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The Girl on the Train.

MrsPeel

MrsPeel

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I just got an Amazon.com message with offers of stuff on sale, within which was The Goldfinch which even though on sale it is too much for me ($20)
together with it, there was The Girl on the Train...

Sarita gave it to me for my birthday (a proper hard cover edition) and to me it was a bit of love-hate book but it made for an interesting read if you like that kind of thing. It is by no means a life changing reading... but entertaining (in a spooky kind of way? :imok)
Some people compare it to Gone Girl, others say it has nothing to do with it. (I haven't read or seen the movie so can't comment)

I just thought I share as I...how can I put it.... not sure enjoy is the word, but couldn't put it down.
The characters description is so well done ...only all of them are horrid example of the worse of the British .. LOL
so book also brought to attention the fact that, lately, I don't seem to like any of the characters in books I read or TV series...
My dad said change the stuff you are reading/viewing....fair enough, but I love mystery/thrillers.

does that happen to any of you often? the not liking any of the characters? or is it an age thing? (or just me being grumpy? :giggle)
 
All three probably. I like mysteries as well, and also gravitate towards books with good character development. Good characters and/or bad characters, I think as we get older we accept and realize more how complex various human beings are in real life and we expect the characters in a novel to be real, rather than perfect. As well, we know we have sides of ourselves which drive us towards certain behaviours which might be less than stellar, so we look for characters we can accept as less than perfect.

I find a lot of novels give us a very one dimensional character or characters and focus on story telling. While the story might be good I often feel disappointed in the read. Please don't kill me here, but I find Nicholas Sparks novels like this.

And yes I'm crabby. I read a lot of books with unlike able characters.... And they are far more interesting to me.
 
I with you, Lindzee. I like my characters to have "meat" to them. I read daily, so I find myself always searching for new books. I have not read Goldfinch or Girl on the Train yet, and I go back and forth on genre. I have been in a romance comedy phase that is a series. Usually I gravitate to suspense or everyday fiction and that is all over, haha. I am going to check them out in Kindle and see.
 
I liked Girl on the Train, although the main character needed a good slap! Gone Girl is completely different, loved the book, hated the characters. I usually cannot read a book if I am not engaged by the main character in some way. I don't get on very well with sappy dithering characters, so I don't read a lot of romance!

At the moment I quite like the Robert Galbraith books (the JK Rowling pseudonym) the main characters are good and 'meaty' or the detective novels by Susan Hill - the Simon Serrailer series. Susan Hill's characters are good, but the plots are quite often left unresolved in some way.

I still haven't go around to reading the Goldfinch yet, although I have it on my Kindle and I did love her previous book. I need to be in the right mood for a demanding read!
 
I agree with you Lindzz.... I love the characters well described, because then I can imagine them well in my head and then the story becomes a lot more interesting , a much much better read.....

Danyale, I also went through a romantic comedy phase... but in the past few months I found so many thriller/detective books free on Book Hub (which I owe to Lindzee by the way, thank you!!!!!) of writers I love like Connelly & Baldacci, I have been reading those....

For my birthday Sarita gave me another two books: After The Crash and Curtain Call, loved both of them...
Now just found some offers on Poirot stories and it ll be great to go back to those!!!

You know I haven't read anything of Rowllings? I watched all the Potter movies but haven't read any of the books, someone told me the Galbraith are good...I wonder why they write with pseudonyms if everyone knows is them?
 
I belong to a book club, so I end up reading all of the books that are hyped as good discussion books. I've read both of these and agree that while they weren't life changing, they are certainly entertaining. I think the reason Girl On the Train is compared to Gone Girl is simply because they are both rather dark who done its. They have a similar feel to them. If you enjoyed one, you'd enjoy the other.
 
Its funny, as I am not a romance reader, but I guess I needed something light this past month. I have found some funny ones, which has been entertaining. I think the only reason they worked for me is that with being a series of sorts, they have more weight?
 
I just read The Girl On The Train last week and I couldn't put it down. I just wanted to figure it out or have it spelled out for me. LOL I didn't really connect with any of the characters, but it was a fun, fast read.

