Bonnie (brenzi)'s Orange January

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Bonnie (brenzi)'s Orange January

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1brenzi
Redigerat: jan 17, 2012, 10:30 pm



Well I guess I'm late getting here but at least I have an Orange thread this time as I never got one going last July, even though I read several Orange books. I hope to start off with these books:

Sorry by Gail Jones - 2005 longlist
Old Filth by Jane Gardam - 2007 shortlist
White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 2000 shortlist
The Observations by Jane Harris - 2007 shortlist

Feeling very orangey:)

2lauralkeet
dec 19, 2011, 7:24 pm

I really liked Sorry, Bonnie. I think it was one of my top reads the year I read it.

3brenzi
dec 19, 2011, 8:11 pm

Yes Laura, I remember your review of it.

4mrstreme
dec 19, 2011, 8:29 pm

Seconding Sorry! A great book. Also loved The Observations- perfect for a snowy January day!

5LizzieD
dec 22, 2011, 10:48 pm

And I'll chip in to say that I read Old Filth recently and loved it! You obviously have very good choices at hand!

6brenzi
dec 26, 2011, 6:00 pm

Thanks Jill and Peggy. But really, if it's Orange, how can I go wrong? Hey here's a good question:

What's the worst Orange Book you've ever read? I'll have to check my list and see if I can find one haha.

7Nickelini
dec 26, 2011, 7:55 pm

What's the worst Orange Book you've ever read?

Can I answer? None of the books I've read have been terrible, but . . .

I couldn't read The Hiding Place because it was so boring, but it may have been the mood I was in and I will give it one more try.

I reviewed The Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers pretty high when I read it, but in retrospect the book sort of makes me cringe.

A bunch of the books I think of as fun-to-read but not really quality fiction (and I think all of the ones I'm thinking of were made into movies, so what does that say!)

I admire the art in Fugitive Pieces, but I really didn't like it.

And lastly, I found The Girls to be a huge disappointment.

8Her_Royal_Orangeness
dec 26, 2011, 8:43 pm

Maybe we should start a thread for Worst Orange since we have one for Favorite Orange. Just a thought.

9sally906
dec 27, 2011, 5:34 am

At the moment it is The White Woman on the Green Bicycle am finding it very hard to get into - struggling with the local dialect!!! Not sure how much longer I'll persevere with it.

10wookiebender
dec 27, 2011, 6:14 am

I didn't finish The Vintner's Luck, but most of my book group loved it.

I like your shortlist!

11lkernagh
dec 27, 2011, 12:20 pm

Making the rounds of everyone's threads in prep for Jan 1st and look forward to following your Orange reading. I haven't read any of the books on your shortlist but keep hearing great things about Old Filth.

12rainpebble
dec 29, 2011, 3:13 pm

I have you starred Bonnie and will be eagerly awaiting your reads and comments. Meet you back here in a few days!

13Soupdragon
dec 30, 2011, 9:37 am

Hi Bonnie! I'm intending to start Sorry in the next few days. I can highly recommend Old Filth, thought The Observations was flawed but enjoyable and gave up on White Teeth quite early on!

14brenzi
Redigerat: dec 30, 2011, 10:20 pm

Hi everyone. I'm still finishing up my last 2011 book but will start Old Filth or Sorry probably on Sunday. I so look forward to Jan. and July.

>7 Nickelini:
I couldn't read The Hiding Place because it was so boring, but it may have been the mood I was in and I will give it one more try.


I can go along with that one as I gave it only 2 stars but I read it a long time ago and don't really remember what it was about. It was before LT so I never reviewed it.

15brenzi
dec 31, 2011, 2:20 pm

I'm starting OJ today.

16mrstreme
dec 31, 2011, 2:31 pm

And you're starting with a fantastic book! Happy New Year!

17brenzi
dec 31, 2011, 3:04 pm

Well that's good news Jill.

18Soupdragon
jan 1, 2012, 5:30 am

Hi Bonnie, I've just started Sorry too! I've only read the first few pages but the writing's wonderful.

19lauralkeet
jan 1, 2012, 6:39 am

>15 brenzi:, 18: oh yeah, you'll both love it.

20KimB
jan 1, 2012, 6:54 am

Sorry is one of my few 5 star reads- enjoy :)

21brenzi
jan 1, 2012, 4:11 pm

Oh goody thanks for all the input. I've only read the first few pages and it's already gelling for me.

