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Posted (edited)

2009: Read 48 books

2010: Read 79 books

2011: Read 74 books

 

Aim - 100 books is still my goal - third time lucky!

- to have a shorter TBR List on January 1st 2013 than I did January 1st 2012!

 

Read in 2012:

 

1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J K Rowling

2. Little Mother of Russia - Coryne Hall

3. The Fellowhip of the Ring - J R R Tolkien

4. Quidditch Through The Ages - J K Rowling

5. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell

6. Behind Closed Doors - Amanda Vickery

7. 1776 - David McCoullough

8. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin - Charles and Francis Darwin

9. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

10. A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Canon Doyle

11. 1000 Years of Annoying the French - Stephan Clarke

12. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

13. Tommy - Richard Holmes

14. Call The Midwife - Jennifer Worth

15. The Queen Mother - William Shawcross

16. In Shadow of the Workhouse - Jennifer Worth

17. Poison In The Blood - MG Scarsbrook

18. Call to Arms - Charles Messenger

19. Farewell to the East End - Jennifer Worth

20. The Love Letters of Henry VIII To Anne Boleyn

21. News From The Front - Martin Farrar

22. The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

23. Just Henry - Michelle Magorian

24. Creation - Randal Keynes

25. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

26. Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle Magorian

27. Destined - PC and Kristin Cast

28. The Unquiet Western Front - Brian Bond

29. The Two of Us - Sheila Hancock

30. A War Imagined - Samuel Hynes

31. The Silence of Memory - Adrian Gregory

32. Emma Darwin - Edna Healey

33. Workhouse - Pamela Oldfield

34. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

35. A Feast For Crows - George R R Martin

36. Churchill - Paul Addison

37. The Diamond Queen - Andrew Marr

38. Can Any Mother Help Me? - Joanne Bailey

39. Only Fools and Horses - Steve Clark

40. 25 Chapters Of My Life - Olga Alexandrovna Romanov

41. The Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels

42. Marx - Peter Singer

43. The Gentleman's Daughter - Amanda Vickery

44. To Make Our World Anew: Vol I - Robin DC Kelley

45. The Uncrowned Queen - Anne O'Brien

46. Wartime Princess - Valerie Wilding

47. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

48. The Frock Coated Communist - Tristrum Hunt

49. Clementine Churchill - Mary Soames

50. One For Sorrow - Chloe Rhodes

51. Desperate Duchesses - Eloise James

52. To Make Our World Anew: Vol II - Robin DC Kelley

53. The Vampire Diaries - LJ Smith

54. Stefan's Diaries: Origins - LJ Smith

55. Stefan's Diaries: Bloodlust - LJ Smith

56. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

57. The Tudors - G J Meyer

58. The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and the Reunion - LJ Smith

59. Love You To Death - Chrissy Calhoun

60. The Craving - L J Smith

61. Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris

62. Love You To Death 2 - Chrissy Calhoun

63. On Origin of the Species - Charles Darwin

64. The Ripper - L J Smith

65. Wuthering Bites - Sarah Gray

66. Churchill - Norman Rose

67. Lenobia's Vow - PC and Kristin Cast

68. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux

69. She Wolves - Helen Castor

70. Sally of Monticello - N.M.Ledgin

71. Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson

72. Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals to Greatness - Richard Toye

73. Colonel Roosevelt - Edmund Morris

74. The Chronicles of Downton Abbey - Jessica Fellowes

75. The Raising of a President - Doug Weed

76. The Asylum - L J Smith

77. Persausion - Jane Austen

78. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

79. Call the Midwife - Heidi Thomas

80. Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth

81. The Hobbit - Jude Fisher

82. The Borgias - Christopher Hibbert

83. The Real Downton Abbey - Jacky Hyams

84. Modern Family

85. Nightfall - L J Smith

86. The Loves of Charles II - Jean Plaidy

87. The Sugar Girls - Duncan Barrett

88. The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien

89. A Daughters Tale - Mary Soames

90. Inside Games of Thrones

91. Love and Conquest - Douglas Smith

92. Nellie Taft - Carl Sefrozza Anthony

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

1 - 52: gained in 2009 or before

53 - 108 gained in 2010

109 - 155: gained in 2011

 

TBR List:

 

 

