bobblybear

Oh, I hope you can get into IT this time around. It's my second favorite King book.

I finished Timebomb last night. It was alright. I've just bought two Kindle books from Amazon's Daily Deal: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. I've had them both on my wishlist for quite a while, so I was very happy to see them there! Last night I started The Emergence of Judy Taylor by Angela Jackson. I wouldn't have thought it was my kind of book but I did have to force myself to put it down and go to bed. Anyone else read it?

Two really good Daily Deals on Amazon UK (£0.99 each): The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore

It takes me a lot longer compared to those times. A lot of it depends on the book; some are an easier read than others.

^ The gloves are off! Well, as long as that horrible Frannie doesn't get to keep him!

Stu Redman from The Stand.

I've read Fall of Giants, but it's so long ago that I have forgotten most of it. I remember there was too much 'war' in there for my liking, but don't remember much else.

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland The story is told through the eyes of "a camelot, a peddler, a hawker of hopes and crossed fingers" who simply calls himself Camelot. He is in the business of selling religious trinkets and artefacts, and is always on the move, making his way through the small villages of England. The timeframe is at the dawn of the plague, and news is slowly filtering inland about the disease spreading from the sea ports. Although Camelot prefers to travel alone, he finds himself slowly and reluctantly accruing a band of fellow travelers, each with a story to tell and a secret to hide. Among their group is a young child – a reader of runes – who has a dark and seemingly paranormal side to her. Over a short space of time, they grow to a band of nine, as foretold by the rune reader, and they make their way across England in an attempt to outrun the plague. On the whole I enjoyed it though it didn't hold my interest constantly throughout the book. There were some very good parts followed by sections that were a bit slower and more ordinary. There is a slight bit of the supernatural in the story which I wasn’t that keen on and the story would have probably been better (and more realistic) without this, but that is just my preference. There was a twist at the end, but enough clues had been given before, so it was not much of a surprise, though it does change the story a bit when you think back on it with this new bit of information. Recommended if you enjoy historical fiction; it's also not as long a book as some historical novels tend to be. 4/6

Mr China - Tim Clissold In the late 90’s China seemed like the ideal place for foreign businesses to invest, so a glut of US firms started looking to invest money, in the hopes of reaping plentiful rewards. The author was involved in quite a few of these investments and details his experiences about the difficulties dealing with Chinese officials and their particular idiosyncracies. Some of the areas covered were the odd foods being served (though the author was nonplussed by it, given that he had lived in China for quite a while), the corruption within the businesses and banks, especially at the top levels. There was also the impossibility of getting rid of a factory director (he just wouldn’t leave the premises and was giving conflicting orders to workers, contradicting the new factory director), which was somewhat amusing but also shocking. There were many instances of fraud and corruption, where the invested money was stolen and used for other side-businesses by factory owners or managers. There was also the irony of the Anti-Corruption Bureau asking the author for a car and working capital in order to investigate one of the many cases of fraud. I don't know much about China, and I can't really remember why I bought it (I get swayed easily, I think). Many Amazon reviewers say that the author's experiences are authentic, which make it all the more interesting to read. I enjoyed it, and it is a bit of an eye-opener to read about experiences that are so different from our Western ones. 4/6

Just had a scone with clotted cream and homemade blackberry jam. Well, actually I had two scones. And I put so much cream and jam on them that I feel sick.

1.43pm in the UK. Just about to go out for a walk with the doggie.

Thanks, Devi!

Thanks! Enjoying Time Bomb so far.

Got the books from the Hodderscape competition I won: I just need to finish my current book, then I'm going to get started on Time Bomb.

^ That's an odd cover, but I really like it. It's the kind of cover I'd imagine on a Neil Gaiman book.

I'd probably say I slightly prefer third person, but it's not a clear preference.....that is, I'm not put off reading a book in the first person.

I've read the first Tom Reynolds book and really enjoyed it. Hope you like them when you read them.

Desperately needing some fiction to balance out the non-fiction, so I've started After Tomorrow by Gillian Cross. It's good, but I can't remember buying it or who recommended it. I'm assuming I read positive reviews on here.

I haven't read Lightning, so I've added it to my wishlist. I do find Koontz more 'miss' than 'hit', and the only one of his that I really enjoyed was Watchers. Always willing to give him another go, though.

Brilliant - have just bought this!

Oooh, interesting, I've added it to my wishlist.

I have this issue sometimes with my touchscreen phone, so I guess it is reasonably common. Sometimes it's due to me not touching it properly (ie. accidentally dragging my finger slightly instead of tapping).

Oh, that looks absolutely divine! I might try making a cheesecake this weekend. Then again, I'm hoping the blackberries will be ripe because I want to try my hand at Apple and Blackberry Crumble. I don't do much baking, so I lack the confidence. I don't mind at all! Good luck for your cheesecake - I hope it turns out well!

At last count I have 279, most of which are Kindle books. It's only the Kindle books that I have classified by year, because I went through all my Amazon orders when I was creating my Book thread at the start of the year. All the others are lumped into a pre-2012 category. I like reading non-fiction, but find it much harder work than fiction, which is why most of the remaining unread books are non-fiction (they have kind of just been left till last ). Most of them are science-related, but there are a fair few economics and history ones as well.

Oh, cheesecake is lush!! I've tried making it once, and it was disaster....only because I didn't know how to zest limes and lemons. I ended up grating the whole thing (even the write stuff), and it was so bitter that it all ended up in the bin.