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Original poster

I am desperate and need you all to help me please!

239 replies

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 30/04/2011 15:39

I have got one and a half history books left and then I am, once again, bookless. I have been to three different libraries in the last ten days and have failed to find even a single book that I fancied or hadn't read before.

I have some Nectar points to spend, so I could have a bit of an Amazon splurge - but what shall I get?

  1. Favourite writers are Jane Austen and Stephen King
  2. I like v well written fantasy (ie Tolkein) or v well written historical who-dunnit stuff (eg Doyle or Sansom) or quirky history books
  3. I am a snob and get very twitchy about shoddy writing but can't stand overly self conscious crap (step forward Ian McEwan)
  4. I am very, very fussy
  5. I read very, very quickly so the bigger the book, the better

Please help!

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:44

I don't like and will not contemplate anything that looks as if it might be sold at a small stall on a train station - so no to Crichton etc. Sorry, I did say that I was a snob! Thank you so much for all of these though - even if I dismiss some, I will look at others.

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:42

Read The Snowman - thought it was shite.

Gave up on the millennium trio for being crap and reading like they were written like a trainspotter.

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WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:42

oooooh try Michael ....something or other...
Blindsight
Grace

all of his are brilliant
love all the Michaels - MichAEL Connolley
Michael Crichton

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:41

Have read the Shirley J and didn't like it much - horribly cliched, although King loves it.

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WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:40

did you read the millennium trio? what did you think to those?

have you tried the Snowman? i couldnt get into that at all

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:39

I liked the one about the blind boy (From the corner of his eye?) and the one about a girl who was an alien (title= something to do with heaven).

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WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:39

agree- dean koontz

have you read The House That jack built like a stephen king, with gruesomeness of Koontz

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:38

Have read quite a lot of Dean Koontz's but he gets very samey and is a bit too much of a preacher for my liking. I can cope with him in small doses, when desperate.

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WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:38

have you read Shirley jackson The Haunting
easy reads - Jodi Picoult.

I just finished a good one about 3 victorian age women settling in india - was marvellous, unhelpfully I can't recall author/title though...cover was turquoise lake scene I think

WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:36

presume youve read all Dean koontz?
Ive just re-read Dolores Claibourne
my fave stephen king's are Gerald's Game and the girl who loved tom gordon. worst are Cell and Lisey's tale boring.

WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:34

have you tried
lee Child awesome jack reacher character
Alafair Burke and her father james Lee Burke

HarderToKidnap · 03/05/2011 21:31

Oh poo, my next book is a Straub (my first of just him).

Patrick Ness's review of Darkmans, if you haven't already read Darkmans

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:29

Tried and hated 'We need to witter on about Kevin.'

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:28

Yes to the King/Straub collaborations - v good indeed and almost seemless on the way they move from one writer to another, although Straub on his own is absolutely rubbish imho.

Absolutely HATED "Never Let Me Go' to the point that I wished that they would all just hurry up and die. I found the characters really irritating and his style bores me, although I know that lots and lots of people on here love him. Will google your others - thanks.

Harder - I haven't totally discounted it yet! Maybe if I saw it as a teen novel, I'd expect a bit less? I do read a lot of teen fiction.

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WhipMeIndiana · 03/05/2011 21:27

anyone read/heard of 'the slap'?

tried any lionel Shriver?

HarderToKidnap · 03/05/2011 21:22

The Left Hand of God was a little like the Book of Lost Things in that it referenced loads of other stuff, so that I felt supremely clever when I identified the description of a battle as a parallel of Agincourt, for example. I love stuff like that. So gods, religion, historical figures and events were all similar/referenced to something in our own world. I like that.

HarderToKidnap · 03/05/2011 21:19

Darkmans - Nicola Barker. Kinda weird but I really liked it.

I'm glad you enjoyed the Passage - I can't wait for the 2nd one!

Have you read any Vanora Bennett? I like her historical fiction, it has a feminist-y bent but lovely and readable.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was, I felt, beautifully written sci-fi/dystopia fiction. Can't get on with any of his others though, even though they are a similar style.

Have you read the King and Straub collaborations? I steered clear for a while (don't know why, I have read everything else King has written) but the books were fantastic.

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:10

Mmm - some v iffy reviews of it. Patrick Ness didn't like it and his own fantasy series is excellent!

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 21:07

recently read The Passage and really enjoyed it. Started a thread on here about it but there weren't many takers. Still only took me two days to read it though!

Liked The Book Thief a lot.

Loved The Historian but haven't yet read her next one.

Didn't think much of The Book Of Lost Things - although the cover was lovely! :)

Googling the hand of God one.

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HarderToKidnap · 03/05/2011 21:04

I'm assuming you have read the Crimson Petal and the White?
There is a fabulous book called The N(something) by Jane (something) - I want to say The Notifications, but it isn't that. It's a historical novel, bloody brilliant, but can't remember the full title or author! Maybe someone will recognise it from what I have said.

Yes yes to A Fine Balance. I was in BITS.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

I have also just read and loved The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman, very clever

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly was fantastic

The Passage by Justin Cronin. Very The Stand-ish, compelling, very readable. Not going to win any awards for beautiful prose, just a whacking good plot. And massive.

I enjoyed Elizabeth Kostova's second book, the Swan Thieves, also quite large.

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 20:45

Dp went to the library today and returned with a grand total of NONE of them. He has managed to order a couple though. I now have only 50 pages left of my history of Newgate Gaol (which is v interesting!). I may be reduced to re-reading The Lord Of The Rings again!

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Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/05/2011 17:56

Read them and loved them (except for the silly horse on wheels things!).

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Browncoats · 03/05/2011 09:17

Have you read any Phillip Pullman (His Dark Materials), I read them the other year and they're fantastic!

I'll have to put my thinking cap on as most of the other books I was thinking of have been mentioned (terry Pratchett etc.).

sonearsofar · 02/05/2011 22:58

I'd forgotton Lady Audleys Secret! That's a good one, as is A Suitable Boy. I didn't like Forever Amber at all,but will be interested to hear what you think!

Original poster
ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 02/05/2011 21:37

Okay - my list for dp to try and get/order from the library tomorrow is:

Alone In Berlin
The Knife Man
Horns - Joe Hill
I Am Legend
A Suitable Boy
Forever Amber
Lady Audley's Secret

What do you think?

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