Poppyshake's Reading Year 2015

[poppyshake]

Yes, I've read most of them since she was one of the featured authors on her a couple of years ago. I've still got Perfect Girl and The Curvy Girls Club to read, but they're in the jar waiting for me. She writes modern romcoms, although it's not really about girl searching for Mr. Right, but more often about girl realising she's somehow drifted or settled, and she searches for a better life with a bit of romance along the way.

I might check her out in the summer .. sound like perfect beach reads etc

 

My next jar pick .... 

 

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie

 

Staying with the murder mysteries then  

[chesilbeach]

The jar knows what's best!

[poppyshake]

The jar knows what's best!

I can't argue with that  Any day that isn't Carter Beats the Devil day is a good day Because what will I have to tease Al about otherwise? I know I'm going to have to eat humble pie and admit I love it and that I was a fool to put it off for so long    

[poppyshake]

I apologise for the random and haphazard nature of my reviewing .. I should by rights try and make them chronological but my mind refuses to organise itself   I'm so glad you don't have to eat fish on a Friday and all that malarkey anymore .. it'd be a nightmare!! 
Hopefully, as I link to the reviews anyway, it's not too confusing.
 

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Synopsis: Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?

Review: Laurent is a bookseller .. I love him already He's also a decent human being, so when he finds a handbag deposited on the top of a bin .. he doesn't just leave it for someone to take or for the binmen to throw in the back of the lorry .. no!! He realises it's probably been stolen and dumped and that whoever it belongs to is probably missing it, so he retrieves it and sets about trying to trace the owner. It's a lovely mauve bag with gold buckles (I can't imagine such a thing but each to his own ) There's no wallet or phone inside of course .. to a thief they're the valuable things but all the little personal items such as pebbles, photographs and hairgrips etc are all still there .. along with a red notebook.

In the meantime, Laure, who has had her handbag snatched, is in hospital. She fell and banged her head after tussling with the handbag snatcher and later slipped into a coma. The reader doesn't know much about Laure .. but like Laurent we have access to her red notebook where she has written her innermost thoughts .. the things she likes .. 'the smell of mint and basil' .. 'velvet' .. 'sleeping on trains' .. 'hearing "Mind the Gap" on the tube in London' (really? .. it both drives me up the wall and frightens me to death ) ... the things that frighten her .. 'red ants' .. 'time passing' .. 'the telephone ringing first thing in the morning' etc.

Initially Laurent takes the handbag to the police but is fobbed off and told to go to another department .. possibly on another day etc. He takes the bag home and starts sifting through Laure's things .. hesitantly at first but with increasing curiosity. He eats a couple of the licorice sweets, he sprays the perfume, he looks at the pictures. He reads the notebook and begins to feel a fascination amounting to attraction for the writer. This might be creepy in another person's hands .. indeed I think I've managed to make it sound creepy here but in fact it's not at all. It is gorgeously romantic The reader is willing him to be able to take these clues and form them into something that will lead him straight to Laure's hospital bedside. He has a bit of a stroppy, high maintenance, girlfriend who thoroughly deserves to be usurped by the owner of a mauve bag. What he needs in his life is a person who picks up pebbles as reminders of precious moments.

Absolutely delightful. It would have been read in one sitting had 2am not intervened and told me I'd better try and sleep. Before I even went downstairs to make toast the next morning I had finished it .. that is the highest accolade I can give it really. Hardly anything comes between me and toast .. and lives  I wanted to know more about what was in the notebook though .. she had a lot more of them at home in boxes and I wanted to go through them all   

Definitely MUST read The President's Hat by the same author. It was on my wishlist but inexplicably this one came home with me instead. Loved it! 

[frankie]

Hasn't she noticed the waterproof throw on the sofa?

Nope! She never goes in the living room unless she's putting washed clothes to dry, and I suppose she just hasn't taken a good look at the couch yet Our living room has become a drying room

 

No. Just put a cake before him and he notices nothing else. If I buy too many books then I always buy a cake .. perfect distraction technique

 

How clever is that! But hasn't he become aware of that. Or do you hide the books

I'm a bit scared of it already and I haven't even looked at the first page.  Kate was inspired by it so I like to think I will be too .. I don't think there's any possibility of me writing a hit song but perhaps I can carve some rainclouds into a piece of toast? 

