by MIA FREEDMAN
Books are like a treat for me these days. They take time. A concentration span – two things I am sadly lacking most weeks. But the chance to go to Tasmania last weekend meant some time on a plane and time in a hotel away from my usual laptop routine.
So I finally got to read the book Paula Joye had ordered me to buy and I’d downloaded on my Kindle a few weeks ago: Gone Girl.
It’s a psychological thriller which makes it sound like a book I would hate but I DID NOT HATE THIS BOOK.
I bloody loved it. Made me think. Made me not want to put it down.
Stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I can’t say too much except: read it.
Speaking of good books, how many of these bestsellers have you sampled?
Nine Days by Toni Jordan
What are you reading right now? Are you enjoying it?
Comments
253 Comments so far
Thanks so much Mia, I finished Gone Girl last night and it was brilliant! The book was might nightly treat once our 5 month old and 2 1/2 year old daughters fell asleep, so as you can imagine I only managed to read a few chapters a night! I’ve ordered another Gillian Flynn novel this morning and can wait for delivery. Mia, have you thought of starting a book club a-la Oprah style?
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Thanks ladies, I have read Gone Girl (crazy,loved it) and the Bronze horseman trilogy – LOVED IT so sad I’ve finished…
So I have complied my list from belows comments & I have
Room – Emma Donoghue
The Siren – Tiffany Reiesz
Call the midwife
War brides
The ice cream girls
The girl he loved
Anna karenina
Still Alice
Left neglect(ed)
I really need to join a book club
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I have just finished the trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, these books could have been just one book, less sex scenes and more story, however I am glad I now know what all the hype was about. My opinion on this BORING!!!
About to start the new Jim Stynes book, cannot wait to read it.
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Loved Gone Girl. That is such a great book. Maybe you’d like the one I’m reading now, too: The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits (one of the founders of The Believer). It’s about family bonds, female rivalry, the occult. Amazingly well written, and fun.
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A few on the go at the moment depending on location:
My ‘I just have a moment’ book – Da Vinci code (re-read)
My office lunch book – Campaign Ruby by Jessica Rudd
My mental challenge book – 20:21 vision (non fiction)
My weekend book – Game of Thrones book one…having trouble getting into this but had enough recommendations to keep trying.
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I love hearing that someone else has books on the go for different purposes! Currently I’m reading a book at work on change management (my field) and 2 books at home – Malcolm Gladwell’s What The Dog Saw (which is awesome) and when I’m really tired or don’t have time to get into anything for long I am reading Erica James’ It’s The Little Things, which is a very easy read
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Just finished ‘This is how it ends’ and ‘me and mr booker’ – both wonderful.
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I’m on a bit of a ‘language and how we use it’ bend and am reading
“The Secret Life of Pronouns” – James E Pennebaker
Awesomely light and wonderful read – bit so so so enlightening!
If you’ve read any of the Malcolm Gladwell books (eg. Outliers, Tipping Point, Blink etc) then imagine how his type of writing but about language and how much can be said about people and what they think by the words we ignore:)
Reading these posts though is WAY to expensive:)
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I have just read my husband’s first novel! I don’t like to praise him too much when he can hear me…. but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is called ‘Desolation Boulevarde’ and is available through amazon.com, itunes, smashwords etc. as he is self published. It is an amazing world when you can read some wonderful novels that would normally never be published by the usual commercial means. Everyone should get on these sites and discover some fantastic undiscovered stories
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‘How to be a woman’ – Caitlin Moran. Love it. I am now calling myself a strident feminist.
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I just finished reading Escape by Carolyn Jessop. Carolyn Jessop writes about her life in the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints and her eventual escape.
I couldn’t put this book down, I finished it in 2 days. Even though I knew she had escaped with her children there were parts that were just so intense I thought it would never happen.
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Currently reading, though reading is an understatement with a head cold:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell, not getting far fast but I so loved Cloud Atlas;
Caleb’s Crossing – Geraldine Brooks, my a bit slow in the car book, have been reading this for months & pick it up when I’m stuck somewhere & read some more;
The Happiness Trap – Dr Russ Harris
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Just finished Simon Lelic’s A Thousand Cuts which was awesome. One of those books that appears to be about one thing but is in fact about another.
Here is one-line bio: A stunning debut novel that unravels the hidden story behind a school shooting
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The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do – never laughed so much and shed a few tears along the way. This book changes my perspective on everything.
