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Alternative_Mr_Men

Alternative_Mr_Men

Joined May 2018

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Beyond Black: A Novel by Hilary Mantel
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Alternative_Mr_Men
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Pickpick

"Laura Purcell has many chills to run along your spine, and many secrets to drip-feed from her story."

Four Star review of The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-silent-companions-by-laura-pur...

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Alternative_Mr_Men
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Pickpick

"Laura Purcell has many chills to run along your spine, and many secrets to drip-feed from her story."

Four Star review of The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-silent-companions-by-laura-pur...

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Alternative_Mr_Men

‪There‘s usually a point in horror when the reader is frustrated the characters don‘t just destroy the Spooky Thing, but half way through The Silent Companion & they‘re hacking the spooky thing with an axe. The protagonist is even wishing she weren‘t a pregnant Victorian lady so she could “hack that gypsy boy‘s face to bits”. It won‘t do shit, there‘s still half a book left, but I approve!

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Alternative_Mr_Men
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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Blind Assassin: A Novel | Margaret Atwood

“Not much of a nightmare, you‘d say. Wait till you try it. I woke up desolate.

“Why does the mind do such things? Turn on us, tend us, dig the claws in.”

Nice to know I‘m not the only one whose creative brain turns against her!

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Blind Assassin: A Novel | Margaret Atwood

I know I haven‘t read at all over the weekend, but picked this up for an hour this evening and it‘s such slow going! I mean, it‘s Atwood, the writing is gorgeous (if sometimes confusing) but there are so many pages left and nothing seems to be happening!

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Blind Assassin: A Novel | Margaret Atwood
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When I saw Margaret Atwood at Hay Festival, she said she gets her best ideas from adverts on public transport, just like this one. Adverts for soap, which were a trend at one point, she said means they‘re telling the public they smell wrong. It‘s still about controlling bodies...

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Little Stranger | Sarah Waters

Anyone else massively excited for this?

https://youtu.be/ASR04zW4K8w

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Bird Box: A Novel | Josh Malerman
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Pickpick

A tense horror that gave me nightmares. A book to whizz through and bask in the creeping, claustrophobic horror.

https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-bird-box-by-josh-malerman.html...

#bookblog #bookblogger #horror #suspense #thriller

Tashreads Birdbox was so good 😱 6y
RadicalReader @Alternative_Mr_Men can‘t wait for the film adaption and looking forward to reading Josh Malerman‘s other novel Unbury Carol 6y
Alternative_Mr_Men I only just found out there‘s going to be a film. I‘ll be really interested to see how it adapts to a visual medium 6y
10 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Alternative_Mr_Men
Bird Box: A Novel | Josh Malerman
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Bird Box is a book about unknowable horrors forcing people to blindfold themselves or risk instant self-destructive insanity. Reading it outside in the sunshine feels somehow wrong!

No *you‘re* twitching whenever the wind blows!

#amreading #suspense

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Meditations Metaphysiques | Rene Descartes
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More bemusing annotations from my late Dad

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Laurus | Eugene Vodolazkin
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Bailedbailed

Think I‘m going to have to bail on this one. I‘d give a content warning but don‘t want to give stuff away. Let‘s just say things got very squicky and miserable and it‘s ground down my will to read.

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Alternative_Mr_Men

“I wished to be intelligible even to women while providing matter for thought for the finest minds”

Cheers Descartes.

#amreading #amwriting #postgradlife

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Meditations Metaphysiques | Rene Descartes
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So this morning my dissertation research proposal was accepted without amendment, which is pretty freaking awesome. My tutor recommended I really get to grips with Descartes and not just use him as a name drop, so I looked out my Dad‘s Britannica edition on Descartes. Like a little message from the After Life, my dad‘s caps lock YES greets me from the front page. Managed not to cry.

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Alternative_Mr_Men
You Don't Know Me | Imran Mahmood
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Pickpick

This is the story of a young man charged with a gang-related murder, who chooses to give his own closing statement disclosing what 'really happened‘.

Mahmood has done brilliant things. This book certainly has pacing imperfections, but makes me very much look forward to whatever else Mahmood might produce.

Full review: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/06/you-dont-know-me-by-imran-mahmood....

#crime #thriller #london #amreading

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Laurus | Eugene Vodolazkin
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Finished You Don‘t Know Me on the exercise bike (I am such a hero!) so laying back and starting Laurus in the sunshine :) #amreading

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson
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Mehso-so

#Review of #horror classic The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-haunting-of-hill-house-by-shir...

“A great deal of pleasure can be got from Jackson‘s style of writing, her unique narration of a weak woman‘s descent into madness”

#bookblog #bookreview

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Alternative_Mr_Men
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Wow, ok. As someone with bipolar I‘m pretty disappointed McCarten thinks the ‘modern‘ treatment is ‘gulping‘ lithium. There are a lot of different treatments, & lithium has to be carefully monitored with monthly blood tests. No one in these ‘modern‘ times is gobbling lithium! Also Churchill would most likely be diagnosed BPII (like me!) So would get a mood stabiliser and antipsychotic to gobble. #breakthetaboo #timetotalk #mentalhealth #bipolar

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood
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So yesterday I got to meet Margaret Atwood. Look at my little excited face! Atwood is an absolute hero of mine, and hearing her speak was just an amazing experience. I‘ve done a feature on my blog about her talk here: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.com/2018/05/margaret-atwood-at-hay-festival.ht... #margaretatwood #bookblog #hayfestival

RaimeyGallant So cool! 6y
RaimeyGallant And welcome! 6y
Tashreads She is my favourite 😍😍. I was lucky enough to attend her reading of The Penelopiad in London. She is phenomenal. 6y
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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson
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The investigators at Hill House are learning to never split the party!

