chesilbeach

Hi Matthew! Good to see an author join the forum to discuss the books they like to read with us. Look forward to seeing you around the boards.

I'm not going to write a full review of Under The Skin by Michel Faber, but I am going to explain why I abandoned it. I've read a lot of other books by Faber and enjoyed them all, so when I saw this one on sale, I bought it without reading the blurb or any reviews. When I started reading it, I actually thought it was another book I'd opened on my Kindle, and it was only after the first chapter that it didn't seem to fit with what I knew of that book, that I checked the title and realised I'd started Under The Skin instead. I'm found it a very uncomfortable read and so removed from all the other books of Faber's that I'd read. It seemed to be building up to a horror story, something I don't enjoy, and would never normally even attempt. I've read 23%, but after looking at reviews (and discussing on the abandoned books thread), I know it's not going to be the sort of book I can enjoy in any way, and I would find it even more unsettling than the start, so I decided to put it aside. That's not to say I couldn't appreciate the writing. As always Faber's descriptive powers are excellent, and probably the main reason the story made my skin crawl, so if you don't mind reading horror, then I think this is book that could be enjoyable, it's just not for me.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) What happens in the woods, stays in the woods... Carey is keeping a terrible secret. If she tells, it could destroy her future. If she doesn't, will she ever be free? For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived in a camper van in the heart of the woods with her mother and six-year-old sister, Jenessa. Her mother routinely disappears for weeks at a time, leaving the girls to cope alone. Survival is Carey's only priority - until strangers arrive and everything changes . . . Review: During one of my usual Saturday morning Guardian Books browsing sessions, I came across this article and knew I wanted to look up of the the YA books mentioned in it, If You Find Me. I went and found the sample online, and then after reading that I had to read the book straight away. It's a compelling read which starts at the point where some stories would end, in that it begins with Carey and her sister Jenessa being found by the authorities living in a camper van in the woods, where their mother has kept them for years. They are placed back in the care of their father, a man Carey barely remembers except for the stories of abuse her mother told her, but she knows she must stay for the sake of her sister. As their story unfolds, you come to realise the absolutely horrendous conditions their mother has kept the girls living in, and that there is even more to the story than they first let on. They have to try and reintegrate into the society they have been kept away from so long, but eventually Carey reveals the secret she has been hiding from, and the story is so devastating yet completely believable that my heart broke for the characters and what they'd been through, but the author still manages to leave you with a sense of hope that lives can be rebuilt and there can be a better future. It reminded me a lot of Stolen by Lucy Christopher, a book that still stays with me a couple of years after reading, and I think If You Find Me will be the same. This is definitely one for older teenagers, but is also one of those crossover books for adults too.

Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family, who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fortune. Review: I added this to my wish list after Janet reviewed it a while back, and decided to get it for one of my holiday reads a few weeks ago. I loved the opening where you are dropped straight into the midst of Grace's story. There are some great descriptions of London life of the period, some that I'd never come across before, and the funeral business was quite an unsavoury thing to read about at times. As the story of how Grace's life is revealed, I did feel it became a bit predictable, and there were a couple of instances which were just a bit too convenient, but on the whole, it was an entertaining read. I'll certainly look out for more of Mary Hooper in the future.

Single in the City by Michele Gorman Misfortune Cookie by Michele Gorman Synopsis of Single In The City: Take one twenty six year old American, add to a two thousand year old city, add a big dose of culture clash and stir. To think Hannah ever believed that Americans differed from Brits mainly in pronunciation, sophistication and dentistry. That's been the understatement of a lifetime. She lands upon England's gentle shores with no job, no friends and no idea how she's supposed to build the life she's dreaming of. Armed with little more than her enthusiasm, she charges headlong into London, baffling the locals in her pursuit of a new life, new love and sense of herself. Review: Take a classic fish out of water story, with a big dollop of fun, romance, and friendships, and you get this gem of a romcom. Hannah has sort of drifted through life, never quite knowing where she was going, and when she finds herself unemployed, she makes a drunken decision to go to London for an adventure. She has to make friends, find somewhere to live, find a job, and all this with the massive language barrier between American English and British English. Good fun, with a believable heroine, who makes mistakes, isn't a perfect size 0 model, and even the job she finds isn't what she expected, but who learns to stand on her own two feet and make things better. It's not even the happy ever after ending you expect from this type of book, with the perfect man sweeping her off her feet, but is left with Hannah deciding that she will move to Hong Kong! Misfortune Cookie follows Hannah to Hong Kong where we get another slice of her attempts to live in an alien culture, and the road to true love certainly doesn't run smooth here either, but I don't want to give too much away as it will spoil the first book if you haven't read it. I've gone back to reading more romcoms, and this is a great example of how they've moved on from the days of someone finding Prince Charming, to someone realising that it's not Prince Charming who makes your life better, but it's the person you become yourself who makes life more fulfilling.

