Emmabbooks

sultanas

Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

Just as Vinnie was wondering whether to fill he bag with groceries, or put it to a better use ...

Hi Simon, - auto correction can be very funny! When you say medical, do you mean thrillers? If so have you read Fatal Complications by John Benedict ? Brilliant. Look forward to seeing you around

I've recently finished Code Name Papa: My Extraordinary Life while Hiding in Plain Sight by John Murray,Sharon Murray and Abby Jones Its a memoir of an ex US undercover agent, and is more scary than any novel you've ever read - if you've every done anything to upset a government. I'm recommending it to everyone - quite astounding what is going on around us that we near hear about. Very readable, but will make you wonder what that creak downstairs is! At the moment reading The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. Snapshots of life in Afghanistan for women, their sons, brothers and extended family. Fascinating. Next up will be a romantic novel!

Oh my goodness Laura and Kell, I do hope you're both feeling better soon. Kell, make sure you wear a sock at night, duvets are very clever at wrapping themselves around toes and hurting them badly. Things are going well out here. I sucessfully made a quilling (paper craft) valentine's card - though some might wonder if it was done by a 6 year old! Anyway I produced a "work of art" which is the goal, I wasn't striving for perfection. I've just starting reading Code Name: Papa My extraordinary Life while Hiding in Plain Sight by John Murray , a memoir about someone who used to work as an Agent for the US secret service. Quite astounding (and frightening) what goes on. I'm only half way through it at the moment, but its completely gripping. Don't confuse this memoir with a thriller of the same name! Friends coming to stay next week, so currently planning food etc. Best wishes to everyone.

Hi Panda, I read both physical and electronic books. For me E-readers are good because - take up less space - easy to refer back - check who a character is etc. - easy to look up the occasional word I don't know - instant access to a book I can't wait for - when travelling, easier than lugging umpteen books around However if buying a book (all of my e-books are free review copies from publishers), I still buy paper copies because: - seeing the cover, is half the experience - when looking for a book that I've read, but can't quite remember what it is called, I will easily find it in my bookshelves - not a chance on my e-reader. - if there are pictures/diagrams etc. a book is better - if I'm likely to want to refer back to a book - ie its a text book / self help etc., then a paper book is definitely better for me. It might be an age thing Thanks for the great post!

Anna - inspired by this site, I've just started The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin, about Sisi The Empress of Austria (1875). Early days yet, but great so far.

Hi everyone, Hope you're feeling better very soon Laura. I've made a mental note to myself not to do the house cleaning when low sun is shining into the house - there are so many more cobwebs (and dust) than when its darker! Also trying to get on with this quilling (twirling paper strips into shapes). It all looks so easy in the book/internet, but my circles all come out different sizes, and not flat. Hmmm, who'd have guessed that it could be so difficult. Just finished reading my latest book for review (in 3 days!), so later on got to write something about it. A short walk first I think.

Hi Anemone, great to see you on here. See you around

AbielleRose - love the picture of your siamese - good idea to cover the sheets with something! Late last night I downloaded the latest Clare Chase - A Stranger's House (thriller, romantic, suspense) without noticing that its publication date is this coming Friday, so I need to get my review finished by the end of Thursday. What a great excuse to sit outside (where its sunny ) and read all day. Lovely, but feel shamed when I see you've been clearing up all week Athena - well done you!

Welcome Kerry. Hope to see a lot more of you around here. I love Middlemarch! Don't know anything about The Little Paris Bookshop, glad to hear what you think of it when you've finished it.

Hi everyone, hope to hear that you're all feeling better soon (and glad Luka the dog is better). And you too Virginia, its awful enough when accidents happen, but for drivers to go mad about it isn't helpful, and just makes everything worse. Glad your new house mates are going well so far Nollaig. Last night the cat fell out of bed (cat lovers will understand why he was on the bed in the first place!). To try and save himself he stuck his claws in the sheet - which are now wrecked - cat is ok though - 9 kilos of cat falling is quite a lot of sheet shredding . Can't believe the price of sheets! No way I'm going to get more Egyptian cotton lovely sheets (since found lots of claw holes in the other sheets too), back to Marks and Spencer I'm afraid. Hope tomorrow is a good day for you all.

