Mar 7, 2011 0:25:22 GMT
Susan, is it The Long Song by Andrea Levy? That's the book I'm reading without much enthusiasm. Previously I quite liked One Day by David Nicholls, but could have smacked the author in the eye for the dreadful ending.
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Post by suze on Mar 9, 2011 11:50:22 GMT
Susan, is it The Long Song by Andrea Levy? That's the book I'm reading without much enthusiasm. Previously I quite liked One Day by David Nicholls, but could have smacked the author in the eye for the dreadful ending. yes mark, that is it .. I am not overly keen on it, though it is obviously "worthy" it aint much by way of entertainment .. and seems to be getting worse as it goes on! B bought it, and I think she likes them family saga things a bit more than I do .. so I will leave it to her to finish it! tho I did get quite near the end of it! Not read that One Day .. you can lend it to me? I have read another Hilary Mantel .. she does offer a very mixed bag of genres .. her writing style engages me, even when the subject matter isn't really working for me I have yet to tackle her really weighty tomes, Place of greater safety is making a dent in the shelf, and Wolf Hall is still in the shop! my fave so far is Every day is Mother's day ..
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Post by anne on Mar 9, 2011 15:51:24 GMT
DdM's Rendezvous collection hasn't grabbed me very much, although I've still to read the four stories she wrote later in life. Very interesting though, to read these early works, written while she was very young.
I'm reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - not my choice but loaned to me by Minnie. You've probably hear of it - it's a teenage vampire novel, and yes I do like vampires but so far only come across them in Victorian stories and 1940's films. Apparently "there's lots of kissing so it might not be your thing, mum". Eeeeew! ;D
Apart from these, I'm studying our tree identification books and ploughing through the Sunday newspaper. Mark - can't do the Everyman crossword this week - it's hard!
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Post by Mark on Mar 9, 2011 22:03:31 GMT
Anne, maybe we need a cryptic crossword thread so we can help each other to play with language? I completed this week's Everyman if you want any pointers. Some compilers are just too tricky, but generally, just like a jigsaw, the puzzles get easier once you've made a bit of progress. That said, unlike a jigsaw, the last piece is going to be the hardest to find!
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Post by anne on Mar 9, 2011 22:58:04 GMT
Mark - that would be a lovely idea, would you like to start the thread for us?
This Twilight novel isn't too bad actually, but it won't take long to read!
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Post by suze on Mar 21, 2011 15:06:33 GMT
Previously I quite liked One Day by David Nicholls, but could have smacked the author in the eye for the dreadful ending. Just the very day you posted this B bought this one home, as chance would have it ... I am enjoying it, it is funny and all, but now I am nearing the end I wonder if I've got to get my eye poking stick out of retirement? will let you know if the ending annoys me as much as you! x
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Post by Mark on Mar 22, 2011 0:22:28 GMT
I think One Day was written in the hope it would become a film Didn't you find the affair with the Head Teacher a bit implausibly out of character? Still, not a bad read in the main. The ending made me blub.
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Post by suze on Mar 22, 2011 7:45:50 GMT
Ah, blubbing made you want to smack the author in the eye ... !
Hard to discuss without giving massive spoilers for anyone else who might be thinking of reading it, perhaps best left till we meet .. but I thought there was a structural problem keeping going for the last few chapters after what was the real ending in narrative terms .. I might read the last few again more slowly .. I got a bit rushed last night
yes agree the affair with the head was a bit out of character ...
Definitely thiink it has Curtis film written all over it. I had already founnd myself wondering how the aging process would be done in the film .. take an actor in middle of the age range and film them fuzzy for the starting scenes to blur their age and increase the wrinkle make-up for the ending scenes?!
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Post by anne on Mar 23, 2011 11:23:54 GMT
I have a pile of books to start reading - bough a copy of Dorothy Wordsworth's journals which I'm browsing through, especially interested in the Somerset part obviously. What I hadn't known before was the way Worsworth (Mr) used his sister's diaries for inspiration in his own poetry ... The Earth After Us from the library - apparently it's wonderful, and I'm quite intrigued. A Louise Penny detective story for bedtime, one of the Inspector Gramache novels.
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