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Poppyshake's Reading Year 2017


poppyshake

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On 16/05/2017 at 3:43 AM, poppy said:

 

That book does sound interesting, Frankie! And you're correct, Lawrence and Gerald were brothers, both writers and their father was also Lawrence. I started reading a Lawrence Durrell novel one time, but couldn't get into it at all. Big fan of Gerald, though, his writing is quite different.

 

Like you, I really couldn't get on with Lawrence Durrell at all.  I tried the first book in the Alexandria Quartet, and gave it up fairly soon - took itself far too seriously.  The words used in my notes was 'pompous'! 

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1 hour ago, willoyd said:

 

Like you, I really couldn't get on with Lawrence Durrell at all.  I tried the first book in the Alexandria Quartet, and gave it up fairly soon - took itself far too seriously.  The words used in my notes was 'pompous'! 

 

Ooh, I loved reading the Quartet and the Avignon Quintet. I was  in my late teens/early twenties though, so maybe it's an age thing. :)

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On 2/18/2017 at 1:14 PM, poppyshake said:

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange

 

Synopsis: 1919. Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is too busy to pay any attention to Henrietta and the things she sees - or think she sees - in the shadows of their new home, Hope House. All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, ghostly figures, mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden. One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world.

 

Thoughts: A delightful story, written beautifully. Henry is a great lead character, she's got just the right amount of curiosity which means she's not afraid to go poking about in remote places and digging around to uncover secrets. I so admire children like that because I was afraid of my own shadow which is okay for an ordinary girl but absolute rubbish for a book character. It's a great mystery novel but also an emotional read, I found the story so moving and also tense, it keeps you gripped until the end. Feels like it could have been written long ago .. it has that same feel as all the great adventure stories  :) Many thanks to Claire for the gift. :friends3:4/5

 

Strange Star by Emma Carroll

 

Synopsis: They were coming tonight to tell ghost stories. 'A tale to freeze the blood,' was the only rule. Switzerland, 1816. On a stormy summer night, Lord Byron and his guests are gathered around the fire. Felix, their serving boy, can't wait to hear their creepy tales. Yet real life is about to take a chilling turn - more chilling than any tale. Frantic pounding at the front door reveals a stranger, a girl covered in the most unusual scars. She claims to be looking for her sister, supposedly snatched from England by a woman called Mary Shelley. Someone else has followed her here too, she says. And the girl is terrified.

 

Thoughts: Another great read, gorgeously creepy, thrilling and hard to put down. At times I thought it became a little far fetched but that's because I am a (reasonably) sensible adult :D The twelve year old me would have believed it all and drunk in every word. I love the subject matter, not enough can be written about the ghost story contest at Villa Diodati as far as I'm concerned but this story twists and turns and does all sorts of unimaginable things which I didn't expect. My head was quite bamboozled but I enjoyed the fact that I didn't know where the story was going and I enjoyed the chills which were the sort I could just about cope with. Emma Carroll is amazingly prolific and consistent, I've liked everything I've read of hers so far :) 4/5 

 

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On 4/25/2017 at 9:08 PM, chaliepud said:

I loved The Light Between Oceans, it was so beautifully written. :wub: I must watch the film, apparently it does the book justice, which doesn't happen too often! A lovely review as always, Kay. :friends3:

Thanks Hayley :hug: The film is well worth seeing, it's beautifully acted. The two leads are amazing.

On 4/26/2017 at 9:00 AM, Athena said:

Hi Kay :friends3:.

 

I bought The Light Between Oceans quite a few years ago but I still haven't read it. Nice to read another good review of it :).

Hi Gaia! :smile: You will have to get around to it soon, I'm sure you'll like it. Hope so anyway :hug:

On 4/28/2017 at 2:42 AM, poppy said:

 

Yes, Tilly! :giggle2: It is a bit of a cross to bear, I agree :blush:

 

Then I saw this ... smarty pants!! :D

It all went wrong poppy :wibbly::lol: 

On 4/28/2017 at 2:42 AM, poppy said:

Excellent review, Kay, will add this to my Kindle wishlist. :)

Thank you lovely :hug:

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On 5/14/2017 at 11:00 AM, frankie said:

 

I'm confused by the Durrells! Well that is no wonder because I don't know who they are, all I know is that some have written books. I just tried googling which Durrell was which. This Gerald bloke is the son of Lawrence Durrell? Had to google again.... " Lawrence Samuel Durrell (23 September 1884 – 16 April 1928) was a British Indian subject and engineer, and is best remembered as the father of novelist Lawrence Durrell and naturalist Gerald Durrell. "    So there were two Lawrences... So these Lawrence and Gerald Durrells who wrote the books were brothers. Okay now I've got it. 

