France
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Posts posted by France
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The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle by Nick Louth sounded so promising, a 66 year old woman is found murdered in the same way , in the same spot and with what looks like the same murder weapon as a 16 year old girl who was killed 50 years ago. What more they share the same name, the same birthday, the same fillings in their teeth... That was about as good as it got. The writing was totally pedestrian and pedantic, the author doesn't seem to like Devon very much as there's a lot about how run down the towns are and as for the police - the men seem to be mentally set back in the 70's with a degree of sexism and racism that I'm certain doesn't exist even in rural backwaters and a female detective who tells the new Muslim programmer (who goes by the unlikely name of Primrose) that her husband married her for 'there' and cups both breasts in her hands. <The denouement both relied too heavily on co-incidence and a chapter long confession from the murderer.
No I didn't enjoy it and I won't be reading this author again.
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Wow! Those are so pretty.
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I'm not a Royalist or an anti-Royalist either, I'm just not particularly interested in them most of the time and wouldn't have bothered with A Voyage Around the Queen by Craig Brown if it hadn't been given to my husband for Christmas which he passed on with a "Worth reading" comment.
This is not your usual biography, there are over 100 chapters ad very few of them are about the Queen directly, instead her life is told in a series of vignettes, ranging from a saccharine "biography" of a four year old Princess Elizabeth, the story of the corgies including a full family tree from the Queen's first one, to dreams people have about her, President Ceausescu's state visit (she called him "that horrid man"), her love of racing, being painted by Rolf Harris and Lucien Freud and what she really thought of the royal yacht Britannia. And far more. What really surprised me was discovering that she believed that her obligation to her people came from God, I thought that particular notion had gone out of fashion with Charles I in 1649.
In some sections she comes over as thoroughly dislikeable, then comes a section written from a different perspective where she's kind and intuitive and opinion changes again. Craig Brown is a satirist and can be very funny, and by and large keeps his opinions to himself though it's obvious he has little time for Prince Harry. His section on the death of the Queen and the public reaction to it was unexpectedly moving because there was no hyperbole or mawkishness.
All in all it was definitely worth reading.
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10 hours ago, poppy said:
To quote Aunt Dahlia ...
'You sit there and tell me you haven’t enough sense to steer clear of a girl who calls herself Gwladys? Listen Bertie,’ said Aunt Dahlia earnestly, ‘I’m an older woman than you are – well, you know what I mean – and I can tell you a thing or two. And one of them is that no good can come of association with anything labelled Gwladys or Ysobel or Ethyl or Mabelle or Kathryn. But particularly Gwladys.’)
My nail lady is called Gwladys - but she's French so it's permissable!
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Thanks for the first good laugh of the day, Hux!
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I'm not sure what sort of books you mean.
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I read Tai Pan when I lived in Hong Kong and enjoyed it hugely.
Anna Karenina was a book club read a few years ago and enjoyment had a lot to do with which translation our book was. There were big differences in style, some very literal and following Russian sentence structure where feasible, others more loose - and those were just the English translations. So it's worth reading a few pages before you buy or borrow. Be warned there's a lot of description of haymaking and farming in general.
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Cold as Hell by Lilja Sigurdardottir was touted as the latest big thing in Icelandic noir. Orora, half Icelandic, half Scottish, living in Scotland goes to Iceland to search for her estranged sister who has disappeared, enlisting the help of a police detective on holiday who just happens to be her sort of uncle (was married to a relation). The scene setting and descriptions of Iceland are wonderful, the story line which lacks tension less so. It may be the translator, he's a crime novelist in his own right and I read one of his books ages ago and found it uninspiring. I doubt I'll read any more in this series.
