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WHAT ARE YOU READING?

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Brownie55
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OK, so what’s the speed of dark?


« on: February 02, 2009, 09:10:38 pm »

What are you reading now?

I have just finished  " Ireland" by Frank Delaney
Front Cover Flap
A novel of huge ambition, beautifully told, Ireland is the unstoppably readable story of a remarkable nation. On a November evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller, the last of a fabled breed, arrives unannounced and mysterious at a house in the Irish countryside. By the fire, he begins to tell the story of this extraordinary island. One of his listeners, a nine-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling that, when the old man leaves, he devotes his life to finding him again.

It is a search that uncovers both passions and mysteries, in the boy's life as well as the old man's. In addition, a remarkable document is quoted from throughout the book - the Storyteller's own chronicle, poignant, sharp and frequently amusing. Together they comprise the narrative of a people, the history of a nation, the telling of Ireland in all its drama, intrigue and heroism, its philosophy, its spirit, its national ego.

Ireland travels through the centuries by way of story after story, from the savage grip of the Ice Age to the green and troubled land of brochures and headlines. Along the way, we meet foolish kings and innocent monks, god-heroes and great works of art, shrewd Norman raiders and envoys from Rome, leaders, lovers and poets. Each illuminates the magic of Ireland, the troubling power of England and the eternal connection to the raw earth.

I will give this book 8/10

I am about to start The Seventh Sacrament by David Hewson
From Publishers Weekly
The intricate fifth thriller from British author Hewson to feature Roman detective Nic Costa (after 2006's The Lizard's Bite) artfully weaves several points-of-view as it shifts between past and present. Fourteen years after seven-year-old Alessio Bramante, the son of an eminent archeology professor, disappeared underneath Rome's ancient Circus Maximus, someone seeking revenge attacks Costa's colleague, Insp. Leo Falcone, who worked on the unsolved case of the missing boy. Falcone and Costa start asking questions that should have been asked during the original bungled investigation. High on their list of people to talk to is Alessio's father, Giorgio, an expert on the tunnels beneath Rome who served time in prison for beating to death one of his students, the chief suspect in his son's disappearance. The subterranean labyrinths just may hold the answers to a mystery whose poignant resolution few readers will anticipate.

So what are you reading?HuhHuhHuhHuhHuh??

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TokGal
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« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2009, 05:07:06 am »

The Family Frying Pan by Bryce Courteney, quite enjoying it too.
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DazzaMc
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« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2009, 09:30:36 pm »

Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)

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In his visionary sequel to Wells's The Time Machine, Baxter continues the adventures of the Time-Traveller. He sends him back to the far future in an attempt to save the Eloi woman Weena, only to find himself in a future timeline diverging from the one he left. Baxter's extraordinary continuation and expansion tackles the usual concerns of the time-travel story - paradox and causality - and goes on to explore many of the themes that taxed Wells: destiny, morality and the perfectibility of the human race.


Scifi rubbish while I wait for the next good read....


Also dipping into; Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End (1953)

Quote
Clarke's third novel fuses science and mysticism in an optimistic treatise describing the transcendence of humankind from petty, warring beings to the guardians of utopia, and beyond. One of the first major works to present alien arrival as beneficent, it describes the slow process of social transformation when the Overlords come to Earth and guide us to the light. Humanity ultimately transcends the physical and joins a cosmic overmind, so ushering in the childhood's end of the title


When ever I feel like a change...

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sparkels
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« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2009, 06:40:59 pm »

At the moment I've just about finished reading 'The Nick of Time' ..by Francis King.  This book was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2003.  It's a story of an illegal immigrant from Kosovo who finds himself in London, where he leads a double life (nothing to do with spying or murder though) ... Francis King was 78 when he wrote this book.

I'd rate it 7 out of 10.   Cheesy

 
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Brownie55
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OK, so what’s the speed of dark?


« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2009, 09:22:58 am »

I am just starting "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.  Thought I would try something non fiction for a change. Will still have to find a good novel for in bed tonight.
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dragontamer
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« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2009, 09:29:03 am »

I've not long finished Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz.  My daughter is applying to her teacher to see if it is suitable for her reading requirement of man's inhumanity.  I think it presents inhumanity at many levels from individual to national, but she has to sell the idea.

Other daughter has just finished the 3rd book of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.  I'm grateful she has finally decided to start reading.  I need to pick up the 4th book this weekend, but worry about what to get her after that. 
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« Reply #6 on: February 13, 2009, 09:41:29 am »

While I was inside my son brought me War and Peace  Shocked

I read all but the last 284 pages of it - quite an engaging story when u get into it.
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Brownie55
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OK, so what’s the speed of dark?


