rosegarden
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Posts posted by rosegarden
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Thanks, Inver, for the great review!
I saw Carol Drinkwater on a Cookery programme ages ago when she was talking about it and it sounded really good, so when I saw The Olive Farm while browsing in a charity shop last year I just had to buy it and then promptly forgot all about it - so thanks for reminding me
Carole
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Rosegarden88
There was already a Rosegarden on there, would you believe, so I had to change it slightly.
Carole
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Please, I'm new to this forum and wonder where you down load books from. I love to listen while in the car but find i-tunes rather expensive for books. Is there a sharing bookclub like e-Mule?
Hi
I tend to borrow a lot of my audiobooks from the library ~ download them to my laptop ~ put them into itunes ~ then onto my ipod.
I hope that helps
Carole
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I really enjoyed PS I Love You when I read it last summer. I laughed and cried all the way through
.Carole
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Thanks for that ~ it sounds good. I love Agatha Christie. I have a couple of her audiobooks to listen to ........... The Secret of Chimneys and Miles of Mystery.
I've just listened to A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh, which I quite enjoyed.
Carole
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My Wish List
Irene Nemirovsky - Suite Francaise
Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Michael Faber - The Crimson Petal and the White
Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible
Carole
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Top 3 Books
1. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
2. Gone for Good - Harlan Coben
3. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
Worst Book
The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell (I just couldn't finish it, it just annoyed me and I didn't like the path it was going down)
Best New Author
Janet Evanovich
Carole
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Yes I must admit that my mind does wander sometimes when I'm in the middle of a book but it's usually only because the story's dragging a bit - I don't find it a major problem.
Most of the books I've listened to do seem to keep my attention though
Carole
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Most of the books I complete are Audiobooks which I've been listening to for several years now. I like to listen to them when I'm doing jobs around the house that I find boring eg. washing up, ironing, cleaning windows etc.
I've also downloaded quite a few to my ipod and listen to them while out walking or on holiday when I'm lazing on a sunbed.
I also read a few books as well which I'll mark with *BOOK*.
BOOKS COMPLETED 2008
1. Philip Pullman - Northern Lights 7/10
2. Kate Morton - The House at Riverton 10/10 *BOOK*
3. Marian Keyes - Sushi for Beginners 6/10
4. Jodi Picoult - Perfect Match 7/10
5. Michael Collins - The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton 5/10 *BOOK*
6. Phillipa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden 8/10
7. Ngaio Marsh - A Man Lay Dead 7/10
8. Jonathan Kellerman - Gone 7/10
9. Barbara Erskine - Lady of Hay 7/10
10. Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale 6/10 *BOOK*
11. Anita Shreve - The Last Time They Met 6/10
12. Joanne Harris - Gentlemen and Players 8/10
13. Ramona Holliday - The House Down Cherry Tree Lane 6/10
14. Maureen Lipman - Thank You For Having Me 7/10
15. Doris Davidson - The House of Lyall 8/10
BOOKS THAT I'M CURRENTLY LISTENING TO
Janet Evanovich - Three To Get Deadly
Kevin Crossley-Holland - The Seeing Stone
BOOK THAT I'M CURRENTLY READING
Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible
TO BE READ/LISTENED TO
Lee Child - Echo Burning *BOOK*
Heather Graham - The Island
Diane Setterfield - The Thirteenth Tale
Sue Grafton - B is for Burglar
JD Robb - Naked in Death
David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
EM Forster - A Room With A View
Dennis Lehane - Mystic River
Nicci French - Land of the Living
Carole
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I obtain most of my books from charity shops and the library - there's also a couple of Official Book Crossing Zones in town which I utilise as well.
Carole
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I can recommend http://librivox.org/
They have lots of books that are in the public domain and they are all read by volunteers.
Carole
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I've been very, very pleased with the books I've either read or listened to this year.
It is 45 so far, and I've nearly finished Labyrinth by Kate Mosse so the total will be 46 books, which is about 10 more than last year.
I've also re-discovered my 'reading' mojo - for many years I've just been listening to audio books and hadn't 'read' a book for ages, I just haven't had the patience somehow to sit down and read a book but this year that's all changed and I've actually read 4 books.
So, I'm very happy and looking forward to reading more next year. Carole
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The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
Gone For Good - Harlan Coben
Empress Orchid - Anchee Min
I also discovered Janet Evanovich this year and really enjoyed both One For The Money and Two For The Dough - I'm looking forward to reading more of Stephanie Plum's adventures in 2008
Carole
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"1989, South London. Jack, an ebullient butcher, has died, and his last orders are to cast his ashes off Margate Pier. His wife of 50 years, Amy, stays home, with the excuse of a visit to their mentally-disabled daughter. Jack's three closest friends, Ray, Vic, and Lenny - along with Jack's son Vince - head for Margate. Each has memories of Jack and of friendships, family, and conflicts. It's Vince's relationship with his dad that's the most complex, and Ray's long friendship with both Jack and Amy that holds things together. The last orders - to go to Margate and strew the ashes - become an invitation to recall what's done, what's left, and what's important."
This is a book about ordinary people with ordinary lives looking back and we learn about the secrets and lies that they've been harbouring over the years.