Anne Griffin's When All Is Said about an elderly man sitting alone at a hotel bar and toasting the five people who meant most to him in his life was one of those wonderful, quiet books where not a lot happens but you still can't stop reading and finish with a true sense of having been taken to another place. I've had The Island of Longing, her most recent novel, for some time but didn't feel like starting it in case it was a disappointment. It wasn't. The subject is on the face of it hardly uplifting, nearly eight years ago Rosie's 17 year old daughter disappeared from outside their house and Rosie cannot move on and accept that Saiorce is probably dead. Her obsession with looking for her has nearly destroyed her marriage and she's had a breakdown. Rosie agrees to go to the small island where she grew up in the West of Ireland for the summer to help her father run the ferry to the mainland and gradually she changes. It sounds gloomy but it absolutely isn't, I loved it.
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith is a fairly run of the mill crime story. It's 1901 and the Lord Chief Justice has been found murdered in the Inner Temple in London. The police are only allowed to enter the Temple by invitation and for discretion's sake it's decided that a barrister should investigate the death, Sir Gabriel Ward, who found the body. It's a nice enough tale but ultimately unmemorable .
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12 hours ago, willoyd said:
. Also Never Let Me Go, the Booker short-listed novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, for a book group. Drearily dull and tedious, managed just under half in total, not impressed. 2 stars at a pinch.
I'll confess to being one of those who don't get on with Ishiguro, even The Remains of the Day which I read when it first came out which I remember as being fine but nothing like as impressive as everyone else seemed to think.
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Anne Cleeves is definitely back to form after her last Vera book in The Dark Wives. A young care worker is murdered outside the place he works at and a troubled 14 year old girl has gone missing. There's a new member of the team, exuberant, slightly blousy Rosie, a nicely twisty plot and as ever a tremendous sense of place.
The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave. A rich businessman falls to his death off a cliff he knows well. It's assumed it's an accident but his son isn't so sure and enlists his estranged half sister into doing some investigating. It's not a particularly memorable book but I was surprised at how fast paced and addictive it was, I read it in 24 hours.
I was shocked at how little non-fiction I read last year so have decided to really up the amount this one. The King is Dead. Long live the King! by Martin Williams is about Edward VII , his reign, both in what he did and the social life around it, and the aftermath of his death. It's fascinating, Edward spent a very long time being refused a proper role and waiting to take the throne (remind you of anyone) and turned out to be excellent at his job. It's not overdetailed, the writing is clear and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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This sounds really interesting, I don't know a lot about Buckingham either so would like read more. I knew the author's brother when I was living in Hong Kong so another added bit of interest!
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The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. 15 years ago the Van Laars 8 year old son vanished during a huge week long party thrown by his parents. Now their 13 year old daughter has disappeared in almost identical circumstances.
This book was apparently the book club choice in America last year and I can see why. It has its faults, some of the characters are very two dimensional and all the rich personages are mean, venal, self serving, duplicitous, totally amoral, weak, drunk.... it can get a bit samey, but all the same this is a fast, pacey, well written book which kept me utterly absorbed.
A great start to 2025 and recommended.
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Time sounds good to me. Lot's of scope there.
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On 1/7/2025 at 2:59 PM, Madeleine said:
They've just shown the TV version of The Dark Wives, the last ever episode of Vera! It was quite good.
I suspect that the book is better! I'm currently listening to one of the Midsomer murders book on Audible and there an interesting prologue from John Nettles in which he says that though TV adaptations are often very good they are rarely as good since TV can't often allow the time for nuance or character development in the way a book can.
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1. The God of the Woods - Liz Moore *****
