reading – Page 27

The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg – Book Review

August 18, 2015September 16, 2022yggdrasille

I don’t know if it can be called a subgenre, but there’s certainly a kind of scenario that often appears in fiction: a bunch of people with disparate personalities and lives, who share some kind of common past, reunite for an occasion that ends up changing their lives, with revelations and much soul-searching along the way. This book was about a group of former classmates who attend their fortieth high school reunion.

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin – Book Review

August 10, 2015September 16, 2022yggdrasille

This was the only Ira Levin novel I haven’t read yet, so while I was excited to finally get my hands on it, it’s always a bit sad to come to a point where you’ve read all the books by one of your favourite authors, and there are no more to follow, ever. He’s not Harper Lee exactly in terms of output, but I wish Levin wrote more than seven novels in his lifetime. Or make that six, because while Son of Rosemary wasn’t all bad the ending made me wish I’ve never read it; truly a book to fling against the wall while screaming in rage.

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin – Book Review

August 6, 2015July 1, 2023yggdrasille

Back in my teens, I read the Russian translation of this book so many times the whole sections of dialogue and descriptions kept popping up in my brain as I was reading it in English. It was fun to revisit in its original language, particularly as the Russian translation couldn’t really capture the 1950s expressions and quirks.

Books I’ve read lately

August 1, 2015March 29, 2019yggdrasille

Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection by Isaac Asimov

I’ve only read one other short stories collection by Asimov before, so this bunch of previously uncollected stories probably wasn’t a great place to start for a relative Asimov beginner. The stories are rather hit-and-miss; there’s a couple which are more like sci-fi jokes culminating with rather unfunny puns; while others are really good, like the first story in the collection called Cal, about a domestic robot who wants to be a writer just like his master.

Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman – Book Review

July 25, 2015December 20, 2022yggdrasille

I love me a good historical biography and I really enjoyed this account of one of the greatest figures in history.

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes – Book Review

July 15, 2015September 13, 2022yggdrasille

I read a few novels by Marian Keyes (a.k.a. the Irish Queen of Chick Lit), but while I enjoyed them all to various degrees most of them fall into the “read once and forget” basket. This book had stuck with me though, I’ve just re-read it for the second time in two years and loved it as much as when I first read it. At nearly 900 pages (set at a pretty large font mind you), it’s a breeze and pleasure to read.

Books I’ve read lately

June 24, 2015June 25, 2020yggdrasille

Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

Hornby novels for me are like pizza: when they’re good they’re great and when they’re not they’re still enjoyable and immensely readable. Luckily, in addition to being readable Funny Girl is really good.

The Book Blogger Confessions Tag

June 22, 2015October 5, 2017yggdrasille

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be a fun thing to do.

1. Which book, most recently, did you not finish?

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, English translation. His novels are ultimately rewarding, but my can they be hard work; I made it to half-point and then just quietly gave up.