 

Pictures, please! Maybe you will be inspired to make so many of them that people will hear about them (probably from the postie who's sniffing the toasties) and you'll be asked to make them into an art exhibit! Don't put Flora on them, the floor at the gallery will go all slippery and then the gallery will be sued for all its money from people getting broken pelvises. 

 

I hope and trust and believe that you will like them both. You will definitely love Murder Most Unladylike Actually, I've also seen it called Murder is Bad Manners   

Murder is bad manners, yes I would think so! 

 

Thank you.The cover is lovely .. but it's good old Vintage and so has a red spine  So many red spines .. and not enough pink .. the old story  

 

Should have known... I'm not the biggest fan of the red spines. Who chose the color, anyway. 

 Speak for yourself

 

 Somebody has to

 

My next jar pick .... 

 

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie

 

Staying with the murder mysteries then  

 

I can't believe it! How many books is that then, within that same genre?

 

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

 

This sounds really lovely I've reserved a copy from the library, hehe! 

Edited March 17, 2015 by frankie

[chesilbeach]

I hope and trust and believe that you will like them both. You will definitely love Murder Most Unladylike Actually, I've also seen it called Murder is Bad Manners   

I think that's the US title. Not sure if you saw in my book thread, but Robin Stevens has been signed up for another two books after the one due out in the summer, so that will be five books in total!

[poppyshake]

Nope! She never goes in the living room unless she's putting washed clothes to dry, and I suppose she just hasn't taken a good look at the couch yet. Our living room has become a drying room.

That's ideal .. you can chuck the throw over the airer now .. when it gets too damp D

How clever is that! But hasn't he become aware of that. Or do you hide the books.

It's hard to believe but, to him, one book looks very much like another  Distract him with cake and then file it on the shelf

Pictures, please! Maybe you will be inspired to make so many of them that people will hear about them (probably from the postie who's sniffing the toasties) and you'll be asked to make them into an art exhibit! Don't put Flora on them, the floor at the gallery will go all slippery and then the gallery will be sued for all its money from people getting broken pelvises.

I won't butter them .. I remember my spotty toast lost all definition once I'd buttered it Even so it will be very difficult for me not to just eat all the exhibits. I will have to be particularly careful at around 3pm which, as everyone knows, is munch time

Murder is bad manners, yes I would think so!

It's not very polite is it? .. not even if you ask first and say please and thank you

Should have known... I'm not the biggest fan of the red spines. Who chose the color, anyway.

Lord knows. I quite liked them until they began to dominate my bookshelves. I'm very impressed though .. my copy of Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress is published by Vintage .. and it has a nice white spine .. with a pair of little Chinese slippers at the top .. lovely .. what an improvement. Well chosen frankie xx

Somebody has to.

You do it so well too  

I can't believe it! How many books is that then, within that same genre?

It's only really 4 .. out of 14 but 3 of those have been Agatha! Okay I do have 14 Agatha books in the jar but there's at least 200 other books in there to choose from. I've been choosing a lot of murder mysteries myself though as well .. in between jar picks .. so it feels like I've read more. I've read about 14 murder mysteries this year which is high for me (gosh! 14 turns up a lot in that paragraph .. what can it mean? )

This sounds really lovely. I've reserved a copy from the library, hehe!

Yes .. it's fab! Hope you enjoy it

[poppyshake]

I think that's the US title. Not sure if you saw in my book thread, but Robin Stevens has been signed up for another two books after the one due out in the summer, so that will be five books in total!

Brilliant news  I'm so glad there's going to be more Wells & Wong!

[poppyshake]

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Synopsis: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.

Review: Vintage Christie. There were a lot of characters and I struggled at times to keep them all in my head. I think I've said before that .. in print .. I like and prefer Poirot to Marple so I was happy he was on the case. I like the way he works things out with charm and intelligence. Unusual outcome, I wasn't expecting it. I wonder if I'll ever guess the ending of an Agatha Christie novel correctly? One would hope that all this murder mystery reading will count for something at the end of the day but then, despite Delia, I still can't make a decent omelette so best not get my hopes up   

I had a slight problem with the ending ..

