Inver

Hello Anne....and:welcomeboard:get posting and browsing and reading....but most of all have fun.

I was visualising Colin Firth () as the monk when I was reading this. Was a great read as was 'Bees'

'The Butterfly House' by Marcia Preston Recommend this one 'Roberta and Cynthia are destined to be good friends forever. When both your fathers are missing you have a lot in common. Unable to cope with her alcoholic mother, Roberta finds Cynthia's house the perfect carefree refuge. Cynthia's mother keeps beautiful rare butterflies in her sunporch and she's everything Roberta wishes her own mother could be. But just like the delicate creatures they nurture, the women are living in a hothouse. Years later, a hauntingly familiar stranger knocks on Roberta's door' Read as part of a bookring on bookcrossing my review. :typing:Loved the book. Liked the way it was written. It goes between present and past in alternate chapters but didn't disrupt the reading of the story, as some books do and make it difficult to follow. So wanted to see where the butterflies lived in Lenora''s house. Nearly needed tissues towards the end though. Liked all the characters. Would have finished it sooner on my hols but was only finding time to read it at night and kept falling asleep, but was nothing to do with it not holding my interest. Must put Marcia Preston on my wish list. Anyone else read others by her?

'The Butterfly House' by Marcia Preston Recommend this one 'Roberta and Cynthia are destined to be good friends forever. When both your fathers are missing you have a lot in common. Unable to cope with her alcoholic mother, Roberta finds Cynthia's house the perfect carefree refuge. Cynthia's mother keeps beautiful rare butterflies in her sunporch and she's everything Roberta wishes her own mother could be. But just like the delicate creatures they nurture, the women are living in a hothouse. Years later, a hauntingly familiar stranger knocks on Roberta's door' Read as part of a bookring on bookcrossing my review. Loved the book. Liked the way it was written. So wanted to see where the butterflies lived in Lenora''s house. Nearly needed tissues towards the end though. Liked all the characters. Would have finished it sooner on my hols but was only finding time to read it at night and kepts falling asleep, but was nothing to do with it not holding my interest. Must put Marcia Preston on my wish list. Anyone else read others by her?

'The Boy With No Name' by Travis My eldest son and I went to see them here in Aberdeen about a month ago.....they were FAB....so had to rush out and buy the CD.

My sis has recently read Memory Keeper's Daughter for her book group and she enjoyed it. Think she mentioned a bit harrowing in places but is worth a read. She is keeping it for me to read (eventually!!!)

'Felicity Fights Back' by Stella Sykes (Transita book, very funny) 'Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons' by Lorna Landvik (bookgroup of woman who have their ups and downs) 'The Weight of Water' by Anita Shreve (not my favourite of hers) All bookrings/rays on my bookcrossing shelf.

Can I just jump in here and say I have met Kell and she is lovely (stands aside to watch her face go red )...lol. Also agree about Aberdeen (speaking as a Fifer). I moved here 16 years (after 6 in London) ago not knowing anyone but didn't find it took that long to settle in and like it.

The Famous Five and Secret Seven stories were my favourites for a time. When I got a bit older I loved Little House on the Prarie series. Also a classic favourite of my mum was Little Women.....think I read it but should try it again now and see if I still like it.

Tuesday's with Morrie did it for me. Probably because I read it not long after mum died. Emotional Geology too (Transita book) not because it was overly sad but just the story itself and again it touched a sad part of my life too when my Uncle died. (Reaches for the tissues) Sure there have been others but can't remember.

How did I miss this post ages ago. I have been doing Bookcrossing for ages....have a browse on my bookshelf http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf I have left books all over the place and had a few picked up. We have a couple of official OBCZ 'official bookcrossing zone' bookshelf at the Belmont Cinema cafe/bar, where people can drop of and pick up books.

'After Michael' by Betty O'Rourke "Fiona

Thanks everyone.....lots of different views on this book..... made interesting reading.

Thanks for the review....just added to my wish list on Bookcrossing.

Phew...at last I am finished it. Can't say it was one of my favourite reads and found the way of writing a bit of a bind at times. I couldn't help but be on Eva's side being a mother of a 16 year old at the moment. How other mothers have come to terms with the tragedy of something their offspring has done like this is beyond me!!! Too many of these tragic kind of stories in real life though in USA isn't there?!? Anyone else read it Must stop reading such harrowing books.

'We Need To Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver Not sure how I would describe this book, very well written but another harrowing read. Description of the actual event was a bit gruesome and made my stomach churn! Hope my son never gets involved in anything like Kevin!!!

'Turtle Moon' by Alice Hoffman

'Lucky' by Alice Sebold 'The Scent of Water' by Alison Hoblyn (another Transita book) Recommend them both. Lucky was a harrowing but compelling read.Again both were bookrings I joined on bookcrossing. 'The Scent of Water' was a lovely gentle read, based a lot of the time in Tuscany.

Another fan of the book here too. I loved it. The Mermaid Chair was really good too by the same author.

My sister is now reading it and is giggling/sniggering away to it the same way I did.

Was a bit slow to start with and didn't know if I was going to enjoy it but then I started to relate to Jay and her family life....and then started to snigger my way through the rest of it...the last two chapters in particular. What a laugh it was in the end. Found myself laugh out loud on various occasions. The constant trying to lose weight syndrome, we have all been there I'm sure, but having the perfect cousin throughout your life doesn't help. The ups and downs of getting ready to meet her again after years apart becomes a bit of a chore but all turns out well in the end.

'Size Matters' by Judy Astley This was hysterical...I laughed out loud so many times. Can really relate to a lot of what she wrote....not sure if that is good or bad?!?!

My Reading List So Far 2007 'The Joy Luck Club' by Amy Tan 'Emotional Geology' by Linda Gillard (really good read Transita book) based on Skye Both bookrings on bookcrossing.

'A Redbird Christmas' by Fannie Flagg A feel good book for a Christmas read. A friend leant it to me. It is a bit goody goody in parts, but a nice easy read. Makes you feel like is this place too good to be true. Amazon blurb Oswald T. Campbell, aged fifty-two, down-and-out in a Chicago winter, is given only months to live unless he moves South. He finds himself in the small town of Lost River, Alabama, where the residents are friendly if feud-prone and eccentric to a fault. One of them, Roy, keeps a red cardinal, a once wounded bird called Jack, in the village store. Patsy, a sad, sweet little kid with a crippled leg, from the trailer park up in the woods, takes to dropping by the store - and falls in love with Jack. Flagg takes us on an emotional roller-coaster ride through the lives and hearts of an engaging crew of misfits, fixers and ordinary good-hearted folk, set against the vivid natural backdrop of a mellow Alabama winter, along the riverside where birds and fish abound. Her enchanting story culminates at Christmas time with surprises and a magical 'redbird' moment.

'The Jigsaw Maker' by Adrienne Dines (bookring on Bookcrossing) 'The Mermaid Chair' by Sue Monk Kidd (as good as Secret Life of Bees) Both good reads and thoroughly enjoyed them.