nuttymum303

Do you play the lottery? If so, you'll feel an affinity with appropriately named, JoLayne Lucks, the heroine of this novel. How would your life be changed if you suddenly won $14 million? Naturally, you would find good use for it. But what negative consequences would follow? If you favor your privacy, personal safety and sanity, you will find Lucky You presents a living nightmare of all the things that can go wrong. Naturally, lottery winners become targets for all kinds of fraud. In fact, some will even try to claim that they own the winning tickets. But how often do envious people actually try to steal the ticket? That's the premise of this book. The plot line though is merely an excuse for the ever satirical Mr. Hiaasen to unloose his humor on those who operate beyond the fringes of legal and ethical behavior including purveyors of fake religious miracles, crooked officials, cheating spouses, white supremacists, racists, the mob, counterfeiters and thieves. In addition, the humor spills over to include those who marry too quickly and unwisely, overeager managers and law clerks, and the overconfidence of men. Those who enjoy reading about writing will be thrilled by the many satirical references in the book to the degradation of the written word in small town newspapers. Mr. Hiaasen is at his best when he focuses narrowly on fields of endeavor that he knows well. There his humor is sharp, on target and original. When he moves outside of his arena, the humor moves into burlesque and broad strokes that tend to belabor an obvious point past its potential. That's the weakness of this book. He's mostly off solid ground for his humor. Because his targets are people for whom we feel little sympathy, the humor sort of works. This book contains one of Mr. Hiaasen's favorite themes: the significance of natural beauty being marred by greedy people. But there's no Skink here to take the story line to its usual brilliant potential. If you are, however, a fan of Mr. Hiaasen, I definitely recommend this book to you. Appreciate what you have and live in harmony!

In 1630s Amsterdam, fortunes were made and lost speculating on, of all things, tulip bulbs. In fact, comparisons are sometimes made between the Tulip Crash of 1637 and the stock market crash of 1929. Tulip Fever is an interesting book because of its unique and rather exotic setting, but, in the end, it is just another dull and trite story of seedy adultery. Twenty-four year old Sophia is married to the hard-working, proud and pious sixty-one year old Cornelis Sandvoort. Although she has never really loved him, she does remain grateful to him for rescuing both her and her mother and sisters from a life of devastation and poverty. She thus submits to her husband's nightly advances, not with passion, but with a certain resignation and an air of obligation to provide him with a child. Trouble arrives when Cornelis decides to have Sophia's portrait painted (in a gorgeous Delft blue silk gown) by the young Jan Van Loos, a handsome and dashing artist. While Sophia and Jan are attempting to sort out their difficulties with Cornelis, Sophia's maid, Maria, also runs into problems. The girlfriend of a fish seller, Willem, Maria now finds herself pregnant, and, of course, alone. Suffice it to say that a little blackmail ensues between the two women and Sophia ends up concocting a daring plan that involves an elaborate deception and wild tulip speculation. If it succeeds, great, but if it doesn't, only catastrophe will follow. The author does an excellent job of bringing seventeenth century Amsterdam and its citizens to life. Her details are rich, varied and vivid. History abounds in this novel but it never overwhelms it. In fact, I, myself, would have loved to have learned more about the tulip craze and what made people invest so heavily in something as mundane as an ordinary garden bulb. The short, succinct chapters are interspersed with reproductions of Northern European paintings and epigraphs from essays and literature of the period. A great and good read

Red are the more recent books. I have plenty of room for the books once I get the bookcases lol. Not read anything by Jane Smiley, which is weird as I haven't read much by any of the book authors neither.

Added 22 more today

So far its cool, I am on chapter 9, looks ok as well. I got mine from BCUK bookring. Will do a write up after I read and see what u thought as well.

Have read a couple of the books on ur TBR pile and have a few on mine. I am reading Tulip Fever now.

Hubby has that as well as a few other Stephen King books.

Prefer paperbacks to hardbacks. Most of my pile is paperbacks

I have it for swaps if anyone wants to swap with me. PM your name and address and the 1st person gets it sent on Monday asap.

In 1950, Kathleen O'Malley and her two sisters were legally abducted from their mother and placed in an industrial school ran by the Sisters of Mercy order of nuns, who also ran the notorious Magdalene Homes. The rape of eight-year-old Kathleen by a neighbour had triggered their removal - the Irish authorities ruling that her mother must have been negligent. They were only allowed a strictly supervised visit once a year, until they were permitted to leave the harsh and cruel regime of the institution at the age of sixteen. But Kate survived her traumatic childhood and escaped her past by leaving for England and then Australia when the British government offered a scheme to encourage settlement there. Fleeing her past again, Kate worked as a governess in Paris and then returned to England where she trained as a beautician at Elizabeth Arden. She married and had a son. A turning point in Kate's life came when she applied to become a magistrate and realised that she had to confront her hidden personal history and make it public. This is her inspiring story. I rate this highly as it was a compelling story as well

Thanx for the comments ladies. Nice to know I beat ppl in the piles lol.

Have only got Dan Brown's book on my list.