The Goldfinch, I've already shared about it before, how I loved reading it. I was able to overlook a couple of spots that were a bit slow because the words, all the words put together, so beautiful. Also, you can tell I'd be an awesome writer. "Because the words, all the words put together, so beautiful." **SNORT**
 
I almost didn't read Girl on the Train because I disliked the main character so much in the first few pages. I stuck with it though and found that she was less annoying as the book progressed. :)

I've noticed more with tv that if I don't like a character, I can't stick with the show (Blindspot... I'm talking to you), but with books I have an easier time if the writing is okay otherwise.

I think the Galbraith/Rowling books are good. I think she wanted to use a different name because she wanted truthful feedback with a new genre of writing and to feel like she was back at the beginning as a writer again. She said that it was not a publicity stunt because she could have made more money by writing it under her real name. :giggle

I think sometimes a woman might write under a man's name to get a better book deal. ;)

Stephen King wrote several books under the name Richard Bachman... which weren't really a diversion from his regular writing. He did it because he wanted to get more books out into the world, and the publishing industry really just wanted one book from authors per year (at that point in time).
 
I read all the time! LOVE to read mystery's and romance. I also like to mix in some Anne Rice and Stephen King here and there. I have soooooo many books on my E-reader like over 900 that i will never be able to read them all and I am always trying to add to it as well. I will read a book and then find out its part of a trilogy etc etc ya know....I also love Nora Roberts Irish stories. Depending on my brain and stress load for that day will make up my mind if I read a no brain involved romance or a pay attention suspense/mystery LOL Last night I was up until 3am reading because I could not put the book down. About to go read some more now. I get so into my reading that sometimes I actually start to talk about the subject matter in books with people before i realize or wait that wasnt real!! LOL I know I need a good therapist.
 
gonewiththewind said:
"Because the words, all the words put together, so beautiful." **SNORT**
Click to expand...
see now i think that sums up brilliantly, how i felt about the goldfinch. you are an awesome writer. ;)

i liked gone girl, so i will add this to my list... love to throw in a good "Who Done It" every now and then. i don't have to love the character to stick with a book, so maybe i'm just weird. i was just talking about the book The People in the Trees on another thread and there's just no way anyone could like that main character ... he's despicable. but hating the character can be just as enthralling to me ...

but i hear why you are saying Cynthia. i read based on what my mood can handle. sometimes i am in the mood for the dark, or a thriller, or a good character study or simply just a fun, light quick happy read. it all depends. after reading The Goldfinch ... I needed a lot of light and easy stuff for awhile! :)
 
Girl on the train was supposed to be the book club selection on my last cruise. Instead we read The Nightingale which was quite good. I cried I am a weeper, lol.

I did not like Gone Girl at all. And let me tell you, I used to read Stephen King as a child, so I am not one that is at any way easily shocked. But those people were terrible, terrible souls. Both of them. They deserved each other.
 
The Girl on the Train - meh. It was entertaining as Nancy said, and Like Kimberlee said the main character is... if not dislikable, certainly dysfunctional! But for me that style of writing, going back and forth between the three main characters drove me a little cray-cray! I think I'm like Jen - depending on my mood at that time, or maybe I'm just crabby too :)
I did just read a book called The Patron Saint of Liars - totally random pick up and I really liked that book.
I will put The Goldfinch & The Nightingale on my list!
 
Oh I listened to The Girl On The Train in the last 2/3 weeks while traveling on the train and I enjoyed it a lot! I have to admit, the first hour or so I was so disappointed because I really didn't like Rachel but after a while it became less important and I ended up really hooked.

I've noticed that for audiobooks, I like thrillers. I don't want too much emotion because listening goes too fast or something. Like some books I need to actual read and feel and hurt over. :)
 
I've read both gone girl and girl on the train. I had a lot more compassion for the character in the girl on the train though. Thought they were all pretty sad though.
I'm rarely into sappy romances, mostly love mystery so, either modern or old fashioned a la Agatha or Anne Perry. Didn't care for ready player one this month at all.
 
I have also read Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. I didn't like the main characters in either book but did find both books fairly entertaining. I did think that there was way too much hype over Girl on the Train, so there was no way the book could possibly meet my expectations when I did read it.

I have also really enjoyed reading the Robert Galbraith books and a couple by Susan Hill.

Has anyone read I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. That was one of the best thrillers I read last year. I absolutely could not put it down!!!

LOVED The Goldfinch when I read it a couple of years ago.
 
I enjoyed it too. It was a thoughtful thriller and not too convoluted and fast paced (which is why I don't normally like thrillers!).
 
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