Hobbies and Crafts

So this thread and this board have slept for over a year now. Inevitable I suppose with so few posters but a shame.

Yes it was me. I actually enjoyed the book maybe I was in an introspective mood. I have read a couple of his and enjoyed them both. I can’t remember the name of the other one I will try and remember when I am on my main PC tomorrow the list is on there..

I think it is only you and I Vera that come on this thread. I don’t think people look at this board much at all.

I forgot to post that I had finished "Leaving the World" by Douglas Kennedy. I'm not sure what I think of it. It was overlong. The actual story could have been told in a third of the length. The rest of the book was philosophical musings, mostly by the main character, which I found very repetitive and I felt the whole thing could be summed up in Philip Larkins immortal line from This Be The Verse "They f**k you up, your Mum and Dad". (Hope I don't get reported for that, they are Larkins' words, not mine). I did long for there to be one or two normally functioning characters in the story.

Having said that, it was well-written and it was interesting to see a man writing from the point of view of a woman. I might try one more book by him just to see if I can get on with it.

I finished Priory of the Orange Tree and really enjoyed it though I was just a tad disappointed at the end of the book. After all that had happened it was all tied up a bit too neatly in a couple of pages. I might try another book by that author.

AnnG, did you mention an author called Douglas Kennedy? I've just downloaded one of his books from the library on to my iPad so that's my next read. I haven't got it in front of me but I think it's called "Leave the World" or something similar. I think that might be the one that was mentioned but I can't find the post now.,

Not really the type of book I would read Vera but it might appeal to my daughter. I am am going to look out for other books by Clare Mackintosh.

A very belated welcome on the book thread CMouse. So few people post on here now that I don't very often look at it. Perhaps I should do so more often.

Ann, that Clare Mackintosh book sounds my cup of tea. I have heard of her but I don't think I have read any of her books so another one to be added to my "To be read" list.

I am currently reading "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon which was recommended to me by one of my granddaughters. It is a fantasy and I thought at first it was going to be a sort of poor man's Lord of the Rings but it is quite different. This is one of the blurbs for it:

"A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep"

I have seen it described as an LGBT novel. I think that's pushing it a bit far but there is a lesbian affair in it and it is written from a feminist viewpoint so it wouldn't be for everyone. It took me a long while to get into it but I am now about three quarters of the way through and thoroughly enjoying it.

In answer to your question C Mouse I don't know it has always been a query. The easiest way to access the last post is to click on Post date.

thank you for posting this is a very lonely thread these days I am afraid,

I have just read a book by an author I had not come across before it is a psychological thriller by Clare Mackintosh and ex police and CID officer.

In a split second Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to wald away from everything she knows, to start afresh. Desperate to escape Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast but she is haunted by her fears, grief and memories.
Slowly Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating.

I really enjoyed the book, it was one of those hard to put down ones.

I am reading Lucy Worsley's book about Queen Victoria. It is obviously brilliant. Reading the above comments, I also like Lisa Jewell books. The Salt Path wasn't bad but the follow up was, in my opinion, boring. A lot of recapping on what went before.
I am wondering, as a newcomer, why the most recent posts don't show first.

Go on Jude tell us you have finished it now!!

I have just read a book by an author I have never read before and thought it was very good, very readable. It is called, And then she was Gone by Lisa Jewell ( She was fifteen, Her mother's golden girl, her whole life ahead of her. And then, Ellie was gone....... Now ten years on. Laurelhas never given up hope of finding her. then she meets a stranger who sweeps her off her feet. And his nine year old daughter Poppy is the image of Ellie. What really happened to Ellie and who has secrets to hide?)

Hi all....well the book l ordered "The Weight in ink" is still on my bedside table waiting to be read, also another "The Librarian of Auschwitz", l'm at chapter 10, so far very very good., but its sat there for ages waiting for me to finish it!!...both true stories. I tend to play scrabble on line instead....

Another book that I enjoyed very much is The Silk Merchants daughter by Dinah Jefferies. Set mainly in Hanoi in the 50s it is a novel written around the war between Vietnam, Vietminh (Vietcong) and France.

I have just read (among other books) The Wild silence by Raynor Winn. A sort of Prequel/sequel to the salt path and a very good read.

Previously I read Ruth Jones(of Gavin and Stacey) book The three of us. I thoroughly

enjoyed it despite it being emotional in parts.

I was given the Salt Path for Mother’s Day. I thoroughly enjoyed it but I’ve walked much of that coast path so bought back happy memories.
I was wondering about reading the next book Vera but may wait until it’s available on BorrowBox.

I eventually finished The Wild Silence, Rayner Winn's follow up book to The Salt Path. It is such an interesting true story, which includes a trek through Iceland, that I feel almost guilty at saying that I sometimes find "Ray", the author a rather irritating character. The book ends a bit inconclusively so I wonder if there is more to come.

I then read a couple of detective type books which were OK but nothing special to say about them. Then I read West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. This is based on a true story of two giraffes who are rescued from a hurricane at sea and driven 3200 miles through America to San Diego Zoo. It takes place in 1938 and Lynda Rutledge has wound a totally fictional story around the true story of the journey. I found it hard to get into at first but I really enjoyed it in the end. Sometimes when I get to the end of a book I've already forgotten what I read at the beginning but I think this is a story that will stay with me.

No Jude not read that one, let us know what it is like.

I have just ordered " Weight in Ink"...:) x

Has anyone read "The Weight of Ink" by Rachel Kadish. My cousin has just read in New York and says its brilliant, but maybe heavy reading.....might g et it..

It does sound interesting Tawny. I like Alison Weir but I know what AnnG means. Her books can be very dense sometimes with all the facts and dates and characters. One of OH’s Christmas presents was A.W’s book on Eleanor of Aquitaine which he has now read and enjoyed so I shall be reading that before long. She’s one of my favourite historical characters.

At the moment I am halfway through Wild Silence by Raynor Winn, a follow up to her book The Salt Path

Sounds interesting but I do find Alison Weir a bit hard to read as she gives so many facts my poor brain can’t keep up.