Janet Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 It was my library reading group this week, and we've just got one book for next month, The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. This is the follow up to Chocolat which I read in hardback when it first came out 10 years ago, so I'm going to re-read it before starting The Lollipop Shoes, just to properly remind myself of the story (as I've seen the film adaptation way too many times, and I know it has significant differences to the book, and I don't want to be swayed by that, no matter how much I love Johnny Depp). I hated the film version! Was it really 10 years ago? I haven't read Lollipop Shoes yet either. I will also have to refresh my memory about Chocolat before I do so. I hope you enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Oh, I have this on my TBR pile. Have you read her earlier book, Elegance? I quite enjoyed that one, which was why I got The Flirt in the first place. Yes, I read Elegance and liked it, and also her second book Innocence (particularly swayed into buying by the cover design in both cases!). The Flirt is an entertaining book, I particularly liked the idea of a company providing a service of professional flirting, which was quite unique. There are more characters and plot threads than I remember in her other books, so it kept the story rattling along quite nicely. A good, entertaining read, and still love the cover designs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 I hated the film version! I've learned to accept it as a completely different entity to the book, and I'm quite happy to watch it as a diversion on a wet, wintry Sunday afternoon! Was it really 10 years ago? I haven't read Lollipop Shoes yet either. I will also have to refresh my memory about Chocolat before I do so. I hope you enjoy it. I know, I can't believe how quickly the time goes! Found my original first edition copy on the bookshelf this morning, and I'm about 80 pages in so far, and I'm enjoying it as much as the first time I read it. I'd forgotten how menacing Monsieur le Cur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 I finished re-reading Chocolat this afternoon, and I was pleased to find out it was just as enjoyable an experience as the first time I read it. Having seen the film far too many times, it also meant I'd actually forgotten a lot of the details of the plot and what happened to the various characters. I love the way the story of the priest develops throughout the book, in fact, I think the development of all the characters is well done. I particularly like that there are some things that are never fully resolved and left for the reader to make up their own mind about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hope you enjoy The Book Thief! IT'S BRILLIANT! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hope you enjoy 'The Book Thief' as much as I did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks, it's going well so far! (60 pages in) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 I've finished The Book Thief today. I was actually slightly underwhelmed by it. It was a good plot, an interesting take on the subject, and I thought the idea of Death as the narrator was unusual. However, I did feel it was too long, and there were sections I personally, would have edited down. I also wasn't convinced by the development of some of the relationships, and I don't think all the characters were well developed. I don't want to sound too negative, as it was readable and I did want to finish it to see how the author finished the story, but I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone else. My next book will be Soul Eater by Michelle Paver, which will be a quick read before ploughing into The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 26, 2009 Author Share Posted April 26, 2009 Finished Soul Eater this afternoon. The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series has surprised me by being original and engrossing. The author has obviously researched her subject heavily, and recreates historic landscapes and human society, while writing exciting, thrilling adventures. I am thoroughly enjoying the series, and have to tear myself away from the next one on my book shelf to try and make sure I finish my reading group book in plenty of time for the meeting in a few weeks. So with a slightly heavy heart, I leave Torak and his adventures and move back to modern day France to catch up with Vianne, and read The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Although I've finished The Lollipop Shoes today, I'm still chewing it over at the moment. I'm surprised by the direction the author continued the story from where Chocolat left off, and I'm feeling a bit ambiguous about it. Will mull it over and write a full review later. I've bumped The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop to the top of the TBR stack, as it's a lovely compact size and I've got a day out tomorrow and it won't be so heavy in my bag! I might make a start on it this evening, but it's been a tough week at work so I might leave it for when I'm refreshed in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natty Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak TBR (69): Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks You really do have a sizeable list TBR! With my current loss of reading mojo I think such a list would probably scare me into a little hovel of no return for books haha! Of all those though, I think I only really knew about five or six. You must let me know what you think of Birdsong, I had to read it for A-Level English lit. and I loved it. It's probably one of my favourite books ever although I haven't picked it up in a long while. As for the other two I've suggested, how was Greer? I must say I've only read Female Eunuch but it had me laughing quite a bit - is it on the same sort of wave length? The Book Thief I have on my bedside cabinet alongside The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters and many others with tempting covers but with insides I just can't seem to sink my teeth far enough into to want to carry on reading x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 You really do have a sizeable list TBR! With my current loss of reading mojo I think such a list would probably scare me into a little hovel of no return for books haha! Of all those though, I think I only really knew about five or six. You must let me know what you think of Birdsong, I had to read it for A-Level English lit. and I loved it. It's probably one of my favourite books ever although I haven't picked it up in a long while. As for the other two I've suggested, how was Greer? I must say I've only read Female Eunuch but it had me laughing quite a bit - is it on the same sort of wave length? The Book Thief I have on my bedside cabinet alongside The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters and many others with tempting covers but with insides I just can't seem to sink my teeth far enough into to want to carry on reading x I'm looking forward to Birdsong, but it's probably a couple of months away yet, as it's 24th on the list! I've never read anything