Kitz Forum
Chat => Chit Chat => Books which you've enjoyed => Topic started by: roseway on September 27, 2009, 04:46:46 PM
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By popular request (well, two people anyway) here's a place where you can talk about those extra special books which you've read and would like to recommend; those books which really stand out above the crowd. I'll make it sticky so it stays at the top, and we'll see how it goes.
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I'll repeat my 2 most recent reads : -
The Ghost . ...Robert Harris
The Camel Club .. David Baldacci
Another 2 I would highly recommend ..... I found both of these extremely powerful books, and I suspect they are more biographical than fiction !
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns both by Khaled Hosseini .... (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-5/1013475/icon_study.png.jpg)
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My two all times favourites......read so often that the books are falling to pieces. In fact, the first named, I am on either my eight or ninth copy.
1) The Story of San Michele..................Axel Munthe
2) Christ Stopped at Eboli.................Carlo Levi
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I've looked those up TD and I think I could lose myself in them; I have taken up your recommendation and they are now on order .... Thank you. They have also opened up other options by the same authors :)
One book I re-read was given to me by my mother when I was in my teens, Our Dearest Emma by Lozania Prole ..... it tells the story of the love affair between Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton. I found it magical then, and I still do ! Sadly the original was lent to someone who then lost it :( but I have a copy.
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For anyone who might be interested in unusual WW2 history ... British woman, Susan Travers, was the only woman to officially serve in the French Foreign Legion. Her story is quite fascinating and can be read in :-
Tomorrow to Be Brave
She wrote the book in 2000 (having waited for the main people in her story to have died) She died in 2003 at the age of 94 .....
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Aha...great minds etc.. ;D
I was reading over the weekend of this book and have in fact just bought a used copy off Amazon to give to a fellow of the village here on his birthday. He claims that his uncle was in the FL and knew the woman Travers.
I will of course have a wee read before passing it on ;)
Have currently revisited another of my favourites.....I have always been fascinated by Africa and all things African, and very often read what to me is the definitive volume on that continent......."The Tree Where Man Was Born" by Peter Matthiessen.
Happy reading ;)
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I've had the book Tomorrow be Brave for a few years now .... and it was the same article ( I think) that reminded me. I enjoyed the book immensely, but I didn't like her very much.
I'm off to look up your latest mention TD :)
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Ok, here's 2 of my favourite books
1) Cloud Atlas
2) The Time Travellers Wife (now also a film)
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The Carlo Levi book arrive this morning .... hubby has grabbed it :o ..... looking forward to him finishing it ;D
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Typical male.... :D
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I've had Wild Swans for several years, a marvellous but harrowing account ..... we really don't know how lucky we are do we ! It's one of those books that you 'keep' ... I've learned the hard way to be careful which books I lend !!!!
The Axel Munthe book arrived yesterday .... just in the middle of another then I shall get into that ! :)
Another excellent book, which has been translated into English .... Marcel Pagnol's Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources ... it was made into a film which is an excellent adaptation. I'm not sure if the film has been released in English; I watch the French version over and over and have read the book several times.....
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[Q by Luther Blissett/b]
Set in the 16th century and connects about 50 years of various bits of history around the Anabaptist movement in one story. I found about 3/4 of it very well written apart from some bits which seemed a bit disjointed. Ibought the book because of the authors name thinking"It couldn;t be the exfootballer ?" turns out it was written by 4 italian writers.if you do read it, one bit of advice, keep checking the date at the begining of each chapter as the book does jump back and forth in time.
The No.1 Ladies detective agency by Alexander McCall-Smith(look under S for the authour in bookshops unless its just a norwich thing)
Series
One for you TD as this has got me facinated by Botswana. I first picked up on the dramatisations on radio4. I've read the whole series of books. The stories are very endearing although the good natured method of writting has been critisized in some quarters; many fans find the different style to the typical one of the big appeals of the books. And of couse there was the movie and series on bbc tv, you can see 9 min segements on you tube if you want a flavor of the books
To Kill a Mocking bird by Harper-Lee
Such a classic, beautifully written.
