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Jessica wrote: "I've just finished The Casual Vacancy - oof!"

What did you think of The Casual Vacancy? I liked it a lot!

Just finished The Good Father and although I enjoyed it and raced through it, I am slightly undecided on whether it was particularly memorable.

What did you think of The Casual Vacancy? I liked it a lot!"

Hi Sandra,

I really enjoyed it, I like her writing style and found it to be really funny in places and the characters so believable. As I was reading it, the characters were so well developed it felt like I was reading about people I've known. I enjoyed her crafting them with details that would be hard to explain but that could be described in writing. She's an excellent writer. I just found the ending very very depressing.

Just finished , a debut novel.

oh and I just finished Divergent also. It reads like a movie script so it was kind of boring at times but I liked it just the same. Fast read.

Would you recommend Divergent?

Finished Dark Eden late last night. Very original Sci-fi book. Review here: /review/show...

Sam wrote: "Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn not my normal read but thoroughly enjoyed it. Would definitely pick up more from this author."

I haven't read Gone Girl but read Sharp Objectslast weekend. I certainly found it a page-turner in terms of plot, but I didn't really find the way the characters interacted convincing. (view spoiler)[ Camille's editor and his wife seemed to have been shoe-horned in to represent 'good' and 'happily married', while the step-father was just a non-entity. (hide spoiler)] I might try Gone Girl in a while.

Paul wrote: "Finished Dark Eden late last night. Very original Sci-fi book. Review here: /review/show..."

Read your review. Sounds like an interesting read. I'm now reading A Pledge of Silence on a recommendation from another member; and enjoying it so far.

Thanks Jan. It was a pretty god story. Have heard that there is a sequel too.
Finished two yesterday Silt Road: The Story of a Lost River and The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

Big fan of both A Casual Vacancy & Gone Girl, even with all the hype round them both. The ending is very upsetting. Rowling sure knows how to tug the heart strings, as she did so superbly in the final few H.P books.

Just finished A Tale of Two Cities.... a fantastic finish after a slow start. A good contrast to Les Mis, and infinitely easier to get through!

Just finished The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin.

Just finished 1984first time of reading this book, it is an amazing book.

Jo wrote: "Just finished The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin."
What did you think Jo? I have this on my kindle having bought it after reading a recommendation on here but have not got around to it yet. One of your Magic Square challenge?

Just finished Playing with Poison by Cindy Blackburn, which is one of my Magic Square challenge books. It was a fun, easy and light read, and a surprisingly good mystery! A little bit cheesy in parts but better than I expected it to be.

Just finished The Devil Wears Prada...really enjoyed it, bit of a guilty pleasure. Though came out of it wishing Andy had become just that wee bit meaner, more like Miranda than she would have ever wanted to be.

I've just finished A Tale for the Time Being and really enjoyed it. Great read if a bit slow going at times. Definitely worth plowing through. I recommend it!

Just looked it up Jessica, that's one for the TBR list :)

Just finished On Chesil Beach... got to make a wee confession, mainly to Paul! hehe. I knew the book was set in Dorset, but it wasn't until Portland was mentioned near the end of the book that I realised exactly where the book is set....which is pretty bad, considering I was born in Weymouth!! Shocking! In my defence, my family returned to N. Ireland when I was 10 months old, and i have only once been to Dorset since then. About 6 years ago I had a day trip to Weymouth, and took a trip out to Portland, so I can now visualise this whole book in a deeper way.
Such a beautiful area. Anyway, despite its short length I was deeply emerged in this tale of unfulfilled love and disappointment. Think I agree with Paul's review, that the ending could have been handled differently, making it more in keeping with the rest of the book. Fantastic book

Glad to hear you are a Dorset girl too Charlotte. It is fantastic part of the world to live in, utterly beautiful, and full of history. Hardy used to live down the road from me. A friend is a photographer and takes these amazing images of Dorset:

Gail wrote: "Jo wrote: "Just finished The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin."
What did you think Jo? I have this on my kindle having bought it after reading a recommendat..."

Gail, it was good, bit slow to get going (but necessary scene setting). A very revealing read, though the author jumps to conclusions about the man, without concrete proof in many cases. But interesting none the less.

Thanks for sharing that Paul...beautiful images.

I've just finished reading A Year in the Scheisse: Getting to Know the Germans. It was sadly, not my cup of tea but someone else may see something different in it. If so let me know if you'd like to read it and I'll post it to you.

Thank you for sending it to me Paul. :)

You're welcome Catherine

I've just finished Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy. I gave it 3 stars, probably a 3.5. It was for my 'genre you avoid' square and was a slight cheat in a way as I have always found BJ entertaining enough compared with most of the other chicklit offerings. This one was amusing in parts and rather touching in its reflections on bereavement, but I was irritated that Bridget's diary 'voice' seemed so similar to her 30yo self and her scrapes were indistinguishable from the previous books, really, just with added kids. Plus, being familiar with the London circles she references, I found those scenes a bit too much of a pastiche. Still, it was a good, fluffy read.

