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| Started By | Thread Subject | Location | Replies | Last Post | |||
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| starrover | Dissolution by C J Sansom |
Haydock Reading Group
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0 | Jun 16 2008, 6:00 AM EDT by starrover | |||
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Thread started: Jun 16 2008, 6:00 AM EDT
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The book is set in that time in history when Henry Vlll was implementing the dissolution of the monastries. This is being carried out by Cromwell, who also mastermined the downfall of Anne Boleyn, and ousted his master Cardinal Worsley. Following this Henry married Jane Seymour who had since died following the birth of Henry's only son.
The hero of the book is Mathew Shardlake, a lawyer, employed by Cromwell. Shardlake together with his young assistant are sent to a remote Abbey to investigate the murder of another employee of Cromwell previously sent to the Abbey to iniatiate the dissolution process. This is a delicate matter with negotiations to buy off important monks, and if not possible, bring about the dissolution by whatever means possible. The murder is particularly gruesome involving beheading and mutilation. All of the senior monks appear to have motives, a previous murder is uncovered and a further murder occurs. The book is well plotted and the murder difficult to solve with lots of red herrings whilst the historical context is crucial to the plot. No further hints to the outcome are provided. The book is the first of a series set in Tudor England, involving Mathew Shardlake, and the attention to historial detail is fascination without detracting from enjoyment of the story.
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Keyword tags:
C J Sansome
historical
murder
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| flippinwilly | Favourite childhood book? |
Discussion Forum
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2 | Apr 18 2008, 1:32 PM EDT by durban | |||
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Thread started: Feb 6 2008, 1:44 PM EST
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Tough one, eh?
I'm torn between The Saga of Erik the Viking by Terry Jones and The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Erik took me on a fantastical adventure across the high seas. Each chapter told of a new discovery or an encounter with an odd character or treacherous beast. I was with Erik all the way on his journey and felt his heartbreak, confusion and fears. I really did believe we were going to fall off the edge of the earth! My copy of Erik was beautifully illustrated by Michael Foreman. I'd recommend it to anyone for reading out loud at bedtime (whatever age you or the listener may be!). Similarly, a few years later I went on another emotional super voyage. This time with Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect as they hitch-hiked their way across the galaxy. Whereas Erik led my mind through ages past, Hitchhikers guided me towards the future and the realisation of a whole universe we know nothing off. I'd never considered the importance of a towel or nuts in space travel. God had never featured and disappeared from any other book I'd read previously so logically or illogically! And never, or since, have I read anything, that has offered the answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?" I have read this a number of times, and still I find myself laughing out loud at the same points and even at new ones. This book, surprisingly for a "humorous sci-fi" title, gets better each time and offers something different as you grow older with it. Remember it is "part of a trilogy in four parts".
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| FriarTuck | book reputations |
BookFace
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0 | Apr 16 2008, 8:40 AM EDT by FriarTuck | |||
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Thread started: Apr 16 2008, 8:40 AM EDT
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Last week's Guardian review gave me an idea for a new topic for discussion - books that attract lavish recommendation or hype, but which personally we can't get on with. In The Guardian last week was an advertisement for "The Time Traveller's Wife" which was lent to me amidst much gushing acclaim and I must admit the blurb seemed intriguing. After 100 pages I began to suspect that it was repetitious claptrap. After 150, I was sure and dropped it.
