In January a massive nine out of eleven books contained rats. So far so good. The quotes acquired along the way are relatively encouraging too, not so marked by antipathy to our furry friends as one might have realistically feared:
And this week’s meme is…
Jackie says, “I love books with complicated plots and unexpected endings. What is your favourite book with a fantastic twist at the end?”
So, today’s question is in two parts.
1. Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?
2. What book with a surprise ending is your favorite? Or your least favorite?
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Hosted by Bermudaonion.
The very first paragraph of 2666 sent me scuttling for the dictionary, so I am hoping to acquire a great many new words during the course of the read:
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As is perhaps becoming apparent, I am largely indebted for my reading choices to the blogs and comments of others. Wise Blood is no exception. Richard’s review, unfortunately no longer available, was an excellent advocate for the book (and he may at some point have suggested a shared quality with the works of Cormac McCarthy. Which would always be a strong incentive for me.)
In the dysfuntional, dislocated characters; the grim environs; religious preoccupation; even the terse (if punctuated) dialogue; I found McCarthy, and consequently liked this book very much.
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The target for week 1 of the 2666 group read was to read fifty pages, which was easily, and with increasing enjoyment, achieved. Continue reading
‘Sarah’s Books‘ bites the dust, ‘A Rat in the Book Pile‘ rises, phoenix-like, (not so much) from the ashes.
Not usually a sufferer from insomnia, this is where it leads. Vague, half-acknowledged reservations about the title of my blog crystallise, and voilà, the blog is renamed.
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I thought that the launch was to be on Monday, and so it is, but that is when discussion officially begins. Discussion? That would imply having begun reading…
So the reading has begun. Several pages in, and nigh on nine hundred to go. But it looks so much more…
This book was a ‘secret santa’ from my book group, where everyone received a random book. Although I should add that, while the luck of the draw was random, whoever donated this novel did so with care. Given my quest to read more female writers of literary fiction, I was very pleased to end up with this great candidate for my challenge.
Larry’s Party considers the first forty or so years of Larry’s life, as he heads into the new millenium. Continue reading
This book would not have come my way if not for a great review I found somewhere on the blogosphere, so I began with high expectations. (I would like to give credit to the blogger who originally brought this to my attention, but I am sorry to say that I cannot remember their identity. Any links to reviews of this novel are welcome in the comments.)
The story is semi-autobiographical. The author’s father took his own life, and the novel depicts a young man’s struggle to understand and accept his father’s decision to commit suicide.
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I don’t usually review children’s picture books, but having earned the displeasure of my youngest daughter feel that it behoves me to so so.
‘Mummy,’ quoth she, ‘is my cat book on your blog?’
Firstly, there is the reference to the blog dropped casually into family conversation. As if the blog had a presence. A known entity. Secondly, the comment was accompanied by a depth of disapprobation which can only be achieved by a four year old who has apprehended her mother in dereliction of duty.
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A Rat in the Book Pile 