22buriedinprint
jan 3, 2012, 8:14 pm

I haven't read anything by Gail Jones yet, but obviously I'm in for a treat!

23vancouverdeb
jan 4, 2012, 5:52 am

I'm stopping by to say hi! I definitely had the most dreadful Orange Read....The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide. Maybe because my dad had recently died of cancer, the book just did not ring true to me, as he died at home. Oh I'm so much fun!;)

24L-Anne
jan 4, 2012, 7:49 am

Hi Bonnie! I haven't read Sorry, but from the comments here from others who have, it sounds like it will be a good one. Can't wait for your thoughts.

25brenzi
Redigerat: jan 4, 2012, 6:24 pm



Sorry by Gail Jones 2005 LL 4.5 stars

I am not going to review this beautiful, haunting and heartbreaking book. I suggest you refer to Dee's, Laura's or Jill's excellent reviews. There's nothing I can add. I would like to share some of the beautiful prose contained in this story of loss, love, sacrifice and loyalty that takes place in the years before and during WWII in Australia.

"There was a dignity in libraries; it was an houourable job. She admired the atmosphere of muffled restraint and the beige, dusty light. She admired the way book-stacks constructed a mini-city, the labyrinths of silent, orderly words. To see the spines aligned, each with its title, author and organising number, was a particular comfort. When she looked down on the head of a child, bent intently over a book, she wanted to kiss the nape of her neck. When she handed a volume to an old lady she felt, in her very bones, continuities here, the families of readership." (Page 221)

And this:

"After my father died, my mother became gradually more boldly explorative; she opened books that she had been forbidden to touch, sought out those marked specifically as his own. Because we were stranded together, and because I stuttered, we read. There is no refuge so private, no asylum more sane. There is no facility of voices captured elsewhere so entire and so marvelous. My tongue was lumpish and fixed, but in reading, silent reading, there was a release, a flight, a wheeling off into the blue spaces of exclamatory experience, diffuse and improbable, gloriously homeless. All that was solid melted into air, all that was air reshaped, and gained plausibility." (Page 43)

Lovely, isn't it? I can't recommend this book highly enough.

26brenzi
jan 4, 2012, 6:30 pm

I've moved on now to my second Orange, White Teeth by Zadie Smith from the 2000 LL. I may be the last person on earth to read this book.

27mrstreme
jan 4, 2012, 6:33 pm

So glad you enjoyed Sorry! I love the quotes you pulled from the book.

And, rest assured, you're not the last person to read White Teeth. I still haven't managed to read any Zadie Smith works - but will rectify soon! =)

28brenzi
jan 4, 2012, 6:42 pm

Thanks Jill. Actually, I read Smith's On Beauty ages ago and loved it so why I've waited to read this one is beyond me.

29BiblioEva
jan 4, 2012, 6:58 pm

I've got The Observations at the top of my list too! :D I read White Teeth for last Orange July and didn't enjoy it all of that much, but I loved her essay collection so I'll still give On Beauty a go one of these tdays.

30Donna828
jan 4, 2012, 7:13 pm

Hi Bonnie, White Teeth was my first and my favorite Zadie Smith book. I've had Sorry on the WL for ages. Looks like I need to get to it ASAP with that recommendation from you.

31brenzi
jan 4, 2012, 7:24 pm

>29 BiblioEva: Hi there Eva, well I'm about 40 pages into White Teeth and I'm really enjoying it. It's a kind of raucous, rowdy book that's kind of fun so I hope that continues.

>30 Donna828: Hi Donna, I think you'd really enjoy Sorry.

32KimB
jan 4, 2012, 8:14 pm

My gosh, I really loved Sorry, such a temptation to keep re-reading those lovely quotes you've shared.
You're not the last person to read White Teeth, I still haven't go to it myself and chances are I might not 'till July ;)

33Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 4, 2012, 8:28 pm

Oh, more stars for Sorry...I'm becoming increasing intrigued by this book. I look forward to your review of White Teeth; it's one of the Orange books gathering dust on my shelves.

34TinaV95
jan 4, 2012, 8:47 pm

Sheesh, another great recommendation for Sorry!! :) I am going to have to put it on my list too. Jill warned me that if I read enough of these threads my TBR stack would grow by leaps and bounds! I may need Orange February and Orange March at this rate!

35brenzi
jan 4, 2012, 9:38 pm

>32 KimB: Hi Kim, I'm going to be looking for more by Jones. I just enjoyed her writing so much.

