Friday Finds hosted by mizb17 at Should Be Reading

This week I added five more books to me TBR list:

Generation A by Douglas Coupland – Maree at Just Add Books wrote a short review of this book but it was enough to make me add it to my list!

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby – Clover at Fluttering Butterflies posted about this one.  This is what sucked me in

“Hornby has such enthusiasm for books and for reading. And he has all those neuroticisms that everyone has, he just writes about them better than most. How he buys loads of books and never gets around to them. How sometimes he gets distracted by what’s on the telly, complains about long-winded passages in books. He gives up on books.”

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehreneich – Bethany at Dreadlock Girl reviewed this one.  The premise of the book sounded interesting but what decided me was this:

“Barbara puts a face on the working poor, a face that you won’t be able to forget even if you aim to. I highly recommend this Nickel and Dimed for perspective, awareness and so much more!”

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake – I read several reviews of this book this week and even entered a giveaway to win it.  (Fingers crossed!)  I think it sounds interesting but what really sold me on this one is the cover.  Isn’t it pretty?

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee – Reviewed by Jackie at Farm Lane Books Blog.  I can’t just choose one quote that really grabbed me.  Just go read the entire review!

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.  Check out the other entries from this week.

Ok, I’ve skipped a couple of weeks so some of these reviews are from a couple of weeks ago.  Sorry!

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters reviewed at Well-Mannered Frivolity

I’ve attempted a Sarah Waters book before and had to put it down halfway through.  I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with the book and everything to do with the fact that a certain someone living inside of me was making me extremely sick.  I really want to give Waters another chance but I think the first book is probably a lost cause.  Here’s what made me think this might be a good choice:

“The Little Stranger is a delightfully creepy Gothic tale of the first order….The Little Stranger is my first Sarah Waters book, and I really enjoyed it. I have heard it compared to some of my favorite classic Gothic literature: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, and The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The Little Stranger is definitely in the same league as these esteemed novels. Sarah Waters has crafted a spine-chilling, magnificent tale of terror. My advice to you, is to read The Little Stranger only by light of day. Pay no attention to that shadow moving in the corner, or the noise just behind your chair. I’m sure it’s nothing…”

Sounds creepy right?

The next book I’ve added to my tbr list is Black Angels by Linda Beatrice Brown.  Bloggin’ ’bout Books reviewed this a couple of weeks ago.

Here’s what grabbed my attention:

“I’m sitting here trying to describe the power of this exquisite novel. Can I do it justice? I’m pretty sure I can’t, but I’m going to try because this just might be the most outstanding book I’ve read this year….Strong and hopeful, Black Angels is the incredible story of an extraordinary friendship. It celebrates courage, faith and family in all its forms. Unflinchingly honest, but beautifully rendered, it’s simply a triumph. A rich, touching, powerful triumph.”

Who could resist that?

Next, I came across a review for Foreign Tongue by Vanina Marsot at The Literate Housewife.  After reading this:

“The moment I finished it I wanted to start it all over again. I cannot completely express the number of ways in which I enjoyed Vanina Marsot’s novel. It is a story of a woman falling in and out of love with a man.  It is a love story between a woman and her two countries of citizenship:  France and the United States.  It is a love story between a woman and language.  Most of all, it is the story of a woman falling in love with her life. I cannot recommend this novel enough. It is invigorating and inspiring and is one book you won’t want to miss.”

I had to add it to my list!

Book Addiction reviewed In the Woods by Tana French and had this to say:

“I would definitely call In the Woods a “literary thriller” because while it’s definitely a thriller, Tana French can seriously write.  It’s a very wordy book, with explanations and descriptions and complex conversations, and although it took me awhile to get through the book (especially for “thriller” standards), I loved every minute of it.  Not only was I on the edge of my seat trying to solve the mystery, I was also fully immersed in these characters and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen with them.  And I liked them – all of them.  Even though Rob is really not a sympathetic character (especially toward the end), I had sympathy for him.  I wanted things to work out for him, I wanted his pain to go away, I wanted him to be happy.”

After that I had to add it to my list!

