General Chat

Has anyone read any good books lately? Tell us about them. Ann glos

thank you Jeanette and EMB. haven't read the greatest Knight but have read some of Mcall Smith's books, very good reads. ann Glos

The Greatest Knight - Elizabeth Chadwick (As nominated by Dee for the August Greaders choice!) A penniless young knight with few prospests, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II's formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor to the heir of the throne. However, being a royal favourite brings its share of conflict and envy as well as fame and reward. William's influence over the volatile, fickle Prince Henry and his young wife is resented by less favoured courtiers who set about engineering his downfall. In a captivating blend of fact and fiction, Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects one of England's greatest forgotten heroes. I don't want to say too much as I know Dee hasn't read this book yet. But I can tell you Dee.....you won't be disappointed! And a quote from the Author's note at the back of the book..... 'The Greatest Knight explores the early part of this fascinating life. A second novel, linked to the first but not dependent, will cover the doings of his later years.' Woohoo! Can't wait

Gardens of Delight by Erica James. A great book this, really enjoyed it. Helen's life has recently undergone a dramatic change, no longer a single independant woman struggling to make ends meet, she is now married to a wealthy charasmatic man. But with a manipulative stepdaughter to cope with, it is no bed of roses. So, when she gets the chance to go to Italy to see some of Lake Comos finest gardens she doesn't hesitate. conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. still mourning the tragic loss of his wife, he only signs up for the trip to Italy to please his elderly uncle. Before long he has to admithis motives aren't entirely selfish. The last place Lucy wants to visit is Lake como. and with good reason; this is where her father lives and she hasn't seen him since she was a teenager. Yet, by the time they return home nothing will be the same again for them. A fairly light book with very believable characters. Humerous and warm, bittersweet. Very readable. Ann Glos

Lifeguard - James Patterson with Andrew Gross Everything is going right for lifeguard Ned Kelly. He is involved with Tess, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and what's more, a million dollars is within touching distance; his share of the score for the robbery of some world-class art. All he has to do is trigger alarms to throw the cops off the scent. But when Tess is brutally murdered and the others involved in the robbery are massacred, Ned is the prime suspect. He has been set up... If you want a book that's wham-bam straight into the story with no slowing down along the way, this is the one for you! Each chapter is only about 5 pages long too, so before you know where you are, you're over half way through. Hubby is a big fan of James Patterson so I often pick up one of his 'left overs' when I haven't got anything else to read. I must say I particularly like Mr Patterson when he writes in conjunction with Andrew Gross. And if you haven't read The Jester, I would recommend that too......something quite different!

thanks both of you, although none of them sound my sort of books as you will well imagine!! Ann Glos

London Bridges and Mary Mary both by James Patterson Classic Alex Cross stories both of them. Real page-turners and very fast reads! Usual twists and shocks. I think I preferred Mary Mary as there was less of Alex's 'past' involved in it. London Bridges was a bit of a misnomer really as only a small part of the book was set in London. It was exciting, but there were a LOT of characters and I did have to check a couple of times who I was reading about. Mary Mary was a more straightforward serial killer story, but with a few nice twists. The background story of Alex's relationships and custody battle was intertwined nicely with the main action. I would recommend this one as more of a 'stand-alone' as any others in the series I think. If you like whodunnits (bloody, but not outrageously so!) and plenty of twists, then give Patterson a try! Maz. XX

Dracula – Bram Stoker When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client’s castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman’s neck; and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his ‘Master’. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing into questions of identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire Distinctly lacking in sexuality and desire, well I thought so. It was a gripping book, told through the means of diaries and journals of the various people who set out to catch and kill the Count. I must admit I found it less scary than the Rat trilogy by James Herbert, but I am glad I have finally got round to reading it. (and NO I didn’t get nightmares) ;-))

Kate and Olivia by Annie Murray At first sight a light holiday type read but I was surprised at how deep tghis one was in places. Anna Craven is looking at a folder and letter left to her by her Mother after her Mother's death. She had grown up with stories about Kate, her Mother, and her friend Olivia but was told by Kate that Olivia died in the war. She now finds this was not so and most of the book is Kate's story about her and Olivia, a very strange friendship. Kate is engaged to Angus who goes off to war as a pilot and doesn't return, then she marries Douglas who is Anna's father, a cripple. Olivia's father is very possessive and this in turn makes Olivia possessive of kate. But there is more to it than that, Olivia has a warped personality and, after her father makes her have an abortion (because he doesn't want to share her) she ends up in a psychiatric hospital. there is a great deal of information about the treatment she receives (50s/60s) and the conditions in the hospital. Olivia eventually has a son, Krishna whose Father is married and she in turn is possessive of him and we can see him going the same way as her. Anna finds Olivia and Krishna. I wont go too deeply into he plot as you may want to read it yourselves. There is also the sub plot which is the story of Anna herself and her partner Richard. It was an excellent book, a very good read. Ann Glos

