The Book I Last Read Was...

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GreenTeaBlend

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May 3, 2012, 3:28:20 PM5/3/12
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Little Big Man by Thomas Berger   (Wonderfully wry humor. Haven't read this one in about 35 years. The movie was quite good too.)

snezanabr

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May 3, 2012, 3:37:40 PM5/3/12
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All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy  (quite good)

dbdbdb

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May 3, 2012, 3:39:31 PM5/3/12
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Sum by David Eagleman

A beautiful collection of short reflections (1-3 pages) on rhe afterlife. Whether you believe in the afterlife or not, read this book! It's both exquisite & though- provoking... :)

shell42970

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May 3, 2012, 4:19:46 PM5/3/12
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(Great thread idea, GTB!)

The Book of Joby, by Mark Ferrari.  It was oKAY.  I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.  An interesting mix of biblical and Arthurian fiction, but I learned that I'm not really into either.

GreenTeaBlend

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May 3, 2012, 5:10:39 PM5/3/12
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Shell: got the idea from your comment on Joe's book review post!  :)

Vortexfugue

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May 3, 2012, 5:19:53 PM5/3/12
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Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End by Phil Plait

Wonderfully fascinating page-turner of a book, all the cool ways the earth's population and the earth itself can/will be destroyed!

twinpikes

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May 3, 2012, 6:19:17 PM5/3/12
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Jeb Stuart; The Last Cavalier by Burke Davis. Excellent bio on Lt. Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart, A.C.S.

Vortexfugue

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May 6, 2012, 6:02:28 PM5/6/12
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God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales by Penn Jillette

Penn is my hero and his take on his Penn Commandments (get it? :) are rip-roaring hilarious!

twinpikes

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May 6, 2012, 7:07:42 PM5/6/12
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Princess of Wands by John Ringo

Christian soccer mom/demon-slaying Special Circumstances agent. Unusually for Ringo, no sex. Well, not her anyway, though there is this one priestess of Freya...

Vortexfugue

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May 11, 2012, 12:07:31 PM5/11/12
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Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson

GreenTeaBlend

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May 14, 2012, 1:42:21 PM5/14/12
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The Litigators by John Grisham

Grisham is back!  His last few books have been mediocre, IMO. This one hearkens back to the style of his early legal thrillers and was a joy to read. Highly recommended.

MumZau

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May 15, 2012, 8:46:15 AM5/15/12
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pretty good. - The Birth Of A New Moon by Laurie R King.  I like her easily digested writing style and if you are toying with the idea of joining a cult, then do read this first.

twinpikes

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May 18, 2012, 6:55:12 PM5/18/12
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Diana: the Making of a Terrorist by Thomas Powers. Good read on how a middle-class girl got drawn first into student activism then through stages into domestic terrorism.

shell42970

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May 19, 2012, 8:31:56 AM5/19/12
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The Islanders, by Christopher Priest.  
I didn't like this one, which was disappointing, because I really enjoyed The Prestige.  While the writing was very good, the book felt too much like Priest had a handful of good story ideas that weren't rich enough to expand into full novels, so he mashed them all into this book, instead, making each new chapter (or island) a new story - most of which had no resolution whatsoever (another thing that drives me crazy in a book).

snezanabr

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May 20, 2012, 10:40:44 AM5/20/12
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"I curse the river of time" by Per Petterson. A very good book, describing the current relationship between Arvid, the main character, and his terminally sick mother and his memories of the days past. The portrait of his mother is an especially interesting one, there's little description but you get a real good idea of her strong personality.

Vortexfugue

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May 21, 2012, 9:22:39 AM5/21/12
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The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of Elements by Sam Kean

A mouthful of a title, but it sure is accurate, fascinating exploration of all the elements, what they can do and what they have done, from poisons to war to life to, well everything.. a fun read!

MumZau

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May 26, 2012, 4:51:48 AM5/26/12
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Folly - by Laurie R King. - Imagine inheriting  a 150 acre island and building your own home from practically scratch. - Now add to that, the demons of mental illness, vulnerability and the fact that you KNOW you are being watched by unseen eyes - your deserted island is a veritable nest of danger in the making - will you survive?

shell42970

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May 29, 2012, 10:55:21 AM5/29/12
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The Optimist's Daughter, by Eudora Welty.
Wonderful writing.  I loved it.

