chesilbeach

New series starts Tuesday 20th August!!!

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) The minute I saw the letter, I knew it was hers. There was no mistaking it: the salutation, the tiny, precise handwriting, the date, the content itself, all confirmed its ancient status and authorship… Samantha McDonough cannot believe her eyes--or her luck. Tucked in an uncut page of a two-hundred-year old poetry book is a letter she believes was written by Jane Austen, mentioning with regret a manuscript that "went missing at Greenbriar in Devonshire." Could there really be an undiscovered Jane Austen novel waiting to be found? Could anyone resist the temptation to go looking for it? Making her way to the beautiful, centuries-old Greenbriar estate, Samantha finds it no easy task to sell its owner, the handsome yet uncompromising Anthony Whitaker, on her wild idea of searching for a lost Austen work--until she mentions its possible million dollar value. After discovering the unattributed manuscript, Samantha and Anthony are immediately absorbed in the story of Rebecca Stanhope, daughter of a small town rector, who is about to encounter some bittersweet truths about life and love. As they continue to read the newly discovered tale from the past, a new one unfolds in the present--a story that just might change both of their lives forever. Review: Thank you, thank you, thank you Kay for giving me this book! I absolutely loved it. Reading the synopsis, it looks a bit like it's going to be a mystery quest to find "the missing manuscript" but what you actually get is only maybe 20% of the book dedicated to this plot, and most of the book is actually the missing manuscript itself. The author cleverly (although fairly obviously) writes her own Jane Austen style story, as if it was written by Austen herself, and designed it so that if Austen had written it, it would have been very early in her novel writing, so has made the story and the characters feel as if they are earlier version of various characters and plot lines in the genuine Austen novels, almost like templates for the characters we know and love. It's not perfect; it doesn't quite get the language of the period right, so you know it's definitely not Austen, and it pulls heavily on the originals to reuse some characters (renamed) and plot lines, but it has enough of the flavour of Austen to make it a lovely story, drawing on similar themes and stories, and I was thoroughly entertained by it. This has fitted beautifully into my Austen challenge, and I've found out that James has written another book on a similar theme, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, but it looks a bit tricky to get hold of, so it'll be a perfect excuse to visit some proper bookshops in order to try and hunt it down!

No and Me by Delphine De Vigan Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas, who gets her through the school day. At home her father cries in secret in the bathroom and her mother hasn't been out of the house properly for years. But Lou is about to change her life - and that of her parents - for good, all because of a school project she decides to do about the homeless. Through the project Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou cannot bear that No is still on the streets when she goes back home - even if it is to a home that is saddened and desolate. So she asks her parents if No can come to live with them. To her astonishment, her parents - eventually - agree. No's presence forces Lou and her parents to finally face the sadness that has enveloped them. But No has disruptive as well as positive effects. Can this shaky newfound family continue to live together? A tense, brilliant novel tackling the true meaning of home and homelessness. Review: I've had this on my wish list for ages, so when it was on offer for 99p, it was too good a bargain to miss. The story is an interesting look at homelessness for young people, told from Lou's point of view, from the almost casual way she starts her friendship with No, through to the point where her parents agree to let No come to live with them, the positive and negative affects on all their lives, and that there is no easy solution to the problems of homelessness. I thought it was a good book, but I never really engaged with either No or Lou, and I felt a bit distanced from the story all the way through. Having said that, I did find the story fascinating, and it developed really well, and I liked that there was no happy ending. A good read, but certainly won't be making my favourites by the end of the year.

Bella Summer Takes A Chance by Michele Gorman Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) Bella's career and relationship are her life's foundationwear: not glamorous and perhaps a bit binding, but supportive enough... until she realizes that they are not enough. Her life is sagging badly. She's never been in love with her boyfriend, despite a decade together. And somehow she stopped being a musician-with-a-day-job and became a consultant-who-was-musical. So she takes a terrifying leap of faith, leaving her relationship and resolving to follow her musical dreams no matter what. But the life you walk away from doesn't always let you walk away. With a wonderfully warm and witty cast of friends, all navigating between their ideals and the realities they face, together they'll find out what love and compromise really mean in this empowering tale about grasping life with both hands. Review: This was my third Michele Gorman book, reading her books after she was a featured author here on the forum. Her romcom books are definitely of the more contemporary variety, where it's less happy ever after, and a woman finding her perfect man, and much more about finding a better way of life. In this book, Bella makes a huge decision to walk away from the life she's settled into, when she realises that that is exactly what she's done - settle. The story follows her attempts to break into the music business, a dream she somehow lost along the way, and shows the hand work and determination required to be able to make a living in that world. Alongside that, we get a look at the (rather scary!) world of dating in London today, making for a funny but seemingly truthful look at life through the eyes of Bella. Another good contemporary romcom, and I'll definitely be looking out for more of Michele's books.

Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) In 1650 Anne Green, a young servant girl, gave birth prematurely to an illegitimate child. Sadly the baby died and poor Anne was falsely accused of infanticide. In front of a large crowd she was hanged and then carried to the College of Physicians to be dissected for medical science. But as Anne's corpse lay on the table and the doctors assembled, a strange rattle was heard in her throat. Could she still be alive? Review: Although it doesn't tell you this in the synopsis, this book is based on a true story which Mary Hooper has fictionalised, describing how a young girl in the period, working as a servant may have been seduced and found herself pregnant. She then interweaves this story as a series of recollections of Anne who is recalling her life believing she is dead and waiting to arrive in heaven or hell. All the while, her body has been given over to medical science and is due to be dissected, so you also get the history of physicians, giving you an account of the period that is rich in detail, evokes the time and place wonderfully, and gives you a page turner of a story, that will keep you enthralled until the end. I think Hooper is very good at capturing young people on the page, bringing them to life and I became very attached to Anne throughout the book. Likewise, she makes history come alive with her descriptions of the people and places in her stories. This is the second of her books I have read, and I enjoyed this one more than the first. It's a YA book, and I think if I'd read more books like this as a teenager, I might have had more interest in history! I would definitely recommend it to YA readers, for a wonderful historical read.

Where Have All The Boys Gone? by Jenny Colgan Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) Where have all the men gone? Faced with 25, 000 more women than men in London, and gleeful media reports that it's statistically more likely for single women to be murdered than get married, Katie is reached an all-time low. But all is not lost … While Katie's glad it's not a man's world any more, she'd be quite pleased if there were more men in it – or at least single ones, anyway. More likely to get murdered than married, according to gleeful media reports, Katie resigns herself to the fact there's no sex in the city and heads for the hills – or the Scottish highlands, to be precise. Despite the fact she's never been a girl for wellies – and Fairlish is in the middle of nowhere – the tiny town does have one major draw: men. Lots of them. But while Katie relishes the chance to do battle with armies of admirers, she's not reckoned on going head to head with her grumpy new boss, Harry, shadowy developers intent on destroying the beautiful countryside and Mrs McClockerty, the least suitable hotelier since Norman Bates. At least there's the local eye-candy to distract her, including gorgeous newshound Iain. But he is at loggerheads with Harry, and Harry despises her. Life in the country might not be one big roll in the hay but can Katie ever turn her back on the delights of Fairlish and return to city life? Review: I've recently been getting back into more mainstream romcom territory, and so when this book came up on offer, I thought I'd carry on with catching up with Jenny Colgan books. I think you can probably guess what's going to happen from the extremely long synopsis provided, but then, surprise and suspense isn't exactly what you expect from a romcom, is it? What you get is a funny, affectionate story or a woman finding a better way to live, a better place to live, and better people to live it with. Good fun, although maybe a little too long, but I enjoyed the escapism it provided, and I still think Jenny is much better than average in the genre.

Ponta Delgada, Portugal

We managed to accumulate quite a few tree books from various bookshops when we were on holiday earlier in the year, as well as borrowing and swapping a few, so I've been trying to work my way through some of them recently, but have gone back to my kindle for the weekend, as the latest Chloe Neill book in her Chicagoland Vampire series, Biting Bad came out on Thursday, and couldn't resist it. Looking forward to a Saturday without too much thinking involved! Then it'll be back to the paperbacks and hardbacks, and see what I can pick up tomorrow.

Mahajanga, Madagascar

A belated happy BCF anniversary!

I'm currently listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the moment.

Finished My Animals and Other Family by Clare Balding, and a lovely read it was too!

Imola, Italy

6/10 for me too.

Hello Dee! I love your avatar - is it a comment on you or us?

Went to visit friends last night and ended up watching Best In Show again. I adore this film, it's just so funny!

Georgetown, Guyana

Just read this great interview with Linda in The Guardian all about self-publishing. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/06/self-publishing-showcase-linda-gillard

That's exactly what I looked like when I got home - someone who'd got in the shower and forgotten to take their clothes off!!! Well, it's not gone back to wintry conditions, and for the most part, it's warm and sunny, but we don't have the very high temperatures at the moment, but have had a spate of thundery storms.

Oh Laura, I'm so sorry to hear your news - I hope they can find out out what's causing your health problems. Even though you won't be around much, please pop in whenever you can, so we can say hello and send you hugs and best wishes. Thinking of you.

Hi Angie!

Went to see The Heat - very sweary, and too long (should have been cut by at least 20 minutes), but I quite enjoyed it. Nice to see a female buddy cop film for a change.

You're right! I'm forever getting it wrong

No, it's not that at all - I love Peter Capaldi, and I think he could be a great Doctor, but like you, I've not been a fan of the writing of the last few series, and feel that will prevent me loving him as The Doctor. I just wish the regeneration could be a proper surprise on the night, rather than everyone knowing in advance.

I'm about 50 pages in and I've already welled up with tears at one point. It's lovely - such a straight forward, friendly style, she comes across just as she does on screen and radio.