Group Reading Log: April 2012

Hope we all got some good April Fools jokes this year. This was a bit of a favourite of mine: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/hands-free-books

I've been having a good reading month already. Finished Natasha: the Biography of Natalie Wood. Interesting life and detailed research, but lacked something in narrative.

And then quickly read The Dream Hunters, a Sandman story by Neil Gaiman. Nice art, too.

Sarah Thornhill was another fast read. Good story, somewhat annoying narrative. Not as good as The Secret River but it was still good to return to the Thornhill family.

And now I'm reading Testament of Youth. It's a chunkster, I may be some time...

I'm about to embark of Howards End Is on the Landing. I've had good reports of it.

Oooh, let me know about that one, I've been curious to read it for some time.

Going slow on Testament of Youth. I was expecting a weep fest, but she's bringing the snark. I like. (And I'm sure once the Great War starts, there will be plenty of time for a weep fest.)

Have a great Easter everyone! I hope the Easter Bunny brings you and yours lots of chocolates and lovely weather!

I haven't been reading so nothing exciting to report. I've just popped in to wish everyone a Happy Easter!! Enjoy!! :)

Oh, I haven't been reading much either. Too much sugar, methinks. (I'm not a fan of chocolate eggs, but I am a fan of choc fudge cookies with three different types of choc chips, apparently. Oink.)

But I did knock over a couple of good graphic novels, The Tale of One Bad Rat and God Save the Queen.

Yes, I too have had too much sugar .... I have to finish The Merry Misogynist which is due back at the library. I have hung on to it for too long. It is the 6th Dr Siri mystery and each book gets better and better. :) There is more waiting to be picked up at the library..... All my requests have come in at the same time ..... This always happens. Sigh!
>5 wookiebender: Those graphic novels look interesting :)

Gosh, everyone's reading Dr Siri! I must get back into that series, it was good.

Carole, One Bad Rat was good, but a bit too straightforward to be a favourite of mine. Although it tackles a difficult issue head on, which is highly commendable and definitely gets a good score for me on that alone. And nice art.

God Save the Queen is about the fight between Mab and Titania for rulership of the Fairy realm. I had to read it twice to fully understand it, but the art was gorgeous, and it was a story that definitely appealed to me.

Oh, it's been so busy of late! I hope we all had a great Easter, and didn't overindulge (too much) on chocolate.

Testament of Youth continues to be great. But I quickly made some time to read The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss, who writes for "Doctor Who", "Sherlock" and "The League of Gentlemen". It's one of those due-back-at-the-library-NOW-no-you-can't-have-another-renewal books. (Must stop getting out so many books from the library!)

It wasn't great. The main character, the oddly named Lucifer Box, was an arrogant prat so it wasn't much fun spending time in his head. Matter of fact, most of the characters were bizarrely named, "Cretaceous Unmann" being one of the more gobsmacking ones. And they weren't quite as great names as Dickens might have chosen...

He's written as a bit of an Oscar Wilde character, but not as witty, sadly.

What mostly annoyed me about Lucifer, is that he's quite a complete bitch to anyone who isn't beautiful and handsome like himself. Not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination.

And a prudery warning to anyone not keen on sex in their books.

And now I'm (hopefully quickly) reading The Somnambulist by Essie Fox, another one of those library books I've had out for Far Too Long. Pretty good so far, I'm rather fond of Victorian pastiche. One plot point was a bit squick however, which has made me a bit nervous for the rest of the book. (Honestly, what grown man falls madly in love with a 13 year old?)

I returned all books to the library .... finished The Merry Misogynist ... loved it!! (and picked up some more that were on hold for me) .... I'm having a struggle with the reading at the moment.... probably due to being greedy .... sigh! I'm halfway through Ruby Blues (library book) and its fast moving ... just like Campaign Ruby was .... but I still have a bookring book on hostage at the moment.

I know, I know, too many books, not enough time...

I've got another three to pick up at the library this weekend. It's that buses thing, where they all arrive at once. Sigh. At least I'm returning more than I'm picking up, this time.

I have heard that Campaign Ruby was good, I should find a copy. Whoops, there I go again...

Finished Somnambulist and once I got into the swing of the over-the-top gothicky goodness of it all, it was rather fun. Tried to cram too much in though, especially towards the end it felt like it was overstaying its welcome rather.

And now I'm trying to cram in Betrayals by Charles Palliser, a post-modern romp. Good fun, but I'm only halfway through and it's due back tomorrow. Sigh. I can see a library fine in my near future...

Not a fine, but a late night up finishing Betrayals. Brilliantly clever stuff.

Am now reading Steinbeck's The Moon is Down, a short propaganda piece from WW2.

I've just started reading Death Comes to Pemberley. I was curious about it, as I think PD James writes intelligently, and this is a bit of a departure from her usual group of characters. (It was the book I bought for myself for St George's day yesterday, when it is traditional to buy a book.)
I've just finished reading Howards End Is on the Landing, which I found really interesting. It's prompted me to read and re-read a lot of the books that Susan Hill found in exploring her own home library for a year, and has also made me think I should try something similar. I have so many books that I haven't read yet, and so many old friends that need to be re-discovered.

I really enjoyed Campaign Ruby I have the next one on order at the library Ruby Blues

livrecache, how come I wasn't told there was a traditional day to buy a book?? That's the sort of knowledge I should have. I've been meaning to get a copy of Howards End is on the Landing for the longest time... I am trying to read off my shelves (only buy for bookgroup reads, mainly), and while I like dusting off some of the older books, I have failed lately with Too Many Library books.

Sally, I've heard good things about the Ruby books! One day!

Back to my reading... The Moon is Down was good, but not as brilliant as other Steinbeck. Propaganda, y'know. (Even if the propaganda is in a Good Cause, it's still pushing an agenda.) Read this great bit of Steinbeck this morning though: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/04/american-democracy-will-have.html

Even a poor Steinbeck is a better book than most out there.

Got sick. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare was a great read while I recuperated. YA urban fantasy with a touch of romance. Better than I was expecting, really quite entertaining at times.

Then tackled Ragnarok by AS Byatt. I liked how she didn't try to modernise it, give them all understandable psyches and neuroses, make us empathise with them. Nope, Loki's just a poster child for ADHD and stuffs everything up because he can; Odin sows the seed of his own destruction (as is standard in myth/tragedy); and apparently the world is made from the body of a dead giant. Somewhat gross, that last point. I didn't know the story of Ragnarok before, so that was great. And I love the sense of reading this tales from a completely different era/society/culture and getting a glimpse into a different world.

And today I finished Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan. A great read. An interesting idea, well fleshed out, and satisfyingly written.

Now I'm getting back into Dykes To Watch Out For and Testament of Youth, that got put to one side in order to get through some library backlog...

#13 Well, what a disappointment Death Comes to Pemberley was. This review reflects my feelings pretty much, except that I felt that P.D. James very much slipped in and out of the Austin voice, and she wasn't coy about talking about such matters as pregnancy which, to me, grated. And, surprisingly, it occurred to me as well that the plot was somewhat Wilkie Collins like. I guess it's worth reading: I had to, but I wish I'd waited and borrowed it from the library. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/books/death-comes-to-pemberley-by-p-d-james-re...

As for St George's Day being the traditional day to buy a book, I mangled that concept somewhat. It's a custom that was traditional in Catalan. Originally, men gave their ladies roses, and the ladies reciprocated by giving them a book. Read more about it here: http://www.ctspanish.com/festivals/stgeorge.htm

#16> I'd rather a book than a rose...

And it's May now! Where does the time go??

Join me over on the May thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/136482# :)