Kat's Reading 2007

[Lilywhite]

I eventually decided to try Barbara Erskine ~ Daughters of Fire. This is one I picked up in Waterstones on a 3 for 2 offer last month, and I haven't read anything by Barbara Erskine before so I'm quite looking forward to it.

 

The Romans are landing in Britannia...

Cartimandua, the young woman destined to rule the great tribe of the Brigantes, watches invaders come ever closer. From the start her world is a maelstrom of love and conflict, revenge and retribution. Cartimandua's life becomes more turbulant and complicated as her power grows, and her political skills are threatened by her personal choices. She has formidable enemies on all sides as she faces a decision which will change the future of all around her.

In the present day, historian Viv Lloyd Rees has immersed herself in the legends surrounding the Celtic queen. Viv struggles to hide her visions of Cartimandua and her conviction that they are real. But her obsession becomes ever more persistent as she takes possession of an ancient brooch that carries a curse. Bitter rivalries and overwhelming passions are reawakened as past envelops present and Viv finds herself in the greatest danger of her life.

[Nici]

I hope you like it Lilywhite! Barbara Erskine is a favourite of mine!

[Lilywhite]

It's taken me until 150 pages in to really start enjoying it, I was still undecided after the first couple of chapters. However, the story is fantastic and the supernatural-esque elemant really adds to it.

[Lilywhite]

Finally I managed to finish this one last night, it's taken me ages as I just haven't had much reading time.

 

Now that it is finished I'm not quite as taken with the story anymore, especially the last 100 pages it got really boring. I loved the Iron Age aspect of the story but it got to the point where I didn't care about the modern day characters. Unfortunately I'm not sure if I will be reading any more Barbara Erskine, but never say never

[Lilywhite]

I managed to snaffle my mums copy of The Crimson Petal and The White ~ Michel Faber to read the last 10 pages.

 

Sugar, an alluring, nineteen-year-old prostitute in the brothel of the peculiar Mrs Castaway, yearns for a better life. And when she is visited by William Rackham, the somewhat reluctant heir to Rackham Perfumeries, she begins an ascent through the strata of 1870's London society that offers us intimacy with a host of loveable, maddening and superbly realised characters.

Gripping from the first page, this hugely accalimed novel is an intoxicating and deeply satisfying read - not only a wonderful story but the creation of an entire, extraordinary world.

 

Very impressed with this book, despite the ending being a bit abrupt. Highly recommended, don't be put off by the size (800+ pages)

[Lilywhite]

Because my place is upside down right now I decided to read the first book I came across which happened to be Without Consent ~ Katherine Fox

 

All of the victims have a blade-shaped bruise on their chests. All heard the rapist utter the words 'If you can't be hurt you can't be loved'. And all were told they would die if they went to the police.

Forensic physician Dr Anya Crichton is on the trail of a violent serial rapist. When two women are later found stabbed to death in apparently frenzied attacks, police suspicion immediately falls upon Geoffrey Willard, recently released from twenty years in prison for the brutal rape and murder of a fourteen-year-old girl.

Unravelling the forensic evidence, however, Anya's just not sure...

[madcow]

Sounds interesting, I love a good crime book. Might have to add it to the neverending TBR list.

[Lilywhite]

It's the second in a series involving the main character but I haven't found it a problem that I haven't read the first. If I enjoy it I may look up the first one as well.

 

Will let you know if it's any good

[madcow]

Thanks for that, what's the first one called? I'll keep a look out for it.

[Lilywhite]

Malicious Intent from the info inside the cover.

[Lilywhite]

I've just finished this one, I read it in 3 sittings. It's not very taxing on the old grey matter but a good crime story. Very Patricia Cornwell, if you're a fan of hers. Good twists and turns as you follow the investigation and enough hints to keep you guessing at the perpatrator.

[Lilywhite]

Just done some slimming down of my TBR list and removed a few I no longer wish to read, it wasn't that many though, to be honest.

 

My next read is Catherine Ryan Hyde ~ Love In The Present Tense. My choices are a bit limited at the moment as I had to stack my bookshelves away. This one seems to be a good read so far though.

Leonard is an eerily wise five-year-old boy with asthma and vision problems, who captivates everyone he meets.

Pearl is Leonard's devoted teenage mother, desperately trying to hide a violent secret from her past.

Mitch is Leonard's 25-year-old neighbour, busy running his own company and entertaining the Mayor's wife.

Then one day, Pearl drops Leonard off with Mitch and never returns.

How do you go on lving someone who isn't there? As truth and fiction, memory and dreams collide, mitch finds himself learning from a surprising source the true, magical definition of love.