1. Campbell, Christy: Band of Brigands

2. Foreman, Amanda: The Duchess

3. Fraser, Antonia: Marie Antoinette

4. Garfield, Simon: Our Hidden Lives

5. Gristwood, Sarah: Elizabeth and Leicester

6. Guy, John: My Heart Is My Own

7. Massie, Robert: Nicholas and Alexandra

8. McCullough, David: 1776

9. Rees, Laurence: Behind Closed Doors

10. Soames, Mary: Clementine Churchill

11. Williams, Stephanie: Olga’s Story

12. Weir, Alison: Henry VIII

13. Anderson, Hans Christian: Anderson’s Fairy Tales

14. Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women

15. Austen, Jane: Emma

16. Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park

17. Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey

18. Austen, Jane: Persuasion

19. Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility

20. Bronte, Charlotte: Jane Eyre

21. Boyne, John: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

22. Burnett, Frances Hodgson: The Secret Garden

23. Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan

24. Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair

25. Furnivall, Kate: The Russian Concubine

26. Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South

27. George, Margaret: Helen of Troy

28. Gee, Sophie: The Scandal of the Season

29. Gregory, Philippa: The Other Queen

30. Gregory, Philippa: The Queens Fool

31. Gregory, Philippa: The Favoured Child

32. Gilbert, Henry: Robin Hood

33. Grahame: The Wind in the Willows

34. Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’Urbervilles

35. Lawrence, D. H: Lady Chatterley’s Lover

36. Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird

37. Lewis, Hilda: I, Jacqueline

38. McIntosh, Fiona: Royal Exile

39. Montefiore, Santa: The Swallow and the Hummingbird

40. Montefiore, Santa: The Butterfly Box

41. Montgomery, L.M : Anne of Green Gables

42. Nesbit, E: The Railway Children

43. Ryan, Robert: Early One Morning

44. Sewell, Anna: Black Beauty

45. Sheers, Owen: Resistance

46. Sittenfeld, Curtis: American Wife

47. Steel, Danielle: Silent Honour

48. Stevenson, Robert Louis: Kidnapped

49. Thomes, Rosie: Isis and Ruby

50. Tolkien, J.R.R: The Silmarillion

51. Tolkien, J.R.R: Unfinished Tales

52. Zusak, Markus: The Book Thief

53. Adams: The Letters of John and Abigail Adams

54. Brands: Traitor to his Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

55. Byatt, AS: The Children's Book

56. Burstein, Andrew: Jefferson’s Secrets

57. Campion, Emma: The King's Mistress

58. Cast, PC: Divine by Blood

59. Cheek, Mavis: Amenable Women

60. Clark, Mary Higgins: The Christmas collection

61. Clarke, Stephen: 1000 Years of Annoying the French

62. Deighton, Len: SS – GB

63. Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist

64. Didion, Joan: The Year of Magical Thinking

65. Duff, David: Alexandra: Princess and Queen

66. Dunant, Sarah: Sacred Hearts

67. Erikson, Carolly: Great Catherine

68. Erickson, Carolly: The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette

69. Figes, Orlando: Natasha’s Dance

70. Follett, Ken: The Pillars of the Earth

71. Furnivall, Kate: Under A Blood Red Sky

72. Gill, Gillian: We Two

73. Gregory, Philippa: The Red Queen

74. Gordon Reed, Annette: The Hemingses of Montecello

75. Hall, Coryne: Little Mother Of Russia

76. Harrods-Eagles, Cynitha: Anna

77. Hibbert, Christopher: Victoria – a Personal History

78. Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner

79. James, Eloisa: Desperate Duchesses