In the same issue was an adulatory review of Salman Rushdie's latest book. His first, "Midnight's Children" , was so widely praised that I couldn't wait to read it. I managed a page and a half and even less than that with his second, "Shame". I have read that the scene in "Satanic Verses" which got him into so much trouble occurs on about page 187. How did anybody get to page 187 in a book by Salman Rushdie? I could have cheerfully strangled him after three paragraphs. I also include in this category anything by Martin Amis ecxept "Night Train", which he's virtually disowned, and anything by Melvyn Bragg except "The Maid of Buttermere". So come on fellow philistines, which books have you started with eager anticipation only to be let down? Which hot reads have left you cold? Which literary emperors do you think have no clothes? |
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| clickclock | 1000 Splendid Suns |
Haydock Reading Group
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0 | Apr 4 2008, 5:23 PM EDT by clickclock | |||
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Thread started: Apr 4 2008, 5:23 PM EDT
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One Thousand Splendid Suns
A moving but intensly harrowing story of love, cruelty and how the human spirit can survive a continuation of cruel regimes. Told from the viewpoint of the two women who are the main characters of the story. Also it’s interesting to have an insight as a westerner, into the country of Afghanistan which most of us have very little knowledge of. I, for one, was surprised in Mariams description of her second house, that they had electricity. I assumed the houses were just stone huts. As the Taliban took over, it reinforces our impressions of the fanatical nature of that government. Some characteristics are the same from country to country – we too have battered wives, but unlike Mariam and Laila, there is help available in our country – not an option for those two. I couldn’t reconcile Mariams acceptance of her fate throughout the book, but what else could she have done? Her realisation of the only way to help Laila by accepting death also was hard to understand – because we have such an easy life compared to theirs. When Mariam and Laila started to dig the well in the backyard, I really thought (because I read thrillers) they were planning to kill Rasheed and bury him in the garden – who could be bothered to keep burying the TV and unearthing it all the time? I suppose they took for granted they had to do what they had to do. Thank goodness the ending was as happy as it could be in that war-torn country. An intense story depicting the strength of the human spirit and certainly a book well worth reading – but I found it very harrowing and real – almost non-fictional, as we’d followed the actions in Afghanistan during the hunt for Bin Laden. I had to read a thriller afterwards with famililar twists and plots to take my mind away from the anguish and unjustice that some people have to live amidst. |
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| sistertwix | Beyond Black - Hilary Mantel |
Chester Lane Reading Group
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0 | Mar 17 2008, 1:19 PM EDT by sistertwix | |||
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Thread started: Mar 17 2008, 1:19 PM EDT
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What did everybody else think about this book? I admit I struggled with the beginning. I found it very difficult to read as it failed miserably to captivate me at all. That said, I have never really been concerned with the spiritual world or psychics who interpret it - but nonetheless, Hilary Mantel, failed to convince me. However, persevere I did . . . I found myself actually warming to Alison's character as her childhood years unfolded and the various burdens she endured became more clear. The demons/spirits that plagued her life, the evil tricks they played on her - then, of course, her mother - a prostitute who failed to protect her from the various men who frequented the house . . . I was therefore most pleased when she became friendly with Colette and thought she may have finally found a soul mate . . . but alas, this too, was short-lived as Colette, at times, I thought - proved almost as spiteful to Alison as everybody else!! I thought the book went full-circle - ending as it began but giving the reader a fictional insight into the modern day medium/psychic, which wasn't as dull as I initially thought!! Not one I would recommend - but not the worst read either . . . ? Thoughts anyone?
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| durban | courtroom thrillers books |
BookFace
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4 | Feb 20 2008, 2:12 PM EST by durban | |||
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Thread started: Feb 17 2008, 1:46 PM EST
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can anybody suggest an author who writes really good books about the courtroom drama's and procedures?.
also has anyone read any of steve martini's books, and are they any good?.
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| durban | new reads |
New Reads
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0 | Feb 17 2008, 2:00 PM EST by durban | |||
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Thread started: Feb 17 2008, 2:00 PM EST
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although not a new one i have just re-read Last train to Memphis,Peter Guralnick's book about the rise of Elvis.
though i've read many books about him but this one is really the best of them all.it's so informative and interesting and really brings The Man to life. has anyone else read this ? and what did you think about it.
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Keyword tags:
author visits
calendar
diary
events
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| bibliobob | Do We Need Books? |
Discussion Forum
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2 | Feb 8 2008, 11:25 AM EST by bibliobob | |||
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Thread started: Feb 8 2008, 6:44 AM EST
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Read an interesting article in yesterday's Guardian newspaper. There was lots of discussion around literacy and reading books compared with literacy and reading online. One suggestion was that online (digital) readers are more intelligent and more employable than printed text (book) readers. Teh article can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/07/internet.literacy Any comments?
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| flippinwilly | Suggestions |
Discussion Forum
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0 | Feb 7 2008, 10:02 AM EST by flippinwilly | |||
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Thread started: Feb 7 2008, 10:02 AM EST
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A general discussion thread for the well-being of Bookface.
