chaliepud

I'll definitely look out for that version poppy, it'll be interesting to see it on screen after loving the book. Hope it's not too scary, I'm a bit of a wuss!! Oh she sounds perfect for it Michelle, I hope it's a great read/listen for you.

There's a dog???

Thanks poppy, what a shame you had seen an adaptation first, though apparently the 'twist' is different, were you surprised by the book when it happened? I will certainly look out for a film or two and have added My Cousin Rachel to my wish list! :)

Thanks Julie, Rebecca was indeed wonderful, I'm so happy it's now on my read shelf! Do try My Sister Lives in the Mantlepiece, it's an intriguing read.. The sign of a very well written book methinks! Ooh, have a look a Michelle, who is reading it? Bree, I'm sure you'd love it! I haven't read any other Mary Hooper books as yet but I'll definitely keep my eye out for the ones you mentioned.. Jamaica Inn? I have seen that mentioned on here, I'll go look it up now! Thanks Julie

Happy reading Paula!

Miranda! Such fun!!

Or sea!

Maybe you should advertise for a lighthouse keeper...

Me too, Tom was such a wonderful man (character!)

I'll pop it on my wish list Janet as I trust your choice of books (I liked Tess too, just don't tell frankie..) Did I see a film of Stardust years ago?

I'm glad you loved The Light Between Oceans too Sofia, it was heart wrenching stuff wasn't it?

Ah, I don't have that one, only have American Gods and I'm not buying anything new remember! Kylie, will you get a chance to chat with Neil do you think? Or at least ask questions?

Very exciting Kylie! Maybe I should actually read one of his books in honour of you meeting him!

Me too, but I'm reading cautiously when I do as I'm trying so so hard not to buy any more books!

You said that so much better than I did Janet! Great review, I really enjoyed it too!

We had a chicken roast dinner as we didn't have time yesterday due to badminton competitions.

5. My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece - Annabel Pitcher (January 11th) 4/5 Amazon synopsis Ten-year-old Jamie Matthews has just moved to the Lake District with his Dad and his teenage sister, Jasmine for a 'Fresh New Start'. Five years ago his sister's twin, Rose, was blown up by a terrorist bomb. His parents are wrecked by their grief, Jasmine turns to piercing, pink hair and stops eating. The family falls apart. But Jamie hasn't cried in all that time. To him Rose is just a distant memory. Jamie is far more interested in his cat, Roger, his birthday Spiderman T-shirt, and in keeping his new friend Sunya a secret from his dad. And in his deep longing and unshakeable belief that his Mum will come back to the family she walked out on months ago. When he sees a TV advert for a talent show, he feels certain that this will change everything and bring them all back together once and for all. Not a cheerful book by any stretch but a book that demands your attention. Within it there is family grief, with the family unit slowly imploding, abandonment, alcoholism, bullying, racism, and so much more, all seen from the viewpoint of a very stoic 10 year old who is struggling to come to terms with how his life has turned out, with the help of sister Jas who is herself fighting to keep everything together and his beloved cat Roger. This is one I will definitely be encouraging my children to read if only to show how siblings can support one another!

4. Talking Pictures - Ransom Riggs (January 10th) 4/5 Amazon synopsis Growing up in South Florida - the land of junk stores, garage sales and big-tent flea markets - Ransom Riggs collected pictures of people he didn't know. Searching through endless dusty aisles of old stuffed animals, mismatched dishes, and needlepoint portraits, Riggs would find boxes of yellowing snapshots, discarded by old folks who had died or children who hadn't seen fit to save them. As hundreds of unknown faces from unknown locals stared back at him, Riggs found himself searching a particular kind of photograph - those with writing on the back or sides. "Talking Pictures" is a stunning collection of found images from the past-men, women, and children pulled from obscurity, posing for unknown cameraman. Yet, upon closer inspection, each image reveals something greater - an inscription that has the ability to open up a new world. In "Talking Pictures" Riggs shows us how a few scribbled lines can turn a blurry black-and-white snapshot of people who seem a million miles and a million years away into an intensely personal sliver of experience that anyone can relate to. Grouped into categories like Love and Marriage, Road Trip, Clowning Around, and The Dead, the images reveal secrets, express pain and longing, and capture moments of honesty like no other medium. With a single phrase, each haunting image becomes something not just to look at, but to listen to. A fascinating book ideal for the coffee table. Full of old photographs and divided into sections including Love and Marriage, Times of Trouble and Life During Wartime, the photographs have only one thing in common, the people in the photos are unknown and they all have inscriptions of some kind. They range from fun and happy to desperately sad but all of them are so interesting and take you back to another time. Anyone who buys this on the strength of the photos in Riggs previous book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, may be a little disappointed as these photos are a lot more mainstream, of regular members of the public, but they are fascinating in their own right.

