Booktalk Online Reviews
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Selected Poems - Simon Armitage
Reviewed = May 07 Book Type = Poetry
Comments = I've been carrying this book everywhere with me - great to read on the bus and gaze out of the window and think about life! His poems make me think a lot about words and images, life and relationships. He leaves a lot of things unsaid and it is up to the reader to work them out. The book was thought provoking.
LB, Sheffield
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The Darkness That Comes Before: Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing - Bakker R Scott
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = February 2007 Book Type = Fiction
Comments = The face of Epic fantasy is changing. This is a book of outstanding prose and each page is a lesson in philosophy. Initially complex this book soons hooks the reader with a riveting story, deep characters and a massive world.
Mapp & Lucia - E F Benson
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed =15 August 06 Book type = Fiction
Comments = A marvellously wicked, witty account of society in the village of Tilling and the meeting of Lucia and Elizabeth Mapp. Although it was published in the 1930's it shows a remarkably modern style of narrative and exquisitely drawn characters: quaint Irene, the bohemian artist, the Padre who speaks with a scottish accent but comes from Birmingham, Major Benjy, and Lucia's consort Georgie Pillson. Must read books!!!!
C King
Boy In the striped pyjamas - John Boyne
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = 25 August 06 Book type = Fiction
Comments = Really interesting book. One you can't put down. Great twist at the
end and very thought provoking. Must read!
C South, Sheffield
Shakespeare- Bill Bryson
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed= August 08 Book type = Biography
As always Bill Bryson is easy to read, funny and entertaining, but in
this book he is also quite thorough and up-to-date in his summary of Shakespearean scholarship.
Compulsive reading -could not put it down
Bryson is particularly dismissive of the anti-Stratford lobby - all those people with various reasons for suggesting that Shakespeare did not write the plays attributed to him.
06/11/2008 15:27:34
Switzerland on All Fours = Clark, LLoyd Book Typr = Biography
Book Rating= Excellent Reviewed= November 2008
Favourite character? Harry; the one-eyed Smooth Fox Terrier
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What a charming and intelligent hound he is. Despite sore feet, snow, frozen fur and eventually blistering heat, this little dog escorted his human over the 250 mile Swiss Alpine Pass Route then had the intelligence to write an account of his "tail"!
Interesting meetings and frightening incidents (for couch potatoes like me at least!) make every day of the crossing unique and Harry constantly recalls events that have occured throughout his short 12 year life. After leaving Sargans on the Swiss/Liechtenstein border Harry enjoyed a walk of 250 miles, 58,000ft of ascent, snow, wind, rain, blazing sun and four sore feet before he reached the sun drenched shores of Lake Geneva.
One can't help but think that Harry is simply a canine version of Sir Rannulph Fiennes or maybe Sir Ran is actually a human form of Harry?
The book is suitable for all ages and would make an excellent pre-trip read for anyone wishing to visit Switzerland. I couln't put it down and would certainly recommend it to anyone.
Enjoy! I'm sure you'll love it so much that you'll want to buy the dog!
This would make a great film because it reminded me of a combination of Hannibal Brookes and Shrek!
Chronicles - Vol 1 - Bob Dylan
Book Rating = Good Reviewed = May 2006 Book Type = Non fiction
Comments = This is a pretty fast whirlwind tour of the parts of Dylan's life that he wants to let people in on. It is like listening to Subterranean Homesick Blues for the very first time - you've got to pick up the meaning quickly, and you keep wanting to revisit it. The pace is fast and direct, but you don't expect any celebrity revelations. Dylan is still a private man and this is just a glimpse into his world.
LB, Sheffield
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Killshot - Leonard Elmore
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed September 2006 Book Type = Crime
Comments = Elmore writes using simple ideas expressed in easy to read sentences. Elmore thereby achieves great suspense and drama.
Anon, Sheffield
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Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = August 2006 Book type = Fiction
Comments = An excellent read. Set initially early 20th century, and mainly
during WW1, it tells of the horror and deprivation of the war, but is
also a love story. I would recommend this book to men and women of all
ages.
ML, Sheffield
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Reviewed = May 2007 Book Type = General fiction
Comments = Although friends had recommended this book, it seemed a bit of a daunting read at over 500 pages and it was essentially about the first World War, not a subject I would normally chose, however, I found it to be compulsive reading. No other novel describes with such clarity the lives of men in the trenches. The author writes with real passion and insight. This novel made me feel so cross at the stupidity of war. Everyone should read this to understand the true horror of war.
DK, Sheffield
Keeping the World Away - Margaret Forster
Book Rating = Good Reviewed = 2006 Book type = Fiction
Comments = I was looking forward to this book as she it is based around the life of Gwen John, the painter. The story starts with Gwen's life and how she persuaded her father to allow her to go to the Slade Art School with her brother Augustus. The main theme of the story is a little painting "The corner of the artists's room in Paris" (this is in the Graves Art Gallery). The story then follows the painting as it becomes lost and found by various people through time up to the present day when an art student is looking at it in the gallery. I found each section too brief and would have preferred to have fewer characters in the plot and more development of them.
RW, Sheffield
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The Seal Wife - Kathryn Harrison
Book Rating = Good Reviewed = 12 September 2006 Book type = Fiction
Comments = Story of a scientist stationed in a tiny frontier town in Alaska in 1915. He builds a weather observatory and flies a kit to help him in his studies. During this time he becomes obsessed and forms a bizzare relationship with a native Aleut woman, even though both their language and culture are vastly different. The book offers a fresh perspective on relationships and a great insight into a culture and setting vastly different to our own.
