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Books (202)

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- Love...From Both Sides (2)
- By Nick Spalding
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- The Alchemists: Inside the secret world of central bankers (1)
- By Neil Irwin
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- Dear Lupin... (4)
- Letters to a Wayward Son
- By Charlie Mortimer, Roger Mortimer
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- Quit & Run (1)
- My Wake Up Call on Wall Street
- By Daniel Tabbush
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- The Party (40)
- The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers
- By Richard McGregor
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- The Examined Life (3)
- How We Lose and Find Ourselves
- By Stephen Grosz
- Reading since Mar 25, 2013
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- Every Seventh Wave (7)
- By Daniel Glattauer, Jamie Bulloch
- Finished on Mar 16, 2013
  
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Every Seventh Wave

Not as good as the prequel, but nice closure to the story

The email format continues in this sequel Every Seventh Wave, which picks up right from where it left off at the end of Love Virtually, with Leo being back in Germany and the two starting to emailing one another again. I was first puzzled by the seemingly unrelated title of Every Seventh Wave to its ... (continue)

The email format continues in this sequel Every Seventh Wave, which picks up right from where it left off at the end of Love Virtually, with Leo being back in Germany and the two starting to emailing one another again. I was first puzzled by the seemingly unrelated title of Every Seventh Wave to its prequel, but as I read I understand this is a fitting little story shared between Emmi and Leo which essentially says that the first six waves are calm and evenly spaced, but the seventh one is the unpredictable one which occasionally breaks free. Quite a romantic little story.
I personally felt the emails in Every Seventh Wave are not quite as brilliant as in Love Virtually; there are somewhat less "fireworks" going on between Emmi and Leo (perhaps rightly so given how much they'd gone through during the "Love Virtually" journey). Nonetheless this was an enjoyable read and gave the readers a solid, satisfactory closure to the story.

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— Apr 1, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Love Virtually (15)
- By Daniel Glattauer
- Finished on Feb 21, 2013
  
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Love Virtually

Unexpectedly good!

When I first saw the title of this book I didn't think much of it at first; everything suggests to me this would be a rather trashy love story: two strangers Leo and Emmi, started corresponding through emails with each other by chance and found love "virtually" in an unlikely setting.
The whole bo ... (continue)

When I first saw the title of this book I didn't think much of it at first; everything suggests to me this would be a rather trashy love story: two strangers Leo and Emmi, started corresponding through emails with each other by chance and found love "virtually" in an unlikely setting.
The whole book is made up of emails between Emmi and Leo - it's easy and simple enough to read so I thought why not give it a go. Turns out it is a rather fun, light-hearted, amusing, and pretty well written and translated too. I was fascinated by the depth of emotions built up between two people purely through words, and the author did an amazing job in making the story believable.
Ending was a bit disappointing though (to me it doesn't close the story properly and leaves you wanting more), but understandably this may well be deliberate so readers will read the sequel, Every Seventh Wave (which I had just finished reading!).

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— Mar 17, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Exposure (2)
- From President to Whistleblower at Olympus
- By Michael Woodford
- Finished on Feb 9, 2013
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- Quiet (114)
- The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking
- By Susan Cain
- Finished on Jan 31, 2013
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- Nothing to Envy (94)
- Real Lives in North Korea
- By Barbara Demick
- Finished on Dec 23, 2012
  
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Nothing to Envy

Shocking glimpse into life in North Korea

One of the greatest non fiction book I have read in a long time; it is such a brilliantly narrated book that gives a vivid and engaging account of ordinary life in North Korea through the life of six defectors. The history is covered in this book but the focus is more on the human side. I was left c ... (continue)

One of the greatest non fiction book I have read in a long time; it is such a brilliantly narrated book that gives a vivid and engaging account of ordinary life in North Korea through the life of six defectors. The history is covered in this book but the focus is more on the human side. I was left completely shocked and terrified by the state of lives in North Korea; it is depressing to read that even to this present day such a regime still exists, but I am glad I came across this book.

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— Dec 29, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Expats (25)
- By Chris Pavone
- Finished on Nov 25, 2012
  
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The Expats

Not impressed

I picked up this book in anticipation of a novel about life as expats living in Europe but it turned out to be a thriller, which was not what I was after. Maybe it was my own fault of not reading previous reviews, but honestly from reading the first few pages of the sample on kindle it wasn't obviou ... (continue)

I picked up this book in anticipation of a novel about life as expats living in Europe but it turned out to be a thriller, which was not what I was after. Maybe it was my own fault of not reading previous reviews, but honestly from reading the first few pages of the sample on kindle it wasn't obvious enough for me to realise that it was in fact a thriller.
Having bought the book I thought I would give it a go, but this book proved to be one that has almost certainly taken me longest to get going... the jumps in timeline between chapters definitely didn't help, and the plot was rather slow-going until you got more than half way through the book. It got a bit more exciting as you get to 3/4s of the book, and the final twist in the story was unpredictable. But after having forced myself to read till the end I kind of feel I should have given it up as it's not really worth my time.

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— Dec 29, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (840)
- By Stephen Chbosky
- Finished on Oct 29, 2012
  
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

5 people find this helpful
A moving story about growing up

I always like the idea of a novel being written in first person in a diary form. And this one is even better; it comes across as being simple and frank, but at the same time there are also a lot of meaningful thoughts in it that make me to pause and think deeper about them. I found it moving to read ... (continue)

I always like the idea of a novel being written in first person in a diary form. And this one is even better; it comes across as being simple and frank, but at the same time there are also a lot of meaningful thoughts in it that make me to pause and think deeper about them. I found it moving to read the journey of Charlie the “wallflower” as he learns to “participate” in life, and actually feel quite sad about it towards the end. A powerfully sentimental novel.

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— Nov 1, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Dinner (25)
- By Herman Koch
- Finished on Sep 29, 2012
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- Eat and Run (23)
- My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
- By Steve Friedman, Scott Jurek
- Finished on Sep 26, 2012
  
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Eat and Run

A frank, down-to-earth account of Jurek's amazingly extraordinary ultra running career that spanned for years. This book convinced me that our body is capable of achieving more than most of us believe it could, and the idea of "testing our limits" makes us stronger stuck with me. An inspirational re ... (continue)

A frank, down-to-earth account of Jurek's amazingly extraordinary ultra running career that spanned for years. This book convinced me that our body is capable of achieving more than most of us believe it could, and the idea of "testing our limits" makes us stronger stuck with me. An inspirational read for anyone who aspires to be a little more serious about running (and eating healthily).

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— Dec 20, 2012 | Add your feedback