Last, I read this review of The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl at A High and Hidden Place.  It sounds really interesting:

“Charles Dickens was writing his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, when he suddenly died.  When the news of his death reaches his American publisher, Fields & Osgood, James Osgood sends his young assistant Daniel Sand to meet the boat and retrieve the newest installment.  When Daniel’s body is discovered hours later without the manuscript, Osgood begins a quest to discover the rest of Dickens’s story and save his struggling business, and hopes to reveal Daniel’s killer at the same time.

Osgood and one of his bookkeepers, and Daniel’s sister, Rebecca Sand journey to England.  As they race to unravel Dickens’s final secrets, they are beset by murderous thugs, drug dealers, thugs and blue bloods, and those closest to Dickens.  They soon find that Dicken’s lost ending is a matter of life and death.”

And doesn’t that cover look intriguing?

And that’s all I’ve got for this week!

My very first Friday Finds!  I’m so excited!  Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading in which bloggers share need books they’ve found over the week.

I only have a few this week so here goes:

The first is Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart.  It was reviewed by Chris at book-a-rama.    Here’s what caught my eye:

The list of nasty weeds, houseplants, trees, and plants is large. Stewart puts them in alphabetical order, everything from invasive to deadly. Some are super scary like Poison Hemlock and Strychnine Tree. The stuff they can do to a person is ugly. Then there are the ones that are just gross like Stinking Cabbage and Slobber Weed. Yes, Slobber Weed. Don’t. Ask. There are the intoxicating which can kill you and the illegal which don’t. Even the stuff in your fridge can harm you if not prepared correctly, like Red Kidney Beans.

One of my favourites classes (and most difficult) in university was called Drug Plants of the World.  I think this book will be an interesting continuation/refresher of that course.

My second find was courtesy of Bella at A Bibliophile’s Bookshelf.  She reviewed The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview.  I have yet to read any of the Austen sequels, prequels  or tribute novels.  Bella’s review convinced me that this might be the book to start with.  Here are the parts of her review that pulled me in:

Monica Fairview has taken on the task of writing about one of the most despised characters in Pride & Prejudice, the haughty, snobbish Caroline Bingley.  The very one that tried to stop her brother from marrying Jane Bennett.  The very one that wanted Mr Darcy for herself.

Robert Darcy is the “other Mr Darcy” and he is the opposite of the Mr Darcy we all love in every possible way.  He is American and brash, funny, charismatic and wears his emotions on his sleeve. Oh, and just so adorable.  Reading this story I couldn’t help but fall in love with him and all his attempts to win over Caroline, and help her discover the person she really is.

Together Robert Darcy and Caroline Bingley prove to be very interesting characters, with a lot of depth to them that one wouldn’t first imagine.  They each made the story a delight, and left me hanging on to every page to see what was in store for these two that are clearly meant to be together.

Doesn’t that sounds entertaining, and interesting, and maybe even impossible?  Make a reader interested in the villian of a loved novel?  That’s quite a task!  I can’t wait to get to this one.

Next, Bethany posted about Plants Don’t Drink Coffee at her blog, Dreadlock Girl Reads.  Plants Don’t Drink Coffee by Unai Elorriaga sounded interesting mostly because I know I can include it in my Orbis Terrarum Challenge.  Also this:

This book for me was a complete success. Unai did everything right in his writing and the translation was incredible as well (by Amaia Gabantxo). It was one of those books where you feel the need to keep reading it through the chapter breaks, and every time you sit down you want to lap it up. Reading about the Basque culture was very interesting to me, as it is a people group that intrigues me in their strength and resourcefulness.

Not to mention that Bethany gave it her ‘Can’t cluck enough’ Chicken Award!

Lastly, Nymeth over at things mean a lot, posted about Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand.  She raved about the book, saying we should all read it right now, but this is the part that really sucked me in:

…there’s plenty to love here: the lovely writing, the wonderful atmosphere, the subtle and tasteful eroticism, all the references to art history, the characters, the exciting plot, and the very universal themes it deals with: love, obsession and its dangers, passion and longing, losing something or someone and learning how to let go, and the relationship between beauty and mortality and art.

That was fun!  I can’t wait to participate next Friday! Although, that might not happen, as I’m moving next Friday.