MumZau

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Jun 2, 2012, 10:40:16 AM6/2/12
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Living In Dread - Penny Kline. - Nice and smooth. The story builds, layer upon layer with a good sprinkling of clues along the way.  The killer is uncloaked and the last page turned. Nice ride.

snezanabr

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Jun 5, 2012, 6:48:43 PM6/5/12
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Death with Interruptions by José Saramago - quite interesting

MumZau

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Jun 10, 2012, 5:02:07 AM6/10/12
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Dying To Help - Penny Kline - This one is even better than the last one I read, lots of red herrings - I was guessing right to the very end!

snezanabr

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Jun 10, 2012, 5:26:44 AM6/10/12
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Sputnik Sweetheart by Murakami - more readable and less romantic than I had feared.

snezanabr

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Jun 21, 2012, 6:36:38 PM6/21/12
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Foundation and Earth by Asimov - finally read the last one in this series

shell42970

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Jun 25, 2012, 3:53:11 PM6/25/12
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Wall of Days, by Alastair Bruce. A finely written debut novel. It's not an upbeat read, but I enjoyed it.

twinpikes

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Jun 25, 2012, 7:11:47 PM6/25/12
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Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (author of the bestselling The Forever War)

All I can say is he's done it again. This guy has been writing since he got back from Viet Nam, and if there's a bad book out there with his name on it, I have yet to read it.
.

snezanabr

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Jun 29, 2012, 11:29:01 AM6/29/12
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The Stand by Stephen King. Interesting story and characters.

Pamela J

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Jun 29, 2012, 3:55:09 PM6/29/12
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A stupid romance novel. But it made me laugh! :)

shell42970

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Jul 4, 2012, 11:34:00 AM7/4/12
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Death and the Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov

snezanabr

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Jul 4, 2012, 2:58:19 PM7/4/12
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Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez  

MumZau

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Jul 4, 2012, 10:02:23 PM7/4/12
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Secret Agenda - Carol Smith - A small group, friends for thirty years or thereabouts, since the sometimes trying days of  school, anyway, and now one of them is accused of bumping off her two young children. -  Should you shun, or try to save, the girl who was always the cuckoo in the nest?

twinpikes

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Jul 7, 2012, 8:55:33 PM7/7/12
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N-Space by Larry Niven. Good anthology, I especially liked "The Return of William Proxmire."

"Admiral Heinlein doesn't let the Russians build space ships."

MumZau

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Jul 15, 2012, 6:00:29 AM7/15/12
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Unnatural Causes - P.D. James -  When you are a detective, it seems you are always on call, even when you are on supposed holiday. Superintendent Dalgliesh has a lot on his plate and murder upon murder leaves him with little time for a quiet break with his elderly aunt.

MumZau

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Jul 22, 2012, 11:01:21 AM7/22/12
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The Saint Zita Society - Ruth Rendell - My favourite author now leads us into an upstairs downstairs world of wealth - those with - and subservience - those without - in an exclusive street in the best part of London. Much intermingling of servants and those with the means to be served, occurs.  There is madness, turmoil, suspicious movement, much ado and not a little lust. Oh, and there is death, of course..

twinpikes

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Jul 22, 2012, 11:18:55 AM7/22/12
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman: the old gods once worshipped by European immigrants to America fight for their existence against the newer deities of technological civilization.

Vortexfugue

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Jul 27, 2012, 7:15:13 AM7/27/12
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Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe by Martin Rees

twinpikes

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Jul 28, 2012, 6:36:38 AM7/28/12
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The Amateur by Edward Klein. Joe you gotta check this one out.

snezanabr

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Jul 28, 2012, 4:07:03 PM7/28/12
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Blindness by Jose Saramago

snezanabr

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Aug 2, 2012, 5:08:38 AM8/2/12
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 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

logicalOctopus

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Aug 5, 2012, 12:30:40 AM8/5/12
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A library book

MumZau

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Aug 20, 2012, 3:47:26 AM8/20/12
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Abercrombie's Aunt And Other Stories  - Jan Webster -  Short stories of the everyday, to bring a smile.

Nell's Quilt - Susan Terris - Pressure your kid into marrying someone they are disinclined to marry, if you are so inclined - but don't bitch about the results ..

Payment In Blood - Elizabeth George - Oh, what lengths some people will go to, to keep family scandals of the murderous kind, firmly locked within the closet! - complicated plot and I found myself flicking back through the pages more than once, to reread bits and pieces ..

