Kate

I know, so exciting! Although already the Australians seem to be better....

So who is watching the Ashes?

I've decided that there is too much sex in these books (and the tv shows) so am not going to read any more. I just think it spoils it. Will be posting off all the books tomorrow I think.

Haha its true! I don't know how I'm doing it either as I do work and have a dissertation to write, a house to find and a wedding to plan.....!

77. Love Begins in Winter by Simon van Booy 10/10 TBR: 52

I've read 77 books so far...

Synopsis from www.harpercollins.com: On the verge of giving up—anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives—Van Booy's characters walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them. This book contains five short stories. In all of them the protagonist is lost and looking for love. They all find it, but the journey each take are individual and life-changing. The characters are all likeable, and you find yourself wanting the best for them. The outcomes are not always as you expect, but that just adds to the joy of this book. This is a beautiful book. Everything from the cover design to the stories is just gorgeous. Van Booy explores the power of children, growing up and the power music can have. The sentences are short but the stories just flow from the pages. It is a quick read, gripping and thrilling. This is a real page-turner. As I sit writing this I can't think of a bad thing to say about this book. I was hooked right from the beginning. All five stories are different but with one theme: love. This is an uplifting book, and I highly recommend it. 10/10 Published by: Beautiful Books RRP:

76. Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou 9/10 TBR: 53

Synopsis taken from http://www.blestatheist.com: As a young child, outraged by the hypocrisy she finds in a church that does nothing to alleviate the physical and sexual abuse she experiences on a regular basis, Beth delivers an accusatory youth sermon and gets her family expelled from the church. Having locked the door on God, Beth goes on to raise a family of seven children, learn 17 languages, and enjoy a career that takes her to NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. All the time, however, God keeps knocking at the door, protecting and blessing her

Synopsis from FantasticFiction: The old tea house on Mulberry Street in Belfast hasn't changed much over the years. But it's about to bear witness to some significant transformations Daniel Stanley might make the most glorious deserts in the whole of Ireland, but he won't support his wife Penny's desire to have at least one bun in the oven. And the owners of Muldoon's Tea Rooms are just two of the people inside hoping for change. Struggling artist Brenda sits penning letters to Nicholas Cage and dreaming of a better life. Sadie finds refuge from her diet and her husband's infidelity in Daniel's famous cherry cheesecake. Clare returns home from twenty years in New York, still cherishing the memory of the one night she truly loved and lost. And Penny herself discovers a secret from the past and a sexy estate agent very much in her present. They all want their lives to change but are they willing to face the consequences? And the possibility that you might not always be able to have your cake and eat it. This was another author I had not read before and found her to be OK. The book is a bit disjointed. The characters don't really mix - all of them led separate lives which did not connect. However, I enjoyed the story. I found it interesting to discover what would happen to Penny as she tries to change her unhappy life, Sadie plots revenge on her cheating husband, Clare pines for and hunts down the love of her life and Brenda as she paints and longs for Nicholas Cage. There were more characters that I can't even remember much about. There was just a little bit too much going on and it didn't come together neatly. All that said, I did read to the end and wanted to know what happened. Maybe the ending wasn't too convincing but then that didn't spoil the story too much. This is an OK chick-lit book. 7/10

Synopsis from Amazon: Jessie has kept the identity of her son Oliver

Yeah I'm still reading loads Ben 74. The Teahouse on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens 7/10 75. Head Over Heels by Jill Mansell 8/10 TBR: 51

73. Knit Two by Kate Jacobs 9/10 TBR: 59

Synopsis from Amazon: Old Yarns It is five years since the members of The Friday Night Knitting Club bonded during divorce, job loss, romance, birth

Yep that bit made me laugh too!

