APRIL READS

[rapa]

A message from Ioruach to all members of Bookoholics on TBD!

“April is the cruellest month, breeding,
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dead tubers.”

For me these words are here every every April. I don’t often read T. S. Eliot’s poetry anymore. Certainly not as often as I once did. And that is unfortunate. I used to love reading The Waste Land from time to time, always in awe of the complexity and mystery of it.

I certainly don’t “understand” it. But I long ago abandoned that word when discussing poetry anyway. What we are talking about to my mind is the music of language.

So I thought, what better way to introduce “April Reads” than with one of the great works of poetry of the modern age. And for anyone wondering, yes, I did read the entire poem again. And it made me feel good.

And finally, for you believers in luck, I will of course say , Rabbit, Rabbit. Rabbit. A happy April to one and all.

[Ursula]

I also read The Girl on the Train.  Although it was well-written and an engrossing read, I did find the characters to be most unlikable.  I did not bother to see the movie.  I felt the same way about Gone Girl.

[Joanne]

I had written a "review" of sorts for my on-line bookies over in Seniors&Friends.  Unfortunately, I'm not too sure which "folder" I saved it in, but it was very uncomplimentary.  (This is about Girl on the Train).  I will see if I can hunt it down and post it here for those who are uncertain about reading it. Ursula, I also disliked "Gone Girl" immensely.

A fantastic book is "News of the World" by Paulette Jiles.  Don't skip this one!  Having finished it about 3+ weeks ago, the characters are still with me, and will probably necessitate a quick re-read.

I also read the Noah Hawley book, Before the Fall.  My f2f Mystery book club is doing it in June.

[Ioruach]

By calling the characters "unlikable" you are most kind. I checked the reviews in the Goodreads site and most reviewers hated the book, which surprised me a bit. I thought it was well written and certainly fascinating. But it didn't put a smile on my face as I faced the real world after finishing it.

[Joanne]

BOOK REVIEW – 9-3-15 - Girl on the Train

At or near the top of the NYT Best Seller List for several weeks, “The Girl On The Train” by Paula Hawkins seemed to be a shoo-in for my next favorite thriller.  One of the cover blurbs did give me pause when it made a vague comparison to “Gone Girl”.  But what could go wrong when a young woman travelling on a commuter train every day spots a couple on their deck and in their back garden.  She gives them names and fantasizes about their lives,   while her life couldn’t be less perfect.  Nor the lives of those, once or soon to be, close to her.

The narration switches between our commuter Rachel; the female half of the “perfect” couple, Megan, and the woman who has effectively usurped Rachel’s life and happiness, Anna.  No wonder then that Rachel is suffering from depression and alcoholism with accompanying blackouts.

While I waded through the first 51 pages, knowing something had to “happen”, the author is intent on weaving back-stories into the narration, exposing the characters, warts and all, until the reader’s “who really cares about these people” sets in and it becomes do or die…finish the book and find out who done it, or slam the covers closed and let them stew in their own stagnated half-lives.  I finished the book.

jm

[Ursula]

Thanks, Joanne.  How well I remember that same feeling of slugging my way to the end, or returning the book to the library unfinished.  Sigh!!  I also finished the book, but am in no hurry to read her newest book, Into The Water, which is due out on May 2.

Thought you might get a laugh out of the review on Fantastic Fiction: 

"From a writer proven to have a masterful touch when it comes to atmospheric dread, this is a suspenseful story of two sisters and the deceptiveness of human emotion and memory. Hawkins' prose manages to put a fresh spin on an age-old story of family secrets and their devastating effects.
The most hotly anticipated novel of the year, from the author of the best-selling novel The Girl on the Train."

I especially liked "The most hotly anticipated novel of the year....".  I think a few of us might disagree with that statement.

By the way, Paula Hawkins has also written 4 novels under the pseudonym of Amy Silver.

[rapa]

Like you Ursula, I waded through the book not caring about any of the characters, The only thing I can say is that I was satisfied with the ending.

[Carci]

So far this month I've read The Language of Hoofbeats  (wonderful)by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Vicious Circle (Joe Picket...always enjoyable) by CJ Box, A Man Called Ove (2nd time), Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett (strange book), The Life We Bury (2nd time) by Allen Eskens, and I am now reading Before the Fall by Noah Hawley.  The librarian said "This is a really good book." when I picked it up and I'm enjoying it so far, only about 100 pages in.

PS: I didn't care for Girl on the Train either. :)

[CaliforniaNow]

I like your new avatar.  I'm not here very often so it may not be so new.  In April, the ones I can remember reading are The Cursed Child (another Harry Potter but the principles grown up and it's about two of the kids), Die Hard (because it was in the paperbacks and had no due return date, something by Evanovich and her co-writer which I ditched after the first or second page, and am back to David Copperfield.  If you haven't read that in a while, try it again.  The writing overcomes the pathos/bathos.  The writing is great.  The Cursed Child was sort of goofy but J.K. Rowling seemed to take part enough to make it nice reading.

[CaliforniaNow]

Oh, and there's a wonderfully creepy little book called The Legend of Nail (not Neil, apparently that's a TV show or something).  Nail was a community in the Ozarks and the book is a collection of the well-known ghost, ghoul stories associated with it.  The author is Stanley Taylor.

[Carolyn Tewell]

ARMS WAVING!!! HELLO HELLO

So I loved BEFORE THE FALL and checked out 5 more books on aircraft mysteries. Read ON THE ISLAND by Tracey Garvis Graves and loved it, too. (A bit R-rated but I didn't mind) Then tried to listen to EVERYTIME I THINK OF YOU...and was bored. I have her book COVET on my side table.

INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins is supposed to equal The Girl on the Train which I enjoyed. Usually, I'm not crazy about British authors. Need to put it on HOLD at the Library.

Listening to John Sanford's GOLDEN PREY...well, it is extremely violent and crude....but maybe will have some redeeming qualities at the end?

Went camping last weekend...a much needed escape from care giving!

[Grammie Sue]

I had not heard of The Girl On The Train before, that I remember, so I looked it up.  Wow interesting.  Wiki has the full plot written out.  I see it is a movie too.  I may want to watch that sometime.  Lots of twist and turns.