The Book Boy - Joanna Trollope -  One of my favourite writers. - A brave lady takes on the challenge of learning to read at the age of thirty eight and in the process, changes her whole life.. (This is a Quick Reads - aimed at those people who are new to reading, so it was over in a blink, but a nice read.)

Lilly Makes A Living - Lolo Houbein - Leaving school can be a daunting prospect when you live in Hicksville and there are NO jobs to be found!




snezanabr

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Aug 20, 2012, 3:33:06 PM8/20/12
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The Gordian Knot by Bernhard Schlink



twinpikes

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Aug 20, 2012, 7:19:59 PM8/20/12
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Queen of Wands by John Ringo.

MumZau

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Aug 26, 2012, 11:15:34 AM8/26/12
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The Darkest Evening Of The Year - Dean Koontz - Another one of my favourite writers - Dogs, Nuns, good people, bit players and psychopaths all feature in this engrossing book. Illusions as well as bones are shattered. Weapons abound and dark memories surface. Humour plays its part as does deadly intent and the woof and weft of sadness.There is some rather talented sketching, self-recrimination and lots of fear. - Quirky ending.

yetikeeper

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Aug 27, 2012, 4:59:00 PM8/27/12
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Kil'n People by David Brin.

snezanabr

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Aug 27, 2012, 6:06:43 PM8/27/12
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Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Márquez

twinpikes

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Aug 27, 2012, 6:43:24 PM8/27/12
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The Hammer and the Cross, Harry Harrison

logicalOctopus

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Aug 29, 2012, 11:20:29 PM8/29/12
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Asterisk™: The Definitive Guide

MumZau

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Sep 3, 2012, 6:45:47 AM9/3/12
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Let's Get Divorced! - Nigel Planer & Terence Blacker - Quite funny in parts and I liked page 122:- At-A-Glance FaultFinder -  which is a handy little thing for seeing just who is the 'exterior blame holder in your life.' I enjoyed this light little book - seriously though, one should take a decade or two to consider the lilies before venturing into marriage - saves a lot of hassle down the track if you were backing the wrong horse, so to speak.

snezanabr

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Sep 12, 2012, 6:29:54 AM9/12/12
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A Song of Ice and Fire series by G. R. R. Martin

shell42970

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Sep 12, 2012, 3:36:25 PM9/12/12
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The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin.

MumZau

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Sep 14, 2012, 4:20:44 AM9/14/12
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A Cry In The Night - Mary Higgins Clark - Do be careful who you marry, especially if you have children in tow - and to reiterate - do be careful who you marry ..

twinpikes

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Sep 14, 2012, 7:19:18 PM9/14/12
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Lord of Mountains by Steve Stirling - supposedly the next-to-last installment of the Emberverse series. I'm assuming the central character will die gloriously in the last book (to be titled The Given Sacrifice), as I have seen numerous references in the past few books to the effect of the Land and the King being one, and also that the King is the given sacrifice who goes willingly to his death to redeem the Land.

There is enough religion here to give a battalion of agnostics hives. All flavors. The central character is Wiccan, his bride Roman Catholic, his Chancellor a knight of the Church Militant, a number of contingents are Asatru worshipping the Scandinavian pantheon, a numerous minority are Lakota who have gone back to their ancestral beliefs, one of the generals has taken Pallas Athene as her personal deity and they all respond in Person. Dunno where Steve is going with this, but the ride has been hellaciously entertaining so far :-)

shell42970

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Sep 23, 2012, 3:14:16 PM9/23/12
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Invitation to a Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov. 
Too surreal for my temperament, though the author is witty and writes very well.

MumZau

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Sep 25, 2012, 4:28:21 AM9/25/12
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A Taste For Death - P.D. James - The smooth river of words in this engrossing tale keeps you hooked long into the night. - Greed, need, creed, class - it's all here..

MumZau

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Sep 28, 2012, 9:09:24 AM9/28/12
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A Quiver of Ghosts - compiled by - Aidan Chambers - eight lovely ghost stories for the wee hours.

snezanabr

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Oct 4, 2012, 5:42:20 PM10/4/12
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The Box by Slavoljub Stankovic

MumZau

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Oct 5, 2012, 4:59:01 AM10/5/12
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Outrageous Exposures  - John Penn - Oh do beware if you have long, red hair and live in Oxfordshire... some murderous mind is after your kind... and won't be happy until he gets you...