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At the moment i’m re-reading Anne of Green Gables. I have completely fallen in love with the characters all over again and am swept up in the land of avonlea
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I’m reading David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day. Love his style of writing – witty, insightful and honest.
Also enjoyed this year:
Alice Pung – Her Father’s Daughter
Anna Funder – All that I am
Marieke Hardy – You’ll be Sorry When I’m Dead
Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
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Love David sedaris….
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A million little pieces by James Frey. Interesting so far
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To inspire you… Half the sky which promotes the theory of saving the world by educating women.
For a funny, smart and engaging read…anything by Lisa Jewell
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I just did an assignment at uni about “Because I Am a Girl” and the other campaigns based around the need to educate girls and women to get societies out of poverty. Looking for “Half The Sky” now!
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Last weekend I read Perks of Being a Wallflower – now one of my absolute favourite books ever, a brilliant coming of age story.
This weekend I read Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire and could.not.put.it.down! I was obsessed from cover to cover and don’t know what to do with myself now it’s finished. Might have to find some of her other books!
Also loved Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and it’s sequel.
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I’m reading two books at the moment:
1. On Shakespeare by John Bell – a fantastic insight into all things Shakespeare (including Bell Shakespeare); and
2. The Dead Of The Night by John Marsden – second in the Tomorrow series, which I’ve read countless times but not touched in years. I’m getting something new out of it now that I have a different perspective on life, politics etc.
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Hi amyspeak,
You read matthew reilly on yesterday’s post and shakespeare on this one! I’m so impressed – you don’t meet many people with that varied taste.
(I’m also a Shakespeare fan – very excited to meet John Bell at a work conference later this year.)
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At the moment I’m reading ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini and I’m loving it, as I did ‘The Kite Runner’. Other books I’ve recently read, and thought they were worth their coin-age:
- The Younger Man by Zoe Foster
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- Welcome To Temptation by Jenny Cursie
- I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
- The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.
… but my fave book EVER is ‘Mad About The Boy’ by Maggie Alderson.
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I just finished Gone Girl and loved it — quite different. Now reading Tiffany Reisz’s The Siren, recommended by someone as way better than 50 Shades…
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Went to the markets this morning, bought four books for $16. Can’t go past that! One of them was Room by Emma Donoghue so looking forward to read that once I get through the pile on my bedside table and kindle!
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Mama Mia by Mia Freedman. First Memoir / Autobiography I have ever loved!
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Xxxxxxx
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Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut. I absolutely love Vonnegut and re-read his books from time to time. A true humanist.
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I a reading ‘The boy who loved apples’ by Amanda Webster.It is about her 11 yr old sons struggle with anorexia.Very powerful story.
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Wild by Cheryl Strayed. True story, but brilliantly written page turner. Great adventure story and great read for girls IMO. Over 16′s though due to some sex/drugs/rock’n'roll content! Gone Girl was an excellent read as well…
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I just finished “Thief of Time” by Terry Pratchett. Love his books
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That’s my favourite Pratchett!
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I’m reading Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler. Anne Tylers’ books should be read by everyone, they are beautiful.
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I LOVE Saint Maybe! I re-read it on average once a year. She is such an amazing writer
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Provenance by Jane Messer. She is my lecturer at Mac Uni. It’s such a beautiful love story set in QLD and Melb. We all struggle to make our relationships work. Love it.
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I just finished Gone Girl. Totally not my type of book but I couldn’t stop reading it. Amazing!
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I just finished ‘Berlin Syndrome’ by Melanie Joosten. Can’t recommend it enough, though it is a little dark, and frightening in a ‘that could have been me’ kind of way. Joosten is very talented.
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Just finished Rangatira, by Paula Morris. Riveting mostly-true story of Maori who went to England in the 1860s.
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Just finished ‘Defending Jacob’…WOW!!!
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Call the midwife!! Brilliant book!
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I’m on a non-fiction kick at the moment, and have these two books on the go:
Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams
Nurture Shock: New Thinking about Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
They are both very good reads…
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I just finished Life of Pi and absolutely loved it.
I have just started on the first book in the Hunger Games series and I’m really enjoying it so far. I am also reading the Barefoot investor by Scott Pape for some financial advice. If you don’t subscribe to his newsletters already I would really recommend them:)
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Saw a trailer for ‘LIfe of Pi’ at the cinema this week. First thought was how will they film this book? But they seem to have taken a fantastical approach & it looked interesting. Not sure if I’ll go see it – I hate to when films butcher books, shall have to wait for the reviews & see…
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Not reading anything right now – in a marathon session of Game of Thrones now that we’ve downloaded Season Two.
