~Andrea~ Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) Previous logs: 2018 (14) 2017 (10) 2016 (9) 2015 (10)2014 (19)2013 (21)2012 (19)2011 (17)2010 (19)2009 (23)2008 (26)2007 (21) Completed: Secrets in the Dark - Frederich Buechner The Memory Game - Nicci French The Philosopher and the Gospels - Keith Ward Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes Introducing Psychology, a graphic guide - Nigel Benson High Hopes - Ronnie Corbett Introducing Psychotherapy a graphic guide - Nigel Benson, Borin Van Loon Gentleman Jim - Raymond Briggs Vortex Butterflies (a Dr Who graphic novel with David Tenant's doctor) Locke and Key, Head Games (book 2) - Joe Hill Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin Cassandra Darke - Posy Simmonds Back when we were Grown-ups - Anne Tyler Renegade Magic - Robin Hobb Gemma Bovary - Posy Simmonds The Well - Catherine Chanter Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier The Fault in our Stars - John Greene Currently reading: Christian Theology: An Introduction - Alistair McGrath Edited April 24, 2020 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) Acquired pre 2018 Minnette Walters - The shape of snakes Logic - A very short introduction Wilkie Collins The Woman in White Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales (modern translation) The Essential tales of Chekhov A Winter's tale Othello The Merchant of Venice Julius Caesar Twelfth night Collected works of Tennyson The Four Loves - C S Lewis Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan The Trial - Franz Kafka (audio) Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings - Edited by David Chalmers Ian Rankin - Watchmen Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities JoJo Moyes - The Girl You Left Behind The Road Less Traveled My Favourite Wife - Tony Parsons C J Sansom : Dark Fire Joanne Harris - Five quarters of the orange Ronnie Corbett - High Hopes Robin Hobb - Renegade's Magic Books acquired 2018: The Philosopher and the Gospels - Keith Ward The Memory Game - Nicci French Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes This Charming Man - Marian Keyes Books acquired 2019: Christian Theology: An Introduction - Alistair McGrath The adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Introducing Psychology a graphic guide - Nigel Benson Introducing Psychotherapy a graphic guide - Nigel Benson, Borin Van Loon The Psychology Book - Nigel Benson Cassandra Darke - Posy Simmonds Gemma Bovary - Posy Simmonds The Well - Catherine Chanter Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier Edited October 6, 2019 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) The Wish List Aaronovistch, Ben - Rivers of London recommended Ambrose, David - Superstition Alexander, Denis - creation or evolution: do we have to choose? Beah, Ishmael - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Bradbury, Ray - Farenheit 451 Bradbury, Ray - Something Wicked this way comes Barker, Clive - Weaveworld Brother Lawrence - The Practice of the Presence of God Buechner, Frederich - The Book of Bebb Bugan, Carmen - Burying the Typewriter Burton, Fiona - The Widow recommended Challis, Sarah - Footprints in the sand Chamberlaine, Diane - The Midwife's confession recommended Cohen, Jeff - The Question of the Missing Head recommended Conran, Shirley - Savages Coupland, Douglas - Microserfs/JPod Coben, Harlan - Six Years recommended Du Maurier, Daphne - Rebecca Du Maurier, Daphne - The House on the Strand Dunant, Sarah - Transgressions (recommended) Dick, Philip K - A Scanner Darkly Faber, Michael - The Crimson petal and the White recommended Foster, Richard - Celebration of Discipline Gaarder, Jostein - Sophie's World Green, John - Turtles All the Way Down recommended Greene, Grahame - Brighton Rock Greene, Grahame - The Third Man & The Fallen Idol Haig, Matt - How to Stop Time recommended Haugen, Gary (IJM) - Just Courage Highsmith, Patricia - The Talented Mr Ripley Hinton, Susan - Rumble Fish Hobb, Robin - Fool's Assassin Hobb, Robin - Fool's Quest Hobb, Robin - Assassin's Fate Hodgson, Burnett Frances - The Secret Garden Hodkin, Michelle -The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Humphries, Alistair - Microadventures recommended Jerome, Jerome K - My Life and Times Jefferson Farjeon, J - Mystery in White recommended Kasasian, M.R.C. - The Mangle Street Murders recommended (read by Emma Gregory) Krauss, Nicole - Man walks into a Room recommended Koontz, Dean - The Mask Koontz, Dean - From The Corner Of His Eye Koontz, Dean - False Memory Lennox, John - God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Lennox, John - Seven Days that Divide the World. Lewis, C S - Till we have Faces London, Jack - White Fang Mandel, John - Station Eleven recommended Marion, Issac - Warm Bodies recommended McKinley, Robin - Sunshine Mercer, Jeremy - Books, Baguettes & Bedbugs Mitchell, Margaret - Gone With the Wind Moran, Caitlin - How to be a Woman recommended Moss, Sarah - Night Waking recommended Moyes, Jojo - The Last Letter From Your Lover recommended Neville, Adam - Apartment 16 Scott, Fitzgerald F - recommended Semple, Maria - Where'd you go Bernadette - recommended Phillips, Caryl - A Distant Shore (recommended) Penny, Stef - The Tenderness of Wolves recommended