Lucybird

I am going to put this up on bookmooch too to see if anyone wants it there

Received: Beauty- Robin McKinley The House at Riverton- Kate Morton The 19th Wife- David Ebershoff All from Chrissy! Thanks Chrissy Have about 60 pages of Dead in the Family left

Chicken with lemon and parsley.

Already about halfway through Dead in the Family

It;s not just you. I didn't hate it but I wasn't very impressed, I don't get the hype about it.

Well it's probably been my favourite. But if you're going for it as a Linda Gillard novel, rather than as a novel in itself, I would probably go for Star Gazing as it's more similar to Emotional Geology, and probably more similar to any future novels (although I'm only guessing at that).

Started reading Dead in the Family

Pippo...although you'll have to go to Amazon, they aren't published anymore. I loved them when I sas little and got my niece one which she likes too. And I agree with the That's my... books too. Helen Oxenbury is always worth a look too.

Synopsis (from Amazon) Greedy for experience but determined to be good, Flora Dunbar spends a lifetime seeking love, trying to build a future out of the wreckage of her past - an eccentric childhood spent in the shadow of her musical twin, Rory; early marriage to Hugh, a clergyman twice her age; motherhood, which brings her Theo, the son she cannot love; middle-age, when she finds brief happiness in a scandalous affair with her nephew, Colin. "If you asked my sister-in-law why she hated me, she’d say it was because I seduced her precious firstborn then tossed him onto the sizeable scrap-heap marked Flora’s ex-lovers. But she’d be lying. That isn’t why Grace hated me. Ask my brother Rory..." Review First off I suppose I should warn you that A Lifetime Burning is very different from Linda Gillard's other books, Emotional Geology and Star Gazing. Although if speaking in loose terms you could say they are all about love. Although I really enjoyed the other two books they aren't my usual style (as far as love stories go they are far superior to chick-lit books, and the writing is thoughtful and rather beautiful). A Lifetime Burning is more like something I would pick up. Actually having said that if I hadn't previously known Gillard's work I probably wouldn't have looked at it in a book shop because of that front cover. The cover is actually the worst part of the book! It's so unrepresentative, makes the book look like sci-fi rather than a story about 'real' life. Character wise I didn't really like Flora, who was the narrator. I found her selfish, and self centred. She didn't really seem to care about anyone Rory was a little better, he at least seemed to show some care for others. My favourite character was Grace though, she stuck with her husband, and his family no matter what- I guess that could be seen as being a pushover but I saw her as more resilient, and forgiving. I did find it a little unbelievable after a point but then I changed my mind Such a shame this is no longer being published (my copy came from Linda Gillard herself). I think it could do well given the right marketing. 4/5

Finished A Lifetime Burning. I really enjoyed it although it's very different from Linda Gillard's other books, and it seems to have revived my lagging mojo!

