Susan Hated Literature

She'd much prefer to read a good book

Oblivion

14 April 2013
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Oblivion [based on book by] by , directed by

Jack is a drone repair man. Before his assignment on earth his memory, and that of his communications officer, was wiped, to protect the mission. 60 years ago, or so, the alien scavengers attacked. They destroyed the moon and forced … Continue reading

17 October 2011
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The Lantern (group read, week 2) by

For week 2 we read parts 3 & 4. If you haven’t read these bits of the book then there are spoilers ahead. Questions this week are from Kailana; The title of this book is Or is it that they … Continue reading

10 July 2011
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Touch by

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Stephen has returned home to take up from his stepfather as pastor. He has also returned in time to sit at his dying mother’s bed side. He knows she is dying and is writing her eulogy, but at the same time remembering his past, as well as the stories and legends that grew up surrounding his grandfather Jeannot.

Zentner’s debut novel is a slow, atmospheric retelling of those childhood memories interspresed with Stephen’s musings on his current situation and relationships with his family members.

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30 August 2010
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The man who lives with wolves by ,

I first heard of Shaun Ellis when I watched the Natural Geographic documentary on him and his theories about how playing recordings of wolf packs can stop wolf attacks on farm animals. It worked in Poland, but Ellis has no science-biology background so his theories aren’t really accepted. Wolves have always been among my favourite animals, so I guess I was always going to be interested, like the way I’ll always watch those animal rescue shows, even when I know they’re bound to be all overly dramatic and manipulative.

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26 June 2010
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Fun home : a family tragicomic by

Like many father, mine could occasionally be prevailed on for a spot of ‘airplane’.

This is the memoir of Alison Bechdel, her recollections of growing up in an emotionally-distant family, the role of literature in her, and her father’s, life, her identifying as a lesbian at college and coming out, by letter, to her parents. It is the story of growing up in a house that can seem more like a museum than a home. Of living in a funeral home. Of trying to connect with her father. All told in graphic form.

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4 May 2010
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The Lace Reader by

Author: Brunonia Barry

When I first started reading this book I’ll admit to being a little bit confused. It was group read, for HistoricalFavorites, where was the history aspect. I kept waiting for flashbacks to old Salem and witch hunts. But instead I got the story of Towner Whitney and her family, and how the past is always around, especially when you try to ignore it.

Many of the Whitney family have the gift of reading lace, they can tell a lot about a person and their future, but ever since her sister committed suicide Towner has tried to escape that life. She herself suffered so much from the trauma of that experience that she felt she needed electro-shock therapy in order to overcome her anxieties. But that treatment ripped away many of her memories; now, back in Salem after her aunt’s disappearance Towner is forced to reconnect with people; friends and enemies from her past.

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22 November 2008
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When we were orphans by

ISBN: 057120516x ; Other Reviews It was the summer of 1923, the summer I came down from Cambridge, when despite my aunt’s wishes that I return to Shropshire, I decided my future lay in the capital and took up a … Continue reading

9 October 2007
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Never Let Me Go by

My name is Kathy H. I’m thirty-one years old, and I’ve been a carer now for over eleven years. That sounds long enough, I know, but actually they want me to go on for another eight months, until the end of this year.

I picked this upon impulse. At home, looking for something for the train, I recognised the author’s name and thought that I may as well give it a go. And I’m so glad I did because I loved this book. The narrator is Kathy H., a 31 year old woman, and the book is her memories of life at boarding school. She and other students lived at Hailsham where they were taught by the “guardians” and brought up in a privileged manner. But all is not as it seems and throughout the novels there are hints at something darker.

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22 July 2003
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Hulk directed by

I was pleasantly surprised with this film. I presume most people know the story of Hulk, guy gets radiated, then finds out that when he gets angry he turns green & monster-like (or grey in the early comics). Well I … Continue reading