Hobbies and Crafts

I have downloaded that but I think it is only a short taster isn't it?

Could be right Ann will check :-)

Another I down loaded for £2.55 is The Blonde Beast of Birkenau
and Belsen, the life and crimes of Irma Grese, not to everyone's
taste.

Emma

I have now finished Sarah Helm's book: "A Life In Secrets - the Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE".

I found this a fascinating book and Vera Atkins was a very complex character who was still a bit of an enigma by the end of the book.

She was born of a Rumanian Jewish background but became more English than the English themselves. She came to England in 1937 and early in 1941, though technically an enemy alien as she was not naturalised till 1944, she was employed as a secretary in the French Section of the Special Operations Executive. She quickly became assistant to the Head of the section and was soon in charge of recruitment, training and general welfare of the women agents who were sent into France.

Very few of these agents returned and after the war Vera made it her mission to find out exactly where and how "her" agents had met their deaths. She did some work with the War Crimes Commission and so was able to interview a number of German SS and Gestapo personnel and some of the stories that emerge about the torture and deaths of these brave women are horrendous and do not make comfortable reading.

Vera Atkins died aged 92 in 2000. There is still controversy over her motives for her actions during and after the war, how much she knew about the double agent in SOE, how much she "manipulated" records to hide her own errors etc.

The book is very well researched. As well as records in the National Archives that had become available, members of Vera's family gave the author pretty much unlimited access to all the papers, diaries etc. that she left.

I found this an absorbing read

Glad you enjoyed it Vera ....I hope you get to read some more about her...she has always intrigued me, a very clever woman.......

Finished The Four Streets and would recommend this book.

Now reading the biography of Irma Grese a sadistic WW2
war criminal who was the youngest to be hanged for her crimes.

Emms :-)

Custard tarts and broken hearts was a good read gos in to ww1

a pocket full of shells
was a lovely shout story and a good read also only about 4 hours
but faster readers than me should only take about 2/12 to 3 hours

i got so many books on my kindle i dont no what to read next

If you've read and enjoyed any of the 'Chronicles of St Mary' books by Jodi Foster (edit Taylor) book 4 of the series is due to be published (in Kindle format) on 24 July

A Trail Through Time - Blurb

St Mary’s is back and is facing a battle to survive in this, the fourth instalment of the Chronicles.
Max and Leon are re-united and looking forward to a peaceful lifetime together. But, sadly, they don’t even make it to lunchtime.
The action races from 17th century London to Ancient Egypt and from Pompeii to 14th century Southwark as they’re pursued up and down the timeline, playing a perilous game of hide and seek until they’re finally forced to take refuge at St Mary’s – where new dangers await them.
As usual, there are plenty of moments of humour, but the final, desperate, Battle of St Mary’s is in grim earnest. Overwhelmed and outnumbered and with the building crashing down around them, how can St Mary’s possibly survive?
So, make sure the tea’s good and strong…

Shelley, loved Custard tarts and brocken hearts.

I read the first Chronicles of St Mary's book after you mentioned it Det and enjoyed it, so I went on to book two. I'm just about to download book 3 in the series. I'll be looking out for the new one when it comes out at the end of July but I generally wait until the Kindle price comes below £2 if I can.

By the way, just in case anyone thinks the books are byJodie Foster, the actress, that was a slip on Det's part. They are by Jodi Taylor.

I've just finished Tony Hawks' book "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis" which I picked up on a charity stall. A nice light easy read and a gentle giggle, though a few times he made a comment about Moldova and the way of life there that made me think a bit.

Thanks for that - Edit now in place Taylor, not Foster!

Its so easy to spend money on that site, isn't it? Luckily I've still got a fair amount of credit left over from gift cards.

In the main, I go through the top 100 free books about once a week and download any that are vaguely interesting. If they turn out to be duds, no money has been wasted.
I've probably got about 4 or 5 pages of titles still to read. Usually I'll go to the one at the bottom of the last page.

~~~~~~s to all bookworms and kindle tarts....lovely to see so many posts.....

I thought this might be of interest Longbourne author Jo Baker has a deal on her book The telling on Amazon for 99p .....well worth a download imo :-)

When Rachel arrives in her mother's isolated country house, she knows that packing everything up will bring back painful memories of what she has lost. But she soon senses that there's something else too - a presence in the house, not quite tangible, trying to make itself known. Unsettled, she starts to piece together fragments of a life lived there long before: a woman caught up in turbulent times, and drawn inexorably to a dangerous man...

Just down loaded for my kindle for 99p
The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis.

iv just finish the best of sister by dilly court
i love her books

but now i think ill read one of the free books i got from the ripple choc bar :-D
in the land of the long white cloud.

Finished reading Irma Grese and her sadistic crimes,
she expressed no feelings or apologies for what she had
done in the concentration camps and of the cruelty she
meted out to those prisoners. At her trial in Nuremberg she
was sentenced to death by hanging.

Now reading The Borgia Bride.

Emma

Just read "The Last Foundling" by Tom H Mackenzie. This is a true story of a girl who became a single mother in1939 and, due to her circumstances, gave her son up to the Foundling Hospital and he became one of the last group of foundlings admitted. It's the story of his life there and of his mother who always hoped to get him back. I knew a bit about the Hospital and have been on a guided tour of the Foundling Hospital Museum so It was an interesting read, but I didn't find it as moving as I expected.

I have just finished Marshmallows for Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson. I do like her books and this was just as good a read as all the rest. :-D

Hello, I'm new to this thread but I thought it looked very interesting. I love reading esp historical books, and at the moment am nearing the end (on my Kindle!) of a life of Peter The Great. It's over 800 pages, and has been quite a read!!! Fascinating though, what an extraordinary man he was, so far ahead of his time, born into such violent age!! After this I have a book about U.Boats in the 2nd WW. Not too sure about this one, but will give it a try!!!!

Hello Magpie and welcome to this thread.

Emma :-)

Happy reading :-D

Hello Magpie - many of us have differing tastes in books. Something you read and tell us about might spark an interest, as hopefully our offerings do to others.

Peter the Great to U Boats is quite a leap :-D

Although I'm rarely moved to tears by a book, the ending of this one did. Its probably been mentioned before

Villa Triste is a story set both in 1943 Florence and the present day. It ties together the lives of some of the Partisans, the survivors, present day murders, a detective and an American woman trying to discover who her great grandfather was.

Triste is the Italian word for Sad; the Villa was where the Gestapo took their captives for interogation.

Having visited Florence a few years ago, it was enoyable being able to sometimes picture the places mentioned.

NB - I've lost me spellchecker :-0

Hello magpie good to have more input. I am reading East of the sun by Julia Gregson at the moment. Set in 1928 Viva is employed as chaperone to Rose going to India to get married, Tor her bridesmaid and a 16 year old boy expelled from school. I am enjoying it, she is an excellent writer.