frankie Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Ok, before anyone shouts at me for breaking the first of my aims for 2012 (see first post) all these books were bought with Xmas vouchers, well very nearly all.... So, this morning I got - Dark Matter, A Ghost Story - Michelle Paver (bought due to BCF recommendations, so not my fault!) Mr Rosenblum's List - Natasha Solomons (bought due to BCF recommendations, think it was Kylie?) Emma - Jane Austen (inspired by all those on here wanting to read more Austen in 2012) The Hare With Amber Eyes - Edmund De Waal Me Before You - Jojo Moyes The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz - Denis Avey Call The Midwife - Jennifer Worth The Other Hand - Chris Cleave That's it now, promise!!! Oops, and one more I found in my bag, The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides... Better get on with the reading! :readingtwo: And books just happen to pop out from your bag?? Where did you get the bag, I want one! A great haul anyways. Mr Rosenblum's list is adorable, Emma's good of couse, and I think I have The Hare with Amber Eyes on my own wishlist. And The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz sounds intriguing, I might have to look it up. Happy reading in 2012, chaliepud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 It's a Mary Poppins carpet bag frankie, I can even carry a full size reading lamp in there too! Happy reading to you too.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Ok, just finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and The Forest of Hands and Teeth so that takes my 2012 total so far up to 7 (see post 4 on this log), so I'm definitely on target to reach 50 books this year, happy days!!! I've now started All Quiet on the Western Front as I have heard such good things about it, it's very jolly at the moment but I can imagine it's going to get grimmer very soon, I have read a few books about WWI but I'm hoping reading about it from the German side will bring a new perspectI've to it for me.... Edited February 7, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ok, just finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and The Forest of Hands and Teeth so that takes my 2012 total so far up to 7 (see post 4 on this log), so I'm definitely on target to reach 50 books this year, happy days!!! I've now started All Quiet on the Western Front as I have heard such good things about it, it's very jolly at the moment but I can imagine it's going to get grimmer very soon, I have read a few books about WWI but I'm hoping reading about it from the German side will bring a new perspectI've to it for me.... What did you think of Miss Peregrins home for peculiar children? I really enjoyed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 What did you think of Miss Peregrins home for peculiar children? I really enjoyed it Hi Shelley, I really enjoyed it too, I found it charming, the children had wonderful characters, so unique yet capturing the era beautifully... :smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hi Shelley, I really enjoyed it too, I found it charming, the children had wonderful characters, so unique yet capturing the era beautifully... :smile: I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Its such a quirky read, I'm looking forward to the next installment... I hope it has pictures too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 If you like the pictures you may like this - http://www.ransomriggs.com/blog/2011/1/7/talking-pictures.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 If you like the pictures you may like this - http://www.ransomrig...g-pictures.html Oh wow what an awesome site! I love this sort of thing, Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 Sadly said goodbye to hubby today as he had to return to work in Iraq agin, he'll be home in the school Easter holidays and I'm getting used to managing the kids, dogs and house while he's away. I may now actually get some reading done, I don't think I've read anything for the last 4 or 5 days. I started A Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen and I think it's going to be strange one, but it's definitely interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Sadly said goodbye to hubby today as he had to return to work in Iraq agin, he'll be home in the school Easter holidays and I'm getting used to managing the kids, dogs and house while he's away. Aww chalie .. that must be incredibly difficult for all of you .. roll on Easter In the meantime hope you get to read lots of good books to help the time fly by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Chalie It must be really difficult for you, but I hope your kids and dogs will keep you appropriately distracted, and books too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Distracted and disturbed in equal measures usually! Thanks frankie, it can be hard, especially on days like today when the car mechanic failed to turn up to collect my car, my (nearly new) Magimix blew when I was trying to make pancakes, the cat brought in a mouse which then Obi swallowed whole, then promptly threw it up again.... still alive But on a normal day we rub along just fine, the kids are generally great and have matured a lot since Steve went away, and my fur babies are always up for a cuddle.. well maybe not Candyfloss, she can be a very unsociable kitty.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Distracted and disturbed in equal measures usually! Sounds like a balanced diet of domestic bliss I'm sorry, I just had to laugh real hard at this: the cat brought in a mouse which then Obi swallowed whole, then promptly threw it up again.... still alive Ewwww that's revolting! And yet somehow, I respect Obi even more. He's a bad ass! (Although I do want no harm to mice, be sure!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) I'm sorry, I just had to laugh real hard at this: Ewwww that's revolting! And yet somehow, I respect Obi even more. He's a bad ass! (Although I do want no harm to mice, be sure!) To be fair the mouse was still alive though a little dazed... I bet that never happened to Stuart Little, he'll have lots of stories to tell his grandmice! Edited February 22, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Well, that's my 10th book of the year finished which sets me well on target to achieve 50 books read this year. I have a post on the first page that lists the books read so far this year but I really must write down a few thoughts on them before I totally forget what they were about! Life just seems to keep getting in the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 1. The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories - Angela Carter Amazon synopsis - From familiar fairy tales and legends - Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves - Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories. Although I'm not a fan of short stories - to me they never seem to have enough substantiality to make a decent story and they are always over before they have really started - I was hoping I may find Angela Carter's book different as she is a writer that tells such a descriptive story (I loved The Magic Toyshop), I thought maybe she could pack more story into a shorter package... but, for me, sadly not. Though her vocabulary and therefore her descriptions are wonderful I felt that was all there was to them. In The Magic Toyshop, the descriptions came second to the story, in The Bloody Chamber I felt the story came second to the descriptions. I do have Nights at the Circus on my TBR shelf but I'm not sure I'll be in awful hurry to read it now. 1/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) 2. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern Amazon synopsis - In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Rêves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire. Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the rêveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter's daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer's apprentice. At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love... It took me a loooong while to get into this book, in fact it took two attempts over a month apart. It definitely didn't grab me from the start, or even from the middle for that matter! I felt it waffled a lot and took far too long to get to the interesting part of the story. That said, the last 100 pages were fantastic and I couldn't put it down as I was so eager to see what happened to the circus, to Marco and Celia and especially to the twins Poppet and Widget, who I fell in love with the moment they were introduced to the story. 4/5 Edited February 23, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 3. Witch Child - Celia Rees Amazon synopsis - She was locked in the keep for more than a week. First they walked her up and down, up and down between them, for a day and a night until she could no longer hobble, her feet all bloody and swollen. She would not confess. So they set about to prove she was a witch... Mary's grandmother is executed for witchcraft, and Mary is forced to leave her home to avoid the same fate. At first she flees to the English countryside, but when the atmosphere of superstition and suspicion becomes all consuming she leaves on a boat for America in the hope that she can start over and forget her past. But during the journey, she realises that the past is not so easy to escape. Witch Child is a complex, absorbing novel, told in the form of pages from a journal found loosely sewn into an old quilt many years later. From the moment the story begins, the tension is tangible, and the reader is drawn into a world of mistrust and uncertainty that shakes to the core. All this is cleverly conveyed through the eyes of Mary, whose first sense of wide-eyed wonder gradually develops a mature understanding of her situation, drawing the reader in to a dark and dangerous world where the tiniest slip could mean death. I did enjoy this, but I felt it lacked depth, perhaps due to it being a YA read, though I don't normally find YA novels to be overly simplistic. I was disappointed that the book didn't spend a huge amount of team focussing on the fact that Mary was a witch, it was more about her being an outsider to the group and the witchy side of things was only touched on. That said, I'm pleased I read it as it was nicely written and I'm sure my daughter will read it in a couple of years. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) 4. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes Amazon synopsis - Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. This book gets 214/250 five star reviews on Amazon, the rest are mainly 4 star. I bought it on the strength of the reviews, half expecting it to be just another chick lit. I was so so wrong, this was a fabulous read, Lou is a magnificent character, she is sweet, insecure and funny, independent, caring and full of life.. I don't want to give away any of the story but she ends up spending a lot of time with Will, trying to inject some of her lust for life into him, in sometimes funny, sometimes sad ways. Me Before you will make you laugh, cry and just feel so many emotions, I'm so glad I gave it a chance. 4.5/5 Edited February 23, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) 5. Call The Midwife - Jennifer Worth Amazon synopsis - Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction. Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s. This is a wonderful book, it was so interesting to read about how midwifery began and how it was evolving through the 1950's. I have to admit there were a few crossed legs moments when the detail got a little too much and reminded me of some not so pleasant moments in my own life, and there were even more moments where I thanked my lucky stars I had my children in the 90's/00's! Edited March 2, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 5. Call The Midwife - Jennifer Worth Amazon synopsis - ennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction. Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s. This is a wonderful book, it was so interesting to read about how midwifery began and how it was evolving through the 1950's. I have to admit there were a few crossed legs moments when the detail got a little too much and reminded me of some not so pleasant moments in my own life, and there were even more moments where I thanked my lucky stars I had my children in the 90's/00's! I recently finished this and thought excatly the same. I look forward to reading Jennifer Worth's other books at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Have slipped with my 'less book buying in 2012" But on the positive side, in Waterstones today I bought... Half of the Human Race - Anthony Quinn (2012 TV Book Club) We Had It So Good - Linda Grant Strangers on the 16:02 - Priya Basil (one of 2012 Quick Reads) Plus my daughter just finished The Last Wolf by Michael Morpurgo and thinks I will like it so thats also gone onto the TBR shelf. The shelf is now officially full so definitely no more buying until I've read some more of them!!! I'm about a third of the way through I am the Messenger (Markus Zusak), it's definitely not The Book Thief but it's certainly unique and I think I'm enjoying it, I'll let you know!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) The shelf is now officially full so definitely no more buying until I've read some more of them!!! Oh dear....... so much for that last statement.......... My daughter wanted to buy a new hoodie and needed to make some cash, so sold me her Amazon vouchers she got for her birthday earlier this month, I managed not to spend them last night and managed to resist until 9am this morning, then I crumbled!!! I nearly ordered... http://www.amazon.co...d=25KY2FPSQ007V ... but although it's on my wish list I find it difficult to buy non fiction when there is so much good fiction out there for me to read! So instead, I ordered 4 Michael Morpurgo books for same daughter as I feel bad that she is putting designer hoodies over books (grrrr peer pressure) and I know she'll still love the books and she is a BIG Morpurgo fan.. and for me - That day in September - Artie Van Why The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (so many good recommendations on here) Mortal Chaos - Matt Dickinson (recommended I think by Michelle yesterday, both my son and I should like this) I'll go and hide now........ Edited February 28, 2012 by chaliepud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Amazon vouchers go off if you don't use them soon enough. They go all green and mushy, likes squished peas, so it's best you spent them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (so many good recommendations on here) Awesome choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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