Janet Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi Kay - it feels like I haven't 'seen' you for ages. I've skipped over your review of The Humans as I have it on audio book. I loved The Radleys though (I listened to that one too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller Synopsis: Peggy Hillcoat is eight. She spends her summer camping with her father, playing her beloved record of The Railway Children and listening to her mother's grand piano, but her pretty life is about to change. Her survivalist father, who has been stockpiling provisions for the end which is surely coming soon, takes her from London to a cabin in a remote European forest. There he tells Peggy the rest of the world has disappeared. Her life is reduced to a piano which makes music but no sound, a forest where all that grows is a means of survival. And a tiny wooden hut that is everything. Review: I loved this so much This is another book where I didn't really read the blurb .. or anyway by the time I came to listen to it I had forgotten it so I had no idea where it was leading .. ie: I had forgotten about the cabin (die Hutte) in the Bavarian forest. I'm glad of this as everything was a revelation to me. I loved Peggy's narration .. so believable. She's one of those characters you get to know so well that you almost feel it is you trying to survive out in that forest and trying to make sense of a world where everyone has vanished except you and your father. Their first winter is horrendous .. they have no survival skills really .. most of what they learnt before, when they were safe in London, is of no use to them now. They're ill prepared .. and Peggy's father is moody and changeable. All the time of course you are aghast that he has put her in such a position. He has told Peggy (actually we call her Punzel now .. which is her father's nickname for her .. from Rapunzel) that her mother is dead .. he has told her the world is no more. There must be a reason for this but what is it? Some of the outcome is clear from the start as the novel flashes back and forward, so you do know early on that, about nine years hence, she is reunited with the world and her mother. She is terribly under nourished, confused .. almost shell shocked .. and has a head wound that we know nothing about (yet) .. also .. where is her father? Having got about two thirds of the way through I made a rather BIG mistake. I told Alan how much I was enjoying it and in consequence he asked me what it was about. I gave him a very rough outline but I told him in detail about something momentous which had just happened. Straight away he gave me his opinion on how he thought it would pan out! It turned out he was right .. there is a major twist that I wouldn't have seen coming at all but once he put it in my mind .. I could see it as plain as day as it came towards me. I'd much rather have been left to stew about in my own ignorance There was a further twist to come though .. it finishes with an absolute shocker of a revelation. If you do decide to read it, try forgetting everything I've said here (not difficult I know ) .. mentally screw it all up and chuck it in the bin. The element of surprise is everything here. I listened to it being read and it was read very well, except the narrator did mispronounce a few words. She pronounced feted as fetid :D which gave the sentence a bit of a different meaning Ha ha .. it's good to feel superior every now and then especially when she can't see my punctuation! Fantastic story .. menacing .. it ticks along at quite a slow pace but it builds .. like Bolero! Loved it! Read it .. or if you like audiobooks .. listen to it!! (only forget it was me who recommended .. please! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Hi Kay - it feels like I haven't 'seen' you for ages. I've skipped over your review of The Humans as I have it on audio book. I loved The Radleys though (I listened to that one too). Hello lovely Janet Great to 'see' you! Who reads The Humans Janet? I often get audio's of the books I've enjoyed. Hope you love it xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 He's called Mark Meadows. I don't know him as an actor but he also narrated The Radleys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 He's called Mark Meadows. I don't know him as an actor but he also narrated The Radleys. Ah .. I know him (as a narrator.) He narrated The Luminaries very well indeed That's encouraging Thanks Janet xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns Synopsis: Growing up in Edwardian south London, Alice Rowlands longs for romance and excitement, for a release from a life that is dreary, restrictive and lonely. Her father, a vet, is harsh and domineering; his new girlfriend brash and lascivious. Alice seeks refuge in memories and fantasies, in her rapturous longing for Nicholas, a handsome young sailor, and in the blossoming of what she perceives as her occult powers. A series of strange events unfolds that leads her, dressed in bridal white, to a scene of ecstatic triumph and disaster among the crowds on Clapham Common. The Vet's Daughter is a uniquely vivid, witty and touching story of love and mystery.Review: I do like Barbara's books Her stories are a little odd Her narrators are so matter of fact, there are never any long descriptive, flowery, passages. Alice (in this story) just relates all her day to day experiences. She has a tragic life .. Barbara's heroines often do. Her mother dies, her father is a tyrant (almost an unbelievable one but I remember that Barbara's own father was very similar .. or at least he was in her retelling of her own story in Sisters by a