Jump to content

Diane's Reading List 2015


Inver

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 83
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • 4 weeks later...

'Instructions for a Heatwave' by Maggie O'Farrell

 

I have enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell reads in the past but I think this was my least favourite. Given that subject was about 'finding' Robert who had gone missing, for me it took far too long to get the point of it all. I didn't find the characters overly compelling either I'm afraid. I had higher hopes for this book I'm afraid.

 

2/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'The Language of Flowers' by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

 

Amazing how you can read a book quickly when you are really enjoying it. I loved this read. A new author for me and I hope her next is as good.

 

Victoria, our protagonist, has had a difficult life, in and out of foster care. In time Elizabeth takes her in and slowly Victoria begins to trust her and she teaches Victoria all about flowers and their meanings. Victoria slowly learns that she enjoys learning about flowers. With the hope of Elizabeth adopting her, life is looking better, but events turn against her.

 

Once again she is on her own and takes refuge sleeping in the public park. Flowers still very much part of her life and she starts to plant a small garden of her own. Eventually her talent is spotted by a local florist and she discovers that she has a gift choosing the right flowers for others. She has a chance meeting with a vendor at the flower market and they form a distant relationship. In time she has to face up to her past and how to try and put things right, but again circumstances get in her way....can she get a second chance?

 

A beautifully written debut novel and I loved how well researched it was for the 'language of flowers'. I so wanted it have a good ending and I think Vanessa Diffenbaugh delivered.

 

5/5 (recommend)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'Instructions for a Heatwave' by Maggie O'Farrell

 

I have enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell reads in the past but I think this was my least favourite. Given that subject was about 'finding' Robert who had gone missing, for me it took far too long to get the point of it all. I didn't find the characters overly compelling either I'm afraid. I had higher hopes for this book I'm afraid.

 

2/5

I found this a let-down too, Diane.  I loved The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and I enjoyed After You'd Gone (although it's a long time since I read it so I can't remember what it was about!) but this just didn't do it for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'The Language of Flowers' by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

 

Amazing how you can read a book quickly when you are really enjoying it. I loved this read. A new author for me and I hope her next is as good.

 

Victoria, our protagonist, has had a difficult life, in and out of foster care. In time Elizabeth takes her in and slowly Victoria begins to trust her and she teaches Victoria all about flowers and their meanings. Victoria slowly learns that she enjoys learning about flowers. With the hope of Elizabeth adopting her, life is looking better, but events turn against her.

 

Once again she is on her own and takes refuge sleeping in the public park. Flowers still very much part of her life and she starts to plant a small garden of her own. Eventually her talent is spotted by a local florist and she discovers that she has a gift choosing the right flowers for others. She has a chance meeting with a vendor at the flower market and they form a distant relationship. In time she has to face up to her past and how to try and put things right, but again circumstances get in her way....can she get a second chance?

 

A beautifully written debut novel and I loved how well researched it was for the 'language of flowers'. I so wanted it have a good ending and I think Vanessa Diffenbaugh delivered.

 

5/5 (recommend)

So happy you liked it, as you know it is one of my favourite books. We Never Asked For Wings is out on the 10th September and I will be buying and starting it on that date! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have The Language Of Flowers on my TBR kindle list, so I am delighted you recommend it so highly.  :smile:

Oh Chrissy move it up your TBR list. I'm positive you will really enjoy it... :yes:

 

I found this a let-down too, Diane.  I loved The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, and I enjoyed After You'd Gone (although it's a long time since I read it so I can't remember what it was about!) but this just didn't do it for me.

I thought I was being a bit unkind Janet, so I am glad I'm not alone in what I thought. I couldn't just put my finger on what it was I didn't like. Possibly just getting to the point of the whole story just seemed to take too long. (Robert, the dad goes missing is basically what it is all about, apparently).

 

So happy you liked it, as you know it is one of my favourite books. We Never Asked For Wings is out on the 10th September and I will be buying and starting it on that date! :)

Well obviously if you recommended it Hayley I was going to like it wasn't I... :haha:  Oh and thanks for the heads up on a new one....must go see what it is all about. :yes: 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

'The Lost Daughter' by Diane Chamberlain (or The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes)

 

Another one ticked off the list. I quite liked this, but felt it maybe didn't need to be such a long read. No favourite character, although I wanted to side with the main character and what she was trying to achieve, given the criminal act she performed with all good intentions, I couldn't. CeeCee made a difficult decision and knew she had to live with it for the rest of her life, until Tim Gleason is going to be facing the death penalty. She brought up the missing daughter of Genevieve Russell after she died. She has to come forth and tell the truth and confess all to the family about the life she made for herself but was living a lie. Decisions she made at 16 have come back to haunt her and she has to put things right.

