Jo-Bridge

Welcome Sadya!

I thought it started well but then lost the plot completely. The last few chapters are seem to belong to another book completely and I dont think the authorv knew how to end the novel

How did you decide to read that? Doesnt sound like your usual type of book book! Its actually ok and better than the Da Vinci Code:lol:

Can I just say I wish I'd givn up Name of The rose at page 40 instead of 100 plus! Just did not enjoy this book- while it is fascinting to think that these monks spent their time passionately discussing things such as whether jesus ever laughed reading this discussion over several pages is another matter! Oh and I think your reply was great!

I found Beloved by Toni Morrison one of the most disturbing books I've read. The idea of a mother being driven to kill their own child rather than risk them becomming a slave. I also found the "School teacher" one of the most disturbing characters I've ever come across

Great review- and they have lots of copies of this on bookmooch! Tempting!

Dis anyone else used to have to cover their school exercise books in wallpaper or was that just a newcastle thing?

Welcome!

Welcome Joe from another Jo!

I'd be intrigued to see the film-cant see how the novel could translate to a film. Loved the book!

Welcome!

But he did get a scholarship to sandhurst (I think he may have mentioned that)

I just looked up the Sookie stackhouse series- they sound really good! Another couple for my wishlist- I like your taste in books!

Ooooooh. I like the sound of that!

Hi What are these about? Always interested in a recommendation!

I used to love The Nancy drew books, "Point Horror" series and Roald Dahl- also Enid Blyton

Pharoah-Valerio Manfredi In Jerusalem, in 586BC, the Kingdom of Judah is on the verge of annihilation by the Babylonians. In the chaos, the Prophet Jeremiah rushes to save the sacred Ark of the Covenant. As he locates the preordained hiding place, which will make it impossible to be found, he makes a terrible discovery...The Middle East, in the early 2000s. William Blake, a renowned Egyptologist has been called in to oversee the discovery of an amazing, magnificent and strange tomb of a Pharaoh many miles from the Valley of the Kings, located in a militarily sensitive spot. His research will lead him to an amazing and world shattering discovery concerning Moses and the tribes of the Israelites and their flight from the land of Egypt. Thsi book started out quite well with the main character William Blake fired from his job and on the verge of a breakdown but then just went rapidly down hill from there! Cant really recommend thsi book at all! I think the problem is that it is poorly written so it irritated me ( the constant referal to the female character as "the girl" particularly)but also that the writer seems to think he has written an important book (hence the mention that it was written three years before 911) when it is a Dan Brown style thriller. I also found the idea that the discovery Blakes makes (I wont reveal) will intantly change the world as we know it- as if any historical discovery is instantly accepted and unchallanged!

Welcome Tania! My boyfriend and I are having our 10th anniversary in Sept too!!!

Perfume- Patrick Suskind Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets of Paris as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime fragrances in all the city. Yet there is one odor he cannot capture. It is exquisite, magical: the scent of a young virgin. And to get it he must kill. And kill. And kill. This novel really seems to divide opinion- I have seen some really bad revciews and really good reviews and not a lot in between! This is a strange and beautiful book-I found it to be almost fairy tale like in its grotesque, gothic character and cruel, black humour. The language and descriptions are so dense that I couldnt read too much at once and had to keep coming back to the book. Smell would seem to be the most difficult sense to portray in print but you can almost smell what is being described- the descriptions of "human scent" and of paris itself are well done (but you wopuldnt want to be smelling them! I though the novel veered too much towards the farcical towards the end but would stillrecommend it!

Lisa Scottoline- killer Smile In the latest installment of Scottoline's best-selling series starring the all-female Philadelphia law firm of Rosato & Associates, young Mary DiNunzio takes center stage. Mary has taken on a pro bono case representing her "peeps"--an Italian American business group (the circolo) working on behalf of the estate of Amadeo Brandolini, who committed suicide while interned during World War II. The estate seeks reparations, and Mary feels drawn to the case, so much so that others fear she's obsessed with it. Under the guise of taking a vacation, Mary visits the site of the internment camp in Montana where Amadeo killed himself and finds herself with still more unanswered questions. Interesting author's notes at the end of this engaging drama disclose Scottoline's own discovery of her grandparents' internment, lending this unusual story a welcome authenticity. This was a really gripping crime novel with an appealing central character (I identified with old fashioned Mary being a bit of a Sinatra girl myself!)and cast of characters, "Killer smile" made me want to read more of the novels Lisa Scottoline has set in this law firm. The background of the story (the internment of Italian, Japenese and german- americans in WW2) was also very interesting and Scottolines grandparents story gave it a real touch of authenticity. I found the historical details, the descriptions of the Italian community and of Philadelphia itself really well descruibed but strangely (considering Scottoline is a lawyer) the courtroom scene too "Hollywood"

The Murder Farm- Anna Maria Schenkel "TAKE A LONELY FARM, isolated in an underpopulated countryside, the neighbours few and far between. And then suddenly, brutally, eliminate all its inhabitants: father, mother, daughter, grandchildren and maid. An unexplained, inexplicable savage act of murder. This remarkable, sparse, chilling novella by the first-time German author Andrea Maria Schenkel takes an incident, reported to be true, and examines it forensically. Not, as so many modern so-called detective stories do, by scientifically investigating the minutiae of the physical evidence, but as a journalist might, talking to the witnesses." This is a WONDERFUL book- I read this is one setting (it is a small book though!). Chilling, sparse and beautifully, poetically written, the full horror of both the murders and other less obvious horrors are gradually revealed to the reader through documentary style short testimonys of friends and neighbours of the victims . Some longer than others, some of the stories are heart-breaking such as that of the maid and the best friend of the young murdered girl and others shockig in the casual cruelty or carelessness of the everyday. The story takes place in Germany in the early 1950's and there is a sense throughout of secrecy and of the unspoken and of turning a blind eye. The ending is a real shocker, too!