80. Kerr, Judith: Out of Hitler Time

81. Leroux, Gaston: The Phantom of the Opera

82. Lieven, Dominic: Russia Against Napoleon

83. Lovell, Mary S: The Mitford Girls

84. Lukyanenko, Sergei: The Day Watch

85. Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall

86. McCullough, David: Mornings On Horseback

87. Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With The Wind

88. Morris, Theodore: Colonel Roosevelt

89. Morrow, James: The Last Witchfinder

90. Motley, Annette: Men on White Horses

91. Norton, Elizabeth: Jane Seymour

92. O’Brien, Stacey: Wesley

93. O’ Grady, Paul: At My Mothers Knee

94. O’Toole, Patricia: When Trumpets Call

95. Pakula, Hannah: An Uncommon Woman

96. Plaidy, Jean: Madame Du Barry

97. Plaidy, Jean: Plantagenet Prelude

98. Quinn, Kate: Mistress of Rome

99. Romanov, Olga Alexandrovna: 25 Chapters Of My Life

100. Schlink, Bernhard: The Reader

101. Smith, Douglas: Love and Conquest

102: Smith, L.J: The Night World

103. Snyder, Maria V: Storm Glass

104. Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina

105. Van Der Kiste, John: Queen Victoria’s children

106. Weir, Alison: Katherine Sywnford

107. Weir, Alison: The Captive Queen

108. Weir, Alison: The Lady in the Tower

109. Withey, Lynne: Dearest Friend

110. Adornetto , Alexandra: Halo

111. Atkins, Dixie: Humble and Loyal

112. Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories

113. Cast, PC And Kristin: Destined

114. Chamberlin, E. R: Everyday Life In Renaissance Times

115. Darwin, Charles: On Origin Of The Spices

116. Darwin, Francis and Charles: The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin

117. Dickens, Monica: One Pair of Hands

118. Fraser, Antonia: Love and Louis XVI

119. Graham, Laurie: The Importance of Being Kennedy

120. Gilbert, Elizabeth: Eat, Pray, Love

121. Gray, Sarah: Wuthering Bites

122. Greene, Graham: Brighton Rock

123. Harris, Charlaine: Dead Reckoning

124. Harris, Charlaine: The Sookie Stackhouse Guide

125. Healey, Edna: Emma Darwin

126. Hibbert, Christopher: The Borgias

127. Hyams, Jacky: The Real Downton Abbey

128. Lewis, CS: Mere Christianity

129. Lovell, Mary S: The Churchill’s

130. Keynes, Randal: Creation

131. Magorian, Michelle: Just Henry

132. Martin, George R R: A Feast For Crows

133. Montefiore, Santa: The French Gardener

134. Morpurgo, Michael: War Horse

135. Morpurgo, Michael: Peaceful Private

136. Newman, Janis Cooke: Mrs Lincoln

137. Nicholas, Katie: William and Harry

138. Obama, Barack: Dreams of My Father

139. O’Connell, Tyne: A Royal Match

140. Orzel, Chad: How To Teach Quantum Physics To Your Dog

141. Patch, Harry: The Last Fighting Tommy

142. Parsons, Tony: Starting Over

143. Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago

144. Perry, Tasmina: Kiss Heaven Goodbye

145. Richman, Alyson: The Lost Wife

146. Rose, Norman: Churchill

147. Sanderson, Jane: Netherwood

148. Sebba, Anne: That Women

149. Shawcross, William: The Queen Mother

150. Sibley, Brain: Peter Jackson

151. Toye, Richard: Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness

152. Tremlett, Giles: Catherine of Aragon

153. Trotter, Janet MacLeod: Never Stand Alone

154. Vickery, Amanda: Behind Closed Doors

155. Wead, Doug: The Raising of a President

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

Gained in 2012:

 

Addison, Paul: Churchill

Anthony, Carl Sferrazza: Nellie Taft

Bailey, Jenna: Can Any Mother Help Me?

