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karen.d

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Everything posted by karen.d

  1. I agree, Jack was such a dynamic character, that he just didn-t seem himself for some reason. They could have made a lot more of him in the plot in my opinion.
  2. I agree, this was just, ok. John Barrowman wasn't in the episode enough and, although
  3. January 'The Hobbit'- J.R.R Tolkien ***** 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night Time'- Mark Haddon **** 'The Northern Lights'- Phillip Pullman ***** 'The Woman On The Fifth'- Douglas Kennedy (Currently Reading) February March April May June July August September October November December
  4. Happy New Year! I was absolutely terrible at updating my 2020 book list.. Well, let's face it, 2020 in general, was a terrible year. I'm going to try my best at up dating this one. Here's to some great reads in 2021!
  5. Yes I hope you are ok. 2020 was such a strange year, that I have decided not to put too much pressure on myself to do things. I might read a little today, but I am not going to use the read-a-thons to mark the quantity of pages read but just to enjoy reading. Happy New Year to you all!
  6. I finished 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' yesterday and loved it!
  7. I'm actually really enjoying it this time around. I must have been in the wrong mood to read this book. Overall this weekend, I managed to read 227 pages of this book.
  8. You too! I will be starting to read shortly.
  9. Me too! I hope you enjoy the read-a-thon
  10. Count me in! I will be reading 'Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine' by Gail Hineyman. I'm trying this book again.
  11. That's fine with me! I actually thought the read-a-thon was last weekend, so I will be doing the read-a-thon twice in one month
  12. I'll be taking part this weekend. I am currently reading 'Misery' by Stephen King. So I'd like to finish that, if possible.
  13. Hi! Welcome to the group and the read-a-thon! I can't believe this month's read-a-thon is next week! I'm just about to start reading 'Us' by David Nicholls, so I may use the read-a-thon to make progress on that, or I might start something else. In any case, count me in for next weekend!
  14. I will add that one to my list! I just LOVE his books!
  15. I agree, there should be more diversity in, general, with characters in books!
  16. What the ‘Blurb’ says: ‘Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their flat, she has to move miles away from everyone, to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop. And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . . And people start to hear about it. Sometimes, bread really is life . . . And Polly is about to reclaim hers.’ My Thoughts: During lock down, I had a very bad time mentally; you can read about that in my post here. So, I decided to join the ‘Bon Marche’ book club on Facebook to take my mind off of things and ‘The Little Beach Street Bakery’, was their first group read. Whilst everyone else in the group is probably on the third or fourth read by now, I’ve only just finished reading ‘The Little Beach Street Bakery’. That doesn’t mean that this is a bad book.That also doesn’t mean that it didn’t have flaws, it has a few, but I will get to that later. What I did like the most, was the main character, Polly. Polly is a believable, likable and strong woman and I wanted her to succeed. I also adored the descriptions of the calm fishing village this book is set it. In the stressful times of lockdown, when I read this, I could imagine myself in the calm seaside setting of this book. I also enjoyed the book’s gentle humour and in particular, I loved Neil the Puffin, but you will have to read this book, to find out where he fits into the story! The only two characters, which for me, almost spoiled the book, were Polly’s best friend Kerensa and another character, Reuben. They were completely over the top and totally unbelievable and, in some of the later scenes in the book, I had to take a star off this book, because of what happens to them. The story itself, was quite predictable. Although I have to say, the sub plot with the local fishing trade, was very emotional. Whether it was predictable or not, doesn’t matter though, in my opinion. When I read this book, it was like being wrapped up in a warm, comfy blanket and, for a while, despite everything that was going on in real life, it felt like everything was going to be all right. If you’re having a bad day and want a book to escape into, I’d recommend ‘The Little Beach Street Bakery’. I look forward to reading more in this series, because the first installment, was so heartwarming and made me feel good when I read it. My Rating ***
  17. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.
  18. Thank you! I'm slowly getting back into things that I used to enjoy, so I hope to be putting a lot more book reviews up shortly.
  19. It's fantastic on many levels! The illustrations are beautiful. 'The Lost Thing' is also really cute too.
  20. I've heard people on YouTube mention 'Pumpkinheads' and it looks interesting. After reading 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan, I'm definitely interested in getting into graphic novels.
  21. Hello! It's been a while! Apologizes for going AWOL over the last few months. Lockdown has been particularly difficult mentally for me and I haven't had any motivation to pick up a book, let a lone do anything else. However, I'm starting to feel MUCH better and I'm reading again! So I thought I would tell you about one of the two books that I have managed to read during lockdown. 'The Moth Catcher' by Ann Cleaves ‘The Moth Catcher’ is the third ‘Vera’ detective novel I have buddy read with a friend. What I really like about this series, is that you don’t necessarily have to read these books in order, to enjoy them. There are characters who appear frequently throughout the novels and you can see their development, but you can also enjoy each book, as a stand alone. The set up of this murder investigation was good. I loved the character of Vera, she’s a no nonsense, quick witted character and I loved the almost flirtatious relationship she has with Joe. I also liked how the other, newer member of the team Holly, featured more in the story plot. In fact, I would have liked her issues with depression etc to have been expanded on a little, because I think it could be a powerful story plot. Whether that will be expanded on in other novels, I don’t know. In previous ‘Vera’ novels, I have felt rather uncomfortable about the way in which Vera’s weight is constantly referred to and characters have sneered at it. In this novel though, it was mentioned but not quite as much, which is good. It’s important to describe a character’s appearance, but I didn’t like the almost, derogatory way she was described. The plot in itself, was good, it had twists and turns which kept me guessing the culprit. However, I didn’t feel quite as satisfied by the ending, as I have with other ‘Vera’ novels. It made me feel a bit flat and actually, I’d like to re-read this novel, just to clarify the ending because it felt a bit over complicated. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and would say to anyone who loves a good crime novel to give this a go because not only do these books have good plotlines, but also a unique and believable protagonist. However, if you are thinking about starting the ‘Vera’ series, ‘Harbour Street’, the sixth book in the ‘Vera’ series, is the best place to start. My Rating: *** Which crime/detective books would you recommend?
  22. Hi! Who is taking part in this month's read-a-thon? I can't believe how quickly the month has gone!
  23. I'm glad you liked this book, even though it wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe I should give it another go sometime.
  24. Just remembered that today is the start of this month's read-a-thon! Just about to pick up my book and start!
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