Bookworms 2020

Fridayschild

belfastgirl23 said:

Fridayschild wrote: »

I've just started The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I haven't read everything he has produced but very much enjoyed his Notes on a Small Island and a few others. Hoping this will be another enjoyable and funny romp around the British Isles. Will let you know in due course! It was written fairly recently so will be on the lookout for Brexit references!

i read A Walk in the Woods years ago and loved it, the best of his books for my money. Wasn’t so keen on Little Dribbling but interesting idea to read it with Brexit in mind...

I'm still plodding on with Little Dribbling, but the realisation has dawned on me that I've read it before.  I was on about page 50 before I realised!!!!! I'm usually quite good at remembering what I've read, but this one slipped through the grey matter.  I found the section about traffic and motopia a bit dreary if not enlightening, so I will press on.  I hate giving up on a book unless it's awful.  On that subject, I did give up half way through Rory Stewart's book about his walk across Aghanistan, the name of which has escaped me at the moment.

FC

pollypenny

Fridayschild said:

belfastgirl23 said:

Fridayschild wrote: »

I've just started The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I haven't read everything he has produced but very much enjoyed his Notes on a Small Island and a few others. Hoping this will be another enjoyable and funny romp around the British Isles. Will let you know in due course! It was written fairly recently so will be on the lookout for Brexit references!

i read A Walk in the Woods years ago and loved it, the best of his books for my money. Wasn’t so keen on Little Dribbling but interesting idea to read it with Brexit in mind...

I'm still plodding on with Little Dribbling, but the realisation has dawned on me that I've read it before.  I was on about page 50 before I realised!!!!! I'm usually quite good at remembering what I've read, but this one slipped through the grey matter.  I found the section about traffic and motopia a bit dreary if not enlightening, so I will press on.  I hate giving up on a book unless it's awful.  On that subject, I did give up half way through Rory Stewart's book about his walk across Aghanistan, the name of which has escaped me at the moment.

FC

None of us in our book group liked Little Dribbling.  We found it superficial and patronising, especially as Bryson criticises Michael Portillo for the same thing on his television programmes. 

Having been a fan of Bryson, I went right off him with his confident, but very wrong, instructions on Welsh  and  Irish words. 

dolly84

I have finished 'Three Things About Elsie'.  It took about 100 pages for me to start enjoying this but I did after that so it was worth it. It was easy to read and flowed along quite nicely once the story got going.  I am moving onto 'A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli, it says it is a novel on the front but I would say it is a novella so I am hoping to read it this week.

elsien

I'm on a roll at the moment.
Just finished Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. Apparently inspired by a true story and about a child born into slavery, his escape and the responsibility of then living as a free man.
It's not one of those brutality books; it's more literary and the story is fantastical in places. I enjoyed it at the start but towards the end I just wanted the main character to stop philosophising and get a flipping grip.
It had very good reviews but I started to lose interest towards the end.  

elsien

I meant agonising rather than philosophising, but the forum has decided not to allow me to edit at present.

Mayday

Reading The Ballroom Café by Ann O'Loughlin.  Started this ages ago on my Kindle but didn't get on very well but recently decided to try again and it's getting better.  Shades of Philomena with big family secrets.

gettingtheresometime

Just binged listened to The Holiday by T.M Logan, throughly enjoyed it & did not see the ending coming at all!

The  backdrop is 4 friends from university going on holiday to celebrate their 40th birthdays with their respective families.....but things don't pan out the way it was expected to.

well narrated as well.

betasam

I have been really busy over the past couple of weeks so reading has been on the back-burner.
6. Horrible Christmas by Terry Deary - thought I'd read it before it is put away for my nieces'/nephews' Christmas Eve box. Much better than expected!

ziggy2407

Finished James Patterson's "Revenge" and loved it so will be investigating more of this series through the year.  Have a few books on order from the library so thought while I'm waiting for them I'll try and read some from home - managed to read "Confessions of a Veterinary Nurse" (a competition win) it wasn't my normal kind of read so I'm making progress on that part of my challenge too to try new books, authors and styles (it could have done with the proof reader catching a few of the  glaring errors though), currently reading a childhood favourite "Little Women".

Books read in 2020: 10 of 60

gettingtheresometime

Finally finished 'My lovely wife' by Samantha Downing which was a Richard & Judy book club read.

The book is written from the pov of the husband, who with his wife, are serial killers mimicking a known serial killer....don't worry though there's no gory details.

It was an ok read but I found The Holiday which I was listening to concurrently far more gripping.