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Romantic sports comedy, insitefull. vaugely based on true occurences. Follows the story of a man from the the timein his child hood as he trys to make sence of his parents divorce but developing an obsession which becomes like a surrogate family member until events make him slowly gain persepective of life.
romance loving sports hating reader would enjoy as would a sports loving romance hating reader !st time I lent a copy to a sports loathing friend she was roaring with laughter in notime and couldn;t putit down. yes i first read it in part as it was centered around the football team i support but this is incidental & it wouldn't matter what team or sport it was written about. had been made into a film in the uk, and a terrible/dire us remake
Jean de florette / Manon des Sources, 2 of my favorate films, must look for the books, thanks for that tip
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Peter Kay - The Sound of Laughter
Excellent laugh :D Also at the same time learnt things I didn't about him!
Peter Kay - Saturday Night Peter
Currently reading this so far so good (especially as I only paid a fiver for it on Amazon!)
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I bet this is an excellent read,I think I will get this.
(http://static.bookdepository.co.uk/assets/images/book/medium/9780/7475/9780747593362.jpg)
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780747593362/The-Last-Fighting-Tommy
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Well I have lots of Brownie points today :angel: .... I ordered 4 titles by Stephen E Ambrose ( he wrote Band of Brothers ) for hubby as a surprise ..and they arrived today ! So a very tranquil time ahead >:D
Stephen Ambrose is a pre-eminent World War II historian and, using interviews, journals and letters, the author tells, often in their own words ,the story of the heroes in these events.
The titles received today are, Pegasus Bridge, D.Day, Citizen Soldiers and Wild Blue.
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A book I have been meaning to put on here for ages ..... I'm reading one recommended by TD .... Christ Stopped at Eboli ... and it reminded me (although I shouldn't have needed reminding ) of Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier ..... it's a marvellous book ... one both hubby and I read over and over .... set in the Beaujolais region it revolves around a plan to install a new public urinal in the village ....... it will make you smile ! :)
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Another book I'd forgotten about ... but have read again recently ... The Queen and I by Sue Townsend ... it's a little irreverent to the Royals ..... but very funny.....
a brief synopsis whilst not wanting to give anything away ... .... The Royal family are living in a semi-detached in the Midlands !!!! perhaps a little dated now, it was written in 2002 ... but anyone who enjoys a wry titter might be interested. :)
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Two I have recently read......so recently that I am only halfway through the second one.. ;D
"The Snow Leopard" and "The Tree Where Man Was Born" both by Peter Matthiessen.
Travel mixed with anthropology, with philosophy, with history and with zoology.......difficult going in parts but well worth the effort :)
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I have favourite books which I read again and again ..... some of which I've already posted about ..... another one which was written in 1861 by Mrs. Henry Wood, is East Lynne ...... I'm not sure I'd describe this as a 'woman's book' ..... as I think the use of the English language will delight any reader .... I've copied the following from the fly sheet ......
The main plot of East Lynne (underscored by a linked sub-plot concerned with murder) is concerned with love and marriage. It turns upon the axis of the sexual fall of its heroine, Lady Isabel Vane, to one of the most superbly malevolent and caddish villains in all Victorian literature, Francis Levison. Its morality is retributive and unforgiving. The divorced Lady Isabel returns as unrecognised governess to her own children, living on through the second half of the novel with the status of a wraith, or spectre, as if fetched from her grave. At the very moment of her sexual 'sin' she morally dies: is to be considered as a walking, watching corpse of womanhood, her features scarred by the train-accident, her eyes mere optic nerves peering through the disfiguring green lens of disguising spectacles, seeing but unseen, her bastard child dead, her husband lost to Another, her legitimate son dying under her eyes. No one can see her. When she is recognized, the servant faints with terror, thinking her a ghost. She ought to be, and would definitely be happier, in the grave. For her existence is cancelled. This is demonstrable, for she is replaced. Her vacated place is taken, the wronged husband taking to his bosom a replacement wife, who assumes the attributes and most of the habits of her predecessor: sings her songs at her piano, bears the good man's children, hangs on his every word.
I have read it several times and it never fails to give me a 'jolt' of emotion !
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An 'oldie' turned up again the other day at a reasonable price so I treated myself .... J.B. Priestley's The Good Companions. It's years since I read it, but remember enjoying it very much ... can't believe it was written in 1929 ! for those who haven't read it, it's a joy !
