Janet

Thanks, Sari. That sounds good- I've added it to my wish list so thanks for the recommendation!

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain The ‘blurb’ Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions? I loved The President’s Hat by the same author when I read it a couple of years ago and so I was really pleased when this popped up as Amazon’s Deal of the Day a few weeks before we went on holiday. I’m really scared of flying and the audio book I’d downloaded to try to calm me down didn’t work because I couldn’t concentrate so I tried this instead and I was soon lost in the story. It’s not great literature but is a charming story about a man who finds a handbag and, with scant information to go on, sets about tracking down the owner so he can return her lost property. I found it to be quite similar to The President’s Hat in style, and therefore maybe a little formulaic, and yet I really enjoyed it. Roll on the next book by this author. The paperback edition is 208 pages long and is published by Gallic Books. It was first published in 2015. The ISBN is 9781908313867. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it) (Finished 13 July 2015)

Yes, I've plenty to be getting on with! And yay - I'm glad you're joining in, Kay.

I still haven't finished my book club book (although I nearly have), and was planning so start next. I'm happy to wait until everyone's ready though.

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine The ‘blurb’ You are cordially invited to attend the Grand Opening of Sinclair’s department store! Enter a world of bonbons, hats, perfumes and MYSTERIES around every corner. WONDER at the daring theft of the priceless CLOCKWORK SPARROW! TREMBLE as the most DASTARDLY criminals in London enact their wicked plans! GASP as our bold heroines, Miss Sophie Taylor and Miss Lilian Rose, CRACK CODES, DEVOUR ICED BUNS and vow to bring the villains to justice… Brought up in comfort, Sophie’s life takes a different direction when her father dies, leaving her penniless. She has to leave behind the life she knew and move into rented ‘digs’ and find a job to support herself. She finds a position at Sinclair’s department store and apart from a bit of trouble with some of the other girls who accuse her of being snobby she settles in well. However, a daring robbery from the store changes things and Sophie - together with her new friend Lil and Billy, apprentice porter - must solve the theft to prevent her from losing everything all over again. I must admit that I was drawn to the cover of this excellent young adult mystery book. I was not disappointed – what is inside the cover is a well-crafted, enjoyable mystery with a great protagonist and ‘supporting cast’. I read it in Mallorca and it was a perfect holiday read. I am looking forward to the next book by this author. The paperback edition is 336 pages long and is published by Egmont. It was first published in 2015. The ISBN is 9781405276177. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it) (Finished 12 July 2015)

Thanks for the encouragement. Book Club is next Wednesday - whatever I end up thinking, I definitely think it'll make for good discussion.

I think you are very clever to read not only English but also Finnish! It looks a rather complicated (but very pretty!) language.

Claire - I have finished part 1. I HAVE FINISHED PART 1! I'm some way in to part two and I'm enjoying that so much more! Phew - I'm glad I had them this way round!

I found this a let-down too, Diane. I loved The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and I enjoyed After You'd Gone (although it's a long time since I read it so I can't remember what it was about!) but this just didn't do it for me.

Pompöösi - what a great word! You should use it at every possible occasion to try to make it popular again!

It sounds great, Sari - I shall add it to my wish list.

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie The ‘blurb’ Agatha Christie’s first Tommy and Tuppence mystery adventure, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Tommy and Tuppence, two young people short of money and restless for excitement, embark on a daring business scheme – Young Adventurers Ltd. Their advertisement says they are ‘willing to do anything, go anywhere’. But their first assignment, for the sinister Mr Whittington, plunges them into more danger than they ever imagined… Generally, I love a good TV production of Agatha Christie – I have particular fondness for Poirot played by David Suchet and have also enjoyed Joan Hickson’s Marple (and other productions) in the past, so when I heard that the BBC were about to show a new drama based on Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence characters I thought I’d read the first book. Having not seen one another for many years, Tommy and Tuppence bump into one another at a train station after Tommy is demobbed from the army and neither of them having work they decide to set up in business offering their services to “do anything and go anywhere”. They are overheard discussing their plans and are engaged to trace a young woman called Jane Finn who is missing after a man on the Lusitania entrusts some papers that are a matter of national security to her, believing she is the best chance for their safety. As Tommy and Tuppence embark on their quest to find out what happened to Jane and the papers they are drawn into a dangerous race to find the missing woman before the mysterious Mr Brown, who is also searching for her, gets to her first. I really enjoyed this Christie. The 2015 BBC adaptation isn’t the only one – there was one back in the ‘80s. I must admit I hadn’t heard of Tommy and Tuppence before and having read it I wasn’t sure why they hadn’t been more popular. As for the BBC adaptation – well, the first three episodes were based on this adventure but apart from the character names, it bore very little resemblance to the original. A shame really – I don’t understand why whoever adapted it felt the need to make changes to what was a very enjoyable and plausible story by the woman who is arguably the Queen of Crime. The paperback edition is 400 pages long and is published by Harper. It was first published in 1922. The ISBN is 9780007111466. I downloaded it free from Project Gutenberg and read it on my Kindle. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it) (Finished 11 July 2015)

