Alexi

#28 Be Careful What You Wish For by Simon Jordan Synopsis: Owning your childhood club - that's the dream, isn't it? Simon Jordan made his fortune building a mobile phone company from scratch. When he sold it for £75 million, he bought Crystal Palace FC, the club he'd supported as a boy, and led them into the Premier League. Ten years later Palace was in administration and Jordan had lost nigh on everything. Be Careful What You Wish For lifts the lid on being the owner of a football club and how the game really works. Hopes and dreams sit alongside greed, self-interest, dodgy transfers, boardroom fights and dressing room dressing downs. Throughout no one is spared, least of all Jordan himself. Thoughts: While most football autobiographies are rather standard fare and I cherry pick now (or indeed buy them for 50p and then discard if they're rubbish) this one sounded a bit different. Someone who owned a club, and lost everything trying to make it work. (Although I think everything is a slight exaggeration here, from the glossing over at the end I surmised he kept his range of personal houses, Spanish property business and fleet of cars at least). And it is interesting to see football from the other side. The man who pours money into his youth system, only to see the graduates walk away for nothing without a backward glance. Who will tell you his thought process behind hiring managers - and I did think it was a bit odd he trusted himself to do this pretty much entirely when he had no background in football other than as a fan. It is interesting, and well-written, but where this falls down is Jordan himself. He's an odious toad. He loves himself far too much, tells me all about how fabulous he is (hint, he isn't) and the famous women he's dating (I couldn't care less). This is good, and a departure from the regular football fare, but he is so annoying it does detract from the book somewhat. And no, Mr Jordan, I never dreamed of owning my football club - as you suggest multiple times every child must have - I dreamed of being Peter Schmeichel or Alessandro Del Piero. (My Mum drummed it into us that gender was no barrier to career choices ) 3/5

Behind on reviews So going to rattle through a few! #27 Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy Synopsis: Is it morally wrong to have a blow-dry when one of your children has head lice? Is technology now the fifth element? Or is that wood? Is sleeping with someone after 2 dates and 6 weeks of texting the same as getting married after 2 meetings and 6 months of letter writing in Jane Austen's day? Pondering these, and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single-motherhood, tweeting, texting and redisovering her sexuality in what SOME people rudely and outdatedly call 'middle age'. The long-awaited return of a much-loved character, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is timely, tender, touching, witty, wise and bloody hilarious. Thoughts: I was a bit apprehensive about reading this, because I read the first two novels when I was a) much younger and b) read a lot more chick lit than I do now. But I shouldn't have worried, this is brilliant. I laughed out loud a number of times while reading it in bed so had to explain to OH exactly what the joke was! Somehow, I managed to avoid the MASSIVE SPOILER, and it hadn't really occurred to me that Ms Fielding would set the novel in the present day, which of course required aging Bridget somewhat given the previous ones were published in the 1990s. It shouldn't work, because a 51-year-old Bridget is at a very different lifestage to when we saw her last, but it does. It really does. I found her grappling with twitter especially hilarious, the situations she gets herself into are just as ridiculous and it's glorious. Sure, the ending is cheesy but so were the ones to the previous two! Bridget remains her spectacular self, as does her larger than life Mum! The only thing that jerked me out of the reading world somewhat was realising Bridget is actually only 10 years younger than my Mum, when I last read the novels they seemed years and years apart! Incidentally, my Dad has a twitter account but my Mum refuses to entertain the very idea! 4/5

Sounds like you had a fantastic holiday - both from a reading and a non-reading perspective!

Hi Julie, Good to see you back will keep my fingers crossed for the job, and for the knee surgery. Glad you're getting some reading done but look after yourself.

Finally finished The Blackest Streets and now embarking on Pied Piper by Nevil Shute. It's the next on the pile of books due back to the library!

That is somewhat comforting! But I think we all make each other worse!

I keep thinking I should do this, but I'm at least trying to make myself accountable! From next year, I'm going to organise my TBR into years bought, and try get the oldest ones off the TBR where they have been languishing! Thanks Gaia what's not helping is my book reading mojo has ground to a halt, but book buying mojo is in full swing!!

Kiss Me First sounds really interesting - I have added it to my wishlist. As for Howard's End is on the Landing, I often think I should attempt something like this - like Chesil, I'm not a big reread er but I have a TBR that would keep me going for nigh on three years reading at current pace so it's definitely something I could attempt...but would I have the willpower? Spoiler: no.

