The House That Books Built

loved this and hope it's the start of a series. Jolly good story..

I can't imagine the amount of research that must have gone into this book, but it kept me enthralled,despite the densely packed information and detail.How I would love to have been a fly on the wall at Shakespeare and Coin the time of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and so many others...The way of life of the period is completely gone..everyone seemed to get by on the financial kindness of friends and patrons,allowing them to get on with the business of creating without the sordid necessity of earning a living.A unique time and place..

will have to think about this before I rate it..very clever, but I'm not sure what I make of it..

What can I say..easy to read, a detective I love from the books and tv series..just wish it wasn't over yet..

I have rated this 3 because it's either brilliant or the worst thing ever..both at the same time. I read it while slightly feverish due to a cough and cold and that might explain why I felt tears come to my eyes more than once...I love all the desert stuff;some of it chimes very closely with my muslim faith and I found it quite beautiful. I also liked the romance between Santiago and Fatima..BUT..
Where it fell down ultimately was the idea that wanting something enough will make it happen. As we know ,because the Rolling Stones told us,'You Can't Always Get What You Want.......'

hmm, I got this fro review and didn't like it..but can't find the words to explain why yet. I will have to give it further thought..
ok..
I wasn’t aware before I started to read this book that it is actually the sixth book in a series following the activities of a group of software engineers called Monkeewrench. It isn’t necessary to have read the other books, however I did feel that there was a lot of history between some of the characters in this story that would have benefitted from a bit more explanation.
The book opens with an assassination attempt that is thwarted by the quick thinking of our heroine, Grace MacBride. The target of the attempt is a retired FBI agent. The question therefore is; who is trying to kill him and what has he done to deserve it? Has he been poking his nose into something instead of enjoying his retirement?
Far away in another part of the country a young girl is found dead;in the course of the day others are found,seemingly executed. The police are at a loss as to what is the connection between them, if any. And why do the victims have Hallowe’en circled on the calendar ?.As they begin to investigate, other homicides in different cities are discovered, which also seem to point to a Hallowe’en connection. But what is it, and what does it have to do with our retired FBI guy, now on the run in fear for his life.?

I don’t really want to say more about the plot , but I will say that I’m afraid I didn’t like this book much. I felt there were too many characters and not enough depth for my tastes. Perhaps this is where I suffered from not having read any of the earlier books.
Sadly it just all felt too formulaic. There was so much going on it was hard to get a handle on things at times, and the whole thing seemed rushed and shallow ,which is a shame because I quite liked Grace MacBride.
(And without giving too much away, please someone check out the proper use of the word ‘jihad’).
It just wasn’t for me I’m afraid..

I'll start by saying that this is an extremely personal view, based on my life experiences and not on any literary criteria. I would never ususally read this genre as it doesn't interest me, but I am taking part in a reading challenge. I know nothing about the author and have never seen the film .It would be fair to say that the book has never impinged upon my consciousness in any way.
As I began to read the book ,my first thought was, woah , what is this, and to almost give up. I read some reviews on here and was broadly speaking, in the negative camp, but I decided for the sake of the challenge to push on.
As I did so, I began to feel a creeping sadness and acute sense of recognition in regard to the father character. I don't know if the author has any children, or in particular, has ever had sole responsibility for a child , but as I continued to read there were so many little things that 'spoke' to me.' I have , through what another writer might dub 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' become the sole parent of an eight year old. I am currently out of work and just about holding on by my fingertips while simultaneously telling her everything will be ok and acting like I believe it (when sadly I'm not at all sure right now.) We live week to week and I meal plan and 'ration 'food and supplies like the military ,because I never know what will happen, and if I get ill , it's all over.
I'm not equating first world europe with a post apocalyptic society (!) but I did know exactly what the father meant when towards the close of the novel he tells the child 'I get scared'... because I do too..
I cried towards the finish but ultimately wish that the ending had been a bit less 'tied up in a bow'. I felt an ambiguous ending would have been more in keeping with the style of the piece.
So I did like this book , but more for its personal resonances than its writing, which I don't feel qualified to judge..

I didn't read this book; my inner teenager did, and she loved it. She fell in love the boy..a boy who can talk books, and films, and existential crises with you..who wouldn't?
I've never heard of John Green..I don't know if he's big in the Uk or if I'm just too old.I don't know what a nerdfighter is, or what his other works are about. But I rattled through this, tissue in hand, and felt gloriously wrung out by the end. Is it well written, does it have anything new to say, I don't know...ask me when I've grown up..

I love technology based stories. I'm a sucker for anything to do with space..I have no clue if the technical jargon is correct but it doesn't really matter.This falls into the realms of what might conceivably happen not too far off in the future..commercial spaceflight with all its attendant risks..would you be brave enough?

I hesitate to rate this because I read it as part of a genre challenge, and it is a genre I don't usually read I realise poetry is a huge subject, but if poetry is a language, it might as well be Double Dutch, and I don't speak it..

This is published as a children's book, but it deals with some very dark issues. I wouldn't recommend it for my 8 year old, but perhaps in a couple of years time it'd be fine.
The premise of the book is that a child has been killed in a terrorist bombing in London.It is her ashes that live on 'the mantelpiece' of the title. The story is told through the eyes of her ten year old brother Jamie, and looks at how the family cope, or more pertinently, fail to cope with the grief and loss.
The father moves the family away from London to somewhere'where there are no Muslims' as he puts it,because, as he says.. 'Muslims killed my daughter'. Ironically then,our narrator, Jamie forms a friendship with the only Muslim girl in the class, a friendship he keeps secret from his father,for obvious reasons.
Ultimately only time can heal this family. The book was moving,sad, but also funny in parts.. and not just for children

This is the second time I have read this sprawling family saga. At 1313 pages..it's huge.but it's THAT good..

I read this in one go, with an increasing sense of horror, like watching a slow motion car crash and saying NO..0..0...0..,
The subject matter of this is pretty disturbing, but the writing is tremendous...you want to look away but you can't..

I confess I only read this for a genre challenge, and while I doubt I'll read other graphic novels-I'm snowed under with a TBR pile of regular books- I have to say that I found this engaging and ultimately moving, to the point of shedding a few tears. (It was strange to see part of the action set in Brighton where I just happen to live, and also one of the main characters bears an uncanny resemblance to my ex husband, but that's by the by..)

The Nao of the title is a deeply vulnerable and suffering girl,half Japanese, Buddhist, and struggling with obsessive thoughts. She reaches out to a washing- machine repairman who is wrestling with his own demons, and it makes for a prickly and delicate relationship. Beautifully drawn and surprising..towards the end I found myself gasping at the turn of events..

I loved this..I didn't really feel like I was reading a 'Classic' in the sense if it being onerous, or hallowed in some way..I just thought it was a great story that I cannot believe I hadn't read before now. I wiped away a tear at the end..the nobility of a human being ..very moving..

This was a haunting story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife..I don't want to give away the plot, but ultimately I felt it was about the conflict between duty and love , and the consequences for everybody when the heart is allowed to rule the head. There were real moral dilemmas here and a lot of heartbreak. Beautiful..