chesilbeach
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Posts posted by chesilbeach
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My third book completed on the challenge was The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.
Copied from my blog:
It's taken me a few weeks, as I've been reading it between other books, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. A historical tale set in the late 19th century, start with the death of Cora's abusive husband, and after years of suffering at his hand, she is free to be the inquisitive and intelligent woman she promised as a child. Setting off with her companion and son in tow, she heads to Essex to become the person to discover what she believes to be an unknown species of animal that the locals fear and call the Essex Serpent, which appears to be shrouded in mystery and folklore. Introduced to the local vicar and his family through a mutual friend, they become firm friends, despite his belief that the serpent is nothing more than superstition and coincidence, and is defiantly trying to preach the word of God to his parishioners.
The story that unfolds is absolutely captivating, and so beautifully written, I'm glad I took time to read slowly and savour the book, as I thought it was a wonderful read. Perry evokes the period setting, in terms of not only the society and the role of women, the church and the medical profession. It imbues the tale with a real sense of place of the coastal town, and provides real depth to the story with lots of brilliantly drawn characters from all walks of life. An excellent book and worthy of all the praise that has been heaped on it.
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Went to see Lady Bird this week. I did love it, but have to say I was surprised at a full screening on a Wednesday night and by how much the whole audience enjoyed it. When I've seen films like this in the past, they tend to be quieter screenings, but this one was full and there was lots of laughter and some wry, knowing chuckles too. It's not a comedy as such, but it's a very heartwarming story of growing up in a small town in America and her story of her last year of high school and applying for college. Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalfe were both brilliant, and it was an excellent cast all around, and felt very honest and truthful.
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Not much planned for this weekend. Went out for brunch (pancakes with caramelised bananas and maple syrup - delicious!) and run a few errands at the post office and library, and now back home in front of the fire with the curling from the Winter Olympics on the telly while I catch up here on the forum. This afternoon will involve reading, reading and some more reading.
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On 2/23/2018 at 1:56 AM, poppy said:
They're saying it's too early to predict when this road will be cleared. There are 6000 residents and tourists over there and the only way out is by boat or small plane. They're working flat out all over this area clearing blocked roads.
Our water supply is cut, but fortunately we have a large tank so going very easy on water at the moment.
It's really sad to see all the damage to farmland and orchards. Some places are covered in a thick layer of mud and rubbish. But people are amazingly resilient and have started on the big clean-up.
Hope the clean-up is going well, and you'll be able to get your water supply back soon, poppy. Glad to hear you're safe.
Over here, it's a clear but cold day, but we're gearing up for a cold week ahead.
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I read Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood and Kid Normal by Greg James and Chris Smith to finish off all the books in the Waterstones Children's Book Prize younger fiction category, and I've now started Troublemakers by Catherine Barter to kick off the older fiction category books. There's six books on the list, and the prize is awarded on 22nd March, so I'd like to have read them all by then.
In other book news from me, I found out my library no longer charges reservation fees, so I'm going to be making more use of them in the future, particularly for hardback books! I picked up my first one today, The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell, as I think from the reviews I've seen, it might be a strong contender to make the Wainwright Prize long list this year, and if I can get a head start on those books too, that'll make it easier for me to finish all the books between the long list being announced and the winner being revealed.
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I have acquired a whole bunch of new books thanks to my birthday earlier this month - I'm such a lucky girl!
The lovely Janet gave me a gift card and I got myself a fabulously sparkly hardback of The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin, and the lovely Kay gave me Ink by Alice Broadway and Snowdrift and Other Stories by Georgette Heyer. I got another gift card from one of my other friends, and also bought myself A Black Fox Running by Brian Carter.
As my OH doesn't do presents for birthdays, I always go out and buy myself something, so books were the obvious choice (as usual!). I've been reading the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize books this year, so I bought myself some more of the nominated books - Kid Normal by Greg James and Chris Smith, Trouble Makers by Catherine Barter and The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy, plus the Waterstone's Kid's Book of the Month, Tin by Pádraig Kenny.
