Kidsmum

Not demanding at all...... cheesecake it is I think that's very restrained of you Frankie..... well done

I can't believe i've done no reading over the past 2 days........ i think the Josephine Tey book has killed my mojo However i went out with friends for lunch yesterday & bought a few books from the charity shop A Feast For Crows George R.R. Martin - i haven't even read the first book yet but that's never stopped me from buying the whole series before Firewall Henning Mankell - I will get round to reading the other ones i have by him on my TBR ......eventually The Railway Man Eric Lomax - hey! they made a film out of it so it must be good Angel Elizabeth Taylor - i loved Mrs Palfrey at The Claremont when i read it so i snatched this from the shelf & clutched it tightly to my chest lest anyone should try & wrestle it from me

Very true I very much enjoyed reading On The Beach so i shall check out Alas Babylon & The Postman. I haven't read much of this type of fiction but i did enjoy the Wool trilogy by Hugh Howey & when i was a child i read Z for Zachariah Robert O'Brien; it's about a girl who survives a nuclear war in America as the valley she lives in remains untouched , of course it might seem out dated now, i was about 10 when i read it but i remember it as being a really gripping read

It covers a much longer time span than one day Dtr there is an element of repetition of course but not so much that you lose interest in the story

Still reading The Daughter Of Time Josephine Tey, i was really looking forward to reading this but am struggling to get through it as it's just not holding my attention

Getting behind with my reviews again Life after Life Kate Atkinson Amazon Synopsis What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to? Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves. This could have turned out to be a very dull read,after all reading about the same events being repeated again & again doesn't sound as if it would make for gripping reading but Atkinson tells the story very well & Ursula & her family are such great characters that once i started the book i found it hard to put down & ended up finishing it in less than a week. I can't say it made me think about having the chance to relive your life & what that would mean in the same way that Replay Ken Grimwood did but it was still a very good & entertaining read. 5/6

That darned book buying itch it's so hard to resist

I think i would probably look forward to it being done rather than actually doing it so i would love you to come round & help me with it, if you did the cataloguing i would make us some lunch & there would definitely be cake for afterwards It is a nuisance not having enough space but i kind of think even if i had more bookcases i'd still end up with books in boxes as i can shop faster than i can read Someone needs to invent a rotating bookcase so all books get there day in the sun

That's a good point about Mary being stuck in the country with too much time to think i hadn't thought of it like that. I suppose as the wife of someone who was probably away at sea on a regular basis i thought she'd be more resilient but i guess under normal circumstances she would have had the use of a car so she wouldn't be so isolated. From a readers point of view though & being female i always prefer women characters to be strong & resourceful because i think in real life most women are Yes i really felt for Moira when he turned her down, i take your point that he'd already refused to take on board other civilians so he didn't feel that he could then make an exception in Moira's case but i rather got the impression that even if Moira had been the only one that wanted to come with them he would have refused her, he didn't agonise over his decision at all, it was just a case of.... no can do. I think the sinking of the sub goes back to the point about people behaving in an insane way even though they weren't mad & i think for Dwight he felt that he had to be a good captain & go down with his ship, perhaps you really have to be in the navy to really understand that mentality Personally i'd rather be with the people who i loved & who loved me at the end

I'm sticking with short reads at the moment so yesterday i started & finished Smut Alan Bennett, it was only two short stories but very funny & naughty, it's a long time since i've managed to read a whole book in one day unlike my teenage daughter who can lay on her bed all day & read...... lucky thing My next read is going to be The Daughter Of Time Josephine Tey

Yes the races took part while she was still alive , he didn't come across as a thoughtless person so maybe he'd have got her blessing first before he took part That's funny that you found Peter annoying, it was Mary that irritated me the most. It was her childlike denial of what was going to happen that really annoyed me because she refused to face facts she placed the burden of responsibility firmly on Peter's shoulders which i didn't think was fair. One of the things that book made me think about was what would i want to do if i found out the world was going to end in a few months & i know i would definitely want to spend all my time with my family & like Mary & peter i'd want to die together as a family so we could all say our goodbyes. I haven't had a chance to read through all the thread but i wondered how people felt about Dwight not allowing Moira to come with them on the submarine at the end . I was quite taken aback that he left her behind to die on her own after all she'd done for him.I mean he admits that she made the last few months of his life bearable & she went to such trouble to get him the pogo stick for his daughter & then in the end he puts duty & sticking to the rules before kindness & compassion.

I thought perhaps he hadn't had any children himself but just had a quick look on Wikipedia & apparently he married & had two daughters called Heather & Shirley...... hopefully he didn't refer to them as its when they were growing up

Good to hear you enjoyed Game of Thrones, Ian; one of my daughters bought me it for Mother's Day & is reading it herself at the moment. I picked up the first volume of The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy in a hospital waiting room & absolutely loved it, it's one of my favourite classics.

I read The Poisonwood Bible some years ago & felt like you that it did drag in places but despite that i enjoyed it & it is a story that has stayed with me. I haven't read any of her other books yet but i do have The Lacuna on my TBR pile.

