Janet

You've made quite a few online posts about this. Are you the author?

You were living with a good friend, weren't you? I hope that hasn't soured things for you.

I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I was nine or ten years old.

The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl The ‘blurb’ I’ve put this behind a cut as it gives away the entire story! This was written by Dahl to raise money for, and promote awareness of, Dyslexia. The Reverend Lee suffers from a rare form of Dyslexia which means that when he talks, odd words come out backwards. Well, you can imagine what happens when he meets Mrs Prewt – and when he tells his congregation where to park! As it was written for charity, it is only a very short book, illustrated by Quentin Blake – it only takes five or ten minutes to read. It was amusing but due to its brevity it wasn’t one of Dahl’s best. I’m glad I borrowed it from the library rather than buying it. The paperback edition is 48 pages long and is published by Puffin. It was first published in 1991. The ISBN is 978 0140348910. 2½/5 (It was okay) (Finished 14 August 2015)

Sorry to butt in, but you'd better make sure the covers are the same. I think I've got one of his (I presume Ransom is a man's name?!) books on my wish list - it sounds familiar.

Definitely - roll on next time! The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett The ‘blurb’ What if you had said yes . . . ? Eva and Jim are nineteen, and students at Cambridge, when their paths first cross in 1958. Jim is walking along a lane when a woman approaching him on a bicycle swerves to avoid a dog. What happens next will determine the rest of their lives. We follow three different versions of their future - together, and apart - as their love story takes on different incarnations and twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day. The Versions of Us is an outstanding début novel about the choices we make and the different paths that our lives might follow. What if one small decision could change the rest of your life? I picked this up in Waterstone’s a few months ago (drawn to the cover, of course!) but as I don’t get on with hardbacks I thought I’d have to wait for the paperback, so I was pleased when it was a 99p deal of the day on Kindle. It tells the story – in three different variations - of Eva and Jim, two students studying at Cambridge University. In the first version, Eva has a puncture and Jim comes to her rescue. In the second no puncture occurs, and although they pass one another they don’t meet - and in the third version they meet, but there is no romance after Eva decides to do the ‘right thing’ and stay with her current boyfriend. I liked the idea of this book. It’s been compared to the film Sliding Doors, but as I haven’t seen it, I can’t say whether that’s a fair comparison. I suppose at some time in our lives everyone has wondered “what if”? What if you said yes to that date – or what if you had said no? What if you had gone to Uni instead of taking that job…? Although in each story Eva and Jim follow separate paths, there are elements that appear in all three books and I quite liked that aspect as it suggests that some things in life will happen whatever decision you make, even if there is no way to prove whether that is the case or not. I found the jumping around between the stories and timeframes to be rather confusing to start with, trying to keep up with which particular event I was reading. Once I did get my head round that I did quite enjoy it, but at the same time I didn’t find it very satisfying and I didn’t really like that there was no definitive ending. This is Laura Barnett’s début novel, and whilst it wasn’t perfect I thought it was very good for a first book. Would I read another by her? Maybe, if I like the sound of it enough, but with so many other books out there, I shan’t actively seek it out. The paperback edition is 432 pages long and is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. It was first published in 2015 and the paperback version will be released on 1 December 2015. The ISBN is 9781474600897. I read it on my Kindle. 3/5 (I quite enjoyed it) (Finished 14 August 2015)

I know you read it aeons ago but your review of Wyrd Sisters is brilliant! It makes me want to rush out and buy it, but I've never read any Pratchett books before, sadly.

I'm glad you've got help with your move. I hope it all goes well and that you'll be happy in your new home. xx

As ever, it was lovely to see you and Al today. Thanks for breakfast and lunch! It's definitely my turn next time! It went by so fast! I hope you found something suitable for your Dad.

It was so good to see you today, Claire. Didn't the time just whizz by?! I've just watched GBBO and thought of you!

True - I like your thinking! I've had a lovely day today. I met up with Kay, Alan and Claire in Cirencester. We met in the Costa at the back of Waterstone's and spent four hours there chatting and drinking and cake might have been involved. It didn't feel like four hours though - the time whizzed by. I was tempted by several books but managed to be a good girl! I did buy some Christmas cards, but that's all!

