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Dana (24 KP) rated Her Dark Curiosity (The Madman's Daughter, #2) in Books
Mar 23, 2018
For second book in the series this one was pretty darn good. I really like the evolution of the characters and the situations that they were put through. The darkness of the story completely surpassed that of the first. I like all the literary illusions that are found throughout the novel in series. Megan Shepherd did a great job crafting the story in a way that made it believable on the page. I like the little details that she has throughout the story that make it so much more realistic in the world it is setting. If you like horror novels you should definitely start reading this series
Aasiyah Sidat (34 KP) rated Alys, Always in Books
Jul 5, 2018
This story is based entirely in London and the surrounding areas, which is a nice change for me since most of the novels I read are based in the States. I guess in some small way it makes it relatable.
Alys, always is a mystery novel about a literary editor, Francis who witnesses the death and final words of Alys Kyte. Francis then finds herself involved with Alys's family as they try to get some form of closure from her death. Let's just say Francis makes the most of a difficult situation.
Continue reading my review at:https://www.readsandrecipes.co.uk/2017/04/read-harder-100-miles.html
Alys, always is a mystery novel about a literary editor, Francis who witnesses the death and final words of Alys Kyte. Francis then finds herself involved with Alys's family as they try to get some form of closure from her death. Let's just say Francis makes the most of a difficult situation.
Continue reading my review at:https://www.readsandrecipes.co.uk/2017/04/read-harder-100-miles.html
Aasiyah Sidat (34 KP) rated Phantoms on the Bookshelves in Books
Jul 5, 2018
A Book About Books
I am conscious that I haven't put up a read harder challenge post for a while. Honestly, I was feeling a bit intimidated of going out of my comfort zone and trying something new.
So here I am, reading a book about books.
A book about Jacques Bonnet a French literary critic who owns roughly 40,000 volumes of books. Bonnet talks about his troubles with dealing with a library that big but also about things we don't think about like categorising books, finding a home for them among many other things
Continue reading my review at: https://www.readsandrecipes.co.uk/2017/05/read-harder-book-about-books.html
So here I am, reading a book about books.
A book about Jacques Bonnet a French literary critic who owns roughly 40,000 volumes of books. Bonnet talks about his troubles with dealing with a library that big but also about things we don't think about like categorising books, finding a home for them among many other things
Continue reading my review at: https://www.readsandrecipes.co.uk/2017/05/read-harder-book-about-books.html
Milleen (47 KP) rated Sometimes I Lie in Books
Nov 14, 2018
One of the most intriguing beginnings evolve into one of those psychological mind-twisting books that divides readers. The literary equivalent to marmite, you will either love it or hate it! There are an awful lot of novels like this on the market but Feeney has a fresh style and creates characters and backgrounds that are believable, even if the narrative is hard to navigate at times. I admit, I had to re-read the ending. I wouldn’t want to outline anything here that would spoil the story so I will just recommend it wholeheartedly, just don’t blame me if you read it twice.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Altitude Rush in Books
Nov 8, 2019
This is a short story available for free download from Matthew Reilly's website. It follows the usual Reilly formula of breathless, suspension of disbelief action, compressed into short form. Engineering a situation where our heroes must get across New York against the clock and without going below a certain altitude, Reilly uses every trick he can think of to get the reader's adrenaline pumping as they leap from rooftop to rooftop. And he knows a lot of tricks.
This is certainly not going to win any serious literary awards but that's not what this is for. For pure escapist fun to while away the time this fits the bill perfectly.
This is certainly not going to win any serious literary awards but that's not what this is for. For pure escapist fun to while away the time this fits the bill perfectly.
William Friedkin recommended Ordet (1955) in Movies (curated)
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Off the Books (Novel Idea, #5) in Books
Feb 21, 2018
In Off the Books, Lila is helping prepare for a bridal expo jointly presented by an event organizer and the literary agency she works for. The event no sooner gets started than Lila, already nicknamed the "murder magnet" by some in town, finds yet another corpse. This one turns out to have been murdered in a way suggestive of scenes from two of her agency's authors' books. With A Novel Idea's reputation at stake, Lila's boss decides that the staff of the agency need to band together to find out who the real murderer is.
An unusual method of murder and a plethora of suspects kept me guessing until the end, and Lila's personal life kept it interesting as well. I enjoyed getting to know the staff at A Novel Idea and Lila's family and friends, and can't wait to return to Inspiration Valley to learn more about them. I've already picked up book #1 in the series so that I can catch up.
I would highly recommend this one to all cozy mystery lovers, or to anyone who has ever thought about publishing a book (or is even a little bit curious about the process). I enjoyed the glimpses into Lila's professional life - enough to give you a taste of a literary agent's life but not bog down the story with too many details.
NOTE: I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
An unusual method of murder and a plethora of suspects kept me guessing until the end, and Lila's personal life kept it interesting as well. I enjoyed getting to know the staff at A Novel Idea and Lila's family and friends, and can't wait to return to Inspiration Valley to learn more about them. I've already picked up book #1 in the series so that I can catch up.
I would highly recommend this one to all cozy mystery lovers, or to anyone who has ever thought about publishing a book (or is even a little bit curious about the process). I enjoyed the glimpses into Lila's professional life - enough to give you a taste of a literary agent's life but not bog down the story with too many details.