Prester John by John Buckan The ‘blurb’ South Africa at the turn of the century. Crawfurd, his studies interrupted by his father's death, is off to work as a storekeeper. But a strange encounter and the whispers he hears on the journey tell him that Blaauwildebeestefontein may not be as predictable as he has supposed. As a teen, David Crawfurd lives in a small Scottish village where his father is the local Minister. Visiting the Kirk is a black pastor, Reverend John Laputa and one evening during his stay, David and his friends witness a sinister event on the beach. Laputa chases them but fails to catch them. Some years later, at the age of 19, and following the death of his father, Crawfurd heads to South Africa to take up a post as the assistant store keeper at a remote village called Blaauwildebeestefontein. There are only a couple of other white men there – the store keeper himself and a teacher. There is a great deal of unrest in the area due to a Zulu uprising and Crawfurd suspects the store keeper is somehow involved, but as he sets out to discover exactly what is going on, he risks putting himself in grave danger… I wrongly thought this was my Grandad’s favourite book when he was a teen but it turns out it was actually my Mum’s and she read it many times. I had read The Thirty Nine Steps quite a few years ago and very much enjoyed it so I thought I’d try something else by Buchan. Originally written as a story for children and (I believe) published in a boys’ magazine in instalments, this is a ripping yarn. By today’s standards it is rather racist, but the reader has to accept that it is ‘of it’s time’ and in doing that it can be enjoyed for what it is – a fairly fast pace and exciting thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. I shall definitely be looking out for more of Buchan’s works, many of which are free on Kindle. The Kindle edition is 232 pages long. It was first published in 1910. The ASIN is B0082Z5JHO. It is currently out of print. 4/5 (I very much enjoyed it) (Finished 4 July 2015)

Middlemarch by George Eliot The ‘blurb’ In Middlemarch George Eliot gives us a portrait of provincial life in Victorian England that has never been surpassed. Wit, irony, pathos and brilliant insight into human nature colour every strand of plot and every beautifully drawn character. Foremost among these and Dorothea Booke, passionate to use her spirit and talent in a wider world than that typically afforded to women in the 1830s; Casuabon, the dry, jealous academic; Doctor Lydgate, who dreams of pioneering research in medical science; spoilt, pretty Rosamond Vincy who sees as 'a man whom it would be delightful to enslave'. The novel centres on the marriages of Dorothea and of Lydgate, and on the web of relationships that connects us to each other. This is not my first Eliot novel – I read Silas Marner back in 2011 and thought it was excellent, but despite this I was still rather intimidated by the thought of reading this so it was good to start off reading it with two other members. Originally it was published in serial form so it did work reading it in instalments. I found part 1 to be a bit hard going… and rather dull, if I’m entirely honest, but it really got going in part 2 and once I had got into the book part of me wanted to rush ahead and finish it. The characterisation in this novel is excellent. My favourite character was probably the protagonist of this novel, Dorothea, who is a likeable woman and one who was definitely ahead of her time but I also really liked Fred Vincy, despite his faults! For me, the main themes of this book were the difference between the social classes and the portrayal of marriage… and that’s pretty much where my review ends because I really don’t know what else to say about it that will do it justice. Suffice to say that if it wasn’t for the challenge I probably wouldn’t have read it. It drops one star because of the slow start but I did enjoy it very much, especially thanks to Alex and Claire with whom I discussed it at the end of each part. I’m very glad to have read it.

You're welcome - my pleasure. I read this last year and really enjoyed it. I have another of hers on my Kindle, but I can't remember which one it is now!

I'm a bit late to the party, but congratulations.

My Mum likes Gill Lewis, Claire. I hope you enjoy your books. I've made it to 20% of How to be Both by Ali Smith. It's hard going, but I feel it is getting slightly easier! Sadly I just haven't had time to have a good long read of it, which I think is what it needs.

Shakespeare - it's from The Tempest. I knew I could rely on you to have proper Pooh!

I love the sound of your W-t-P one, Noll. Would it be proper traditional Pooh Bear? I really fancy: "We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep." I'm still working on the design

I'd like to request we wait until the middle of next week if that's okay? No worries if not, but it would make it easier for me!

I'm in! Although... when are we starting? I really need to finish my book club book first if I can.

Thanks for your reply and all the useful info contained therein, Claire. I will see if I can have a good go at it tomorrow afternoon and maybe that will help. I'm loathe to give up on it after such a short period of time. Noll - it's definitely an odd one. Maybe have a look at the 'look inside' feature on Amazon - that'll give you a taste of it.

Fingers crossed. I have asked Claire in my blog for some advice about it because I know she loves Ali Smith's books.

Let us know what you buy!