else by Greer, but I'd heard her talk about this book in a few interviews and it sounded really interesting. It's essentially an academic book, so it quotes facts and figures and is a bit dry in places, but she does some interesting analysis on the information available, and gives quite different interpretations to other academics and commentators who've previously considered Hathaway, her influence and life with Shakespeare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natty Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 It sounds in essence a lot like The Female Eunuch then. Kind of. That too is more like an academic book than anything else, but still, I liked it. I'll dig out a copy of that as I've never really thought of reading anything else by her x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 I've just savoured the last pages of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop. An absolute gem of a book, and I've written a review here. Next up, I'm trying a new author, Georgette Heyer. I've never read any of her books before, but I watched the Daisy Goodwin documentary, Reader, I Married Him about romantic fiction, and she said Heyer was one of her favourites for immersing herself in utter pleasure of the genre, and even Stephen Fry said that some of her books should be judged for their literary merit and not dismissed as throwaway romances. Someone on another forum also asked for my opinion on it, as she'd not read them since she was a teenager, and wondered if the book would stand up to her memories now she was an adult, so I'm going to report back to her afterwards as well. The book I've chosen in Frederica, but I am slightly apprehensive, as if I like it, the author was quite prolific, and there will be an awful lot of books added to my wishlist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 Although I've finished The Lollipop Shoes today, I'm still chewing it over at the moment. I'm surprised by the direction the author continued the story from where Chocolat left off, and I'm feeling a bit ambiguous about it. Will mull it over and write a full review later. I've now written a full review of both Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes on my blog, which can be found here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Last night I finished Frederica by Georgette Heyer. As I've already mentioned, it was the first book by her I'd read, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was witty and charming, and an entertaining read. I'm not going to rush out and buy more of her books immediately, but if I'm ever trying to make up a batch of books to buy (on a 3 for 2 offer or stocking up for holiday/winter etc), then I'd certainly consider adding one of hers to the pile. Another light and fluffy read is next on my list, and I started Pastures Nouveaux by Wendy Holden this morning. I'm not sure why I've never read more of her books, as I remember really enjoying Bad Heir Day a few years back, but I picked up School for Husbands last year and liked it a lot. I found this one in an Oxfam bookshop for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Finished Pastures Nouveaux by Wendy Holden this afternoon. Diverting enough for a chick-lit book, but it felt as though the author was trying too hard to avoid the predictable ending by throwing an extra curve ball into the mix about three quarters of the way through, but entertaining regardless. However, what is it with publishers who include important plot points in the blurb on the book jacket that don't happen until a long way into the story? This is the second book I've read with spoilers in the blurb, and the first one had a major plot point on the cover that didn't happen until the last thirty pages of the book! Next on my list is The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig. I picked it up from the Waterstone's Recommends list in the World Fiction section a while ago, and I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into something a bit more serious after quite a few light reads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 Well, what a rollercoaster of a ride The Post Office Girl was! I think I'm going to have a write a full review of it, but I have to say it was one of the best endings to a book I've read recently. I'm going to digest it for a while, but no doubt I'll be unable to resist starting my next book this evening! It will be The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy, which I'm glad should be a light, fluffy chick-lit, after such an emotional time with The Post Office Girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 I've written a full review for The Post Office Girl now which can be found here. I finished The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy yesterday evening. A perfectly adequate chick-lit book, which fulfilled the role I wanted it to - a light relief after the emotions and drama of The Post Office Girl - but nothing particularly exceptional. Started the fourth book of The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, Outcast, today. I'm already about 60 pages in and completely hooked, and can't see it lasting past the end of the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Just finished Outcast this morning. The world of Torak is so well drawn and I get completely wrapped up in it while I'm reading the books. They just don't last long enough! Up next is The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan. I picked this up a few weeks ago from a recommended table in a new bookshop I was trying out for the first time, so I'm intrigued to read it and find out if my new bookshop is as good as I hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 First The Post Office Girl and now The Earth Hums in B Flat - I really want to read that one too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 First The Post Office Girl and now The Earth Hums in B Flat - I really want to read that one too! I couldn't resist it - not only was it a staff recommendation in the bookshop, but the cover really caught my attention as well, so I just couldn't let it go once I'd picked it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Finished The Earth Hums In B Flat this afternoon. I'm not really sure why it took me so long to read it - I had a head ache yesterday and couldn't read - it was a lovely flowing book, and I've read about 250 pages today, but for some reason I just didn't feel in the mood to read it at the weekend. The top of my TBR pile now is The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith which I'm really looking forward to, and at only 134 pages, I don't think it'll last long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Just want to say that I really like your blog, and I hope you don't mind that I based my layout on yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Hi Ben - thanks for the compliment, and as for the layout - I don't mind at all! Funnily enough, I'd visited yours for the first time this afternoon (only had time for a quick look so far), and thought it looked familiar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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