General Chat

For those living in Spain,here are some suggestions.I know I liked them and knew the places having lived in Andalucia for a time.

The Summer of the Spanish Woman. Catherine Gaskin.Set in the area round Jerez and all about this woman getting a bodega up and running.

Driving over Lemons
A parrot in the Pepper Tree...both by Chris Stewart and set around the Alpujarra region of Andalucia not far from Granada.Their experiences are hilarious and typical of the villages in that area.

A bit more serious book,but one that I liked set around Madrid in 1940 after the Spanish Civil War is.....
Winter in Madrid...by C.J.Sansom.

MY reading at the moment is Susan Sallis....Lydia Fielding.

I like all the authors previously mentioned by others,but tend to switch between a light read to something a bit heavier.Can't stand Fantasy which my OH loves and as he is housebound I was trying to pick them up at the library every 3 weeks.Fortunately now we have his Library lady coming every month with about 20 books,and a lady in the library picks out all the ones she knows he will like,including new ones,so I am very grateful for this service which I think is marvellous.If we didn't have a library we would be inundated with books!!

Brenda x

I have stopped reading this thread for a while....it is becoming too expensive for me. Ha Ha Ha
I have so many new books staring at me while I read.
My head at the minute is sharing iteself between THE BIRDS... Daphne du maurier
and THE GRAPES OF WRATH...Steinbeck....
I don't read two at a time, but these are special, plus, I have read them before.... anothing I very rarely do.
Happy reading everyone, we are coming into *lights out, curtains closed and heating on time.*
My favourite time of year really.
Deanna X

The Morland Dynasty by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

So far she has written about 30 books following the same family . Starting from the War of the Roses she is now up to the first world war.

They are brilliantly written, I can't put them down, also very clever, the family are involved in all the major historical events.

The author describes them as 'a history lesson without tears'

BRILLIANT

Traceyx

n:o)

Frances,
I particularly liked The Summer of the Spanish woman.It's a long time since I read it but at the time I was living near Jerez in "THe Sherry Triangle" and her descriptions of how the sherry was made had been well researched and fitted in with what we knew after many visits toDomecq,Osborne,Terry's,Crofts etc,and her description of the area was spot on.
I liked Driving over Lemons better than his other books.

If your OH liked winter in Madrid,he may like one by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.Think it was called Cemetery for books or certainly something like that,set in Barcelona.
Wherever you are in Spain I hope you are enjoying it as we did and certainly miss the free and easy life style,but not the mozzies!
Brenda x

BLACK BIRD- jennifer lauk
an ordinary girl growing up in the 1970's the extraordianry circumstances of a childhod lost and found

STILL WATERS- jennifer lauk
continuing the riveting true story begun in her critically acclaimed memoir black bird

KOMMANDANTS GIRL- pam jenoff
spetember 1939 overnight jewish 19 year old emma bau's life is turned upside down when germany invades poland.after only 6 weeks of marriage her husband a member of the resistance is forced to flee.escaping the ghetto,emma assumes a new christian identity and finds work in the nazi head quarters.

GEISHA OF GION-mineko iwasaki
the true story of japans foremost geisha

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A GEISHA-sayo masudo
an extrodinary portrait of rural life in japan and an illuminating contrast to the fictionalised lives of geishas

THE 19TH WIFE-david ebershoff
a big book in every sense of the word it does that thing all good novels do it entertains us-los angeles times

oh and any book by phillipa gregorey

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo part of The Millennium Triology by Steig Larsoson. Everyone I have lent it to has been unable to put it down.
The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall.

Win

Keep them coming, some good suggestions here.

Have started "Bloodline" Ann and I am hooked... so thanks for that...

Have just started
The Other Side of The Bridge by Mary Lawson
and so far it's pretty good. Will let you know how I get on with it.

Product Description
Two brothers, Arthur and Jake, are the sons of a local farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful, set to inherit the farm and his father's character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know. A young woman, Laura, comes into the community and tips the fragile balance of sibling rivalry over the edge...And then there is Ian, son of the local doctor, much younger, thoughtful, idealistic, and far too sure that he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the Fifties, and the world has changed - a little, but not enough. The stories of these two generations in the small town of Struan and its harsh rural hinterland are tragically interlocked, linked by fate and community but separated by a war which devours its young men and whose unimaginable horror reaches right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire. Lawson has an astonishing ability to turn the ratchet of tension slowly and delicately, building to a shocking climax. Taut with apprehension, surprising the reader with moments of tenderness and humour, "The Other Side of the Bridge" is a compelling, humane and vividly evoked novel with an irresistible emotional undertow.

Persephone, so am I

I have just resuscitated this thread I found it lying on the floor in the basement of my thread participation Library and was wondering if some of the folks that posted on here are still on the threads.

Did Linda in Berkshire enjoy her read?

I think a lot of us have now read the Stieg Larsson (Swedish) trilogy and would love for the family and the partner to quit squabbling and publish the fourth book.

If you liked him this chap Jo Nesbo (Norwegian) is apparently a real page turner and having listened to a radio review about him I think yes I will have to read his books.