Hi Dee, nice to see you about! I had Wide Sargasso Sea on my 'to read' list - I also read about it in The Times and thought it sounded really interesting. Not sure whether I shall bother now, as I know we tend to have fairly similar views on books! I also never read introductions until after I have finished the book - once bitten twice shy! Maz. XX

CIDER WITH ROSIE, BY LAURIE LEE Ive just re-read this book for the first time for about 30 years. It has a lovely feel-good factor about it and Laurie obviously enjoyed his childhood with his Mother and his siblings. It is a quick and easy book to read and a celebration of a childhood in a time that I would have been glad to share.I think it is a masterpiece and I would advice anybody who hasnt read this book to do so! Davexxxxx

Whatever happened to the authors I used to read?? At one time I read almost all of the books by Monica Dickens and those by Nora Lofts, now I rarely see them in the shops or libraries. Both tell a brilliant story, Nora Lofts books are mostly historic novels and Monica Dickens captures social history so well, or I think she does. Anybody else read either of them?? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monica Dickens The Heart of London Gossip, problems and surprises – Monica Dickens writes about the day-to-day lives of Londoners. Cottingham Park might be found in any of a dozen metropolitan boroughs. Blitzed during the war, it now bristles with new council flats and boasts new affluence. With all her sympathy and humour Monica Dickens shows us the rapidly changing face of London through the eyes of the people who live there – May Wilson, the district nurse, the Bannings, housewives like Mrs Boot and teachers like Grace Pool ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nora Lofts Lady Living Alone (written originally when she was known as Peter Curtis) Miss Penelope Shadow was driving towards her own home in the January dusk, knowing that when she got there she would not be able to cross the threshold. For today the house would be empty, and Miss Shadow, who was not timid in other respects, was afraid of the dark and the inexplicable change which came over familiar places as soon as she was alone in them. Empty rooms would stretch wide and become menacing with a threat that was more awful because it was unnameable Giving in to phobia, she broke her journey at a dismal guest house, and that was where she met Terry, who was young and confident and caring and far from dismal, in fact everything Miss Shadow could possibly have needed Eventually she was to cure herself of her phobia, but only after events more dreadful than the worst of her imaginary fears had taken place A cautionary tale for anyone planning to marry their toyboy!!!!

Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys Please bear with me while I have a moan This book was one I have long wanted to read. It seems it was inspired by Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and is set in the lush, beguiling landscapes of Jamaica in the 1830’s The tale in itself was disappointing and to my mind poorly written. It certainly did not merit the comment made by The Times, referring to it as ‘one of the works of genius of the twentieth century’ The copy I read was a Penguin Modern Classis. I found it extremely irritating that around a ¼ of the book was taken up with an Introduction, notes and footnotes. In my mind they distracted from the book itself. Personally I rarely read the introductions before starting a book: I find they inevitably act as ‘spoilers’ and try to impose someone else’s interpretation of the work on the reader. Footnotes are also a constant irritant. I find it difficult to ignore them but when I do break off to read them I find they seem to add little to the understanding and flow of the story Moan over Dee ;-))

Death's Acre - Inside the Legendary 'Body Farm' by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson Anyone who has read Patricia Cornwell's The Body Farm will have heard of the research facility at the University of Tennessee where decomposition of human bodies is studied. Bill Bass is the founder and this book is essentially his life story. Of course there are gory parts, but I found it so interesting too. There are details of various cases that Bill was asked to help police with - trying to identify human remains to help catch their killers. The research that they have done is just amazing, enabling time of death to be pinpointed so much more accurately, along with the main 4 identifying features - age, sex, race, height. Bill Bass seems like a thoroughly nice bloke who has been instrumental in ensuring so many killers are convicted. He is still doing so at the age of 78!! If you want to know more about the Body Farm without reading the book, then have a look at http://web(.)utk(.)edu/~anthrop/index(.)htm Maz. XX ps if anyone has read any Kathy Reichs, Bill Bass and Tempe Brennan are both Forensic Anthropologists - as is Kathy Reichs herself!

Thanks maz, look forward to it. Ann Glos

Hi Ann, I've nearly finished a book and will be adding a review on this thread tomorrow. Not sure that anyone else would be interested, but will add it anyway! Maz. XX

anyone got any recently read book reviews for this thread?

I like the sound of the third secret 9although i am one of the odd ones out who have not read the Da Vinci Code), don't like the sound of the rats though Dee. and yes, a stack of books to take with me, although I still have to read the last book club choice and it is a big one! Ann glos

Hi Jeanette I shall be looking out for some more of his when I get back from my holiday, meanwhile I must get started on the book clubs selection for this month Jean I have got, but not yet read, Kathy's Story by Kathy O'Beirne. It describes a childhood hell inside the Magdalen Launderies and was published last year, could that be the one you are thinking of?? Dee x

can someone tell me what the book was called about the magdaline homes I think it was, someone was chatting about it the other week and it sounded good. I am reading too many mothers by roberta taylor at the moment, seems good, has its funny moments and sad bits. jean