River) and his new girlfriend is ghastly. Alice is treated little better than a servant and there seems no chance of that changing. I felt quite desperate about her situation but she never plays on your pity, there's no sentimentality at all .. it almost makes it worse Often there's humour but mostly there's just misery and a bleak outlook (I'm not selling it am I? ) There's always a point when she dips her toe into absurdity and something quite mad happens .. this took longer to occur in this novel but nevertheless it was there. I think Barbara must have had a wild imagination. It's all the more disquieting because of how normal everything was before Intriguing. I wish Virago would publish a copy of Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead .. with covers to match the three I've already got (The Vet's Daughter, Our Spoons Came from Woolworth's and Sister's by A River.) By all accounts it is her best and I'd love to read it but it's quite hard to get hold of (at a reasonable price) plus they haven't updated the cover yet I only got this one last week at the local garden centre. Bit of a bargain at £2.99 Very happy to have it and it was just what I needed at the start of this week when nothing else was appealing to me. Liked it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom Synopsis: Love Miss Marple? Adore Holmes and Watson? Professor Morley's guide to Norfolk is a story of bygone England; quaint villages, eccentric locals - and murder! It is 1937 and disillusioned Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton is stony broke. So when he sees a mysterious advertisement for a job where 'intelligence is essential', he applies. Thus begins Sefton's association with Professor Swanton Morley, an omnivorous intellect. Morley's latest project is a history of traditional England, with a guide to every county. They start in Norfolk, but when the vicar of Blakeney is found hanging from his church's bellrope, Morley and Sefton find themselves drawn into a rather more fiendish plot. Did the Reverend really take his own life, or was it - murder? Beginning a thrilling new detective series, 'The Norfolk Mystery' is the first of The County Guides. A must-read for fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, every county is a crime scene and no-one is above suspicion!Review: Another one that I enjoyed .. my reading is going well this month! I thought it had quite a slow start, this was one where I did read the blurb so I was waiting for it to kick off and it did seem to take an age. Stephen Sefton is an interesting character but it's Professor Morley who steals every scene .. once he came into the story .. things picked up. He has a daughter who is a bit of a chip off of the old block (though vastly different at the same time) and she was good value too although she wasn't in the story much. I look forward to seeing where the author goes with her in the future. The murder .. or suicide .. wasn't particularly intriguing. Like a lot of detective novels (though these aren't detectives .. they're just nosy, intuitive, intelligent, in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time people ) the interest comes with the sleuths themselves and the relationship between them. They've only just met so we're still in the sussing out stage. Professor Morley's latest project is an interesting one .. a guide to each county with Norfolk being the first but I'm not sure how that will pan out in the future. I suppose it serves two purposes .. to move the characters around the country and also to engage readers who like travel guides or like reading about specific counties. I couldn't see the point of including the photo's .. some of them weren't even very clear/good. I've looked to see where the next one's set and it's Devon .. mentions of cream teas and everything. I'm definitely up for that! This was a very creditable start anyway. There's maybe a bit too much latin .. I think the author was showing off his skills in that department and possibly it lacks spark. However, I quite like books that just tick along .. I don't particularly like my shocks coming thick and fast so I was happy enough. I think he can build on it. Liked it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Fab reviews, as always! I think I'll add Our Endless Numbered Days to my wish list. I was just looking at the first page of this thread and saw that you've just passed 100 books read for the year. Congratulations!! I wish I could read that many books in one year. I managed it once, although I don't know how! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I too have added Our Endless Numbered Days to my wishlist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I've also added Our Endless Numbered Days to my wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I haven't! Yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Fab reviews, as always! I think I'll add Our Endless Numbered Days to my wish list. I was just looking at the first page of this thread and saw that you've just passed 100 books read for the year. Congratulations!! I wish I could read that many books in one year. I managed it once, although I don't know how! Thanks Kylie I'm very happy to have got past 100 .. or almost past It's due in large part to some extensive reading at the beginning of the year which sadly I wasn't able to keep up but hopefully the next few months will be better and I can finish on a high .. though that seems unlikely. Christmas is always my 'chicken with its head cut off' season All I'll be reading is shopping lists bleurggghhhhh! I too have added Our Endless Numbered Days to my wishlist I've also