MumZau

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Oct 8, 2012, 5:34:19 AM10/8/12
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A Feast Of Death - John Penn - Oxfordshire again... a quiet village and the locals are looking forward to a special celebratory Feast to honour the patron saint of their church. It promises to be something of an occasion, if things go well.. They don't, of course. A body turns up and things take on an interesting slant.. there is much talk and a little nastiness. The young Father Blaise has a guest to stay - his 'sister' - and according to his housekeeper, she is no lady,,  Things go from bad to worse and the police are baffled as the death toll rises..


shell42970

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Oct 10, 2012, 1:50:27 PM10/10/12
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Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parent's Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience, by Peter Levine and Maggie Kline.

An interesting resource for anyone with children in their lives, or even for those who have never fully recovered from childhood trauma, themselves. 
I learned a lot about the different ways, both physical and psychological, that the body processes trauma, and why it's important that all areas are able to fully express their responses.


MumZau

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Oct 12, 2012, 4:25:19 AM10/12/12
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Death of a Dormouse - Reginald Hill - a shocking accident brings a 25 year old marriage to an abrupt halt and an unimaginable past comes tumbling out. We travel from good old Yorkshire to Vienna and then on to Zurich with  the mouse like widow,Trudi and bear witness as the story leaps and bounds its way to its final compelling page. This is a tale of love, ignorance, murder, deceit, hatred, violence and a whole lot of greed...

MumZau

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Oct 17, 2012, 1:40:58 AM10/17/12
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Keep Me Close - Clare Francis - someone has invaded Catherine Galitza's home and left her for dead. She survives, but is now wheelchair bound. A chain of events keeps the reader chained to each and every page as the facts unfold... was this a straightforward, albeit interrupted, home invasion? - And what of Catherine's husband? - the master of glib words and evasive tactics? - Is he involved in this nasty business? - Simon, his business partner, adores Catherine and would do anything for her... anything...  To add to her worries, Catherine feels watched ... is she being stalked? - Then there is the little matter of the nuisance calls Catherine had received - BEFORE the invasion ...

MumZau

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Oct 21, 2012, 4:19:39 AM10/21/12
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Betrayal  - Clare Francis - It can be a bit of a bind when an old lover turns up dead on your doorstep - well, not quite literally, but in the local river, which is near enough. What do you do? - Keep quiet and hope you don't become 'a person of interest' to the police, or do you step in and brazen it out? - You aren't keen for certain little adventures to come under close scrutiny - not by the constabulary and certainly not by your wife... There is also the small matter of the delicate state of your business affairs - your glassware company is about to go bust and you are desperate to save it, whatever the cost. Your marriage isn't in great shape either ...

shell42970

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Oct 21, 2012, 11:35:11 AM10/21/12
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Ocean Sea, by  Alessandro Baricco.

snezanabr

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Oct 23, 2012, 6:22:11 PM10/23/12
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The Gathering by Anne Enright

tough book

MumZau

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Oct 28, 2012, 7:26:57 AM10/28/12
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The Fifth Summer - Titia Sutherland - the yearly holiday in Italy has been a pleasant interlude for the Blair family, but this year sees change. The children are growing up and the parents seem to be drifting apart. There is restlessness and impotency and an air of expectancy. The humidity doesn't help and the sudden recall of the father to London sees a newcomer enter the scene ... Bruno sets his eyes on the main prize - the lovely Mrs Blair and then, it seems, all hell breaks loose ...

twinpikes

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Oct 28, 2012, 7:29:51 AM10/28/12
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depressing but informative

Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner. A survivor's account of U-boat operations in WW2.

snezanabr

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Oct 28, 2012, 11:17:28 AM10/28/12
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Doppler by Erlend Loe

shell42970

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Oct 30, 2012, 2:04:42 PM10/30/12
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Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer.

What a gripping novel. The harrowing experience of Krakauer and the other members of the expeditions caught in the '96 Mt. Everest climbing disaster necessitated my putting this book down a few times and walking away for several minutes as I tried to wrap my head around what it must have been like for them in the moment. It's hard to imagine why people would willingly put themselves at such risk and through such a physically demanding trial, let alone how they then cope when things take a turn for the worst.

