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09-08-2009, 07:29 PM
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Book recommendations

We can all put book recommendations (or otherwise) here
Please let others know what you have read recently and what you thought.


So, my holiday reads (I'm going to cheat and put the Amazon link to the description of the books, with added personal comments from me)

Narrow Dog to Carcassone
Link to Amazon description This book was in the 'library' at the holiday apartment. I had heard of it before and been recommended to read it. I loved the very dry, very English, writing style, the story/adventure told, the French link and the star of the book - Jim the Whippet.

Guernica
Link
Set in the Spanish Civil War and WW2 and in Basque Spain (which we passed through, hence my interest). It has been compared to Captain Corelli's Mandolin and there are similarities, though I think Bolling's style is a little easier than de Bernieres'. There are some tough passages, as you would expect, the loss of characters one had grown fond of, and maybe a little too much 'saccharine'. However, it was a reasonable read and kept me hooked till the end

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Link
I loved this one (how could you not love a book with a title like that?). Based on Guernsey during the Nazi occupation it is a charming and cleverly written book, with a story told totally in 'letters' - there is no narrative or conversation.

The Overlook
Link
I hadn't come across this author before, though he is obviously a well known and well regarded crime author. This story is not thought to be his best but I enjoyed it - it's fast moving (the whole book only covers a few days) and the characters seem plausible. There is a story twist which completely fooled me, though maybe I would have expected it had I known Connely's work.

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones

Link
I'm not sure about this one. Liked the Edinburgh-ness, and enjoyed some of the eccentric characters and situations but I'm not sure that the whole thing hung together terribly well. I may read it again to make my mind up about it and see if I will look at the other 44 Scotland Street novels.

Angels and Demons
Link
Mr DM says Don't Go There - Life's too short! He did get to the end but spent most of his reading time snorting in derision. The book is left in the apartment, so I won't get the opportunity to waste any of my time on it. I didn't mind The Da Vinci Code, as a holiday read, but apparently the follow up has no merit at all; no lieterary merit and a totally ludicrous story.
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09-08-2009, 07:58 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

I enjoy anything by Jodi Picoult (even before My Sisters Keeper ) John Grisham and Tori Hayden.
I notice that lately Jodi Picoults books are all subtitled "What Would You Do?" which gives you some idea of the dilemmas and moral decisions to be made.
John Grisham keeps me enthralled from beginning to end.
Tori Hayden is real life. Tori is a special needs teacher in America and her books all focus on particular cases. They have a good mix of humour and sadness.
I have just been lent a book by Mary Higgins Clark which I am really enjoying and I have a feeling I will be looking out for more!
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09-08-2009, 08:38 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

I like Jodi Picoult also, and both Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter Carol Higgins Clark. Currently reading The Doomsday Key, James Rollins; the latest in his Sigma Force thrillers. Any sci-fi/fantasy fans here?
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09-08-2009, 08:54 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

Oh dear...
you wouldn`t like the books I read-
Terry Pratchett Diskworld series
a flat world on the back of an inter-stellar turtle

Jim Butcher`s Dresden Files series
Wizard for hire in Chicago

The Jacquot books by Martin O`Brien
French police series

Felix Castor series by Mike Carey
an exorcist for hire in a London where the dead fight back!

the best one I`ve read lately is `A Madness of Angels` by Kate Griffin. A sequel is coming out soo, and I`m really looking forward to it.
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09-08-2009, 08:57 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

Oh yes I would, Claire, just found Terry Pratchett and love him ...hard to find copies at the library here; apparently he's more popular in the UK.
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09-08-2009, 10:49 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

I bought 9 Wheel of Time books recently so I am working my way through those. I like any detective fiction as well. Anne McCaffrey is great.

rune
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09-08-2009, 11:46 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

Originally Posted by rune ->
I bought 9 Wheel of Time books recently so I am working my way through those. I like any detective fiction as well. Anne McCaffrey is great.

rune
I'm a huge Anne McCaffrey fan! Have you read any of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series? Love them!
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10-08-2009, 06:57 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

I've just finished 'Sea of Poppies' by Amitav Ghosh.
I probably wouldn't have chosen it myself, but was given a copy by a friend. However I certainly enjoyed it and I'll definitely read the second book in the trilogy as soon as it's published. In it a rich variety of characters are drawn together, shortly before the Opium Wars, by their passage on the Ibis. Each character has his or her own story to add to this fasinating tale..

Another book I came across recently and enjoyed a lot is 'The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society' by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
It's the only book written by M.A.S. and was completed with the help of her niece due to her illness. It's a delightful mixture of the serious and the light hearted. Its written in the form of a series of letters and revolves around the German occupation of Guernsey.
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10-08-2009, 08:51 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

Originally Posted by Jan ->
I've just finished 'Sea of Poppies' by Amitav Ghosh.
I probably wouldn't have chosen it myself, but was given a copy by a friend. However I certainly enjoyed it and I'll definitely read the second book in the trilogy as soon as it's published. In it a rich variety of characters are drawn together, shortly before the Opium Wars, by their passage on the Ibis. Each character has his or her own story to add to this fasinating tale..

Another book I came across recently and enjoyed a lot is 'The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society' by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
It's the only book written by M.A.S. and was completed with the help of her niece due to her illness. It's a delightful mixture of the serious and the light hearted. Its written in the form of a series of letters and revolves around the German occupation of Guernsey.
That sounds interesting, Jan, will see if the library has it!
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10-08-2009, 09:32 PM
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Re: Book recommendations

Anything by:
Stephen King
Richard Laymon (sadly deceased)
Dean Koontz

...and to lighten the mood, Maeve Binchy
 
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