It's an interesting story, but I did find some of it a bit boring in the middle. Overall, I did enjoy it. I give it 6/10.
Carole
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Just finished listening to this audiobook - it's the second John Grisham novel I've listened to (the first was A Time To Kill) and I thought it was very gripping - a good political thriller.
Next I'm going to listen to Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.
Carole
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"1930, New York. In the unbearable heat of summer, Irish immigrant Will Carthy works as a riveter on the tallest skyscraper in the world, spending his days above the clouds and his nights fighting loneliness. When his half-sister, Isobel, sails out to join him, Will hurries to meet her at Ellis Island, only to find that she seems to have vanished before passing through immigration control. And so begins Will's quest, scouring the teeming tenements for a red-haired girl who now haunts his dreams. Desperate for help, Will becomes involved with the charismatic but lethal union agitator, Foxy Nolan, and the Trichardts - a wealthy, socialite couple with a disturbing agenda of their own. Little by little, though, Will realises that something deeply sinister is at play in Isobel's disappearance and that the answer might rest in an altogether wider arena of social and political ambition...The Golden Door captures brilliantly the mood of Prohibition-era New York, when the glittering towers of modern Manhattan were rising from every street corner as the American Dream came crashing down."
What a little gem of a book! If you like your missing persons thrillers to be all action then I don't recommend this BUT if you like a book that's very slow to reveal the surprising answers, while giving a unique taste of New York in 1930 then this is the book for you.
A wonderfully descriptive tale of Will's search for his sister, the people he meets along the way and the places he goes to.
Carole
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I'd never heard of Lee Child until I read The Visitor. I was absolutely gripped by the storyline from start to finish, I thought it was a brilliant book.
One of the best mystery books I've ever read.
I have another Lee Child on my bookshelf - Die Trying - which I'm looking forward to reading.
Carole
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'Ok, we didn't see one. But you could say that anything was an angel. Any girl, anyway.
Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down
Carole
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I love watching this programme. I watched the previous series and the special Hay-on-Wye series earlier this year as well. It's a shame that it is the only book programme on at the moment, but at least this series has extended the programme - it was only a half-hour show before.
I find though that sometimes Mariella seems to talk more than the author she is interviewing. The bit where the authors chose a favourite book of theirs is fun - it's interesting to see what types of books they enjoy reading.
Yes, I like that part too........I also love the bit where a different author tells you what's on his bedside table. For anyone who didn't see the programme, Mark Billingham chose -
Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre
Trouble in Mind by John Harvey
Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajeev Chandrasekaran
Carole
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Has anyone watched this programme? A new series started last week on Thursday at 7.00pm with Mariella Frostrup interviewing John Simpson, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Ken Follett, all discussing literature and their latest books.
I find it absolutely fascinating and really enjoy listening to the authors.
Next week's show features Jeanette Winterson, Josephine Cox and Yann Martell.
Apparently, it's the only book programme on TV at the moment, which is a shame considering the huge numbers of people who read books!
It's a pity it's not on terrestrial TV so that more people could watch it.Carole
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I'm currently reading (and loving) a paperback copy of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet and have noticed that the sequel is now out in hardback.......World Without End.
I would love to read World Without End but I absolutely hate hardback books!
So, I guess I will just have to wait until the paperback version comes out. Which got me wondering........does anyone know how long is it usually before the paperback comes out and also does anyone prefer hardback books? If so, why? Carole
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I have only read 3 books so far this year, but I have listened to 31 audiobooks
Carole
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Philip began to perspire slightly. 'I gathered he was well known, by the people he was going to see, as an authorised representative of the earl'.
'What was his name?'
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Carole
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Another JE fan here :eek2: I've read One For The Money and Two For The Dough and loved them
Carole
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
in General Fiction
Posted
CASE HISTORIES BY KATE ATKINSON
Genre: Modern Fiction
Pages: 416
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
Synopsis:
Cambridge is sweltering, during an unusually hot summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet - lost on the left, found on the right - and the two never seem to balance. Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge, and has a failed marriage to prove it. Surrounded by death, intrigue and misfortune, his own life haunted by a family tragedy, he attempts to unravel three disparate case histories and begins to realise that in spite of apparent diversity, everything is connected...
At the beginning of the book the first 3 chapters each describe an event - the first one is of a missing little girl, the second is of a seemingly random murder of a teenage girl and the third is of a wife murdering her husband with an axe. All the events happen in different years.
In the present time, Jackson Brodie is approached by the missing girl's two elder sisters to enlist his help in finding her - the axe murderer's sister also asks Jackson to look for her niece - and the teenage girl's father contacts him to find his daughter's murder.
As the story unfolds we learn of family secrets and of friendships and liaisons in the past and the present. As Jackson attempts to track people down he also realises that someone is trying to kill him...........is this all connected to his work?
Who is the random woman we are introduced to in one chapter after another that seems to have no connection with anyone?
Most of the questions are answered and neatly tied up at the end. It all comes together in an interesting and well-written novel.
I do like the way that Kate Atkinson writes her stories......some with humour and tongue in cheek. This is the second book of hers that I've read after Behind the Scenes at the Museum and I look forward to reading more in the future.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery with a few twists and turns.
8/10