Good morning, fellow book lovers!
Last week, I noticed a lot of talk in the book blogosphere about the need for a new, more creative kind of blogging about books (see Andi's post at Estella’s Revenge and Shannon's at River City Reading, and the great comments to both of those posts . . . so many good thoughts, and really interesting reading!). Well, I don't know if I have any particularly creative ideas for content--I am still getting my feet wet as a book blogger--but I'd like to do my part at helping to generate discussion. With that goal in mind, I thought I’d periodically throw out a discussion topic for book lovers. Here's my first effort at that: my post on When You Don't Like a Book That Many People Love.
Last week on the blog, I posted reviews of these two books:
My review of Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist is here. I had high expectations for this debut novel, and although there were elements that I truly appreciated, I felt the novel failed to fully live up to is promise. I had a much better reaction to Ian McEwan's latest novel, The Children Act, which I found to be thought-provoking and sharply written. My review is here. I was having a bit of a McEwan moment last week, so after I finished The Children Act, I read his 2007 novel On Chesil Beach--I loved it!
Here is what I am reading now:
Garth Stein's latest, A Sudden Light, will be published at the end of the month. I'll be honest, I'm having a tough time with this one so far . . . maybe that will change as I read more.
This post links to the "It's Monday" meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. What's on your reading agenda for this week?
I just finished A Sudden Light. I would agree that it is a bit of a struggle to read. It gets better at the end, I will say.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope so! It hasn't been exactly what I expected . . .
DeleteThe Children Act sounds good and perhaps I would enjoy it. I read Garth Stein's previous book Racing in the Rain, and enjoyed that one as a dog-lover. I look forward to more discussions on your blog. Enjoy the week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by . . . I hope I can think of more discussion topics! Yikes, it's great to call for more discussion . . but then we have to think of what that's going to be, right?
DeleteI've read two McEwan novels and I liked both of them. Glad to know you liked his latest. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm on a McEwan kick at the moment, that's for sure! With all this talk of novels that are too long and meandering, it's awfully refreshing to read a sharply written, tightly focused book! McEwan knows how to edit himself. :)
DeleteI think The Miniaturist has been a disappointment to many folks. My son wasn't impressed with it. I haven't read it yet, and may not. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Children Act sounds good...I have never read anything by this author. Looks like I need to check him out.
I so want to read Garth Stein's book. I loved Racing In The Rain.
ENJOY your reading week...hope it is as good as this past week for you.
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. I am going to have to check out the creative posts you are referring to.
I like your title about When You Don't Like A Book That Most People Do. That will be interesting. THANKS.
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My It's Monday, What Are You Reading
Oh, that's interesting your son didn't like The Miniaturist. I think the idea of the novel--and then the cover!--just seemed so promising! Maybe it's a case of expectations being too high. But how do we manage our expectations about a new book, when it sounds so so good?!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by! Have a great week!
All the sudden I have been seeing Children Act everywhere. I need t go check it out and see what its all about
ReplyDeleteHere's My Monday post!
Yes, McEwan's latest is a good one, and one of the big fall releases in the lit fiction world, anyway. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteBook blogging is a strange thing, isn't it? The point of it is to review books but only reviewing books gets tedious quickly!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post about books you didn't like that other readers love. Great stuff!
Ha, right! And I keep reading bloggers say that they feel like no one reads their reviews. I DO read a lot of reviews, and I try to comment on them . . . but maybe the problem is that a review is not always the best way to encourage discussion. Then again--that isn't necessarily the point of a review, which is more informative (at least that's how I look at them). So, if we want more discussion in the blogging community, then perhaps we need people to post more open questions or issues to discuss ! And I really hope other folks (who are no doubt far more creative and technically-inclined than I am) will have other ideas . . .
DeleteI just read a book that talks about The Children Act (the law), so I'm really interested to read Ian McEwan's book.
ReplyDeleteFab name, BTW. Our parents had great taste :-)
Hi Leila! I don't run into many others with the same name!
DeleteYeah, you would probably really enjoy McEwan's novel if you were reading about the law--definitely check it out.
I must check out these bloggers thoughts on book blogging. I'm in quite a bit of a rut myself. Eek!
ReplyDeleteThis seemed to be a hot topic recently . . . I can really understand the desire to do something different with content. But what? I hope to see the issue discussed more by those who have more creative impulses (and technical skills) than I do . . . . and then I will just try to keep up!
DeleteI won an ARC of The Miniaturist but lent it to my mom - will have to see what she thought! And I have never read a McEwan novel, can you believe it?? I really need to remedy that - maybe I'll start with this latest one. I've been hearing good things about it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your books this week - and thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday!
Sue
Book by Book is now on Facebook!
Yes, do try The Children Act, since it's getting so much buzz! But I think I liked On Chesil Beach even more. :)
DeleteAll of these look lovely.
ReplyDelete