Hannah Morgan-Lewis

I liked this, it was a nice easy read I finished in a few days. It's not laugh-out-loud, more the kind of book you smile wryly at, feeling quite smug that you are (hopefully) not like any of the characters in it.

I admired this book more than I liked it. It started off really promisingly but seemed to descend into a lot of references to a period of American culture I didn't quite ‘get' and I found some of the road stuff quite obscure and difficult to read at times. It didn't help that I was completely confused about the motivation and character of the protagonist.

Nevertheless, I can see how DeLillo influenced American fiction, there were some great quotes which still prove as relevant today as when the book was first published and whilst I can't completely appreciate this book at the moment I do want to try to read more of his work.

I first read this when I was a teenager and loved it, it made me want to become an English lit lecturer and marry a farmer. I haven't read it for years (and I never took up lecturing or marrying farmers) but it popped up when I was looking for a little comfort reading. Okay, so it can be a bit too cosy and twee at times, however, it still made me smile and I think it's aged well considering it was written in the mid 90s. No comment about its feminist credentials, it's chick lit, so I'll take it as that.

Really not sure what to make of this book, I found it gripping and read it within a couple of days but at the same time found it quite disturbing at times and felt that maybe I was missing a few things I should have picked up on. An interesting portrayal of a woman, however.

Less irritating than the first book due to less use of reported speech, so an extra star for that. Rosnia got short shrift as a character, I think maybe Fay dislikes writing about her? Her romance is completely sketched over. The portrayal of parties with the Royal family (Isobel advising the Queen about what crown to have) and a subplot about clairvoyancy were a bit well...ridiculous, but entertaining. I found Mrs. Baum the Zionist scientist far more interesting. Don't read if you want realistic anachronism free historical fiction.

Generally a pleasant, easy read but I found the over reliance on reported speech a bit offputting and found that I couldn't care less for the characters. A bit dissapointing, but I've got the next book out of the library and will give it a go.

Took a while to get going but overall I enjoyed it. Once the plot got going, it improved and I will probably read the rest of the books in the series at some point, although I'm not that much in a hurry. Interesting to compare it to the series, I think that the book may have been let down by centring the evil on Lynne who tended to come across as a bit, well, generic bad guy who has no real redeeming features, and her husband barely gets a mention. Malcolm, on the other hand is a bit ‘meh', okay, he becomes slightly more rounded once you realise that he's not all good, but he still doesn't overflow with character. The others are a bit more interesting, particularly the paranormal characters. The extract from the next book looked promising though.

Just as entertaining and informative as the first one. Hope the authors are planning more.

I thought the writing style and the use of Austen's characters was fine, but it never really gripped me and the pace was patchy at times. Although Darcy looks into the crime, I'm not sure that he could really be called a detective as such, considering the way that the book turns out. There are great chunks of novel devoted to the legal system of the time, which although interesting did slow the plot down somewhat.

The writing is beautiful, but I had trouble getting into it. I think if I read it another time it would've made more sense, I just don't have the concentration at the moment.

I loved A Discovery of Witches but had to drag myself through a lot of this one. The middle bit was particularly dull with the wedding and her integrating herself into Elizabethan society, and that took me ages to get through. I originally liked the book because I found it different and quite intelligent, but this one reminded me a bit too much of middle-aged Twilight. It has the aspects that I particularly disliked like the sudden amazing ability to become pregnant and the obsession with no sex before marriage. Thankfully, Diana hasn't become quite as irritating as Bella (yet). I don't really have a problem with people playing around with vampires, but I think there should be some sort of downside to it, not that everything is wonderful and the couple are just so amazing they defy the very laws of nature so that the author can make life absolutely perfect for them in time. I didn't like the bit where he took her blood to ‘discover all her secrets' either, that was a bit creepy and controlling.
Anyway, hopefully the final book will be better and it'll get back to the manuscripts and less about the romance and their dull family life.

I have only just started, and despite really enjoying Hartley's lyrical prose I'm finding that the heavy-handed editing (in the 2003 Penguin edition)is getting on my nerves. I'm one of those people foolish enough to read the introduction before I start and to at least try to read the notes, but Brooks-Davies has committed the cardinal sin of thoroughly spoiler-ing the book in the introduction then adding insult to injury by over end noting (at least five notes per page)with further spoilers and over-analysis. Save it for the study edition, Douglas, I just want to read and analyse the book myself and discover its mysteries in peace.

Update: the notes weren't too bad. At least it explained all the French conversation, although it was like having an over-eager guide alongside. Having read the NYRB Classics introduction by Colm Toibin (the introduction and some reading notes are available here: NYRB Classics site) I'd probably recommend that edition.

Review: Beautiful book, Hartley really captured the young narrator in his innocence and misunderstanding the world the ‘grown-ups' inhabited, also the period before the Great War. Love the way that Ted and Marian's actions are left to our interpretation and all the little things that the narrator brings in such as the references to the zodiac, the use of Belladonna as a symbolic device and how Leo believes as a young boy that he can perform magic. Wish I hadn't read the introduction through, as I think it would've been one of those books that the less you know about it in advance, the better. Shocking ending though, even though I knew what was going to happen, I didn't expect it to end that abruptly.