« Reply #7 on: February 13, 2009, 11:30:47 am »

I love  Dean Koontz  far better writer than Stephen King.
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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2009, 01:32:00 pm »

I'm reading a piece of heavy-duty non-fiction at the moment....

The First World War — A Complete History by Martin Gilbert.
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dragontamer
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« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2009, 05:58:42 am »

New Zealand writer Paul Cleave.

I think I'm enjoying his work.  The books are based in and around Christchurch and are action/thrillers.  Not lightweight, but not heavy reading either.  He is definitely a NZ writer who is easier to read than a lot of them.  But man some of his characters are sick puppies!
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« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2009, 09:54:43 pm »

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
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« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2009, 12:52:35 pm »

The Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell
Cell - Stephen King

Just finished - Dean Koontz - The Darkest Night of the Year.

Lucky me - as a book seller I get mine pretty cheap.
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Ferney
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« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2009, 09:10:33 pm »

Roddy Doyle's....The Deportees
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dragontamer
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« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2009, 08:06:04 pm »

I'm reading some of the books I have been getting my daughters.

I've finished book two of the Twilight series and am about to start the third.  In between I'm reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. 

They are all good simple reads.  I can't be bothered with anything deep at the moment.  After a day of data and legalese, I'm all serioused out.
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bump head benny
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« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2009, 12:35:48 pm »

Birds of Prey - about 3 quarters thru.... cant remember the writer? Wilbur Smith mebbe?? anyhoo its all about pirates and Dutch spice traders and treasure and all that good stuff.
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Magoo
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« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2009, 05:08:18 pm »

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=8
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
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dragontamer
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« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2009, 05:42:28 pm »

Is it good magoo?  Are you enjoying it?
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Magoo
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« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2009, 11:13:34 am »

Hi Dragontamer.    It was quite a sad book.   About the life of a Chinese girl.  Her mother died shortly after her birth and was unwanted by her fathers new wife and spent a large amount of her time in boarding schools and an orphanage.     She eventually went on to become a doctor in the UK through her own strength and determination.  There is a sequel called Autumn Leaves but there is a lot of repitition.
Thanks for asking. Grin
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dragontamer
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« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2009, 02:01:28 pm »

I might get it.

I just finished The Host by Stephanie Meyer.  It's even better than the Twilight series.  You can see a real growth in her writing as you go from book to book.  I am so glad I got my daughter it as a follow up to the Twilight series.  You can really relate to the characters.  It's over 600 pages long and I never skipped any of them.
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TokGal
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« Reply #19 on: April 17, 2009, 06:10:17 am »

Have just started Goodbye Holly-Jane by Maureen Peters. It is a murder mystery I think, not my usual sort of reading matter, set in Yorkshire.
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Brownie55
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OK, so what’s the speed of dark?


« Reply #20 on: April 23, 2009, 11:28:08 pm »

Allysia, my grandaughter is hooked on the Twilight series and is begging/hinting me to buy the last book  for her....can't she wait till it comes into work the new price is horrific.
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TokGal
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« Reply #21 on: April 26, 2009, 07:18:10 am »

I finished Goodbye Holly Jane by Maureen Peters the other day and what a twist there was at the end, well not just one twist but TWO!

Halfway through the book you seem to have an idea of how it's going to end, then just before the end this is blown out of the window with what appears to be the problem solved. It is not until the last couple of pages that the real truth comes out and it is not at all how I thought it was going to be.

I really enjoyed the book, as I said before, not my usual kind of reading, but entertaining and thought provoking.
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« Reply #22 on: April 26, 2009, 01:17:55 pm »



               I am in the middle of reading- what came before he shot her-by Elizabeth George,
                even though she has a fair way to go before she reaches P.D.James or Ruth Rendell,
                I think that she is a danm-good whodunnit auther




                  reading this book you know whodunnit at the first page.




                   Why are Female authers a bloody side better at writing whodunnits than male authers?
                                             If you are a female, forget to answer that.
                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                
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TokGal
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« Reply #23 on: May 04, 2009, 06:05:42 pm »

I've just finished Rosemary's Garden by Annie Marks.

Very sad story, but I enjoyed reading it.
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TokGal
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« Reply #24 on: July 23, 2009, 09:55:11 pm »

I'm halfway through Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta". I think maybe I've missed one along the way though, the one before this, though I don't know how because I usually keep an eye out for her new books.
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