I'm really struggling mojo wise. I'm currently halfway through The Blackest Streets by Sarah Wise, and though I'm enjoying it I find it hard to pick up. I felt the same with my last book.

Not doing terribly well with my "reduce reading pile by 1' challenge! I have acquired 44 books this year to my TBR. Of that 44 :- 7 were gifts 5 were free kindle ebooks and the rest were bought cheap when deals on, so it isn't the cost that concerns me, it's the sheer size! Of my TBR (including books acquired 2014) I have read 21 so far this year, leaving me with a TBR increase of 23 books. My love of library books is not helping the situation... GAH.

I read it last year, and did indeed review it in less than glowing terms!

Nice work Frankie, that's a doorstopper too I'm now on 44, have read Far From the Madding Crowd and The Return of the Soldier since last posting. On track to read 50 by the end of the year, and I think I need to live to 200 to finish

Thanks Gaia. Really enjoying my reading at the moment, but looking through my ratings so far this year there are hardly any 3s! I seem to have either really enjoyed books (4s with the odd 5) or not enjoyed them very much (2s and a single 1). Odd!

That was me Hope you enjoyed it? After reading Far From the Madding Crowd and then two books centred on WWI, I have decided I need something lighter for the next few reads! So I'm halfway through the latest Bridget Jones. Really surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, given when I read the first two it read a lot of chick lit, and now read virtually none. But it is really entertaining so far.

I never read The Wind in the Willows either Janet. In fact, about 70% of the counties challenge is "books I feel I should have read already and haven't!" Glad you enjoyed it, that's normally an indication I will too...except I really didn't like The Unlikely Pilgrimage...! I think I was in the minority though, and I suspect listening to it as you're wandering is simply the perfect way to digest it!

I really must read the Rosie Project - not seen a single negative review! Lol at giving a 0/6! I don't often find books particularly funny - although given I also hate (most) standup comedy I think it's mainly a loathing for "forced" humour! Will definitely be giving that one a miss.

#26 The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West Synopsis: Set during World War I on an isolated country estate just outside London, Rebecca West’s haunting novel The Return of the Soldier follows Chris Baldry, a shell-shocked captain suffering from amnesia, as he makes a bittersweet homecoming to the three women who have helped shape his life. Will the devoted wife he can no longer recollect, the favorite cousin he remembers only as a childhood friend, and the poor innkeeper’s daughter he once courted leave Chris to languish in a safe, dreamy past—or will they help him recover his memory so that he can return to the front?(Goodreads) Thoughts: Wow. I adored this book. The prose is simply gorgeous, and the plot fascinating - and apparently this is the first book about the Great War written by a woman (published 1918). My initial thoughts were not good, with the opening scenes showing two of the main characters behaving in an extremely snobbish manner towards a third, simply because she is poor and they rich. It seems sad (and yet oh so realistic) that not even a major war can make people reevaluate their priorities. I hated these two characters throughout, but that never spoiled my enjoyment. This is a novella (100 pages) but West packs a lot in, although I did feel sad when I reached the end - simply because I had enjoyed it so much! But gosh, it's an emotional tearjerker! Chris is sent home not knowing his wife Kitty, yet is still in love with Margaret, who he courted as a young man before being called away to Mexico. It is revealed there is unfinished business between them, which complicates matters for Margaret. But while Chris lives in a happy world of youth, with no memories of war or death that have blighted the past 15 years, his wife is desperate for him to regain those memories and return to "normal". In some ways this is a moral dilemma - what would you do? Return your husband to misery, but where he loves you (at least in theory), or let him live unencumbered by the horrors of recent times, but having no interest in restoring your relationship? West's writing style is utterly delightful, and the story heartbreaking. One of my favourite reads of the year so far. 5/5

