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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:16:57 GMT
i love happy endings if im down in the dumps to be honest. if it is not a happy ending im still wondering about the book
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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:17:42 GMT
I do read serious books every now and again! not too often though
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:17:58 GMT
No Oonagh, not for a second, that is why I was bored! It was because Mark was portrayed as such a sweet guy that I knew we the readers were meant to be on his side and we would hate Dara if she cheated on him. If we hadn't been told repeatedly how wonderful Mark is, I wouldn't have known what Dara was going to do.
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:20:39 GMT
I love happy endings too Oonagh! But I hate when they are engineered into a story if you know what I mean. I hate when I 'know' it is going to end happily. I prefer to hope. That is what keeps me reading - the 'not knowing' and the anticipation of it all working out well.
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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:20:47 GMT
Fair enough i suppose im a bit of a cynical when it comes to love hence y i m single
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Post by Shirley on Jan 24, 2006 20:20:54 GMT
I remember Charlie and I discussing this point just after we read it, but the whole Twix the dog story was very sad! :-(
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:21:58 GMT
i thought too through out he whole book that louise was hard done by with her 'friends'. They used her bad
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:23:01 GMT
forgot about the dog
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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:24:59 GMT
yeah they were alot of B***h in the book
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:26:03 GMT
Oonagh, that is interesting! You expected the worst from Dara and so got a nice surprise when she remained faithful. I understand now why you liked her story; she did the opposite of what you expected! That is what i love to happen in a book. Yes, it was sad when Twix died and now that I think about it I'm not sure that I buy the whole 'David' story either. He turned around and was nice as pie all of a sudden at the end wasn't he? And another thing: how did Sophie and Robert afford to keep that huge house in Malahide when Rosie took away her guarantee of their loan? THey should have had to give that house up!
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Post by Shirley on Jan 24, 2006 20:26:23 GMT
I agree with Megan that the prologue was well set up with the girl thinking about how her fella was going to propose to her, and the elderly lady sitting across from her. It was definitely well structured.
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:29:22 GMT
but i was wondering what happened to them! did he propose, what happened to the lady with the book??
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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:30:38 GMT
I must have more trust
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:32:16 GMT
When I finished the book I went back to the prologue to see how the author had done it. I wanted to check who was actually on the train! It was a surprise to see then that the girl at the very beginning who describes the train and the crash was not involved in the rest of the book at all! Hey just a quick question about Melissa Hill's other book - Not What You Think. What was the big twist in that book? Was it that the girl was in a wheel chair? (I tried to read it but gave up! Again the men were just too perfect! Does anyone else get bugged with that?
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:32:26 GMT
you need to go places where theres more men
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:34:26 GMT
megan do you read a book 'differently' because you're a writer?
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:35:04 GMT
Hey Claire, I guess they got squashed in the train. You win some you lose some!! Maybe you're right not to trust too much Oonagh!
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Post by Shirley on Jan 24, 2006 20:36:02 GMT
but i was wondering what happened to them! did he propose, what happened to the lady with the book?? That's true, it's a pity they weren't weaved into the story at the end in some way. It would have been hard to do, but it would have been more rounded.
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Post by Oonagh on Jan 24, 2006 20:36:03 GMT
No i must dream at least!!! where claire??? I must be hanging out in all the wrong spots??
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:37:59 GMT
wish i could help you there oons, even i had to travel to find one
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Post by Shirley on Jan 24, 2006 20:38:20 GMT
This review was in Bibliofemme. www.bibliofemme.com/others/wishfulthinking.shtmlThis is the crux of it: Melissa Hill is using the tried and tested model in her fourth novel. Unlike most chick lit, Wishful Thinking evokes strong opinions in the reader, particularly in relation to Rosie Mitchell's two children. This is a page turner and Hill's best effort so far. I can't say I agree with that!
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:38:46 GMT
Claire, I think I do read differently now. I tend to take books apart when I read them and try to work out what the writer is doing. Actually this has only really started since joining this book club! The first book I really analysed as a writer was 'Pomengranate Soup'. I really enjoyed doing that and learnt so much from it that I have been doing the same thing with every book I've read since then. Before I tended to read books very quickly (and dump them very quickly) but I would never figure out what it was that I liked or disliked about them. So I am learning a lot from being a member of this club. I think it's great fun!
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:39:34 GMT
no i wouldn't agree either. Never say Never was really something
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:40:55 GMT
so it works in a positive way for you, megan and doesn't ruin the book
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:42:38 GMT
I don't agree with that review either Shirley, however I did find the relationship between Rosie and her children interesting particularly because they were so much more affluent than her. I sometimes feel like I am very extravagant when I am in my parents' company. I go out to eat much more than they do and spend money much more easily too. I think it is a generational thing. Sometimes I worry that they might think that I am a spoilt brat like Sophie in the book! ( BUt they have never said anything like that to me, it's just a feeling I have because our lives have been so different to each other.)
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Post by Shirley on Jan 24, 2006 20:43:49 GMT
That's a good thing to do Megan. I'm sure you learn something from each one about why that book was a success. Speaking of which, are we doing If You Could See Me Now for the next bookclub or not? What was the final word on that?
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:46:06 GMT
No it doesn't ruin the book for me Claire. At least I don't think so! Some books are SO brilliant that I turn my analysing brain off and just enjoy them. THat's the best actually - just to get lost in the story and forget about everything else. And many books are so good that I can't work out how they have constructed them or what their secret ingredient is - they are just magic! 'The Kite Runner' is one such book that I read this year.
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:47:16 GMT
i see that with one of my sisters. she's into all this labeled gear, going away for weekends, but that's not the same as going on holiday, and having the newest of the newest in her home. They have now hit hard times but not in the sense as I have. She can't afford to go out when she feels lke it, no more trips away and no more latest fashion! she still has no idea what it's like to be penny pinching
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Post by megan on Jan 24, 2006 20:47:47 GMT
From my reading of the posts we aren't doing 'If You Could See Me Now.' next month but have yet to choose something else.
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Post by claire on Jan 24, 2006 20:48:34 GMT
shirley we've opened up a new secition for that book, go to main page. We've got nothing for next month, yet
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