Alex Norton

Ive always known I wanted to dip into Rebus, given Rankin's reputation amoungst his peers so felt it best to start form the beginning. Let's say this is obviously a first book that comes over as exactly that, a freshman first attempt that has the right direction but has a few too many tropes thrown in. It wont stop me though as so many comment on how the writing tightens up and gets so much better.

Although dotted with moments of great frustration the memoir is one that does bear true to doing something dumb for all the wrong reasons and it ending up being a defining moment.

I am an unashamed lover of genre literature and am wary of literary novels. Amor Towles is nothing short of perfection in crafted story telling. The narrative arc seems eternally stuck in this novel, but day after day stories happen, evolve, resolve, characters come and go. I loved it.

I liked it, the idea was original enough but there were just some plot drivers that seemed very forced, in particular the Father daughter bust up, and the forced “love interest” subplot that seemed totally dictated by the publisher and had no reason whatsoever to be there. Apart from that pretty light and enjoyable

I read this when first published many years ago and I held it in high regard. I was perhaps hoping it would remind me why, but my powers of concentration perhaps did not do it justice second time round. This is a time-slip novel set in two periods but I found my self frequently going back to understand where we were and how the parallel plot was evolving. It is certainly a learned book in the vain of Umberto Eco

A perfect companion for a long drive from San Francisco to Orange County. It is very trope heavy with the UK vs French stereotypes but the writing is light enough to not be too heavy and Moore does have some funny turn of phrases.

It is different yet still very engaging compared to the first book.

Another uncomfortable wonderful plot driven tale full of regrets, grime, wonderful analogies, and missed opportunities. Cosby is really a great author.

I read it out of order but still very enjoayable

This is five star popcorn. Pure frivolity written by a master of conversational prose. If there is a thing that is a downer is that it is very short. Just when other novels would only just be setting the tone and elaborating the premise we are already at the denouement. Get the audible version read by Wil Wheaton. He makes everything even better

I read this on the strength of [b:Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland 40163119 Say Nothing A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland Patrick Radden Keefe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537315266l/40163119.SY75.jpg 62303430] and it was equally engrossing. Throughout the book i kept visualizing the play called “The Lehman Brothers” which, like this book, sections up the story on East European immigrants to the USA , their talents and growth, the gradual slip from drive to succeed to greed, and then the rot from within of subsequent generations. This story is not yet finished.

Ide has a great ability for pace. You may consider this as page turner than you return often to find out what happens next. But he has also developed good characters and an overall “hard-boiled” feeling set firmly in this 21st century that makes it superior kind of crime thriller rather than a “whodunnit” (you know who the baddies are pretty much from day 1.

I am of an age where The Troubles were a childhood background, where growing up agnostic a religious conflict appeared strange on not really comprehensible. When, later in life, i fell in love with [a:Adrian McKinty 12433 Adrian McKinty https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1584967497p2/12433.jpg] Sean Duffy series of novels set during troubles I immediately bookmarked this book to read when he recommended it.In today's polarized world I am in awe of how NI managed to actually step back from appalling levels of violence to actually give peace a chance. Adams does not come out of this book well but i cannot be impressed with how he managed to thread the needle to bring the Good Friday Agreement as an acceptable option to Northern Irish Republicans 20 years ago and that it still holds, albeit with many ongoing issues.This book is not about the GFA but is a history of the IRA but it is so well written (and from what I understand, researched) it gives the reader the basis to understand the magnitude of strife and thus the achievement of peace.

The Audio version was a small Tour de Force that perhaps deserved a higher rating than my three stars. I mean I did like it but I did not fall in love with this mix of Gaimanish Graveyard tales, with history titbits. I am pretty sure I failed the book and not vice versa.

If you loved the first one, the second one is possibly even better, tighter and more focused. A complete joy

A short sweet tale in audible. I was sort of fearing a romcom but I found it is a romantic piece without a love story. The dog got a slightly longer walk than he expected while I listened to it but i enjoyed it very much

Very much Glaswegian hard procedural with a myriad of names but it kept my interested all the way to the end with some good twists.

Good but lacked that little bit extra to get into the great category. I can't expect Umberto Eco every time but when you have as main protagonist of your book Giordano Bruno I was expecting a little more intellectual stimulation and not as much front and center “action”. I will probably chekck out the next ones of the series

This became available in my library queue the day I was finishing an Iain Banks Culture novel. Coincidence? There is a lot to like here if you like Banks. I think the next installment will really grow on me

I feel this one is a four star now, but when I reread in a few years time it will grow to five. It is not an easy read compared to the previous two. The structure is more complex and I feel I missed a lot of nuances. And Banks is really good at nuances. Another piece of the Culture puzzle, and a good twist at the end.

The first chapter starts off wonderfully and just keeps up the very high standards I now have for a Sean Duffy episode. This series is, for me a perfect mix of historical, whodunnity, wit, erudition. I am thanking the powers that be that McKinty has hit commercial success with his standalones in the hope that he can continue popping out these gems.

The Good. The quality of the writing is high. It is a very descriptive book and it appears to live imperceptibly in the first person without technically being there. We see everything through Marie's eyes and Groff's writing does her justice.
The Bad? Am I weird in thinking this book was too short? What was probably going to be the most critical part of Marie's life at the Monastery, the first 2 or 3 years, are totally skipped over. In fact she moves forward so fast we only the se the results of her life. We see what she built but not why. That is, until the last chapter when some of what drives her is revealed. I would have loved a few extra hundred pages...

A tough one to judge. Even bad Stephenson's tend to be “good” At the outset I was hoping for the pace of Reamde but with the science of Seveneves but I got neither. Both are good but neither excel so the plot is very interesting but I think I hoped to learn more on the consequences (Short medium and long like Seveneves) of the Sulphur gun but apart from introducing the concept the main bulk of the story tends to be character driven, but without the Reamde success. I know NS does not do sequels but this ones really does seem incomplete without one.

This is a long time re-read, having read it at the time of the BBC series. It is troublesome if you want to keep track of the vast array of characters mentioned by Claudius, but if, after a cursory look at the many genealogical trees on the web, you just abandon hope of making sense of all the details it is simply very instructive recreation of a fascinating historical period. What I do not know is if, Graves' interpretation has stood the test of time.

I remember reading this growing up so after re-reading [b:If on a Winter's Night a Traveler 374233 If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Italo Calvino https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528312857l/374233.SY75.jpg 1116802] I felt like more Calvino. He is a Master of the whimsical and Il Barone Rampante is a prefect fairy tale that I would recommend to anyone who wants some escapism for a few hours