Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

  • Started on: 2013-06-20
  • Finished on: 2013-06-21
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

I don’t even know where and when I learned about this book, but something about it drew me to it. I am glad to say I wasn’t disappointed by this lovely story.
Harold Fry is a pensioner who has a pretty boring life and a pretty overbearing wife. One day he gets a letter from an old colleague who is in a hospice, dying from cancer. He writes her a note back, but when he goes out to post it, he decides to keep on walking. All the way across the country (England) to the hospice itself, hoping to inspire his old colleague to just hang on in there. Along the way he is an inspiration to others, learns a lot about himself and his relationships, and comes to terms with what happened in his (and his wife’s life).
It is a beautiful story, made more so because Harold seems such a normal old man when he starts out. He has worked the same job all his life, has a wife and a son. But the story (behind the curtains of their lovely home) is a lot more complex and heartbreaking than you could ever expect. A great and indeed lovely read, four out of five stars.

  • Started on: 2013-06-20
  • Finished on: 2013-06-21
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ****-
  • Genre(s): General Fiction

I don’t even know where and when I learned about this book, but something about it drew me to it. I am glad to say I wasn’t disappointed by this lovely story.
Harold Fry is a pensioner who has a pretty boring life and a pretty overbearing wife. One day he gets a letter from an old colleague who is in a hospice, dying from cancer. He writes her a note back, but when he goes out to post it, he decides to keep on walking. All the way across the country (England) to the hospice itself, hoping to inspire his old colleague to just hang on in there. Along the way he is an inspiration to others, learns a lot about himself and his relationships, and comes to terms with what happened in his (and his wife’s life).
It is a beautiful story, made more so because Harold seems such a normal old man when he starts out. He has worked the same job all his life, has a wife and a son. But the story (behind the curtains of their lovely home) is a lot more complex and heartbreaking than you could ever expect. A great and indeed lovely read, four out of five stars.