~Andrea~

I love the sound of both of those Hayley, especially the Jack Vance one. I'll have to add them to my TBR

I picked up a couple of second hand Marian Keyes' books last year. I'd never read anything by her before and always assumed it would be a bit light and fluffy, romantic and possibly twee which is not my cuppa so never bothered with her. However I heard her on radio 4 and she said her book covers annoy her because they give exactly the impression I described above, and that's not what she writes at all. That's why I picked up a couple of her books. I started one (Rachel's Holiday) a couple of days ago and it's great! Full of cheeky humour and not twee at all. I'm not far in yet but I'm really enjoying it. It's been a while since I read anything funny and I this has really grabbed my attention. I'm looking forward to going to my reading time in a way I haven't done for ages. And hopefully I've discovered a new author to enjoy!! Yay!

I've not read any of his short stories but I I enjoyed the TV series. I loved Do androids dream of electric sheep as well.

Thanks both

Hello Ian. Welcome to the forum. I enjoy all those genres too.

Well, I'm thrilled to have logged In today only to discover that I've won the Sherlock Holmes January giveaway! I love Sherlock Holmes!! Thank you @Hayley

You'd be better off asking that a technical forum. This is a very general readers forum :-)

Hi Busy_Bee. I didn't know Sandi Toksvig had written novels. This sounds just right up my street actually. Great review!

Wow, The Passage trilogy sounds very intriguing Chrissy! Great review!

Thanks Chrissy. I've never read any by them before so had nothing to compare it to. I thought the writing was great in it though, and I believe it was their first novel. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!

Hello Welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy!

The Memory Game by Nicci French When preparations for a new summer house in the Martello family's estate unearth the skeletal remains of the family's youngest daughter who disappeared twenty-five years ago, her childhood best friend, recently divorced from the deceased's brother, becomes obsessed with digging up the past and trying to solve the mystery of who killed her. I enjoyed this. It had a slowish pace and certainly wasn't a page-turning thriller but I quite liked that about it. I enjoyed getting to know the characters as the story unfolded. There was a lot of psychology in the book as the main character goes through therapy to get over her divorce and talk about the discovery of her childhood friend's body and I enjoyed that aspect of it.

Secrets in the Dark by Frederick Buechner This is a wonderful little book that I've been dipping in and out of for the past year or so. It's a book of sermons, which sounds tedious, but these are quite wonderful, beautifully written, warm, gentle, inclusive and non-preachy little gems of spiritual hope and light. I've loved dippng into this book by this Pulitzer prize nominated author whose writing in this book is an absolute delight.

That's interesting. I've always avoided The Wasp Factory because I'd heard it was unpleasant and dark but I'm actually tempted to give it a go now.

Happy reading and writing in 2019 Angury! (Do you know I've always read your name as Augury and only just now realized it's Angury!!)

That's twice as many as me. I've given up setting goals. Happy reading this year.

Oh no!! I'm pretty sure I bought that recently - only secondhand though.

Ah, I read my first Robert Goddard this year and really liked it, so it's a shame to hear about the disappointing endings! (I can't remember the ending to the one I read). I'll look out for Sea Change though.

Locke and Key - Welcome to Lovecraft - Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez Synopsis from Amazon: "Locke & Key" tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them, and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all! I had this for Christmas. I've been wanting to get into graphic novels for a while, as for some reason, lately I've just been fancying a comic book format. I think sometimes I want a lighter read, with a bit of a different experience. I found this series recommended on here in the graphic novels thread. I enjoyed it, however I didn't realize it was going to be quite so dark and violent. I think I will read some more of them but I'm still on the lookout for some graphic novels I can escape into.