2. Petals in the Ashes - Mary Hooper (January 4th) 4/5 Amazon synopsis I could barely explain how much I wanted to go back to London, for I hardly understood myself. I'd hated the stinking city when we'd left, could hardly bear to think on its name, but now the plague had disappeared from the streets the people would be back, the theatres and shops would be open and we would find everything as cheery as it had been before. Hannah returns to her beloved London to re-open the sweetmeats shop with younger sister Anne. Londoners are reeling from the plague epidemic of the previous year, but Hannah and Anne are keen to start enjoying everything the bustling city has to offer. But this is 1666, and it has been prophesised that terrible things will happen, and on Pudding Lane, flames are raging through the bakery...Mary Hooper evokes with complete mastery the sights, sounds and terror of a London gripped by the ferocious and terrible Fire of London, engulfing everything in its path. This was a worthy sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum but even more dramatic and certainly more nerve wracking. It took me into the heart of the Great Fire of London and I could feel the heat as Hannah was desperately trying to escape the fire, find her sister and her new sweetheart. Written in a style suitable for young adults or adults and by turns exciting and informative. 3. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (January 9th) 5/5 Amazon synopsis Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . . Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life begins to look very bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding Mrs Danvers . . . Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity. I cannot believe I had this on my TBR shelf so long before reading! I'm so glad I listened to members on here and set to reading it early in the new year.. Within a page or two I was hooked, it was a brilliant idea on Du Maurier's part to give a glimpse of the ending in the first chapter to intrigue the reader, I spent the first third of the book convinced I knew what was going on and how it would end but it turned out I knew nothing! There were a couple of glorious twists that caused a sharp intake of breath on my part and actually shocked me deeply but moved the story forward on a completely different tangent. Her writing is sublime, so so descriptive yet never dull and tremendously insightful.. Some of my favourite writings were in Rebecca's observations of people, particularly of the elderly grandmother, and of the immediate world around her, Du Maurier has the uncanny knack of putting the reader in the characters places and making them sympathise and empathise with them even when on reflection said characters were actually the ones who didn't necessarily deserve it. If I wasn't dedicated to reducing my TBR pile I would have already bought more of her books (I came close!) I my consider downloading one to my kobo when I have read a couple more that I have on there but I think they may be books that I would prefer to read as tree book so I can keep to read again in the future.

Kindles cannot be used to download library books in the UK as yet, I can with the kobo but there don't seem to be very many recent/good books on there and it isn't easy to navigate.. I should keep trying though as they say they're adding new books all the time.. One of the reasons I went for it is because I am not particularly interested in keeping all the books I read or creating a library, I generally just pass the books onto family or friends. I only keep books that I have loved, which in turn I lend to family or good friends. So there isn't really a need for me to only buy tree books...

Which of his other books have you liked? I haven't bought A Possible Life yet and am wondering whether to do so as like you I have been disappointed by some..

i generally use the 100 page rule but I adapt it according to the size of a book. Occasionally though I just know when I am not going to like a book, last year it was The Slap as the language put me off almost immediately...

Thanks Ooshie, I've added this to my wish list.

My daughter (age 11) is a huge fan of stroopwafels, they do pre packaged ones at our local coffee shop.. I'm eating twiglets while I cook dinner and resisting temptation to dip them in soft cheese!

Happy Birthday Reuben!! Have some doggy !!!!! He's looking great BB, he has a perfect physique, unlike a lot of the Labs you see nowadays.