>33 Her_Royal_Orangeness: Hi there HRO, I encourage you to move Sorry up the pile:)

>34 TinaV95: Hi Tina, I may need Orange February and Orange March at this rate! That's the beauty of OJ. They keep adding titles every year so you could keeping reading them....all year;-)

36L-Anne
jan 4, 2012, 9:58 pm

>25 brenzi: Bonnie....oh I just love those quotes you shared from Sorry! It sounds like it's beautifully written! I'm pretty sure I will LOVE that book. Thanks for sharing - onto my list it goes.

37lkernagh
jan 5, 2012, 12:25 am

Happy to see another love it for Sorry! Need to add that one to the reading list.

38Soupdragon
Redigerat: jan 5, 2012, 5:52 am

Hi Bonnie! Wasn't Sorry a wonderful start to the reading year? I love those quotes. If it wasn't for the bleak subject matter, they'd make me read the book all over again!

39vancouverdeb
Redigerat: jan 5, 2012, 7:01 am

Ohh good for you - on to your second Orange, Bonnie! Let me know how White Teeth is as I have it out from the library. I'm currently reading The Siege by Helen Dunmore for my Orange Read and loving it!

40brenzi
jan 5, 2012, 7:16 pm

>36 L-Anne: With your new job Louanne I'm pretty sure you'll love Sorry.

>37 lkernagh: Hi Lori, yes do add it.

>38 Soupdragon: Hi Dee, oh I fully intend to reread it at some point. Yes, it was bleak but that writing...

>39 vancouverdeb: Oh I loved The Siege and 100 pages in and I'm loving White Teeth too.

41TinaV95
jan 5, 2012, 8:05 pm

I just sent a request in to my library to order Sorry mentioning of course, that it's an Orange Prize nominated book :) We shall see if this works! I hope so after all the wonderful reviews it has received!

42L-Anne
jan 6, 2012, 6:57 am

"... in reading, silent reading, there was a release, a flight, a wheeling off into the blue spaces of exclamatory experience, diffuse and improbable, gloriously homeless."

>40 brenzi: How is it possible that my radar failed to notice this one sooner??? I will definitely be reading Sorry sometime soon.

43LizzieD
jan 6, 2012, 6:33 pm

Bonnie, I just got a copy of White Teeth, so I'm another who has read no Zadie Smith yet. Someday! If I have time to finish *Fall/Knees*, I'll be eager to jump into The Tiger's Wife. I do love Orange January!

44brenzi
jan 7, 2012, 10:07 pm

>41 TinaV95: I hope you get the book soon Tina.

>42 L-Anne: I have had Sorry on my radar since Laura reviewed it in, I think, 2009 Louanne. I'm going to look for some of her other books too.

>43 LizzieD: I'm really enjoying White Teeth Peggy. And I'm with you, I love OJ too:)

45raidergirl3
jan 8, 2012, 6:02 pm

Nope, not the last person to read White Teeth. I just about started Old Filth, but picked up Black and Blue instead.

I noticed you had Old Filth on the orange challenge for TIOLI. Some one else finished Old Filth already, but put it in the challenge where the acknowledgement has less than 6 paragraphs. Just thought I'd let you know, if you get to reading it.

46brenzi
jan 8, 2012, 7:04 pm

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for letting me know about TIOLI. I'll change it when I get to the book although that point stuff means next to nothing to me, haha.

47raidergirl3
jan 8, 2012, 7:46 pm

Ya, I'm not sure what the point stuff is about, but the science/ math teacher in me likes to see things sorted and organized in the best manner!

48BiblioEva
jan 9, 2012, 2:04 am

>31 brenzi: I'm glad you're enjoying White Teeth! I was really surprised when I didn't love it. Maybe it was a case of too high expectations.

49brenzi
jan 9, 2012, 4:19 pm

>47 raidergirl3: Oh math teacher, that explains it LOL.

>48 BiblioEva: Yes Eva, I have about 30 pages to go but wow, what a ride. I guess I was just in the right frame of mind for it. I came to it with no expectations too.

50BiblioEva
jan 9, 2012, 8:26 pm

I'll have to reread it one of these days. I've also noticed I don't do as well with books spread over a wide space of time unless they're really long (i.e.: Middlemarch, etc.). I find the jumps too disorienting for some reason!

