Thursday, January 5, 2012

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle


A Greyhound of a GirlA Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
Around the World in 52 Books: Book 2 of 52!
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sentimental story of a girl whose best friend has just moved away, and her grandmother is dying. One day she meets her dead great-grandmother walking down the street, and through the end the story of four generations is told. It isn't just the stories of the four women, but how their landscapes changed over time.

This is YA in focus, a quick read, and has lovely lilting words that make you realize you are in Ireland! I'd love to hear an audio version.  Like this little one - "You'd a lovely way of falling."

For the Around the World in 52 Books reading challenge, I'd planned to read a different book by Roddy Doyle - his Booker-prize winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.  Then one day I was browsing through the newest books posted to NetGalley, and requested it the minute I saw it.  I get the sense it isn't his usual style exactly, so I'll look forward to eventually reading the book I originally intended to use to visit Ireland.  Maybe I'll go back there before the year is out!  I also downloaded Dubliners to my iPad.


(For you NetGalley users out there, are you seeing a trend of missing pages?  There were several pages that were blank, usually the first in a chapter.  Is this to cut down on theft?  The file is already DRM.  I got access to a cookbook that I couldn't even review because the main recipe for macarons was omitted (pgs 22-25), and the rest of the recipe variations in the book asked the baker to start with that base recipe.  I didn't have that experience in the past, and just wondered if I should expect more of this.)

6 comments:

  1. the book title sounds very interesting. i feel it is kind of along the lines of twenties girl?

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of the four women definitely has that kind of character, and way of speaking. It is pretty cute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like a fun read :)

    I've not had that problem with NetGalley and I've read quite a few lately. Maybe it depends on the publisher?

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Sam - Good to know! I could partially understand for protective/copyright reasons, I guess I just wish they'd tell you up front if that is the reason.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maybe I'll go back there before the year is out!

    Oh, methinks you probably will!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting the Reading Envy blog and podcast. Word verification has become necessary because of spam.