 

The reason why I'm rambling is that when I visited the uni library the other day, I ran into a book on Nancy and Lawrence Durrell. It was titled Amateurs in Eden: The Story of a Bohemian Marriage, and of course it sounded like an interesting read. 

 

"Nancy Durrell was a woman famous for her silences. Anaïs Nin said 'I think often of Nancy's most eloquent silences, Nancy talking with her fingers, her hair, her cheeks, a wonderful gift. Music again.' As the first wife Lawrence Durrell, author of The Alexandria Quartet, it is perhaps surprising that she is an unknown entity, a constant presence in the biographies of Durrell and others in the Bloomsbury set, yet always a shadowy figure, beautiful and enigmatic. 

But who was the woman who was with Durrell during the most important years of his development as a writer? Joanna Hodgkin decides to retrace her mother's fascinating story: the escape from her toxic and mysterious family; the years in bohemian literary London and Paris in the 1930s; marriage to Durrell and their discovery of the 'Eden' of pre-war Corfu and her desperate struggle to survive in Palestine alone with a small child as the British Mandate collapsed. Amateurs in Eden is a fascinating biography of a literary marriage and of an unusual woman struggling to live an independent life
."

 

It's written by Joanna Hodgkin who is Nancy's daughter. 

I'm also confused now :lol: I should have read about Nancy before as I've often got one leg in Bloomsbury so to speak but nope .. can't recall her at all or Lawrence (the first :D ) From Gerald's recollections .. I didn't much care for brothers Lawrence and Leslie. 

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On 2.6.2017 at 11:08 PM, poppyshake said:

I'm also confused now :lol: I should have read about Nancy before as I've often got one leg in Bloomsbury so to speak but nope .. can't recall her at all or Lawrence (the first :D ) From Gerald's recollections .. I didn't much care for brothers Lawrence and Leslie. 

 

:D Bloomsbury's wherever you go... You can't hide from it! 

 

The book I previously read was actually set in Bloomsbury or very near at least. It was called The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts, by Annie Darling. I won't recommend it to you because I didn't think it was all that marvellous even though it was a nice enough read, but I do want to mention that when the main character was talking about her childhood favorites, she mentioned Malory Towers a few times :D

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On 6/19/2017 at 5:05 AM, poppy said:

Talking about the Bloomsbury set, wondered if you'd seen the BBC series about Virginia and Vanessa, Life In Squares? Watched it recently and found it quite fascinating.

Sorry to be so long in replying poppy :(

I didn't see Life in Squares but will try and seek it out. I remember wanting to watch it but somehow not getting around to it which is the story of my life and this blog unfortunately. 

 

Since the end of August I've been away looking after my Dad as Mum had a fall and broke her femur and was herself in hospital for seven weeks. I think I may have mentioned before (after a long stint there last year) that it is impossible to read at Mum and Dad's .. the noise .. the constant babble of the TV/radio etc and just the stress and anxiety of being away from home for so long. I was only able to snatch five mins here and there and for that I picked up my crochet as I can do that even when it's noisy.

I went away in August and only came back on the 15th October .. Alan came at weekends but other than that I was on my own with Dad (who is severely disabled and needs constant care.) 

I've been living on my nerves and not on books and cake as I normally do.

I did manage to listen to a couple of audio books as night .. to aid me to sleep .. but anyhow .. I was six books ahead with my Goodreads target and now I'm six books behind :( I knew they'd find a way to scupper me and quite frankly I suspect them of sending the helicopter over my Mum's in the wee small hours of the morning which led to her getting out of bed and falling over in the dark!! Nothing would surprise me.

 

Now I'm at liberty to read I find I can't quite get back into it .. I know I will but at the moment I'm finding it hard. Might be that the C word is just around the corner and I'm trying to get organised for that (big family .. lots to organise) or it might be that I've got no kitchen!!! Al ripped it all out when I was away. I've got a washing machine and a fridge/freezer in the space that once was my kitchen but that's it (and how long they're there for who knows!) .. no oven .. and worse no sink!!!! This last is what causes most of the headaches. I have to carry any washing up upstairs in a bucket and wash it in the bath! I have the deepest respect for my ancestors now.