No, it's my first Rushdie. I've only read the first few pages so it's early days, but so far, so good.

Hmm - well when you put it like that it sounds like it ought to be my type of thing! I like reading books set in WW1 (haven't read any specifically set in WW2 that I can think of) and I did psychology GCSE in 2003/04 and the AS level in 2004/05. Maybe one day I might give it a go. Thanks again.

I might have accidentally acquired two new books this week.

LOL @ victim! Thanks - that's a very kind offer but having looked at the 'blurb' I'm not sure I really fancy it. Sorry. I do appreciate the offer though.

I've got The Tent, The Bucket and Me on my wish list because, like you, I'm, an only child and spent many a holiday camping with my parents. I also have Verdigris Deep by Frances Hardinge on my wish list - it's been on there for several years now after I read a review of it in a paper. I'm half keeping an eye out for it second hand.

I'm about to start Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie for my Book Club.

That 'delivery' definitely sounds suss. :/ Sorry to hear about your tooth, too. I'm glad it's not painful. I've read a couple of Faulks books, but not Human Traces. I don't actually know what it's about! *Toddles off to Google*

I finished Dorset - Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy today. That takes my total to 17/48.

The group reading definitely helped me. I thought the Rosamund/Lydgate storyline was a very interesting one too, Claire.

Thanks, Claire. We're on our way back from holiday so I shall read and digest your post later and decide what to do. I think the 'complete' series is 99p on Kindle if I'm reading correctly, although that seems rather too good to be true!

Hi Claire. I believe you're our resident E F Benson expert? Is it okay to read Mapp and Lucia and then go back to the Lucia books (which I believe we're first?) or would that not work? I don't really like getting bogged down with series books and I think there are six books, but only three feature both characters? I missed the BBC adaptation but quite fancy watching so some advice as to what I should do would be appreciated x

A Boy in Kent by C. Henry Warren The ‘blurb’ C. Henry Warren belongs to that line of writers which includes H E Bates, Adrian Bell and John Moore. In A Boy in Kent he recreates the countryside of his childhood and his pages sparkle with supreme joy. We’ll talk of sunshine and of song, And summer days, when we were young; Sweet childish days, that were as long, As twenty days are now… This dedication, quoted from Wordsworth, sets the scene for what is to follow: a world of meadows and fields, the village pub and, in particular, the village shop, all seen through the eyes of a child. Everyone is a neighbour even though the village rambles over several square miles. A deep kindred spirit runs through its life and fills the pages of this vivid and beautiful memoir Being either a Kentish Maid or a Maid of Kent (I'm never sure which I am!), I picked this up on a whim when I found it in a second-hand shop recently. It sounded reminiscent of Laurie Lee’s books and the ‘blurb’ mentions H E Bates who I also like. I thought it was an autobiography, but it’s actually an autobiographical fiction. Warren lived in a village called Mereworth, which in this book is called Fladmere, and this book is based on his early life and his experiences of growing up in Kent at the turn of the 20th Century. Warren’s father owned a shop in the village around which this fictional memoir centres. It recalls the characters who shopped in the store and the ‘Londoners’ who came down to pick hops in the summer which served as a paid holiday, amongst other things. The hop-picking episode put me in mind of George Orwell as he mentions the hop pickers in his book Down and Out in Paris and London and also in his work of fiction A Clergyman’s Daughter - one of my favourite of Orwell’s books. According to the introduction, which was written by Warren’s nephew, the book caused some controversy on publication because a lot of the residents recognised themselves and weren’t very happy about how they were portrayed! It was the word Kent that drew me to this book. It’s not the part of Kent that I grew up in, and nor is it an area of the county that I’m familiar with, but I like social history books and I enjoyed this one, although it probably wouldn’t be one I would recommend to anyone without the Kentish connection. The paperback edition is 156 pages long and is published by Sutton Publishing Ltd. It was first published in 1938, but is out of print. The ISBN is 9780862991371. 3½/5 (I enjoyed it) (Finished 6 August 2015)

