SueK
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Posts posted by SueK
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I'm a fan of Barbara Erskine's books but alot of her characters tend to sit and shrug their shoulders an awful lot.
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Like everyone else, if the book is gripping then I can get through it in about a couple of days - bearing in mind I have limited reading time anyway.
Now that I have my conservatory up and finished, I now allow myself an hour of uninterrupted reading time between 8-9 of an evening. It's smashing:D
I am still struggling with a non-fiction book of over 600 pages which is very good but takes a while to read as the subject matter is quite heavy. I nearly took it back to the library last Friday as it was due but at the last minute, I decided to renew as I really want to finish it - but it will take a week or more I think.
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Oh you getting me one as well?
LOL, yeah OK why not, I'm feeling generous.
Meant to say, I ordered one of the book reading lights as well yesterday, a pretty pink one:mrgreen:
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That cave thing looks terrific.
Have you seen the price though - crikey. I'll have two then, one each:lol:
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I've expanded my tbr pile to an empty cupboard at work. At present the number of books on the pile is 150!!!
HELP:blush:
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If you can stay up that late it's on BBC3 at 12.15am I'll be watching it then myself!
Ooh yes, forgot that. If I can keep awake (loads of black coffee) then I will watch it then.
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My other Edward Rutherfurd book arrived yesterday from Amazon (Russka) I opened it to have a quick look and I haven't put it down since, I'll have to ditch my other book to concentrate on this one. He is such a good writer.
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I've never really been on a holiday anywhere. We did go abroad often when I was growing up, but that was for family visits and after that, I've never been anywhere.
This year however, we're visiting a town at the other end of Holland. It's still not a real holiday, because we'll only spend one night there in a hotel. My children and I want to explore a part of the caves there, visit a puppet museum and enjoy the atmosphere of the town. (and of course be the laughing stock of everyone who sees us)
I can't be without books, but I'm afraid to take any library book because it could get lost in the train or in the hotel. So I'm taking one of my own books. I don't know yet which book it will be.
Have a lovely time Sadya and tell us about it. I hope you find some suitable books to go with the visit.
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Now! last night's episode what well worth watching. I really enjoyed that one and the tension was quite brilliant with the worried faces of the government and Torchwood team etc. Tonight should be quite an explosive ending. Pity I shall have to catch up with it on iPlayer as I won't be in at 9 pm.
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Mmmmm, I knew I shouldn't have opened up the Book People website, very tempting but I have just ordered a load more books off Amazon (I'm even setting up a "bookcase" in an empty cupboard here at work because I don't have enough room for them at home:lol:
Anyway, back to the thread and books in question .... yes I have read quite a few of the books you mentioned Loopyloo. The Wexford ones are fun and they are quite a diverse collection so you won't feel you are reading the same book different theme. The Hamish McBeth ones are good too, because not only do you get the mystery, you get a good character in Hamish and the wonderful scenery to boot.
I'd say go for them .......
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Hi,
I haven't read this since I was at school (a fair number of years ago) but I always remember it with affection. After Rebecca, I think it is my second favourite Du Maurier.
It is beautifully written.
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I'm ashamed to say that , although I started this thread, I have yet to start Chocolat. It's sitting on TBR crying out to be read. If only I could get round to it. I'm so immersed in Stalin at the moment, can't seem to free myself from the trappings .....
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Shame he had to take the name of the real Charles Bronson who I really liked (wasn't bothered about the Death Wish films though) and my OH was a dead ringer for him.
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Hmm well it looks like I will be going to Berlin...so maybe I should read something German...any ideas?
Lucybird, you might enjoy "Alone in Berlin" by Hans Fallada. It's a reprint of a book written just after the War in Penguin books. Really very good if Nazi Berlin is your thing.
Sadly, my holiday is now a distant memory (I've been back two weeks and already forgotten it:irked:). I did, however take a couple of good books which I read in the shade. One was "Sashenka" which I mentioned under the Historical Section, absolutely loved it. This was a long book of around 600 pages so the other book I read was "The Seance" by John Harwood, a Victorian mystery which OK for a holiday read.
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This is the first time I have ever watched Torchwood and so far am quite enjoying it (although I'm not a great fan of Sci Fi). Hope tonight reveals the real reason for the series as I would like to see some action now......
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Bookjumper, you may enjoy The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte:
Synopsis
In the world of rare books everything has its price. But when the book is a satanic tract, the currency is not money but life. A well-know bibliophile is found hanged days after selling a rare manuscript of Alexander Dumas's classic, The Three Musketeers. Across Madrid, Spain's wealthiest book dealer has finally laid his hands on a 17th-century manual for summoning the devil. Lucas Corso, solitary and obsessive, is the detective hired to authenticate both texts. But the further he follows the trail of devil worship, the more it leads him back to Dumas. He's the unwitting protagonist in someone's evil plot, but is he sleuth or hero, Sherlock Holmes or d'Artagnan?
It's one of my favourite books.
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This has to be one of the best books I have ever read. Simon Montefiore previously has written non-fiction. He is of Russian stock so he has great knowledge of it's history. This book spans 3 eras of Russian History - pre Revolution 1916 -17; The Stalin era - particularly in 1939 on the eve of World War II and finally the era after Glasnost when archives were opened up and people started to read of the atrocities of the Stalin era. This may all sound a bit dry but the saga follows a young girl born to very well off parents and immense privileges, who is being schooled in Boleshevism and starts to hate her heritage for the "blood suckers" they seem to be. She eventually becomes Lenin's secretary. Fast forward to 1939 and she is married with two children, she is well in the inner circle of Stalin's government and her husband is with the secret police. They are given a lot of rewards and lead a very comfortable life - until she makes a mistake that sends her life and that of her family into terrible turmoil. Fast forward again to 1994 when a historian is asked to try to track down a family whose records seem lost. The answers are, as you would expect, terrible.
This book haunted me for days after reading it, so much so that I couldn't start another book for a while. The characters are very well depicted, Sashenka herself has many faults and at times you could scream at her and her beliefs, but the worst part is the tension that I felt when Stalin himself gatecrashed a party that she was giving. I virtually held my breath during the whole chapter.
Believe me - if you read no other book that so well reflects the events leading to the Revolution followed by the Stalin Terrors, then do read this one.
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"How dare you bargain with me? Did you not hear me? You will not marry this Ravenscroft at all".
The Seance by John Harwood
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I don't know that I have got 5 books but the ones that spring to mind that I really didn't enjoy were:
Pig Island - Mo Hayder. Thoroughly tasteless with unlikeable characters and a stupid ending.
Sword of God by Kris Kusnezki. Abysmal writing and a boring conspiracy theory.
Da Vinci Code - for the same reasons as above.
Me and Mr D'arcy - can't remember the author but a very silly story.
I'm sure there is a fifth but can't think of it at the moment.
Cricket
in Sport
Posted
Kylie and DanC - it's nice to see your graciousness in defeat. It is obviously such a good thing for us because usually you are just too good for us and we just crumble so quickly. I work with a few Aussies and they are quite nasty and grumpy (it's only a game I tell them - not it isn't they answer back - it's worse than life and death:lol:).
So, for the time being, forgive us while we wallow in some good news, it may not last but hey, we've got til 30 July to smile:D