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Ah yes...............I knew unkyUb reminded me of someone........Jess Oakroyd... :D
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:lol:
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Ah yes...............I knew unkyUb reminded me of someone........Jess Oakroyd... :D
Jess Oakroyd, an amiable man who has abandoned his shrewish wife, endears himself to the company with his homespun advice, and they invite him to join them as a carpenter, baggage handle
The novel is written in picaresque style, and opens with the middle aged, discontented Jess Oakroyd in the fictional Yorkshire town of Bruddersford. He opts to leave his family and seek adventure "on t'road" (throughout the novel Priestley uses dialect for all non-RP speakers of English). He heads south down the Great North Road.
Intertwined with the story of Oakroyd's travels are those of Elizabeth Trant and Inigo Jollifant, two similarly malcontented individuals. Miss Trant is an upper-middle class spinster and Jollifant is a teacher at a down-at-heel private school. All three ultimately encounter each other when a failing concert troupe ('The Dinky Doos') are disbanding as a result of their manager running off with the takings. The independently wealthy Miss Trant, against the advice of her relatives, decides to refloat the troupe, now known as 'The Good Companions'. Inigo plays piano, Oakroyd is the odd-job man, and other assorted characters including members of the original troupe: including Jimmy Nunn, Jerry Jerningham and Susie Dean, along with Mr Morton Mitcham (a travelling banjo player whom Inigo met earlier on his own odyssey) have various adventures round the shires of middle England
What a life I've had :lol:
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:D
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;D
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THought I would bump this thread and maybe get comments on Kindle Ebooks you may have found a good read.
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I've just seen the report of the death of Nancy Wake at the age of 98. For anyone who hasn't read a Biography, I would highly recommend they do ... She was born in New Zealand, brought up in Australia; she moved to Europe where she worked as a journalist - she joined French Resistance in 1940 .....a marvellous woman, a marvellous story. France awarded her its highest honour, the Legion D'Honneur; she also received Britain's George Medal, and the US Medal of Freedom. In 2004, she was made Companion of the Order of Australia.
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Good heavens, that's some achievement! Thanks Kate, I'll take a look.
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Eric .... should have mentioned the book I was thinking of ....Nancy Wake: by Russel Braddon , our copy published in 1956, is one we've had for years and have read it several times.
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Thanks again. It seems to be out of print, but there are plenty of second hand copies available.
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Thanks again. It seems to be out of print, but there are plenty of second hand copies available.
Amazon has new copies....£6.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Wake-Russell-Braddon/dp/0752454854/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312814989&sr=1-1
I find this site good for book searches
http://www.123pricecheck.com/Product-266239/0752454854-Nancy+Wake.html
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Thanks Phil.
Amazon is a funny company sometimes. When I did a search I found this page (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Wake-SOEs-Greatest-Heroine/dp/0750940999) which only shows used copies. ???
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Thanks Phil.
Amazon is a funny company sometimes. When I did a search I found this page (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Wake-SOEs-Greatest-Heroine/dp/0750940999) which only shows used copies. ???
Yes and also look a the variation in the amount of pages...your link = 304
My link = 288........ :shrug2:
I buy many books and I would say 98% of them come from Amazon(Sue is a keen reader,I myself don't read much)
Books by the authors, Charlaine Harris and Rachel Vincent are amongst her favourites.
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Our copy as I say is from 1956 ..... published by the Northumberland Press. I suspect the Amazon Book is the same but a but posher ;D Ours has some super photographs and maps, and a short forward by Nancy Wake herself .... Russel Braddon says .... "The story that follows is Nancy Wake's; because of that I hare asked her to write the next and only important sentence on this page...."
' I dedicate this book to everyone in France who helped us, even if it was only by refraining from helping the enemy, for that in itself required courage;but especially I dedicate it to my comrades in the Maquis d'Auvergne - Nancy Wake '
I understand she will be cremated in London and her ashes scattered in Montluçon, France - where she carried out a lot of her heroic work.