Neck

Hia Colleen to the forum

As many of you may know I recently cleared out my bookshelves. I thought before I sent my piles off to the charity shop I would offer them here, as then I know they will go to nice homes Unless otherwise stated they are in good condition but post will have cracked spines. The books I have for swap are: Rasberries on the Yangtze- Karen Wallace Bad Girls. (hard cover) The Bed and Breakfast Star. Double Act Girls in Love- Jacqueline Wilson My Canepe Hell- Imogen Edwards-Jones The Woman in the Fifth- Doughlas Kennedy Kidnap- Ian Strachan The Writing on the Wall Broken Bridge- Lynne Reid Banks Moondial- Helen Chresswell You Tell Me- Roger McGough and Michael Rosen The Teenage Worriers Guide to Families- Ros Asquith The Peppermint Pig Granny the Pag- Nina Bawden Sophie in the Saddle- Dick King-Smith What a Week to Make it Big- Rosie Rushton Highlighted/Annotated copy of Mark's Gospel History themed joke book What's a Girl Gotta do?- Sparkle Hayter (the cover of this one has been nibbled by my friend's rabbit, so it's not in perfect condition!) The Book of Unholy Mishief- Elle Newmark The Path to the Lake- Susan Sallis The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown I'm willing to swap for anything on my wishlist (below) or you can make me an offer (it doesn't have to be a book...) I copied from my Amazon wishlist....so some may not be published yet.... The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart (Author) Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (Author) May Contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt (Author) The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Author) Room by Emma Donoghue (Author) I'd Know You Anywhere LP by Laura Lippman (Author) Crazy (Puffin Teenage Books) by Benjamin Lebert (Author), Carol Brown Janeway (Translator)S The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry (Author) Disquiet by Julia Leigh (Author) Nightswallow by Bronwen Winter Phoenix (Author) The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (Author) The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (Author) Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Author) I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl by Laurie Notaro A Certain Age by Rebbecca Ray (Author) The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe (Author) The Dirt - Motley Crue: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Neil Strauss (Author), et al. £ Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas Double Vision by Pat Barker (Author) Migraine by Oliver Sacks The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe (Author) House Rules by Jodi Picoult (Author) The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Gaines (Author) Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind" by Alexandra Ripley Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig (Author) A Recipe for Bees by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (Author) Before I Die by Jenny Downham (Author) The Book With No Name by Anonymous (Author) And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three by Eoin Colfer Another Woman by Penny Vincenzi The Pink Stallion (Coronet Books) by Lucy Pinney The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason (Author) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (Author) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: And Six Other Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) by F Scott Fitzgerald London Belongs to Me (Penguin Modern Classics) by Norman Collins (Author), Ed Glinert The Ladies of Grace Adieu: and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke (Author) Storm Front (Dresden Case Files) by Jim Butcher Dry: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs (Author A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams (Author), John Lloyd (Author) Long, Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams (Author) First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (Author) Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde (Author) Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl by Tracy Quan (Author) The Book of General Ignorance (A Quite Interesting Book) by Stephen Fry (Foreword), et al. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks (Author) Cocktails for Three by Madeleine Wickham (Author) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Author), Chris Riddell (Illustrator) The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle de Jour (Author) The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (Author) Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer

hmm I think it's an interesting question...it's just the way it's pt I don't like. I suppose you can ask why isn't your own imagination good enough to trump someone elses?

At the moment I'm using a train ticket covered in a sticker for my friend's band.

Am on part 3 of A Lifetime Burning. It's very different from Linda Gillard's other books but I'm really enjoying it, and actually think it is more my typical type of book.

Or you could have used an emoticon

The way you are putting things sounds like you are accusing us of something. You can learn so much from reading, and yes your thoughts can be expanded by it, I don't think it is lazy to read someone else's thoughts- but helps to expand your own. I do write but if I had never read I would never have started writing. My reading is an inspiration, some of the best books are what I would love to be able to write. However I see no problem with reading for enjoyment- it can take you to a whole other place.

Just had some salt and vinegar crisps

Ugly Betty. A guilty pleasure.

Dead in the Family arrived in the post from Kell

Started A Lifetime Burning- Linda Gillard

Note on the review I have found my reading mojo has been a bit lacking this last week or so. Part of the reason I picked this book is because I knew it would be an easy read, but my lack of mojo may still have made itself known in my review. Synopsis (from Amazon) Mma Ramotswe, who became engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni at the end of the first book, is still engaged. She wonders when a day for the wedding will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiance. For indeed he has other things on his mind - notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani, pushy matron of the Orphan Farm. Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady - whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons - and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady ... Review. I like the No. 1 Ladies Detective agency books. They are pretty easy reads, they are a sort of alternative detective story. Not full of action or great crimes, but still interesting and maybe more easy to relate too. I've actually read The Full Cupboard of Life before, but wasn't sure from the blurb if I had or not. It was only towards the end of the book that I became sure I had read it before. I suppose that is a good thing in a way because at least parts of the story seemed new too me, it was more the bits that I thought I might have read before that were distracting. I kept thinking, did I read this or was it part of the TV show? There is little really to be said. A simple story but engaging. You don't really feel like you need to know how things work out, and some things are obvious. In parts it is quite clever but not sophisticated. All the same an enjoyable read, and some really great characters which I love to read about- that it what really comes out of it, a real sense of the characters- and an enjoyment of them. 3/5 The TV series by the way is rather good and worth a look. Do read at least the first book first though.

Finished The Full Cupboard of Life Received A Lifetime Burning in the post from Linda Gillard