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Please come to this shiny new thread to tell us about your finished reads, whether good bad or indifferent. It's an invaluable way for others to find new reads that may appeal to them.

Finished my first book of 2017!!! I picked up South of Normal as a freebie from Bookbub.

My success with these kind of books is hit and miss. Sometimes you get a good one from an author that gives you a whole new set of books to read, other times, with the not so good ones, you can at least tell yourself that someone read what was more than likely days/weeks/months/years of effort to produce on the part of the author.

South of Normal was one of the good ones. It is a diary of the author's time living in a small village in Costa Rica. Very well written, engaging with many thoughtful and humorous moments.

Ditto netgalley. Usually good though, I must say.

Finished Kaleidoscope City: A Year in Varanasi yesterday. Very good book on the amazing city that is Varanasi. Very impressed with Piers Moore Ede's writing too. My review is here

I've read 2 books in the Hogarth series on Shakespeare retold. Hag- Seed by Margaret Atwood and Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler, both well worth reading, each with the author's own unique voice. At the moment, I'm in the middle of a biography of Alexander Humboldt by Andrea Wulf, "The Invention of Nature", and enjoying it. What an amazing man.

Sylvie wrote: "At the moment, I'm in the middle of a biography of Alexander Humboldt by Andrea Wulf, "The Invention of Nature", and enjoying it. What an amazing man. ..."

Wasn't he. Really good book too

Paul wrote: "Finished Kaleidoscope City: A Year in Varanasi yesterday. Very good book on the amazing city that is Varanasi. Very impressed with [author:Piers Moore Ede's writing too. My ..."

That's fascinating. Its around 13 hour drive from where I'm currently living to Varanasi. Maybe I will buy the book and read it in Varanasi someday!

13 hours on Indian roads!

You merely adopted to the Indian roads. i was born in it,moulded by it!

So yea, I think I can handle it.

Sreyas. That's a great thought.

Finished reading today Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, I have a full spoiler-free review up if you would like to read it: /review/show...

Just read Blake Crouch's Dark Matter and it was such a great book to start the year with! I thought it was very innovative and the plot was really enthralling. Highly recommending it. I also wrote a few words about the book here, but I couldn't write many things as I felt that the book was so intense that the lamest spoiler could spoil huge chunks of fun. Read the book people!!

Nancy wrote: " by Elias Canetti
Finish date: 02 January 2017
Genre: travel
Rating: B+
Review: Each vi..."

Sounds good. Put it on my to read list.

Arefin wrote: "Just read Blake Crouch's Dark Matter and it was such a great book to start the year with! I thought it was very innovative and the plot was really enthralling. Highl..."

That looks good. I'll try to get hold of a copy.

I think Dark Matter sounds good!

I just finished Holding by Graham Norton, which I loved. A pleasantly surprisingly good read.

NB. Can you have two adverbs in a row? I am sure I have committed a grammatical sin there!

Just finished The Cat with a Really Big Head. A comic by Roman Dirge. Some light bedtime reading. It was either that or tackle some more of A Suitable Boy and I'm not mentally prepared for that right now :)

A Suitable Boy is huge Toyah. Just sorting out my next couple of weeks reads as I now have four extra to review!

Just finished Home (Myron Bolitar #11). Fans of the series won't be disappointed. My review: /review/show...

I finished The Confessions of Max TivoliThe Confessions of Max Tivoli a few days ago, which I loved. I really like the authors writing and this is the second book by Andrew Sean Greer that I have read. Max Tivoli is like Fitzgeralds Benjamin Button, he ages backwards. Greer tells it in such a way that you believe what he writes.

Finished The Disappearance of Émile Zola: Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case by Michael Rosen on Friday. Not a bad little biography of the well known Émile Zola of his time in England. My review is here

Just finished The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Lovely book, very subtle with some lovely descriptions of the islands. My review is here

Just finished The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald. It was ok, wasn't blown away by it.

Pamela wrote: "Just finished The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Lovely book, very subtle with some lovely descriptions of the islands. My review is here "

Lovely review Pamela. I loved The Summer Book.

Richard wrote :" Lovely review Pamela. I loved The Summer Book."

Thanks Richard. I found the understated writing very evocative.

A couple of early 2017 reads, both come recommended.

The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall is a novel imagining the reintroduction of wolves into the Lake District. My review here: /book/show/2...

And Bad News the second of Edward St Aubyn's Melrose novels also rates five stars: /review/show...

I heard the wolf border on audiobook. I think I liked it. Can't remember. Haha.

I've just finished The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi. Absolutely loved it, it was really insightful and moving.

I've just finished The Lessons by Naomi Alderman. I had heard it was rather like The Secret History so I gave it a go. I can see the similarities, and I enjoyed The Lessons, but it has nothing on Donna Tartt's masterpiece. Can anyone recommend any other books like The Secret History?

Annika wrote: "I've just finished The Lessons by Naomi Alderman. I had heard it was rather like The Secret History so I gave it a go. I can see the similarities, and I ..."

Have you tried The Bellwether Revivals Annika?. It's not as good as The Secret History admittedly, but has similar themes and I did enjoy it.