The Wish List Aaronovistch, Ben - Rivers of London recommended Ambrose, David - Superstition Alexander, Denis - creation or evolution: do we have to choose? Beah, Ishmael - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Bradbury, Ray - Farenheit 451 Bradbury, Ray - Something Wicked this way comes Barker, Clive - Weaveworld Brother Lawrence - The Practice of the Presence of God Buechner, Frederich - The Book of Bebb Bugan, Carmen - Burying the Typewriter Burton, Fiona - The Widow recommended Challis, Sarah - Footprints in the sand Chamberlaine, Diane - The Midwife's confession recommended Cohen, Jeff - The Question of the Missing Head recommended Conran, Shirley - Savages Coupland, Douglas - Microserfs/JPod Coben, Harlan - Six Years recommended Du Maurier, Daphne - Rebecca Du Maurier, Daphne - The House on the Strand Dunant, Sarah - Transgressions (recommended) Dick, Philip K - A Scanner Darkly Faber, Michael - The Crimson petal and the White recommended Foster, Richard - Celebration of Discipline Gaarder, Jostein - Sophie's World Green, John - Turtles All the Way Down recommended Greene, Grahame - Brighton Rock Greene, Grahame - The Third Man & The Fallen Idol Haig, Matt - How to Stop Time recommended Haugen, Gary (IJM) - Just Courage Highsmith, Patricia - The Talented Mr Ripley Hinton, Susan - Rumble Fish Hobb, Robin - Fool's Assassin Hobb, Robin - Fool's Quest Hobb, Robin - Assassin's Fate Hodgson, Burnett Frances - The Secret Garden Hodkin, Michelle -The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Humphries, Alistair - Microadventures recommended Jerome, Jerome K - My Life and Times Jefferson Farjeon, J - Mystery in White recommended Kasasian, M.R.C. - The Mangle Street Murders recommended (read by Emma Gregory) Krauss, Nicole - Man walks into a Room recommended Koontz, Dean - The Mask Koontz, Dean - From The Corner Of His Eye Koontz, Dean - False Memory Lennox, John - God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Lennox, John - Seven Days that Divide the World. Lewis, C S - Till we have Faces London, Jack - White Fang Mandel, John - Station Eleven recommended Marion, Issac - Warm Bodies recommended McKinley, Robin - Sunshine Mercer, Jeremy - Books, Baguettes & Bedbugs Mitchell, Margaret - Gone With the Wind Moran, Caitlin - How to be a Woman recommended Moss, Sarah - Night Waking recommended Moyes, Jojo - The Last Letter From Your Lover recommended Neville, Adam - Apartment 16 Scott, Fitzgerald F - recommended Semple, Maria - Where'd you go Bernadette - recommended Phillips, Caryl - A Distant Shore (recommended) Penny, Stef - The Tenderness of Wolves recommended Pye-Smith, Charlie - Land of Plenty recommended Rayner, Jay - The Oyster House Siege Sachar, Louis - There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom - recommended Taylor, Jodie - Just One Damned Thing After Another - recommended Tremayne, S.K - The Ice Twins recommended Trueman, Terry - Stuck in neutral Trigell, Jonathan - Boy A Verne, Jules - Journey to the Centre of the Earth - recommended Wheatley, Dennis - The Haunting of Toby Jugg Winter, Tom - Lost and Found recommended Wyndham, John - The Kraken awakes Watson, S J - Before I go to sleep Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Shadow Of The Wind Ruiz Zafon, Carlos - The Angel's Game Ryan, Carrie - The Forest Of Hands & Teeth Wroblewski, David - The story of Edgar Sawtelle Zevin, Gabrielle - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry recommended

Acquired pre 2018 Minnette Walters - The shape of snakes Logic - A very short introduction Wilkie Collins The Woman in White Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales (modern translation) The Essential tales of Chekhov A Winter's tale Othello The Merchant of Venice Julius Caesar Twelfth night Collected works of Tennyson The Four Loves - C S Lewis Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan The Trial - Franz Kafka (audio) Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings - Edited by David Chalmers Ian Rankin - Watchmen Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities JoJo Moyes - The Girl You Left Behind The Road Less Traveled My Favourite Wife - Tony Parsons C J Sansom : Dark Fire Joanne Harris - Five quarters of the orange Ronnie Corbett - High Hopes Robin Hobb - Renegade's Magic Books acquired 2018: The Philosopher and the Gospels - Keith Ward The Memory Game - Nicci French Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes This Charming Man - Marian Keyes Books acquired 2019: Christian Theology: An Introduction - Alistair McGrath The adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Introducing Psychology a graphic guide - Nigel Benson Introducing Psychotherapy a graphic guide - Nigel Benson, Borin Van Loon The Psychology Book - Nigel Benson Cassandra Darke - Posy Simmonds Gemma Bovary - Posy Simmonds The Well - Catherine Chanter Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier

Previous logs: 2018 (14) 2017 (10) 2016 (9) 2015 (10) 2014 (19) 2013 (21) 2012 (19) 2011 (17) 2010 (19) 2009 (23) 2008 (26) 2007 (21) Completed: Secrets in the Dark - Frederich Buechner The Memory Game - Nicci French The Philosopher and the Gospels - Keith Ward Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes Introducing Psychology, a graphic guide - Nigel Benson High Hopes - Ronnie Corbett Introducing Psychotherapy a graphic guide - Nigel Benson, Borin Van Loon Gentleman Jim - Raymond Briggs Vortex Butterflies (a Dr Who graphic novel with David Tenant's doctor) Locke and Key, Head Games (book 2) - Joe Hill Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin Cassandra Darke - Posy Simmonds Back when we were Grown-ups - Anne Tyler Renegade Magic - Robin Hobb Gemma Bovary - Posy Simmonds The Well - Catherine Chanter Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier The Fault in our Stars - John Greene Currently reading: Christian Theology: An Introduction - Alistair McGrath

She was living in or near London, England, but her family was from Ireland and were strict Catholics. It's amazing how times and attitudes have changed. I would definitely recommend it. It was so interesting, and really well written.

The Baby Laundry for Unmarried Mothers by Angela Patrick and Lynne Barrett-Lee This is the true story of Angela Patrick, who gets pregnant at 19 in the sixties. Coming from a strict Catholic family, and being under the age of 21, she is forced to have the baby in secret and give it up for adoption. This book is in three parts, the first part details her time at the harsh convent, which is more like a Victorian workhouse. This was the hardest part to read as it is so shocking and upsetting. I found it hard to believe the attitudes of society at the time, as well as the harshness of the life at the convent, in what feels like such recent history. Parts two and three cover her life afterwards and were so much easier to read I raced through them in one sitting. It's a haunting story, and even though it ha such a dark beginning, it's not all doom and gloom and there is a lot of positivity in it too. It was a fascinating read (if harrowing at times) and I'm glad I read it, and would definitely recommend it.

Great reviews! I like the sound of The Coffin Path and Ghost Wall. I also enjoyed your review of Poppy Shakespeare which I've wanted to read for a while. I've seen the film with Naomie Harris which I thought was great, if a little confusing.