Irish Readers discussion

Thanks Vicky
Managed to get Moderator rights - so book now added to group page

Ah...next month! Sure i'm looking forward to reading something a little different from my usual reads.

:(
Started One Day a few weeks ago and packed it in! I'll have a proper go at it again I suppose.
+1 Keith. No harm in a bit of variety I suppose!

Just looked back on my books and read it last year so will pull it out and read it again, its an easy read so will get started soon.

ooh, i saw it in tesco for 5.95 i think, going to buy tomorrow! :)

I don't like the sound of the blurb, but I'll persevere. Let's give it chance. I'll have it by Wednesday.

Best thing about a book group though is to read books that we wouldn't otherwise try.

I certainly wouldn't normally read this kind of book, but I'm looking forward to trying it. Best to keep an open mind.

Nice work Vicki. Thanks for the info :)

Have made a start on One Day - not in my normal reading zone so hoping for the best. So far, not finding Emma or Dexter particularly engaging... keep trying to imagine the soundtrack for the year in my head, so guess he's doing a good job evoking 1998.
how are the rest of you getting on?

I have just bought One Day on Kindle. Looking forward to starting reading. Will update all after a few chapters!!

Have started One Day and 80 pages into it can see why I rated it 3 stars previously as it just plods along and while its readable its not a real page turner for me. It will hold my attention as I have forgotton how it ends.

Il pick it up the this week and give it a go the weekend!!

Have started it and I'm on page 74. Its a pleasant enough book and I'm finding the characters likable enough.

I'm starting a "where do you think you'll be in 20 years?" thread if anyone wants to comment. Get us into the books way of thinking.

This was on my reading list anyway so I'm eager to start it now. Just waiting for my Audible credit to drop now, (due tomorrow). I wonder if I stare at my account page will the credit arrive sooner?

I was taking art in the Irish Times Book club briefly but it seems to have completely died. http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/thebo...

Hello everyone! I'm new to the group, but I just got my copy of One Day, and I'm excited to get started. :)

Hey Annie...do I know you? lol :)

Everyone this is my friend from the states Annie ^^^...she's not Irish but she's Irish at heart and is fascinated with Ireland. We got chatting years ago about Ireland when she found me on some pre-facebook site and we've been friends since.

Only recently found out how much we both like reading, so I got her to join Goodreads and join us here in Irish Readers.

Nice to have ya here Annie! :)

Thanks for the introduction, Keith! And Vicki, thank you for the welcome! This is the first book group I've ever been a part of, so I'm quite excited to be here. I'll be sure to post some thoughts as soon as I get started with the book.

I got my copy of One Day, today. Hopefully I'll start it by tonight.

Welcome to the group, Annie. It's quite a good one. It's really been taking off over the last few weeks, and Vicki has been the main catalyst. I hope you enjoy it. Like Keith, I'll have to start recommending this group to a few people.

me too Declan, thought id be left behind, glad someone else is starting today :)

I know. I feel like the straggler. We should keep in mind that it's only the 3rd. We still have 28 days to read it.

Thank you, Declan. I'm glad to see that my lack of being Irish isn't being counted against me! :)

As for the book, I don't quite know what to think about it yet. I'm on page 107, and the story is quite odd so far. The settings and events change drastically from chapter to chapter, but the characters don't seem to grow or progress at all. In some cases, they even seem to devolve further into their immaturities, yet somehow, I still like them!

The book just took a more interesting turn, but it's a little sudden. Im curious to see where it goes.

The only experience I have with the writer is a few episodes of one of his TV shows. One episode in particular sticks out in my mind, which involved a giant testicle chasing a nude man down the street, in a dream sequence.

I'm a little apprehensive, to say the least.

How funny! That definitely changes the tone of the book for me! Sounds like the author may have more in common with his characters than I thought! Lol.

Hmm. Suddenly I'm getting interested.

There's lots of sex talk, Declan. Just the sort of thing you men seem to get into! Lol. Get to reading! You'll see for yourself then.

Vicki, makes you wonder who he patterned Emma after, doesn't it?

Just put the last the last one to bed. let's see what this has to offer.

Hm. I didn't picture Anne Hathaway either, but I suppose it makes sense. After all, she does have experience playing the part of the awkward girl who has more potential than meets the eye.

That's an interesting point about Emma being more like the author than Dexter though. I'll have to keep that in mind as I read further. Thanks for the info Vicki!

I’m up to page 103, and I must say I’m really enjoying it, much more than I thought I would. It might be to do with the fact that my age and their’s are similar. So I can remember what I was doing in 91, 92, 93 etc, and can relate to what they are doing / feeling, argh, those were the days.

I only started it last night. Emma sounds like every girl I've ever gone out with. Change the Nina Simone CD for Dido or Joni Mitchell, or Alanis Morissette and it's any one of them

Just finished my latest book so will be picking this one up to start over the weekend. Hopefully its a goodread a few seem to be pleasantly surprised by it so I'm hoping il enjoy it.