Thriller

"The letter lay on the table before her." Death Comes First by Hilary Bonner (psychological thriller)

Oh Anna, what a difficult time. I do hope your child is getting over the flu quickly, and send you lots of positive thoughts about your dog. Hi Nolaig - hope your housemates settle in well, and are fun to live with. Have you heard of www.headspace.com - great for learning how to switch the brain off from anxious thoughts. Me, I've been looking at Pinterest over the last few days. Found so many good books (mostly memoirs) that I would like to read, almost stressed as to how I'm going to get through them all. Also trying to get rid of the smell of beer as our overlarge rescued cat (9 kilos) - a big cuddly monster, knocked over a whole glass of beer yesterday (wobbly back legs). Hoping I don't have the wash the sofa cover - or the floor! Naturally the cat was not at fault, a beer glass shouldn't have been left near where he was sitting.

Nearly finished Death Comes First by Hilary Bonner - an enjoyable psychological thriller (not scary). Keen to get started on The Boy from Hell by Alison M Thompson which (I think) is a diary from a mother about bringing up her son with ADHD.

That looks interesting Smalldog - this is such a great site to find new author and genres . (Though I'm from the UK, I now live in Austria - where this morning we were experiencing very British rainy weather - now turned to heavy snow, which at least looks pretty.)

The weather in February in the UK (where I come from) is often dreary, damp and a bit depressing. Recommend me one book for February please, and tell me why. To start this off, I recommend: The Love Detective by Alexandra Potter because: its funny, lively and upbeat. Its set in the warmth of India. Just right to curl up with on a rainy winters day.

The Saving of Mr Banks the story of how Disney made the film of Mary Poppins, starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. It was uplifting, funny, poignant and completely engrossing. Suitable for all the family too. Hadn't intended to watch it, but a friend wanted to see it and I'm so glad we did. I understand that the film is rather distant from the truth - but it certainly is good entertainment.

Yes, I too have a Kindle and am very happy with it. I like the fact that I can use it in bright sunlight, easily check back as to who a character is if I've forgotten, and just the total convenience of having lots of books on one gadget if I'm going away. However I mostly still buy books in paper format. No I don't think it needs WIFI, if you are organised enough to download books when able to attach to a computer. Good luck with your search. (need a new e-reader icon thing)

I Let You Go is certainly a very popular book - just not with me

It was a long time ago that I Ruska and Sarum, so I can't remember how good they were - except that I'm pretty sure Ruska was the first (of the 3 I read), so it must have been good enough for me to get the other two. Thrilled to find that Audible has Catherine the Great in its library, so as soon as spring arrives (ie snow gone) I will be taking Catherine with me on mountain hikes. Thank you so much for that recommendation Anna.

Hi Needle - lovely to see you on here. I'm also new, only been here a few days, but I love it. Everyone is so friendly and helpful - you have definitely come to the right place. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask - one useful thing to know, if that if you want to edit a post you've made you can't do it until you've posted 10 (or more?) times. That'll save you hunting around wondering where the edit button is. Any particular type of books you like? See you around.

Thanks for your comments Shyora. I find writing a blog makes me think much more about the books I read, and therefore I get so much more out of them. Thanks for your comments Frankie. I only rated I Let You Go 3 out of 5, because the first part was slow to get going, and I felt predictable. However, then it turned out that it wasn't at all predictable and I got really into it, so much so that I found the few violent scenes too upsetting for me. I much preferred The Ice Twins by SK Tremayne (I rated it 5 out of 5) - a great story about a family that relocate to an island in Scotland, that kept me guessing right to the end, and often wondering what I would do in that situation. Yes I do enjoy psychological thrillers, as long as they're clever rather than too scary.