Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Finished both Chinua Achebe books on the list: 'Things Fall Apart' kicked bum and 'Arrow of God' was a bit meh.

I'm still struggling through the last 80 pages or so of The Woman in White. It's hard to muster up the motivation to finish a mystery book when you've accurately guessed every 'mystery' in it.

Death in Venice Maybe I had my expectations too high? It felt old and dusty with all those reference to Greek mythology. Very condensed. Given the age of the book and the large cultural difference to today, reading towards the end more interesting, as some aspects where hard to predict (I do not like predictable stories). Conclusion: It's okay, not a favorite.

J wrote: "Death in Venice Maybe I had my expectations too high? "

That's how I felt as well. It started okay, but once the main character went to Venice I thought it got worse and worse. Actually my first and only time to be disappointed by Thomas Mann.

I finished The Summer Book by Tove Jansson and reviewed it here.

I just finished "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving! This is my first by this author, and I loved it!! I can't wait to get to "The Cider House Rules"!

The House on the Borderland

There were parts of this book that were legitimately horrifying, but then other large parts that were horrifyingly boring

Joy wrote: "I just finished "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving! This is my first by this author, and I loved it!! I can't wait to get to "The Cider House Rules"!"

I haven't read A Prayer for Owen Meany as I think I've only read two of his books (Cider House Rules and A Widow for a Year). I enjoyed both of them so I'm looking forward to reading any of his books as and when I decide to tackle them.

Just finished Slaughterhouse-Five

5 stars!

"A Prayer for Owen Meany" is where I shall start! It has been on my shelf for ages. Just needed encouragement.

The Time Traveller's Wife. Very readable book, enjoyed it immensely.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Don't know why I waited so long to read this wonderful book!

I once again haven't posted for quite a while. I finished several list books in the past few weeks. The two most recent ones are The Graduate and The Pursuit of Love. Both enjoyable and quick reads.

Gemma wrote: "The Time Traveller's Wife. Very readable book, enjoyed it immensely."

Not a LIST book, though.

Just finished A Visit from the Goon Squad. Really enjoyed it for the most part.

Just finished The Heretic, a very compelling book and thought provoking.

I just finished Woman at Point Zero, a very strong book which makes you hate men.

Lately, @Ellinor, it doesn't take much. LOL!

I finished The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. I enjoyed it. It is also a quick read at 170+ pages. Its currently at a 4+ rating on goodreads and its worth it.

Frances wrote: ""A Prayer for Owen Meany" is where I shall start! It has been on my shelf for ages. Just needed encouragement."

A wonderful book!

Just finished "The postman always rings twice". Hard to put down thriller.

Recently finished The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner followed by Stephen King's The Shining. Vastly different, but both interestingly deal with similar themes (men who *may* be slowly going crazy due to past sins), come to think of it. I enjoyed both of them, though in different ways.

Just finished Ian Fleming's Casino Royale.

Finished The Vicar of Wakefield and just read the last few pages of The Shining last night. The Vicar was most enjoyable in the first half, the second just got a little too ridiculous for me to happily accept.

The Shining was very good. I was reading it as a 'bath book' (ie I have a physical copy and it's not too heavy to read comfortably) so it took me a little longer. I've read a few Stephen King books and this is the best of them.

Finished Southern Seas, a noir crime with some literary merit.

Finished Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China -- well written and hard to put down even if the subject matter at times was disturbing.

I just finished American Pastoral by Philip Roth. It was a heavy, thought-provoking novel. I really did enjoy it though - more than his other novels that I have read. I have a feeling I am going to be mulling it over in my head for awhile.

Susan wrote: "Finished Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China -- well written and hard to put down even if the subject matter at times was disturbing."

If you enjoyed that think about reading their book on Mao. One of the most interesting books I've read. It's much more impersonal (being a history book rather than a novel) but very griping.

Just finished Atonement. I ended up enjoying it but I found it rather difficult to really enjoy at first. I liked the start very much but then it started to get a bit samey. There was a lot of 'delicate literary allusions and descriptive passages' which I liked at first but then it started to grate on me as pretentious and I just wanted some action.

I think looking back on it, that this was deliberate as there were three different points of view and the two 'pretentious' ones came from the girls, while the guys was a lot more blunt and direct. I'd have to read more of Ian McEwanto be sure (first time reading him). It also wasn't helped that I do a lot of my reading on the train into and back from work and I think I might have been better served reading it in bigger chunks. The last 140 pages or so I really found griping and I stayed up past my bedtime finishing it.

I'll do a proper review on my blog but I've still got to publish my The Shining first. I would give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. Well written and enjoyable but lacking that spark which would make it truly amazing.

