Kitty

Doomscrolling in literature. What happens after everything’s gone? A fascinating story. Bleak, yet full of love. A father trying to protect his son. Simple dialogue, words repeated over and over again. It’s all right. Yes. Yes. Of course you can. Etc. But lovely too.

Very interesting. The chapters on beer and sex less so. The historical enacting or experimenting Goodman describes is often elucidating.

Very well written! And most interesting. Both Humboldts importance and his interesting life (and astounding energy) - very glad to have learned of him and his influence on Darwin etc.

Mwah. Not as good. Also, goes on too long.

Great books, Cavanagh’s.

An unusual book, in that it gives you pov’s of many people involved in a jury case. But what exactly is the point the author is trying to make?

Well written as usual, but subject matter too saddening. Yes, climate change is upon us and we should have acted. I live this every day. So stopped reading.

A very nice, quiet yet interesting scifi story from the pov of a 70 year old woman. It is comforting in a way. Even in her old age, life can still get better. I love where she decides to do a better job than she did with her own children.

Strangely addictive, and me being an atheist to boot. There is addictiveness in the ongoing cycle of emotional highs and lows, and the soothing wisdom of the old character Geesje. Cleverly interwoven storylines. It’s christian propaganda, it’s about an astoundingly Good set of christian people - in short it’s a soorhing fairytale.

On rereading P&P it struck me how eminently readable it still is, how neatly it is constructed, how many things happen in it - scene upon scene upon scene -and how suspenseful it is. Since I am reading JA’s letters at the same time, I recognise her opinions in Elisabeth.

Although I liked Brooklyn and Long Island better, still I think this a very good book. A quiet book, about rebuilding a life after a husband died. In a family where not everyone talks enough. I still can’t explain why, but I love Toibin’s very simple and sometimes barren style. And I can’t stop reading, even when little happens, like in this wisow’s life.

Started out fine, then soon got dreary.

A well crafted, interesting, believable story.

DNF. Stopped reading at 3/5. It started out great, but lost its tempo, with too many repeats of the same issues. Moreover, the writing started feeling pretty one dimensional after a while.

Just discovered Toibin. Fascinating. God knows why. The writing is unadorned. It is all about personal decisions all the time. Very strong plots that keep you reading. This book particularly starts with a stunning dilemma.

I like how Brooklyn and this book are mirror images. I like the characters. And how life is a mess.

Just discovered Toibin. Fascinating. God knows why. The writing is unadorned. It is all about personal decisions all the time. Very strong plots that keep you reading.

I like how Brooklyn and this book are mirror images. I like the characters. And how life is a mess.

Lost interest halfway. Too drawn out. Pity.

Thia is my second Kett novel and the very unlikely crimes/criminals are getting annoying. The books are too formulaic, as well. And yet they are a nice bunch of characters. May be I will try one more. See if it picks up.

Nice cast of characters.

Great book. Missing a half star because of a weakness in the plot. Really, no one checked the staff?

Well written, but more action packed than I like. Nonetheless, a very good writer.

Other than his other books, this one drags on a bit. I would say: cut it in half.

A perfect policier. Fast, witty, snarky, cynical yet human.

Stopped reading at 3/4. I did not like ANY of the characters. Horowitz sometimes writes great and sometimes awful.

Howcome I missed this book when it came out? What absolute joy! So witty and charming, such interesting characters, and the feminist theme so lovingly wrapped in story. Elizabeth is a bit of an anachronism, although we have known women who put their career/intellectual pursuits first in the 1950s. The Elizabeth-Mad-Harriet combo is also really good. They all learn from each other - well except daughter Mad, who is perfect from birth ;-)

Its beginning is the best. Of course it loses some steam later on. Regardless, I could not put it down, needing to know its ending. Needing to know how these nice people will fare.

A wonderful fairy tale, with nerdism or autism thrown in but in a good way. Elizabeth turns out to have been right all along - and is helped by mainly women.

As a former rower, that theme was also hilarious.