Bagwell Gillian: The Darling Strumpet

Barrett, Duncan: The Sugar Girls

Bond, Brian: The Unquiet Western Front

Brown, Kate Lord: The Beauty Chorus

Cast, PC and Kristen: Hidden

Cast, PC and Kristen: Lenobia's Vow

Carnarvon, Countess of: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey

Carter, Aimee: The Goddess Test

Castor, Helen: She Wolves

Calhoun, Chrissy: Love You To Death

Calhoun, Chrissy: Love You To Death 2

Chbosky, Stephen: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones

Clare, Cassandra: Clockwork Angel

Cogman, Bryan: Inside Games of Thrones

Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games

Clark, Steve: Only Fools and Horses

Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations

Doyle, Arthur Canon: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection

Douglas, Donna: The Nightingale Girls

Dunn, Dot May: Twelve Babies on a Bike

Edward. Anne: Matriarch

Harvey, Greg: The Origins of Tolkien's Middle Earth

Fellowes, Jessica: The Chronicles of Downton Abbey

Fisher. Jude: The Hobbit: Visual Companion

Follett, Ken: Winter of the Worlds

Foster, RF: Randolph Churchill

Goldman, Lisa: The No Rules Handbook for Writers

Haeger, Diane: I, Jane

Hardy, Thomas: The Mayor of Casterbridge

Harrison, Cora: Debuntantes

Hancock, Sheila: The Two of Us

Haworth, Eileen: Faded Dreams

Holmes, Richard: Tommy

Holt, Maggie: A Nurse at War

Huth, Angela: Land Girls

Hunt, Tristram: The Frock Coated Communist

Hynes, Samuel: A War Imagined

Jackson, Nancy: The Cook's Tale

Jones, Nigel: Tower

Kelly, Robin, DC: To Make Our World Anew: Vol I

Kelly, Robin, DC: To Make Our World Anew: Vol II

King, Stephen: 11.22.63

Kerr, John: A Dangerous Method

Ledgin, NM: Sally of Monticello

Marr, Andrew: The Diamond Queen

Magorian, Michelle: A Little Love Song

Magorian, Michelle: A Spoonful of Jam

Magorian, Michelle: Cuckoo in the Nest

Martin, George. R. R: A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust

Martin, George. R. R: A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast

McInerney, Monica: Those Faraday Girls

McKay, Sinclair: The Secret Life of Bletchley Park

McKissack, Patricia C: Slave Girl

Messenger, Charles: Call to Arms

Meyer, G J: The Tudors

Moyes, Jojo: The Girl You Left Behind

Newman, Michael: Socialism

Oldfield, Pamela: Workhouse

O'Brien, Anne: The King's Concubine

O'Brien, Anne: The Uncrowned Queen

Plaidy, Jean: The Loves of Charles II

Plaidy, Jean: The Merry Monarchs Wife

Plummer, Rosemary: The Maids Tale

Powell, Margaret: Below Stairs

Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse and Mother

Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse in Time

Purcell, Jennifer: Domestic Soldiers

Rhodes, Chloe: One For Sorrow

Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire

Richards, Susan: Chosen by a Horse

Scarsbrook, M G: Poison in the Blood

Sibley, Brian: Offical Movie Guide

Singer, Peter: Marx

Smith, LJ: The Awakening and The Struggle

Smith, LJ: The Fury and The Return

Smith, LJ: Nightfall

Smith, LJ: Stefan Diaries I: Origins

Smith, LJ: Stefan Diaries II: Bloodlust

Smith, LJ: Stefan Diaries III: The Craving

Smith, LJ: Stefan Diaries IV: The Ripper

Smith, LJ: Stefan Diaries V: The Asylum

Soames, Mary: A Daughters Tale

Stachniak, Eva: The Winter Palace

Stockett, Kathryn: The Help

Thomas, Heidi: Call the Midwife

Townsend, Sue: The Secret Diary of Afrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

Tsaraidze, Alexandre: Wife Before God

Vickery, Amanda: The Gentlemans Daughter

Wilcock, Penelope: The Hawk and the Dove

Wilding, Valerie: Wartime Princess

Wolff, Jurgen: Your Writing Coach

Worth, Jennifer: Call The Midwife

Worth, Jennifer: Farewell to the East End

Worth, Jennifer: In the Shadow of the Workhouse

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

Wish List:

 

Clare, Cassandra: The Infernal Devices

Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones

Davis, Peter Ho: The Welsh Girl

Dexter, Colin: Last Bus to Woodstock

Downer, Lesley: The Last Concubine

Fraser, Antonia: Charles II

Flanders, Judith: The Victorian House

Follett, Ken: Fall of Giants

George, Margaret: The Autobiography of Henry VIII

Gullan, Harold: Faith of Our Mothers

Harper, Karen: The First Princess of Wales

Horn, Pamela: Life in a Victorian Household

Horn, Pamela: Life as a Victorian Lady

Kiste, John Van Der: Childhood at Court

Maloney, Alison: Life Below Stairs

Maloney, Alison: Bright Young Things

Malcolmson, Robert: The Diaries of Nella Last

Massie, Robert: Catherine the Great

Mead, Richelle: Vampire Academy

Osbourne, Frances: Park Lane

Piercy, Rohase: My Dearest Holmes

Ridley, Jane: Bertie

Sim, Alison: The Tudor Housewife

Sparks, Nicholas: The Lucky One

Vicery, Tim: A Game of Proof

 

Ok done :)

Edited by Jessi
Posted

Two books read already this year, with a third to be added soon - thats the good news.

 

The bad news is my lap top has died - and I'll have to do my TBR list all over again :(

Posted (edited)

Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling (4/5)

 

Even without Harry Potter, I just love this little book. I am sure I have reviewed it before here, but I had to do it again. It is when reading this book as well as Quidditch Through the Ages and Magical Beasts that you realise just how boundless Rowling’s imagination is. A very quick read, but a brilliant one; these are the Fairy Tales my kids will be brought up on.

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

Little Mother of Russia by Coryne Hill (4/5)

 

This biography was wonderful! It told the story of Alexander III’s Tsarina, Empress Marie, the mother of the last Tsar, Nicholas II. Inevitably, that made this a very sad story to read at times, especially as Marie fought against the influence of Rasputin to try and save her son to no avail.

