Just started all the light we cannot see, by Anthony doerr

I'm travelling to France this week and love reading books set in the location/country I'm travelling to so this is perfect.

This week I finished Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan and All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doer. Both good.

This week on the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast we read War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. For the month of May we are reading 31 short stories in 31 days. So far we've read:

A Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe

The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson

Bartleby the Scrivener, Herman Melville

To Build a Fire, by Jack London

The Monkey's Paw, by WW Jacobs

Many more to come!

This week I finished 1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed, by Eric H. Cline, a re-read of The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and The Ape that Understood the Universe, by Steve Stewart-Williams.

This week on the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast we read All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr in honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Next week we'll read The Godfather, by Mario Puzo in honor of Father's Day. New episodes every Tuesday.

Finished: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

It was a bit of a slow read for me, but I enjoyed it a lot! It was darker and more complex than the typical "Victorian romance" that I was expecting.

Started: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

For some reason I really prefer short chapters to long chapters which is one of the reasons I am loving this book! The chapters are like 2-3 pages long. I'm a sucker for a good WW2 story, especially one set in France. This book is a real recipe for success as far as my tastes go.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

A historical novel set in WW2 telling the story of a blind French girl and a teen German solider.

Rating: A++. I love realistic fiction books, and the two perspectives were interesting to read as well. Apart from that, the language Anthony uses is beautiful.

Finished reading A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, by George R.R. Martin. I was captivated by it. I liked the shorter format of the novellas and I enjoyed reading the stories of Dunk & Egg and spending time in the world of ASOIAF. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys medieval fantasy.

Nearly finished reading Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I'm a big fan of absurdist humour, and the book makes for a really palatable read. I can already see myself re-reading it in a few years.

Next: The Secret Barrister; Stories of the Law and How it's Broken, by the Secret Barrister, I feel like this has been a bestseller for ages and I'm interested to read it; All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, this has been on my reading list for years now, so it's time to get around to it; Howl's Moving Castle, by Dianna Wynne Jones, I'm a huge fan of the Studio Ghibli adaptation, I really can't wait to read this one; The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is my first foray into Pratchett's work, I'm disappointed it's taken me so long to get around to Discworld.

The Godfather, by Mario Puzo

Started this week. Never seen the movie and I really like it so far, but also I get really easily stressed out when I read stuff like this (and anything else).

All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Finished last week. Marie-Laure's relationship with her dad really tugged at my heartstrings. I think Daniel Leblanc and Frank Volkheimer were my favourite characters in it, but I also found the ending a bit unsatisfactory.

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World, by Andrea Wulf

Finished yesterday. I picked up this book because I liked the cover but then kept reading despite having never heard of this dude. I'd say Humboldt is sort of portrayed like a mad scientist, but the book takes you through his life and just how much influenced how we see nature now.

This week I finished Dawn of the Code War, by John P. Carlin and a re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by JK Rowling.

This week on the Drunk Guys Book Club Podcast we (finally) finish our quest to read 31 short stories in 31 days for Short Story Month. We read:

The Call of Cthulhu, by HP Lovecraft

Lamb to the Slaughter, by Roald Dahl

The Machine Stops, by EM Forster

Rikki Tikki Tavi, by Rudyard Kipling

Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut

The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell

And More! Next week we read All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr in honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Finished:

All the Light We Cannot See, by Another Doerr - beautiful book. It took me a little to get into it but the beautiful writing kept me motivated to continue and I am glad that it did.

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo - it was good enough that I will read the follow up when it becomes available at my library, but just barely. I found the writing flat and the characters poorly developed and quite frankly, unbelievable. It was fast paced and an easy read though, a good "popcorn" summer book.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling - I have been reading this to my son at bedtime for the past few months and just finally finished. Best out of the three I have read so far but if it wasn't for my son's investment and delight I don't know that I would find it as interesting. We are reading the illustrated versions and are waiting until the next one comes out in October.

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Started:

Iron Gold, by Pierce Brown

The Thief of Always, by Clive Barker - this is a re-read for me but I am reading it to my son before bed at night (7.5 years old). So far he is captivated which warms my heart as I loved this book as a teenager when it first came out.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Finished.

The Shell Collector: Stories by Anthony Doerr

Started.

Loved All the Light. I was floored by the beauty and flow of the writing and the author's loving treatment of his characters. After reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, I was compelled to read every other book he wrote. It is the same with Anthony Doerr...just wish their was a longer bibliography.

