Kell Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Just bought Letter From America by Alistair Cooke for The Posh Club group read, so that'll be next on my list once I've finished Cross Stitch. it's not something I would ordinarily have chosen, & realy didn't want to buy it, but all the library copies were out & booked solid for some reason & I wouldn't have ben able to get it in time to read it before our next meeting on 21st or 23rd February (they have 2 dates to choose from coz the group got very big lately & not everyone could make it to the same night). Ah well, I'll give it a try & see how I like it... Next time it'll be a book of MY choice & I've nominated books from my "to read" shelf to save on the pennies - LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 5, 2006 Author Share Posted February 5, 2006 I'm almost 1/2 way through Cross Stitch now. I think I love Jamie just a little bit! He's almost like the perfect man - loving, generous, brave, kind, accepting - everyone should have a Jamie... If I were Claire, I don't think I'd be worrying myself at all about getting back to Frank in the 1940's - I most certainly wouldn't want to pass up any chance with Jamie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 6, 2006 Author Share Posted February 6, 2006 I'm not much further on with Cross Stitch (hardly got any reading time over the last few days - bah!) but I'm completely engrossed in it. Despite Jamie's sound beating of Claire (I don't condone domestic violence at all, but I could kind of see his point here!), I find myself completely enthralled by the character. I can't help feeling that Claire's modern-day (well, 1940's) husband, Frank, is more than a little insipid by comparison & I'm certain that his bedroom techniques would be considered decidedly dull after Jamie! I know exactly which husband I would want to keep hold of & although I can understand Claire still trying to figure out a way to get home, I can't help feeling that in the same situation, I'd be more than a little tempted to stay put! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leah Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Jamie and Claire's love is undeniable and it really sucks you in. Claire and Jamie just have that magic everyone dreams of. And I'm with you, I don't see how she can really consider even going back to Frank after being with Jamie. I'll keep any spoilers to myself for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 It's all going a bit crazy for Claire & Jamie at the moment. I'm not too far from the end, but I'm worried about the poor lad! And I have a horrid feelingt hat something it s going to happen that sends Claire back to her own time (which will leave me distraught!). I'll be starting on Letter from America by Alistair Cooke at some point today too, as I'm reading it for The Posh Club... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inanna Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Hey Kell, I have the sequel to this coming my way in the next few days, you're more than welcome to borrow it as I haven't read the first one yet so won't need it for a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Thank you for the offer, Inanna, but I think I shall have to hold off on that for a little while, as I have such a huge list of books waiting to be read as it is, as well as a couple of reading group ones I have to read as a priority. I shall certainly be coming back to these though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Finished Cross Stitch & will be writing the review tomorrow once I've had time to digest & cogitate a bit. I loved this book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Started reading Letter from America by Alistair Cooke for The Posh Club group read, but since it's a journalistic type book of essays (& one I wouldn't ordinarily have chosen, at that) it should lend itself well to being read in chunks. Therefore, I'm also starting The Eagle's Prey by Simon Scarrow (5th in the Eagles series). It's the last of my Zmas haul & I've really been looking forward to this one, so it should offset any boredom I might face with the other one. Not that I'm prejudging LFA - I've just read the 1st essay & I wasn't all that interested in it, so I think it's a good idea to have something else to hand that will engross & entertain me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 9, 2006 Author Share Posted February 9, 2006 So far, The Eagle's Prey is shaping up pretty well. Macro & Cato have already been plunged right into the thick of things & this looks like it's going to be just as exciting as the previous 4. I'm very happy about this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 10, 2006 Author Share Posted February 10, 2006 The Eagle's Prey is getting rather tense & exciting! I reckon this one could be the best yet if it continues in this vein. I'm genuinely worried for the main characters as I now see that Scarrow could conceivably kill one of them off if it meant progressing the story & I don't think I could cope with losing either one of them as I've become rather fond of them both. I feel like I know Macro & Cato & it would upset me a great deal if anything were to happen to either one of them. It's looking touch & go for one of them at the moment... it's heady stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 11, 2006 Author Share Posted February 11, 2006 Didn't manage to get any reading done today at all. I dozed off whilst watching Mathew Modine in Jack & the Beanstalk, despite enjoying it immensely (the 2nd part is on tomorrow, so I might have to watch that too). The entire day, other than that, has been busy, busy, busy. Ah well, maybe I'll get some reading in tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inanna Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I liked Jack & The Beanstalk too Kell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 12, 2006 Author Share Posted February 12, 2006 Why is it that I get less reading done on the weekends than I do through the week? I don't understand it - after all, the weekend is supposed to be when you relax & do what you want to do, but I always seem to be even busier & without the excuse of coffee & lunch breaks at various points in the day to sit with a good book! I've promised myself a good, long soak in the tub with good reading material tonight, so I may actually get some "me" time after all. here's hoping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 Well Kell, we have to do some living, around this reading business!