Now, time to get started on my monthly read!

Finished Nights At The Circus last night. I enjoyed it, but the last section suddenly got very weird.

I just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude which takes me up to 53 books read. I really enjoyed the language and the magic of the book, though I had trouble keeping track of who was who in the book. All those Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos!

Minority Report, it is different than the movie. A really quick read.

Kirsten wrote: "I just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude which takes me up to 53 books read. I really enjoyed the language and the magic of the book, though I had trouble keeping track of who was w..."

Yes, the names were a bit confusing! I also liked it a lot.

I just finished Kafka on the Shore, which I enjoyed a lot, though I had been expecting something utterly life-changing. Still, I find Murakami pretty readable and fun, so I began 1Q84 last night. Apparently he's the favorite to win the Nobel Prize this year.

He's been the favorite for the last 3 years running, at least, and no luck yet. :)

Finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quickly and enjoyed it -- I have yet to find a RL Stevenson book that wasn't enjoyable -- though I wish I didn't already know the ending. It was interesting to see how popular culture has distorted the original -- Mr. Hyde is usually depicted as some sort of muscular monstrosity not dissimilar from the Hulk, but in the original he's small, slight, jumps "like a monkey" and appears much younger than 50ish Jekyll. The good vs. evil here is more complex than I expected. Jekyll is certainly not the good guy or the innocent victim, even if he isn't exactly evil, either.

I just finished that as well Wendy. Even though I had read it before I still went into it imagining a hulking Mr Hyde and being yet again surprised at the descriptions of him. Great read.

I also read Around the World in Eighty Days. I enjoyed this one brought back memories of the David Niven film and the cartoon series Around the World with Willy Fog.

My dad died last year of cancer and in his last months that was book he wanted to read again.

I read Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. This was great.

Nicola wrote: "Just finished Atonement. I ended up enjoying it but I found it rather difficult to really enjoy at first. I liked the start very much but then it started to get a bit samey. There wa..."

I had the same reaction. I haven't picked up another book of his because of the wordiness and deception of that book. I think I ought to reread it knowing what winds up happening as I might have a different opinion on a second reading.

Nadine wrote: "Becky wrote: "Finger smith by Sarah Waters. I really enjoyed it"

Did you read other book by Sarah Waters? I just finished tripping the velvelt, and I heard that Finger smith is better."

No, this was my first. What did you think of Tripping the Velvet?

Just finished up Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. My fifth chunkster from the list read this year. By the time I get to the shorter reads, I'll really be making some progress!

I started off really enjoying Don Quixote, and was quite surprised by the humor and especially the potty humor - I totally was not expecting that for something written in the very early 1600s. But towards the last 200 pages or so, I was ready for the adventures to be done, not because I wasn't still enjoying them but there seemed to be a lot of the same.

I gave it 4 stars, and would definitely go back and reread at least parts of it. Also, I love Sancho Panza, he's probably one of my favorite characters of all time.

Finished Seize the Day by Saul Bellow. Not really my kind of thing and not such a quick read as expected even though it only has a little over a hundred pages.

Finished The Mill on the Floss in the weekend, delightful story and very easy to read. It turned a little 'Thomas Hardyish' towards the end I thought.

Ellinor wrote: "Finished Seize the Day by Saul Bellow. Not really my kind of thing and not such a quick read as expected even though it only has a little over a hundred pages."

I had to read "Seize the Day" in college - didn't like it. "Herzog" is longer, but much more interesting. After a while, Saul Bellow's befuddled protagonists kinda grow on a person.

Linda wrote: "Just finished up Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. My fifth chunkster from the list read this year. By the time I get to the shorter reads, I'll really be m..."

That's how I felt - it is good and it is funny but it is also reallllly long! It didn't help that I finished the first book then straight away started on the second. And that I was reading it on my iPhone instead of a proper reader. I'll be revisiting this one for sure.

Nicola wrote: "It didn't help that I finished the first book then straight away started on the second."

Yeah, I also went straight to Part II after finishing Part I. I probably could have used a bit more of a breather in between.

Not a list book, but I just finished . What a delightful book! Best read with jazz playing in the background - I listened to http://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Wants...

Just finished The Jungle. Didn't love it.

Finished The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy. Frankly I found it a little disappointing but then it could just be me.

Ellinor wrote: "Finished Seize the Day by Saul Bellow. Not really my kind of thing and not such a quick read as expected even though it only has a little over a hundred pages."

I've been reading Bellow's Humboldt's Gift for about three months now, and I'm only half way through. I can only read a few pages in one sitting, it's not bad but a bit exhausting. It's taking me so much longer than I thought it would!