Ooh, a month goes by so quickly and it's my favourite thread again...

Waiting - Ha Jin - I chose this for another online Book Group as their Book of the Month.  Lin waits almost 20 years for his peasant wife to grant him a divorce so he can marry his girlfriend Manna.  During all this time, he remains celibate - intriguing story, very simply told - gives a lot of insight into the social restrictions imposed in China at the time. 8/10

La Cucina - Lily Prior - the delicious tale of Rosa Fiore who leaves her Sicilian village when her lover is murdered by his father.  A tale of food, love with a sprinkling of the Mafia and all set in Italy - if you enjoyed Food of Love I think you'll like this one 8.5/10

Digging To America - Anne Tyler - the tale of two adopted girls from Korea who come to America as babies and how their extended families react and interact.  Very good storyline and I liked the author's insight into relationships. 8.5/10

Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Marukami - my first experience of Marukami, (I have Kafka on the Shore on TBR pile).  Beautifully written with no superfluous frills or fancies. 8/10

The Abortionist's Daughter - Elisabeth Hyde - said to be Picoultesque, good storyline although perhaps not as good as Picoult at her best. 8/10

The Last Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson - the story of Gideon who has had a very repressed childhood in the manse with his timid mother and stern Minister father.  He doesn't believe in God but becomes a minister and later in life, meets with the devil, or does he?  A very dense, literary work - could be viewed as hardgoing at times but it had be gripped - I particularly liked the descriptions of his childhood and his encounter with Old Nick. 9/10 (will be sending to Sarita very soon!)

The Savage Garden - Mark Mills - chanced upon this at the library and glad I didn't buy it!  I liked the concept i.e. a literary thriller involving lots of references to Dante but it was rather obtuse at times and a bit too full of itself, if you know what I mean...7.5/10

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - was wondering how Mr Hosseini could possibly follow up the brilliant Kite Runner but he's exceeded my expectations with this poignant tale of Mariam and Laila.  He's such a good storyteller and he has you completely gripped from the opening chapters.  Loved it `10/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling - and now for something completely different which shows how varied my tastes are.  Great fun, laughter and tears too, fantastic pace - a fitting end to the series. 9.5/10

 A fabulous end to a great month of reading - now what will I go for next?

count:

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. 7/10 Enjoyed it, nothing like Cloud Atlas and loads of 80s nostalgia.

Have you read Number9Dream? I had to study it on my lit course, it really stayed with me...

Have got Cloud Atlas, though not started it yet... what did you make of it?

Alice

Hi Alice, I haven't read Number9Dream, I'll look out for it.  Cloud Atlas was certainly a challenge!  I enjoyed the first few sections but got lost somewhere in the middle and then it all came together and made sense at the end.

BOOKS I LOVED

What we did on our holiday- John Harding

Rowing without Oars- Ulla Carin Lindguist

Notes on a Scandal- Zoe Heller

Life on the Refridgerator Door- Alice Kuipers

Chart Throb- Ben Elton

Beach Babylon- Imogen Edwards Jones

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JKR

Hush Hush- Linda Kavanagh

Heaven and Earth- James Van Praagh

BOOKS THAT WERE JUST OK

I love Capri- Belinda Jones

BOOKS I DIDNT FINISH CAUSE I HATED THEM

Artistic Licence- Katie Fforde

Choices- Erin Kaye

The Face- Dean Koontz

The Halo Effect by M J Rose........ Very Good

Innocent Traitor by Alison Wier......Excellent

Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen.... Very Good

Mortal Remains by Gregory Hall.....Unfinished

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards......OK ( too much hype with this one )

Hollywood Divorces by Jackie Collins...... Good

Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris...... Good

Still reading Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong.......Good so far 

A good month for me helped by my holiday

The Observations - Jane Harris  I was looking in my local library for The Evil Seed by Joanne Harris but it wasn't there but this was on the same shelf and as I had heard so much about it on here I decided to give it a try.  I wasn't disappointed.  I found it a very amusing tale with plenty of Irish and Scottish turns of phrase and as a lover of language this really appealed to me.  Hope she writes more.  9/10

