Book Club

[sunala]

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@Alter Ego wrote:

@sunala Have you read any of the sequels to “The Shadow of the Wind”?

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hi @Alter Ego - no, I never read the sequel(s). I loved The Shadow of the Wind so much, I didn't want to press my luck by reading any sequels. Did you read any of them, and if so, how were they? 

[sunala]

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@september wrote:

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@sunala wrote:

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@september wrote:

I’m reading “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  I’m only about 100 pages into it, but love it.  Will probably read another 100 pages tonight!

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hi @september - Shadow of the Wind is one of the best books I've ever read! Totally not my type of book but it came highly recommended by a friend whose opinion I admire, so I gave it a try. I'm so glad I did! Let us know how you liked it when you're done! 

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@sunala   I’m happy to hear you liked it. I wouldn’t have read it if it hadn’t been a book club choice.  

I read some books I don’t care for, by being in a book club, but every so often, there is one like this that makes me thankful someone chose it for me to “have to” read!

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@september - I understand. I'm glad you are happy with your book club. I discuss the books I read informally with my "reading friends." But I have to admit that I am forgetting books almost as soon as I read them because I read one after another with barely so much as a pause. Using my Kindle 100% of the time, I find it even harder to remember books, as I don't actually see the cover with the title. It's really easy to forget them. 

[Alter Ego]

@sunala No, I just finished reading “The Shadow of the Wind” and wondered myself about the sequels.  The original stands well enough alone. I assume the sequels are completely new stories.

[sunala]

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@abbalulu wrote:

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@Lilysmom wrote:

@sunala, that is exactly how I felt about The Reckoning.  I kept reading but I really sped through the section about his war time period.  I thought the ending was disappointing as well.  I keep hearing good things about The Rooster Bar so I will read that in due course.

i read 200 pages of The Stand.  It just seemed like the same thing over and over.  I have the longer version @ 1000 pages.  I PTB.  LM

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@LilysmomSo sorry that you couldn't finish The Stand. I must admit that I read it years ago right after it first came out and I think back then I had more patience for long, long books. I think now my attention span is much more divided between internet, a million TV channels, streaming etc. Have you ever seen the movie? I think there was a made for TV one made several years back. I still do love Stephen King books and look forward to the new ones. I like the basic conflict between good and evil that he often addresses. However as I am older I do find myself gravitating towards shorter books. I don't know if that's because of a smaller attention span or because there is not as much life left to me as there was years ago so I want to get in as many books as possible in the time that I have allotted to me. Sorry for getting philosophical. lol

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@abbalulu - I feel exactly the same way!! I no longer read sagas. Around 400 pages is my limit, give or take. I could never start reading The Stand or The Shining again. Back in the day, the longer the better when it came to Stephen King books. Now? I just don't have the patience or the time. I agree with your remark about wanting to read as many books as possible in the time you have allotted to yourself. I feel the same way. My TBR list is way over 1,000 books. If I never slept and just read, I still couldn't come close to reading all those books. And yet, I keep adding more titles every day. Reading about 70 books a year (my average), I'd have to live until about 200 to read them all! Happy reading to you!

[abbalulu]

@sunalaI so agree. I always tell people I will have to live to 300 to get in all the books on my list and I keep adding new ones to it weekly. I guess because I am an optimist and I think I have time to read many more.  I hope there are libraries in the afterlife. lol No one but another book lover could understand this problem. We are so fortunate to have this place to share our books and our thoughts. Thank you so much for keeping it going and starting the thread each month.

[goldluver]

The Pardon, James Grippando

The Winter People, Jennifer McMahon

[teganslaw]

Sometimes I'll read a long book depending on whether the subjuct interests me.  Last year was Swan Song (900 pages) by Robert McCammon.  The book held my interest from beginning to end, so it didn't seem that long.  

The last couple books were a bit emotional, so I'm going back to Terry Pratchett Discworld: Men at Arms, about Discworld's police force. I love Pratchett's sense of humor.  

I read Good Omens a while back, which was good, but I prefer his Discworld novels. 

[smoky22]

@sunala  and @Alter Ego

I did read the three books in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.  I read them so long ago I don't remember all the details.  I know I loved the first one, The Shadow of the Wind.  He created a unique kind of universe with that book.    The next book, The Angel's Game inhabits the same universe but with a different character. Some have called this a sort of prequel.  I know I didn't like this book as much as the first. 

The third book, The Prisoner of Heaven is about Daniel Sempere again, but more about his friend Fermin.  I remember that I liked this book better than the 2nd but not as much as the 1st.  Some reviewers thought this book was way too short and not complete.

Well, now there is a 4th book in this series, The Labyrinth of the Spirits.  I just checked and this book is 833 pages long.  That should make some die hard fans happy.  So all the books are loosely, or not so loosely, connected. 

My opinion is that The Shadow of the Wind could just stand alone as a great book and let it go at that.  I'm not sure I will be reading the 4th in the series, although I have it on waitlist and might read the beginning to see how it grabs me.    

[september]

@sunala   I’ve had the same experience, when reading books on my kindle.  Someone asks me what I’m reading....I describe the story, but can’t recall the title or author!   Seeing an actual book, and having the visual of the book cover, does help imbed that information into my memory. 

At at this time, I’m reading more actual books and only downloading books onto my kindle for travel purposes 

[icezeus]

@sunala

Thank you for making me feel so much better about my TBR lists. It's not at 1,000 but its a ridiculous amount of books for one person to try and read in the time that is left for me on this earth. LOL