#25 A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot Synopsis: During the First World War five French soldiers, accused of a cowardly attempt to evade duty, are bundled into no man's land and certain death. Five bodies are later recovered; the families are notified that the men died in the line of duty... After the war Mathilde, the fiancée of one of the men, receives a letter which hints at what might have happened, and she sets off to discover the fate of her beloved amid the carnage of battlefield. Her quest becomes an unusual and engrossing thriller as she discovers an increasing number of people trying to put her off the scent. A Very Long Engagement is a suspenseful thriller and one which transforms a personal tragedy into the epitome of all wartime atrocities. The dénouement, when it finally happens, is moving and horribly convincing. Thoughts: I had never heard of this book before it was picked for the reading circle, but I do like "war fiction" and this proved to be no exception. This is an odd book in that it deals with the emotional aftermath of World War I but is a mystery theme - what happened to these men? And we join Mathilde on her journey to find out. Mathilde is an easy character to root for, and i enjoyed reading about her journey - even if the rest of the characters don't appear terribly well fleshed out and appear merely as vessels to help Mathilde. Through her memories, and those of others, we also get a feel for her fiancé, Manech, and their relationship. The horrors of war are brought home, particularly the proximity to the battlefields. We meet people who owned land on which there was fighting, and those who lived virtually on top of it - not something we saw in the UK (although living through the war as a UK citizen was no picnic either). I thought the ending was a bit predictable, but the way it was written tugged on the heart strings so I forgive the author - who can write wonderfully by the way. Emotive descriptions and beautiful prose display his talent without resorting to a thesaurus. Hardy do take note 4/5

The Invention of Wings sounds great - another for the wish list!

I also keep deliberating over Sarah Dunant. I enjoy historical fiction so will be interested to hear your take! Nice haul

First of all, I must apologise for the tardiness of my appearance in this thread - I was second in the queue in the library for A Very Long Engagement and the person before me took a while to bring it back! But here are my thoughts! 1. In summary, what did you think of the book(s)? I read A Very Long Engagement and The Return of the Soldier. I did really enjoy this first of those (I rated it as a 4/5) and enjoyed following Mathilde along her journey, although I did think the ending was rather predictable. However, the second I rated as a 5/5. For some reason the West novel touched me emotionally more than the other, the writing was beautiful, the effects of the war devastating - even though I hated 50% of the characters 2. Had you read any of the authors before? Would you want to read any of them again? I had never read either before (or even heard of either of the books), but I will certainly be reading Rebecca West again and will probably revisit Japrisot. 3. Did you have expectations about any of the books beforehand? How did they match up? having read the synopses for the voting purposes, I was surprised that my ratings of these two weren't the other way around. 4. Different locations (France, London, North Yorkshire), different styles (mystery, humour/elegiac idyll, social drama), very different books. Which, if any, did you prefer (can you rank them)? Why? Sorry - I'm sort of answering these questions ahead of time. The West really tugged at me emotionally, I was so absorbed in the characters and the effects of war on them. With the Japrisot, it did become more about the solution to a mystery in some places. 5. Japrisot's is a view of WW1 from a French point of view. Did it provide you with a different or fresh perspective on the war compared to what you already knew? How about the other two books? I have never read a French perspective before, but All Quiet on the Western Front had a far bigger impact for me on different perspectives - simply because in history lessons Germans are not really portrayed as suffering the same things as "our brave boys" - or not to me anyway. But as someone - Janet? - said earlier, the fact they could drive to battlefields brings if home that the French were on top of the fighting. Conversely, in the West story the women at home live in a sheltered idyll (although that obviously wasn't true for the whole island!). 6. Did the characterisation in the Japrisot novel work for you? Any favourite characters? Any in either of the other two books? I really liked Mathilde and her determination. Everyone else seemed to exist to help her really rather than having any great characterisation of their own. Whereas, in The Return of the Soldier I loathed Kitty and Jenny from page 1. They were so snotty to Margaret because she looked poor. For heaven's sake, there's a war on and you're still judging people by the quality of their skirt? 7. All three books feature soldiers damaged by the war, and the effect that has on the people they love, know and meet. What, if anything, did each have to say that was different from the others? Of the two I read, I thought it was interesting that Margaret is almost positively impacted by Chris' amnesia in the beginning, but then left agonised again by the end as she has to bring him out of it. 8. Mathilde is confined to a wheelchair. Was this important? Does it have any real effect on the story, or on your perception of it or her? Obviously it had a big effect on Mathilde, but in terms of the story it didn't really have much effect due to her father's wealth. 9. Tina Lombardi reacted very differently to Mathilde to the same event. Did this contrast play any useful part in the story? It shows that people react differently to grief - as I'm sure we've all sadly seen in our own lives. 10. Did the conclusion surprise you? What did you think of it? No, I thought he was alive from page 1 to be honest and it was obvious throughout the story that if he had been of "sound mind" he would have come looking for Mathilde - in the same way that the other survivor found his family. I also thought the title hinted at him being alive in terms of them being engaged for a long time. Are you really engaged to someone if they are dead? Obviously the word engagement has two meanings, but I was fairly confident it could mean that too. 11. The conclusions in the other two books are equally important. What did you think of them? The conclusion of the West book nearly moved me to tears. The end of regained youth and happiness, back to a life that he doesn't seem happy with, memories of a death of a child, and a return to fighting (almost certainly). All epitomised in someone walking across a lawn. I sort of liked how I was brought out of that emotion by wanting to slap Kitty who had the last word as usual! Any other comments or thoughts? Like others, I sometimes found it difficult to match women with the condemned men due to the nicknames used interchangeably with their real names. I kept having to Pause to flick back and check!