 

The story spanned eighty years and follows the Empress from her youth as Princess Dagmar of Denmark ; as a young mother in her years as Empress in waiting; as a popular Tsarina; a distraught young widow (Alexander died before she was fifty); a dominate mother in law and then finally to her years as dowager empress in exile.

 

The exploration of the relationships with the key people in her life is what I will take away from this book most. From youth, all the way to old age she was incredibly close to her elder, beautiful sister, Queen Alexandra of Great Britain. Letters flew between England and Russia for over half a century weekly. In spite of their clashing temperaments, Marie had a loving and happy marriage to her bear like husband, despite having initially been betrothed to his elder brother who tragically died with Marie by his beside before they married. She had difficult relationships with the majority of her children at one time or another for various reasons. She suffered the hearting breaking loss of all four of her sons, even if she did not accept it. Marie always maintain Nicholas was alive to others, though it was implied after Anna Anderson affair she had to admit the truth about what happened in July 1917 to herself, even if she wouldn’t to anyone else.

 

It was overall a story of incredible highs and of devastating lows, and well worth reading.

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkien(4.5/5)

 

I read this book for the first time in years and found I still love it just as much as I did when I was little, as I read it for the first time 10 years ago ( :o ) when I was 11. Just like J K Rowling, Tolkien's imagination never fails to wow me. The world he creates just engulfs me when I am reading. Of all the 'made up' worlds, I think middle earth is the one I would most like to go to - in fact, there is not a lot I wouldn't do to be able to live in the Shire.

Sam has always been, and will always be, one of my favourite fictional characters in the world. He is just so loyal and loving. Whenever he comes on to the page, I just smile.

Edited by Jessi
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Qudditch Through the Ages - a good qucik read, much like The Tales of Beedle the Bard

 

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (4/5)

 

I don't think I had ever read this classic childrens book, but I am so glad I did. It was so charming and interesting to read - I learnt quite a lot about victorian London while I read it too. Beautiful tale about a beautiful animal!

Posted

Qudditch Through the Ages - a good qucik read, much like The Tales of Beedle the Bard

 

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (4/5)

 

I don't think I had ever read this classic childrens book, but I am so glad I did. It was so charming and interesting to read - I learnt quite a lot about victorian London while I read it too. Beautiful tale about a beautiful animal!

 

I haven't read Quidditch through the ages but I definitely must get it this year! I remember reading Black Beauty when I was a kid and loving it, but I'm not sure if it was an unabridged version or not. How long was your book? Because I remember it as being pretty short.

Posted

Behind Closed Doors - Amanda Vickery (4.5/5)

 

I read this book as I am doing the course it accompanies at uni this semester and I am so, so glad I picked it. I spend a lot of my day every day it seems, thinking about history but until lately I never though about the history of the home, about the way the homes we live in today developed. This book opened up part of that story to me and as I said, I am thrilled it did. Threaded throughout this book which takes us in to the homes of days gone past were references to Jane Austens wonderful novels, due to the way the literature shows the Georgiana home to us. Looking across the social barriers and studies across Britian, I leanrt a lot and found my basis. It felt like reading a novel - pick up a copy if you can!

Posted

1776 by David McCullough (4/5)

 

I had this one on my bookshelf far too long before I got round to reading it. I forgot how well McCullough writes.

 

When reading the history of a war it is always far too easy to get lost in the battles and the mechanics of it – however McCullough keeps the personalities to the front of the story and the narrative fluid. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this history of the war of independence.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

The life and letters of Charles Darwin – Francis and Charles Darwin (4/5)

 

This sounds a lot heavier than it was, though the scientific terms did become a little hard to take at times. I got interested in the Darwin’s after I watched the film ‘Creation’ over the Christmas break. I was never much one for science when I was at school – I did not even get a C for my GCSE. Yet now I’ve learnt a little bit more about Darwin, I find I can get a better grip on the subject. It was quite an enjoyable read.

Edited by Jessi
Posted (edited)

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen (4.5/5)

 

This has been my favourite book of the year so far and I think it is the best Austen I have read to date. I just feel so in love with the characters and Catherine Morland was a wonderful creation. This is a tale I am going to read again and again over the years.

 

It was wonderful!

Edited by Jessi
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Canon Doyle (5/5)

 

I do not know why it took me so long to get on to the Sherlock books, they are wonderful. I am not much one for spies and thrillers so this really was new territory. Sherlock Holmes speaks for itself; it has wonderful plots, is fabulously written and two of literatures greatest characters. I also feel as if I am learning when I am reading Doyle and loved getting lost in Victorian London.

