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Reading Challenge 2016 (216 in 2016) |
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#76 |
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18) Home by Matt Dunn
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#77 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
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Quote:
<snip>
5. Boo - Neil Smith 8/10 Windmill Books, (Penguin-Random House), 310 pages <Magical Realism> Thirteen year-old Oliver 'Boo' Dalrymple dies, from a heart condition, whilst at school… or so he thinks, until he wakes up in Heaven… A truly innovative, captivating work that manages to take allegorical looks at an eclectic range of issue from childhood, mental health, mob mentality, afterlife, God and more. Recommended! Marvel Entertainment Group, 360 pages <Graphic Novel > The Inhumans re-imagined for the Agents of SHIELD world. Introducing the likes of Lash, Iso, Flint and other Inhumans as the New York aftermath of the Terrigen Bomb continues. Also features everyone's favourite Muslim heroine Ms Marvel Inhuman #1-14, Speical and Annual #17. Dark Tower: Sheemie's Tale, Evil Ground & So Fell Lord Perth - Robin Furth, Stephen King, Peter David, Richard Isanove etc. 8/10 Marvel Entertainment Group, 170 pages <Graphic Novel> Final books of the first part of the comic serialisation of The Dark Tower. Sheemie's Tale, Evil Ground and So Fell Lord Perth. Such great broadening of The Dark Tower universe by Furth and co. 8. Astro City: Through The Doors and Victory - Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson etc. 7/10 Vertigo (DC Comics), 285 pages<Graphic Novel> After being away, sick, Busiek returns in a blaze of glory and with new publisher, Vertigo Comics. Back to the Astro City best with an ongoing arc across many issues featuring people, usually on the periphery of the capes' world. 9. The Dead Zone - Stephen King 7/10 Warner (Little Brown & Co.), 467 pages <Horror> Originally written in 1979, yet still potent and topical! Head trauma leads to some unlikely talents for Johnny Smith; which in turn force him to have to make some critical decisions to save lives. A Castle Rock tale ![]() 10. Cujo - Stephen King 8/10 Futura (MacDonald & Co.), 345 pages <Horror> Written in 1981, so another book verging on being a modern classic? Jeez Louise, how does a writer create such a terrific suspense and horror tale from the central point of a big angry dog? Ask Stephen King, great read looking at closets, dead ends, change, love and a big dog... big rabid dog, Cujo! 11. Cocaine Nights - J.G. Ballard 5/10 Fourth Estate (HarperCollins), 328 pages <Mystery> Originally a sci-fi writer, Ballard also turns out a number of social commentary-esque work. Cocaine Nights looks into just how far is too far, as world traveller Charlescomes to a an expatriot leisure community in Spain to investigate why his brother has pleaded guilty to a multiple murder charge. 12. Hurma - Ali Al-Muqri 8/10 Darf Publishers , 156 pages <Cultural Fiction> The life and times of a 'Hurma' (a typical(?) woman in Yemeni socity who's literlly owned by the men in her life. With highs, but mostly lows a damning look at the effects of patriarchial Muslim society on a woman, who essentially just wants to be loved. Summed up by the words of al-Akhbar who wrote "...this courageous, but humane novel -a must read!" |
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#78 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: The United Kingdom
Posts: 14,997
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3) The Child by Sebastian Fitzek
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#79 |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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5) The Monkeys Paw - WW Jacobs
7/10 |
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#80 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brockley
Posts: 2,778
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8/ Dangerous Women by various authors (edited by Otto Penzler)
Collection of crime short stories around the theme of (you guessed it) dangerous women. A decent collection of stories with some big names represented (Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, John Connolly, Laura Lippman, Anne Perry, Ed McBain, Ian Rankin and Elmore Leonard among them). As you'd expect from a collection of this type the stories range from excellent (Deaver, Rankin, Nelson Demille) to the awful (Walter Mosley, SJ Rozan) with most falling into the category of pretty good. |
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#81 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 193
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19) Jessica Jones: Alias. Volumes 1-9
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#82 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 193
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20) Follow Me by Angela Clarke
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#83 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,274
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(6) Brunel - The Man Who Built The World by Steven Brindle
6/10 Brief and readable account of Brunels life and work, a decent introduction if you know nothing about him but there are far more comprehensive books available. |
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#84 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,523
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5. A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton.