Ok I'm only on page 140, but I can't decide whether I like these characters or not. They both just seem a little self obsessed. Is it me or do they both seem like teenagers? They both seem very immature and its getting on my nerves a bit.

I agree with you, Keith. They're both so... Shallow? The characters seem almost flat... There's no real depth to them yet. I like them, but they annoy me a bit. I think something will need to change soon or I'm going to lose interest in the book. It's easy enough to read, but there doesn't seem to be any real point to the story yet, does there?

I started the book yesterday and finished it today!! Tough to get into but after a while I found the character Emma very funny I probably relate to the sarcastic humour too much ha ha curious how everyone gets on with it and what everyone's views are...

Yeah i agree Vicki but sort of felt sorry for the Father also ... I liked the book once I got into it but i thought it was a bit annoying at times You would sort of wish Emma told Dexter to get lost a long time ago, was also a bit anxious reading the part when he was left home with the baby.. I was sort of wondering what disaster was gonna happen there, all in all a good read not something I would usually pick up but glad i did.

better than expected for me - at least Emma became a reasonably well rounded character for me, Dexter remained essentially a shell for a variety of male stereotypes I thought.
Endings were almost as good as it was going to get for them -
(view spoiler)[Emma ended on a high, planning for the future, buying home with Dexter when her end came, Dexter pulled out of the drug drink spiral, that had returned with Emma's death, through intervention of his father and ex-wife with whom he appears to have reconciled, and is in stable relationship with Maddy and his daughter Jasmine. Sorry, couldn't see the happily ever after for Em and Dex as a couple (hide spoiler)]

I'm about halfway through now. I found a lot of it quite weak at the start. Was a bit bored with the will they won't they holiday and the skinny dipping scene was like a predictable set piece written for some terrible romcom starring Anne Hathaway! (I found myself picturing Kelly Reilly).

But then I found myself eager to get back to it last night. I think it has slowly got more interesting as the characters have gotten bitter with each other, and there lives have got a tad more complicated.

Damn - read a spoiler. Think I'll stay away until finished.

Finished this book at the weekend and while I liked the plot of the book I did not find it a page turner and felt it lacked any wow factor, I think the fact that I did not care enough about the Characters made this book just an average read for me.

I think a lot of people relate to Emma because she had great ambitions but got stuck in a rut and was just plodding along like a lot of people thinking tomorrow I will make that change, it wasn't all happy go lucky and to be honest a lot more people can relate to Emma form personal experience or at least know someone similar to her I think. As for Dexter I don't know anyone remotely like him so hard to relate on any level.

I finished it last night so, I'm gonna get stuck into the discussion. Serious Spoiler Alert!!!!!

First of all, I enjoyed it more than I expected. This was mostly due to the fact that there were lots of little gags that peppered the novel throughout. I laughed out loud a couple of times. Especially the line when He was reading Howard's End and said it was like 200 pages of two people having a cup of tea.

The characters weren't great. I don't think Dexter was as annoying as Nicholls intended and Emma was a bland everywoman. I didn't care too much about them. When Emma died I felt the shock of it , but by the time I started reading the next page I had stopped caring. With nearly 100 pages left following their pairing I knew there was tragedy up ahead, but I didn't think that Nicholls would go as far as killing a key character. I think it showed a lot of bottle.

The final chapter was very pleasant. The flash-backs to Edinburgh had real depth and It did have a real first-love vibe. I don't think it would have had the same weight if it had been read at the start. Leaving it until the end, after we'd seen what they'd been through together, was a great decision.

I agree Declan I literally had spoke the words to my house mate this is hard to get into .. then i turn the page and I am laughing out loud ... I enjoyed the gags probably what kept me reading it.

Yeah it did keep me turning the pages a lot more easily. It can't be that bad it makes me laugh.

Declan and Sarah I totally agree with you both. I loved the book and found it quite funny, (view spoiler)[I thought the fact that the author killed Emma off really made the book, had it had a happy-happy ending I may have been less impressed. (hide spoiler)]
I see that some people found the characters flat and shallow... I'm surprised by that because I quite enjoyed them. I didn't reread the book though so maybe my recollections are hazy.

I don't know if anyone is interested but I started a poll on the ratings people are giving One Day, just because I am interested :) Might be good to see what we thought of the book as a group! It made me choose a finish date for the poll so people can vote until the 1st of April. I hope people vote!

How do I link to the poll?

I have no idea but the poll is under "polls" on the "Irish Readers" group page... if that helps!

I'll find it.

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/77...

Here it is.

So far, I'm the only man who has voted and I gave it 3*. I think it was written with a catch-all purpose. I the same way Cold Feet was aimed at couples. It's full of snappy gags, there's a loads of sexual tension and it's very sentimental in places. He's casting a wide net.

Vicki: Maybe I live under a shell but I have never heard any hype about it... I just picked it up cos I liked the cover! I think when you have expectations or preconceptions it can sometimes dent your enjoyment of a book :)