Still that, and seven weeks of dust, has meant that I'm not really getting into the frame of mind to read. It's hard because .. like all of you .. reading is like eating to me and I feel like I'm starving!! Never mind! Things can only get better. Good to see all of you again, wish me luck! xox

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The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain by Christopher Somerville

Synopsis: The January Man is the story of a year of walks that was inspired by a song, Dave Goulder's 'The January Man'. Month by month, season by season and region by region, Christopher Somerville walks the British Isles, following routes that continually bring his father to mind. As he travels the country - from the winter floodlands of the River Severn to the lambing pastures of Nidderdale, the towering seabird cliffs on the Shetland Isle of Foula in June and the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest in autumn - he describes the history, wildlife, landscapes and people he encounters, down back lanes and old paths, in rain and fair weather.

 

Thoughts: On the whole this was a great read. I enjoyed rambling about the countryside with Christopher and hearing him reminiscing about his father - a reserved man who Christopher struggles to get close to but eventually understands. I liked hearing all the old folk tales and legends too and February was my favourite month (as it is anyway .. birthday and all that :lol:) because it told the tale of one Reverend E. Donald Carr, Rector of Woolstaston who was in the habit of giving a morning sermon at the pretty church in the grounds of his rectory at Woolstason, tramping four miles across extremely hilly country to preach the afternoon service at Ratlinghope and then walking back to Woolstaston for the evening service. He never missed a service in ten years despite often having to go in the worst of weather. In 1865 the countryside about Woolstaston was covered in a thick carpet of snow .. the deepest snow there had been for fifty years and the Reverend still set out for Ratlinghope. Somehow he got there and after giving the sermon the villagers begged him to stay overnight but he was anxious to get back for the evening service at Woolstaton .. he'd never missed one after all .. and so refused to stay. There followed a perilous journey, one that saw the Reverend brought to the very brink of death and one which he later wrote a little book about called 'A Night in the Snow'. In this book Christopher retraces his steps, in pretty bad weather but nothing like the calamitous conditions that Reverend Carr endured, all the same it was thrilling to hear him recount the tale as he went along. The book did become a bit samey after a while, the weather being more often dreary than otherwise (I know this is Britain and therefore sunny days are few but still!!?) and so it became a little bit of a trudge towards the end and I wanted more tales like that of Rev. Carr but didn't really get any but perhaps I should have read it more leisurely over time .. reading an extract every now and then rather than gulping it all down at once! It did make me want to get out in the countryside more but it also reminded me that I need to be properly waterproofed first.

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I'm so behind with my reviews as usual .. I might not have read anything lately (actually, when I was updating my reading list I noticed that I did actually finish a book while I was at Mum and Dad's .. it was a book I had already got three quarters through and it took me ages to read the last quarter but it was a book finished .. so that's something!) but I'd only got as far as March with my reviewing before I left. Consequently the chances of me reviewing them all is slim .. so I'll just pick out the highlights and lowlights and go from there :D

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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

 

Synopsis: Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live. Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted - while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she's avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than ... fine?

 

Thoughts: If I was asked just to recommend one book this year it would be this one, without hesitation. It's the best book I've read in a long while. That is to say I listened to it and I'd urge everyone to do the same .. or everyone with an Audible account anyway because the narrator brings Eleanor to life but I also know people who read the book and they equally raved about it so I'm sure the Eleanor in your head would be every bit as good.  

 

Eleanor's not your average protagonist. I've never really read about anyone quite like her. Just when you think you have a handle on her she surprises you (there are little twists and shocks all the way through and one major, major, twist.) Her story has much to say about loneliness and isolation and how difficult it is when you don't fit in, how difficult it is when you have issues .. terribly dark issues that you have learned to live with and bury deep. Eleanor isn't immediately likeable, she has no social skills and can be blunt and rude, still there's something intriguing about her and also something which strikes an empathetic chord. You start to see life through her eyes and can see the struggle but what is it that lies behind all of this? There's some terrible dark secret in her past which she only hints at but which becomes clearer as the story unravels. It's a dark and gloomy subject but for all that it's quite funny .. probably more funny than sad for the most part but then the story turns really dark and by this time you're so invested in Eleanor that it's a painful read. But it's also uplifting because, along the way, she does find people who believe in her and this is a revelation to her.

 

I missed her so much when the story ended which is the greatest compliment you can give to a book .. some characters stay on the page but Eleanor lives and breathes.

Outstanding! Read it! 

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Oh, PoppyS! What a time you've had of it all! It's very stressful to care for unwell parents, you're so emotionally attached to them and then you feel guilty if at any time you feel impatient and irritable. And then having to be away from Alan and home for so long would have been so hard for you. You've been wonderful! And I can totally understand the noise thing making your nerve's stand on end.