added Our Endless Numbered Days to my wishlist. Yippee .. This is all very good news I'm quietly confident as it's been positively received in general .. having said that, recommending any book on here is always a bit I haven't! Yet! Very wise Janet xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 RE: Days that were outnumbered but not novel... I checked yesterday, and there were no copies at the library Going on the wishlist, still, though! But have other stuff to comment on later, on your reading log Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 A Book of Dreams by Peter ReichSynopsis: This famous book, the inspiration behind Kate Bush's 1985 hit song 'Cloudbusting', is the extraordinary account of life as friend, confidant and child of the brilliant but persecuted Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. Peter, his son, shared with his father the revolutionary concept of a world where dream and reality are virtually indistinguishable, and the sense of mission which set him and his followers apart from the rest of the human race. Here, Peter Reich writes vividly and movingly of the mysterious experiences he shared with his father: of flying saucers; the 'cloudbuster' rain-makers and the FDA narks; and of the final tragic realization of his father's death, which woke him up to the necessity of living out his life in an alien world. Already regarded as a modern classic, A Book of Dreams is not only a beautifully written narrative of a remarkable friendship and collaboration, but a loving son's heartfelt tribute to a loving father.This bit is written by Kate Bush!!!!! :wub: .. I feel so honoured that her words are now part of my bookblog. I doubt the feeling is mutual 'Cloudbusting' was inspired by a book that I first found on a shelf ...it was just calling me from the shelf, and when I read it I was very moved by the magic of it. It's about a special relationship between a young son and his father. the book was written from a child's point of view. His father is everything to him; he is the magic in his life, and he teaches him everything, teaching him to be open-minded and not to build up barriers.' - Kate Bush. Review: Wilhelm was an extremely controversial and radical figure. He believed in sexual liberation and invented what he called 'orgone accumulators' (orgone taken from the word orgasm) which were booths that you sat in naked, soaking up the concentrated orgones, in order to rid you of certain physical and mental diseases. He would massage his naked patients in order to dissolve their 'muscular armour'. He also, of course, was a rain maker! There were scurrilous stories about what really went on at Orgonon (a sort of campus where Wilhelm lived and worked in Maine) and also a feeling amongst other psychoanalysts/scientists that he was a fraud. He had supporters though, Einstein was open to his ideas and Reich gave him a small accumulator, on which he conducted some experiments but Einstein wasn't convinced and after a series of letter exchanges they fell out. Reich was convinced there was a conspiracy against him and certainly he was seen as a security risk - a loose cannon and five days after the Pearl Harbour attack he was arrested by the FBI. He was detained for a couple of weeks and later ordered to destroy all the accumulators. After his release he became convinced that the planet was under attack from aliens and he used the cloudbuster to try and shoot them down This memoir is written by his son Peter and it's a little bit out there as you might imagine. It flashes back and forward in time too and is often quite stream of consciousness so you're all over the place .. or I was Peter had in lots of ways an idyllic childhood .. Wilhelm encouraged his participation from a very early age .. certainly in the rain making experiments and also massaged him to keep his 'belly soft' and break down his barriers. Peter absolutely idolised him but was made anxious by the FBIs investigation and the conspiracy which Wilhelm kept darkly hinting at. He was desperate to keep his father safe but found it was an impossible task .. he was just too little to make a difference. Wilhelm was arrested once more and imprisoned again. Peter visited him a few times and letters were exchanged but he was never to be released and died of sudden heart failure (itself a cause of much speculation and doubt.) Peter was 13 years old and he had to learn to live without the father who had been everything to him. In lots of ways I could see what Kate means about Wilhelm teaching Peter to be open minded and liberal etc but it seemed to me that he was also conditioned. That he lost a huge part of his identity when his father died which he never recovered. That he was so used to being Wilhelm's son and participating in Wilhelm's experiments that he didn't know how to be Peter I found it all a bit sad. Anyway, very happy to have come across the references to the glow in the dark yo-yo .. that was too dangerous and had to be buried!! :D I will think differently about the song when I next play it, more sad probably. Liked it! (but man .. it was weird!! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 RE: Days that were outnumbered but not novel... I checked yesterday, and there were no copies at the library Going on the wishlist, still, though! But have other stuff to comment on later, on your reading log Perhaps they'll get it in? I'll keep my fingers crossed as I think you'll like/love it There isn't a dog which is just as well as they would probably have eaten it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I actually have The Last Family in England on the shelf .. not sure how long it's been there but I really should have started it by now! You actually mentioned you had a copy of this in your review of The Humans, and my question about whether one surely had the book on their wishlist at least was actually directed to chaliepud who'd commented on the review and whom I know to be a huge doggy fan Twas an easy mistake on your part to make and I wouldn't have brought it up here and now otherwise, but I felt I had to because I didn't want you to possibly think that I'd read your review and not taken in any of it (i.e. the fact that you said you did have a copy) Although bringing this up now is probably just silly-billy in any case because it was ages ago Well .. it's definite that you will love The Humans!! No question about it! I will eat my own bonnet if you don't! When you say bonnet I instantly think of the hat you had on in that old black-and-white picture of you, the one where you have a long coat and a muff, too. Even if that's not really a bonnet... Please don't eat it, as it's adorable (There are still no copies of The Humans at the library. Well apart from the e-book version! I wrote to them on Monday, finally, and asked if they could acquire a tree book copy. Fingers crossed!) The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns Quite oddly this one was already on my wishlist.... I wonder how and why! I thought maybe you had read it months and months ago and we'd talked about the book, but you only just now reviewed it... But then I checked your reading log and nope, you've marked it read last month. Odd! The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom I've not read this book but I've read two of the first novels in another book series by Ian Sansom. The Mobile Book Library series. I think they might be rather same'ish, in that the crime cases in the books aren't particularly interesting in themselves, but the characters are quirky and intriguing. And in my series there was the extra bonus factor of books and libraries, and in your series there's the bonus of the different counties and travel writing. It's a bit of a shame that Sansom can't get it all together and fix his crime cases! Personally I'm not sure if I'm very interested in this series because I don't know the counties and therefore won't be feeling cozy and homey and having those 'yes, that's what it's like! -moments. And if I wanted to learn about the different places, I'd probably read about them in some other book A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich Poor William and poor Peter Sounded like a wonderful adventure of a book but then also so very sad, in a number of ways But how wonderful for you for having read the book that inspired one of the songs by Kate Bush!! Takes a certain sort of genius to write a book into a song... ! Perhaps they'll get it in? I'll keep my fingers crossed as I think you'll like/love it There isn't a dog which is just as well as they would probably have eaten it! Oooh, a very good point! Please no eat dogs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 The Robe of Skulls by Vivian FrenchSynopsis: All is not well in the crumbling castle high above the mountain village of Fracture. The sorceress Lady Lamorna has her heart set on a new robe. It is a very expensive new robe. To get the cash she will stop at nothing, including kidnapping, blackmail and more than a little black magic. But she reckons without the heroic Gracie Gillypot, not to mention a gallant if rather scruffy prince, two chatty bats, the wickedest stepsister ever, a troll with a grudge - and some very Ancient crones. Review: Really enjoyed this I read it as part of the Halloween read-a-thon .. I don't like my stories to be too scary Great characters and great storytelling. Obviously, it's for younger readers .. so the plot isn't complicated or anything but it was very intriguing and funny. It reminded me a lot of Angie Sage's Septimus Heap novels .. or the ones I read anyway (got as far as Queste) .. perhaps a little simpler but every bit as funny. I recommended it straight away to Alan and because he was sort of struggling with a David Mitchell (the comedian .. not the writer .. more of him later) book (not difficult .. he just wasn't gripped) he picked it up and wolfed it down in one sitting. He thoroughly enjoyed it too so I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who likes YA books with a bit of magic thrown in. There are more in this series (Tales from the Five Kingdoms) .. I must seek them out. This one came from a charity shop and it was the cover that attracted me .. glad to find that the contents matched up! Great illustrations inside too. Liked it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Al and I always buy a book to read over the winter/Christmas holidays .. to read aloud to each other .. usually when the fire is blazing and there's some hot chocolate to enjoy .. possibly a bun The past few years it's been Susan Hill as we do like creepy (but not terrifying) .. but this year this book caught my eye. I looked up the reviews and they were mostly great. Fantastic cover too (though if you remove the slip cover .. what lies beneath is pretty scary ) Anyway .. we both liked the sound of it so we took a chance. Somehow or the other (I think it was calling us ) we started it .. and are now 3/4 of the way through .. so it won't do for our winter read at all. It'll be long finished by then. Anyway, it's gorgeously creepy .. a little bit terrifying and totally absorbing. He's a great writer but this is not a convoluted story at all .. you don't need superior brain power to read it (good job aye? ) We only have two chapters left for next week! I'm both looking forward to how it ends and also dreading it a bit It's heading for full marks if it all comes together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Slade House by David Mitchell Synopsis: Turn down Slade Alley - narrow, dank and easy to miss, even when you're looking for it. Find the small black iron door set into the right-hand wall. No handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it swings open. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't quite make sense; too grand for the shabby neighbourhood, too large for the space it occupies. A stranger greets you by name and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Later, you'll find that you can't. This unnerving, taut and intricately woven tale by one of our most original and bewitching writers begins in 1979 and reaches its turbulent conclusion around Hallowe'en, 2015. Because every nine years, on the last Saturday of October, a 'guest' is summoned to Slade House. But why has that person been chosen, by whom and for what purpose? The answers lie waiting in the long attic, at the top of the stairs... Review: Absolutely stunning. Alan and I gobbled it up in no time although it was meant to last longer. I've read David Mitchell before so was daunted but I needn't have been as this wasn't complicated at all .. though it is inventive, super creepy and really readable. I don't like gore .. I'm too squeamish for that but this didn't rely on blood and guts .. it relied on making your nerves tingle .. and it was brilliant at it The story is split into five parts .. or five years .. 1979, 1988, 1997, 2006 and 2015. The clever among you will have noticed they're nine years apart (not me! .. I never could do those number sequence puzzles! ) .. or you might just have read the synopsis The reason for this is that every nine years, someone is summoned to Slade House. They may actually feel they are going there willingly or of their own accord but they'd be wrong .. they've been sent for. Their presence is not only required but totally necessary. The people who have been summoned are all different and they each tell their story which makes it interesting as you have a different narrator for each part. There's a connection and patterns emerging which you look for but often you end up down a blind alley. During the last part we broke off to make a drink and Alan thought he had it all sussed out but he was wrong (luckily or that would be another ending ruined for me ) .. it definitely got us thinking. However we both had an inkling of what sort of ending it would be and were right in that assumption. If you like ghost stories and being frightened (not out of your mind but just spine tingled) then this is the read for you. Most of you would read it in one sitting .. it's not that long and it's totally unputdownable .. although we did put it down .. against our will (is this tantric reading?? I'm not sure .. if it is that's possibly why we found the ending so marvellous ) Ideal for Christmas, ideal for winter reading, just ideal full stop. Loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 With the Sound of the Sea by Charlotte Fairbairn Synopsis: A daughter's quest for her father; a father's yearning for forgiveness; and a timeless story of the beauty and cruelty of the ocean.Athene Brown's earliest memory - of the storm that ravaged Samuel's Bay, leaving the fish piled gasping on the beach - is also her last of her father. For it is on this day that Isaiah turns his back on the home of his ancestors, believing all he held dear is lost. Leaving the bay for the city, she cannot put behind her the haunting scenes of her past. Review: Stuck for a book, I just randomly pulled this one from the shelf. It was quite a challenge to get into .. it's quite poetic and lyrical .. sometimes that can go either way but there was something about the story that kept me interested and I do love stories about the sea.Very descriptive, evocative and quite mythical .. it's one of those stories that send pictures swirling into your head but I didn't really feel I ever got to know Athene and, for me, it fell apart a bit towards the end. I still wanted to finish though. Liked it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Ooh, Slade House sounds wonderful! I've been a bit wary of reading David Mitchell again after Cloud Atlas (which I had mixed feelings for), but this sounds very different and more my cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Slade House sounds fantastic - I have two books by him sitting at home but I've never gotten around to reading them because I expected them to be quite dense and demanding. This sounds like it will be a good one to give me a sense of his writing and see if I want to tackle the other two. As a side note... the fact that you and Alan buy books to read aloud to each other is absolutely, utterly adoreable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Slade House sounds great, but I'm still a bit wary of David Mitchell. I couldn't finish Black Swan Green, but recently loads of his books were on Kindle for £0.99 so I snapped them up. Slade House wasn't one of them, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I've never read David Mitchell but Slade House sounds great. *adds to wishlist* My wishlist is beginning to resemble War and Peace, and you certainly have a chapter in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 It was lovely to see you and Alan this morning on our way 'up North'. I'm *so* sorry I put my foot in it in Waterstones! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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