The Island - Victoria Hislop  I started this in time to take it with me to Greece.  I thought it a good book and I enjoyed that the ending was more true to life rather than happy ever after.  I thought it was well written and would read more by this author.  7/10

An Uncommon Murder - Anabel Donald  I came across this author by accident and am really pleased I did.  It is an amateur sleuth crime story written with plenty of humour.  Loved it all and am pleased I have the next book in the series to look forward to.  10/10

Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen  I borrowed this from the Mobile Library and took it on holiday.  I didn't want to take it to the pool/beach in case I got it messy so I only read it in the apartment. I read it in just a few hours and loved every second of it.  It is an easy read, feel-good book - basically chicklit but with a magical element which lifts it out of the ordinary.  Great!  10/10

Finders Keepers - Mark Bowden  An easy to read account of a true story written by a journalist so some of the chapters had a journalistic feel to them.  I enjoyed it though and got through it very quickly.  6/10

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood  I had read this before in 2002 and had put it forward for my reading group.  I would say that it is in my Top 10 of all time but found it difficult to re-read and so could only scan-read it to jog my memory for the meeting.  The book was well received by the reading group and we had a good discussion about it.  10/10

Death and the Oxford Box - Veronica Stallwood  Imagine Miss Marple aged in her 30s and brought forward to the 1990s and you have Kate Ivory the amateur sleuth of this book, the first in a long series which I came across by accident on RiSi.  I enjoyed the book but occasionally got a bit lost with all the characters but I think that was because I was reading it in short bursts rather than big chunks.  I have the next book in the series and will definitely read more.  7/10

Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay  Currently reading this but finding it is taking me a long time but I think that is my fault rather than the book.  Just about a quarter of the way in and not totally gripped yet.

Well, I'm intrigued... hopefully I'll get round to reading it soon...!

I think Number9Dream is meant to be a bit more accessible than Cloud Atlas, so if you like the challenge I'd definitely go for it... it is confusing, but since that's part of the point, I like it (plus, it's so well-written that it's entertaining, not just confusing for the sake of it and dull)

The only thing I would say against it but there is a flashback section in the middle that I didn't like, but then, I'm not a big fan of great chunks of flashback, and often just skip them, so it's probably just my personal prejudice.

It also has the best ending ever! (And I don't say that flippantly...) I absolutely love the last sentence, it's just perfect.

Here are mine:

Frederich Nietzche - the Genealogy of morrals - guilt, Bad conscience and the like

My intelligent read for the month.

Harlan Coben - Just one look

Good read

Terry Pratchett - Wintersmith

Good read although a bit disappointed with ending

Susanna Kaysen - Girl Interrupted

A lot better than the film

Giles Foden - the Last King of Scotland

Good and can't wait to see the movie

Enid Blyton - the Folk of the faraway tree

a reminder from my childhood - very sweet

Sebastien Faulks - Human Traces

Nearly finished and enjoying it.  The birth of Psychiatry

Saucier:

Here are mine:

Frederich Nietzche - the Genealogy of morrals - guilt, Bad conscience and the like

My intelligent read for the month.

Harlan Coben - Just one look

Good read

Susanna Kaysen - Girl Interrupted

A lot better than the film

Did you find the Neitzsche accesible? Have you read much of his?

Am wondering whether to find one of his on here, but not sure where to start... Have tried to read him before, Zarathrustra I think it was, but it was a while ago now...

Bought one of those little introduction books, but didn't find it that enlightening

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Luis Zafon (I think) - Easy to read, good story. 

Spike: An Intimate Memoir - Norma Farnes.  Norma Farnes was Spike Milligans agent.  He was at times a very difficult man, prone to crippling bouts of depression, I found it (as a fan of SM) a fascinating book, full of humour and heartbreak.  Not keen on Peter Sellers after reading this though! 

Waiting for the Day - Leslie Thomas.  Not bad, read most of it whilst delayed at Alicante airport!  The story of several individuals waiting for D-Day.

