Janet Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 I did Animal Farm at school but recently reread that and enjoyed it. Mind you, I put minimal effort into it at school! Also, it was about 25 years ago, so although I remembered the basic story I'd forgotten the detail. What are you reading next? I started Komandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff last night, but it's off to a bit of a slow start at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 23, 2007 Author Share Posted June 23, 2007 I manged to leave Kommandant's Girl at a friend's house, so goodness knows when I'll get that back. I've started on The House at Riverton by Kate Morton this afternoon. I've only read the first 50 pages, but I love the writing style so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 I've just finished The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. I really enjoyed it - will write a review later. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted July 1, 2007 Author Share Posted July 1, 2007 I'm reading Regeneration by Pat Barker. It was slow to start, but is building now. It's fiction, but is about Siegfried Sassoon and based on his stay in Craiglockhart hospital following his "soldier's declaration" about his belief that WW1 was being unnecessarily prolonged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 I've just finished Marshmallows for Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, which was a shame - I really enjoyed the beginning of it, but it turned out to be rather predictable. 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 I haven't updated for a while! I've read some good books since I last posted, but now I've lost my reading Mojo again. So far in August/September I've given up on Wicked, A Time To Dance, the last bookworms book about Freud (can't even remember the title) and The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I just can't seem to get into anything at the moment. Not good news with A2 English Lit starting today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyB Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Not good news with A2 English Lit starting today! Best of luck with your course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted September 14, 2007 Author Share Posted September 14, 2007 Best of luck with your course. Thanks. Although only 6 of us have enrolled so there is a strong possibility that they will cancel it - even though we had a class last night. Please keep your fingers (mentally!) crossed for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 I will! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted September 19, 2007 Author Share Posted September 19, 2007 Thanks Mau. No email yet to say it's not going ahead tomorrow so I'm keeping everything crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 What happened Janet? Did it go ahead? (so I can uncross everything :-)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 What happened Janet? Did it go ahead? (so I can uncross everything :-)) Yes! Two more ladies turned up on Thursday so we're up to 8 now. I'm very happy. Thanks for the crossed fingers - hopefully it'll be easier for you to type now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 Yep it is, though for I while there I was getting rather worried as I was going numb ;-) Hope you enjoy the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted October 6, 2007 Author Share Posted October 6, 2007 I finished Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks yesterday - it was fab! 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renniemist Posted October 6, 2007 Share Posted October 6, 2007 Oh I loved that book Janet. I am so glad you did too. It was one of my favourites last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 I've just finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (7/10) and Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (8/10). I'm going to read: The Last Fighting Tommy, Harry Patch's autobiography, next. He's (as the name suggests) the last British man alive who fought in World War 1. He's 109 years old and lives not far from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 5, 2007 Author Share Posted November 5, 2007 I've just finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (7/10) and Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (8/10). I'm going to read: The Last Fighting Tommy, Harry Patch's autobiography, next. He's (as the name suggests) the last British man alive who fought in World War 1. He's 109 years old and lives not far from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 The Last Fighting Tommy, Harry Patch's autobiography, next. He's (as the name suggests) the last British man alive who fought in World War 1. He's 109 years old and lives not far from here. I just saw him, Harry Patch on the 10pm BBC1 news - I think they said there was a documentary about him tomorrow night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 6, 2007 Author Share Posted November 6, 2007 I just saw him, Harry Patch on the 10pm BBC1 news - I think they said there was a documentary about him tomorrow night. Oh thanks so much - I'll check it out. My Grandfather fought in the first world war. He never really spoke about his experiences though and he died when I was 15 so I wasn't really interested in history. Now I'm older (perhaps wiser too?! ) I'm very interested in history and as I'm researching my family tree this interest becomes deeper. Two of my Grandad's brothers died in WW1 - one was killed when HMS Vanguard blew up and the other was blown up on a munitions dump in the Somme. I wish I had asked him about his experiences. I know my cousin John spoke with him about it (he's much older than me) so I must ring him for a chat one of these days. </Waffle> Anyway, thanks again. ETA: I found it on UKTV History and have just watched it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renniemist Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 I saw this programme advertised on the TV last night also, but I have managed to miss it unfortunately. The Last Fighting Tommy sounds good. He must be amazing. WWI has been over for 89 years so he must have been only 20 when the war finished. When I was young I always thought of these soldiers as being old, but now I realise just how young they all were. It is so sad. I have just finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front and I have read Birdsong both books are about WWI but from the point of view of different sides. I hope you enjoy the autobiography Janet and will let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 6, 2007 Author Share Posted November 6, 2007 I saw this programme advertised on the TV last night also, but I have managed to miss it unfortunately. If you have UKTV History (channel 12 on Freeview), it's repeated sometime on Sunday. I read Birdsong recently and I absolutely loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renniemist Posted November 6, 2007 Share Posted November 6, 2007 Thanks Janet. I do have UKTV(History). So I will try to remember that. I loved birdsong too. It is such a sad period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 I finished The Last Fighting Tommy by Harry Patch (with Richard Van Emden yesterday - quite fitting to finish it on Remembrance Sunday, I guess! I really enjoyed it - what a remarkable man Harry is, and not just because he's 109 years of age. There were a couple of errors with place names that are easily checkable, eg Castle Carey instead of Castle Cary which I thought was a bit sloppy of Mr Van Emden! 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Well done Janet x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 I've just finished The Queene's Christmas by Karen Harper. The ‘blurb’ Someone is threatening the court’s most cherished holiday… with deadly success. The Queene’s Christmas draws readers into the magnificent realm of Elizabeth Tudor and the magic of her Court at Yuletide, circa 1564. But in the intoxicating sixth novel of Karen Harper’s celebrated Elizabeth I series, the Twelve Days of Christmas are murderously interrupted when the Dresser of the Queen’s Privy Kitchen is found hanged and trussed like the peacock he’d been fashioning for the holiday feast. With foul play afoot in her Court, Elizabeth does her royal utmost to track down the poor man’s killer while striving to salvage the joy of Christmas. Doomed to suspect ever her most trusted courtiers, she is nevertheless determined to vanquish the Christmas culprit - who will not only strike again but has targeted Her Majesty as his ultimate prey. This book reads a bit like Karen Harper wrote it whilst reading “The Bumper Book of Metaphors and Similes for Keystage 2”! From such gems as his ruddy glow went white as bleached linen to happy as a hawk in a windstorm, together with an enormous helping of the phrase ‘s blood to show us that the Queen wasn’t a total goody-goody! Karen Harper is an American author who writes about English subjects and her writing seems very well researched. She says herself in the back that it's not necessarily accurate but it's close enough. It's quite amusing reading an English queen saying things like inquiry instead of enquiry and behavior instead of behaviour but that's merely an observation, not a criticism. That aside, it was quite a good yarn, if a little predictable - I got the murderer quite early on in the book, albeit that my feeling was based on a hunch rather than any clues. I think the fact it took me three weeks to read it speaks volumes and I don’t think I’ll be rushing to buy any more of the ‘Elizabeth I Mysteries’! The paperback is 281 pages long and is published by St. Martin's Press. The ISBN number is 978-0312994723. 5/10 (Read December 2007) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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