They are all to be read except the 1 I am reading which is Danny Wallace book

On the shelf list? Sorry wasn't understanding that. The bold ones are the newer 1s that have been bought in past few days

Have this on my TBR pile for this year if possible

In no particular order Shopaholic and sister - Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic Abroad - Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic ties the knot - Sophie Kinsella Can you keep a secret - Sophie Kinsella Lizzie Jordan's secret life - Chris Manby Girl meets Ape - Chris Manby Memoirs of a geisha - Arthur Golden The other side of the story - Marian Keyes Sushi for beginners - Marian Keyes Angels - Marian Keyes Last chance saloon - Marian Keyes Two Women - Martina Cole The Know - Martina Cole Good Faith - Jane Smiley Spellbound - Jane Green Every Boy's got one - Meg Cabot Size 12 is not fat - Meg Cabot Innocence - Katheleen Teesaro The saving graces - Patricia Gaffney Young Wives - Olivia Goldsmith Bad Boy - Olivia Goldsmith Learn to fly - Victoria Beckham Ladies Man - John Ramster Short Stories - Ruth Rendell Handbags and Halos - Bernadette Strachan One Glass is never enough - Jane Wenham Jones Girl with a pearl earring - Tracy Chevalier Rescuing Rose - Isabel Wolff Working Wonders - Jenny Colgan Do you remember the first time - Jenny Colgan Did the earth move - Carmen Reid The Sweetest Taboo - Carole Matthews The Starter Wife - Gigi Levangie The Starter Marriage - Kate Harrison Lots of Love - Fiona Walker Warnings of Gales - Annie Sanders Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult Perfect Match - Jodi Picoult Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult The Godmother - Amanda Brookfield Julie and Me: Treble trouble - Alan Gibbons Memoirs of an unfit mother - Anne Robinson A faint cold of fear - Karin Slaughter Three Dollars - Elliot Perlman Half broken things - Morag Joss Archangel - Robert Harris Lucky - Alice Sebold The Palace - Lisa St. Aubin De Teran Blindsighted - Karin Slaughter On Beauty - Zadie Smith Roman Blood - Steven Saylor Where Rainbows End - Ceceila Ahern If you could see me now - Ceceila Ahern PS I Love You - Ceceila Ahern A perfect Evil - Alex Kava Mirror Lake - Thomas Christopher Greene Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Nadia Knows Best - Jill Mansell Solo - Jill Mansell Head over heels - Jill Mansell All inclusive - Judy Astley Unchained Melanie - Judy Astley Not that Kind of girl - Catherine Alliott The Old Girl Network - Catherine Alliott Rosie Meadows Regrets - Catherine Alliott Olivia's Luck - Catherine Alliott The Abortionists Daughter - Elisabeth Hyde Call me Elizabeth - Dawn Annandale Light as a Feather - Helen Dunne Ain't she sweet - Susan Elizabeth Phillips Trixie trader - Helen Dunne Come down into darkness - Clare McNally By the light of the moon - Dean Koontz Lucifer - Michael Cordy City of Bones - Michael Connelly True Bride - Thomas Altman If the spirit moves you: Life and Love after death - Justine Picardie Chapter and Hearse - Catherine Aird Midnight - Dean Koontz Oddthomas - Dean Koontz Reader's Digest Condensed Book - Various On Call - Anita Burgh The Broker - John Grisham The 5th Horseman - James Patterson The Woman of Substance: The life and works of Barbara Taylor Bradford - Piers Dudgeon Hollywood Divorces - Jackie Collins Pearls - Celia Brayfield City Woman - Patricia Scanlan Two for joy - Patricia Scanlan Tatiana and Alexander - Paullina Simons Primal Fear - William Diehl City of Gold and Shadows - Ellis Peters Ticktock - Dean Koontz The Sleeping Partner - Winston Graham Angels and Demons - Dan Brown The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown The Potter's House - Rosie Thomas Confessions of a Reformed Dieter - A J Rochester Up and Running - Holly Fox Deadly Decisions - Kathy Reichs Making your mind up - Jill Mansell Love is a Four letter word - Clare Calman The history of lucy's love life in 10 1/2 chapters - Deborah Wright The Wife - Meg Wolitzer The Other Woman's shoes - Adele Parks Fen - Freya North Five people you meet in heaven - Mitch Albom Short history Tractors in Ukranian - Marina Lewycka The Island - Victoria Hislop We need to talk about kevin - Lionel Shriver The Bad mother's handbook - Kate Long My Best friend's girl - Dorothy Koomson Diary of a Manhattan Call girl - Tracy Quan Diary of a married call girl - Tracy Quan Never say Never - Melissa Hill The Accidental Mother - Rowan Coleman Sleeping Arrangements - Madeleine Wickham Lifeline - John Francome Still thinking of you - Adele Parks Staying at Daisy's - Jill Mansell Playing Away - Adele Parks Larger than life - Adele Parks Stark - Ben Elton The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling WOW - Claudia Pattison Who killed Marilyn Monroe - Liz Evans JFK is Missing! - Liz Evans Where have all the boys gone - Jenny Colgan The Cindrella Moment - Gemma Fox Tom Clancy's Op-Centre State of Siege - Jeff Rovin A fine night for dying - Jack Higgins Trans Am - Rob Ryan The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory Confessions of a Failed Grown-up - Stephanie Calman Tongue in cheek - Fiona Walker Snap Happy - Fiona Walker Never look back - Lesley Pearse Charity - Lesley Pearse The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly Uptown Girl - Olivia Goldsmith Ten steps to Happiness - Daisy Waugh Darkhouse - Alex Barclay Twilight Children - Torey Hayden The Children's Hour - Marcia Willett The Dead - Ingrid Black Deadlock - Sara Paretsky Getting Personal - Chris Manby Quentins - Maeve Binchy Hungry Women - Laramie Dunaway Three to get deadly - Janet Evanovich Manhunting - Jennifer Cruise Divas Las Vegas - Belinda Jones Waiting in the wings - Donna Hay Running away from Richard - Chris Manby The Falls - Ian Rankin Aprodite - Russell Andrews A handful of happiness and This time next year - Evelyn Hood Isobel's Wedding - Sheila O'Flanagan Straight Talking - Jane Green The Nanny Diaries - Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin The California Club - Belinda Jones The Real thing - Catherine Alliott The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan Married Alive - Julie Burchill

I have books that I look at the back and see if I like what I am reading at the time. I have started a few books which I have to finish first lol.