lunababymoonchild

Phew!

Finished Dr. Jekyll and now onto Tehanu, Ursula le Guin (Earthsea 4)

How is Adrian faring now?

Nearly finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. For the third time.

The Flight of the Falcon Daphne du Maurier It’s very difficult to summarise this book, especially without giving away the plot. However, The Flight of the Falcon does play a large part in the story. It’s set in the fictional town of Ruffano, somewhere in Italy, around 20 years after the Second World War – people have telephones and drive cars, and the war is mentioned slightly. The main character is a courier, what we would call a tour guide, and his life is bowling along as such until a crime takes place. Some of the tourists that he is escorting insist that he reports said crime to the police, and he does so, but goes on the run immediately afterward because he thinks that the police will find him guilty, as he had a brief but innocent contact with the victim (he believes, at first, that it was this contact that caused the crime). He goes back to his hometown of Ruffano, and the story unfolds from there. The more he finds out, the worse he thinks it will be for him. Until the very end, when all is explained. I didn’t guess any of the story except the very last bit, and was gripped throughout. Recommended

This is on my TBR and I’ve been advised elsewhere that in order to better understand Ulysses it’s a good idea to first read The Dubliners. I have not yet done that either 😁 There is also much in the way of online guidance to help as you go along. Well done getting through it, though

I hope all goes well with Adrian, @KEV67

@Madeleine I think so too

Moonstone, Laura Purcell I always enjoy Laura Purcell, so I was pleased to read this. I did anticipate most of the plot, as it's aimed at Young Adults, but not all of it, and therefore I knew fairly early on that it was a werewolf story. I was delighted by this, as I didn't expect it, and was keen to find out what happened next. The plot is very good, the characters are believable, and it's a very nice story which comes to a satisfying ending. Recommended

Last Rites, Ozzy Osbourne Sent to me by a friend of mine, I then decided to read it. I'm glad that I did. This isn't a straightforward biography; it's more the reminiscences of a man who had a very long career and a much longer life than even he anticipated. It reads as if he is in the room with you and telling you his life story as it occurs to him. This isn't as off-putting as it sounds. I've always known that Ozzy was highly intelligent, and this shines through the prose. What surprised me is that he actually cared a lot more about what was going on around him than it appeared. I've never been a particular fan of his, but I did read the column he wrote for The Sunday Times, many years ago, and he was very witty with it. Which I believe is why he became something of a national treasure. He wasn't the all-bad, black-as-painted devil worshipper that those in the field of Heavy Metal (it was called Hard Rock when I first met it) are usually portrayed. He was a professional musician, as they all are, and had, frankly, an epic work ethic. Yes, he was debauched, and he admits that, but he worked hard, right up until two weeks before his death, even though he was so ill that he could not stand up, so to a certain extent, he deserved his debauchery. He was also very aware of his own inadequacies, which he wasn't afraid of stating but, as with his addictions, made no excuse for. There is a certain amount of profanity in the book, but I can't imagine why this would not be anticipated. The last chapter reads very much like he knew he was dying and was saying goodbye. I learned a great deal about a man I was already familiar with, and thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Recommended.

Daphne du Maurier, Flight of the Falcon

Moonstone, Laura Purcell

Ozzy Osbourne, Last Rites. Companion to the Daoud and sent to me through the post by a friend of mine.

Starting The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, companion to Camus’ The Stranger. Thanks to @willoyd for the reference, I’m enjoying it!

I have to make an effort to remember

Currently re-reading Albert Camus’ The Stranger so that I can follow it with The Mersault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, which I knew nothing about until recently.

Hooray! Enjoy 🙂 I have Blindness and Seeing by Saramago

Happy New Year!

First day of the new year, start of the new group read. We had a nomination from Part 4 in 2025 for first book in a series that @Hayley thought would be a good one for the new year. Are there any other nominations? As always, all are welcome to join in and all nominations considered and voted on. So, let’s start here.

Impossible to say, I loved them all

Sounds good to me. I’m not experienced enough at knitting to try garments that are much more than a hat or a scarf - the last scarf was appalling and would keep me warm only by virtue of the fact that it’s real wool, to which I’m allergic, so unlikely to wear it (I was curious about the pattern and that was the easiest yarn to hand). I need more practice.

I read a total of 80 books this year. It’s more than I’ve ever read and I’m very pleased.

Hooray!

I have a Kindle too so an Amazon voucher is ideal (and I am grateful)

I did get an Amazon voucher, though