~Andrea~ Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 (edited) Thread open for comments Previous logs: 2021 (9) https://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/16456-andrea-in-2021/ 2020 (7) https://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/16248-andrea-in-2020/ 2019 (18) 2018 (14) 2017 (10) 2016 (9) 2015 (10) 2014 (19) 2013 (21) 2012 (19) 2011 (17) 2010 (19) 2009 (23) 2008 (26) 2007 (21) Completed: The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier The Lord of the Rings (Book 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring) - J R R Tolkien Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman The End of the World is Flat - Simon Edge The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty Tamara Drew - Posy Simmonds The Inimitable Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse Currently reading: The Spies - Michael Frayne Edited January 1, 2023 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 29, 2022 Author Share Posted January 29, 2022 (edited) The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman From the cover: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. I read this because everybody seemed to be raving about it, however, for some reason I found it a but of a slog, which is odd as it's a very light, easy read but I think that was the problem. Somehow the writing style just didn't set me on fire, and I really dragged my feet reading it. There was nothing particularly wrong with it and I can see why it would be popular and successful, and probably had I got stuck in earlier on I'd have found the experience more enjoyable, but I dipped into it so infrequently that it only made it worse. Towards the end I started to enjoy it more but I don't think I'll bother with any more of these. Just not my cuppa even though I actually really like the author on telly. I think if you like cosy mysteries and are in the mood for something light and easy it might be just the job but for some reason, it really wasn't for me. Edited January 31, 2022 by ~Andrea~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan It's 1962 and Edward and Florence's wedding night. Two virgins who can't talk about sex flounder their way through an awkward evening, having never discussed their own anxieties and expectations of the encounter to come. I picked up this short novel in a charity shop, knowing little about it other than it's a well known book by a well known author, one whom I'm not sure I have ever read properly. I'm so glad I did as I was absolutely hooked from the first page. McEwan writes exquisite prose, and brings vividly to life the moments and actions and internal agonies of these two lovers. The book focuses on the first day of their honeymoon in a hotel overlooking Chesil beach, occasionally switching back to the story that brought them here, how they met and the development of their relationship thus far. The book is full of delicious tension, suspense and comedy and sympathetically shines a light on the most private thoughts and anxieties of two imperfect humans as well as commenting on a society of changing attitudes and on the human condition. I loved this and read it in just a few sittings. I am now desperate to read some more by McEwan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 My poor neglected reading thread!! I have got so behind with reviews that it almost felt like homework to catch up, so I am just going to post the highlights! Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier Max deWinter brings his young new wife home to Manderley and straight away she doesn't fit in. The housekeeper looks down on her and makes her nervous and memories and reminders of Max's beautiful first wife, Rebecca, overshadow everything in her imposing new home. I've been a fan of Daphne du Maurier ever since I started reading her short stories in my teens. While I've read several of her novels, I've only recently got round to reading Rebecca, which is a bit of an admission considering I'm now almost fifty! It's a fantastic piece of work, a little slow to start (which is perhaps why I gave up an earlier attempt many years ago). The characterisation of Mrs Danvers is just wonderful, a real villain, almost supernaturally evil: Quote Someone advanced from the sea of faces, someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull's face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton's frame. Quote She came towards me, and I held out my hand, envying her for her dignity and her composure; but when she took my hand hers was limp and heavy, deathly cold, and it lay in mine like a lifeless thing. I had seen the (old black and white) film and so I had thought the book would be a little 'spoilered' for me, however, I'm not sure if the ending is different in the film, or if my memory is just rubbish, elements of the ending were a surprise. The whole book was a treat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 On 12/13/2022 at 11:22 AM, ~Andrea~ said: I am just going to post the highlights! Good plan 😄. I really want to read Rebecca! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 OK, some rather short reviews: Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine - Gail Honeyman Eleanor Oliphant is a quiet bookkeeper, living an ordered and predictable life who likes to keep herself to herself and everybody else very much at arms length. One day she somehow manages to save someone's life and as a result finds all sorts of people want to get to know her, which is rather uncomfortable and difficult for someone as socially awkward as her. I had read mixed reviews of this one, and so I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the character of Eleanor (I know lots of people didn't, she is not supposed to be conventionally 'likeable') and skipped through it, finding it readable, engaging and well written. I found Eleanor's character and backstory were interesting and the book, while touching on dark subjects, is at its heart, light, entertaining and optimistic. The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty Hypnotherapist Ellen finds love, but discovers her new partner has a stalker, an ex who watches him, follows him, can't quite let him go. What Ellen doesn't know is that her newest hypnotherapy client isn't quite who she claims to be… I loved this from start to finish, it was light, funny and easy to read. Liane writes brilliantly as usual in this suspenseful comedy. Quality entertainment. Tamara Drew - Posy Simmonds (graphic novel) Beth Hardiman runs a retreat for writers in a quiet rural village, the childhood village of Tamara Drewe. All is peaceful until Tamara returns from London where she has transformed herself with plastic surgery into a dazzling head turner and quickly becomes the centre of attention and the cause of a few broken hearts. Another fine work from the brilliant Posy Simmonds. I just love her artwork and the way she draws drama out of ordinary lives, capturing middle class Britain in an especially delightful way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 On 12/15/2022 at 5:46 PM, Hayley said: Good plan 😄. I really want to read Rebecca! You have a real treat in store! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted December 21, 2022 Author Share Posted December 21, 2022 I have two books on the go. I won't finish both by the end of the year so I'm going to focus on the lighter of the two, the PG Wodehouse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 I really liked Eleanor Oliphant as a character too and you can never go wrong with a Wodehouse 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 The Wodehouse was brilliant Poppy, so funny, just the job when you're in the mood for something a bit silly and inconsequential. I love the language in it. I want to start using words like bally, rummy and cove. That bally fellow is a frightful cove you know. Toodle-pip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 On 1/2/2023 at 11:22 PM, ~Andrea~ said: The Wodehouse was brilliant Poppy, so funny, just the job when you're in the mood for something a bit silly and inconsequential. I love the language in it. I want to start using words like bally, rummy and cove. That bally fellow is a frightful cove you know. Toodle-pip. I love him too. And that's a super spiffy idea! 😄 Favourite phrases of mine of his are, 'I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled', and his description 'It was the look which caused her to be known in native bearer circles as 'Mgobi-'Mgumbi, which may be loosely translated as She On Whom It Is Unsafe To Try Any Oompus-Boompus'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
France Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Wodehouse is like Shakespeare, you can open him at any page and find a brilliant phrase. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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