2. The Dark Wives - Anne Cleeves ****1/2
3. The Night We Lost Him - Laura Dave****1/2
4.The King is Dead. long live the King! Martin Williams ****
5. Cold as Hell - Lilja Sigurdardottir ***1/2
6. The Island of Longing - Anne Griffin ****1/2
7. Of Mice and Murder - Sally Smith ***1/2
8. A Dry Spell - Clare Chambers ****
9. A Voyage Around the Queen - Craig Brown ****1/2
10. The two deaths of Ruth Lyle - Nick Louth **
11. Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros ****1/2
12. High Vaultage - Chris Sugden ***
13. The Wicked Boy - Kate Summerscale **** (plus a little bit).
14. Here One Moment - Liane Moriaty *****
15. Ruskin Park - Rory Cellan Jones ***1/2
16. The Fellowship of puzzelmakers - Samuel Burr ***
17. The >Lantern Men - Elly Griffiths ****
18. The Locked Room - Elly Griffiths ***
19. The Last Remains - Elly Griffiths ****1/2
20. The Wedding People - Alison Espach *****
21. Long Island - Colm Toibin ****1/2
22. You're A Brick Angela - Mary Cadogan & Patricia Craig ***
23. Hope I Get Old Before I Die - David Hepworth****
24. The Venetian Candidate - Phillip Gwynne Jones****
25. Whiteout - R S Burnett **
26. The Artist n- Lucy Steeds ****
27. Hunted - Abir Mukherjee DNF
28. Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson ****1/2
29. The Bookbinder of Jericho - Pip Williams ***1/2
30. The Road to Roswell - Connie Willis ****1/2
31. The Frozen People -Elly Griffiths ****
32. The Cannonball Tree Mystery - Ovidia Yu ****
33. Conclave - Robert Harris ****1/2
34. The Chalk Pit -Elly Griffith ****
35. You Are Here - David Nicholls ****1/2
36< The King's Evil - Andrew Taylor ****1/2
37. Murder Below Deck - Orlando Murrin ***1/2
38. Welcome to Glorious Tuga - Francesca Segal *****
39. Mrs Spy -M J Robwotham ***
40. Three Days in June -Anne Tyler *****
41. How to Age Disgracefully -Clare Pooley ***1/2
42. None of this is True - Lisa Jewell ****
43 Shadows in the Moonlight - Santa Montefiore ****
44. Business as Usual - Jane Oliver *****
45. Three Days in June _ Anne Tyler *****
46.The Spy Coast -b Tess Gerritson ****
47. Death at the White Hart _ Chris Chibnall ***1/2
48. Spêncers List - Lissa Evans ****
49. The Unwilding -Marina Kemp ****
50. The Summer Guests -Tess Gerritson ****
51. The secret Room - Jane Casey ****1/2
52 Bad Influence -CJ Wray ***1/2
53. Kiss Myself Goodbye - Ferdinand Mount ****
54. Murder takes a vacation - Laura Lippmann ***1/2
55. The Correspondant - Virginia Evans ***1/2
56. The Burgess Boys - Elizabeth Strout ****1/2
57. Young Woman and the Sea - Glenn Strout *****
58. The Various Haunts of Men - Susan Hill ***
59. Island Calling - Francesca Segal *****
60. Gabriel's Moon -William Boyd ****1/2
61. Raising Hare - Chloe Dalton ****1/2
62. The Names - Florence Knapp DNF
63. Gabriel's Moon -William Boyd ****1/2
64. The Shadows of Men - Abir Mukherjee ****1/2
65. Three Junes - Julia Glass ****1/2
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4 hours ago, Brian. said:
I’m trying to decide whether to carry on with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I started it about 3 weeks ago but I’m finding it a real slog. I’ve made it to page 100 and I normally drop a book by this point if I’m not enjoying it.
I loved Wolf Hall, I was so absorbed that I didn't notice some of the things that annoy other readers but if you aren't enjoying it then give it up. Life's too short and there are too many other fabulous books out there to read a book you aren't getting on with.
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32 minutes ago, muggle not said:
I have Colors of the Dark on hold at our library. It seems to be very popular here as our library has 27 digital copies and there are 693 people on the hold list.
There's been a lot about it online, it pretty well lives up to the hype imp, though it's not perfect.
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I ran out of steam by about book 5 and gave up. The first two or three were great.
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I read both, I like the feel of real books and think I concentrate on them better than an ebook but I love the convenience of an ebook.