With your house being renovated and topsy turvy, can you pass on being the Christmas dinner host this year? Truly Kay, you're probably taking on too much if you try to do that as well. 

Biggest hugs and go very gentle on yourself until you have time to recover from all you've been coping with xxx :hug:

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Hi Poppy, sorry to hear of your troubles, hope your mum is OK now, sounds nasty.  I can sympathise about the helicopter, we had it hovering continuously from just before 0100 the other night for about 25 minutes, of course after it had gone I was wide awake, such a racket.  Hope your kitchen gets sorted out soon!

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Sorry to hear about mum Kay...hope she is recovered now...lovely that hubby has  been doing the kitchen but a total nightmare to get it done....be lovely when finished I'm sure. Good luck with getting back on track with reading..xx:empathy:

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On 10/27/2017 at 8:21 AM, Athena said:

I hope things get better for you soon, Kay :(. Good luck with everything :flowers2:,

Thanks Gaia :hug:

On 10/27/2017 at 8:32 AM, poppy said:

Oh, PoppyS! What a time you've had of it all! It's very stressful to care for unwell parents, you're so emotionally attached to them and then you feel guilty if at any time you feel impatient and irritable. And then having to be away from Alan and home for so long would have been so hard for you. You've been wonderful! And I can totally understand the noise thing making your nerve's stand on end.

With your house being renovated and topsy turvy, can you pass on being the Christmas dinner host this year? Truly Kay, you're probably taking on too much if you try to do that as well. 

Biggest hugs and go very gentle on yourself until you have time to recover from all you've been coping with xxx :hug:

Thanks Poppy :hug: We're just going to have a low key Christmas this year. Alan hasn't got a lot of time off so we're just going to chill out, be together, and eat sandwiches or something :D It'll be bliss not to have to wrestle the turkey for once.

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On 10/27/2017 at 9:39 AM, Madeleine said:

Hi Poppy, sorry to hear of your troubles, hope your mum is OK now, sounds nasty.  I can sympathise about the helicopter, we had it hovering continuously from just before 0100 the other night for about 25 minutes, of course after it had gone I was wide awake, such a racket.  Hope your kitchen gets sorted out soon!

Bloomin' things :rolleyes: Mum is on the mend now thankfully .. thanks Madeleine :hug:

On 10/27/2017 at 4:42 PM, chesilbeach said:

Lovely to see you back here again.:flowers2:  Looking forward to catching up with you next week :hug:

It was great to see you on Monday Claire :hug: Hope you've had a good holiday :)

19 hours ago, Inver said:

Sorry to hear about mum Kay...hope she is recovered now...lovely that hubby has  been doing the kitchen but a total nightmare to get it done....be lovely when finished I'm sure. Good luck with getting back on track with reading..xx:empathy:

Thanks Di :hug: The kitchen will be a long process but it's progress .. a step in the right direction. I keep wanting to bake though .. cakes and biscuits .. also jacket potatoes .. I'm dreaming about those (and not a white Christmas as it turns out :lol: ) We could get one of those mini table top oven and hobs but we had one before when we were renovating a previous kitchen and I killed it in super quick time :giggle: Probably best to steer clear.

You'll all be glad to know that I have a toaster AND a toasted sandwich maker so I'm not going to be toast deprived :D

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Some sentences on books that didn't exactly set me alight. Please excuse me if I'm just a bit brutal. Time has done nothing to heal the wounds of disappointing reading.
 
The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marion Keyes
Thoughts: I'm a big fan of Marian Keyes. I moved on to her after exhausting Maeve Binchy and she didn't disappoint .. I particularly loved all her books about the Walsh family (Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Angels and Anybody Out There? although I've yet to read the last one The Mystery of Mercy Close) very readable and absolutely guaranteed to put a smile on my face. Alan bought me this book for my birthday and so I had an extra reason to love it but I just couldn't. Unlikeable characters, implausible plot and dialogue and just perplexingly awful. I couldn't believe it was the same author. It's a tome too .. I would have given up on it if it hadn't been a present (why is there always a reason!?) I trudged through it. I've since read a lot of rave reviews about her latest book The Break but I'm not sure now .. I think she may have gone off the boil .. she could of course boil again .. but can I take the risk? Disappointing!
 
