poppyshake

Great review, I've been put off of reading this book before .. just by it's reputation really. You've made me feel that it is something I can read and enjoy despite it's harrowing content. Yay your mojo is back!

Ah good, it is such a great book, I'm glad you're enjoying it

Hope you both enjoy it when you get around to reading it . It's definitely one of my favourites from this year.

When You Were Young - The Killers

I'm on chapter six of 'The Childrens Book' and so far so good .. I'm enjoying it, she writes extraordinarly well, though you need total concentration when reading it (husband in the background trying to play Neil Young on his guitar .. not helping!!). I've had to make a list of characters on paper though so that I can refer back .. I expect there'll be lots more to add as I go along.

I just mentioned it on another thread and it reminded me .... the reader of 'Magyk' also reads 'The Book Thief' and it's excellent .. so I highly recommend listening to that (if it's your sort of thing) .

I think it starts quite jumpily .... and doesn't really settle until Liesel arrives at Himmel Street and then it just builds and builds. The narrative is unusual, but once you've got the characters in your head it all becomes easier. It's a book well worth persevering with. Although I did read it first, I also later downloaded it from Audible and the reading by Allan Corduner is phenomenal ... absolutely excellent.

Finished 'The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' .. really enjoyable. Have started .. or will start shortly ... A.S. Byatt's 'The Children's Book' .. going by it's reputation I think this one is going to be a struggle.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley Waterstone's Synopsis: For very-nearly-eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, the discovery of a dead snipe on the doorstep of Buckshaw, the crumbling de Luce country seat, was a marvellous mystery - especially since this particular snipe had a rather rare stamp neatly impaled on its beak. Even more astonishing was the effect of the dead bird on her stamp-collector father, who appeared to be genuinely frightened. Soon Flavia discovers something even more shocking in the cucumber patch and it's clear that the snipe was a bird of very ill omen indeed. As the police descend on Buckshaw, Flavia decides it is up to her to piece together the clues and solve the puzzle. Who was the man she heard her father arguing with? What was the snipe doing in England at all? Who or what is the Ulster Avenger? And, most peculiar of all, who took a slice of Mrs Mullet's unspeakable custard pie that had been cooling by the window...? Review: I really liked this book. Flavia is a completely endearing character ... she's smart, passionate and precocious .. but for all that, she's not annoying. The murder plot isn't particularly complicated but Flavia's narration throughout made this book a real pleasure to read. Flavia finds a dying man in the garden of Buckshaw and soon after her father is arrested on suspicion of murder ... with time running out it's up to Flavia to piece together the evidence and figure out who did kill the man in the cucumber patch. There's a lot of humour .. Flavia and her sisters are particularly funny as is Mrs Mullet the housekeeper. One of the bits that made me smile was when Flavia, disgusted by Mrs Mullet's seed biscuits, said ... 'I hated Mrs Mullet's seed biscuits the way that Paul hated sin. Perhaps even more so. I wanted to clamber up onto the table and, with a sausage on the end of my fork as a sceptre, shout in my best Laurence Olivier voice "Will no one rid us of this turbulent pastry cook?' I noticed that it says on the back cover 'Flavia De Luce Mystery 1' .. which obviously means more to come and indeed there is the opening chapter of his next book at the end of this one .. which I didn't read as I didn't want to know what it was about until I get around to reading it (especially as it's not out in paperback for a while yet). Highly enjoyable. 9/10

Yes I will definitely .. should be reading it after my next book.

I loved 'The Book Thief' .. one of my fave reads ever. Hope you enjoy it too

Ah I see, but I think I would've taken issue with the shop assistant .. I reckon 'Goblet of Fire' is the best Potter book. You can't beat a bit of Oscar Wilde for wit, happy reading .

Gosh I am daunted by a 500 pager ... was it worth the time investment?

Bottled Water Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell?

How on earth did you understand what was going on? ... have you seen the movies? I've never thought of it before but does JKR assume that you haven't read any of the books previously and give you the right amount of background info ... I guess she does but I've never noticed it. You are definitely a reading rebel .. now time for 'Return of the King' .. unless of course, you've already read it.

I loved 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' .. hope you're enjoying it Ruth

Hi Rune . I love your blog .. so pretty. I see you've read a book by China Mieville and quite enjoyed it. I'm definitely interested in his books .. I've got one waiting on my bookshelf but it's more of a young adults book I think ... 'Un Lun Dun'. Do you generally only read fantasy books or are you interested in any other genres?

Thanks for the recommendation ... it's going on my TBR pile now

Yes I will for sure ... so far I love it and I'm about 150 pages in now

Autumn Tigers or Lions?

I like the sound of 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand' .. it sounds like the sort of book I like to curl up with after I've tackled a great big complex 500 pager .. rather like the 'Persephone' books. Is it set in the present day?

The first reader was Allan Corduner and he was brilliant .. since then it has been Gerard Doyle and I believe he reads books two, three, four and five .. unfortunately!! I agree with you, Gerard makes the books seem more childish ... Allan actually made the book seem more mysterious and magical. I just cannot understand why they changed .. it must have been the readers decision because no-one in their right mind would have swapped one for the other. If I was Angie Sage I'd have been so annoyed. I did get used to it after a while though ... though I definitely didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as 'Magyk' ... and I can't help but wonder if the story was weaker or whether it was just totally down to the reader. Look forward to your future thoughts on 'the Girl with Glass Feet'.

The Mad March Hare was one of my favourites .. I could've watched him forever. Helena was fantastic as was Johnny (though I wasn't quite sure why the Scottish accent dipped in and out .. and you did get the feeling that the screenplay was written around the fact that they wanted to use Johnny as much as possible .. which is no bad thing). It was a bit 'spot the famous voice' too but I didn't mind that as Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman are my all time fave voices anyway .. Barbara Windsor was a bit of an odd choice for the Doormouse ... and the character of the Doormouse wasn't what we've come to expect .. instead of being sleepy she was feisty .. but I can think outside of the box if the part requires it! Loved Matt Lucas as Tweedle Dum/Dee .. cute as anything. I didn't like Anne Hathaway much either .. I don't know why. And I was totally distracted by the girl who played Alice looking so much like a young Gwyneth Paltrow .... I thought she did ok though. I'm going to see it again next week as my Mum would really like to go ... she's yet to see a 3D film so can't wait for her reaction.

CD's Bacon Sandwich or Sausage Sandwich?

Be interested to know what you make of 'The Owl Killers' .. I really liked Karen Maitland's 'Company of Liars' .. thought it was a great story although I was a little disappointed that it didn't end as well as it had begun.