I know the victim was beneath contempt .. he'd done terrible things and hadn't atoned for them but I still don't think that all those people would have been capable of stabbing him. I might feel like I could kill someone who'd harmed or killed a loved one .. but could I do it when the time came? Actually some of the wounds were just mere scratches so I guess not all of them had the courage of their convictions. 

I loved the setting .. the Orient Express is so iconic and if you add snow and midnight into the bargain then it's practically perfect. Agatha's such an efficient writer .. she provides just the right amount of twists and turns without rambling or frustrating. It's all so neatly done. Liked it!

[poppyshake]

Jar Pick No. 15

 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck   

 

Oh man .. I'm in for it now. It's a 600 pager!! I shouldn't be worrying about that at this stage but why did I look?   

 

Okay .. deep breaths .. I got on well with Of Mice and Men .. much smaller book but I liked the writing style. This is an epic story .. hopefully I will get swept away in it. 

 

This is exactly what the jar is for .. I was avoiding it   

 

[poppyshake]

This is ALL The Book People's fault

[Karsa Orlong]

I thought East of Eden was very good.  I was kind of daunted by it and wasn't at all sure I could be bothered with it, but I raced through it in the end.  I hope you enjoy it 

[poppyshake]

I thought East of Eden was very good.  I was kind of daunted by it and wasn't at all sure I could be bothered with it, but I raced through it in the end.  I hope you enjoy it 

Thanks Steve .. that is encouraging .. like a pep talk before an important fight

[Inver]

I'm scared of long large reads....I never think I will read them quickly...would have to have something else on the go too, would def have to be a gripping read. Good luck with 600 pages...!

[poppyshake]

I'm scared of long large reads....I never think I will read them quickly...would have to have something else on the go too, would def have to be a gripping read. Good luck with 600 pages...!

Thanks Diane I'm frightened of them too .. feel that if they're a struggle then my mojo will go awol   I've glanced at the first page though and think it will be alright .. one can sort of tell I probably will pick up something else too .. just for a bit of respite though if the book gets gripping I won't need it. It's on the 1001 so that'll be another ticked off .. if I can get through it. I'm trying not to think negatively from the start .. though as you can see I'm failing already

[Athena]

I'm glad you liked Murder on the Orient Express . It was my first Agatha Christie book, I read it not that long ago and I really enjoyed it. Great reviews !

Edited March 18, 2015 by Athena

[poppyshake]

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester

Synopsis: The suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch but for broke Fleet Street tomboy Frankie George, just getting by in the cut-throat world of newspapers is hard enough. Sent to interview trapeze artist Ebony Diamond, Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly laced acrobat and follows her across London to a Mayfair corset shop that hides more than one dark secret.
Then Ebony Diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of a performance, and Frankie is drawn into a world of tricks, society columnists, corset fetishists, suffragettes and circus freaks. How did Ebony vanish, who was she afraid of, and what goes on behind the doors of the mysterious Hourglass Factory? From the newsrooms of Fleet Street to the drawing rooms of high society, the missing Ebony Diamond leads Frankie to the trail of a murderous villain with a plot more deadly than anyone could have imagined.

Review: It took ages for me to get this story to flow, it looked to have all the right ingredients but I found the writing jarring to begin with and couldn't quite get the characters to live in my head. I think this was mainly because the (third person) narrative was split between DI Primrose (from the suffragette squad) and Frankie (journalist for the London Evening Gazette) and the story was jumping all over the place .. it took longer for me to place everybody and everything. It's a long story though and by the time I got halfway it was really beginning to come together and the second half I really enjoyed .. it has the sort of thrilling ending which keeps you turning pages.
Ebony hardly appears at all (well .. she is missing so that's understandable) which is a shame because I felt she was a really vibrant character who could have lifted the story considerably had she featured more prominently. Also she was a suffragette so it would have been good to get that inside view. Mostly .. with DI Primrose and Frankie .. we are observing the movement from the outside, though Frankie's struggle to be recognised as an investigative reporter reflected the thinking of the time .. women journalists were only fit to write beauty tips and there are some pretty hard hitting chapters which detail the plight of the suffragette .. one detailing the force feeding of a prisoner on hunger strike .. sobering stuff.