All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

(I posted this as a 'new post' but, upon suggestions from u/Duke_Paul (Mod) and u/ServalSpots, it looks like it belongs here so I'm posting here also. I'm not deleting the other post as people have commented and received some Karma)

I've only finished about 8% of the book so far and it's just amazing. I just can't put it down. The title actually makes sense while you read through the chapters already. I feel that the chapters have been written in a way that enables us to appreciate the good things about life, however small they may be. Can't wait to finish it!

Finished: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, by Stephen King

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon

Started:

All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I’m loving All The Light We Cannot See but I’m a bit concerned my lack of WW2 knowledge will detract from the experience. Should I buff up on the history a touch before proceeding? Will it enhance my enjoyment of it?

Finished Reading: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I honestly loved the book. I'd taken a bit of a break from reading all together, so I jumped into it with high hopes it'd bring back my love of reading. Lo and behold, I'm hooked again!

Started Reading: A Walk In the Woods, by Bill Bryson

Finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman.

I'm a little conflicted about how to feel about this book. But, gun to head, on a scale of being overwhelmed to being underwhelmed, the needle is tilted more towards the latter than the former.

If I have to try to be a bit more nuanced in my opinion – the book didn't really do anything for me; it didn't make me feel anything despite it being touted as being able to do exactly that, if we go by the testimonials in the blurb. Reading it was tantamount to indifferently wading through nearly four-hundred pages of text with a dissociation from pretty much everything that happens in the narrative. It was like listening to a recording of a voice that's too far away – the voice seeks to tell an interesting story but you're too detached from it for it to be immersive, which is admittedly an ironic analogy, considering the fact that the entirety of the novel is told from the first-person viewpoint of its eponymous character and is a 'study' of her psyche, and that is arguably as 'close' as a reader can get to a fictitious character. But, the point is, despite the authorial intention of having the narrative voice be appealing, quirky, and appealingly quirky, and of having it strike a chord with the reader, I was mostly indifferent towards it and the narrator/protagonist by association. The narrative is supposed to be witty at some points and emotional at some others, but save for maybe one or two instances, I was neither humoured nor moved, so much of it came off as bland. This is of course a highly subjective opinion, but there it is.

Some of the things about Eleanor's character also threw me off and felt a little too farfetched to be taken seriously. For instance, she, a fairly well-educated twenty-first century woman living and working in a metropolitan city, who regularly watches TV and listens to the radio and has a penchant for solving crosswords in newspapers to top it off, doesn't know what McDonald's and a laptop are. She's established as being a social misfit for sure, but nowhere is it implied that she has lived her life being subjected to some involuntary incarceration to the effect of never having had the opportunity of knowing of such everyday things as a fast-food chain and a portable computer. I can't help but feel that the author at times took things a little too far in an effort to nail the whole 'living under the rock' aspect of Eleanor's character. Also, throughout the book, it was difficult to pin down whether Eleanor was deliberately rejective of social norms or if she was truly clueless about them, because she appeared to keep vacillating between the two stances, which made the writing of her character come across as inconsistent.

All said and done, I get that the novel attempts to address some very important issues – trauma, abuse, depression, and loneliness – and I appreciate the intention and the message behind its writing. But I can't say I'm a fan of the end product as a whole. It simply didn't work for me.

(Also, as a side note, I noticed that in Chapter 20, there's a mention of 'Emily Brontë novels', while Brontë wrote and published but only one novel in her lifetime, and that being Wuthering Heights.)

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Started All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Both are super good. Who woulda thunk?

Finished All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Loved it, I'm a little dissapointed by the ending though.

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Started reading Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

Can't say too much about this one though yet because I am only a couple pages in so far.

Collected Stories, by William Faulkner

I’ll be on this one for a while...

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Number seven on the list of Pulitzer winners I’m reading this year.

Finished:

The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins - I liked it. I wasn't blown away but it was an interesting premises and the writing was technically solid. The epilogue was unnecessary and took away from the beautiful simplicity of the ending. It honestly left a sour taste in my mouth for the book - it was like his publisher recognized that the character was likely to be a fan favourite and directed him to tack on a finish to his story. It didn't belong.

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Started:

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Finished All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Liked it well enough, but it got a little slow in the middle.

Started All's Quiet On The Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. About halfway through and it's pretty good. Thought it would be a decent follow-up to "All the Light..." Still in the middle of War Trash, by Ha Jin too so I'll likely finish that next. Then I have The Secret History, by Donna Tartt to read after those.

