I'm Busy Reading....

[Bunnylump]

All I meant was that I wouldn't have bought it (or known about it, come to that) if I'd thought it was by someone called Robert Gilbraith. I just wanted to see how she would deal with a detective story, having only read her "children's" stories.

The only thing I found a bit offputting was
a. His name (Cormoran Strike)
b. The amount of swearing. Now, don't get me wrong, I can swear like a trooper along with the best of them. But I did get to the stage where I thought "If I read the F word or the C word one more time, I might scream..."

[giraffe]

I have been ploughing through the Casual Vacancy for months and it is terrible. I don't like any of the characters, they seem to have no redeeming features, and I am about 75% through the book and nothing has happened yet. So I wasn't holding out much hope for The Cuckoos Calling.

[Scurra]

That's the point though. Why would you have read it otherwise? It wasn't written to be read by someone who said "oh, look, the new J K Rowling." She had a relatively bad experience when she did that, and I admire her for doing something different.

(As to the swearing, I haven't read it but I thought that part of the point was that he was an ex-soldier? Or that the conceit was that Galbreith was? Either way, I'd expect there to be quite a lot of swearing...)

[giraffe]

I didn't notice the swearing.

[Bunnylump]

You're obviously a lot more streetwise than me then... I never thought of myself as "ladylike" EVER until you said that!!

(I am. of course, joking!!)

[giraffe]

I think as Scurra said if it fits the character then it's ok.

[Bunnylump]

OK I'll carry on swearing, then...

[LAT]

I've just finished reading Held Up by Christopher Radmann. I found it well written and quite thought provoking (don't want to spoil the plot in case anyone decides to read it), making me wonder how I, or anyone I knew, would react in similar circumstances.
And more thought provoking for us as the author was K's English teacher for GCSE and A level and the story is loosely based on his or friends/family personal experience.
I could certainly recommend it although at times it isn't a comfortable read.

[Bunnylump]

Just finished reading The Magus by John Fowles. It was absolutely brilliant. I'm not very good at "critical" reviews myself, but I found this review in the New York Times which sums it up perfectly. I would DEFINITELY recommend it, it's the best book I have read for years.

"The Magus" is a stunner, magnificent in ambition, supple and gorgeous in execution. It fits no neat category; it is at once a pyrotechnical extravaganza, a wild, hilarious charade, a dynamo of suspense and horror, a profoundly serious probing into the nature of moral consciousness, a dizzying, electrifying chase through the labyrinth of the soul, an allegorical romance, a sophisticated account of modern love, a ghost story that will send shivers racing down the spine. Lush, compulsive, richly inventive, eerie, provocative, impossibly theatrical--it is, in spite of itself, convincing. It is, in fact, a trick ("magus" means magician or conjurer)--a trick about conviction. The stupefying thing is that Mr. Fowles has pulled it off. The book seems to have its own energy; it reverberates in the mind.

[LAT]

Oh I love that book but haven't read it for years. It's one of the few books that we had two copies of as N and I each owned it when we married (I think I'd recommended it to him and he actually went out and bought it )

Now you've reminded me I might actually have to dig it out again.

[kathlyn]

I've been reading the Jeffrey Archer Clifton chronicles, which to begin with i thought were a trilogy but now know there will eventually be 7 of them. The first 3 were very good, the next one came out in paper back this week ( back in March in HB), so now need to find that as there was a big cliff hanger at the end of the third one.

[Bunnylump]

This is the puzzle photo connected with Fraggle's The Selkie Pact book launch. Here's the information if anyone's interested.
https://www.facebook.com/SelkiePact?fref=photo

I've just started reading the book (it's aimed at young teenagers) and so far it looks good!

[Redfraggle]

Awh thank you Bunnylump! It's still very strange to see your name on your own book

[SparkOut]

I couldn't find any books by Knickerless Fraglet on Amazon.

[Redfraggle]

I'm on there. The Selkie Pact by Judith Fullerton (Miss no knickers )

[Bunnylump]

Aha, so you admit it, you don't miss your knickers?

[Redfraggle]

No, but my bum's freezing

[Bunnylump]

And you're a grandmother too?

[Redfraggle]

Oh I know - and I love corrupting my grandchildren! Leah threatens to kill me sometimes

[Bunnylump]

You must be the coolest grandmother!