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On 2/20/2018 at 9:00 PM, Janet said:
It was lovely to see you (and Kay and Alan) yesterday - I had a great time, as ever. I can't believe we were together for four and a half hours - the time just whizzed by!
Did you have a nice day off today?
I didn't buy any books yesterday!
It was brilliant to catch up with you all - I had a smashing day
We didn't do much on Tuesday in the end, but did go and look at new computers for when I get my new laptop, but that was about it. I did make the most of yesterday though, and got myself a whole bunch of new books, so although I resisted on Monday, I more than made up for it later!
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On 2/20/2018 at 6:22 PM, frankie said:
Yes, there's no way out!
I do hope you will like it!
Happy reading in 2018, Claire!
I loved going through the first page of your log, because it was so nicely organized, and it was also so very differently organized than anyone elses! Thanks @frankie! I've been playing around with how I formatted my spreadsheet offline and I realised that it made sense to organise my TBR by genre to make it easier to see what my options were when picking my next book, and it transferred directly into my blog format here, so it was a win-win situation.
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This week, I've finished reading The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson (one of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize nominations) and also listening to Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (one of my Round Robin challenge books).
It was my birthday this month, so I've received some new books as presents and was also lucky to receive some book tokens too, so I've got quite a few new books to add to my TBR shelves now!
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Dry and mild, but the forecast is for it to get much colder over the next couple of weeks.
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Finally got around to watching Baby Driver at home after buying it when it came out in November. OH hadn't seen it before and I'd told him if he didn't like it, he'd have to pack his bags and leave, but fortunately, he loved it!
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Hello! Welcome to the forum
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Hello! Welcome to the forum
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I’ve just seen someone mention a book they’d read that is coming out next month which is set in Venezuela, written by a French author whose mother was Venezuelan, and I noticed you didn’t have a book for that country yet so thought I’d let you know about it. The book is called Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy, and from the cover and the blurb it looks quite intriguing - I might read it myself!
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I think I'm a bit late to the party, as I've only just read The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. It's taken me a few weeks, as I've been reading it between other books, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. A historical tale set in the late 19th century, start with the death of Cora's abusive husband, and after years of suffering at his hand, she is free to be the inquisitive and intelligent woman she promised as a child. Setting off with her companion and son in tow, she heads to Essex to become the person to discover what she believes to be an unknown species of animal that the locals fear and call the Essex Serpent, which appears to be shrouded in mystery and folklore. Introduced to the local vicar and his family through a mutual friend, they become firm friends, despite his belief that the serpent is nothing more than superstition and coincidence, and is defiantly trying to preach the word of God to his parishioners.
The story that unfolds is absolutely captivating, and so beautifully written, I'm glad I took time to read slowly and savour the book, as I thought it was a wonderful read. Perry evokes the period setting, in terms of not only the society and the role of women, the church and the medical profession. It imbues the tale with a real sense of place of the coastal town, and provides real depth to the story with lots of brilliantly drawn characters from all walks of life. An excellent book and worthy of all the praise that has been heaped on it.
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I'd been waiting ages for The Explorer by Katherine Rundell to come out in paperback, and in the end gave up and treated myself to the hardback edition (and then the very next week, it came out in paperback
). Why bring out children's books in hardback at all????!!!! Humph. Back to the book.
The Explorer starts with four young children on a plane journey flying over the Amazon, but when the pilot is taken ill during the flight and crashes into the canopy of the rainforest, the children find themselves alone and must fend for themselves trying to make the treacherous journey home. What follows is an incredible adventure story, full of peril and danger, containing vivid descriptions of the flora, fauna and landscape, and the children's dangerous journey through the Amazon region. It's a brilliant story and very deservedly won the Children's category of the Costa Book Awards earlier this year. Fantastic children's book, and I think would make a perfect bedtime read-a-long book for 8-12 year olds.
