Just one review to round up, plus a Did Not Finish. I seem to have been reviewing books in ones recently, mainly because I like to do my Persephones in singles in case the publisher wants to link to them, and recently read a book and its sequel and wanted to avoid the risk of spoilers. Anyway, I have one review and one Did Not Finish which was really quite disappointing, so let’s get on with it …
Debbie Macomber – Silver Linings
(September 2015)
I should learn not to get all over-excited about new books (which, to be fair, I hardly ever do) – I bought Harry Potter 5 within two days of it being published and read it in all its needs-editing glory in about 24 hours, and I feel for the “Girl With a Pearl Earring” hype, too (bleugh). So maybe this one would never have lived up to expectations when I pre-ordered it after reading the third in the Rose Harbour series fairly recently.
I bought this so as to catch up with the doings of Jo Marie Rose and her life in Cedar Cove, with the extra story of guests at her B&B provided by Coco and Kate, very different old friends attending their high school reunion to settle old scores. Things don’t turn out as expected for the friends, and the story continues past their immediate weekend stay, as they only live across the water – sometimes these books have been very much centred around a smaller space of time, so it was nice that it had room to breathe. One of the love interests does seem to be recycled from a Cedar Cove character without actually being that character, but every author has their tropes, so I’ll let that one go.
The Jo Marie and Mark The Handyman drags on a little, with Mark seemingly determined to leave town in a cloud of self-recrimination and mystery. Then things get a bit odd, with a later scene in the book set at Thanksgiving 2015, and one strand I felt was a bit too current and even bandwaggony, whereas usually the author appears to go to great pains to make her books less rooted in a particular year or even era. That made it a little less satisfying to me, although I will of course read on through the series.
This book would suit … Debbie Macomber / Rose Harbour readers, romance readers in general (though it has more to it than straight romance).
John Algeo – “British or American English?”
(September 2012)
Published by Cambridge University Press and with that title, I expected a book comparing the two forms of English, perhaps with British as the base, as it comes first in the title. Unfortunately, it turns out to a) compare British English to a baseline of American English, and b) come in the form of sets of lists of words and their uses which even I found too dull to read. I localise from American to British English and bought this book to help that side of my work. It doesn’t.
It was in my 20 Books of Summer project, but that’s OK, because the point was to get it off the side-pile and tackle it, and that’s what I did!
Currently reading: I’m currently enjoying Trollope’s “Dr Thorne” … still. It’s a good one, though.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Sep 09, 2015 @ 18:22:29
A DNF is always frustrating – but life is too short….
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BookerTalk
Sep 09, 2015 @ 22:00:19
That Algeo book sounds a very dull way to treat such a fascinating subject
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Liz Dexter
Sep 11, 2015 @ 06:40:33
It would be fine if I was looking for that topic, but as it was, yes, not set out for reading for fun!
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Liz Dexter
Sep 11, 2015 @ 06:41:54
Indeed, it was annoying but easy to make the decision!
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Terra
Sep 10, 2015 @ 02:41:23
DNFs are frustrating, and rare I am happy to say since I read reviews and have trusted authors, etc. Still, they do happen from time to time.
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Liz Dexter
Sep 11, 2015 @ 06:39:15
I don’t get many for normal books I read for pleasure but I think this one was actually a bit misrepresented so I didn’t have a chance to avoid starting it!
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Jane @ Beyond Eden Rock
Sep 25, 2015 @ 15:55:06
I’m going off at a tangent here, but I’d thought about differences in spelling and pronunciation between UK and US English, but I’d never thought about differences in grammar. I wonder if that accounts for differing views on books translated from other languages into English. I’m thinking in particular of P & V, who seem much loved in the US, but where I’ve looked I’ve always preferred the work of other translators
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Liz Dexter
Sep 25, 2015 @ 16:21:14
Oh, but this is a very interesting tangent. And I think you’re on to something – because often the “other” language’s constructions will feel a bit “clumsy” to the reader, which adds another layer to the inevitable slight clumsiness of some translations. Certain words are placed very differently in the sentence, and some parts of speech are used differently – even the use of “different than” rather than “different from” can grate on a British reader, for example.
By the way, you’re not at all alone in not paying much attention to the grammar issue. In my work as a localiser, I find even my clients think it’s just a case of changing all the “colors” to “colours” – and that’s before we’ve got to the cultural considerations!
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Oops – when good TBRs go bad … | Adventures in reading, writing and working from home
Oct 14, 2015 @ 17:54:34