I went through several different emotions as I read about the various characters and the parts they would play in how the event unfolded: sympathy, hope, disgust, anger, fear, appreciation, sadness... 

snezanabr

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Nov 1, 2012, 5:19:22 PM11/1/12
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Patriotism, The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love, Eggs - short stories by Yukio Mishima

snezanabr

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Nov 3, 2012, 11:54:14 AM11/3/12
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The First Person and other stories by Ali Smith

MumZau

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Nov 5, 2012, 5:01:56 AM11/5/12
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Someone's Watching - Judith Kelman - Affluent communities like Tyler's Grove should be safe havens for the children who live there. James is six and he's not safe, but at least he is alive - not ALL the children survive ... something horrid is going on .. and on ...

MumZau

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Nov 7, 2012, 12:56:27 AM11/7/12
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Spider Mansion - Caroline Macdonald - Needs must be at times, taking in paying guests seemed such an obvious answer, economically speaking. .. And if you confined the 'guests' to weekends only, well then, Bob's your uncle! .. Not in this case, however. -  Bob Todd is no one's idea of a regular uncle and his wife, Esme, fares no better in the likability stakes. Young Tiger, their 14 year old son, appears to be your average kid, but that's just shimmer on the highway ... Anyway ..  the weekend comes and goes, but the Todds tenaciously cling on to a good thing - and stay .. in their efforts to oust the obnoxious and frightening trio, mine hosts, Brenda, Godfrey and 14 year old Chrissie, are about to enter their own version of hell ..

snezanabr

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Nov 7, 2012, 12:56:21 PM11/7/12
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The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

shell42970

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Nov 11, 2012, 9:38:24 AM11/11/12
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Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson - Interesting read about the Galveston hurricane of 1900.

Interesting fact I learned: snakes will climb trees in rising waters.

MumZau

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Nov 12, 2012, 8:17:21 AM11/12/12
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Buried Blossoms - Stephen Lewis - Nature or nurture, or possibly just a matter of nightmarish circumstance. A seemingly endless supply of morphine drops doesn't help the equation any, either. Young Paul appears to be a monster - he certainly is the bane of everyone's existence and Mother is off with the fairies ... Francine is in a quandary and as for poor Brigid ... oh dear ...

twinpikes

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Nov 12, 2012, 6:27:47 PM11/12/12
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Dune by Frank Herbert

Forget the movies, read the book. There is a wealth of background that didn't make it into either movie.

MumZau

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Nov 21, 2012, 8:19:18 PM11/21/12
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Every Breath You Take - Michelle Spring - Academia, and the need to get away into the country.. true, the two chums do have an idyllic country cottage, but what with rising costs.. Anyway, getting a third person in to help pay the bills seems to make perfect sense, yet she comes with her own emotional baggage and someone seems to be watching her..  Unease leads to speculation and perhaps the new party is a touch paranoid.. so much for pastoral peace and quiet..

MumZau

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Nov 24, 2012, 6:44:30 PM11/24/12
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The Naked Face -  Sidney Sheldon - They come to him, year in and year out, their problems fill his office to overflow ... and then come the murders, two in a row.. Psychoanalyst Judd Stevens is shocked and saddened, two people, brutally slaughtered and both associated with him ... The police are very interested in his movements, past and present and now someone wants to kill him too and nothing is going to stop them.. the good doctor wonders if perhaps he, himself, is paranoiac. - Time will tell - if any time is left, that is ...

MumZau

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Nov 26, 2012, 8:16:22 PM11/26/12
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The Unquiet Summer - Mary Mackie - Jenny receives a letter from her sister, Gill, and it seems all is not well .. (well Gill IS married to the husband from hell.) The problem seems to be that bad hubby Harry, has inherited a crumbling old mansion from his reclusive grandfather. Harry is busily renovating the place and Gill is having kittens! - She says the house is haunted ... Sensible Jenny hastily packs a bag and dashes to the rescue . Strange happenings and dark nights - the old place is far from right ... To make matters worse, there is a young woman, Beth, hanging around horrid Harry, she follows him everywhere with a look of rapt adoration and gives both Jenny and Gill the evil eye when dozy Harry isn't looking. Beth pops up day and night, all over the house and she just won't leave ...

snezanabr

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Nov 28, 2012, 1:57:57 PM11/28/12
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El perquè de tot plegat (The Cause of Everything) by Quim Monzó

twinpikes

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Nov 28, 2012, 6:36:25 PM11/28/12
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(You do realize the guy's first name is a slang word in English?) lol!

