'No More Buying Books Until I've Read the Ones I've Already Bought' Thread

wishus

wishus wrote: »

Really bad of me, I know, but that one library book wasn't talking to me, so I've started The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes instead, and I love it so far. Halfway through!

Ooh - need to say, I finished this! :T

This book is visceral and spooky - Kirby Mazrachi is a girl who should be dead. A couple of years after she was viciously attacked by a limping man while out walking her dog, she gets a placement on a local newspaper working with Dan Velasquez - a sportswriter who has moved away from crime stories, but who had written about her attack. Kirby's attacker had seemed to melt into thin air and the police had no leads, so Kirby wants to use her placement to find similar cases. The thing is, similar crimes seem to be cropping up decades back.

We also see from the killer's point of view, a vagrant from the Great Depression and his wonder at a mysterious house - dilapidated from the outside, plush when he enters - that is filled with vibrating objects and glowing names that are always there, even when he hasn't written them yet. He has to close the loop, but what does that mean?

Does that intrigue you?

Now on The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, and halfway through. A zombie book? Yes, but not in the way you might be thinking. It's up for the Clarke Awards, and I'd say it deserves to be there, from what I've read so far. :cool:

rubywhatashmoo

wishus wrote: »

Now on The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, and halfway through. A zombie book? Yes, but not in the way you might be thinking. It's up for the Clarke Awards, and I'd say it deserves to be there, from what I've read so far. :cool:

I finished that a couple of weeks ago - REALLY enjoyed it but had so many questions when I was done with it

LolaLemon

wishus wrote: »

Ooh - need to say, I finished this! :T

This book is visceral and spooky - Kirby Mazrachi is a girl who should be dead. A couple of years after she was viciously attacked by a limping man while out walking her dog, she gets a placement on a local newspaper working with Dan Velasquez - a sportswriter who has moved away from crime stories, but who had written about her attack. Kirby's attacker had seemed to melt into thin air and the police had no leads, so Kirby wants to use her placement to find similar cases. The thing is, similar crimes seem to be cropping up decades back.

We also see from the killer's point of view, a vagrant from the Great Depression and his wonder at a mysterious house - dilapidated from the outside, plush when he enters - that is filled with vibrating objects and glowing names that are always there, even when he hasn't written them yet. He has to close the loop, but what does that mean?

Does that intrigue you?

Now on The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, and halfway through. A zombie book? Yes, but not in the way you might be thinking. It's up for the Clarke Awards, and I'd say it deserves to be there, from what I've read so far. :cool:

Both these books sound great!

LolaLemon

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Well done on your bargain book:T. Sounds a great charity shop to go to, all the ones round here are very expensive these days:(. I love it when I spot a book in really good condition at a giveaway price (usually at a car boot sale). Sometimes there's nothing I'd been looking out for or often I'd never even heard of any of them:o. I've discovered some brilliant books/authors that way and it's lovely when I've found a 'new' author that I really like and see that they've written loads of other books as well:j.

Thier are 2 charity chops that still sell like charity shops, one is never open when i am passing, and the other has half a foot in the (good) old pricing and half a foot in the new 'im dearer than if u bought me from the original shop i came from' pricing. But to be fair to it, it is a lot more reasonable than the big name charity shops and we dont even have an o x fam shop in town anymore, they out priced themselves!

wishus

LolaLemon, I can indeed confirm that The Girl With All the Gifts was awesome - I think the best book I have read so far this year.

And then I went and found out that there is a film being made of it right now - starring Paddy Considine as Sergeant Parks! I love Paddy! :happyhear Also Glenn Close as the cold and calculating Doctor Caldwell and Gemma Arterton as the kind-hearted teacher, Helen Justineau.

So, Melanie is a little girl and normal life for her is being strapped into a chair and wheeled out of her cell at gunpoint every morning to go to class. She jokes that she won't bite, but no one laughs. Her favourite teacher is Miss Justineau, because she's kind and loves to tell stories, especially about the Greek Myths, and Melanie's favourite is the story of Pandora. she loves her and writes stories of how she will save her one day, like the Greek heroes.

Melanie would love to hug her teacher, but she can't, because she's a 'hungry'. They are the outside people, who got sick and attacked people when the Breakdown happened. That's why they have to stay on the base. Of course, Melanie and her classmates are not like the other hungries. But that's because of the guns and the straps and the e-blockers people where to stop them smelling like food.

Life could carry on the way it is, but some of Melanie's classmates get taken away and never come back. But of course, they'd never choose Melanie, because she's so clever and Miss Justineau loves her... or would they?

It's absolutely brilliant. Gory, but so terribly well told.

Now reading Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett, also from the library.

Bubblesmum

Finished The White Princess by Phillipa Gregory - think this is my favourite book of the cousin series - found it fascinating to look at a woman's life where little is known about her. Where history describes both her husband and mother in law. Certainly would not have liked to live in that period.

Darling in books at the mo... So will record when I next have finished one

Island.girl

I've just finished the girl on the train... Amazing book highly recommended my next book which is the second book in the book club is 'we are all completely beside ourselves' I didn't buy this book I did an online swap on the read it swap it website which is fantastic.

Happygreen

Island.girl wrote: »

I've just finished the girl on the train... Amazing book highly recommended my next book which is the second book in the book club is 'we are all completely beside ourselves' I didn't buy this book I did an online swap on the read it swap it website which is fantastic.

Don't give too much away when you are done with it - it's on my library list!

I'm just listening to Hermann Koch's "The Dinner" and it is superb! I saw it as a movie description but as the film was made in Italy couldn't get it so had the talking book instead, fully worth it!

Gem-gem

Bubblesmum wrote: »

Finished The White Princess by Phillipa Gregory - think this is my favourite book of the cousin series - found it fascinating to look at a woman's life where little is known about her. Where history describes both her husband and mother in law. Certainly would not have liked to live in that period.

Darling in books at the mo... So will record when I next have finished one

I have just finished Thw White Queen by PG. Really enjoyed it. I agree that I would not have liked to live during that period either.

rubywhatashmoo

Island.girl wrote: »

Amazing book highly recommended my next book which is the second book in the book club is 'we are all completely beside ourselves' .

I finished that a couple of weeks ago - my sister raved about it and persuaded me to read it but there's a weird twist in the story and after that I just couldn't get into the story enough