Over the last week or so i've finished A Very Long Engagement Sebastien Japrisot for next months Reading Circle....hope i can still remember what i want to say about it by May ..... & On The Beach Nevil Shute finally turned up at the library so i've read that as well & put my thoughts on the relevant thread but just to say that it was a very enjoyable read Not sure what i'm going to pick up next, i do need to read Stolen Rebecca Muddiman for my face to face book group as we're meeting the author next month but i do want to read something off my own TBR pile as well. Decisions, decisions

I've managed to resist peeking at this thread till i'd finished reading the book myself so i shall answer the questions before i look at everyone else's answers I'll open with a very basic question. What did you think of the book, in general? I have actually read this book before when i was still in my teens but remembered very little about it, apart from the fact that it was set in Australia in the aftermath of a nuclear war. I enjoyed reading the book very much & read it in about 3 days as for me it was quite a page turner 1- Who was your favourite character? Were there any characters whom you disliked? I liked Peter Holmes & Dwight Towers, i thought they were thoroughly decent chaps & Moira was a good strong female character without her i think the story would've been a bit weak as Mary Holmes was a rather pathetic character & by the end of the book she was really starting to get on my nerves. 3- Did you like the writing? What did you think of the way the story was told? I did like the way the story was written especially when it talked about how everyday life was affected , the lack of oil & petrol so no cars on the roads & things running out in the shops. Although i thought it was quite funny how everybody was so frightfully well behaved & polite under the circumstances. 4- Was this the first book you've read by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? This is the only book i've read by Shute but i would consider reading more of his books in the future maybe.....although as i first read it in my teens & haven't picked up anything else by him probably means it might be quite awhile before i get round to it 5- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I found the parts about the motor racing & fishing quite boring. I also thought that it was unlikely that John Osborne would be so reckless with his life when he had an elderly mother whom he must have felt responsible for. Also the Holmeses baby had no personality at all she might as well have been a rock for all she featured in the story & at the end Peter refers to her as an it, no parent would think or speak of their child as an it. 6- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Yes it was a good read & i'm glad i read it, it certainly made me think about how i would want to spend my time if i knew i only had a few months left to live Do you think the events of the novel are believable? Do you think the behavior of the characters in the novel is believable? Why or why not? Thinking about it i don't believe that people would be so accepting of their fate, i'm quite sure they'd be demanding that the government provide them with nuclear bunkers & supplies as you can be quite sure that the high ups would have their own bunkers well fitted out in case of a nuclear war. I don't think people would have been so well behaved, many more would have cracked under the pressure. What is the significance of work in the characters' lives? I suppose it kept their minds off dying & brought a feeling of normality & stability to them. How has the definition of sanity changed in the aftermath of the nuclear war? Everyone behaved as though life was going to go on as normal & still planned for the future. I suppose it was easier to do that than think that death was imminent & stopped them from just giving up.

Hi Frankie Yes your right i have a good reading year so far, more goods than duds Cousin Phillis was a big disappointment, it was such a nice book as well, with lovely illustrations but unfortunately not worth keeping so i passed it on to my sister who did enjoy it, so at least someone got some pleasure from it I was really pleased to find Purge & quite a few books for the Counties Challenge as well, Bluestockings i also got from Ruth's reading log, she always seems to read books that i know i wouldn't normally come across or think to buy without reading a review on them. Good to hear you rate Ira Levin as well

I really enjoyed it Anna but of course everyone has different tastes so maybe it's just not your sort of book I finished Life After Life Kate Atkinson last night, i'm still waiting for On The Beach to turn up so decided to make a start on A Very Long Engagement Sebastien Japrisot for next months reading circle.

Shame about the photo's , it's quite scary & sad to think that they would have to have rules to prevent the prisoners using books as weapons. I read a book awhile back that Ruth recommended Dead Man Walking Sister Helen Prejean, it's about a catholic nun who becomes involved with prisoners on death row & how it affects her. It was really interesting & it certainly gives you food for thought.

Athena - i've not read any Karin Slaughter books myself but my eldest daughter likes them, a bit gory for me i think The Library of Unrequited Love sounds more like my sort of thing & it is a lovely cover. By the way when i was in the charity shop the other day i saw A Babysitter's Club book & thought of you as i remembered that you enjoy them

Frankie you've just reminded me that i haven't even finished adding all the books on my TBR list to my reading log I'm really impressed that you've managed to keep a record of which year you've bought your books in & i think it's a good idea to list them in that way. Like you i've got books behind books & books in boxes under beds so i do tend to choose my next read from the books i can see which is a shame as i know i have some great books hidden away

I'd never even heard of Banville, Julie, till Pontalba recommended him but i'm really glad i read The Sea it was such a good book & i'll be looking out for more of his stuff to add to my TBR pile Thanks Athena, i hope you enjoy it as much as i did I get a lot of my books from recommendations from other people, somehow even though i forget things like people's names i always remember if someone recommends a certain book or an author

Good to hear you both enjoyed Mrs Dalloway, i shall read that first before i give any of her other books a try

Great review of The Color Purple, i'd highly recommend the movie but make sure you have a box of tissues handy - Oprah Winfrey is very good in it

I bought The 5th Wave for one of my boys for Christmas, he hasn't got round to reading it but i intend to read it myself at some point as it does sound like a really good read