chesilbeach

Hope you have a better reading year in 2015, Noll. I think Prisoner of Azkaban is the best Harry Potter, so fingers crossed you make it at least that far this year, but better still - make it to the end of Deathly Hallows!

Hope you have a great reading year in 2015, Anna

Hope you have a good reading year in 2015.

Hope you have a successful reading year in 2015 (and secretly make progress on those challenges! )

Hope you have a lovely reading year in 2015, Diane!

Thanks, pontalba. I know people over here who also barely let the water see the teabag, but they are few and far between! It's good to know that the television programmes tea practices horrify you as well. Interestingly, I did see an item on television recently, where they were talking to a supplier of tea in England, and he said that companies who produce teabags have come to realise that people are too impatient to wait for tea to brew properly nowadays, and they actually develop blends that don't need as long to steep in the cup to still get the same flavour. In our house, my parents sound like yours and always wanted strong tea, and when we visited people, my Dad would often shout out to the kitchen to tell people to "leave that teapot alone" if they tried to pour it out too early! I think you might be right about the water - I think some water authorities fluoridate the water, but I don't think my area does, and I live in a very hard water area, and I know when we go on holiday, the places we often visit have soft water, and the tea doesn't taste right there … in fact, I often stick to coffee or just bottled water on holiday as I can't get used to the taste of the tea.

Thanks Janet. I've just added them to my wish list, but I think I might actually get the second one tomorrow.

Congratulations!!!! Nice to see you've had a good reading year too, it makes it even more special to achieve that goal.

And so that concludes my reading year. I can't be bothered to do too many in-depth stats, but I've kept these as I've gone along this year, so here's how the year started and finished: As at the start of 2014 TBR: 35 books (excludes any books I own on my challenge lists) J. L. Carr reading list: 3/8 books read = 38% complete E. H. Young reading list: 0/13 books read = 0% complete Persephone reading list: 6/104 books read = 6% complete English Counties Challenge: 7/48 books read = 15% complete As at the end of 2014 Books purchased: 92 6 pre-order 22 Kindle daily/monthly deals - one of these is an omnibus of 4 books 4 second-hand for English Counties challenge 61 other books Books received as presents: 16 Books read: 151 Abandoned books: 1 TBR: 21 books J. L. Carr reading list: 4/8 books read = 50% complete E. H. Young reading list: 0/13 books read = 0% complete Persephone reading list: 8/110 books read = 7% complete English Counties Challenge: 15/48 books read = 31% complete

This is such a quintessentially English book, set in the Kent countryside, a working class family, who are food loving, big drinking, television watching, down-to-earth people. Not much happens, but people fall in love, taxes are avoided, a gymkhana is hosted in the meadow and there's love in the air. I'm not usually a fan of dialect or phonetic speech in writing, but Pop Larkin's dialogue is perfectly pitched and easily readable. There are some questionable things … I was rather surprised at how short it was, and how little happened! I've looked up the series, and there are only a few more books in it, so I guess the television series must have been inspired by it, rather than an adaptation, but I would like to read the other books, as I enjoyed this one so much. The love for the English countryside and small villages shines through the writing, which is charming and sparkling with wit and warmth. I've only seen the odd scene from the television adaptation from the 1990s, but I know the actors who played the leads, and I have to be honest and say these were who I pictured as I was reading the book, but actually, they fit perfectly the descriptions of the characters on the pages. I probably wouldn't have read it if not for the Counties challenge, so another one I'm glad to have found from our Counties list!

The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): ‘Home looks nice. Allus does though, don’t it? Perfick.’ And so the Larkins – Pop, Ma, Mariette, Zinnia, Petunia, Primrose, Victoria and Montgomery – return from an outing for fish and chips and ice cream one May evening. There, amid the rustic charms of home, they discover a visitor: one Cedric Charlton, Her Majesty’s inspector of taxes. Mr Charlton is visiting to find out why junk-dealer Pop hasn’t paid his tax – but nothing’s that simple at the Larkins. Mariette takes a shine to ‘Charley’ – as Pop calls him – and before long the family have introduced the uncomplaining inspector to the delights of country living: the lusty scents of wild flowers, the pleasures of a bottle of Dragon’s Blood, cold cream dribbled over a bowl of strawberries and hot, hot summer nights. In fact, soon Charley can’t see any reason to return to the office at all … Review: For my last book of the year, I thought I'd pick up one of my English Counties Challenge books, and The Darling Buds of May was the first one I found on the shelf! This is such a quintessentially English book, set in the Kent countryside, a working class family, who are food loving, big drinking, television watching, down-to-earth people. Not much happens, but people fall in love, taxes are avoided, a gymkhana is hosted in the meadow and there's love in the air. I'm not usually a fan of dialect or phonetic speech in writing, but Pop Larkin's dialogue is perfectly pitched and easily readable. There are some questionable things … I was rather surprised at how short it was, and how little happened! I've looked up the series, and there are only a few more books in it, so I guess the television series must have been inspired by it, rather than an adaptation, but I would like to read the other books, as I enjoyed this one so much. The love for the English countryside and small villages shines through the writing, which is charming and sparkling with wit and warmth. I've only seen the odd scene from the television adaptation from the 1990s, but I know the actors who played the leads, and I have to be honest and say these were who I pictured as I was reading the book, but actually, they fit perfectly the descriptions of the characters on the pages. I probably wouldn't have read it if not for the Counties challenge, so another one I'm glad to have found from our Counties list!

Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): Red asks, 'Will we always be together?' 'Always,' I say. 'Just you and me in that little boat, watching the scarlet ibis flying back to the Caroni Swamp.' Scarlet's used to looking after her brother, Red. He's special - different. Every night she tells him his favourite story - about the day they'll fly far away to the Caroni Swamp in Trinidad, where thousands of birds fill the sky. But when Scarlet and Red are split up and sent to live with different foster families, Scarlet knows she's got to do whatever it takes to get her brother back ... Review: Wow, another great book from Gill Lewis. This time, rather than wildlife and nature being the focus, she looks at child carers, and how it affects their childhoods. Scarlet cares for a mother suffering from mental illness, and for her brother, who has Aspergers, and still has to go to school while all the time struggling to make ends meet from the benefits her mother receives. Highlighting important issues in todays society that are not often newsworthy or the top issues discussed, Lewis explores them with honesty and yet again, tugs at my heartstrings and I can't deny shedding a tear or two throughout the book. Wonderful book I will definitely be handing on to my goddaughter in a year or two.

Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): Ill and bored with having to stay in bed, Marianne picks up a pencil and starts doodling - a house, a garden, a boy at the window. That night she has an extraordinary dream. She is transported into her own picture, and as she explores further she soon realises she is not alone. The boy at the window is called Mark, and his every movement is guarded by the menacing stone watchers that surround the solitary house. Together, in their dreams, Marianne and Mark must save themselves... Review: This is an almost timeless story - the only thing that gives away its age, is the lack of technology. Originally published in the 1950s, before the development of the polio vaccine, the story centres on Marianne, confined to bed and her dream adventure with another of her governesses pupils, Mark. I can imagine it would be hard for children today to think of staying in bed for six months with no television, computer, tablet or even phone, but I still think they would enjoy this story if they can suspend that disbelief. Beautifully written, and with no sentimentality, and genuinely dark moments, a book I never would have picked up myself, and a lovely read.

I'm intrigued by how tea is drunk in the US. I've never been to the States, but a lot of British people I know who have, say that it's impossible to get a cup of tea that tastes the same over there, and I wondered why our tea tastes so different. I know people who've said they've even taken their own teabags with them, and making it exactly the same way, it just doesn't taste the same. I've also seen characters on US television shows make tea, and they always seem to just add water to a tea bag and then leave it in while they drink the tea - can I ask our American friends here - is that how you all make tea, or is that just a shortcut that's used on television? Also, I've only ever seen speciality teas drunk - do you have blended teas (e.g. our brands are PG Tips, Typhoo), or do you have only individual types of tea (e.g. Assam, Ceylon etc.)? Also, do you only use individual tea bags or do you use teapots?

The Big Bang Theory - they're showing a batch of Christmas episodes.

Yes, I have. It's a not a ghost story this time, but I enjoyed it a lot, although it didn't do my fear of heights any good!

I don't remember coming across Iain Sinclair before, but in an odd coincidence, I saw his book mentioned in the Guardian's most eagerly awaited non-fiction books of 2015, and his new book sounds interesting, so I've been looking up his other work. Have you read any other books of his?

I've just been to get the book off the shelf so I could look it up - it's that last few pages of chapter 16, where Tilly and Gracie have to go up the back staircase, and there's a third shadow and then Tilly hears someone whispering in her ear. I think when I read it the first time, I was caught up in the middle of a long reading session and on my own, and it just sent a shiver down my spine - looking back at it now, it seems a bit more innocuous!

Time for one last book in 2014, so going to read The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates for the English Counties Challenge.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - and no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? So Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unputdownable spine-tingling thriller - a race against time. Review: Another of my Christmas books, this is the first Siobhan Dowd book I've read, but have wanted to read for a while, so was pleased to open this present! I found this a rather odd book to read. The narrator is Ted who has Aspergers, and this makes the storytelling different, in that there is a very logical and sometimes emotionless feel to the narrative. I have to say, I've never been able to read Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time because of the style, and I worried at the beginning that I would struggle with this one too, but actually, I found it had a good flow. I did enjoy it, but it all seemed a bit too easy at times, and somehow, the police involvement didn't have a ring of truth about it, and Ted and Kat's actions felt a bit unbelievable occasionally. I definitely want to read Dowd's other books, particularly Bog Child, as it's aimed at YA rather than children.

Having a great few days of reading … just finished Scarlet Ibis.

I've read Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr today, and I'm just about to start Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis.

Marianne had looked forward to her tenth birthday as being something special; quite different from any birthday she had yet had, for two reasons. Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr

Alexander McCall Smith has a new Isabel Dalhouise book out next year, and I always look forward to those, so The Novel Habits of Happiness is on my wish list for February. I'm also looking forward to a couple of children's books - In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll and Perijee & Me by Ross Montgomery. I loved Emma Kennedy's children's books, so I'm really looking forward to her first adult novel, Shoes for Anthony.

I haven't read any Penelope Fitzgerald, but I keep seeing you praise her in posts, so I'm going to have to try and get to her book on the English Counties list sooner rather than later and try her work for myself!