happyanddandy Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Finished Plain Truth - 8.5/ 10 I really enjoyed it, an interesting book which highlights the ways of the Amish community. The story is captivating, my only comment is that the book is a bit long but definitely worth reading. I continue to be impressed with the amount of background research work that Jodi Picoult does. I have read this too in the last year - enjoyed it as an insight into Amish way of life too. We seem to select similar books!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 9, 2007 Author Share Posted July 9, 2007 Hi H&D, We sure do, I will be keeping a close eye on your list for recommendations! I am really disappointed in myself as I hate not finishing a book but I have to give up on The Queen on the Tambourine by Jane Gardam I have forced myself to read up to page 146 (of 226 - about 2/3rds of the book) but I just cant read any more. I didn't enjoy the style of the book at all, it was difficult to follow and I had to consciously stop myself scanning rather than reading. I found the writer of the letters, Eliza, extremely irritating. Having won the Whitbread prize for novel of the year I expected more from this book. Very disappointed. Anyone else read this? He ho, on to the next one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 9, 2007 Share Posted July 9, 2007 The Queen of Tambourine was our reading circle choice last September (thread HERE). You got a lot further than I did - I couldn't get into it at all and couldn't stand the lead character. Not my cup of tea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Finished my first historical novel Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach ~ 7/10 Set in 1630s Amsterdam, it begins with a typical Renaissance love triangle: a wealthy, elderly merchant, Cornelis Sandvoort, his beautiful but frustrated young wife Sophia and the painter who enters their life, Jan van Loos. Commissioned to paint the happy couple's portrait, Jan becomes embroiled in a series of emotional and financial speculations which are to change the character's lives forever. Interspersed with 16 beautifully reproduced Dutch paintings, Tulip Fever is a delightfully conceived story which offers a new dimension to what really goes on within the apparently placid domestic interiors of such canvases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 Finished The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards ~ 8/10 This is a beautifully written book, I found it a bit slow in places and heart renching but all in all a good read. I would def. recommend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 29, 2007 Author Share Posted July 29, 2007 Just finished The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez ~ 7.5/10 I really enjoyed this book, it is a subject close to me as I own a salon so reading about the differences in culture and the difficulties in setting up a Beauty school were very interesting. The story is a bit jumpy at times and I felt the ending lacked the substance that the rest of the book had ~ I hope there is a follow up book so the story can be followed through. Recommended KxXx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 The Lovely Bones is a good read and 'On Beauty' is certainly interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 29, 2007 Author Share Posted July 29, 2007 Hi H&D Thanks for the rec's I read the Lovely Bones last year and enjoyed it and I have On Beauty and White Teeth both in TBR pile. I started Where and When? by Anita Shreve tonight and liking it ~ What would you do if out of the blue, you received a letter from your first love? Sian Richards sees no reason why she can't write back to Charles Callahan. After all, it's been thirty years and they are both married with families. But when they decide to meet again, an innocent correspondence becomes a dangerous intimacy. Swept up in the past and consumed by an obsessive love, Charles and Sian risk everything to be together. A heart-wrenching, suspenseful story with an unforgettable conclusion Kx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Hi H&DThanks for the rec's I read the Lovely Bones last year and enjoyed it and I have On Beauty and White Teeth both in TBR pile. I started Where and When? by Anita Shreve tonight and liking it ~ Kx I read 2 of Anita Shreve's books earlier this year - I enjoyed them but not sure I would pick up another of hers. 'White Teeth' I read maybe 2 years ago and for the life of me I could not see what all the fuss was about. Other reviews said it was funny, hilarious, fresh etc etc - left me cold and I struggled to the end. Be interesting to hear what you think when u get there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Finished Where and When by Anita Shreve at supper tonight ~ you can tell how much I have enjoyed a book when I finish it quickly, couldnt put this down! The story was nicely written, quite racy in parts. I felt sympathy for the partners of the main characters, but at the same time hoped the couple could find a way to be together. The ending although kind of expected, was sad. I also have The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve and am looking forward to reading it now. Which Anita Shreve books did you read H&D? Kx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I had to look up my LT!! 'A Wedding In December' is a fairly recent one. Slow moving but something missing - not sure what - depth maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Ah, I have read a few bad reviews on Wedding in December so was going to give it a miss for now. If you get the chance to read Where or When I would recommend you give it a go. I felt involved in the passionate obsession, desperate to know how it would turn out. It certainly evoked feelings and memories for me, makes you consider what would you do if you had a second chance with your first love.... kx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Sounds good! Will look out for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Finished How to talk to a widower by Jonathon Tropper ~ 8/10 Synopsis When Doug Parker married Hailey - beautiful, smart and ten years older - he left his carefree Manhattan life behind to live with her and her teenage son, Russ, in the suburbs. Three years later, Hailey has been dead for a year, and Doug, a widower at 29, just wants to drown himself in self-pity and Jack Daniels. But his family has other ideas...Russ is furious with Doug for not adopting him after Hailey died, and has fallen in with a bad crowd. Claire, Doug's irrepressible and pregnant twin sister, has just left her husband and moved in, uninvited, determined to turn his life around. Then there's Debbie, their younger sister, engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and maniacally determined to pull of the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon, Doug finds himself trying to forge a relationship with Russ, reconnecting with his own eccentric nuclear family, and reluctantly dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time-around dating scene. It isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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