Annika, for over 20 years I have been looking for a book like The Secret History! It is simply one of the best books I have ever read (and re-read). Masterpiece is the right word.

Have you readThe Goldfinch? It's not quite Secret History but it's not far off!

If anyone else can answer Annika's question, I await with bated breath.....

Richard wrote: "Annika wrote: "I've just finished The Lessons by Naomi Alderman. I had heard it was rather like The Secret History so I gave it a go. I can see the simil..."

I haven't, Richard. I just clicked on your link and saw it the novel is on my To-Read shelf, it was buried in there, thank you for resurfacing it for me! Reserving it at my local library now. :)

Jo wrote: "Annika, for over 20 years I have been looking for a book like The Secret History! It is simply one of the best books I have ever read (and re-read). Masterpiece is the right word.

Have you read[bo..."

I think I have read it 4 or 5 times, I love it so much.

Yes, I have read [book:The Goldfinch|17333223]. I liked it very much. I tried The Little Friend by the same author, and honestly, I couldn't get through it. I might try reading it again some day but it was disappointing.

I'm going to try Richard's suggestion, The Bellwether Revivals. I found a book list online, comprised of books that are supposed to be enjoyed by fans of The Secret History, but almost all of them are not available at any of the libraries I use. I will paste the link in case you are interested and have better luck than I did:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/8-great-books-for-fans-of-the-secret-history/

Just finished Pharaoh. I'm glad that I read it, having wanted to try a book by Wilbur Smith for a while, and I did enjoy reading it, but I don't think I would read any more by him. My full review: /review/show...

Annika wrote: "Jo wrote: "Annika, for over 20 years I have been looking for a book like The Secret History! It is simply one of the best books I have ever read (and re-read). Masterpiece is the right word.

Have ..."

I couldn't get on with The Little Friend either Annika. I did finish it, just didn't enjoy it at all.

I did love The Goldfinch though.

Annika - I made it through Little Friend, and was actually quite enjoying it until the end! Was definitely in the three star category though, didn't blow me away.

The search continues... thanks for your link by the way. Funny on reading the summaries, that the article writer is in fact quite scathing about some of the entries. So much for "great" books for fans........

Halfway through Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran. Lois Pryce is undertaking a motorcycle ride through Iran. Very good so far.

Completed the 4th book in the Dexter series Dexter By Design. Not the best in the series, but still pretty good. I've only watched one season of the TV adaption. I think I'll finish the book series first so that I can authoritatively state "it's not as good as the books" when I eventually watch the show.

Finished Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran over the weekend. Excellent book of Lois Pryce's journey around the enigmatic country that is Iran. Can highly recommend it. My review is here

I finished The Muse which I absolutely loved. Might not be for everyone, but for me it combined history, art, love, war with some great characters. It also spanned the decades which is generally a winner for me as well.

Realise how little I know about the Spanish Civil War which formed the backdrop to the earlier period of the novel.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

Just finished Miss Smilla's and, after initially being impressed by the character created by Hoeg, I became increasingly annoyed by the violent and macho turns the book took until, in the end, I found it irritating and implausible.

Jo wrote: "I finished The Muse which I absolutely loved. Might not be for everyone, but for me it combined history, art, love, war with some great characters. It also spanned the decades which..."

I like the sound of this from the blurb, but on the other hand I wasn't thrilled with The Miniaturist. (I thought the atmosphere was convincing but the plot wasn't very strong.) Have you read that one and if so how did you think they compare?

Today I finished The Glass Palace It took me a little while to get into it as there are so many characters and at first it's hard to know who you need to concentrate on. However the more I read the more I liked it and soon I couldn't put it down.
What I think he does so well is to show the complexity of moral decisions ordinary people make.

Joy wrote: "Jo wrote: "I finished The Muse which I absolutely loved. Might not be for everyone, but for me it combined history, art, love, war with some great characters. It also spanned the de..."

Joy, The Muse gets the prize from me and hopefully my reviews explain a bit more why that is the case.

The Miniaturist


The Muse

Two recent reads to report.

Helen Dunmore's The Siege made me shiver and feel hungry: /review/show...

While Owen Sheers' I Saw a Man is an intelligent literary thriller: /review/show...

I finished Unravelling Oliver and have commented on it on the SPOILERS thread for next month's fiction read.

I also finished listening to (in a day!) Everything You Told Me which I wasn't sure about, but actually, I really enjoyed. Lots of twists and turns. The audio equivalent of a "page turner".

Finished Love of Country: A Hebridean Journey. Another good book by Madeleine Bunting but this time on the Outer Hebrides. Having read this I now want to go there! My review is here

Read The Sellout and really liked it. In it, Beatty tackles race in America in a satrical, sometimes hillarious and sometimes uncomfortable, way.


/review/show...

Paul Theroux is tackling race and other uncomfortable things like that in the book I am reading at the moment Jon

Finished Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey for a Women's Literature class. Bit of a struggle to read, honestly.

Finished the 'hyped' The Girl on the Train. Found it enjoyable but a bit disappointing, possibly because I started it with too many prior expectations. My review: /review/show...