Good! I really enjoyed it, great chick-lit

Ooo not listened a Discworld book for a month! 14. Lords and Ladies

69. Savage Tide by Glen Chandler 7/10 70.Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris 8/10 71. The Tenko Club by Elizabeth Noble 9/10 72. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett 10/10 TBR: 60

Synopsis from Amazon: THE FAIRIES ARE BACK - BUT THIS TIME THEY DON'T JUST WANT YOUR TEETH... Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven are up against real elves. It's Midsummer Night. No time for dreaming... With a full supporting cast of dwarfs, wizards, trolls, Morris dancers and one orang-utan. And lots of hey-nonny-nonny and blood all over the place. This is the 14th book in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. This adventure sees the return of the elves, and they are not as pretty and nice as they seem... Granny Weatherwax is up for a big fight - aided by the wizards. This book is up there with my favourites. I found it very entertaining. I really enjoy the Witch books, I have found all of them to be funny and exciting, and this one was no different. In fact, the humour of this book was aided by the fact a selection of the wizards had come along. I like the Librarian - what a great character. As ever, Pratchett's imagination is just incredible. He draws you into this alternative world, full of fighting and mythical characters, and just lets the action unfold. His descriptions are just amazing, and I really want to travel to the Discworld. Nanny Ogg is fast becoming one of my favourites character. She is witty and generally humorous, and a great companion to the hilarious Granny Weatherwax. I thought the old love flame between Granny and the Arch Chancellor was great, it added another dimension to the books. As always, I really enjoyed this Discworld book, and this has to be top rated. It was full of great fight scenes, humour and pure adventure. A really good read. 10/10

Synopsis from Amazon: Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse isn't happy. Her co-worker has been murdered and no one seems to care. If that wasn't enough she's got blood-poisoning and a raging fever. Luckily, some friendly vampires graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But, seeing as they did save her life, when they come asking for a favour she can hardly refuse. She quickly finds herself using her telepathic skills in the search for a missing vampire, but when they break their good behaviour condition over a tasty blond, things go rapidly and horribly wrong ... This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Mystery series by Charlaine Harris. In this adventure, Sookie is attacked on her way to see Eric, by a mythical creature, and after having had her poisoned blood sucked, is told she is off to Dallas to use her gift. There she meets the anti-vampire group, and has to fight for her life. While all this is going on, she is trying to find out who murdered her friend and why. There is a lot going on in this book. It starts with a murder and ends with an orgy. In between there is a lot of fighting and maybe mythical characters. Up until the last fifty pages I really enjoyed this book. It was exciting and gripping. The last bit of the book was full of sex and that put me off. I like how Harris is introducing more mythical beings instead of just including vampires - I think this adds a new dimension to the story. It will be interesting to see where she takes the stories with all these characters and beings. Harris is a very distinctive writer. She has her own style, which comes through in both her Sookie Stackhouse books and her Harper Connelly books. I like how she writes, for the most part she is engaging and gripping. Apart from all the sex, which I still think is unnecessary, I think this is a good book. 8/10

Synopsis from Amazon: Club Rules Men, children, work, shopping, wine and chocolate. Important, but not AS important. When they need you, you are there. No giving up. Members Freddie, Tamsin, Reagan and Sarah They meet at university in the heady days of the 80s: four women with little in common but an eagerness to live life to the full. And over romantic crises, long gossipy nights and too many bottles of wine, they form the Tenko club and swear they

Synopsis from Amazon: This is a Steven Madden mystery. For Steve Madden, Brighton is no longer beaches, fish and chips and amusement arcades. It's also a place of murder. Estranged from his son and grappling with the jealousy that comes from watching your ex-wife getting closer to another man, his world is thrown into turmoil when he is called to investigate a particularly savage murder. But there is something else, something that will change his life forever. Dragged into the twilight world of nightclubs, drugs and prostitution, Steve is about to realise that being a Detective Inspector in a seaside town is far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined. Steve Maddon is called is called to a murder scene in Kemp Town, Brighton - the place notorious for where the homosexual community live. What he finds in the flat is a shock - and will completely rock his world. The murder is sex fueled and gruesome, and personal .Maddon is taken off the investigation, but unsatisfied with the police work, investigates himself, where he makes some shocking discoveries. This book is not for faint hearted. The description of the murder was graphic, and horrific. The is a lot of violence, drugs and sex in this book, which aren't really my cup of tea. That said; it was a good read, with a few twists and an interesting portrayal of the seedier side of Brighton. Chandler wrote well - it flowed easily, I was able to keep up with the story and remember who all the characters were. It didn't take me long to read and I was quite surprised by the revealing of the murderer. If you like crime novels, or a good murder book, this is for you. 7/10