NOTE: I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Becs (244 KP) rated The Crucible in Books
Oct 2, 2019
I absolutely love Arthur Miller and anything regarding witches/ the Salem Trials. So, the crucible for me is a five-star novel. Can we just take a moment to admire the writers of the 50’s and older as they don’t seem to be getting much hype lately? Like, literary classics are deemed school reads and not your typical everyday read. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
Reading these in school and then giving them a reread five years after graduating, has shown a new light onto these novels. And has made me appreciate them more as a whole compared to when I read them in high school. If you haven’t read many literary classics, I recommend starting with something by Arthur Miller or George Orwell. Yes, they may be a bit hard to get into at first, but give it time. That’s the key when reading any book!
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Genre: Literary Classic, Historical Fiction, Plays, Drama
Synopsis: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history,” Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller’s drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town’s most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “witch-hunts” in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, “Political opposition… is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence.”
WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
Audience/ Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Plays, Drama, Witches, the Salem Trials, Arthur Miller, Literary Classics.
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Difficulty Reading: With every literary classic, you run into the problem of the first 30% of the novel being a bore or hard to get into. The Crucible was only a bore in parts but taking the novel as a whole, it was a pretty easy read.
Promise: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.”
Insights: The Crucible is based on true events and Arthur Miller has a way of explaining everything that was wrong with the way people lived. I.E. Woman did not have rights until the early 1920’s. This didn’t stop some countries/states to still not allow the woman to have rights. But taking The Crucible into perspective, the women that were charged with witchcraft were unable to explain themselves to the men. The men believed the accusers either because they were sleeping with them or because they were their family. Luckily, nowadays we don’t have this extreme of situations but it still does exist. The Crucible teaches all of its readers, young or old, many valuable lessons that are sometimes hard to witness. Plus, Miller correlates the events in the Crucible to the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s.
Favorite Quotes: “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.”
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
“You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore”
What will you gain: A love for another literary classic and a love for Arthur Miller if you do not already love his writing. Plus, a great historical read.
Aesthetics: The witches, the trials, the way people take sides, I mean I can’t say much more without giving spoilers away. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?
“It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves”
Reading these in school and then giving them a reread five years after graduating, has shown a new light onto these novels. And has made me appreciate them more as a whole compared to when I read them in high school. If you haven’t read many literary classics, I recommend starting with something by Arthur Miller or George Orwell. Yes, they may be a bit hard to get into at first, but give it time. That’s the key when reading any book!
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Genre: Literary Classic, Historical Fiction, Plays, Drama
Synopsis: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history,” Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller’s drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town’s most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s “witch-hunts” in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, “Political opposition… is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence.”
WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
Audience/ Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Plays, Drama, Witches, the Salem Trials, Arthur Miller, Literary Classics.
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Difficulty Reading: With every literary classic, you run into the problem of the first 30% of the novel being a bore or hard to get into. The Crucible was only a bore in parts but taking the novel as a whole, it was a pretty easy read.
Promise: “I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history.”
Insights: The Crucible is based on true events and Arthur Miller has a way of explaining everything that was wrong with the way people lived. I.E. Woman did not have rights until the early 1920’s. This didn’t stop some countries/states to still not allow the woman to have rights. But taking The Crucible into perspective, the women that were charged with witchcraft were unable to explain themselves to the men. The men believed the accusers either because they were sleeping with them or because they were their family. Luckily, nowadays we don’t have this extreme of situations but it still does exist. The Crucible teaches all of its readers, young or old, many valuable lessons that are sometimes hard to witness. Plus, Miller correlates the events in the Crucible to the anti-communist McCarthyism of the 1950s.
Favorite Quotes: “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.”
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
“You are pulling down heaven and raising up a whore”
What will you gain: A love for another literary classic and a love for Arthur Miller if you do not already love his writing. Plus, a great historical read.
Aesthetics: The witches, the trials, the way people take sides, I mean I can’t say much more without giving spoilers away. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?
“It is rare for people to be asked the question which puts them squarely in front of themselves”
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated It in Books
Sep 10, 2017
An absolute classic in the horror genre
I read this as a 10-year-old and had to sleep with the lights on for a while! Stephen King's IT is an absolute classic in literary horror, which as a genre, is no mean feat to achieve.
It involves a group of old friends who are haunted by a nameless malice encountered in their childhoods. They are subsequently confronted again with this horror after the death of one of their friends as adults.
The main moral of this story is about facing demons in order to overcome fear. Looking forward to watching the new movie version of this book and hear the words "We all float down here" once again.
It involves a group of old friends who are haunted by a nameless malice encountered in their childhoods. They are subsequently confronted again with this horror after the death of one of their friends as adults.
The main moral of this story is about facing demons in order to overcome fear. Looking forward to watching the new movie version of this book and hear the words "We all float down here" once again.
Alice (117 KP) rated After Elias in Books
Mar 3, 2021
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Dundurn Press
This book was a delight! I wasn't expecting to fall in love with it as much as I did because usually, I'm not the biggest fan of literary fiction but this broke my heart. A touching story about loss, dealing with grief and also touches deeply on mental health and the importance of relationship and communication. I loved how this story unfolded and how we only ever knew Elias through the eyes of Coen adding to the mystery. The ending was not what I expected but I loved it. There is so much heart in this book and I definitely recommend it!
This book was a delight! I wasn't expecting to fall in love with it as much as I did because usually, I'm not the biggest fan of literary fiction but this broke my heart. A touching story about loss, dealing with grief and also touches deeply on mental health and the importance of relationship and communication. I loved how this story unfolded and how we only ever knew Elias through the eyes of Coen adding to the mystery. The ending was not what I expected but I loved it. There is so much heart in this book and I definitely recommend it!