I enjoyed it better than the previous book in the series, Instruments of Darkness as I felt that the characters were much more well-rounded, the plot was better and it was written with more confidence. This was an enjoyable murder mystery with an interesting premise, it seemed well researched and the dual narrative seemed to work well, particularly with the new characters. I liked how she integrated the old characters and how she described things from the murderer's point of view towards the end.

A short read but entertaining with some interesting facts about the TV series, the way that it was adapted and about Conan Doyle. Don't think I am that much of a geek about it to go out and pay full price for it, but it made a good library book!

I love this book so much I want to study it and re-read it to pick up on all the nuances I've missed. One of those great books that is both literary and readable. It has great descriptions of the jungle, a good plot with the element of the unexpected and well-written characters who develop throughout the story.

Wonderfully silly! I haven't heard the radio shows (although I did enjoy ‘Bleak Old Shop of Stuff') but still really enjoyed this.

Not sure if I am being a bit harsh, think I'd give it more of a 2.5. It was okay but I don't think it will be staying with me for that long and I found it quite hard to concentrate on, kept having to read over parts I'd already read. Depiction of the heroine and the first person narration was alright, but she wasn't that appealing. In fact, none of the characters were that appealing or memorable. I thought the ending was a bit strange, particularly the sudden romance. And I have to say, considering the book was written by a historian it didn't really read as completely authentic. I'm not calling myself an expert, I've just read quite a lot of books either set in the period or written in the period. Just little details like somebody talking about the Scarlet Pimpernel (fictional character from a series of books which were published in 1905 appearing in a 19th century novel?), or having a bath with taps in a brothel in 1820? It sort of reminded me of a 99p Kindle novel.

Enjoyable historical novel, it seemed well researched and well written. The characters were engaging, particularly the women, although I thought that Francesca was a bit wet at times.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it captured the atmosphere of the period nicely, I especially liked the author's technique of including extra snippets of historical detail and details relating to the story such as newspaper articles, journal entries and facts. Moth and Sadie were appealing characters. The one criticism I would have is that the plot sometimes seemed to meander a little, particularly around the middle and in the second half. Nevertheless, I'm sure I'll looked for the planned sequel. It reminded me a little of the Observations by Jane Harris, particularly the first part.

Glad to have finally finished. It was okaaay, but I found the characters rather irritating.

Okay, so it was clever. Quite readable (though I could definitely put it down frequently). But at the same time somehow quite annoying. As another reviewer commented, it's like Ben Elton without the jokes, and with an extra helping of smug on the top. I got bored of the rants about modern life - how people are disconnected from real life, how the education system is failing and the endless stuff about hedge funds and banking. Also, I couldn't find it in myself to like or care about the characters, I felt like they were more generalisations than anything. Perhaps this is what Faulks wanted, yet another comment on how self-centered and stereotypical we've all become. Add the re-occurring ‘mysterious' bicyclist and it adds up to quite a disappointing book.

What can I say about such a mind-blowing book? I could barely decide how many stars I would give it since it divided my opinion so. No wonder it's so controversial. There were a few chapters I absolutely hated (Scylla and Charbidis anyone?) and I thought I would end up disliking Joyce too for inflicting some of it and being such an arrogant know everything at times. Yet I find myself admiring him a great deal and wanting to re-read the book at some point if only to try and make some more sense of it. The technique astonishes, but I can't give it a glowing review because frankly I didn't like it that much. It grated in parts. Maybe that's why it's so revered though, and why I wanted to read it again, because it challenges in a way that very few other books manage.

I'd like to read it with some proper guides handy so that I don't have to keep flipping to the end notes. Nevertheless, I've found some good guides online.

Anyway, it got three stars in the end. I won't be going around boasting I've read it or attending the next Bloom's day, but I am glad to have read it and to have finished it, as I think if I'd given up half-way through I wouldn't have ever read it or finished it in the future. Glad to have read it in the version I did as well, the free ebook was apparently broken! Also, it had been edited. I know the text I read was full of a lot of mistakes (it was the 1922 version), but I'd rather that than something that has been edited in too heavy-handed a way.

Think I was one of the few people who started this book having somehow missed that it was based on Oedipus Rex (what can I say, I'm not quite with it at the moment), so it was a bit of a surprise when I got to the patricide and finally twigged. So the central premise of the book was somebody else's plot that we already know, but that didn't detract from the characters, particularly Diane, who was wonderfully flawed. I think I got the sense that we knew more about her than about Ed, somehow there was a sense (deliberate I think) of never quite knowing Ed. Although the three main characters were somewhat unpleasant, they were never completely dis-likable.
Having read some other reviews, I've seen that some people found Guterson inserting himself into the book in the form of a pilot who is obsessed with anagrams to be an irritatingly affected literary device. I can't say I found it more annoying than Coupland appearing in JPod, and I quite liked Guido the annoying pilot.
It gets three stars instead of four because, whilst I found it well-written and diverting, I don't think it will stay with me for very long, nor do I think I would want to re-read it in the future. I may, however, have a look at some of the author's other books.

Honestly, I don't think I'm actually going to finish this. It's not a bad book, I think my father (a devotee of Kipling & the Flashman series) would've loved it. It just wasn't really gripping me at the moment.

Really interesting and well-told history of the Fitzwilliam family and the village of Wentworth. Not just illuminating about the house and the family, the book also goes into detail in particular about the lives of the miners who supported the family's wealth and status.