Sharpe's Fury - Bernard Cornwell.  A bit disappointing, not as good as some of his other Sharpe novels. 

Fried Green Tomatoes - Fannie Flagg.  Lovely book about friendship.  Enjoyed every page. 

Broken - Kelley Armstrong.  Werewolf/Jack the Ripper supernatural thriller. 

The Collectors by David Baldacci  9/10

The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante  10/10

The Missing by Chris Mooney  8/10

The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert  5/10

The Divide by Nicholas Evans   10/10

Too Little, Too Late by Colette Caddle  (didn't finish it, couldn't get into it).

The Dispossessed by Margaret Murphy  10/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows  9/10

Brand New Friend by Mike Gayle  10/10

The Delilah Complex by MJ Rose  7/10

Here's mine for the month

The Notebook    Nicholas Sparks   8/10 nice easy read.

The Rebel Fairy  Deborah Wright   7/10 Not my usual read but quite enjoyed funny in parts.

The Memory Keepers Daughter    7/10 To much expectation from this book I think and  was disappointed.

The Search       Iris Johansen       8/10 First book read by this author and really enjoyed.

Bloodstream   Tess Gerritsen       9/10  As usual a really good read.

Night Time Is My Time     Mary Higgins Clark  10/10 A cracking read really keeps you guessing

Echo Park        Michael Connelly        10/10  An other great book by this author.

The Blue Zone  Andrew Gross   8/10 Not a bad book second half better than first.

Split Second      Alex Kava       10/10   Absolute cracking read couldn't put down.

Not a bad month really.

Not a huge amount of books this month for me

Tenth Circle - Jodi Picoult 7/10 gave up first time round and now glad I read it
Street Kid - Judy westwater - 8/10 good book but getting bit fed up of memoir books so giving them a rest now
The Birth House - Amy Mckay - 9/10 really enjoyed this book
The Book Thief Marcus Zuzack 6/10 did not really enjoy this one
Harry Potter and Half Blood prince again 10/10
Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows 10/10
The Innocent - Harlan Coban 8/10 another good book

Currently reading Broken Angels which I am enjoying

I had a month of re-reads, apparently!

First I re-read 'The Tawny Man' trilogy by Robin Hobb, which I found last month and fell in love with.

Then I re-read Harry Potter 1-6, in time to read ly Hallows :D

My only new book was 'First Rider' by Kristen Britain. Mediocre fantasy - it had a good idea, but it didn't go into it enough and there was far too much blatant 'borrowing' from Mister Tolkein...

The Birth of Venus  Sarah Dunant  8/10

Violets are Blue  James Patterson  8/10

Slave  Mende Nazor  6/10

4 Blind Mice  James Patterson  8/10

The Eight  Katherine Neville  9/10

A Year in Provence (reread ready for hols!)

Toujours Provence  Peter Mayle  8/10

The Apprentice Tess Gerritsen 9/10

Somebody Else's Kids  Torey Hayden 8/10

Currently reading Fred and Rose (about the Wests)

Gave up on The Observations.

count:

Saucier:

Here are mine:

Frederich Nietzche - the Genealogy of morrals - guilt, Bad conscience and the like

My intelligent read for the month.

Harlan Coben - Just one look

Good read

Susanna Kaysen - Girl Interrupted

A lot better than the film

Did you find the Neitzsche accesible? Have you read much of his?

Am wondering whether to find one of his on here, but not sure where to start... Have tried to read him before, Zarathrustra I think it was, but it was a while ago now...

Bought one of those little introduction books, but didn't find it that enlightening

Wouldn't describe as accessible becuase they are bloody hard work to read.  This book was good for me as it is made up of three separate long essays, so I am reading one at a time with a break in between - didn't think I would manage a whole book at one time.  It was just one of my goals to read some of his work and will persevere with it.  Not sure where to start, I started with this one as I recevied a beautiful old copy of the book from a friend and beacuse of the essay format.  Sorry I couldn'tbe of more help.