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Janet gave me Corduroy by Adrian Bell for Christmas and I have to admit I'd never heard of it. It's a farming memoir from the 1920's and Adrian Bell is the father of journalist turned MP, Martin Bell. The paperback has been re-published by Slightly Foxed independent publishers and is actually the first of a trilogy of farming books he wrote. I can't tell you why, but I love nature books set on farms, and agricultural books too. I did an A level in Environmental Science about 15 years ago, and my favourite essay during that time was a history of British agriculture from 1945 - absolutely adored researching it, and got 100% for it to boot!
Anyway back to the book, and I have to say, it was a complete delight. As a gentleman's son, Bell spent a year on an East Anglian farm as an apprentice farmer, learning all about the work of a farm and how to run it. There's always a danger from books of this sort to be patronising but Corduroy is a completely charming and affection account of the authors time on the farm, and he never fails to give credit to Mr Colville who imparts his years of experience and knowledge to the young novice. Tales of the local farm workers, the livestock and harvesting over the period of a year are beautifully recounted in this wonderful memoir. I loved it, so thank you very much for introducing me to this author and his books Janet!
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Went to see Phantom Thread in the week. I really, really enjoyed it, but I can't tell you why! It didn't feel anything like the 2 hour 10 minute running time, but there's not much of a story. It's beautifully played, the cinematography is wonderful, and the score compliments it brilliantly, but nothing much happens for probably the first hour, maybe hour and a half, and normally this would irritate me enormously, but here, I was absolutely captivated.
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Finished my third book from the Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist today, A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan. Another good book, although doesn't match up to my favourite so far, which is still Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans.
Used my credit and downloaded a couple of audiobooks, both of which I have on Kindle already and will be using the WhisperSync to read and listen when I can - The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
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Had a couple of gorgeous sunny but cold days.
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Had a lovely day so far today. Out for breakfast and then bought myself a new jumper, and back home in time to see the final of the skeleton at the Winter Olympics. Just finished reading a book, and sorted out a couple of new audiobooks with my credits. Staying in this evening and will probably watch a film, but not sure which one it'll be.
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I finished The Essex Serpent last night, and thought it was fantastic, a really satisfying read, and the third book I've finished from my Round Robin challenge list.
Today, I've finished Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, one of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist, and I've started A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan from the same list.
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Sorry, but we’re a group of readers and not book collectors or publishing experts.
Ive never looked for any, but have you tried looking for any antiquarian book collectors websites? Or, can you find out if the publisher is still in business (perhaps taken over or merged with a bigger publishing house) and can contact them direct?
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I finished Corduroy by Adrian Bell yesterday, and I've also now finished The Explorer by Katherine Rundell.
The Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlists were announced this week, and I think I might try and read them all again. I don't think I've ever succeeded in finishing both the younger and older fiction lists, but I'm going to give it a bloomin' good try. I bought A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan, Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend and The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson yesterday, and I've already read Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans, so that's a good start on the younger fiction. I have The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas on my shelf already, but I'll need to get reading fast to make my way through both lists, so I'd best get off here and get on with it!
Claire's Book List 2018
in Past Book Logs
Posted
The books I've read over the last week are mostly from the younger fiction category of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018.
First up was Nevermore: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. This one definitely has a Harry Potter feel to it, with a child taken out of a dour and miserable home into another world with elements of magic and fantasy. That said, it was a cracking read. The story is full of life making it an effortless book to read.
Morrigan is a wonderful lead character, and although there are some classic characters and themes you'd expect in this type of story, which although it's not actually set in a school, it's definitely got the flavour of a classic boarding school story. Designated a "cursed child" at home, she is saved by a mysterious benefactor called Jupiter North who takes her from her grey, drab existence to live in his technicolour hotel, which in itself becomes almost like another character, and she must take part in a series of trials to compete for a place in the Wundrous Society. I loved it, and as it is clearly going to be a series of books, I'm definitely looking forward to the next instalment.