[Michelle]

I keep looking at this one, but have not yet made a choice. I'll be interested to find out what you think when you've finished.

[Lilywhite]

If I'm honest I only bought it because it was in the 3 for 2 at Waterstone's. I probably wouldn't have tried it otherwise, but then again, I've found a lot of good books that way. Will keep you posted on the progress.

[madcow]

Another one for the 'borrow' list

[Lilywhite]

I finished Love in the Present Tense today and I'm still a bit unsure about my feelings towards it. It's a great story, written with a lot of feeling but it just didn't run deep enough for my liking. It was more of a fable than a story, with the ingrained moral message running through it. Although the characters were likeable and I liked the way the story moved between them so you got the whole of the story.

I would recommend it, just don't expect too much from it.

[Lilywhite]

I picked up June Hampson ~ Broken Bodies at the library the other day on a whim. It's her second book and carries on from the last one (Trust Nobody I think it's called), a great gangster crime novel set in time of the Krays, not unlike Martina Cole.

 

Tears swam in Daisy's eyes. She tried to blink them away. Eddie never had the chance to know about his baby son. Never had the chance to hold little Eddie in his arms. Roy Kemp had seen to that, when he found out Eddie had been poaching on his manor. Daisy didn't even know where Eddie's body was. Only that he was dead. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Determination swept over her once more. She would get Roy Kemp....

[Lilywhite]

I finished Broken Bodies last night and I quite enjoyed this book. I like June Hampsons style of crime writing and her characters have developed more in the second book. If you like Martina Cole then you will appreciate June Hampson.

 

Now back Close ~ Martina Cole

[Nici]

Now back Close ~ Martina Cole

 

A nice easy read! I enjoyed it!

[Lilywhite]

I'm looking forward to it, it's been looking at me for a while now

[Lilywhite]

Darn it, I will have to change my mind because that book is not acessible right now. I only have a pile of about six books I casn reach until they put my flat back together again. So I've chosen Painting Mona Lisa ~ Jeanne Kalogridis

 

An intricately woven tale of betrayal, love and loss, which unravels the mysteries surrounding da Vinci's most famous portrait. April 26, 1478. Giuliano de Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the head of the powerful Florentine Medici family, is assassinated. Ten years later, a young Lisa Gherardini listens to the story of Giuliano's death, unaware of the significance it holds for her future. Drawn into the Medici circle by her passion for the Arts, Lisa meets the Medici's most luminescent friend: da Vinci. Against the turbulent backdrop of Savonarola's Florence, the two become conspirators and eventually each other's saviours in this parallel love story of infinite twists.

[Angel]

I read Painting Mona Lisa a few weeks ago and am interested in what you think of it.

[Lilywhite]

I'm finding it very slow and hard to get into at the minute. Luckily I read a couple of books previously on the Medici family, so I kinda get what's going on, otherwise, I think I would be a bit lost by now.

 

I have decided to put it on hold for the time being and try something completely different. I've gone for Karma ~ Holly A Harvey from our bookring.

[Lilywhite]

I've finished Karma today and I really enjoyed it. A fun and light read with a loveable lead character that you can't help but love. Well recommended.

 

I'm going to go back and try and finish Painting Mona Lisa now.

[Lilywhite]

It feels like it's taken me forever to read this book but the truth is I read it in a few sittings, they were just a while apart. After the initial 75 pages that I found difficult to follow, the story really begain to flow and I really enjoyed this one. A great build up to the end and a few twists and turns to keep you on your toes. I did have slight trouble with the 14thC Italian names and characters kept getting crossed in my mind but I think that was more from being tired and having long breaks between reading. A great book and I recommend it if you are a fan of historical fiction.

 

I'm now reading Maggie's Tree ~ Julie Walters

It was supposed to be 'a lovely break'. As their mutual friend Helena is the toast of Broadway, stand-up comedian Cissie O'Brien, who is the nation's darling with her popular television series, decides to take the beautiful and troubled actress Maggie Salt to New York to see her. But Maggie, a destructive whirlpool of a personality, is cracking up fast - 'out of her tree' - and on arrival she suddenly disappears into the freezing February night, no one knows where. As the search for their friend continues, dangerous cracks occur in the lifelong relationships of Cissie, Helena and her stoic husband Mark. Helena has always been utterly self-centred and now Cissie, haunted by the tabloid outing of her relationship with her lover Jenny back home, disappears too. Now, two of the closest of friends are lost separately somewhere in snowbound Manhattan. Meanwhile, Maggie has been rescued by a stranger, Michael, who offers her sanctuary of a highly ambiguous kind. Julie Walters' dark and very funny first novel is as assured as her celebrated work for stage, television and the cinema. It is a brilliant debut.