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson
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Winning at life!

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Life After Life: A Novel | Kate Atkinson
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Pickpick

“Beautifully written and thoughtfully imagined, it ends leaving you satisfied but wanting just a little more.”
5 star review - https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/life-after-life-by-kate-atkinson... #bookreview #bookblog #bookblogger #speculativefiction #historicalfiction #5starreview

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson
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...slowly working on Woolfie‘s strength and increasing the book size #booksoncats #catsonbooks #catsoflitsy

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Life After Life: A Novel | Kate Atkinson
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There‘s something rather poetic about having your career trashed by the thing you study. Do you get that in any other field? #academia #EvenTheBooksThinkImPointless

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Alternative_Mr_Men
My Friend Dahmer | Derf Backderf
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My other half is away for the weekend. We are very rarely away from each other. He left me a present. It‘s a graphic novel about a serial killer! Believe it or not, this is very romantic. I‘ve never read a graphic novel but he said this could be my first - and flicking through the prologue I think he‘s right

CarolynM Welcome to Litsy🌼 6y
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Alternative_Mr_Men
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This month‘s picks, fresh from the book store! #amreading #bookbloggers #newbooks

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 👋😁 6y
JosieG Oh... that cover is gorgeous! 😍 6y
JosieG Welcome to Litsy! 📚 6y
See All 11 Comments
Bronte_Chintz Welcome to Litsy! Hope you love it here! 6y
Alternative_Mr_Men @JosieG it‘s amazing, isn‘t it? Books as physical objects are just getting lovelier and lovelier. I feel so sorry for a book these days when it has an ugly cover! 6y
JosieG They definitely have been setting the bar higher and higher. And I have to admit, I'm completely won over by a gorgeous cover. 6y
Alternative_Mr_Men @JosieG are you based in the uk? The UK edition of See What I Have Done is just so striking 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 👋🏻😊 6y
JosieG Unfortunately, I'm in the US. It seems like the UK editions are often so much more beautiful, and it makes me sad. 😭 6y
Alternative_Mr_Men I‘ve often thought that but didn‘t know if it‘s just a preference for what you know 6y
asiriusreader Welcome to Litsy!! 6y
12 likes2 stack adds11 comments
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Alternative_Mr_Men
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This month‘s picks, fresh from the book store! #amreading #bookbloggers #newbooks

Wife Welcome to Litsy!🌹 6y
5 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Alternative_Mr_Men
You Don't Know Me | Imran Mahmood
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This month‘s picks, fresh from the book store! #amreading #bookbloggers #newbooks

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The One | John Marrs
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This month‘s picks, fresh from the book store! #amreading #bookbloggers #newbooks

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Laurus | Eugene Vodolazkin
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This month‘s picks, fresh from the book store! #amreading #bookbloggers #newbooks

2 likes2 stack adds
review
Alternative_Mr_Men
The Courage Consort | Michel Faber
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Mehso-so

Although it might look like a nice little novella, The Courage Consort is definitely a short story. On repeat reads I think it could be very rewarding, and there were enough interesting points to warrant going back to explore. Also it is light enough to balance on a cat! Full review here: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/the-courage-consort-by-michel-fa... #booksoncats #catsonbooks #kitty #shortstories #novella

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Courage Consort | Michel Faber
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The first time in years I‘ve finished a book in one sitting! #amreading #oneshot

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Extremes | Christopher Priest
Bailedbailed

Oh dear oh dear. Normally I give a book 50 pages before giving up, but only got to p33. So dull! So tell and no show. Oh well, on to the next one! #bail

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Fellside | M. R. Carey
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Mehso-so

A book that tries to do a lot rather than focusing on doing one thing well - full review here: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/fellside-by-m-r-carey.html?m=1 #ghoststory #prisondrama #amnesia #readinginthesun

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Extremes | Christopher Priest
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“Teresa thinks the English countryside looks dark and rain sodden. She doesn‘t know what she had been expecting, but the reality depresses her” - that‘s my country! #britishandproud #notinaracistway #itsrainingbooks #shetland

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Alternative_Mr_Men
The Haunting of Hill House | Shirley Jackson
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The carnage!
My first experience with #blinddatewithabook has brought me an item to tick off my to read list! #classic #horror TBR

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Fellside | M R Carey
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Frauline Schnitzel Von Strudel Belly has decided that is enough reading for tonight! #catsandbooks #catsoflitsy #kitty #cats #nomorereadingforyou #nope

LitsyWelcomeWagon Welcome! Checkout #Litsytips: http://bit.ly/litsytips and #LitsyHowTo videos: goo.gl/UrCpoU. They‘re great and should help you get settled in. Follow @LitsyHappenings to find out about various challenges, buddy reads, meet-ups and swaps taking place. #LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 👋🏻😊 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Welcome to Litsy!!! 6y
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review
Alternative_Mr_Men
Under the Skin | Michel Faber
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Pickpick

Under the Skin is a book with many layers, and passages to delight many interests. I won't claim it's a fluffy read -- it isn't -- but it does deliver a good story beautifully and graphically. Isserley is a vital and tragic protagonist; one that the reader can't help but ache for, despite the things she has done. Full review here: https://alternativemrmen.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/under-skin-by-michel-faber.html?... #scifi #horror

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Alternative_Mr_Men
Fellside | M R Carey

170 pages in and still not really sure where this book is going. I like it, though!