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poppyshake

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  1. Thank you so much for all you’ve done over the years to make this place an absolute haven for book readers Michelle. I’m so sad to see it go but totally understand why it’s become necessary. Hope somehow that we can all keep in touch.
  2. Such a great book. I heard her talking about it on Radio 4's Bookclub (on iPlayer) and she was just so interesting that I put the book on my wishlist straight away. Afterwards I knew I had to read Goshawk by T.H. White and so tracked it down at the library. I'm currently reading Madame Bovary of the Suburbs by Sophie Divry which is a bit of an odd choice for me as I absolutely hated Madame Bovary I did like Sophie Divry's book The Library of Unrequited Love though and so thought I'd give this one a go. It was a bit slow to start and I'm not altogether a fan of the second person narrative employed here but all the same I'm hooked .. though large parts of it are tedious (in homage to the original I guess )
  3. Thank you my lovely .. I hope you have an amazing year too I have indeed read Left of the Bang already and really enjoyed it .. thank you so much You know how it is, a day turned up which seemed just the right day to begin it .. so I did I hope you get on alright with Eleanor ... fingers crossed
  4. Thanks Gaia We did have some lovely warm weather last week .. but it's drizzly and cold again now Good job that reading is a hot and cold weather pursuit !
  5. Glad you enjoyed Wives and Daughters Janet, both book and DVD I think that was the first one I read of hers (so started with her last, first ) but that's because I saw the adaptation when it was televised (I don't think I'd heard of her before that ) and then went on to read it and soon wanted to read her other books. She's a great writer. Great reviews of that and The New Mrs Clifton .. I really enjoyed it too especially the ending, it was compelling reading (I liked the way the author poses a bit of a mystery at the beginning and you have it in mind but you don't know which of the girls it will affect.) I'm going to take it to my Mum's when I go next weekend .. I think she'll enjoy it. Looking forward to seeing you and Claire soon xx
  6. Thank you all I've been shockingly remiss about updating this blog I could make lots of excuses but I won't .. I'll just try and do better. Usually I tail off towards the end of the year but this year I've started off badly .. perhaps I'll improve .. it'll be the reverse of all other years My reading is still going relatively well so that's a positive. These are always the good reading months for me though .. when the days are still cold etc. Nothing much to distract, no days or trips out, no holidays (and I hardly ever read on holiday .. unless it's sitting on a beach weather .. which it hardly ever is ) no long walks in the sunshine. I love winter reading and I still count it as winter and will until the weather positively warms up. Today I did go out for a walk without a coat mind you so it can't be long now. Hope you're all having a good reading year so far xx <3 xx
  7. You did so well to keep going with it Diane ... I'm glad it eventually improved for you
  8. It IS open Janet It's not entirely tidy and the books are strewn all over the floor but you're very welcome indeed It was wonderful to see you and Claire, the best day I've had in ages .. here's to the next one!
  9. Just finished The New Mrs Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan and Autumn by Ali Smith and almost finished listening to Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon. Not sure what to read next .. whatever jumps off of the (tottering) pile I suppose Seriously considering downloading the audio of Mythos (written and read) by Stephen Fry. It's not my usual thing but I've listened to a sample and think I'll be able to keep up I had a Waterstone's voucher so treated myself to a (signed) copy of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. It was on my radar as there's a bit of a buzz about it at the moment and the cover is quite, quite, beautiful so it was a done deal. It's supposed to be very The Essex Serpentish which I'm happy about but in any case .. the pages have turquoise edges!! That in itself was enough for me to pick it up. Nobody can see that when it's on the shelf but I'll know!!! So, that's another hardback I've been seduced into buying
  10. Happy New Year Willoyd and Happy Reading in 2018. Hope it's full of great books
  11. It was lovely to see you and Janet on Monday Claire Happy Reading in 2018 and good luck with all your challenges. This blog is so super organised (as always) that it's inspired me to actually pull my finger out. I've reserved some spaces .. that's the best that can be hoped for but it's a start! I'm another one who loved Middlesex .. not that that's a recommendation but I hope you do too
  12. Happy New Year Noll and Happy Reading in 2018! Hope you feel much better soon
  13. 52 books already I give up Happy Reading LP!