Pye-Smith, Charlie - Land of Plenty recommended Rayner, Jay - The Oyster House Siege Sachar, Louis - There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom - recommended Taylor, Jodie - Just One Damned Thing After Another - recommended Tremayne, S.K - The Ice Twins recommended Trueman, Terry - Stuck in neutral Trigell, Jonathan - Boy A Verne, Jules - Journey to the Centre of the Earth - recommended Wheatley, Dennis - The Haunting of Toby Jugg Winter, Tom - Lost and Found recommended Wyndham, John - The Kraken awakes Watson, S J - Before I go to sleep Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Shadow Of The Wind Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Angel's Game Ryan, Carrie - The Forest Of Hands & Teeth Wroblewski, David - The story of Edgar Sawtelle Zevin, Gabrielle - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry recommended Edited July 27, 2019 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) Secrets in the Dark by Frederick Buechner This is a wonderful little book that I've been dipping in and out of for the past year or so. It's a book of sermons, which sounds tedious, but these are quite wonderful, beautifully written, warm, gentle, inclusive and non-preachy little gems of spiritual hope and light. I've loved dippng into this book by this Pulitzer prize nominated author whose writing in this book is an absolute delight. Edited January 13, 2019 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 The Memory Game by Nicci French When preparations for a new summer house in the Martello family's estate unearth the skeletal remains of the family's youngest daughter who disappeared twenty-five years ago, her childhood best friend, recently divorced from the deceased's brother, becomes obsessed with digging up the past and trying to solve the mystery of who killed her. I enjoyed this. It had a slowish pace and certainly wasn't a page-turning thriller but I quite liked that about it. I enjoyed getting to know the characters as the story unfolded. There was a lot of psychology in the book as the main character goes through therapy to get over her divorce and talk about the discovery of her childhood friend's body and I enjoyed that aspect of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I have read and enjoyed most of the books by Nicci French, but am yet to read this one. They write some good slow burners. I have the book (with real pages - not a kindle version!) on my shelf. Based on your review it looks like I am going to have to nudge it up the reading list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 Thanks Chrissy. I've never read any by them before so had nothing to compare it to. I thought the writing was great in it though, and I believe it was their first novel. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Well, I'm thrilled to have logged In today only to discover that I've won the Sherlock Holmes January giveaway! I love Sherlock Holmes!! Thank you @Hayley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Congratulations Andrea! What a lovely booky way to kick the year off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 I really am so glad you love the prize! Since the winner's completely random (I use an online name picker) it did cross my mind that it would be awful if the winner hated Sherlock Holmes 'The Memory Game' sounds really interesting, I like the idea of it being more psychological than the usual thriller. I've never heard of Nicci French before so I'll have to look at what other books they have too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Thanks both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 I picked up a couple of second hand Marian Keyes' books last year. I'd never read anything by her before and always assumed it would be a bit light and fluffy, romantic and possibly twee which is not my cuppa so never bothered with her. However I heard her on radio 4 and she said her book covers annoy her because they give exactly the impression I described above, and that's not what she writes at all. That's why I picked up a couple of her books. I started one (Rachel's Holiday) a couple of days ago and it's great! Full of cheeky humour and not twee at all. I'm not far in yet but I'm really enjoying it. It's been a while since I read anything funny and I this has really grabbed my attention. I'm looking forward to going to my reading time in a way I haven't done for ages. And hopefully I've discovered a new author to enjoy!! Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Wow, how nice to hear she doesn't like her own book covers! I too think some of those book covers give off that fluffy feeling (some of the newer covers are nicer in my opinion). I've only read one book by her so far, This Charming Man, and I loved it. But it's definitely not light and fluffy. I hope you like Rachel's Holiday . I have more books by her on my shelf so I look forward to read more of her work, hopefully later this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Oh that's good to know. This Charming Man is the other book I have on my shelf! Thanks Gaia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 My lovely Sherlock Holmes book arrived last week that I won in the monthly prize draw (thanks again @Hayley ). I meant to post pics sooner but I've been ill all week. Anyway - it really is a beautiful book, a real treat considering my usual books are beaten up old paperbacks from charity shops! Excuse my blurry camera work for the shot of the cover!