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David's bookshelf: read

Me Before You

by Jojo Moyes

tagged: bcc-ebooks-on-loan, fiction, genre-romance, and shelf-iphone

Summer Sisters

by Judy Blume

The Shepherd's Hut

by Tim Winton

Initially I was not impressed by the female voice on the audio book acting out the male part, just didn’t seem right. Was not helped by the deluge of Aussie slang being thrown around in the first person. It took quite a while for me to s...

tagged: audible-uk, audio-listening, fiction, genre-australia, genre-drama,...

The Fallen

by David Baldacci

Not a bad story but I think the author is trying too hard to be both story teller and social commentator. In doing so we lost a bit of Decker. Just a little too obvious in places and the ending summation of all the story plots should hav...

tagged: fiction, genre-thriller, paper-copy, genre-drama, and bcc-books-ret...

Tell Tale

by Jeffrey Archer

Initially, I found the stories interesting and challenging with just the right amount of twist, but towards the end, I was losing interest and the excerpt from his new book did nothing for me. Disappointing really as I enjoyed the Clifto...

tagged: fiction, genre-short-stories, paper-copy, bcc-books-returned, and b...

Manhattan Beach

by Jennifer Egan

Phew! Talk about complexity in character development. Multiple narrators were used in the audiobook version jumping across person and focus. They took us on an exciting and dramatic journey in New York during WWII and the gangster world ...

tagged: audible, audio-finished, fiction, genre-drama, genre-history, and o...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer

A very enjoyable read. The multiple voices took a little to adjust to but once sorted the skill of the two writers is apparent. Prompts a lot of reflection about WWII which is a good thing. I am not sure how a the style will translate to...

tagged: fiction, paper-copy, and bcc-books-returned

The Outsider

by Stephen King

King truly is a masterful writer. He can bring the supernatural skilfully into our humdrum existence. This narrative develops Holly considerably and gives King another Bill Hodges to play with. The story connects all the way to Mr. Merce...

tagged: audio-finished, fiction, genre-thriller, genre-scifi-fantasy, and o...

Fox Hunt

by James Phelan

I like this story quite a lot. Basically I like Phelan’s writing especially in audio format. It’s funny to hear Aussie accents and the similarity with Reacher is great. Maybe they will meet up one day. Enjoyable yarn, of course far fetch...

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, audio-finished, and onzimplybooks

The Quiet American

by Graham Greene

Fantastic writing, great little story and interesting to see Vietnam before the USA war. Greene is such a great writer. Time to hunt out some more.

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, and audio-finished

The Big Sleep

by Raymond Chandler

My first Chandler! Audiobook was wonderful. Masterful writer really. The book abounds with the most wonderful metaphors and similes. How did he do it? I want to go back and reread them but is it plagiarism to use them I. Your own writing...

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, audio-finished, and onzimplybooks

A Quantum Murder

by Peter F. Hamilton

An enjoyable continuance of the first book’s characters. Once again an audiobook that is well done and as good as watching TV. Starting to get back my interest in SciFi and alternate histories. Far fetched - of course - but an enjoyable ...

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-scifi-fantasy, audio-finished, and onzimply...

Mindstar Rising

by Peter F. Hamilton

Cyberpunk? Possibly. Detective? Possibly. Enjoyable - absolutely. Great audiobook experience. Building my interest in sci-fi again and Hamilton is a great writer of character and detail. A bit far fetched but he has developed a great wor...

tagged: audible-uk, fiction, genre-scifi-fantasy, and audio-finished

Palace of Treason

by Jason Matthews

Dark Heart

by James Phelan

Another great book in the series though I think we might not see Jed Walker for awhile. Nice finish to Zodiac story arc but paints a pretty poor image of American greed. Hopefully none of it true.