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Depends. I live in France so new paper books in English are very expensive and there isn't much choice in the libraries either so I stock up whenever I can at secondhand book sales, on my rare visits back to the UK or Kobo/Kindle deals. For instance I've bought five titles for my Kobo since Christmas as there have been a lot of good deals.
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Your favourite book cover of 2024.
I read a lot on my Kobo through necessity so don't get to see many covers in colour. This cover drew me in instantly when I was scouring Amazon for books to fill a gft certificate.
Your favourite book shop/retailer of 2024.
Has to be Rakutan for books for my Kobo though in real life Gagliani in Paris.
Your audiobook recommendation of 2024.
Still Life by Sarah Winman, wonderful story and beautifully read by the author (who is an actress)
Your most read author of 2024.
Mick Herron - all 8 of his Slough House series plus a couple of stand-alones.
Your book that wasn't worth bothering with in 2024 (my 'Duffer of the Year').
One Day by Abigail Dean
Your biggest literary let-down of 2024 (my 'Biggest Disappointment of the Year).
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley - I was so looking forward to this and goodness it's dreadful
Your discovery of the year (book, author, genre, publisher etc)
Mick Herron
Your children's book recommendation of 2024.
My 2 year old grandson adores this.
Your fiction book of the year 2024.
Impossible to say! In no particular order some of the books I most enjyed were:
Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros
The Bookselller of Inverness - S J Maclean
Tom Lake - Ann Patchett
The Offing - Benjamin Myers
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On 11/2/2024 at 5:49 PM, Madeleine said:
I didn't enjoy most of the books we did at school.... A Level English started off well with Frankenstein, then they changed the syllabus and we got Jane Austen and her frilly bonnets and match making instead... I never forgave the school for that! I was talking about books read at school with a work colleague years ago, and she said that she thought a lot of teenagers wouldn't be able to identify with the characters from the classics, as they just didn't have the life experience required, which I thought was an interesting point. And then there's the simple reason that it's because we were forced to read something we didn't want to read, or might not have been interested in, because, as my colleague said, we didn't have the emotional maturity to really appreciate the texts, or OK some of them were downright boring - I hated 1984 and still do, even though I can see what Orwell was getting at now.
I'd love to have read Jane Austen for A level! We read no Victorian or modern novels at all, just 18th century authors because our English teacher said we'd never read them otherwise (with reason). Joseph Andrews by Fielding, I don't know anyone who likes that one, three Gothic novels, Vathek and I can't remember the other two, all pretty tedious, The Beggars Opera... Alexander Pope's poetry was good fun though.
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Time to revive this!
The Guardian published its list of books to look out for in 2025 and the standout for me was Onyx Dream by Rebecca Yarros, number 3 in the Fourth Wing series. Out in January!
I'm also looking forward to new books by Anne Tyler and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
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The Offing by Benjamin Myers
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
France's reading 2025
in Book Blogs - Discuss your reading!
Posted
Here you are!
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros is the third in a series of five, I reckon just about every reader on the planet has heard of these books and has an opinion on them, whether they've read them or not. If you don't like fantasy, don't like dragons, this definitely won't be for you but I love both, accept the love interest and slide over the sex scenes which really are too much for me (and quite a lot of other people too))
I think this book holds up really well, it always difficult to keep up the momentum in the middle of a series but imo she manages it particularly with developing the characters of the dragons. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and the list of who was who in Violet's squad, their dragons and their signet (magic ability ) did come in very useful. Pacing was good and the ending was excellent (even though a lot of people on Goodreads claimed they didn't understand it. Can't think why.)
All in all a thoroughly good read - my only quibble is the introduction of a new character who had been playing an important role right in the last few pages who had never been mentioned before.
Incidentally there's a lot of stuff going around about the book being printed with missing pages, that it should have 544 and the story ends on 527. The book is fine there are 527 printed pages and the other 17 are endpapers, title pages, acknowledgements etc.