The Book thread

[valda]

I'm reading Harlen Coben's new book in bed, and listening to the audiobook of The Talisman on the Tube, nearly finished that so time for a new one. I've got a new Jo Nesbo to read when I finish the current book.

so anyone here a Kindle person? I wan't one but, is it worth getting the 3G? what difference does it make apart from being £40 approx difference? vx

[tarantinoed]

Is Harlan Coben a good read? I really liked the film Tell No-one based on his book. I'm currently reading Kalooki Nights by Howard Jacobson after loving his latest book The Finkler Question - he's a fantastic writer and makes you laugh out loud with his knowledge of people and their foibles as well as his insightful examination of important themes and ideas.

[canadian_turtle]

I love reading and usually finish several books a week. What I find an especially great and helpful website is http://www.goodreads.com Have you guys heard of it?

On it you can search for the books that you're reading, want to read or have read and can add them to your shelves (to-read, read, currently reading or a shelf you create yourself). You can also add friends to your account like a social media website and you'll find books they've recently added to their profile on your homepage, including reviews if they write them (or just the amount of stars they award the book) which is fabulous as I have quite a few friends with a similar taste in books so when they recommend something I get curious and check it out. Most books listed will include information such as summary, paperback/hardback and a link to the author page on Goodreads where you can find more of their books (and more often than not blog entries by the authors) which is very helpful when trying to decide what to read next.

There also options to find books similar to what you've recently read and liked and something called the Goodreads challenge, where you set yourself a goal of reading a certain amount of books this year and whenever you add a new book to the shelf "read" (with a finish date in 2011 of course) it'll automatically add it to the list. For example, my goal is 100 books in 2011 and at the moment it lists I have read 66 and it says I am 12% ahead of my schedule.

Anyway, long promotional story short (I don't get a commission for this, honest, I just really love the website), this is me, feel free to add me if you're also on the site or ask me any questions you may have before signing up (do let me know who you are on here as I don't normally add people back I don't know)

-- My profile --

[valda]

Is Harlan Coben a good read? I really liked the film Tell No-one based on his book. I'm currently reading Kalooki Nights by Howard Jacobson after loving his latest book The Finkler Question - he's a fantastic writer and makes you laugh out loud with his knowledge of people and their foibles as well as his insightful examination of important themes and ideas.

I enjoy his books, nothing too taxing just a nice quick read A lot of them feature the same characters so its nice to follow the adventures of these people.

[canadian_turtle]

I'm currently reading the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield. It wasn't as amazing as everyone told me it was but I did really enjoy it, just waiting for the next book to come from Amazon.

I just finished reading this series myself, have you finished all 4 books yet? I had very high expectations from some of the reviews I'd read but to be honest I had a lot of problems with the books. My favourite is actually the fourth which is almost a stand alone novel, focusing more on other characters than the first 3 ones. My reviews:

Uglies:

3.5/5 stars. A lot in this book annoyed me but I was also unable to put it down until I finished it and am now reading the second part in the series.

Pretties:

[spoiler]2.5/5 stars. Terrible writing, the story barely progresses, some of the themes are used extremely careless (cutting, anorexia) yet I can still not pull myself away from this train wreck. I want to know what the hell is actually going on; who's truly in charge, who's going to win and what the whole point of this all is. But argh, I do hope that the writing will get better in the next novel.[/spoiler]

Specials:

[spoiler]2/5 stars. I continued on with this series against my better judgement as I was hoping that it would gradually get better closer to its ending. Boy, was I wrong. The main character only got less likeable making it impossible to relate to the girl that we have gradually gotten to know throughout the series. Furthermore the book had an anti-climatic ending (it all just looked way too easy) and the irresponsible use of the subject of cutting got even more irritating as the story progressed. I honestly cannot think of a single thing I liked about this third installment which is really a shame as there were so many opportunities to explore the fascinating world it's set in.[/spoiler]

Extras:

[spoiler]4/5 stars. Extras is by far the best book of the series. The entirely new world set several years after the events of the first books is fascinating and seems to be a naturally progression for the storyline to go to. I absolutely loved the main character Aya, her hovercam, the Sly girls and the idea of face rankings and how it shaped their world. It's a very original idea and could easily have been the start of an entire new trilogy.

The only reason this book did not get 5 stars is because it got significantly less interesting as soon as Tally, the main character from the first three books, returned. Throughout the series she gradually became an incredibly unlikeable character to focus on and considering that this book is set several years after the ending of the third book, in a completely different part of the world, it would've been much more realistic and interesting if it would solely focus on the new characters.[/spoiler]

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I love reading and usually finish several books a week. What I find an especially great and helpful website is http://www.goodreads.com Have you guys heard of it?

On it you can search for the books that you're reading, want to read or have read and can add them to your shelves (to-read, read, currently reading or a shelf you create yourself). You can also add friends to your account like a social media website and you'll find books they've recently added to their profile on your homepage, including reviews if they write them (or just the amount of stars they award the book) which is fabulous as I have quite a few friends with a similar taste in books so when they recommend something I get curious and check it out. Most books listed will include information such as summary, paperback/hardback and a link to the author page on Goodreads where you can find more of their books (and more often than not blog entries by the authors) which is very helpful when trying to decide what to read next.

There also options to find books similar to what you've recently read and liked and something called the Goodreads challenge, where you set yourself a goal of reading a certain amount of books this year and whenever you add a new book to the shelf "read" (with a finish date in 2011 of course) it'll automatically add it to the list. For example, my goal is 100 books in 2011 and at the moment it lists I have read 66 and it says I am 12% ahead of my schedule.

