What is the last book you read, and your rating?

smellymonkey · Post by **smellymonkey** » 06 Sep 2010, 10:09

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory 4/5 It's an easy read and really enjoyable would defiantly recommend it.

Runslikesnail · Post by **Runslikesnail** » 06 Sep 2010, 10:33

Just finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and highly recommend it. It's not my usual genre and I had fairly low expectations - but I found it very entertaining and compelling and am looking forward to the next two in the series.

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 06 Sep 2010, 11:11

Runslikesnail wrote:Just finished "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and highly recommend it. It's not my usual genre and I had fairly low expectations - but I found it very entertaining and compelling and am looking forward to the next two in the series.

Thats exactly how i found that book, too, i only read it to see what all the hype was about and ended up loving it, and very quickly read the 2 sequels.

Carla Hurst · Post by **Carla Hurst** » 06 Sep 2010, 19:41

Just finished Eat...Pray...Love. Despite all the hype and I haven't seen the film yet...it was an entirely satisfying read. I give it 5/5

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 11 Sep 2010, 15:14

I just finished reading "The House of Lost Souls" by author F.G Cottan and i rate it 6.5 out of 10. The title is slightly misleading as the infamous Fisher House doesnt get explored until about two thirds of the way into the book which left me a bit disappointed as i expect a book about a haunted house to feature the house more than 3 times, however as it turns out the book is about summoning a deal with the Devil and just happens to be set in the Fisher House.

Cottam builds and develops his main characters both past and present skillfully and you really do care about Paul Seaton and his quest to get justice for a young boy but at times i was willing the story along to just get to the house that was mentioned so much, having said that when he DOES get to explore the house on his own, what follows scared the living life out of me so much that i couldnt read on until the morning

Its just a shame he takes so long getting there. The book does have great descriptions of London life and culture in the 80s though.

tigeropig · Post by **tigeropig** » 11 Sep 2010, 15:51

I just finished reading "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins. It is the final book in The Hunger Games triology. I give it a 5/5 I recomend the series to all of you!!

Perrywinkle47 · Post by **Perrywinkle47** » 17 Sep 2010, 04:03

The Kite runner 5/5

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 17 Sep 2010, 09:45

'Room' by Emma Donoghue .... get a 9/10

Superb & rewarding read.

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 19 Sep 2010, 17:26

Ok, so after much debate about where to get the book, the lack of publicity surrounding the book and the bizarre episode where i found out that the author of the thread on this book was posting under several pseudonyms and even having several conversations with him/herself about where to get this so called excellent book and the so called demand for it, i finally finished Encounter at North Road House today and here is my verdict:

First signs were very ominous, the book had no recommendation quotes to back it up and goes straight into the story with no word about the author at all! Ok so alarm bells started ringing and they got even louder when i saw that the author is a huge fan of the exclamation mark, he must have broken the Shift and 1 keys in his laptop, as almost every scream, surprise, anger and happy emotion in the book was followed by a string of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!s.

This is the first problem, the second is the author makes no attempt whatsoever to paint an image of what exactly is haunting the North Road House, a house which i would not even allow myself to look at, it is that haunted. He keeps all descriptions of the inhabitants to the extremely vague "ghostly figure" or "scaly creature", this could mean a million things to a million people. He repeats these phrases so often in the book that you realise he is never going to elaborate beyond this (as well as the oft-repeated "ghostly, disturbing screams") and its up to the reader to form an image in is or her head as to what these phantoms look like.

Now here is the strange thing....i really enjoyed this book. Once i accepted that the book is a comic horror, in that the author does not go down the route of slow, gradual suspense and an impending sense of doom with creeping psychological suggestion, instead preferring to strap the reader tightly into a rollercoaster of horror and monsters right from page one, i had a lot of fun and really embraced the books' style, which quite skilfully jumps from one character to the next seamlessly.

The book is basically about the hunt for an extremely violent psycho masked killer (the blood flows freely here!) who kills anyone and everyone around him until he stumbles onto the infamous house and a battle of wills ensues! To be fair, the final battle doesnt happen until almost the last few pages and theres a part in the middle of the book which irritated me and went on far too long, involving 4 students who fall prey to the evils of the house several times over until frustration sets in and we head back to the main story of the killer vs the house.

What haunts the house is only suggested but whatever it is, its easily the most haunted house i have ever read about in my life, literally every inch is haunted with flaming men, scaly creatures and ghostly figures filling the page with screams and brimstone! Credit to the author, this book is non stop action and even managed to get me on a few occasions to laugh, scream and jaw drop with surprise as the house slowly 'awoke' and terrified the innocent family sleeping within its walls (witness the first few pages of the book, which throws the reader straight into the plight of a young boy who is desparately trying to escape from North Road House whilst a storm rages outside, it really is one of the best openings to a book i have ever read).

So to summarise, this book is basically what R L Stine would like to have written for a more mature audience. The violence is shocking and the house will stay on in your mind long after the last page. I can honestly say that i was very surprised that i really enjoyed this book at all but despite its faults, its fantastic fun and i have to rate it 8 out of 10. Recommended. Plus its short and sweet

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 20 Sep 2010, 05:02

StephenKingman ... brilliant review.

Perrywinkle47 · Post by **Perrywinkle47** » 20 Sep 2010, 11:32

Great review!

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 20 Sep 2010, 11:37

Thanks, Fran and Perrywinkle, this book was different to my usual horror as i had read so much about it on the other thread then had to order it direct from the publisher so it deserved a bigger review than my usual Stephen King books.

Perrywinkle47 · Post by **Perrywinkle47** » 26 Sep 2010, 06:15

A Thousand splendid suns.. 5/5..

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 26 Sep 2010, 11:59

Ransom by David Malouf ..... A re interpretation of the encounter between Achilles and Hector before the walls of Troy.
Enjoyed it .. 7/10

StephenKingman · Post by **StephenKingman** » 23 Oct 2010, 11:15

Just finished The Agony and the Ecstasy by reported Damien Tiernan, its about the struggles of the Waterford hurling team in their quest to lift the All Ireland cuo-very interesting and includes interviews with all 3 managers past and present, certainly i learned a lot more about the players than i had known before and now see some of them in a different light, i rate the book 7.5 out of 10.