The book gets compared to The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite quite a bit and it is similar in feel though not quite as readable imo. Frankie is a great character though .. feisty, stubborn and determined. She has to be .. she's short on her rent, starving hungry and within a whisker of getting fired. By investigating the disappearance of Ebony she's putting her life in danger but if that's what it takes to be taken seriously then she will do it. She knows something sinister is afoot. I grew to really like her and would have preferred the narrative to have stayed with her throughout .. also I wanted to know what happened to her next .. the old perennial problem.

I actually sang 'Sister Suffragette' in my head all the way through  .. couldn't help it .. every time I saw the word suffragette .. I visualised Glynis Johns in her blue and yellow dress marching about the hallway of No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane Yes, most of my previous knowledge of the suffrage movement came from a Disney song  

I think anyone interested in the period will like it .. it's definitely worth persevering with. Liked it!

[poppyshake]

I'm glad you liked Murder on the Orient Express . It was my first Agatha Christie book, I read it not that long ago and I really enjoyed it. Great reviews !

Thanks Gaia It's definitely classic Agatha. Hope you go on to read many more .. I've just read my fifth and they've all been different so far .. you can't second guess her or so I've found so far   

[frankie]

Will come back for other stuff later, but as for East of Eden: John Steinbeck is great. Not only is Of Mice and Men great, but I've also read Grapes of Wrath and that's another one of those long novels. And I really liked it! I've been wanting to read EoE for a while now... I think after I read Steve's review a year or two ago or so. I'm feeling confident that you will get on well with the novel (Almost forgot: I've also read Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by him and loved them both. I think you would like those books, too.)

 

Gosh, I've liked all the books I've read by Steinbeck and yet when people ask me which authors I like, I never remember him. Kylie would be ashamed!!

[Karsa Orlong]

Thanks Steve .. that is encouraging .. like a pep talk before an important fight

 

You can do it!    If it makes you feel any better, I've just started Lonesome Dove, which is 964 pages . . . 

[Athena]

Thanks Gaia It's definitely classic Agatha. Hope you go on to read many more .. I've just read my fifth and they've all been different so far .. you can't second guess her or so I've found so far   

Thanks, I own some so I definitely plan on reading more by her .

[chesilbeach]

I actually sang 'Sister Suffragette' in my head all the way through [/font] .. couldn't help it .. every time I saw the word suffragette .. I visualised Glynis Johns in her blue and yellow dress marching about the hallway of No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane Yes, most of my previous knowledge of the suffrage movement came from a Disney song  

That's a problem I have with anything to do with suffragettes too. Good old Glynis worming her way into our psyche and popping up and inopportune moments I've been recording the series on BBC Four about the suffragette movement, but haven't watched it yet, and I'm hoping it might help dislodge the Walt Disney version from my head … having said that, I've read other books and they haven't managed it so not sure why I think this will help! 

[poppyshake]

Will come back for other stuff later, but as for East of Eden: John Steinbeck is great. Not only is Of Mice and Men great, but I've also read Grapes of Wrath and that's another one of those long novels. And I really liked it! I've been wanting to read EoE for a while now... I think after I read Steve's review a year or two ago or so. I'm feeling confident that you will get on well with the novel (Almost forgot: I've also read Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by him and loved them both. I think you would like those books, too.)

 

Gosh, I've liked all the books I've read by Steinbeck and yet when people ask me which authors I like, I never remember him. Kylie would be ashamed!!

Very good to hear (not the Kylie being ashamed of you bit .. she never would for a start ) I don't know why I'm daunted .. I liked the only book I've read by him .. liked his writing style very much. It shouldn't matter how long a book is. I've read the first 30 pages anyway and it's all going well so far I have most of his books on the shelves. Though I don't think I've got The Grapes of Wrath?? I wonder why that wasn't in the set? 

You can do it!  If it makes you feel any better, I've just started Lonesome Dove, which is 964 pages . . . 

Thanks .. that does indeed make me feel much better. I've never actually held a book that large (oh .. I forgot .. you probably aren't holding it either ) 964 pages!! With a little more effort he could have made it 1,000  

Thanks, I own some so I definitely plan on reading more by her .

Good hope you like them too .. she's so consistent. When I look at the list of Poirot books alone I'm just astounded at her genius.