Do you think it is something in the Scandinavian air that brings out such good writers?

I have so so many books yet to read on my shelves plus I keep getting them out of the library and I read the ones in the GR recommended reading group ( this is also a subtle hint for more participants).

I am almost wishing people would stop writing so I can catch up. I was in the new releases the other day and I felt like shouting help how am I going to managed the latest influx of books. Though I guess the best benchmark for judging books is how many times they get reprinted eg To Kill a Mocking Bird ... which I am reading at present and absolutely loving it.

Persie

Thanks for reviving this one Perse. It may help people looking for books. Will add a few more later.

Try Full Hearts and Empty Bellies a 1920s childhood from the Forest of Dean by Winifred Foley

The story of her life as a child in the forest and then in service in various places. She is an entertaining writer.

Missing You by Louise Douglas.
A love story, a tale of betrayal, of loss. A forming of a relationship, of guilty secrets and past huts. A very sensitively written book with believable characters and situations. Some pathos, some humour but all very believable.Set in Bath and Swindon and a small part in Wales. I loved it. A very good read and well worth reading if you like stories about human nature.

Picture Perfect by Jodi Piccoult
JP is particularly good at weaving interesting information into her stories and this one doesn’t disappoint. Information is given on both archaeology and Sioux culture and I learnt a lot I didn’t know about both

Another one, Louise Candlish Other People's secrets. family intrigues very good.

Anyone got any more suggestions please?

I rather liked that one we were given to read in Greaders Ann

Blackthorn Winter by Sarah Challis -
I don't know how other people read but I like to visualize the characters and so the better the characters and scenes are described the more clear it all is to me... does that make sense? I had Juliette Stephenson playing the leading role and her daughter was Liv Tyler.... I could well see this being done as a TV drama. I thought it was a very good read.

I wondered once how the Vietnamese visualised Cathy in Wuthering Heights - their copies of the book had a girl in check shirt and jeans on the cover. LOL I think at the time it was about the only book you could get there written in English.

Persie

ONE DAY by David Nicholls.

You can live your whole life not realising that what you're lookig for is right in front of you.
15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year?
And every year that follows?

"Totally brilliant"....Tony Parsons.

"Big, Absorbing, Smart".... Nick Hornby.

"You really do put the book down with the hallucinatory feeling that they've become as well known to you as your closest friends".... Jonathan Coe.

Thought provoking, witty, moving, sad enough in places to have you reaching for the tissues - this book is full of everything. I didn't want it to end.....Karen.

Persie it was good(The Other Side of The Bridge by Mary Lawson) but a long time ago now.

I am currently reading Danielle Steel............. Full Circle, Set in New York and the States in the 1960's. Pretty good too

Having just been on holiday read quite a few books including Nora Roberts, left by my Canadian cousin when she was visiting
Black Hills
Lil Chance fell in love with Cooper Sullivan pretty much the first time she saw him, an awkward teenager staying with his grandparents on their cattle ranch in South Dakota while his parents went through a messy divorce. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens - but then abruptly ends.Twelve years later and Cooper has returned to run the ranch after his grandfather is injured in a fall. Though his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something - or someone - has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks escalate into heartless killing, the memory of an unsolved murder in these very hills has Cooper springing to action to keep Lil safe.They both know the dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. And now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dance Upon the Air
introduces readers to the idyllic town of Three Sisters Island. Reputedly conjured by a trio of sisters seeking to escape the Salem witch-hunts, the island remains a place of quiet refuge for one and all, including pretty Nell Channing who arrives in town afraid of her own shadow, with few possessions and no past. But the warm, sunny days and cool, windswept nights, as well as the loving concern of new friends--especially hunky sheriff Zack Todd--soon lure skittish Nell into a much-welcome fresh life. Nell's new boss, the captivatingly lovely bookstore owner Mia Devlin (look for Mia's story, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future), wonders from what or whom Nell is running. Mia treats Nell as she would a sister, which isn't too far off the mark, helping Nell discover and explore her inner resources while Zack's romantic attentions bring a rosy glow to Nell's cheeks and to her future. But something wicked this way comes... Will Nell be ready to face and conquer her past? Even with the love and support of Mia, Zack, and Zack's fellow police officer, his peppery, down-to-earth sister Ripley, Nell has the fight of her life--the fight for her life--on her hands. Roberts continues to delight fans and create new believers with her talent and imagination.'

Have another to read next The Last Honest Woman
Nora Roberts brings you the remarkable O'Hurley Family. Never tell the whole truth, nobody wants to hear it. As the widow of an infamous racing car champion, Abby O'Hurley shunned publicity. Now a single mum, struggling to keep her family and farm afloat, Abby has invited charming, disarming and ruthlessly cynical biographer Dylan Crosby to tell her story. Abby's doing it for the sake of her sons, but she needs to keep Dylan from uncovering her darkest secrets. She'll tell him just enough to close that chapter of her life, even if Dylan wants more than she's willing to give...

Will try to update when I read some more.

Thanks for bringing it back to the front

Linda :o)