EC2's Reading log

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue October 21st, 2008, 7:38 pm

From what I can remember - ERK
Not in order, except of memory.

The Needle in the Blood - Sarah Bower
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Lauren Willig
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society -
Little Bird - Camilla Way
The Good Plain Cook - Bethan Roberts
The House at Riverton
Pilgrim - James Jackson
A short History of Tractors in Ukranian - Marina Lewycka
Pandora's Box - Giselle Green
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Saturnalia - Lindsey Davis
Having The Decorators In - Reay Tannahill
Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
The Cunning of the Dove - Alfred Duggan
Wolf of the Plains - Conn Iggulden
Mort - Terrry Pratchett (re-read)
Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett (re-read)
Pale Horseman - Bernard Cornwell
The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory
Little Bird - Camilla Way
Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin
The Killing Circle - Andrew Pyper
Baking Cakes in Kigali - Gaile Parkin
Daughters of Fire - Barbara Erskine

pat · Post by **pat** » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 10:34 am

'A short history of tractors in Ukranian'......??? sounds interesting!!!

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 11:00 am

It's about an old Ukranian immigrant guy in the UK. His wife dies and he marries a bimbo from the Ukraine who's looking for a meal ticket and a better life. His family (daughters) naturally object. It has received a lot of press attention and rave reviews. I thought it was middling. Not five star, but not the pits either.
The title comes from the book he's writing. I was curious after all the rave reviews and borrowed it from the library

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 1:40 pm

[quote=""pat""]'A short history of tractors in Ukranian'......??? sounds interesting!!![/quote]

When I first saw it, I laughed, thinking how dumb, then decided to start reading it. Very glad I did. I liked it (tho like EC, it wasn't fab - a 3 star for me, which is I consider a good, average read)

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 1:43 pm

EC, I see you are another Pratchett fan! A few summers back I decided to reread all of Discworld. Those three you read are among my favorites, and unlike many of my fellow fans, I think the witch and Death books are far superior to the guard ones (tho Vimes is one of my fav characters, and I love how he develops over time, esp when he has a son)

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed October 22nd, 2008, 3:54 pm

Ash, I'm still working my way through the Discworld books. I was going to start on a fresh one the other night - we have them all. Unfortunately the overflow book cases are in the room where my son and his partner sleep and I couldn't just tootle in at midnight and choose one off the shelf!
Yes, I love the Death and the Witches books - and Pratchett just so gets it. As well as his pithy social commentary he knows a lot more about the esoteric other side of things than he lets on his public persona, but it informs his writing.
I've not read the Guards novels as yet, apart from Guards! Guards! which has to rank as one of my all time favourites. His comments on dragons, both the amusing and the serious take my breath. His comment on old second hand bookshops is spot on too. He's one of our greatest living writers IMO. I get very narked when people who have never read his novels regard him as some cheesy fantasy writer for teenage boys. (the librarian at my subscription library once viewed him in that light until his books started turning up on the BBC's top 100 novels of all time. Then she very reluctantly bought in Mort. Definitely a blind spot there).

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Thu October 23rd, 2008, 8:36 pm

I confess, I have never read any of the Discworld novels. It seems that I need to take a closer look at these. Where would be a good place to start?