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie The ‘blurb’ Agatha Christie’s world-famous mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again… and again… I listened to this on an (unabridged) audio CD whilst on various walks. The narrator can really make or break an audio book - the version I listened to was narrated by Norman Barrs and I’m pleased to say that he was simply perfect. Eight strangers are invited to stay at a property on Indian Island off the coast of Devon. There have been a lot of rumours in the paper about who owns the island and each have a different reason for accepting their invitation. On the island they are greeted by a butler and cook – Mr and Mrs Rogers. The Rogers haven’t met their employer yet and the group are curious as to why they have all been invited. The guests settle into their rooms and then head down to dinner. Still their mysterious hosts are not present but after a good dinner they start to relax and get to know one another. They are amused to discover that each has a framed version of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Indians hanging in their bedrooms. Suddenly they are interrupted by a loud voice urging them to be silent… and then charging each of a terrible crime. In the ensuing confusion one of them dies, and so begins a terrifying ordeal for them as they realise the killer is likely to strike again… I cannot express just how much I enjoyed this! I’m pretty certain I’d have felt the same if I’d read it myself, but listening to it whilst out walking was just wonderful. I do walk a lot anyway and I very much enjoy my walks, but this made me want to get out into the countryside even more. I went to see a stage version of it with Peter in the threatre in Perth back in 1992 and I remember how much we enjoyed it, but I didn’t remember the detail of the story – or the outcome – so it was like hearing the story for the first time. I’m certain I shall listen to this again – top stuff and highly recommended! Nursery rhyme under the spoiler. The paperback edition is 224 pages long and is published by Harper. It was first published in 1939. The ISBN is 978 0007136834. I listened to it on audio book. 5/5 (I loved it) (Finished 4 August 2015)

The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude The ‘blurb’ 'Never, even in his most optimistic moments, had he visualised a scene of this nature - himself in one arm-chair, a police officer in another, and between them - a mystery.' The Reverend Dodd, vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen, spends his evenings reading detective stories by the fireside - but heaven forbid that the shadow of any real crime should ever fall across his seaside parish. But the vicar's peace is shattered one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, a secretive and ill-tempered magistrate, is found at his house in Boscawen with a bullet through his head. The local police inspector is baffled by the complete absence of clues. Suspicion seems to fall on Tregarthan's niece, Ruth - but surely that young woman lacks the motive to shoot her uncle dead in cold blood? Luckily for Inspector Bigswell, the Reverend Dodd is on hand, and ready to put his keen understanding of the criminal mind to the test. This classic mystery novel of the golden age of British crime fiction is set against the vividly described backdrop of a fishing village on Cornwall's Atlantic coast . It is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. Who wouldn’t be drawn to this gorgeous cover! My Mum (who seems to have featured in the purchase of a lot of my recent reads!) bought this for my birthday after I was waxing lyrical about how pretty it is! Not necessarily a good reason to buy a book but it paid off in this case. The Reverend Dodd and his friend Doctor Pendrill, the local GP, meet regularly to discuss books. They are interrupted one evening by the arrival of a policeman who reveals that a local man, magistrate Julius Tregarthan has been murdered in his own home by person or persons unknown. With the victim’s niece, Ruth acting suspiciously and the sudden disappearance of her friend Ronald Hardy, whom Ruth’s uncle disliked, it appears that the perpetrators aren’t too far from home. The Reverend Dodd disagrees. The police continue their investigation but seem far from discovering the truth, but with Reverend Dodd’s help they may just be able to solve this baffling crime… I have read all of the Wycliffe books by W J Burley (written and set between 1968 and 2000) and this put me in mind of those – it was a very comfortable and enjoyable, undemanding read. Sure, it’s old-fashioned, and some of the methods of detection are laughable by today’s standards, but that didn’t matter a bit. I didn’t guess the ending, but then it wasn’t really spelled out for the reader to guess. In that respect it isn’t as solid a vintage crime novel as Christie’s works, but that didn’t really matter. I’m looking forward to reading The Lake District Murder which is already sitting on my ‘to read’ pile. The paperback edition is 288 pages long and is published by The British Library Publishing Division. It was first published in 1935. The ISBN is 9780712357159. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it) (Finished 29 July 2015)