Mrs Harris Goes to New York by Paul Gallico Synopsis: When a young woman marries, she leaves the son she had with a GI during the war in the care of the family who live next door to Mrs Harris, but he is mistreated, under nourished and bullied. She tries to help him, but when she is asked to go to New York with one of her clients to keep house for them, she smuggles the lad with her in order to find his father. Review: Once again, Mrs Harris finds herself in a situation that is far more tricky than she could have imagined. While it might be easy to slip on board a ship hiding among a group with a large number of children, it's not going to be that straight forward when they arrive in America. Fortunately, with the help of friends, she manages to overcome that obstacle, but finding the boys father is far from easy. With the same warmth and humour in the first book, the forthright cleaning lady finds and makes friends in unlikely places, and a satisfying resolution is found for all. Another great little story, and I've now found out there are a couple more Mrs Harris books, so I'll be looking for these in the future.

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) Mrs Harris is a salt-of-the-earth London charlady who cheerfully cleans the houses of the rich. One day, when tidying Lady Dant's wardrobe, she comes across the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life - a Dior dress. In all the years of her drab and humble existence, she's never seen anything as magical as the dress before her and she's never wanted anything as much before. Determined to make her dream come true, Mrs Harris scrimps, saves and slaves away until one day, after three long, uncomplaining years, she finally has enough money to go to Paris. Review: Set in the 1950s, this little comic book conjures up the lifestyles of the rich through the eyes of the common charwoman who cleans for them, but who has a heart of gold and is a force to be reckoned with when she sets her mind to it. The quest to buy her own Dior dress leads her to drastically economise in order to save her money, and then when she thinks her goal is achieved, finds that it's not just money you need to enter the mystifying world unknown to the hoi polloi. While it may show signs caricature and cliche in places, this doesn't detract from this charming story, with it social faux pas and the romance of an adventure in Paris. With stumbling blocks at every turn, the grit and determination of the stoical cleaning lady wins the day, even if for one day only. One minor grumble, I don't like it when authors try to write dialect, and it did get on my nerves a couple of times in this book, but the overall charm of it was enough to get me past that on this occasion. A lovely read, though, with that very British sense of humour, with warmth and affection for the period and character.

Hello Rob! You'll definitely find some sci-fi and fantasy chat around the boards, and I'm sure you'll end up with lots of recommendations too.

After all my listing of M. C. Beaton books yesterday, couldn't resist starting another one today!

Home made veggie scotch eggs, mashed potatoes and a massive salad.

Just posting this link as a reminder to see if I can find some more Posy Simmonds books next time I'm in the bookshop. Fantastic gallery, and I loved Tamara Drewe, so definitely want to read more. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/gallery/2013/may/23/posy-simmonds-sketchbook-comics-tamara

Had one of my organisational days yesterday and made myself a list of all the M. C. Beaton books (all 157 of them!) and which ones I own and have read, and then did some reorganising of my wishlists and added in all the books of hers I haven't read. Now off to decide what book to start next ...

Just been out and washed my car (by hand - too scared to try a car wash!) and now have nothing to do for the rest of the day, so a bit of reading is the order of the day, I think.

I haven't read the Dahl books in a long time, in fact, that last time was when we went on holiday and the cottage we stayed in had a huge bookcase for visitors to borrow books from, but most were crime novels which I wasn't interested in, but there was a shelf of Dahl, both children's and adult books, and I spent the week reading my way through a good few of the children's books. I think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is still my favourite, but I haven't read them all, so maybe I ought to follow yours and Janet's example and try them all this time. I think we've got virtually all of them on the bookshelves anyway, so it's just a case of finding them!

I'm just going to wing it and see what I feel like when the time comes!

Good morning Ally!

Good morning Dave!

The bottom five books in the photo are all from The Quince Tree Press books, and apparently we have a copy of Carr's Dictionary of Extra-ordinary Cricketers, but it's proving elusive at the moment!

A much improved 7/10 for me today http://blog.waterstones.com/2013/05/waterstones-week-in-books-quiz-17th-may-2013-2/

I loved this one when I read it last year - hope it doesn't stay an unread book on your shelf for too long.

It's so charming, and Jenny Colgan and I are about the same age, so the little references to the different sweets are perfect reminders of childhood for me. I have read any of her books since her very first book, Amanda's Wedding, but after this I'm definitely going to go back and read more! Hope you enjoy it, Athena, I'm almost finished now but it's been hard to put down.

Shuck

Paddock

I never updated this thread, but I did buy it and have read it, and loved it! For fans of Mitchell (yes, I looking at you, frankie ) here's a little trailer he made for the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjs4Kc00Fr4

I've only read a few Peter Ackroyd, but none of them London books! I have enjoyed his writing though, and we have a lot of them in the house, so I'll probably read more at some point.