Aw that's amazing! How awesome to go round finding them!

Thanks Athena! I love that scene too "they have full-sized aortic pumps" I'm finally reading this May's RC book, which is fantastic so far I'm pleased to report! ETA: Sorry BB we posted at the same time! It's a bit of a doozy that sentence isn't it?! I downloaded my copy from Project Gutenberg - I guess more recent versions may have changed some of the language slightly?

#24 Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy Synopsis: Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swiftpassion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. (Goodreads) Thoughts: I have had this on my TBR for some years, after my Dad recommended Hardy to me (although he has since told me he hasn't read this particular novel, just seen the film!). I was finally pushed into reading it by the English Counties Challenge, where it is the choice for Dorset. To be honest, I just didn't get on with it. Whether that is the author, the specific book or the mood I was in when I read it, this wasn't enjoyable for me. The writing style grated continually, as I have mentioned already. Sometimes it did feel like he had used a thesaurus to every word - like Joey does in Friends when he is writing Monica and Chandler's letter of recommendation to the Adoption Agency. I have highlighted a few passages to illustrate it: "Troy's brow became heavily contracted." "Nevertheless, that a male dissembler who be deluging her with untenable fictions charms the female wisely, may acquire powers reaching to the extremity of perdition, is a truth taught to many by unsought and wringing occurrences." As you can see, whether the sentence is long or short he seems very proud of the amount of big words he can throw into the text! I enjoy Dickens, but his flowery style is a pleasure to read and does not detract from the story. Here, I kept having to pause to consider the exact meaning of a sentence, or more likely just to cringe at why he bothered! The story was simple and predictable, which is no bad thing in itself, but it became subsumed by the writing style. The positives were Bathsheba. A heroine well ahead of her time, who wishes to run her own farm without a bailiff (until her problems with her husband change her outlook), and one who wishes to do plenty for herself. Good woman! Disappointing, but my Dad has begged me to try The Mayor of Casterbridge. Maybe in a few years... 2/5

#23 Mary Poppins by P L Travers Synopsis: From the moment Mary Poppins arrives at Number Seventeen Cherry-Tree Lane, everyday life at the Banks house is forever changed. It all starts when Mary Poppins is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins. Who else but Mary Poppins can slide upbanisters, pull an entire armchair out of an empty carpetbag, and make a dose of medicine taste like delicious lime-juice cordial? A day with Mary Poppins is a day of magic and make-believe come to life! Thoughts: I picked this book up from the library because a friend kindly bought me Mary Poppins, She Wrote, which is about the life of the author. I loved the Disney film as a kid but had never read any of the books, so thought it was time to put that right. I haven't seen the film for years, and so maybe I am remembering it unclearly, and through a child's eyes. But the film tells a wonderful tale of two children who are a bit neglected by their parents, with Mr Banks working all the time, and Mrs Banks involved in the suffragette movement. Obviously this is a book for children, but there was none of that here, instead Mary Poppins randomly blows in on the East Wind and stays until it suits her (whereas, in the film of course, as she leaves the family with parents in tow are finally off to spend some quality time together flying kites). The character of Mary Poppins is in some ways very difficult to warm to - she's very vain, and often quite dismissive of her charges. The magical things that happen don't have a story arc to them. I know this is a book for children, but the film can be enjoyed by the whole family (as Walt Disney does achieve so well!), whereas the book is clearly meant for children 8 or below and shouldn't be attempted by anyone above that age. 2/5