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Book Review the Second
Aug. 1st, 2015 10:48 amNone of the following books were recommended by people on my flist, although they were all recommendations.
A number of my friends are Discworld fans and when I mentioned I'd read The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett they said this was the wrong place to start, despite it being the first book. I ignored them and read the second book The Light Fantastic. It's okay, and I'm very fond of the Luggage, but again it's nothing I'd rave about. They suggested I read Guards! Guards!, so I obliged. I enjoyed it more (nearly missed the train stop at Colchester) but I can't see myself as a keen Discworld fan. On the other hand I can imagine I shall read another in the series next year. (Or maybe two). They're easy reading, so excellent for times when I don't want to think hard.
My next book was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Another external recommendation, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. At 870 pages it took me two months to read. How times have changed - in another life I'd have finished it in less than two weeks. But now most of my reading is for 15 minutes after I've gone to bed. The book survived this very well. The plot is quite slow moving, with a lot of intricate (and interesting) descriptions. Despite my slow progress I found the plot sufficiently intriguing I didn't forget what was happening and I was always keen to read more to find out what happened next. It's different from most of the books I've read (great for my reading more widely goal) and has a number of themes which would normally kick me out of a book. However, the author writes them sufficiently skillfully to keep me in it. I haven't read any of the literary reviews, because I don't need a 'professional's' opinion on it, but if any of my flist have read it, I'd be interested to know their thoughts.
At the same time I was also reading The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. I needed a book I could read on the train and the afore-mentioned 870 pages did not qualify. When we were in Switzerland I mentioned to a couple of my friends I was looking to read more and they asked the sort of things I used to read. On hearing I was keen on historical crime fiction they suggested the Falco series set in Ancient Rome. This is the first in the series and while I initially found the first person POV offputting I got used to it. The plot is convoluted - maybe slightly overmuch - but entertaining. Another series I shall add to my 'continue to read' list.
So there are now books I can remove from my book baskets. Which is just as well, as I have more coming in. This reading lark appears to be addictive.
A number of my friends are Discworld fans and when I mentioned I'd read The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett they said this was the wrong place to start, despite it being the first book. I ignored them and read the second book The Light Fantastic. It's okay, and I'm very fond of the Luggage, but again it's nothing I'd rave about. They suggested I read Guards! Guards!, so I obliged. I enjoyed it more (nearly missed the train stop at Colchester) but I can't see myself as a keen Discworld fan. On the other hand I can imagine I shall read another in the series next year. (Or maybe two). They're easy reading, so excellent for times when I don't want to think hard.
My next book was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Another external recommendation, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. At 870 pages it took me two months to read. How times have changed - in another life I'd have finished it in less than two weeks. But now most of my reading is for 15 minutes after I've gone to bed. The book survived this very well. The plot is quite slow moving, with a lot of intricate (and interesting) descriptions. Despite my slow progress I found the plot sufficiently intriguing I didn't forget what was happening and I was always keen to read more to find out what happened next. It's different from most of the books I've read (great for my reading more widely goal) and has a number of themes which would normally kick me out of a book. However, the author writes them sufficiently skillfully to keep me in it. I haven't read any of the literary reviews, because I don't need a 'professional's' opinion on it, but if any of my flist have read it, I'd be interested to know their thoughts.
At the same time I was also reading The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. I needed a book I could read on the train and the afore-mentioned 870 pages did not qualify. When we were in Switzerland I mentioned to a couple of my friends I was looking to read more and they asked the sort of things I used to read. On hearing I was keen on historical crime fiction they suggested the Falco series set in Ancient Rome. This is the first in the series and while I initially found the first person POV offputting I got used to it. The plot is convoluted - maybe slightly overmuch - but entertaining. Another series I shall add to my 'continue to read' list.
So there are now books I can remove from my book baskets. Which is just as well, as I have more coming in. This reading lark appears to be addictive.