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I hear you Lizi! Just spent the majority of the weekend watching Season One. Might need a break before Season Two so I can do stuff like see my boyfriend/friends/family again!
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“Shattered: Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality” by Rebecca Asher
Loving it
Can’t describe it better than the endorsements “”I was utterly gripped. This is powerful stuff. Rebecca Asher’s take of the culture of parenting is radical, original and refreshingly spirited, a heartfelt call for change”–The Daily Telegraph
“An intelligent, thoroughly researched and highly readable contribution to a debate that urgently needs to be aired in the corridors of power, as well as through gritted teeth over snatched cups of bitter coffee in baby and toddler groups”–The Sunday Herald
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Thanks for the recommendations. Looks right up my alley!
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Almost scared to read below as these posts always cost me A LOT of money! lol
But can I tell the MM team that they are one of my most favourite posts and to keep them up. Love the recommendations. Also love the focus on Australian authors.
Reading No Sex In the City. Its a light read.
I just read ‘the girl in the picture’ – the story of the Kim Phuc, the ‘girl’ in the famous napalm photo from teh vietnam war. Its not fabulously written, a bit clunky, but does a great job of telling fascinating life story with the context of the geo political movements in IndoChina at the time.
Just before that I went on a Douglas Kennedy bender. Get into him girls. State of the Union is a good place to start.
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Gone Girl is AMAZING. Everyone should read it!!
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I bought Gone Girl on a whim during a wet and windy weekend in Noosa. Couldn’t put it down! Luckily the books my kids chose were just as interesting, so we had a lovely reading fest for two days. My daughter read I am Number Four, and my son read one of the Percy Jackson series.
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I finished Gone Girl today. I loved it too. I loved how twisted they were. Now I am looking for something else to read. Hopefully I will pick up some inspiration from the comments on the post.
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Read one of her earlier books if you haven’t already. Sharp Objects is amazing.
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Thanks for the tip. I will download it to my Kindle now.
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The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
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I’ve oh-so-ashamedly succumbed to the 50 Shades phenomenon. I’ve spent so much time criticising it that I thought it was best to at least have an informed opinion, right?
Whilst I’m reading 50 Shades from the privacy of my own bedroom, I’m reading Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates, a fictionalised biography of Marilyn Monroe, in public. I’m not usually one to read two book simultaneously, but it’s an extenuating situation.
Gone Girl is next on my list: I “suggested” it to a friend who wanted a book to buy with the intention of me borrowing it!
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Just read ‘Addition’ by Toni Jordan- love, love, loved it. Onto ‘Maine’ by Courtney Sullivan. It’s a great read too- characters are so true to life!
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The funniest book I’ve read in ages (thanks to another Mamamia reader): Lighter Shades of Grey: A (very) Critical Reader’s Guide to “Fifty Shades of Grey”
Absolutely laugh out loud. I bought copies on Kindle for everyone I could think of (including Mia but I guess you’ve been too busy to collect it Mia
) It only costs a few bucks and is an hilarious take down of the dreadful Fifty Shades….
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War brides by Helen Brown. Really enjoying it.
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That is next on my list!
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Just finished My Hundred Lovers, which I really enjoyed. Before that I read Anna Funder’s All That I Am (couldn’t put it down!) Currently reading Jennifer Weiner’s The Next Best Thing.
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I read ‘All that I am’ recently. Great book!!
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I seem to be the only person in Oz that thinks All That I Am isn’t half as good as Stasiland. Stasiland is a must-read, fabulous book. And I also thought Elisabeth Holdsworth’s Those Who Come After (also Australian author, published last year) was a better book than All That i Am – covers some of the same time period, but in The Netherlands.
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The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde. Latest in the Thursday Next series. It’s okay but I’m not loving it nearly as much as I loved the early Thursday Next books.
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The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
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Ooh, I read this a few weeks ago – loved it!
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Really liked this one too..unusual but interesting
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I’m reading “Little Sister” by Julian Novitz at the moment, which I’m really enjoying. I have Amy Espeseth’s “Sufficient Grace” lined up to read next. It’s just come out and I’m dying to get into it.
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