Kidsmum

Very true Julie & at least i'll be in good company when i reach the bottom Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than lare when i get round to reading it It really is a good read Noll i don't feel i did it justice with my review. I find it much easier to tell people what i liked about a book than to write it down Oh yes.... now i remember I must be getting forgetful in my old age

Less than 200 pages to go in The Line Of Beauty so hoping to finish it over the weekend

Great Deal ...... & two days delivery is pretty good

The Odd Women sounds right up my street, i love books set in Victorian times & so i went on to Amazon to check it out & it has the exact same cover as my copy of The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett. I've never seen that before two different books with the same cover...... Anyway it's gone on my wishlist

I like the the idea of the Reading Bingo Julie, it's a good way of making sure you read all different kinds of books

Great review of Sword Song Steve...... i already have Lords Of the North so i guess i'll just have to add this to my wishlist

The Rector's Daughter F.M. Major arrived this morning from Amazon Marketplace, i've had this on my wishlist since Janet reviewed it on her thread so when i saw this seconhand copy i couldn't resist popping it in the basket. Help.....I'm on the slippery slope of indulgence

I hope you enjoy it Marie, i'd been wanting to read the book since i went to hear Jo Baker talk about it last year at the Morley Literature Festival, she is of course a big fan of Jane Austen & i think that comes across in her writing It was a really good read Julie & yes i agree behind the scenes is fascinating & i love Downton Abbey. One of the things i got from the book was how much harder life was then without modern appliances, i sometimes feel like a maid of all work as i spend a lot of time cleaning up after my own family but goodness me how much easier those jobs are when you've got a washing machine , vacuum cleaner & something as simple as a pair of rubber gloves to protect your hands Thanks Ruth, did you get the paperback or the hardback copy? The copy i have is hardback & although it's quite nice, kind of red & velvety i actually prefer the paperback cover

That's a great deal for 12 years a Slave, Anna, will be interested to hear what you think of it. I'm hoping to go see the movie soon everyone seems to be raving about it

Great review Bobbly, i shall have to get my copy down & read it

Longbourn Jo Baker 'If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats,' Sarah thought, 'she would be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields.' It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and raw. Domestic life below stairs, ruled with a tender heart and an iron will by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman, bearing secrets and the scent of the sea. Having read & loved Pride & Predjudice i was really looking forward to reading Jo Baker's debut novel, not so much a retelling of the original story but life in the Bennett household from the servants perspective. I think it's quite a brave thing to do to re work a classic book especially one as popular as P&P but this was a wonderful read. In Jo Baker's story the servants take the centre stage & the Bennett girls lives are merely background, we find out how hard the servants had to work as the Bennetts were not a very affluent household so they had fewer servants to share the workload than their wealthier neighbours & the housemaids especially were kept busy from dawn to dusk, the Bennett girls of course are oblivious to how much extra work they create for the servants & you get a real sense of how very different their lives are even though they share the same house. The housemaids Sarah & Polly though of a similar age to the Bennett girls don't have a social life & new clothes to concern themselves with, there life is one of toil & each day is the same so when a new footman with a shadowy history joins the household, Sarah especially is keen to find out all about his secret past. Well written with great characters & a few interesting twists, some that worked better than others i thoroughly enjoyed the story my only criticism would be that the ending was too drawn out but even with that it gets a solid 5/6

I think Stoner definitely has to go on the wishlist

Not sure where to post this but for anyone who's interested in Anthony Trollope there's a programme about his life on Radio 4 at 11.30am this Thursday & then on Sunday at 3.00pm there is a dramatisation of The Warden, the first novel in The Barchester Chronicles.

Lovely cover of Never Ending Story , like you i've only seen the movie but i'm tempted to add the book to my wishlist just for the cover alone

I like the sound of Three Brave Women, Laura, sounds like the books were treats to make up for having to do a boring job

I bought a couple of books today from the charity shop The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Alan Bradley Gone Michael Grant They're not for me though they're for one of my girls who is a big reader as well........ honest

Thanks I don't think the violence would be a problem for my youngest he likes a bit of action Good to hear look forward to hearing your thoughts on it I'll be interested to hear what you make of this as it's one of the few of his i don't have.....yet Still reading The Line Of Beauty, i'm 200 pages into it but will save my thoughts on it for the reading circle.

Another Amazon Wishlist user, i often add books while i'm listening to radio 4 book programmes on iplayer it's just so easy. Now that i've started using the library more i usually check out wether they have some of my wishlist books in their catalogue & only actually buy the ones i know i'm going to want to keep.

That's interesting Ruth i shall look out for the film i'd like to see how it compares to the book. I agree she's definitely an author who seems to have been overlooked, i can't remember where i'd heard of her it might have been on the forum but i'm not sure Thanks that's interesting reading Hilary Mantel. Sarah Waters & Anne Tyler are all fans of her books. No i don't think so, they'd probably have been a lot more well known though I agree books that are sometimes described as laugh out loud funny seldom are but i think Carr's wit is very clever, not so in your face as other books. I'm looking forward to the Sarah Dunant - it's always nice to find a new author to explore. Far From The Madding Crowd was my first Hardy & is one of my favourites but The Woodlanders has a special place in my heart, i don't like Tess Of The d'Urbevilles though The Barchester Chronicles were my first Trollope's as well, i think i was probably in my teens or early twenties when i read them when my older sister gave them to me. I have The Palliser Novels on my TBR pile as well so with my new Trollopes i could probably start my own book challenge

I've started it Janet so you wont be on your own We watched it & although i liked Ray Winstone it wasn't that great so you didn't miss much I've added this to my wishlist...... luckily my library has a copy Agreed..... i thought the first part was the best of the two Hi Eleonora, i hope you are well Good to hear ..... do you think it would be too old for a child? I thought i'd try reading it too my youngest two who are 9 & 7 I shall post a review soon i promise I'm feel the same when it's cold out i just want to stay indoors where it's nice & warm I ditched the Dorothy Koomson book, i usually prefer to stick with my book group reads so i can at least say why i didn' t like it but couldn't even make it to 50 pages with this one. So i've made a start on The Line Of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst for next months reading circle & am about 100 pages in

I hope you enjoy it Claire, the fact that it was written in journal form made it easy to pick up & put down so it would make a good book for a train or bus journey I think that would be one of the things that would tempt me to buy a Kindle, all those classic books for free thank you Ruth

Hi Willoyd - i picked up a copy of Sacred Hearts Sarah Dunant this morning in the charity shop, i've just been back to look at your review & pleased to see it was one of your favourite books of the year

Thanks Pixie, i was really pleased with my finds I loved The Barchester Chronicles but i always think of The Warden as more of an introduction to the characters, the rest of the books are much stronger IMO Good idea to get them on Kindle though, am i right in thinking that all the classics are free?

I just listened to The Bookclub interview with Donna Tartt talking about The Secret History well worth a listen if you can get Radio 4.

Well i hope you both enjoy it as much as i did I finished Longbourn Jo Baker last night it was such a good read but i shall put together a review on it soon. This morning i started my bookgroup read The Rose Petal Beach Dorothy Koomson, i'm not very far into it but already i can't wait to get to the end so i can start something else