That's a problem I have with anything to do with suffragettes too. Good old Glynis worming her way into our psyche and popping up and inopportune moments. I've been recording the series on BBC Four about the suffragette movement, but haven't watched it yet, and I'm hoping it might help dislodge the Walt Disney version from my head … having said that, I've read other books and they haven't managed it so not sure why I think this will help! 

We might as well face it .. it's in there permanently now. I watch it at least once a year so I'm always topping it up

Not that I concur or anything but my absolute favourite line is 'though we adore men individually .. we agree that as a group they're ra-ther stu-pid' Creases me up every time and I like to sing it to Alan occasionally .. luckily, rather than hitting me with my imaginary banner, he just laughs  

[poppyshake]

Dandy Gilver & the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson

Synopsis: 1st May 1926 - Dear Alec, Just when those who should be working are all downing tools for this wretched strike (and I still can't believe it - I mean to say: riots, Alec - in Edinburgh of all places) guess who is setting her virgin shoulder to its very first wheel? I am dressed in serge and sensible footwear, sleeping in an iron bed and dining off pickled tongue at six o'clock each day. I am, in short, that nice young Mrs Balfour's new maid. But don't worry, Alec dear: things haven't got as bad as all that. It's just that that nice young Mr Balfour is going to kill his wife. At least, she thinks so, and the more I hear about him from butler, cook and bootboy the more I'm inclined to agree. So I'm undercover, in disguise, bent upon foiling. And jolly hard work it is too - tomorrow is my half-day free if you'd care take me out for a restorative bun. (Every maid needs a beau to buy buns for her.) Yours, Dandy xx p.s. Ask for Miss Rossiter: below stairs I am she.

Review: Enjoyed this so much more than the last Dandy Gilver novel I read (The Winter Ground) .. perhaps because it all takes place in a town house and not a circus .. major improvement. It took Dandy away from her husband and children too which was a bit of a blessing .. not sure which of the three of them is insufferable .. think it's her husband .. certainly the views he briefly gives out here over picketing miners were enough to set my teeth on edge so I was very glad that Dandy went under cover as a ladies maid. I think in reality the staff would have sussed her out in a very short space of time but then, as a ladies maid, she wasn't required to do much of the heavy work .. especially as the lady in question was in on the secret so didn't load her down with onerous tasks. I do have a particular fondness for books that take place below stairs .. it's all very gossipy and cosy though there are some pretty odd characters here. Oddest of all is the owner Mr Balfour .. he seems as nice as pie but hardly anyone in the house has a nice word to say about him .. by all accounts he's a bit vindictive on the sly. His wife is convinced he's going to kill her as he's told her so and hence the appointment of Dandy (to be honest .. I reckon old Marple would have sussed it out quicker and with less blood shed but I think she needs to be a friend of your aunt or something ) Dandy does have an accomplice .. a Watson to her Holmes .. Alec .. but for the first half of the story he's still at home and the only advice from him is procured by telephone.

Not sure I was totally convinced by the ending, it was neat enough but is it actually possible? Well, of course, you can't tell me .. you don't know and I couldn't possibly say but I had to suspend disbelief so much that I've only just got it down again I liked the concept of it though and really enjoyed all the twisting and turning it took to get to it. As always I suspected practically everyone   

I don't know why I've read these books in a haphazard order .. I think I've picked them up in charity shops as and when. It does make working out Dandy's back story a little difficult but the author didn't make it too hard. I absolutely love the covers .. the first four are beautiful but these later ones are so quirky (think she's up to book nine now.) An image of a torso .. back and front .. great idea! Not particularly in-depth, a nice Sunday teatime read .. not in the league of The Mangle Street Murders or anything but ideal to go with your restorative bun and cup of tea  I wouldn't go out of my way to get any of the others but if I saw them I'd probably be tempted. The covers are lovely .. have I mentioned that?  Liked it!

[Kylie]

Yay for East of Eden! I have that in my jar of priority reads for the year. Even though I'm a bit daunted by it, I really hope I choose it at some stage!

 

And you are correct, I would never be ashamed of Frankie.   There are so many wonderful authors around that it can be hard to remember all of our favourites when put on the spot and asked to list them. I know I always forget a few!