AF, Crystal Peaks
The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = November 2006 Book Type = Fiction
A joy to read. Beautifully descriptive writing style and observational narative. I can't praise enough how well written. Nicholas Guest the main character is a young Oxford Post Graduate now a Don writing his thesis on Henry James. It is a story of 80's Britain and Maggie Thatcher's Conservatism. A world of the aristocracy, the rich and those who intend to be, members of the government and the powerful, the good life and the threat of AIDS. It is the story of the lives Nick inhabits, his sexual discovery and search. He goes to live in a lovely house in Kensington to keep an eye on a misfunctional daughter, the rest of the family are away at their manoir. Hollinghurst writes wonderful asides. Rachel the aristocratic mother talking of their piano "I know Liszt enjoyed playing it". Nicks described easy good nature and sensitivity and his love of beauty (a line of ...-Hogarth) "a glimpse through a series of rooms curtained against the steep sunlight but stabbed across by it here and there". Nicks love for Wani and the final denouement with those who's lives he had been so much a part of make a 'delicious' read.
VW, Sheffield
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Painting Mona Lisa - Jeanne Kalogridis
Book Rating = Good Reviewed = 9 August 2006 Book type = Historical
Comments = A fascinating read, delving into who Mona Lisa was and her
relationship with Leonardo da Vinci. This is just one interpretation of the story and is a 'cannot put down' read.
C Philpotts, Sheffield
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Comments = This is a historical detective novel. The search for a missing person and Dracula. It is very well written, has indepth research and believable characterisation. A good plot, so one wants to reach the final page, and then re-read it again.
D Hawkes, Sheffield
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To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Book Rating = Highly recommended Reviewed = May 2007 Book Type = General Fiction
Comments = Compulsive, a brilliant page turner. Well written and thought provoking highlighting attitudes to race and class in the USA as seen from a child's point of view. On a personal level it made us ashamed of prejudices and racial hatred not just in USA but today as well in the UK.
Woodhouse Reading Group
Killshot - Elmore Leonard
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = September 2006 Book Type = Crime
Elmore writes using very simple ideas expressed in easy to read sentences. He thereby achieves great suspence and drama.
TK, Sheffield
The Coffee Trader - David Liss
Reviewed = June 2006
Comments = I found this book very slow going until the last few chapters. Lots of information about the stock exchange and the Futures market. I don't think I would bother with this book.
Anon, Sheffield
The Coffee Trader - David Liss
Reviewed = June 2006
Comments = I found the trading aspects of this book very confusing, and would have liked some explanation. I thought the characters were two dimensional and not always believable. The ending of the book was good, at least it all worked out and was not rushed as sometimes happens.
Anon, Sheffield
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Confessions of a Philosopher - Bryan Magee
Book Rating = Good Reviewed = August 2006 Book type = Biography
Comments = I found it a good reintroduction to some Western philosophers, in
particular Kant and Schopenhauer. It records a personal quest by a former Cockney who became a well-known television presenter and a friend of Karl Popper. It makes philosophy about as readable as it probably can be! Adult Education in Sheffield seems to have dropped philosophy at present, so this book helps to fill a gap.
DS, Sheffield
The Silver Thaw - Thomas Saint McReynolds
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = April 07 Book Type = Fiction
Comments = This book is an extraordinary commentary on contemporary society, one of the best of it's kind that I've read in a long time. The story is compelling and there is an almost poetic flow to the prose that takes you along with the story effortlessly. Highly recommended.
S, Sheffield
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
Reviewed = 9 May 2007 Book Type = General Fiction
Why did you choose the book = Recommended by family/friends/colleagues
Comments = The book got off to a slow start. It made me giggle a bit and I felt some of the turns of phrase were very astute re the way children talk. I did enjoy the book, but it took me a while to get into it. I would recommend it as it is the title chosen for the attempt to get into the Guiness Book of Records - Biggest Community Read.
AJ, Sheffield
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Map of Bones - James Rollins
Reviewed = 8 May 2007 Book Type = Adventure
Why did you choose the book = Read a review/article
Comments = I found this book compulsive, and couldn't put it down. I would definitely recommend it, and would love it to be made into a film
KW, Sheffield
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Redemption - Wayne Sharrocks
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = 25 July 2006 Book type = Fiction
Comments = This is a truly wonderful and engaging psychological thriller. It is an excellent read that combines dark prose, a quick wit and flawless storytelling to take you on an emotional journey. I found it to be an intelligent and lucid thriller that kept me
turning the pages. The author writes with such emotion that he lures you seductively into his world and you are soon experiencing a full range of emotions as it's sad, funny, loving, hateful...and has a superb sting in the tail. The characters and points raised in the thriller remain in the memory long after the story has ended, so if you like thought provoking thrillers then you could do a lot worse than to check out this literary gem.
S.K, Sheffield
Redemption - Wayne Sharrocks
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = 25 January 2007 Book type = Fiction
Comments = A very impressive dark thriller. You are submerged into the author's world and led through a very taut and thought-provoking journey. The author offers a sharp observational wit and flawless storytelling.
TJ, Sheffield
Redemption - Wayne Sharrocks
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = February 2007 Book Type = Fiction
Comments = This psychological thriller paints a vivid portrait of a tormented young man surviving on the seedy street of London. By turns painful, moving and wickedly funny.
Anon, Sheffield
The Light of Day - Graham Swift
Book Rating = Excellent Reviewed = May 2006 Book Type = Fiction
Comments = This had me hooked from page 1. It is a love story, but crafted like a detective story, told in flashbacks with hints, clues, intriguing and tantalising statements that slowly reveal the complexities of the narrator's personal history, relationships and events that are the focus of the story.
JM, Sheffield
Please note that the inclusion of any review on this page does not mean that they are the views of Sheffield Libraries, Archives and Information or Sheffield City Council.
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