51vancouverdeb
jan 10, 2012, 6:00 am

Glad that you are enjoying White Teeth, Bonnie. I can't wait to see what you have to say about it!

52brenzi
jan 10, 2012, 6:15 pm




White Teeth by Zadie Smith 4.3 stars

MY REVIEW:

Zadie Smith’s White Teeth is a wild, raucous, rollicking, joyful, sad, funny tale about life in immigrant families in North London in the years leading up to the start of the 21st century. That it is as important and timely today as when it was published twelve years ago only solidifies her reputation as a gifted and talented writer.

The book opens in 1975 as Archie Jones is sitting in his car, trying to asphyxiate himself with a vacuum cleaner hose that’s attached to the car’s exhaust system. His wife has divorced him and life doesn’t seem worth living. He’s saved because he parked his car (inconveniently) next to the Halal butcher who was waiting for a load of bovine and this just will not do. Archie is thankful to be saved and goes on to marry Clara Bowden, whose black roots go back to Jamaica and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Archie, friends with Samad Iqbal sine the war, whose roots, along with those of his wife Alsana go back to Bangladesh. For the most part, the book is about these two families and the problems faced by immigrants across the world and through the generations. Later in the story, another purely British family, liberal intellectuals, is introduced and, paradoxically, the pot really begins to boil. Their interference in the lives of the Jones and Iqbal children, at the expense of their own children, provides another interesting look at the diversity of modern society.

”This has been the century of strangers, brown, yellow and white. This has been the century of the great immigrant experience. It is only this late in the day that you can walk into a playground and find Isaac Leung by the fish pond, Danny Rahman in the football cage, Quang O’Rourke bouncing a basketball and Irie Jones humming a tune. Children with first and last names on a direct collision course. Names that secrete within them mass exodus, cramped boats and planes, cold arrivals, medical checkups. It is only this late in the day, and only in Willesden, that you can find best friends Sita and Sharon, constantly mistaken for each other because Sita is white (her mother liked the name) and Sharon is Pakistani (her mother thought it best---less trouble). Yet despite all the mixing up, despite the fact that we have finally slipped into each other’s lives with reasonable comfort (like a man returning to his lover’s bed after a midnight walk), despite all this, it is still hard to admit that there is no one more English than the Indian, no one more Indian than the English. There are still young white men who are angry about that; who will roll out at closing time into the poorly lit streets with a kitchen knife wrapped in a tight fist.” (Page 272)

Smith’s forte is characterization and, I must say, she is wizard-like as she develops these characters and, through them, explores the issues of race, sex and class facing, not only the UK, but countries all over the world. Delving into multiculturalism through multiple points of view allows the reader a unique perspective. The white teeth of the title expound on this theme.

I found White Teeth to be wildly funny and yet terribly thought provoking and prescient (this was, after all published before 9/11). Highly recommended.

53mrstreme
jan 10, 2012, 6:20 pm

Great review! =) I still need to read my first Zadie Smith book!

54wookiebender
jan 10, 2012, 6:43 pm

Great review! I'm glad you liked it too, I read it when it first came out with no expectations and loved it. I think I described it as being like Salman Rushdie, only I didn't have to run for the dictionary every second word. ;)

55brenzi
jan 10, 2012, 7:01 pm

>51 vancouverdeb: Hi Deb!

>52 brenzi: Thanks Jill, this was my second. I also liked her On Beauty.

>53 mrstreme: Thanks Tania, great comparison to Rushdie. It was just such a larger than life book.

56vancouverdeb
jan 10, 2012, 7:15 pm

Great review, Bonnie! Thumbed! I've got White Teeth from the library, but it's intimidated me a little. Your review makes it sound more accessible. Thanks so much!

57brenzi
jan 10, 2012, 7:19 pm

I hope you like it Deb. It grabbed me from the first page.

58lkernagh
jan 10, 2012, 9:01 pm

I keep debating whether or not to pick up White Teeth far read.... still undecided but you are intriguing me with your comment that Smith's forte is characterization.

59brenzi
jan 10, 2012, 9:11 pm

Well all I can say Lori is that I've had it on my shelf for about 5 years and thanks to OJ I finally read it and have no regrets.

60LizzieD
jan 10, 2012, 9:43 pm

Oh man, Bonnie. I was looking for something a little lighter before The Tiger's Wife. I'll have to at least pick up White Teeth for a look-see.

