Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

Martha I am reading Mirrors by Eduardo Galeano, thanks for the recommondation Riddley. It is absolutely searing, I have to leave it down at times and take a deep breath.

"John Kenny" commented on John Kenny's Blog "The Whisper Jar by Carole Lanham".

Lol. I tell you, I think it's probably quite different to anything you've read before. :-)

Martha We are reading the Country Girls by Edna O'Brien for our Book club, I read it years ago,will be interesting to see how it stands the test of time. Did anyone see her on TV recently, very interesting review of her life...and she still looks amazing at 82

"Martha" commented on Neil's Blog "Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell".

Sounds like a good read

"Martha" commented on John Kenny's Blog "The Whisper Jar by Carole Lanham".

Wow,that all sounds amazing but very traumatic...

chatnoir joined Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

John Kenny wrote a new blog: "The Floating Order by Erin Pringle".

The wonder of The Floating Order, a collection of short stories by Erin Pringle, is that it is impossible to pigeonhole. At their heart the stories have a darkly fantastic edge, but this aspect is more often than not a component of the character’s ...

abbyweber joined Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

"Jennifer " commented on John Kenny's Blog "Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard".

Really interesting interview, will have to check out Empire of the Sun

Hattie joined Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

dangiewestone joined Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

"Martha" commented on John Kenny's Blog "Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard".

Thanks for tips, will check out those books

"Martha" commented on Riddley's Blog "The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy".

Here in Galway we have a very good second hand bookshop Charlie Byrne's and I bring in some books when the situation gets out of control! I then get credit to buy more books but I now really make the effort to let go of some. I haven't started the ...

"Martha" commented on Neil's Blog "The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly".

Interesting, this story reminds me of the film Pan's Labyrinth... Sounds good

Jennifer Took me a little while to get into but now I'm really enjoying The Somnambulist. Had to look up what it meant - person who sleepwalks apparently!

Neil wrote a new blog: "The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly".

The Book of Lost Things is described as an adult fairy tale, it is a kind of coming-of-age story for our young hero David. The story is set in England during the early part of the Second World War. David is a young boy about 12 years old who very ...

"Riddley" commented on Riddley's Blog "The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy".

No, haven't read Mirrors but imagine that anything by him would be worthwhile. I hope you like the Muriel Spark. Myself, I'm an inveterate charity shop bookhunter and have hundreds of unread books on my shelves. It would probably be healthier to use ...

"John Kenny" commented on John Kenny's Blog "Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard".

He's a bit of an acquired taste. There's a certain clinical austerity to his work, but I love the themes he explores. A good place to start is Concrete Island. Also unmissable is Empire of the Sun.

"John Kenny" commented on John Kenny's Blog "The Road by Cormac McCarthy".

I do think that despite the unrelenting grimness, there's a minor note of optimism at the end, albeit tempered by the hymn to what we have irrevocably lost.

Martha Am sad to hear of the death of Adrienne Rich, a wonderful poet.

"Martha" commented on John Kenny's Blog "The Road by Cormac McCarthy".

Oh this book is unforgettable. I love McCarthy's writing too but I was a reluctant reader of this book to begin with, it is just so grim. I just couldn't stop thinking about it and it certainly makes you wake up and see the all the beauty around us. ...

"Martha" commented on John Kenny's Blog "Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard".

Interesting interview John, I have never read anything of Ballard so will have to begin...

Martha has accepted John Kenny's friend request

romnickhudges joined Novel Friends - book reviews, events and discussions for your book club

John Kenny wrote a new blog: "The Road by Cormac McCarthy".

The Road tells the story of a man and his son as they make their way along a road towards the coast through a ravaged landscape. Along the way, they occasionally encounter other people in various states of decrepitude and/or savagery. A worldwide ...