Hobbies and Crafts

Hi Perse :-D <3

Lovely to see you as always...I have read it and I loved it.... :-D

Just starting to get back into my reading again so watch this space ;-)

~~~~~ s to one and all bookworms <3 <3

Mersey, do you mean that you received the free book? Well done.

However, does that mean that, because our messages were not opened we were not in with a chance I wonder? Nobody has said why they were not opened.

did you put a message on here or on facebook out of interest?

Hi Ann ....I was talking about the book Perse was talking about

She Wore Only White by Dörthe Binkert

I did not join th GR Book Club

:-)

Ah,crossed wires, apologies.

Reading Twopence to Cross The Mersey at the moment,
forgot I had this on my kindle :-)

Just downloaded The Taming of The Queen by Philippa Gregory
from Amazon, £9.99

Minxy Tuppence Across the Mersey was one of my favourite books... <3

Mersey I downloaded it in August last year :-)

I have been reading a very large book by Robert K Massie detailing the life and times of Peter the Great, the man who modernised Russia and founded St. Petersburg, as well as giving his country a navy modelled on those of England and the Netherlands.

Before Peter, Russia was a backward and inward looking collection of regions with little contact with the Western world, apart from the trade in furs. Peter travelled abroad, spending considerable time in many of the countries of Europe, learning himself how to build ships and sending various Russians to Europe to learn a number of useful trades. He also brought to Russia, to teach his people, many of the top Europeans in fields such as shipbuilding, architecture, military and naval administration etc.

I learnt a lot about Russian history and also a fair amount of European history along the way. For instance, I had not realised how powerful Sweden was at this time (late 17th/early 18th centuries). Russia and Sweden were constantly at war and the book is almost a biography of Charles X11 of Sweden as well.

I found the middle section of the book the most difficult as it is concerned with a number of battles and I found it hard to remember the names of all the different generals and where they were fighting, but it is important as it was the Battle of Poltava in 1709 that seems to have started Sweden’s decline and Russia’s rise as a world power.

Peter is a complex character. Physically imposing - 6’7” tall – he was a generally “larger than life” character. Happy living very simply and working with his hands, he comes over as an attractive man. However he was also very cruel. I don’t know whether he was considered a cruel man in his own time or whether it is viewing him through modern eyes that make him seem so. His treatment of his first wife Eudoxia, who was not his choice, was appalling, and his son by Eudoxia, the Tsarevitch Alexei, died after torture ordered by Peter. To his generals and the people of his court he was cruel and forgiving by turns.

Although it took me a long time to read I really enjoyed this fascinating book and will be keeping it on my kindle to read again.

Vera, I was taught about Peter The Great at school, as well as Catherine The Great and Ivan The Terrible
The only thing I remember about them are their names! I think that Ivan The Terrible came first. As I (just) remember it they were a blood thirsty lot and so of interest to us teenagers.
You have now set me thinking (what hard work that is!), As I have difficulty carrying and or holding large tomes, I'll have to research on line as a boost to my memory.

I am re-reading. The Thread. by Victoria Hislop.
Beginning in 1917 it tells the story of Thessaloniki, the people living there, and there every day lives.
In 1917 the city is a mix of christians, Jews and Muslims. For the most part getting on well together.
Things change after the conclusion of the first world war. Resulting in Christians (mainly of Greek extraction) being forced to leave what had been the Ottoman empir.
While in Thessaloniki (and other parts of Greece,) Muslims are forced to go to Turkey.

The refugee problem of these days are rather reminiscent of the situation then.

This is a story about people who are living through these difficult times. So not just a history lesson.
The author brings to life the happenings of the time by telling the story of Katerina and Dimitri, who were very young children at the time of the massive changes caused by the attrousities of war.

Amongst other books, including The Sunrise by V hisslop Tess, I have just read The Tea Planters wife by Dinah Jefferies. I really enjoyed it. Set in Ceylon in the 20s it is a good read about the tea making process but also about the political problems of the times before Ceylon became Sri Lanka.


The sunrise was good too. :-D

That sounds a good book Ann. I'll look out for it.

I've just finished Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle. It's a fictionalised account of the adult life of Katherine Parr, based on real events and people. I hadn't come across this author before but found it an enjoyable read. If you like Phillipa Gregory you will probably like this.

Will look out for that one Vera.

Ann and Vera,

Will look out for these books. Both sound interesting.

Hello everyone, I'm new to the community forums though I've been a GR free/standard member off and on since 2006. My interest in genealogy waned about 5 or 6 years ago as I had little time with work and being a carer for my mum who had dementia.

I've always had a passion for sf & f and horror/supernatural. My favourite authors are Stephen King, James Herbert, Terry Pratchett and, of course, Tolkien.

I'm currently in the middle of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, towards the end of book 4, 'Wizard and Glass' - only another 4 to go!

An epic tale of fantasy adventure that's a little hard going sometimes.

Hello Stephen - we (that is OH and I) love the Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. His last novel, published posthumously, , is on OH's Christmas List :-D

Did you managed to see the Lord of the Rings films when they came out? You mght have managed to catch them on TV or have bought the DVDs. How did you think they compared to the books?
We also like the Lindsey Davis series about Falco, an Investigator in Imperial Rome. We've recently discovered that she is continuing the series, but with his adopted daughter Flavia Albia in the lead role.

I must admit that my tastes do flit between detective/mystery and SF/Fantasy, but not too keen on the Stephen King style of horror.
Its a good thing we aren't all the same, isn't it? :-D

Hello Stephen, not a fan of the type of books you read but nice to see you posting.

Hi Det - If you like Tolkien and Terry Brooks' Shannara books then I think you would probably like The Dark Tower. It's a different kind of epic fantasy adventure and is so refreshing in a way because it's not all 'elves and goblins'.

I haven't read any TP books for quite a while so I'm way behind. He's on my list for a catch-up at some point though.

I saw LOTR when it was first released on VHS tape but I haven't seen any of the Hobbit films yet. I think the books are far better than the films; I always like to read the book first as you form your own images in your mind rather than a director's view which often spoils it for me.

I haven't seen any of the Falco series I'm afraid but will watch out for the repeat in the future, it's in mid-run isn't it at the moment. I'm currently watching the repeat of Helix on Spike in anticipation of the second series shortly after. I saw the first series (or was it first and second?) of Falling Skies but it's only been on satellite since so I haven't seen any more. Under The Dome, the first two series were good but then they made a complete mess of it in the third - and it strays wildly from the book anyway which I haven't read (which goes against my principles :-) ).

Dark Tower is being made into a film at the moment, due out in 2017 I think and there's an American TV series called Shannara Chronicles - I don't know if it's going to be anything like the books, though.

I do read other types of books in between e.g. Shadow of the Wind, The Historian, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Before I Go to Sleep. My next 'other' books on my list are The Marriage Certificate and Steve Robinson's Jefferson Tayte mysteries (as recommended on here).

Hi Ann - thanks, I've been reading the posts for some time as a free member but just renewed last week so I could contribute.

Incidentally, is there a way to set GR to open threads with the latest post first rather than having to do it manually each time?