61Soupdragon
jan 11, 2012, 6:34 am

Wonderful review of White Teeth, Bonnie.

62Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 11, 2012, 6:50 am

Enjoyed your review of "White Teeth." I really need to get around to reading that one of these days!

63Carmenere
jan 11, 2012, 6:55 am

I see you're enjoying a good Orange January, Bonnie. Thumbs up for "White Teeth" Hadn't heard of it before and me thinks I need to pay more attention to Short and Long listers.

64brenzi
jan 11, 2012, 10:42 am

Thanks Dee, HRO and Lynda, I have no idea why I hadn't read this before but I'm glad I finally got to it:)

65lauralkeet
jan 11, 2012, 1:59 pm

I read White Teeth way back, not very long after it was published I think. It was such a cultural eye opener, I was wowed by it.

66brenzi
Redigerat: jan 14, 2012, 9:55 pm

Next up for me, which will be my 3rd Orange:



The Observations by Jane Harris - 2007 SL

Twenty pages in and I'm already hooked by teenager Bessy's unique voice.

67mrstreme
jan 15, 2012, 8:12 am

I loved Bessy's narration. Simply wonderful throughout the whole book. Enjoy!

68brenzi
jan 15, 2012, 11:09 am

Thanks Jill today it jumped into the "Can't Put Down" category:)

69lauralkeet
jan 15, 2012, 1:20 pm

>68 brenzi:: ooh, that's good to know. Making a note of that one Bonnie!

70Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 16, 2012, 7:15 am

The Observations has been on my bookshelf for awhile but never seems to make it to the top of the To Read list. I may need to rethink that, if it's unputdownably good! :)

71brenzi
jan 17, 2012, 10:11 pm





The Observations by Jane Harris 4.5 stars

MY REVIEW

Move over Sarah Waters. There’s a new creepy Gothic writer and she doesn’t pull any punches. Jane Harris’s debut novel is a bawdy mystery complete with creaking attic, locked drawer, secret journals, mistaken identities, sordid pasts but the thing that really catapults this novel to the top of the Gothic genre is the inimitable voice of the story’s narrator. And she had me hooked from the first page.

”My missus was always after me for to write things down in a little book. She give me the book and pen and ink the day I arrived…This was after she found out I could read and write. When she found that out her face lit up like she’d lost a penny and found sixpence, ‘Oh!’ says she, ‘and who taught you?’ And I told her it was my poor dead mother, which was a lie for my mother was alive and most likely blind drunk down the Gallowgate as usual and even if she was sober she could barely have wrote her own name on a magistrates summons. But my mother never was sober if she was awake. And when she was asleep, she was unconscious.”

It’s 1863 and Bessy Buckley is a fifteen year old prostitute (introduced to the trade by her loving mother) tired of the life she’s been living so she’s off to Edinburgh where she will end up taking on the job of house maid at the Castle Haivers, which is not nearly as elegant as its name suggests. The young mistress of the estate, Arabella Reid, happens to be composing her magnum opus The Observations, a study of the "habits and nature of the Domestic Class,” and Bessy will be the latest subject. But when Bessy steals the key and reads what her mistress has written about her she takes on the task of scaring the bejesus out of her and the story takes the first of many dark turns.

I can’t say enough about the skill with which Harris pulls off the first person narrative but I will say that to read the story and enjoy it to its fullest, you have to just go with the flow of the narration. If you slow down, you’ll get bogged down. On second thought, don’t even think about that because once you pick this book up, you won’t slow down until you’re at the end of its 416 pages. Very highly recommended.

72Nickelini
jan 17, 2012, 11:07 pm

Ohhh. Great review. On to the wishlist it goes!

73lauralkeet
jan 17, 2012, 11:33 pm

Oh my, that sounds terrific! Great review, Bonnie.

74Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 18, 2012, 6:48 am

Fantastic review! The Observations sounds marvelous...I look forward to reading it, one of these days. :)

75mrstreme
jan 18, 2012, 7:05 am

Such a great book - glad you liked it!

76brenzi
jan 19, 2012, 6:49 pm

Thanks everybody! I've had this book on my shelf for a couple of years. I have no idea why I hadn't read it earlier.

77brenzi
jan 19, 2012, 6:52 pm

I'm now reading this book:



This is turning out to be another excellent Orange choice. Wow, I'm batting a thousand this January:)

78TinaV95
jan 19, 2012, 8:47 pm

Excellent review of The Observations. I'll be adding it to my wishlist!

79Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 19, 2012, 8:50 pm

When I was a teenager I loved A Long Way From Verona and God on the Rocks by Gardam. I recently read The Man in the Wooden Hat, a corollary to Old Filth, and was underwhelmed. Hope you enjoy Old Filth!

80LizzieD
jan 21, 2012, 8:35 am

You know how to pick your Oranges! I loved and adored Old Filth, and I see that I need to get to The Observations and White Teeth sooner rather than later. When? When? When??

81Soupdragon
Redigerat: jan 21, 2012, 8:58 am

I loved Old Filth and all the other Jane Gardams I've read. I haven't got to The Man in the Wooden Hat yet though. I think my favourite is Bilgewater.

I had mixed feelings about The Observations. I loved the narrator but parts of the plot didn't really work for me. I still really enjoyed it though.

82brenzi
Redigerat: jan 21, 2012, 4:44 pm

This will be my last Orange for this January. I'll have to restock my supply for July:)

Waves to Peggy and Dee.



Old Filth by Jane Gardam 4.3 stars

MY REVIEW

This is a very, very English novel; very stiff upper lip very British. I mean what in the world are Raj orphans? Never heard of it. And Gillow furniture??For an American, this novel tested my limited knowledge of the UK. But fortunately, with some help from Wikipedia and Google, and because of the elegant writing style employed by Jane Gardam, my enjoyment of this novel wasn’t really hampered by my ignorance.

It is a tale told from both ends of Sir Edward Feathers life and Gardam takes us eloquently back and forth in time and space. He was born to English parents stationed in Malaya in 1914. His mother died as a result of the birth. His father was remote and showed no interest in or love of the boy. Eddie was a Raj Orphan, as were so many Brits born in the far-flung East. That meant he was hustled away from his parent when he was a preschooler back to England where he would be raised by a foster family, then on to boarding school. Eddie’s experience was nightmarish and haunts him for the rest of his life.

Even so, he goes on to be a good lawyer and judge in Hong Kong, where he comes to be known as Old Filth, the term Filth, an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. And we’re introduced to him, fairly close to the end of his life, in Dorset, where he and his wife Betty have retired. I loved the unique way that Gardam approached his life from both ends until they finally meet about ¾ of the way into the book. In a lesser author, this could have been dicey but Jane Gardam hasn’t won the Whitbred prize twice (the only writer to do so) for nothing. She has finely tuned her craft.

At any rate, Eddie has been abandoned and left on his own too many times throughout his young life to not have the results of that neglect leave a lasting impression. His feelings of invisibility and failure to connect with anyone leave him in an emotionally precarious place. Now, at the end of his life, he still is feeling those effects:

Loss’s defection was the metaphor for Eddie’s life. It was Eddie’s fate always to be left. Always to be left and forgotten. Everyone gone, now. Out of his reach. For the first time, Eddie was utterly on his own.” (Page 230)

I was so impressed at Gardam’s writing and the lovely way she seamed together all the threads of her unique and sad story that I’m already looking for more of her work.

83mrstreme
jan 21, 2012, 5:41 pm

I'd say you had a STELLAR month of reading! Thanks for joining us!

84L-Anne
jan 29, 2012, 7:07 am

Hi Bonnie! What a great Orange January you had! I really want to get my hands on Sorry by Gail Jones, but my library doesn't have a copy, which surprised me. Will have to get a loan from another library. They do have an order for her new one (coming out in February) entitled Five Bells which sounds intriguing!

85vancouverdeb
jan 29, 2012, 8:39 am

Great review of Old Filth, Bonnie! I've now purchased a second hand copy!

86Her_Royal_Orangeness
jan 29, 2012, 9:45 am

Excellent review of Old Filth. I think I should have read this one before The Man in the Wooden Hat, since that one is more a fill-in-the-gaps sort of story, told from the viewpoint of Eddie's wife. Hope you enjoy further reading of Gardam, and highly recommend the two books I mentioned earlier - A Long Way from Verona and God on the Rocks (which was nominated for the Booker prize).

87brenzi
Redigerat: jan 29, 2012, 10:57 am

Hi there Jill, Louanne, Deb and HRO, I certainly did have a great month of reading. It's so nice to start the new year off with OJ because there is such a rich choice of books.

>86 Her_Royal_Orangeness: I will certainly be looking for more Gardam books, especially The Man in the Wooden Hat.