It's a well thumbed copy, a bit tatty, but well loved :)
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I too use Amazon a lot ...both the UK and French sites ..... excellent service ! Interestingly, I recently had a look at my ordering history with them both, and was amazed to see that it totalled in excess of £2300 !!! :o
As this is the books topic .... Eric, how is the Kindle ? I've still not ordered mine, but it's only on hold ;D I have to get one from the USA and thus register for downloads with the .Com site !!! the books on there are much more expensive than in the UK ..... I've spoken to Amazon about this and it all has to do with publishing laws ..... however, they have recently opened a Kindle Store on their German site, so perhaps it won't be long before they do the same on the French site. I have, in the meantime made a very long list of the free books from the US ..... and there are a lot of new authors who look like they have some interesting works.
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>>> Eric, how is the Kindle ?
It's wonderful. Comfortable to read, and no strain on the eyes at all. I've collected quite a lot of books by authors I've never read before, so it's expanding my reading horizons a good deal. I'm currently reading some '20s detective stories by Carola Dunn, with her heroine Daisy Dalrymple. They're really enjoyable, and each book cost me just 99p. :)
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I'm sure someone has read a book since the last post ;D I thought I'd share a trilogy I read a while ago . by Gretta Curran Browne - the Liberty Trilogy. They are novels based on fact, and give an interesting and startling insight into Irish history. Beautifully written, the first and third were the best in IMHO - available for Kindle too at a very good price.
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I've just reread this thread and thought I would post a comment. I bought a Kobo Touch fairly recently after some research. The main reason I bought it was they were cheap in Smiths at the time (£69, now back to £79) and unlike the Kindle at that time which didn't allow you to borrow books from your local Public Library. There has been talk of making an arrangement for the Kindle to do this but I'm not sure if it has happened. No matter, I just wanted to say how pleased I am with the Kobo and how convenient to be able to borrow from the library. Highly recommended.
Tony
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I hadn't heard of a Kobo before, but I agree that it looks interesting. I hate to tell you this, Tony, but the Kobo Touch is currently on offer at half price with free delivery from WH Smith online: http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/kobo-touch-black-ereader/product/35487678 . Sorry about that. :)
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You're not sorry at all are you Eric! But I'm very satisfied with mine and Smiths in Salisbury threw in a black leather (?) case for free and they were selling them for £29 separately. I don't understand modern pricing at all!
Tony
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I know the subject line is "Books which you've enjoyed" but I thought I would mention one that I started to read early this year but have finally had to admit defeat, after reading the first five chapters.
Fortunately it was not a physical book but just a PDF file, which it cost me nothing. Granted, it had not been written in English but in German. My understanding of German is very limited but the copy, with which I struggled, was an authorised English translation.
It turned out to be tedious, rambling and quite indigestible. When considered with "eyes of 2013", it clearly disclosed the psychotic state of mind of its author nearly 90 years ago. >:(
To what book do I refer? Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler.
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That doesn't sound like cheerful bedtime reading. :'(
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I discovered Philip Kerr and his character 'Bernie Gunther' in Berlin Noir - a trilogy, quite a while ago. Novels with 'historical facts' set in pre-war Berlin. An excellent complilation, you really get to know the main character and the research into Berlin life and the rise and effects of the Nazis (appears) very well researched and is convincing. Subsequent titles . The One From The Other, A Quiet Flame, If The Dead Rise Not, Field Gray, Prague Fatale, and his latest A Man Without Breath.
I'm currently reading If the Dead Rise Not .... just thought anyone who like Chandler style writing, might too enjoy these, and Berlin makes a change from the US !
:)
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I was listening to a radio interview the other day with a German author, Timur Vermes, discussing his first book 'Look Who's back' which has, apparently, been translated into 38 languages. This the synopsis from the Amazon site ....
"Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman.
People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, and the ranting Hitler goes viral, becomes a You Tube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Führer has another programme with even greater ambition - to set the country he finds a shambles back to rights.
Look Who's Back stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet strangely sympathetic, the revived Hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step"
It's downloaded to my Kindle, I'm in the middle of another book at the moment, this is next on the list. It looks an 'interesting' read, to say the least ! I can't 'recommend it' as yet ... but thought it was interesting enough to mention now.
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I have a feeling that reading that book would upset me too much, but I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.
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Has anyone read Protecting Your Internet Identity by Ted Claypoole and Theresa Payton? Is there any good advice?