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#85 |
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 15,419
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Quote:
4. The Drowning Lesson - Jane Shemilt
5/10 - I wouldn't have chosen this book but I read it for my reading group. I found it too shallow and beyond belief that a supposedly intelligent doctor would entrust her children to people she did not know at all in a foreign country. The ending seemed rushed and the title of the book related to flashbacks from the main character's childhood that I felt added nothing to the story. 7/10 - I feel like I've read this before but it's not on the list of books I've read so maybe it's just similar to another book by the same author. I didn't feel it was one of her best books and I've read a lot of them. It took me nearly 2 weeks to read it which is unusual for me. |
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#86 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,304
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20) Martin Edwards - The Coffin Trail
21) Frankie McGowan - A Kept Woman 22) Catherine Bybee - Seduced by Sunday 23) Sarah Jane Buttfield - Two Dogs and a Suitcase 24) Torquil MacLeod - A Malmo Modwinter 25) Lucie Whitehouse - The House at Midnight |
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#87 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brockley
Posts: 2,778
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9/ Down by Lawrence Miles
Part of the Bernice Summerfield series (a Dr Who spin off) Reasonably enjoyable continuation of the series. Lawrence Miles has a good turn of phrase in his writing but the plot ran out of steam before the end and it was left quite open-ended. Some of these books can be read on their own but this felt very much part of a series. |
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#88 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,274
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(7) Mr Unbelievable by Chris Kamara
5/10 Standard ex-footballers trawl through both his football and Sky career. Nice bloke evidently bit that's about it. |
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#89 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 861
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4) It a Started With A Kiss by Miranda Dickinson
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#90 |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,929
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6) At Bertrams Hotel - Agatha Christie 6/10
One of the weaker stories of hers imo- a lack of Miss Marple but I did like the descriptions of the traditional old English hotel. Although it was gross that the mother and daughter characters both had the same lover, ew not like there is a lack of men. |
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#91 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: The United Kingdom
Posts: 14,997
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4) Man on Fire by A.J. Quinnell.
Really good read, slightly different from the movie, based on the book & which starred Denzel Washington. Look forward to reading the other 4 books in the "Creasey series". |
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#92 |
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,274
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8) Black Coffee - adapted from a play written by Agatha Christie
6/10 It's not a genuine Christie having been written 20 years after her death but at least its based on source material by her. Enjoyable enough but doesn't compare to the real thing. |
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#93 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 915
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7. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, narrated by Colin Firth.
Love, jealousy and hatred. Grief and the inexorability of God. Beautifully read by Colin Firth. Not my favourite GG novel. |
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#94 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 193
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21) Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
22) The Martian by Andy Weir 23) Abattoir Blues by Peter Robinson |
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#95 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 23,054
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Quote:
12. Hurma - Ali Al-Muqri 8/10 Darf Publishers , 156 pages <Cultural Fiction> The life and times of a 'Hurma' (a typical(?) woman in Yemeni society who's literally owned by the men in her life. With highs, but mostly lows a damning look at the effects of patriarchal Muslim society on a woman, who essentially just wants to be loved. Summed up by the words of al-Akhbar who wrote "...this courageous, but humane novel -a must read!" Marvel Entertainment Group, 554 pages <Graphic Novel > All New X-Men #18-41 and Annual. Some highs and some not so highs, yet Bendis manages to keep the out of time classic X-Men team with Illyana and X-20 a quite interesting ongoing. 