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes Rachel Walsh is a girl about town living it up in New York City, and she sure likes to party, so much so that after a mishap on a night out (all a terrible misunderstanding) she ends up in rehab. She only agrees to go for the saunas and health spas (which is surely what rehab is all about) and to get her family off her back. Her little holiday however turns out to be somewhat different to what she was expecting. This is the first Marian Keyes novel I've read and I absolutely loved it! We follow Rachel's time at rehab, and also (through recollection) along the path that got her there. It's funny, warm, insightful, a bit naughty and very easy to read. It's not fluffy chick-lit by any stretch. Even though it's written with a good deal of humour it covers serious topics in a sensitive yet entertaining way. The main character Rachel, even though deeply flawed, still manages to be likeable and I enjoyed spending time with her and following her on her journey of self-discovery. This book made me laugh out loud on many occasion, and it made me cry too. Fabulous stuff. Edited February 16, 2019 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen.d Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 23 hours ago, ~Andrea~ said: My lovely Sherlock Holmes book arrived last week that I won in the monthly prize draw (thanks again @Hayley ). I meant to post pics sooner but I've been ill all week. Anyway - it really is a beautiful book, a real treat considering my usual books are beaten up old paperbacks from charity shops! Excuse my blurry camera work for the shot of the cover!! ooh! What a lovely book! Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Thanks Karen :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Congratulations on winning the book, Andrea ! I'm glad you enjoyed Rachel's Holiday. I've read one Marian Keyes book, called This Charming Man, and I really liked it. I have Rachel's Holiday on my TBR, so I'm glad to hear you liked it . Great review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Thanks Gaia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I'm glad the book got there safely Great review of Rachel's Holiday. I've always avoided Marian Keyes for the same reason as you, I assumed they were going to be twee romance novels, mainly based on the covers. It's a shame, really, that she doesn't have more say in the cover designs, because they obviously are putting off potential readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 A friend of mine told me that she heard Marian Keyes on the radio, and in an interview she [Marian Keyes] said that she really didn't like her own book covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 The book is gorgeous. I hope you enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 22 hours ago, Hayley said: I'm glad the book got there safely Great review of Rachel's Holiday. I've always avoided Marian Keyes for the same reason as you, I assumed they were going to be twee romance novels, mainly based on the covers. It's a shame, really, that she doesn't have more say in the cover designs, because they obviously are putting off potential readers. I would defiitely recommend this book Hayley. I was very pleasantly surprised. This is proper grown up comic fiction - not twee at all. It really is a shame about the covers. 4 hours ago, Chrissy said: The book is gorgeous. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks Chrissy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 High Hopes by Ronnie Corbett I've always been a big fan of Ronnie Corbett. I loved him in the Two Ronnies (especially the chair monologues) and in Sorry! He's always made me laugh and struck me as a nice chap so I was looking forward to reading this. The reviews on Amazon were a bit mixed though so I wasn't sure what to expect. Having read it I can understand some of the criticism. There are a LOT of anecdotes and name-dropping and I sometimes felt that he was talking more about other people than he was himself. The first half of the book focuses a lot on his early career in cabaret and vaudeville and there were so many people and anecdotes and incidents that I found my head spinning a bit. I think I'd have preferred a gentler, more flowing and personal narrative with some self-refection. I mean there is some of that but not as much as I would expect in an autobiography. Perhaps he is just not a particularly open person and prefers not to wear his heart on his sleeve. I enjoyed it more as it went on however and found the second half where he talks about The Two Ronnies and Sorry better somehow (whether it was that I'd settled into the book's style by then, or that he'd found his flow as an author, I can't say). He has a quite incredible memory for detail though and has led an interesting life in the theatre and he seemed very much to fit in with that show-business lifestyle. I enjoyed it overall, it made me chuckle in places and I found it a pleasant read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.