MumZau

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Nov 29, 2012, 4:32:30 AM11/29/12
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Festival Death - Ralph Stephenson - Older woman, younger man - it wasn't as if wedding bells were ever planned ... but then you were fool enough to dump her and scuttle off and marry a young lady 21 years her junior! - Talk about knifing someone in the back! Coincidently, your ex lover IS found slumped in a chair at a film premiere with a knife in her back and she's very, very, dead! - Bad luck, old chap! - Guess who the police have as number one on their to do list? - That's right, sunshine! - YOU!

snezanabr

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Nov 29, 2012, 5:04:48 AM11/29/12
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(no, but i'm rather poor at knowing English slang anyway)

Maxine a.k.a Kapka

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Nov 30, 2012, 5:46:31 PM11/30/12
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Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow.

Synopsis:

It explores the changing relationship of art and power in a materialist America. This theme is addressed through the contrasting careers of two writers, Von Humboldt Fleisher (to some degree a version of Schwartz) and his protégé Charlie Citrine (to some degree a version of Bellow himself). Fleisher yearns to lift American society up through art but dies a failure. In contrast, Charlie Citrine makes quite a lot of money through his writing, especially from a Broadway play and a movie about a character named Von Trenck - a character modeled after Humboldt.

Another notable character in the book is Rinaldo Cantabile, a wannabe Chicago gangster, who tries to bully Citrine into being friends and whose career advice to Citrine, focused solely on commercial interests, is the opposite of the advice Citrine was once given by his old mentor, Humboldt Fleisher, who valued artistic integrity above all other concerns.

MumZau

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Dec 2, 2012, 7:51:16 AM12/2/12
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Meg and the Disappearing Diamonds - Molly Beth Walker - Young Meg, together with her Siamese cat,Thunder and Meg's best friend, Kerry, just seem to fall into adventures! This one is very exciting as it involves shady characters, conscientious policemen, all dancing all prancing poodles, a tea party, a naughty little girl who is a bit of a tea leaf and of course, diamonds!  

Maxine a.k.a Kapka

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Dec 2, 2012, 1:00:00 PM12/2/12
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The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

Synopsis: When Quoyle's two-timing wife meets her just desserts, he retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters and family members all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life. As Quoyle confronts his private demons -- and the unpredictable forces of nature and society -- he begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

MumZau

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Dec 4, 2012, 6:20:23 AM12/4/12
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A Stranger in the House - Patricia Macdonald - Being four can be fun, playing in a sandpit in the sun, a little cotton hat protecting your head. - Pregnant Mummy is standing by, but then she hears your little sister cry! Bye bye Mummy! - Run inside! - Tracey has a cold and she's beginning to grizzle .. run,  Mummy run! - I'll be good and stay clean as a whistle! ... Oh, but what is this? - Something is up ... something is amiss .. Tic toc tic and Mummy returns ...  and there is a lesson to be learned .. and Mummy learns - don't leave tiny children on their own - never! .. never! - Leaving them on their own is NOT very clever ...

Maxine a.k.a Kapka

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Dec 4, 2012, 3:06:21 PM12/4/12
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Freedom by Jonathan Franzen


shell42970

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Dec 6, 2012, 6:10:48 AM12/6/12
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The Twelve, by Justin Cronin 

Maxine a.k.a Kapka

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Dec 6, 2012, 5:56:06 PM12/6/12
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Sic by Joshua Cody

twinpikes

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Dec 6, 2012, 6:35:50 PM12/6/12
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The Man With the Iron Heart by Harry Turtledove  Suppose Reinhard Heydrich had not been assassinated and had headed the German resistance after WW2. How would Allied troops of the time coped with suicide bombers and the other panoply of terrorism? A good read and thought-provoking as well.

MumZau

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Dec 9, 2012, 2:45:17 AM12/9/12
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A Five Year Sentence - Bernice Rubens - All being well, Miss Hawkins would be dead by early evening. - But unfortunately for her, life intervened in the form of a five - year diary. The perfunctory gift from a disinterested staff marks the beginning of a new era for the newly retired Miss Hawkins. It is a death knell for her death wish, or at the very least, sends her demise into abeyance for the said five year term. Miss Hawkins has led an institutionalised life and unerringly follows orders - the diary dictates that Miss Hawkins fill its pages to the bitter end and and thus she is compelled to do so ... This is an awful, compelling book by a Booker Prize winner and you won't want to miss it. - This book will stay with you ...
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