I've just finished Uncle Toms Cabin - I was surprised how moving and emotional I found the book.
To think this was normal life back then - oppressed with no glimpse of freedom. I found Tom to be a hero to the slaves laying down his life for the sake of Cassy and Emmeline.
I hated the way their lives were treated as a commodity to be bought and sold!! The author has written a piece of pure gold an educating tool that all should read.

Having had a weeks holiday managed to get really struck into the reading and got through:
Sovereign
Ox-Tales: Earth
Ox-Tales: Air
Ox-Tales: Fire
Ox-Tales: Fire

I just finished Lotus Rose - Malice In Wonderland: Alice the Assassin. It's a dark and twisted take on Alice in Wonderland, which is quite humorous too. I have also just finished Lenore: Noogies which is a collection of issues 1-4 of Roman Dirge' s comic Lenore, the cute little dead girl. I only discovered Roman Dirge recently jut aim addicted.

Finished two books this week: Poirot and Me and The Dream of the Celt.

In 'Poirot and me' you get in detail the production of each Poirot film together with details about Agatha Christie life and career, and the story concerned. As I don't consider myself to be an avid Christie reader it was interesting to have these facts. It added something extra. It was also very well read by David Suchet. So yes, I loved it.

In 'The dream of the Celt' Mario Vargas Llosa recounts Sir Roger Casement's life up till his arrest and the last three months of his life in Pentonville prison in alternating chapters. This works well but I found it easier to stop after a chapter recounting the present before embarking on a chapter recounting the past, and vice versa. So I really took my time in reading this novel. It reads partly as a biography and a historical novel, partly as a poetic account and an epic novel. Really loved it.

Just finished Diaries 1969-1979 which I enjoyed more than I thought I would. It is an absolute brick of a book and has taken ages to get through as I have read it in quite small chunks. The Python stuff was really interesting but the detail on the politics, opinions and lifestyle of the 1970s was the best part in my opinion. Would really recommend it.

Just finished Major Benjy. I love the E.F. Benson Lucia books, so wasn't quite sure about this 'further adventures' novel using those characters. At first it read much like fan-fiction, using exact phrases and quirks of gestures etc from the original books to portray the characters. Gradually, however, it developed into a story in its own right and from about chapter 4 I started to really enjoy it and laughed out loud a few times.
It doesn't have the subtlety of the original series but a good fun read.

Just finished Snuff by Terry Pratchett...and its taken AGES! Been a huge Discworld fan for 15 years but these latest ones have not had the magic touch, the humour and the outrageous character traits that made me love Pratchett books in the first place. It saddens me that for me the series has long since peaked, but will continue to read future books in the hope that those sparks show up from time and to time.

I am a massive Discworld fan too Charlotte. I fully intend to re read them at some point. Sadly I think that the cutting edge that he had prior to his Alzheimer's has gone. There are very few authors that would be able to emulate his style.

Just finished Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill. Thought is was a brilliant memoir, review here:
/review/show...

I just finished reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian If, like me you enjoy getting to know quirky characters and a sweet, light hearted read then I would recommend it.

I have always wondered about reading that on Gemma

I would highly recommend Marina Lewycka's writings. She is very. humourous.

It wasn't a book I would have thought to pick up, with the title being slightly abstract! I enjoyed it too, and agree it is kinda quirky.

I enjoyed that book too. I read her second book though and gave up a little way through. Maybe I wasn't in the mood. However, I found it a bit boring.

Finished Stinker's Nine Lives From Dunkirk to D-Day and Beyond yesterday. Good war biography, and my wife's great uncle gets a mention.

Finished: The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy, a fine biography that I really loved.

I read it and I won't sing from the rooftops but I did enjoy it. Quirky it certainly is! Not read anything else by her.

I just finished The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville which is an incredible read. Requires some perseverance as it is heavy on the details, but well worth it. What a woman.

Just finished Joyland. It's the first Stephen King I've read as I don't care for horror. This one, however, is a mystery / thriller, with a touch of the supernatural and I found it gripping. Good plot, well-paced.

I just finished reading Ready Player One. It was a fun sci-fi choice for the magic square challenge. It was a bit boring in parts but charming with a few good plot twists.

Awesome book, loved it and would recommend it to anybody who has an odd sense of homour.

1984. Chilling; especially the last 100 pages. And that ending is something else.

Jan wrote: "1984. Chilling; especially the last 100 pages. And that ending is something else."

I read it for the first time ever last year, even though I am old enough to remember 1984. It is chilling as you say, even more with the revelations from Snowden

This is my first time reading it as well(even though I was old enough to be a father in 1984). Revelations from Snowden?

Edward Snowden, the ex NSA guy

1984, def up there as one of the best books ever.

Paul wrote: "Edward Snowden, the ex NSA guy"

Oh, right, right.