Post any ideas you may have for improvement, expansion or progression. Let's build a monster!!!! |
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| clickclock | last good read |
BookFace
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0 | Feb 7 2008, 9:46 AM EST by clickclock | |||
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Thread started: Feb 7 2008, 9:46 AM EST
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My personal choice is 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (which has been out a couple of years) - not a book i would normally have chosen but recommended by a friend which i thought was a stunning read.The thread running through the story is the love Chiyo (a young Japanese girl) has for an important man, and the influence he has on her life. He eventually becomes her 'danna' (sort of protector, etc). The book explains the culture of the Geishas which is not as cut and dried as the Western world perceives. It's a history lesson and touching romance, without any hint of sentimentality.
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| moominsquidge111 | Would you stay for Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant? |
Chester Lane Reading Group
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0 | Feb 6 2008, 12:15 PM EST by moominsquidge111 | |||
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Thread started: Feb 6 2008, 12:15 PM EST
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Having read the book, I don't think I would've stayed, there was so much tension between the family that just bubbled below the surface, i wouldn't have been comfortable eating!
I felt a great deal of sympathy for the characters, mostly Ezra who's story isn't told in as much detail as the rest of his family. I had expected Ezra to take more of the narrative having read Pearl's, Cody's and Jenny's story. Maybe he was left out as a reflection of his personality? What I learnt about him was really from his family's point of view. His love for his family never dimished even though they weren't as loving back to him. All he wanted was for them to be togther with him, and they only managed it after their mother died. This is quite often the way with everyone, that it takes a tradegy to bring families together. I thought the relationship between the two brothers was really well written and it was so sad when Cody set out to steal Ezra's girlfriend. I think that part stood out most in the book. Would Cody have gone after Ruth if she wasn't engaged to Ezra? What if Ezra had put up more of a fight? I don't think you get much of an idea of how Ezra felt, obviously he was upset but, you don't hear his opinion of it. I think the most telling part of the book was when Cody met up with a girl he knew from school, a girl who he liked but he thought that she prefered Ezra to him. When he met up with her years later she couldn't even remember Ezra. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to other people.It's well written and easy to read and get into, and whilst it isn's the most exciting of stories, it's a good study of how we treat the ones we love most. What do you think? |
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| tickledpink | Gone With The Wind |
BookFace
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0 | Feb 1 2008, 6:48 AM EST by tickledpink | |||
| roobidoo | The Joshua Files |
Discussion Forum
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1 | Jan 31 2008, 7:29 AM EST by bibliobob | |||
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Thread started: Jan 30 2008, 10:10 AM EST
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published 4th Feb - check this out:
http://www.mgharris.net/videos/
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| BarryBoglin | Favourite |
Chester Lane Reading Group
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6 | Jan 21 2008, 7:15 AM EST by sistertwix | |||
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Thread started: Dec 11 2007, 3:02 PM EST
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What has been your favourite of all the reading group book choices and why?
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Keyword tags:
chester lane
group
Reading
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| sistertwix | 1984 - George Orwell |
Chester Lane Reading Group
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0 | Jan 15 2008, 9:37 AM EST by sistertwix | |||
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Thread started: Jan 15 2008, 9:37 AM EST
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What did everybody think of this choice? I missed out on the meeting that followed this selection and, not being one of the many who had already read it in school - wondered what everybody else thought? I had my misgivings at first as I really didn't believe it would be my type of novel - but I was pleasantly surprised . . . It was, in my opinion, very bleak and a chilling reflection of totalitarian society - and, although intended as an imaginary state of oppression, very relevant to perhaps todays society. At times, I did get a little frustrated with the way the narrative was written - found it difficult keeping track of the different characters - what did everybody else think?
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| moominsquidge111 | Interpretation Of Murder - What do you think so far? |
Discussion Forum
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4 | Jan 11 2008, 5:02 AM EST by bibliobob | |||
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Thread started: Dec 13 2007, 6:59 AM EST
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Have you read it yet? What do you think?
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Keyword tags:
Interpretation Of Murder
Jed Rubenfeld
Review
Sigmund Freud
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| bibliobob | National Year of Reading - what's happening? |
BookFace
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2 | Jan 11 2008, 3:57 AM EST by welshwizard | |||
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Thread started: Dec 21 2007, 6:45 AM EST
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Hi, no mention of next year's National Year of Reading. Does anyone have any events planned?
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| cheryl-duffy | how |
BookFace
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3 | Dec 19 2007, 7:39 AM EST by roobidoo | |||
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Thread started: Dec 18 2007, 8:17 AM EST
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do u work this?
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