Janet

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I read a total of 436 pages over the weekend, and finished The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett, which is around 650 pages long in paperback format! I'm very pleased with my total for the weekend.

So behind with my reviews again... The Unforgotten by Laura Powell The ‘blurb’ Summer, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent has never left the Cornish fishing village of St Steele or ventured far beyond the walls of the boarding house run by her erratic mother. But when the London press pack descends on her village to report on a series of gruesome murders, Betty's world changes. In particular, she is transfixed by mysterious and aloof reporter, Mr Gallagher. As the death toll rises, an unlikely friendship blossoms between Betty and Gallagher. But as their bond deepens, they find themselves entangled with the murders and each is forced to make a devastating choice, one that will shape their own lives and the life of an innocent man forever. It is 1956, and when two women are murdered in the sleepy Cornish village of St Steele where nothing usually happens, the press arrive en masse and book into the Hotel Eden, run by the teenage Betty Broadbent's mother. Betty quickly forms an attachment to one of the reporters, whilst struggling to run the hotel and look after her Mum who has mental health issues. When a local man is implicated in the murders, the choices made by Betty and the reporter will have far-reaching consequences which will reverberate down the decades. I first came across this on Audible last year and it had been on my wish list there for ages when it popped up as a Kindle 99p deal so I decided to buy that instead. The story is set in two time periods – 1956 and 'fifty years later' (most of the action takes place in the former) and slips seamlessly between the two. It's a debut novel, and a good one at that but I have to say that although I enjoyed it, the story has not really stayed with me, which is a shame. I'm finding that happening increasingly, the older I get. Nonetheless, I shall look at what Laura Powell comes up with next. The paperback edition is 272 pages long and is published by Freight Books. It was first published in 2016. The ISBN is 9781910449592. 3½/5 (I liked it) (Finished 11 February 2017)

I have no idea if you'll see this after all this time! The Somerset I live in is in England in the UK. There is a village just over the border in South Gloucestershire called Pennsylvania after your state!

Sunday - 106 pages of The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett

Yes, they are. John Leech is his name. I have that one on my to-read pile, so I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Friday - 68 pages of The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett Saturday - 262 pages of The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett I haven't done a read-a-thon for a long, long time! I'm not sure how much reading I'll get done tomorrow, but I'm pretty pleased with my results in the last two days.

Rumbled! Okay! The cover is a little faded (it must have been part of a stack of books that have been in the sun) but for £1 I thought it was worth buying! You know me! If I come across a better copy I will replace it!

I bought a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in the Bookbarn today!

Belated happy birthday. I'm a quarter of the way through The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett. So far, so good.

It sounds like my sort of thing too. Thanks, Claire.

Happy birthday, dear Kay.

Thanks. I always have a lovely time with them. I'm lucky we live close enough for us to meet up. Yes, I'm often drawn to covers. The new Vintage ones are stunning.

I met up with Kay, Claire and Alan in Bath on Wednesday in... where else? Waterstones Cafe, of course! We spent three and a half hours in there! I saw this cover for Agnes Grey whilst I was in there. Isn't it gorgeous!

As always, it was lovely to see you all. Here's to next time. I'm sure you'll have some lovely surprises tomorrow.

We did, thanks. And I finished my book on the bus on the way home.

I am sitting in Bath Central Library listening to Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (can't do the umlaut on my phone), killing time before meeting Claire (Chesilbeach), Kay (Poppyshake) and Alan for coffee!

I have Tóibín's The Testament of Mary that a friend recommended.

Helen Fielding who created Bridget Jones has a birthday today.

I had some of those for Mothering Sunday a few years ago. I remember them being nice. I don't often eat chocolate (I'm more of a cheese kinda gal! ) but if I were to treat myself it would definitely be to Lindor balls!

I also snapped that up in the Kindle sale and finished it today. I'm about two-thirds of the way through Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë. I'm really enjoying it.

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh The ‘blurb’ At Sir Hubert Handesley's country house party, five guests have gathered for the uproarious parlour game of "Murder." Yet no one is laughing when the lights come up on an actual corpse, the good-looking and mysterious Charles Rankin. Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to find a complete collection of alibis, a missing butler, and an intricate puzzle of betrayal and sedition in the search for the key player in this deadly game. When Nigel Bathgate goes to a house party to play a 'murder mystery' game he little expects to be involved in a real one. The plan is that during the course of the early evening the lights will go out and a gong will sound and the person chosen as corpse will be dead. However, when the lights go up it is Nigel's cousin who lies dead and this is no game. Inspector Alleyn is summoned and, with Nigel's help, he investigates - but it seems that whilst many have motives, they also have alibis… We listened to this, the first Inspector Alleyn mystery which was written in the 1930s and has the feel of similar 'golden age' mysteries such as those written by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. It is obviously rather dated in terms of investigative methods, but we did enjoy it. It has quite a few elements of humour – mostly from Alleyn himself whose wry observations and his amusement at Nigel's attempts to unravel the clues. It was good fun and I am sure we will listen to more. The paperback edition is 194 pages long and is published by Felony & Mayhem. It was first published in 1934. The ISBN is 9781934609842. 4/5 (I really liked it) (Finished 11 February 2017)

Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna has died. He was probably best known for creating Miffy! Also, musician Peter Skellern has died. I loved his song You're a Lady, and also his excellent partnership with Richard Stilgoe. RIP to both.

Could have been worse.

Whoops! How many did you buy?!

Selected Poems by Laurie Lee The ‘blurb’ Lee s first love was always poetry, though he was only moderately successful as a poet. Lee s first poem appeared in The Sunday Referee in 1934. Another poem was published in Cyril Connolly s Horizon magazine in 1940 and his first volume of poems, The Sun My Monument, was launched in 1944. This was followed by The Bloom of Candles (1947) and My Many-coated Man (1955). Several poems written in the early 1940s reflect the atmosphere of the war, but also capture the beauty of the English countryside. The poem Twelfth Night from My Many-coated Man was set for unaccompanied mixed choir by American composer Samuel Barber in 1968. I love Laurie Lee's books, so when I came across this in a charity shop last summer I thought it was worth a punt. It's only a slim volume of poems. Unfortunately I found that I didn't really engage with the selection. I was going to mention one or two that stood out, one of which reminded me of Thomas Hardy's poetry but despite hunting high and low I cannot find the book! It hasn't put me off trying more of his poetry – and I do have another collection of short pieces of writing to look forward to – I find his writing charming. The paperback edition is 80 pages long and is published by Unicorn Press. It was first published in 1978. The ISBN is 9781910065143. 2/5 (it was okay) (Finished 9 February 2017)