Book Review :: The Group by Mary McCarthy

The Group by Mary McCarthy

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I took this book out of the library and thought I would really like it but made it to 100 pages and didn't really enjoy the read. I actually found the text slightly difficult to follow. I'm not sure whether it's the mix of 7 main characters or just the writing style. Maybe it's a book I have to return to at a different time in my life...



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Book Review :: Short Stories of F Scott Fitzgerald

The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read three short stories in the bath tonight. They came from this book but were actually in a small gift sized book which came with the weekend newspaper a while back.

I'm not really a fan of short stories. I don't like that you don't get to engage with the characters. But, these stories did work and were all very good. My favourite was possibly The Cut Glass Bowl.



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Books :: Reading - Update

Have added a couple of sections to my Books :: Reading page. I'm participating in a couple of challenges on Goodreads so thought it might be good to document them.

Book Review :: The Unfortunates by Laurie Graham

The Unfortunates by Laurie Graham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Laurie Graham as an author - have read many of her books and found them very funny and this was no exception. This is a light-hearted review of the last century but the references to 1920s - -1930s I particularly liked. What I particularly liked was the way the book was written in what I assume is authentic language of the day.

I've got a bit of a thing for the 1920s - 1930s at the moment so this book was perfect for me. It told the story of a woman and her family who were Jewish, living in NYC. She was born pre-war, bit of a rebel, parents sort of practicised Judaism but were a bit lax (but later some members were much more dedicated). They are a wealthy family and so she enjoys the trappings of this wealth, travelling to Paris, the UK, becoming an aviatrix. References are made to various historical events including the sinking of the Titanic and WW1 / WW2 and effect it had on home front in NYC. The story then continued into the 1950s / 1960s / 1970s documenting the ups and downs in the life of the main character.



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Read It :: Swap It

I don't mind second hand books - we have a very good Oxfam bookshop in our local town which I have bought books from on many an occassion. My eye was drawn to a website called Read It / Swap It which sort of works like a second hand bookshop expect the books are free. You tell a user you want one of their books and they look to see if there is anything they would like. If so the swap takes places. The books are free; the only cost is postage.

I've not joined yet but I do have a few books which I might be looking to clear from my shelves, so I might consider this as an option. 

Book Review :: Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first read of a book by Jennifer Weiner and I really enjoyed it - so much so I have another couple list on my Xmas list :-)

The story concerns three women - one mother and her two daughters. As the blurb says on the back of the book the girls father, a US Senator, is revealed to have had an affair with a much younger colleague. The mother / wife finds this out live on TV, as do the daughters. The eldest is a Doctor and going through her own unhappiness and seeks solace elsewhere. The younger daughter has her problems but she is recovering from them. All three women face some interesting choices and I enjoyed the twists and turns. I like the characters and felt sympathetic for them. There was one occassion where I did think "that could only happen in a book / film" but otherwise the story seemed plausible.

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