Anyway, long promotional story short (I don't get a commission for this, honest, I just really love the website), this is me, feel free to add me if you're also on the site or ask me any questions you may have before signing up (do let me know who you are on here as I don't normally add people back I don't know)

-- My profile --

Wow, several books in a week! That is prolific. I see you like a lot of childrens fantasy/adventure books as I do. I also like sci fi/supernatural/fantasy/thriller books. May I join your group? Only thing is, I am very unworthy as I do not get though as many books as I used to. In fact this year I have only read about 8 books which were 5 young adult books based on time travel and 3 Sherlock Holmes. So my range and depth has not been spectacular either, lol. I have just started with the Time Riders book 4 on my Kindle app which has just been released today. They are a terrific time travelling series, so good I decided to b*y limited signed collector's editions of all the books including a signed first edition of book 1. The collector's editions only number up to 20! So they are not popular books at all. But hey, they might be one day.

[canadian_turtle]

Wow, several books in a week! That is prolific. I see you like a lot of childrens fantasy/adventure books as I do. I also like sci fi/supernatural/fantasy/thriller books. May I join your group? Only thing is, I am very unworthy as I do not get though as many books as I used to. In fact this year I have only read about 8 books which were 5 young adult books based on time travel and 3 Sherlock Holmes. So my range and depth has not been spectacular either, lol. I have just started with the Time Riders book 4 on my Kindle app which has just been released today. They are a terrific time travelling series, so good I decided to b*y limited signed collector's editions of all the books including a signed first edition of book 1. The collector's editions only number up to 20! So they are not popular books at all. But hey, they might be one day.

First, despite my blatant promoting, I have to make clear that it's not my site/group. Goodreads is a huge website with thousands (millions?) of people on it and I can not claim any credit for that. I just joined a few years ago and love it to death

While an avid reader I didn't for the longest of time read several books a week either, but the Goodreads challenge certainly motivated me (some of my friends are on it too and we can keep track of each others reading habits) and I spent a lot of hours in commute every week, which helps

I'd love it if you sign up so we can compare books and I can read your reviews/star ratings, no pressure on how much you read, that doesn't matter at all. It's just nice to see what people are reading and how they're enjoying it.

I've an eReader too by the way! Not a Kindle, but I'm happy with my Bebook reader. have you had your Kindle long? Do you like it?

I have never heard about Time Riders before but I shall now look it up on Goodreads

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

Wow, several books in a week! That is prolific. I see you like a lot of childrens fantasy/adventure books as I do. I also like sci fi/supernatural/fantasy/thriller books. May I join your group? Only thing is, I am very unworthy as I do not get though as many books as I used to. In fact this year I have only read about 8 books which were 5 young adult books based on time travel and 3 Sherlock Holmes. So my range and depth has not been spectacular either, lol. I have just started with the Time Riders book 4 on my Kindle app which has just been released today. They are a terrific time travelling series, so good I decided to b*y limited signed collector's editions of all the books including a signed first edition of book 1. The collector's editions only number up to 20! So they are not popular books at all. But hey, they might be one day.

First, despite my blatant promoting, I have to make clear that it's not my site/group. Goodreads is a huge website with thousands (millions?) of people on it and I can not claim any credit for that. I just joined a few years ago and love it to death

While an avid reader I didn't for the longest of time read several books a week either, but the Goodreads challenge certainly motivated me (some of my friends are on it too and we can keep track of each others reading habits) and I spent a lot of hours in commute every week, which helps

I'd love it if you sign up so we can compare books and I can read your reviews/star ratings, no pressure on how much you read, that doesn't matter at all. It's just nice to see what people are reading and how they're enjoying it.

I've an eReader too by the way! Not a Kindle, but I'm happy with my Bebook reader. have you had your Kindle long? Do you like it?

I have never heard about Time Riders before but I shall now look it up on Goodreads

Well actually I dont have the Kindle itself but the app on my Android smartphones On a Samsung Galaxy with is 4.3" screen size, the Kindle app is lovely to use, reading with it is very pleasurable as you can adjust the background between Sepia and white, the brightness and size of text which wraps around at whatever size you have it on, have multiple bookmarks and remembers where you last left off. No more dog ears, lol. Plus you get the opportunity to read samples of most books before b*ying them. A great way to discover gem books which are not popular. Despite the fact that I am by heart a gadget man, I do still appreciate the feel of reading a real paperback/hardback book...cant ever beat the ultimate experience of that.

Just joined the Goodreads, will explore it later this evening :) So how much commision you getting again?

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I have never heard about Time Riders before but I shall now look it up on Goodreads

Just noticed you read Afterlight by Alex Scarrow and gave it 5 star rating. He is the author of the Time Rider books, so you might enjoy them too! In turn I shall make Afterlight my next read!

[canadian_turtle]

I have never heard about Time Riders before but I shall now look it up on Goodreads

Just noticed you read Afterlight by Alex Scarrow and gave it 5 star rating. He is the author of the Time Rider books, so you might enjoy them too! In turn I shall make Afterlight my next read!

I thought the author sounded familiar, thanks for the clarification

Afterlight is actually a sequel to Last Light. I read Afterlight on its own because I received the book for review and it was perfectly understandable as a stand alone. However, I tried reading Last Light after that and didn't enjoy it nor finished it as I knew what would happen... So if you want to read both books I recommend reading Last Light first (though Afterlight was very enjoyable on it's own).

Can you link me to your profile btw so I can add you? If you don't want to post it publicly, please PM me.

I completely agree with you on "real" books vs ereaders btw. But my ereader is just so handy (and light!) in my bag when I'm traveling or commuting to work! I have a hundred books at my disposal without the physical weight At home I rather curl up with a proper book though.