14. S.H.I.E.L.D. 2015 - Mark Waid & various artists 6/10 Marvel Entertainment Group, 400 pages <Graphic Novel> SH.I.E.L.D. v4 #1-12 and five 50th anniversary one-shots. The first volume to fully integrate with the hit TV show, so May, Fitz & Simmons join the comic universe. Quite good, but have'ta point out that the Quake one-shot (Rosenberg & Kindlon written) is very very good! 15. Spider Woman 2015 - Dennis Hopeless, Greg Land, Javier Rodriguez etc. 6/10 Marvel Entertainment Group, 216 pages <Graphic Novel > Spider Woman v4 #1-10. Finally a Hopeless Marvel series that I actually like, and technically my fave Spider Woman of all time! Jessica resigns from the Avengers to end up working with a reporter and the Porcupine! 16. Captain Amercia & The Mighty Avengers - Al Ewing, Luke Ross, Iban Coello etc. 7/10 Marvel Entertainment Group, 198 pages <Graphic Novel> A mere 9 issues, but probably one of the better Avengers books of the period as Luke Cage leads a mostly non-White 'freelance' Avengers team. Very good final issue before Secret Wars, great writing by Ewing and art by Ross to capture end times. 17. The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis 91/0 Collins (HarperCollins), 171 pages <Modern Classic> [1955] A classic book in a classic series… chronologically where it all begins the origins of Narnia, The White Witch and that wardrobe ![]() 18. The Lion, The Witch, The Wardobe - C.S. Lewis 91/10 Collins (HarperCollins), 171 pages <Modern Classic> [1950] A truly golden and classical story read and loved by millions all over the world. 19. The Horse And His Boy - C.S. Lewis 8/10 Collins (HarperCollins), 175 pages <Modern Classic> [1954] The least well known of the Narnia series, but still a wonderful tale set during the great reign of the four at Cair Paravel. A tale about Shasta and Bree the talking horse and their long journey to Narnia and all thier adventures. 20. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis 8/10 Collins (HarperCollins), 190 pages <Modern Classic> [1951] The classic sequel to The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, sees the four children return to Narnia more than a 1,000 years later! Includes the debuts of classic characters like Reepicheep, Trufflehunter and Prince Caspian himself. Timeless and truly wonderful storytelling. |
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#96 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,304
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26) Jar City - Arnaldur Indridason
27) The Cipher Garden - Martin Edwards 28) Another Love - Amanda Prowse |
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#97 |
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 915
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8. Mother of Eden by Chris Beckett.
The follow up to Dark Eden, which needs to be read first. Starlight Brooking lives a simple life in a community of boat builders on a remote part of the planet Eden. The residents of Knee Tree Grounds are mostly isolated from the rest of civilisation but an expedition with a group of friends leads Starlight to meet chief's son Greenstone Johnson. A very enjoyable story set on a strange planet but with very human themes. You don't have to be a sci-fi fan to enjoy this. Some similarities in style and themes to A Game of Thrones and also reminiscent of the Earth's Children series. Oh, and "one ring to rule them all" (sort of). I hope that there's a book 3. |
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#98 |
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 15,419
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Quote:
5. The Bay at Midnight - Diane Chamberlain
7/10 - I feel like I've read this before but it's not on the list of books I've read so maybe it's just similar to another book by the same author. I didn't feel it was one of her best books and I've read a lot of them. It took me nearly 2 weeks to read it which is unusual for me. 7/10 - a reasonably good read about the effect on the parents when their child is abducted. The ending was quite exciting but I didn't take to the main character, the mother of Anna. |
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#99 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,304
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29) Last Will - Liza Marklund
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#100 |
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Brockley
Posts: 2,778
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10/ Brunswick Gardens by Anne Perry
Part of the Inspector Pitt crime series. I've read several of these and they're usually pretty decent - not amazing but ok. Unfortunately this is easily the worst I've read. The basic plot is fine but the author has felt the need to pad it out with long discussions about the nature of religion and women in Victorian society. Both are relevant to the plot but the author keeps hammering the same points again and again just in case the reader didn't grasp the point the first 3 or 4 times. Also I was able to work out the killer, their motive and how they did it about half way through which meant I felt it was just treading water until the final reveal. 11/ Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart I love Miranda. Watched the sitcom avidly and have seen her stage show. But oh dear this isn't good. It's essentially her discussing various aspects of life that she has issues with. Anyone who's seen her show will be able to guess what they are. And that is part of the problem - a lot of it feels like it's been recycled from the show. The constant imaginary conversations with her younger self also began to grate with me after a while. Another one for the charity shop. |
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Inhuman #1-14, Speical and Annual #1