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 12, 2006 Author Share Posted February 12, 2006 Well Kell, we have to do some living, around this reading business!! LOL - I sometimes think I'd prefer to live in the books I'm reading - it seems so much more exciting than the reality. But then, isn't that why we love books in the first place? They provide an escape to something interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 14, 2006 Author Share Posted February 14, 2006 I'm giving up on Letter from America by Alistair Cooke. I just can't stand it. If it were a biography or autobiography, I could get on board with finding out about the man, but this is just a series of essays, none of which hold any interest for me at all. I'm just glad I had a money off voucher so I didn't have to pay full whack. I'll be getting shot of this as soon as possible. OK, so it means I haven't read the book of choice for The Posh Club, but in this instance, I just couldn't do it. I can't even remember what the essays I actually read were about - that's how uninteresting I found them! I hate being beaten by a book, but this one just takes the biscuit in my case. I'm not even going to bother reviewing it as I've got through so d*mned little of it! The Eagle's Prey by Simon Scarrow, on the other hand, is fantastic! I'm almost finished it & can honestly say this series keeps getting better & better. I've been in constant real fear for the welfare of teh lead characters as I've come to realise that Scarrow could conceivable kill one, the other or both of them off, as he's been developing other characters along with them. I don't know how I'd cope if he did that, but it woudl certainly be acceptable (however hard!) as it would reflect the harsh realities of war - we don't always get the hero coming home! I'll be moving on to My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult for the Reading Circle when I'm done with the Eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 14, 2006 Author Share Posted February 14, 2006 Just finished The Eagle's Prey by Simon Scarrow during my lunch & I have to say, what an ending! If I didn't already know there's another book after this one, I'd have worried that this was my lot from the Eagles & would have been very sad to see the back of them. But no, the British invasion isn't over yet - there's more to come & I am SOOOOOO excited about it! I can hardly wait to get the next one... Review now posted in the reviews forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 14, 2006 Author Share Posted February 14, 2006 Started reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult during lunch. For someone who diesn't tend to like novels written in the 1st person, I seem to have a habit of picking them up lately! I'm about 3 chapters in & so far so good. I like the fact that it's switching perspectives from one character to another, meaning I get to see things from different points of view, which is a nice twist with such a tricky subject matter as this. I'll carry on & see if my thoughts on this hold up throughout the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 I'm almost 1/3rd of the way through MSK now & although it's hard-hitting, I'm enjoying it. The 1st person style is not bothering me at all, in fact, I rather like it when it's applied this way to give the story from different perspectives, rather than from just one person's POV all the way through. It's one of those books that really gets you thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inanna Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Thats what I liked about Vanishing Acts that she wrote, you got the story from all the people involved which made their actions easier to understand. Will hopefully start this one later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 On pages 250-251 of MSK, there is something spectacular - quite the most beautifully sad cration myth I have ever read: If there was a religion of Annaism, & I had to tell you how humans made their way to earth, it would go like this: In the beginning, there was nothing at all but the moon and the sun. And the moon wanted to come out during the day, but there was something so much brighter that seemed to fill up all those hours. The moon grew hungry, thinner & thinner, until she was just a slice of herself, and her tips were as sharp as a knife. By accident, because that is the way most things happen, she poked a hole in the night & out spilled a million stars, like a fountain of tears. Horrified, the moon tried to swallow them up. And sometimes this worked, because she got fatter & rounder. But mostly it didn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I agree Kell. I found this part deeply upsetting and I must admit that I cried a couple of times for Anna. I also felt sorry for her father as I felt that he did not want to put Anna through all this. Equally he does not want to lose his other daughter or wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 I also felt sorry for her father as I felt that he did not want to put Anna through all this. Equally he does not want to lose his other daughter or wife. Yes, I think he's the most sympathetic character. It must be a terrible position to be in - he's caught between a rock, a hard place & a sheer cliff face! There's no place for him to turn without hurting someone. Either he helps Anna & loses his other daughter & wife,or he helps Kate & loses Anna & his self respect. It's not an enviable position. Being a Daddy's girl, I find myself constantly seeing him as my own Dad & feeling terrible for him on all counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Just finished MSK & I'm not ashamed to admit I bawled my eyes out. I did see the end coming, but I still cried. I really enjoyed it, though & I think I'll most definitely be picking up a few more of Piccoult's books to read. If they're anything as good as this one is, I won't go far wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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