It’s a long time since I bought paper copies of fiction books; it was more convenient to buy kindle editions and read them on the iPad. But my recent reversion to writing on paper with a fountain pen brought to mind the delight of turning real, physical pages.
Second edition of a “contemporary romance”
First a blogging writer I now regard as a distant friend launched the second edition of her “contemporary romance”, Equinox. This genre of novel is not my cup of tea (though it did appeal to my ‘feminist‘ side) but as she said that she’d made some changes (I read the first as a kindle edition) I wanted to read it to see what those changes were so I bought it on paper. I haven‘t had time to read this second edition yet; I don’t feel I can ‘review’ it as it’s not my kind of book.
From the cover notes: ‘But everything changes when they lay eyes on each other and their attraction takes them by storm. Soon, they find themselves in uncharted territory, their comfort and idea of selves threatened by needing what they’ve never wanted.’
Even if this genre of novel is not your cup of tea either I can recommend Kristina’s short short stories, published fairly regularly on her blog.
The Girl on the Train – ‘top notch’ thriller?
The second book recently added to my bookshelf is a novel I’ve wanted to read for some time: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I bought it for £1 in a charity shop. Said to be a ‘top notch thriller’, it should have been very much my cup of tea.
However, as the plot is interesting it should have been intriguing but I just found it confusing. I didn’t like the way the story is structured; I didn’t like the writing; there is very little about the characters so you never feel you are beginning to know them so try to work out what will happen next – surely one of the appeals of a ‘thriller’; it is for me.
It is highly recommended by Stephen King but that probably puts a nail in the coffin for me – I cannot stand his books, even being bored by each one I’ve tried to read so didn’t manage many pages.
April 14, 2019 at 8:40 am
Haven’t read the book, but saw the film of ‘Girl on the Train’. One that was kind of watchable, edgy and odd. But did it leave a lasting impression? Not really. I’ve already forgotten the content and overall story. And romantic novels? Never ever read that type of book, so have no insight to them at all. Look forward to your future reviews.
April 14, 2019 at 10:59 am
I didn’t say it in the post but I did think it should make a good film with the right director and lead actor. I guess it got neither from what you say. I had the same feeling about another ‘girl’ story – Gone Girl – but again I was disappointed in the book.
However, that did make me change the title of one of my short stories to ‘The Girl in Block 18’ (in the short story menu); I think I did a post about this at the time but cannot be sure.
I’m not sure how often I’ll be doing reviews of modern fiction; I rarely read it. I think the previous one was ‘The English Patient’, which impressed me greatly – superb book.
April 14, 2019 at 6:26 pm
Girl on a Train is worth a viewing though. Gone Girl. Very good film resulted. The same with The English Patient. I loved that movie. Heartbreaking. Also, I loved the Herodotus book in the film with personal letters, etc inherent. I’ve always considered doing the same and turning an all time favourite novel into a journal involving my life’s journeys, scribblings and memories. Oh! And Gone Girl reminds me of the current Johnny Depp and Amber Heard situation.
April 15, 2019 at 6:44 am
I must look up “the current Johnny Depp and Amber Heard situation”, about which I know nothing. ‘The English Patient’ film was one of those rare occasions where I saw the film first; I saw it Romania and persuaded my students to go to see it to hear some English spoken correctly rather than the limited vocabulary American they were used to in films. I loved the film but read the book much later, 3/4 years ago (?) on the recommendation of a friend; it’s now on my ‘bookshelf’ and about time I read it again.