The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders
Thoughts: I've actually wiped this from my memory so can't really remember much of it but I do remember being annoyed. I was unaware that the story was, in part, a re-imagining (God! .. a word to strike fear and all that) of David Copperfield and so alarm bells were ringing when I recognised a particular plot situation from that book in this (nothing up to that point had put me in mind of it so I just thought the author was taking liberties until such time as the liberties became so blatant that I realised it must be intentional.) All very well to write in the style of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins if you can live up to them .. few can .. I didn't think Kate Saunders was one of them. There's more in the series apparently. No thanks.
 
The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Thoughts: Now, I'm not for one minute saying that this isn't a work of genius or that it is defective in any way .. millions of readers can't be wrong it's just that it didn't hold my interest. As soon as Audible advertised their wonderful Sherlock Holmes: Definitive Collection read by Stephen Fry I rushed to download it. Never was an Audible credit parted with so willingly. I haven't heard all the stories yet, I've only really dipped my toe in but what I have heard has been marvellous .. for the most part. This was the one story though that I couldn't seem to get involved in. It couldn't have been Stephen's reading .. we all know he could read from the cornflake packet and make it riveting so it must have been that the story didn't suit. I don't think there was enough Holmes and Watson in it. I usually always listen when out walking and I was wandering off constantly (in my mind .. not feet!!) I did like the denouement though (which of course I can't tell you about) and what it led to.
 
Mrs Zant and the Ghost by Wilkie Collins
Thoughts: It's a bit rich of me to include Wilkie here after hailing him as a genius earlier. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story it's just that it was a bit slight and didn't really go anywhere. It's only a short story and I felt it suffered a bit from being squashed down into 76 pages. On the plus side, I listened to it (free .. thank you Audible) .. Gillian Anderson narrated and she was excellent. Wouldn't appear on Wilkie's Greatest Hits .. not volume 1 anyway.
 
Talking to Addison by Jenny Colgan
Thoughts: Again, Jenny Colgan has written better books .. much better books. This was one of her earlier efforts I think and as such she was probably testing the water etc. It was readable, I didn't at any point want to hurl it and I was interested in the outcome so not a disaster just not up to the standard I've come to expect of her. It did get sillier as it went along. Books often do though .. take Frankenstein! :lol: 
 
The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond
Thoughts: Oh dear! What a struggle. I bought this book many moons ago seduced by it's beautiful cover. So seduced that I bought it in hardback and put it in my glass cabinet in the lounge where all my beautiful books live. Once books get put in the cabinet they stand even less of a chance of being read than any of the others in the house as they're in (neatish) piles and the faff involved in unlocking the cabinet and disturbing the piles is more than I'm equal to most days. I think I must have been at a bit of a reading low ebb when I decided to liberate this book. It's time had come .. ta-dah!! Obviously I was hoping for a tale that lived up to the great cover .. I've rarely been let down in this department so I had confidence but imagine my face when I realised that the whole book was narrated by Billy and, given that he has never learnt to write or spell, it was written phonetically! By the end of the first page I had a headache!! Here's a taste:
'Next day he brout a groop of men. They tarkd in foren voyses & kept ther eyes turnd away from us. They set to work reparing the room as best they cud. They prepard it as the plays wer I wud grow. They put loks on the dore & went away.'
There was never any let up, I willed for one of the other characters to take over the narration just to give me five minutes break but nope!
Now, it wasn't necessarily difficult to decipher as you can see but it meant that the story never flowed because there was always something on the page that was incomprehensible so I just stuttered and stumbled my way through it. NOT RELAXING!! There is a good story here and that's what kept me reading. Fool! I've just seen that the new edition of the book is subtitled 'Telt by Hisself' and I feel this may have forewarned me and so now feel cheated as well as exhausted.
 
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Thoughts: This is not to be compared with the others here that I've been complaining about. I love H.G.Wells and think The War of the Worlds is THE best science fiction story I have ever read .. or am ever likely to .. and I loved the beginning and the end of this story. It's just that I didn't like the middle much (so in other words .. I hated the time travel!! :giggle:) .. it seemed a bit preposterous and I didn't feel the story had aged well. I know it's much beloved so again, it's probably just me. Vintage sci-fi and me usually get on okay but this time we didn't really get past a friendly handshake etc.
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4 hours ago, poppyshake said:

Thanks Poppy :hug: We're just going to have a low key Christmas this year. Alan hasn't got a lot of time off so we're just going to chill out, be together, and eat sandwiches or something :D It'll be bliss not to have to wrestle the turkey for once.

 

Excellent plan!! :flowers2:

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