Goodreads Ireland discussion

I think Seraphina did this last year and it wad very good so as good a time as any to keep the tradition going.
What were peoples favourite reads this year , -
1. Favourite Read Overall
2. Favourite GRI BoTM
3. Favourite GRI Quarterly Read
4. Favourite Continental Challenge Read.

Not everyone will have a book for each category but it will be interesting to see peoples responses. :-).

For me the break down is as follows -
1. Fifth Season by NK Jemisin pushed very close by Uprooted from Naomi Novik, A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab and Saints Blood by Sebastien De Castell
2. An easier choice Thirteenth Tale which was not only a great book but also a great discussion here
3 Only Ever Yours. I didnt read a lot of the Irish choices this year to be honest but this was a decent dystopic novel.
4. Kalpa Imperial was the standout from my chalenge

Ok. I have enjoyed the vast majority of the books I reason this year so this is tough.

1. Maybe either Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? or The Lake House.
2. I know they are both my nominations but I genuinely enjoyed both Plague and The Thirteenth Tale and the discussions that followed.
3. N/a
4. The Birthday Boys. It was a great reason but also got me to read another great book by the same author, Each Man For Himself.

I don't know why autocorrect keeps changing read to reason. grrrr

1. Top 4 is the best I do! Disgrace, Asking For It, Middlemarch, The Temporary Gentleman. I have a feeling my current read Einstein's Dreams will also be a contender.
2. Time and Time Again.
3. Either Only Ever Yours or You.
4. Disgrace. It's a book I would never have picked up only for the challenge - thank you Seraphina :-D

Its hard narrowing down the top choice :-). A good mixed bag

A reread of The Night Circus is my favorite and its also my favorite botm. I only read one quarterly read and didn't like it. I loved The Wee Free Men which opened up the world of Terry Pratchett for me. His books are a joy!
I didn't do the continental challenge but I'm looking forward to the 2017 challenge.

Glad my BOTM choice of Wee Free Men got you into Pratchett :-).

Yes it did Paul. Thank you for that!

1 My favorite book for the year Water Tossing Boulders: How a Family of Chinese Immigrants Led the First Fight to Desegregate Schools in the Jim Crow South
My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My favorite continental challenge
In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox by Carol Burnett
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

You can hope for no more in a recommendation Sherry. :-)

So true Paul. :-)

Paul, you really ask hard questions!
1. This is a tough one - I liked most of the books from this year, but if I was pushed it would be either After the Crash by Michel Bussi or The Martian by Andy Weir.
2. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield or Plague C.C. Humphreys.
3. I have only read this quarterly read books and neither would be my favourite.
4. Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer but only because I got a very small way through this challenge!

Trelawn will be pleased you picked both her BOTMs :-)

I read After the Crash this year as well and really enjoyed it. The Martian is another excellent pick, loved it.

Did Trelawn nominate Time and Time Again?

Nope. I think that one was Paul's :-)

Ah, thought it was one of you =)

Its a sci fi. I'm the only one naughty enough to bring them in here ;-)

Paul wrote: "Trelawn will be pleased you picked both her BOTMs :-)"

:-)

In fairness I read it first and recommended it to you.

Very true. I hadn't read Ben Elton before.

this is a tough one
my book of the year and book of the month was probably the night circus which is now one of my favorites but there are a couple of close runners up
my favourite for the challenge was my Antarctic read
and quarterly read was probably only ever yours, it was a really thought provoking book.

It was also historical fiction. Most books slot into a few catagories. Done think you'd manage to Phillip K. Dicks voted in Paul ;-)

PKD would be a hard sell I think. But he's definitely an acquired taste so wouldn't be a great group read for that.
But Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep might be a fun one for us next year ;-)

Yeah, I think I'd probably prefer that one to The Man in the High Castle for the genre challenge but got the latter in an audible 2 for 1 deal!

I really enjoyed that one of PKD's when I was younger (probably when Bladerunner came out - oops, that's showing my age, isn't it!).

Man in the High Castle is quite an odd book written in an odd way. Its a great concept but the delivery won't work for a lot of people

Its really interesting watching Bladerunner then reading the book as there are so many differences but both are so good.

Seraphina wrote: "this is a tough one
my book of the year and book of the month was probably the night circus which is now one of my favorites but there are a couple of close runners up
my favourite for the challeng..."