  14. Happy Reading in 2018 Gaia .. hope your year is full of great books
  15. Happy Reading in 2018 Karen, hope you're feeling better
  16. Happy New Year and Happy Reading Ian!
  17. Books Bought/Acquired in 2018 Progress 21/42 Fiction: Aaronovitch, Ben - The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London #6) Arden, Katherine - The Bear and the Nightingale Barnett, David M. - Calling Major Tom Bell, Alex - The Polar Bear Explorers' Club Buchan, Elizabeth - The New Mrs Clifton Carroll, Emma (and others) - Make More Noise Didierlaurent, Jean Paul - The Rest of Their Lives Divry, Sophie - Madame Bovary of the Suburbs Driver, Sarah - Sky (The Huntress #2) Fridlund, Emily - History of Wolves Haddon, Mark - The Pier Falls Haig, Matt - How To Stop Time Hermes Gowar, Imogen - The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock Hogan, Ruth - The Keeper of Lost Things Jacka, Benedict - Fated (Alex Verus #1) Kent, Hannah - The Good People Kidd, Jess - The Hoarder Lowdon, Claire - Left of the Bang McCaughgrean, Geraldine - Where the World Ends Nicholls, Sally - Things a Bright Girl Can Do Niven, Jennifer - All the Bright Places Paul, Laline - The Ice Paver, Michelle - Oath Breaker (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #5) Perry, Sarah - After Me Comes the Flood Pratchett, Terry - A Hatful of Sky Rooney, Sally - Conversations with Friends Smith, Ali - Autumn Stroud, Jonathan - The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & co #1) Stroud, Jonathan - The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & co #2) Sukegawa, Durian - Sweet Bean Paste Sund, Erik Axl - The Crow Girl Tawada, Yoko - Memoirs of a Polar Bear Udall, Tor - A Thousand Paper Birds White, Frank - There Was a Time Non-Fiction Alderton, Dolly - Everything I Know About Love Clark, Dodie - Secrets for the Mad Ellis, Samantha - Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life Hanks, Tom - Uncommon Type Holman-Hunt, Diana - My Grandmothers and I Mangan, Lucy - Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading Nunn, Emily - The Comfort Food Diaries Patterson, Sylvia - I'm Not with the Band
  18. WISHLIST Fiction: The Girl in the Tower - Katherine Arden Bear Town - Fredrik Backman Toymakers - Robert Dinsdale Caraval (Caraval #1) - Stephanie Garber Fly By Night - Frances Hardinge Whistle In The Dark - Emma Healey Non Fiction: Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field - John Lewis-Stempel The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland - John Lewis-Stempel The Wood: The Life & Times of Cockshutt Wood - John Lewis-Stempel Where Poppies Blow - John Lewis-Stempel Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell
  19. Poppyshake's English Counties Challenge (the most famous books associated with each English county) For more info visit the English Counties Challenge forum Progress 31/48 (but some of those read will be re-read) Bedfordshire: My Uncle Silas by H. E. Bates Berkshire: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Bristol: The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young Buckinghamshire: The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper Cambridgeshire: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers Cheshire: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell City of London: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Cornwall: Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (on shelf) Cumbria: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Derbyshire: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks Devon: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle Dorset: Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy County Durham: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens East Riding of Yorkshire: South Riding by Winifred Holtby East Sussex: Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne Essex: The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James Gloucestershire: Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee Greater London: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Greater Manchester: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell Hampshire: Watership Down by Richard Adams Herefordshire: On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin Hertfordshire: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Isle of Wight: The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham Kent: The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates Lancashire: Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Leicestershire: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend Lincolnshire: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot Merseyside: An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge Norfolk: The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley North Yorkshire: Dracula by Bram Stoker Northamptonshire: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Northumberland: The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin Nottinghamshire: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence Oxfordshire: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford Rutland: Set In Stone by Robert Goddard Shropshire: Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse Somerset: Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore South Yorkshire: A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry Hines Staffordshire: The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett Suffolk: The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald Surrey: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells Tyne and Wear: Another World by Pat Barker Warwickshire: Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes West Midlands: Middlemarch by George Eliot West Sussex: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons West Yorkshire: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Wiltshire: Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope Worcestershire: The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
  20. The Shameful Reckoning of My Books TBR Progress 3/104 Link to Books bought/acquired in 2018 Fiction: Akunin, Boris - Murder on the Leviathan Akunin, Boris - The Death of Achilles Atkinson, Kate - Started Early Took My Dog Atwood, Margaret - The Blind Assassin Barker, Pat - The Ghost Road Barker, Pat - Toby's Room Beauman, Ned - The Teleportation Accident Boyd, William - Any Human Heart Bradley, Alan - A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce 3) Bradley, Alan - I Am Half Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce 4) Bulgakov, Mikhail - The Master and Margarita Bullington, Jesse - The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart Burnett, Frances Hodgson - A Little Princess Burnett, Frances Hodgson - The Secret Garden Carey, Peter - Oscar and Lucinda Carter, Angela - Nights at the Circus Carter, Angela - The Passion of New Eve Christie, Agatha - At Bertram's Hotel Christie, Agatha - Curtain: Poirot's Last Case Christie, Agatha - Death on the Nile Christie, Agatha - Dumb Witness Christie, Agatha - Five Little Pigs Christie, Agatha - Hercule Poirot's Christmas Christie, Agatha - The Murder at the Vicarage Christie, Agatha - The Mysterious Affair at Styles Christie, Agatha - Third Girl Collis, John Stewart - The Worm Forgives the Plough Connolly, John - Nocturnes Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta Sees it Through (Bloomsbury) Drabble, Margaret - The Red Queen Du Maurier, Daphne - The House on the Strand Du Maurier, Daphne - Jamaica Inn Eugenides, Jeffrey - My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead Ewing, Barbara - The Circus of Ghosts (Mesmerist #2) Fforde, Jasper - The Big Over Easy Fforde, Jasper - The Fourth Bear 70 Fforde, Jasper - The Woman Who Died a Lot (Thursday Next #7) Fitzgerald, F.Scott - The Beautiful and the Damned Fitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night Gardner, Sally - The Red Necklace Gibbons, Stella - Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm Gogol, Nikolai - The Collected Tales Gold, Glen David - Carter Beats the Devil Goss, Theodora - The Thorn and The Blossom Greene, Graham - Brighton Rock Haddon, Mark - The Red House Haig, Matt - The Last Family in England Hall, Louisa - The Carriage House Harkaway, Nick - Angelmaker Hay, Sheridan - The Secret of Lost Things Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Hustvedt, Siri - What I Loved Install, Deborah - A Robot in the Garden James, Marlon - A Brief History of Seven Killings Jonasson, Jonas - The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden Joyce, James - Dubliners Kingsolver, Barbara - The Lacuna Lakhous, Amara - Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio Le Carre, John - The Spy who Came in from the Cold Marquez, Gabriel Garcia - The Autumn of the Patriarch Marquez, Gabriel Garcia - No One Writes to the Colonel Morton, Kate - The House at Riverton Murdoch, Iris - The Black Prince Nesbit, E - The Railway Children North, Claire - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August O'Flynn, Catherine - The News Where You Are Oksanen, Sofi - Purge Orwell, George - Keep the Aspidistra Flying Pratchett, Terry and Baxter, Stephen - The Long Earth Radcliffe, Ann - The Mysteries of Udolpho Ransome, Arthur - Winter Holiday Rodriguez, Deborah - The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul Sewell, Anna - Black Beauty Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck, John - The Pearl Steinbeck, John - The Red Pony Tartt, Donna - The Little Friend Taylor, G.P. - Mariah Mundi & the Ghost Diamonds Toksvig, Sandi - Valentine Grey Udall, Brady - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint Vickers, Sally - Miss Garnet's Angel Whipple, Dorothy - Someone at a Distance (Persephone) Williams, Nigel - East of Wimbledon Williams, Nigel - They Came From SW19 Winterson, Jeanette - Sexing the Cherry Winton, Tim - Cloudstreet Wodehouse, PG - Right Ho, Jeeves Non Fiction: De Waal, Edmund - The Hare with Amber Eyes Fitzgerald, Penelope - So I Have Thought of You: The Letters of Penelope Fitzgerald Grove, Valerie - Laurie Lee: The Well Loved Stranger Hepworth, David - 1971 Never a Dull Moment Hodgson, Vere - Few Eggs and No Oranges (Persephone) Last, Nella - Nella Last's Peace Light, Alan - What Happened Miss Simone? Manguel, Alberto - A Reading Diary McGrath, Alistair E - CS Lewis: A Life Ozma, Alice - The Reading Promise Pratt, Jean-Lucey (Edited by Simon Garfield) - A Notable Woman White, Florence - Good Things in England (Persephone) Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 2 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 3 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 4 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 5 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 6
  21. Books Read 2009 Books Read 2010 Books Read 2011 Books Read 2012 Books Read 2013 Books Read 2014 Books Read 2015 Books Read 2016 Total Books Read 2009 ... 49 - incomplete list (39 fiction, 9 non-fiction & 1 audio } male authors: 24 .. female authors: 25) Total books read in 2010 ... 141 (94 fiction, 9 non-fiction, 4 short stories, 2 plays & 32 audio } male authors: 75 .. female authors: 66) Total books read in 2011 ... 109 (71 fiction, 26 non-fiction, 1 short story & 11 audio } male authors: 54 .. female authors: 55) Total books read in 2012 ... 89 (50 fiction, 27 non-fiction, 3 short stories, 1 poem & 8 audio } male authors: 48 .. female authors: 41) Total books read in 2013 ... 109 (67 fiction, 21 non-fiction, 5 short stories, 1 poem, 1 essay, 1 collection & 13 audio } male authors: 57 .. female authors: 51 plus all those in the short story collection) Total Books Read 2014 ... 73 (47 fiction, 15 non-fiction, 6 short stories & 5 audio } male authors: 36, female authors: 37) Total Books Read 2015 ... 113 (83 fiction, 14 non-fiction, 2 short stories & 14 audio } ) Total Books Read 2016 ... 91 (57 fiction,15 non-fiction, 2 poetry books & 17 audio } ) Total Books Read 2017 ... 90 I'm going to try and keep it more simple this year. I'm not going to promise (or threaten ) to write any reviews as we all know how that's panned out over the last few years. Possibly I'll write a few words about books I love and/or hate. 5/5: Loved it! 4/5: Liked it enormously .. would have been a 'loved it' but for .... 3/5: Liked it! 2/5: Not really my cup of tea but, you know, tolerable! 1/5 Hated it .. probably abandoned it or SHOULD HAVE!!! January 2018 1. Swimming Lessons - Claire Fuller (audio) 4/5 2. Fated (Alex Verus #1) - Benedict Jacka 4/5 3. Memoirs of a Polar Bear - Yoko Tawada 4/5 4. Sky Song - Abi Elphinstone 4/5 5. My Sweet Revenge - Jane Fallon 2/5 6. Calling Major Tom - David M Barnett 5/5 7. The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1) - Katherine Arden 4/5 8. The New Mrs Clifton - Elizabeth Buchan 5/5 9. Autumn - Ali Smith 4/5 10. Three Things About Elsie - Joanna Cannon (audio) 4/5 11. The Polar Bear Explorers' Club - Alex Bell 4/5 12. How To Stop Time - Matt Haig February 2018 13. The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) - Jonathan Stroud 4/5 14. The Very Thought of You - Rosie Alison 2/5 15. Uncommon Type - Tom Hanks 5/5 16. The Trouble with Goats and Sheep - Joanna Cannon (audio) 4/5 17. Soul Eater (Chronicles of Darkness #3) - Michelle Paver 3/5 18. Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton 4/5 19. Nights at the Circus - Angela Carter 4/5 20. Mythos - Stephen Fry (audio) 5/5 21. The Summer of Impossible Things - Rowan Coleman 3/5 March 2018 22. My Grandmothers and I - Diana Holman Hunt 4/5 23. Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #25) - Agatha Christie 4/5 24. A Skinful of Shadows - Frances Hardinge (audio) 4/5 25. Neither Here, Nor There - Bill Bryson (audio) 4/5 26. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar 27. A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3) - Alan Bradley 4/5 28. The Rest of Their Lives - Jean-Paul Didierlaurent 4/5 29. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton (audio) 5/5 30. The Woman in the Window - A.J. Finn (audio) 4/5 31. Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading - Lucy Mangan 4/5 32. Left of the Bang - Claire Lowdon 4/5 April 2018 33. The Power - Naomi Alderton (audio) 3/5 34. After Me Comes the Flood - Sarah Perry 2/5 35. Make More Noise: New Stories in Honour of the 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage - Emma Carroll and others 4/5 36. The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer (audio) 5/5 37. The Witchfinder's Sister - Beth Underdown 4/5 38. The Good People - Hannah Kent 4/5 39. The Pier Falls - Mark Haddon 5/5 40. Dear Mrs Bird - A.J. Pearce (audio) 4/5 41. Sourdough - Robin Sloane 3/5 42. The Chrysalids - John Wyndham 4/5
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