Currently reading: Robin, by Dave Itzkoff The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Recently finished: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I finally got round to starting All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr***.***

I want to like it but I am really struggling with this one.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I picked this up shortly after it was released, made it approximately 3/4 of the way through, but then failed to finish it until a few days ago. It lives up to the hype. I would recommend it, especially for those who like historical fiction.

Finished All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Rather than espionage or a spy thriller, this book fleshes out the realities of wars for the people affected by it but not necessarily invested in it. One character is caught up in her country being occupied by the invading enemy and the other character was a reluctant combatant--and even using the word combatant is too strong a word to describe him. It held my interest from start to finish as I was carried along waiting for the characters' threads to play themselves out.

Started Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir, by Ellen Forney

I'm amazed how how much can be told with no words as well as how words and images together convey more than either on their own.

edit: added an author's name

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr -- I'm having a hard time getting into this for some reason. It's very highly rated, so I'm hoping it will pick up soon.

Also re-reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

I started reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.

I started listening to The Radium Girls, by Kate Moor.

I finished reading All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

I finished All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. A really good book. I thought the last 80 pages were a bit weak, which decreased my overall enjoyment of the book. I'd easily recommend it to most people nevertheless, especially if you want an easily digestible book.

I tried to read To The Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf but I managed only 50 or so pages until I decided I wasn't ready for it. I don't know when, or if, I'll retry it.

I've yet to decide which book to pick up next but I've got a few on my shelf waiting for me.

Finished All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr - such a beautiful book, I loved the writing.

Started Plain Murder, by CS Forester. The book itself is a weird print (re-print?) where the text is centered and there is way too much white space around the borders. My dad got it for me as an Xmas present cuz I love the Hornblower series. This book isn't nearly as good but it's interesting nonetheless.

Finished: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (a repeat), and The River by Gary Paulsen. I loved Hatchet by Gary Paulsen when I was young (and which I read again before The River) and just recently discovered GP's other books and am currently on Brian's Winter.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I finished The German Girl, by Armando Lucas Correa. I really enjoyed it although I felt as though some characters and ploy points were half baked and could have been executed better and more thought out.

I've started All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. So far it's good, although I'm struggling to get lost in it. I'm going to give it a good shot tonight in bed.

This week I finished The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins *. I read it because it was compared to Gone Girl so much, but it was honestly really underwhelming. Also finished *All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr which was just beautiful, exceptional writing. Highly recommend. Also gave me Book Thief Vibes

Started reading Eat, Pray, Love, and listening to *Sharp Objects. *

Just finished All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr A beautiful story crafted with masterful usage of English. One of the best war story I have read.

Also started reading Ask the Dust, by John Fante. Like his style so far.

Finished All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Liked it but didn't love it. Review here.

Currently reading Salvation of a Saint, by Keigo Higashino.

I stopped reading: The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah because it was like a really bad fanfiction.

Started reading: All the light we cannot see, by Anthony Doerr hoping this one is better. So far it's ok.

Finished All The Light We Cannot See, By Anthony Doerr (Loved it!)

Started I Remember You, by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

Just Finished: All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Now Reading: Nocturnal, by Scott Sigler

In the past week I finished both All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.

Loved them both. For the Anthony Doerr book it was something a bit different to what I'd usually read, can't say I've ever really gone for historical fiction. I spotted it in the library after having seen it on one of the Goodreads end of year award lists (best of the best?) so I gave it a shot, and was glad I did as it's ended up being easily one of my favourite books of the year.

Also recently I finished Men without Women, by Haruki Murakami. I'm not sold on Murakami. I really enjoyed Kafka on the Shore but his books I have tried since then haven't resonated with me at all, some of the recurring themes I find tiresome and perhaps his general style isn't for me.

I've just started Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. Feels like it'll be a fun read so far, very digestible and I'm not familiar with most of the original stories outside references in other media.

Just Finished: Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman

Now Reading: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

I just finished All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doer. I loved it.

Now all the other books that are waiting to be read seem to have lost their colour and appeal, and I'm struggling to find a new one to read.

finished: all the light we cannot see, by Anthony Doerr

Starting: Little Fires Everywhereby Celeste Ng

Finished The Other, by Thomas Tryon It was just ok. Frankly, it didn't hold my interest, so it took a really long time to get through

Currently reading All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. Bought this at a thrift book store, based on recognizing the name alone. Had no idea it was yet another WW2 novel. I was hoping to be done with that genre, but I'll go ahead and read this anyway.

Also reading The Obesity Code, by Dr Jason Fung I love this one! If anybody struggles with weight issues and you think you're eating healthy, think again! It's not about calories, it's about insulin!