 

3.5/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'The Time Keeper' by Mitch Albom

 

As always Mitch Albom produces a thought provoking read. I found this a bit slow to start and wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. However the second half of the book made it worth finishing. Father Tim, Dor is banished for trying to measure time, it skimmed around the edges, but Dor is given a chance to redeem himself and help two others Sarah, a teenager with her whole life ahead of her, but can't see a way to go on. Viktor, coming to the end of his but wants to prolong it by freezing his time so he can live forever. Dor brings them together and shows them their lost ways....amends are made, for them and him.

 

'Time'....make sure you appreciate all that you are given. It really makes you think about time and how dependant we are on using it preciously or letting it fritter away.

 

'Dor: There is a reason why God limits our days.
Viktor: Why?
Dor: To make each one precious.'

 

3/5

 

(Hoorah...half way through reading challenge)

 

Edited by Inver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking of reading this one as my next Diane Chamberlain to read somewhere this month. I'm glad you liked it. As far as I know, this was one of the first books she wrote. I look forward to reading it.

2006 it says Athena...so not that old. I hope you enjoy it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

'Over You' by Lucy Diamond

 

Easy read....not overly taxing but enjoyable enough. Josie, Nell and Lisa have been friends for years. Five years on and Josie is married to Pete and have twin boys. Life seems good. She has a weekend away with her friends and she discovers a truth that will change her life into being a single mum. She has to comes to terms with a double betrayal and has to rebuild her everyday life.

 

This trundles along quite predictably but enough to want to know what her decision in the end will be. I think she made the right one.

 

3.5/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'One Moment, One Morning' by Sarah Rayner

 

This book has had mixed reviews but I have to say I liked it. This is another new author for me. It is not a happy book by any means as the story revolves around 'One moment, one morning' as the title suggests. One moment in time that changes the future for 3 woman connected by an event on the 07.44 train Brighton to London.

 

It is sad, dealing with real life grief, friendships, relationships, alcoholism. It takes place over one week. Karen's life will change for ever. Her friend Anna, will be there for her but also realises her relationship with Steve will have to change. Lou, who happens to be on the train that fateful morning, will end up being part of their lives. They are all brought together by this 'one moment'. I thought it was well written and dealt with a sad event in a sensitive manner. The characters could be any one of us and our friends, likeable and real. When times are rough we find out who our true friends are.

 

 

4/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

'The Seafront Tea Rooms' by Vanessa Greene

 

I seem to attracted to books with tea cups and tea rooms in the title these days. Having read the 'The Vintage Teacup Club' last year, Hayley sent me this one as she thought I would like it too.

 

Another easy, cosy 'to be read sipping tea and eating cake type of book'. Based in Scarborough, The Seafront Tea Rooms is the link that brings our three characters together. Run my Letty,  set in the quieter part of the town and enjoyed by her regular customers looking for the perfect cuppa and cake. She has a past that comes to light near the end of the book that was a bit of a little twist.

 

Kat, a single mother to Leo,  who likes to find refuge at 'Seafront' when she needs a pick me up. Charlie, journalist, wants to find the best tea rooms in Britain for an article she is writing for the magazine she works for. Seraphine, an au pair, comes to Scarborough to improve on her English but teach French to the daughter of a family friend. She is also has a passion for pastry making.

 

Charlie comes to visit her sister when a family crisis looms and she ends up staying for a while. She meets the other two in the tea rooms and convinces them to join her in trying out local tea rooms for her research. Their lives intermingle and friendships grow as do relationships with Euan, Letty's son and Adam and his daughter Zoe.

 

Friendships, relationships, romance and some tea and cake makes for a lighthearted read and comes together nicely at the end, if a wee bit predictable. A similar sort of theme to 'The Vintage Tea Cup Club'.

 

3/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

'Testimony' by Anita Shreve

 

Not one of the best books I have read this year. I did find the way it was written, with so many characters to keep track of and remember I found this quite distracting at times.. Having said that it was an ingtriguing read, although nearly giving up on it I found I had to reach the conclusion, but even that came to a bit of an anti-climax. I expected a bit of a twist somehow.

 

A 'sex scandal' at school, is bad enough but for it to have been videoed and put online. This is the 'testimony' of everyone it affected. The opening chapter would not be for everyone, as I found it a little bit shocking, but it had to be to set the scene.

 

3/5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

'The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle' by Kirsty Wark

 

I loved this book. Well done Kirsty Wark on your debut novel. Arran is a place I have always wanted to visit and the descriptions make it even more enticing. A gentle read, with likeable characters. Spread over two different eras and the connection of a house, 'Holmlea', which Elizabeth Pringle leaves to a stranger, Anna Morrison, in her will. A story of memories and heartbreak. Martha now has to find out why this house has been left to her mother, Anna. Each chapter is quite short, with Elizabeth writing hers like a diary, of her life and first love on her beloved island. Martha travels between Arran and Glasgow/Edinburgh, with her mother suffering from dementia she takes on the unleashing of the mystery of the legacy on her mothers behalf. She falls in love with the house and its secrets.

 

There was slight twist to the tale towards the end, but it was dealt with in a delicate manner and brought a tear to my eye.

 

So glad I bought this book to dip in to....recommended.

 

5/5 (recommend)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...