I agree with Serapha that Only Ever Yours was very thought provoking and touched on some very relevant issues. I'd highly recommend the authors other book Asking For It. It has some very graphic scenes but it too makes some very well observed points.

Bookworm with Kids wrote: "I really enjoyed that one of PKD's when I was younger (probably when Bladerunner came out - oops, that's showing my age, isn't it!)."

Paul wrote: "Its really interesting watching Bladerunner then reading the book as there are so many differences but both are so good."

I think I also saw Blade Runner when it first came out. Maybe a rewatch is in order!

There's about ten editions of the film now. :-)

Paul wrote: "There's about ten editions of the film now. :-)"

But the original is still the best! ;-)

1. Favourite Read Overall
Difficult, for me The Round House just ahead of The Martian, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Sellout and The Stars My Destination

2. Favourite GRI BoTM
has to be The Thirteenth Tale

4. Favourite Continental Challenge Read.
Between the World and Me

1. Favourite Read Overall

Ha Ha I have had a very good year! So in order of reading: The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley ; The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge ; The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney ; The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell ; (Joined GRI about here) The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling ; The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ; The Humans by Matt Haig ; All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr ; Kafka on the Shore ; The Green Road by Anne Enright (as a result of a GRI recommendation) ; Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien ; The Vegetarian by Han Kang ; The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and finally Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris.

Phew! and the GRs database shows I was only actively reading from May onwards. Joined GRI in the Summer I think.

2. Favourite GRI BoTM:

As I had read the thirteenth tale the month before GRI I am going to say The Door by Magda Szabó . I would never have read this book if it had not have been for GRI and its started me reading more fiction in translation.

3. Favourite GRI Quarterly Read

I have only read two (working on the third). I am going to choose Nothing On Earth by Conor O'Callaghan as its still with me. A weird little book to say the least.

Apologies for the length of number 1 - I would make a rotten judge!

Margo wrote: "Seraphina wrote: I agree with Serapha that Only Ever Yours was very thought provoking and touched on some very relevant issues. I'd highly recommend the authors other book Asking For It. It has some very graphic scenes but it too makes some very well observed points.

I have Asking for it bought and ready to read sometime in 2017. Looking forward to it (if that is the right thing to say considering the nature of the story).

Never apologize for adding to my wish list LOL

I'm glad you liked the door Maria, it was such a well written book but dunno whether it's cause it was translated not many participated in that read. hopefully people add it to their tbr lists, such a rich story

I find translations rarely work on audio which puts me off buying them. If I can get them in the library that's fine ;-)

These are my favorites.
1. 1984
2.The Thirteenth Tale or Time and Time Again
3.You
4.The Birthday Boys or Ordinary Grace

I loved books from my 2 favorite cozy series. Paws and Effect from the magical cats series and A Toxic Trousseau from the witch craft series. These are my guilty pleasures and I always look forward to the next books by my two favorite cozy authors, Juliet Blackwell and Sofie Kelly

Favourite read overall would be either Shelter or The Callwhich was nominated one month and I thought it sounded intriguing.

Fave monthly read was probably Plague.

Fave Quarterly read. I only read a couple so it was Rain Dogs.

Picnic At Hanging Rock was a reread but I still loved it for the Continental Challenge.

Lorraine, I love the movie of Picnic at Hanging Rock.

I read Picnic at Hanging Rock for the challenge as well and really enjoyed it. A good atmospheric tale.

The movie is pretty faithful to the book if I remember correctly. I meant to watch it straight after reading the book but I was never in the right mood. But Peter Weir is a great director.

An eclectic mix Emma

Asking for it was really outstanding. I'm so glad you read it Emma else I might have missed out on it ;-)

Lorraine wrote: "The movie is pretty faithful to the book if I remember correctly. I meant to watch it straight after reading the book but I was never in the right mood. But Peter Weir is a great director."


Yes he's a great director. I love his style.

1. Favourite Read Overall - The Night Circus, and The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden

2. Favourite GRI BoTM - The Taxidermist's Daughter and Only Ever Yours

3. Favourite GRI Quarterly Read - Distress Signals

4. Favourite Continental Challenge Read - In Cold Blood and The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden

In Cold Blood is a superb book. I haven't read it in a long time but it is still one of my favourite books of all time.