The Mock Turtle

Bat Macdui wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2020 10:56 am Is The Familiars the one set at Townley Hall? It's a North West Libraries Must Read or something, they're promoting it madly at the moment.

Gawthorpe Hall, which FB implies you’ve also been to? (I was searching for it in my friends posts to confirm its where I went with Bean and Shoe).

Oh is that where we went?

Having looked at pictures on the internet, it was Gawthorpe I was thinking of and had been to (which was grey and had lace), not Townley.

Bean, have you been to Salmesbury Hall? It appears they have ghosty tours. Though, weirdly, a waffle shop not a tea shop.

I mean, what kind of historic house doesn't have a tea shop?

No tea shop? Also, surprisingly since you could walk there from my house, I have never been. We could go and have the tea and cake part at my house.

Samlesbury use actors for their ghost stuff I think. I’ve been there for a wedding. It was fun.

I finished Heresy last night and definitely want to read more SJ Parris. I’ve started The Confession and love it so far.

That is an excellent plan, Bean. I will consider dates. I've read two historical novels in a month so now consider myself an expert, interested historian.

I have never been to Gawthorpe, for parkrun, garden centre or otherwise.

Turtle Bean wrote: ↑Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:00 pm Oh is that where we went?

Yes! I am quite bored now of this woman’s whining on to people about her imprisoned midwife. This is the downside of audiobooks - I would speed read past drivel that I’m being forced to listen to (as skipping could mean I miss something “important”).

Oh is it not that good? It's next month's book club choice.

It’s been ok, and if I’d been listening in the car yesterday it might have been different. Instead, I was on the bus and it was dragging. It probably doesn’t help that I know what happened to some characters in RL.

I have just finished A God in Ruins and loved it. I usually get annoyed by chronological inconsistency but it made sense, and the way Ted's life was revealed made me care more about each bit, as I think I'd have glossed over a lot of the battles if I weren't already invested in him. I would have liked to have known about his time as a POW, however, as that must have shaped him as much as the rest of his war, and hated the Augustus excerpt at the end (although perhaps I was supposed to? Izzie wasn't a very sympathetic character) but loved the rest. Especially Bertie

I got A God in Ruins for Christmas, having read it a couple of years ago; this has reminded me to re-read it.

I devoured In The Woods by Tana French and am now reading On Writing by Stephen King.

I discovered today that Tom Hanks has written a book of short stories. I am intrigued.

I imagine they're terrible and wouldn't have been published of he wasn't Tom Hanks.

I'm pretty sure I've read one of them and it was ok.

I finished Waterlog. It was wonderful.

I’m currently listening to The Memory by Lucy Dawson. I’m enjoying it so far.

I've just read the synopsis and that sounds super creepy, Wendy. Let me know if you like it once you've finished it.

I was really tempted by a Sophie Hannah book earlier (Haven't They Grown) but I've searched on here and see she is almost universally hated

I'm reading The Keeper of Lost Things and loving it. I'm having a run of excellent books so far this year

Sophie Hannah is so disappointing, the synopses are always so good and intriguing and then the actual books are TERRIBLE.

I have finished Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks which I enjoyed except the last bit.

I've just rejoined Audible, as I realised you can return the books for new credits. I had lots that I gave up on because of the narrators, so have swapped them for new ones.

I am currently reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (the Simon Armitage translation) and It Is Excellent - the best thing I've read in ages - so I have ordered the Audiobook, as he does the narration. I'm going to listen to it in bed tonight. I swapped it for an awful rendition of a Val McDermid one, in which the voice of Stacey Chan was almost racist in its dreadfulness.