Charm and Voddy's Easter Book Haul List

[vodkafan]

Hi all,

This is a bagful of books Charmer and I got from all the Charity shops in Rugby. As we had fun choosing these together we thought it might be an idea to work through the lot together but somehow wanted to keep them from just disappearing into our normal TBR piles . So with Michelle's permission we are going to review them here. Sort of like a his'n hers review.

Feel free to comment on what we write of course.

Here is the list:

Dark Legend Christine Feehan

The Naked Civil Servant Quentin Crisp

Resistance Anita Shreve

The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman

The Good Thief Hannah Tinti

Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit Bruce Thomas

Velocity Dean Koontz

Fasting ,Feasting Anita Desai

My Lovers Lover Maggie O ‘ Farrell

The Hungry Ghosts Anne Berry

Misbehaving Sarah Harvey

The Shadow Of The Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A short History Of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson

Blood Of The Flood Terry Goodkind

The Woman In Black Susan Hill

I Choose To Live Sabine Dardenne

Accidents In The Home Tessa Hadley

Outcast Child Kitty Neale

Star Of The Sea Joseph O’ Connor

Seize The Night Dean Koontz

A Moment Of Silence Miss Anna Dean

Eragon Christopher Paolini

The Wench Is Dead Colin Dexter

Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt

The Venus Fix M J Rose

King Of The World David Remnick

The Gathering Anne Enright

[vodkafan]

A Moment Of Silence (or, The Observations of Miss Dido Kent)

 

By Miss Anna Dean

 

I picked this one to read first to pull me out of the black hole of despair my mojo was in after Catcher In The Rye. It worked a treat. This one is set in 1805 so I expected something a bit Austenesque. A spinster Aunt Dido has been called to attend her niece who's fiance has suddenly disappeared after a mysterious stranger turned up at the engagement ball. She no sooner gets to the large country house where her niece is staying when the body of a woman is found in the shrubbery. An inquest fails to even find out the identity of the victim.

Aunt Dido feels that the two events may be connected and partly for her niece's sake and partly to satisfy her own curiosity she begins to investigate and soon finds that everybody in the great house seems to have something to hide.

So this is something of a cross between an Agatha Christie and a Jane Austen novel, with parts of the story told in the form of letters from Dido to her sister, which is a quite Austenesque plot device.

I think the author was trying for some gentle humour and romance (like the Amelia Peabody series perhaps) but that did not really work for me, However the plot moves along at a nice enough pace. I guessed the twist towards the end and the murderer also had been a suspect for me all along so no big surprises at the end .

[poppyshake]

Ooh you've merged ... and when you two go shopping .. you go shopping So, are you reading them in the same order? Quite a few there on my TBR also ... look forward to hearing both your thoughts on them. I wonder if you'll like and dislike the same books Do you share the same tastes in general? (in books I mean ) .. just shut me up if I become too nosey .. I will most probably so just virtually shove me out of the thread and close the door if it get's too much.

 

Happy Reading .. and everything else

 

I've just realised you can't read them in the same order as you only have the one book .. please keep a look out for my brain when you're on your travels .. must have left it in a teashop somewhere

 

So I had another thought (and it's only Tuesday ) .. if one of you reads a book from the list and doesn't like it, is it likely to influence the other not to read it or are you both determined to read through them all?

Edited April 10, 2012 by poppyshake

[vodkafan]

Hi Poppy we intend to read them all. Some I have either already read or I have on my kindle to read. But I don't think Charmer has read any of them before.

[charmer]

Hi to all, Ive just finished (Misbehaving by Sarah Harvey) .Its a love story of sorts ,but its hilarious,rather than romanticised..

Its about a young woman named Alex who's boyfriend cheats on her .Her friends work out a plan to treat men as they treat women ,with many twists and turns along the way .I laughed out loud while reading this novel .I dare you to read without laughing .

[vodkafan]

.I laughed out loud while reading this novel .I dare you to read without laughing .

 

I can vouch that she was laughing out loud when reading.

[~Andrea~]

Ah - I've just put two and two together

 

Have fun reviewing your books you two

 

Happy Reading .. and everything else

 

Yea what she said!!!

[Easy Reader]

I somehow missed the big announcement I hope you are very happy together

 

as for what order you read your books in I think you should line them up and both start at opposite ends and meet in the middle a bit like lady and a tramp with the spaghetti

[poppyshake]

... as for what order you read your books in I think you should line them up and both start at opposite ends and meet in the middle a bit like lady and a tramp with the spaghetti

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[vodkafan]

I read Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit by Bruce Thomas. I have always liked Bruce Lee and had a lot of books and magazines about him when I was a kid. This biography (by a well known musician) told me a few things I didn't know and painted a more realistic picture of him as a human being . For instance his bad temper, his pride and impatience. Also I knew that he had studied philosophy at university but I did not know that he was in fact a terrible student and did not graduate; he was too single minded about his kung fu.

The book casts some light on the infamous official autopsy report that said he was killed by an aspirin, including some statements by his doctors.

All in all this book was interesting and quite balanced in my opinion.