Posted

1000 Years of Annoying the French - Stephan Clarke (4/5)

 

I really enjoyed this book. It was very informative, very funny and took me a very long time to get through. Nevertheless, that does not mean I didn’t like it. This quick race through 1000 years of French history gave lots of dates and characters, but it did not feel over powering.

 

I’d recommend it.

Posted (edited)

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (4/5)

 

While I did not enjoy Sense and Sensibility quite as much as I did Northanger Abbey it is still surely one of Austen’s best. As one of two sisters, who are like chalk and cheese, there was an awful lot in this novel I could relate too. Elinor was a wonderful heroine – strong and selfless, she was almost too good to be true; and while Marianne could be self centre she felt very real. I know this is going to be a book I read and reread time and time again.

Edited by Jessi
Posted

Tommy by Richard Harris (3.5/5)

 

I read Tommy for uni as one of my courses this semester is on world war one and I am glad that I did. The course is totally changing the way I think about the war, and Tommy is part of the reason my views are changing.

 

Tommy looks at the soldiers lives on the western front form a very personal point of view. Holmes’s work is littered with very insightful primary sources. Though they did become a little over powering at times and I found the discussion of weapons a little laborious too, other discussions (for example, what the soldiers were reading when they were in the trenches and the day to day lives of the solders) made this book hard to put down. Though obviously a heavy topic, this is well worth the read, especially as we approach the hundredth anniversary of the war breaking out.

 

Call the Midwife – Jennifer Worth (5/5)

 

This is the best book I have read in a very long time. It was filled to the brim with life as it was in the East End during the 1950s. When young Jenny Lee walked in to the convent in Poplar as a newly trained midwife she had no idea what life was going to through at her – basically everything it could, and then some.

 

This is a book which is as heart warming as it is gut wrenching. Mary, Len and Conchita, the young midwifes and the old nuns are all going to stay in my mind for a long time. While some of them experiences love as most of us can only hope to, others suffered beyond imagination.

 

Personally, I felt as if I could connect with the book on some levels; my grandparents and their parents lived in this world. It therefore helped me understand them a little more. Geographically, I go to Poplar 3 times a week for uni. As I read about the east end Worth knew, I literally walked the streets of it too.

 

I can’t recommend this highly enough – that said, there are some quite disturbing moments. And tissues should also come free with it.

Posted

The Queen Mother – William Shawcross (4/5)

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this informative, well written and engaging biography of the Queen Mother. Taking us from her happy childhood all the way through to her long widowhood, this huge biography sheds interesting light on the queen who helped lead England through the second world war and is well worth the read.

Posted (edited)

In the Shadow of the Workhouse – Jennifer Worth (4.5/5)

 

This was my favourite of the Midwife trilogy. It is going to stay with me for a very, very long time. I wept at both the story of Frank and Peggy as well as Joe’s tale. Jane also broke my heart. They were four good people who life was unkind to... but more than that, they suffered unnecessarily and cruelly from separation as well as others actions. It is a hard hitting read, but worth it.

Edited by Jessi
Posted

Poison in the Blood – MG Scarsbrook (1/5)

 

The worst book I have read so far this year. It would be better if Scarsbrook had invented characters to go with the plot. Instead, it is billed as to be a Borgias novel. I accept that some authors write historical characters in to tales which aren’t accurate, but it still aggravates me. A badly written Alexander mixed in with a self righteous Lucrezia meant this was book was always going to wind me up. I down loaded it when it was free on kindle thankfully; my advice is don’t waste your money.

Posted

Call to Arms by Charles Messenger (4/5)

 

This was another book I read for my world war one course at university. I thoroughly enjoyed it; it was a great over view of the British army in the western front. The chapter on women in the army was especially interesting. A really wonderful book that didn’t get too heavy but gave solid information.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Farewell to the East End – Jennifer Worth (4/5)

 

It was with sadness I finished this book as I was thoroughly engrossed in the 1950s East End Worth recreated. It was written with the same affection and warmth which characterised its predecessors. Worth tells us what happened to herself and her fellow midwives once they left the east end as well as wrapping up the stories of the final patients we met as well as the nuns.

 

All three books are well worth reading.

Posted

The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn are surely a must read for any Tudor fan. The passion at the beginning of one of the most passionate and doomed relationships in history has been well documented elsewhere but reading the letters really brings it back to the reader. A wonderful but tragic read.

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