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, audio-finished, and onzimplybooks

The Midnight Line

by Lee Child

Not terrible at all but I am not sure Lee wasn’t trying a bit too hard to tell a story and present a political stance. All gets a little messed up in places and loses pace. Tries to pack his usual dynamics into the drama but with an over...

tagged: fiction, kindle, and mobi-drm

Black Mountain

by Venero Armanno

What a complex and well written narrative. At times I got a bit lost but the premise and construction of the plot was detailed and fascinating. Give yourself enough time to explore the depths of the story as it is rich and demanding of a...

tagged: fiction, bcc-books-returned, genre-history, genre-scifi-fantasy, qu...

Red Sparrow

by Jason Matthews

Wanted to read before I saw the movie. Rather dense with factual (?) material and lots of Russian words. The spy detail was almost too detailed and broke the action at times. Great recipes though!! Looking forward to seeing where the arc...

tagged: fiction, genre-thriller, kindle, and onzimplybooks

The Fermata

by Nicholson Baker

It is a very clever story but be warned there is a lot of frank and fearless erotica. Very much the male view of women and would be offensive to some. Powerful writing at times with a stunning vision imagination. What was interesting was...

tagged: fiction, shelf-family-room, paper-copy, genre-scifi-fantasy, and bc...

Kill Switch

by James Phelan

Good adventure yarn with couple of twist which you could sort of see coming but not quite sure. Story was a little muddled at times but overall one I enjoyed to the end. Again listened to the audiobook and I think that made it more enjoy...

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, audio-finished, and onzimplybooks

The Heart of the Matter

by Graham Greene

I really am starting to like Greene. He has quite a different way of seeing the world. This was a challenging listen.

tagged: audible, audio-finished, fiction, and genre-thriller

The Hunted

by James Phelan

Audio book was almost as good as the first volume but I think he was trying to manage too many characters and arcs but it kept me listening. Lost a great character but will be interesting to see if others pop up in later books. My only q...

tagged: fiction, genre-thriller, audible, audio-finished, and onzimplybooks

The Spy

by James Phelan

Great audio book presentation. Went to a session at The Brisbane Writers Festival and he impressed but his fiction is better than I expected. Long arcs have started so looking forward to his next. If you enjoy Lee Child you will like The...

tagged: audible, fiction, genre-thriller, and audio-finished

By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review

By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review

by Pamela Paul

I now have hundreds more books to read and authors to examine. This is a great collection of what and who other writers like to pursue. Some 65 individuals from Connolly to Patterson tell of their favourites, their childhood loves and th...

tagged: aa-studying, genre-writing, paper-copy, and bcc-books-returned

Origin

by Dan Brown

A tour de force! Crammed packed with more insights than any novel need be but all was harmoniously integrated. Wow, Brown does his research well and the ending caught me by surprise though he meticulously takes you through the nooks and ...

tagged: audible-uk, fiction, genre-thriller, and audio-finished

NYPD Red 2

by James Patterson

Interesting premise and reasonably executed. I felt too much time was spent on the somewhat unrealistic love life of the main characters. Hopefully the long arcs will not dominate the individual novel’s plots into the future.

tagged: fiction, genre-thriller, mobi-drm, and onzimplybooks

Divine Justice

by David Baldacci

This was my second read of this book and my introduction to the series of The Camel Club. It is really very good and rates at least a 3.5 stars. I had forgotten a lot of the detail in four years. Lot of good characterisations and looking...

tagged: mobi-drm, fiction, genre-thriller, kindle, and onzimplybooks

Failed It!

by Erik Kessels

Few quotations and some home philosophy. Interesting photos off the internet. Not really recommended.

tagged: genre-management, genre-philosophy, genre-quotations, and shelf-office

The Atlantis Gene

by A.G. Riddle

What a slow old read or actually a listen. Eventually, I got back into the audiobook but it was not really that enjoyable. Took a long time for justice to be done to the evil doers (or if it did happen) and the action at times stretched ...

tagged: genre-scifi-fantasy, fiction, genre-thriller, audible, and audio-fi...

The Innocent

by David Baldacci

This was the second time I read this and it is still a good complex read. Sure, as far fetched as most of this genre but quite moving in parts and thought provoking. One of my few four star reads. Enjoy Robie.

tagged: mobi-drm, genre-thriller, kindle, fiction, and onzimplybooks

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