Book Notes

[Lily]

Yes! I remember finishing it and just sitting there with a face like this: ..............

My holiday reading:

Dead Relatives & other stories by Lucie McKnight Hardy - REALLY dark stories. Loved them.

The School of English by Hilary Mantel - short, sad little read

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield - Mr Pooter in skirts. Great fun.

A Man called Ove by Fredrick Backman - ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. CRIED AT THE END in the best possible way.

Countrymen by Bo Lidegaard - astonishing story of how Denmark protected its Jews during WW2

Sisterhood by V B Grey - surprisingly good story about twin sisters during WW2

The Marsh House by Zoe Somerville - fairly readable but predictable story of 1930s family

Eleni by Nicholas Gage, about his mother's experiences during the Greek civil war. Pretty horrific to be honest but very educational.

The Gardener by Sally Vickers - a bit... kind of ... pointless, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Witches by Tracy Borman - cf Eleni!

Blasted Things by Lesley Glaister - one of the most undersung authors I'm aware of.

The Fever of the World by Phil Rickman - not his best, but enjoyable nonetheless.

A Terrible Kindness by Joe Wrote Browning - heartbreaking and haunting but ultimately uplifting.

Little Bird of Auschwitz - Alina Peretti (cf Eleni)

DNF:
The Tiger Catcher by Paullina Simons which turned out to be time travel (I hate that)
A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris (bored me)
Life, Death and Biscuits by Anthea Allen (sure she's got a nurse but she's not a great writer)
My Mess is a bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett - I did not finish. Really wasn't for me.
Companion Piece by Ali Smith - feel ashamed of this

[Flora Poste]

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield - Mr Pooter in skirts. Great fun.

I loved this when I read it - really well observed and brings out the humour in the humdrum of everyday life. I read one of her novels a couple of months ago (Consequences) and was really disappointed as it was so bloody depressing, which I wasn't expecting at all after reading the Diary.

[Pootle]

Damn it, I was hoping it would start to get cheerier!
ETA
That was to Bats and Ella.

[sally maclennane]

I finished the Mark Bullingham book last night, I wasn't mad about it. It was a DI Thorne book and there's a villain who pops up in those books every so often, and he's in this one. I feel like it's a storyline that's been done to death and it was quite predictable.

I wanted something less grim so I downloaded Commonwealth as I enjoyed the Dutch House and had meant to try more by Ann Patchett.

[Annabella]

It is bleak but I am still very glad I read it (A Fine Balance) - years ago

[Pippedydeadeye]

I started The Devil and the Dark Water last night. I’m rattling through my library books.

[Hobbes]

I’ve just finished the first Rivers of London, and can’t quite decide if I liked it or not.

It felt a bit Pratchetty, which I love, but everything felt a bit frantic, and I wasn’t quite grasping what was going on, or how the lead character came to those conclusions.

Felt like some bits of it were missing, and I couldn’t quite remember how we ended up here, as I was reading.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Yeah, he does do that a bit Hobbes. I gloss over it by thinking that he (Peter) is a slightly unreliable narrator. It gets annoying when he describes all the procedural stuff in depth and then the next chapter is “so yeah, this big thing happened”. But I still enjoy the stories a lot.

[Hobbes]

Yes, Peter seems terribly nonchalant about the magic stuff, and takes weeks to learn a basic spell, but at the end of the book (no spoilers) he does this huge magical thing that I’m not entirely sure what it was that he did, how he did it, or how he even knew how to do it.

I don’t need full exposition at all times, but a bit more of an explanation would be nice.

Anyway, I’ve bought the first three as a set so will continue.

[sally maclennane]

I finished Commonwealth today and really enjoyed it. I loved Franny, she was such a good character.

[Pawpads]

I've just finished The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook (aka Lorna Cook) which I enjoyed.

I'm struggling to concentrate on much at the moment.

[Little My]

I just finished The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick, which was supposed to be lovely and charming but I found it depressing and boring. Don't judge a book by its cover. ;)

I've now started My Summer Darlings by May Cobb, which seems a lot more promising. Murder, obsession and intrigue.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I finished The Devil and The Dark Water last night. It was good, but not quite as good as The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by the same author.

I took out 6 books from the library three weeks ago and have read 5 of them now, so I’ve done pretty well. Time to focus on my Kindle after that having loaded it with holiday books.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I went to return books to the library yesterday and left with more.

I finished Clock Dance by Anne Tyler this afternoon. It was very typically Anne Tyler. Great, but I can’t read too many of hers in one go so I’ll have to leave a gap before I pick up another.

I’ve got The Cut by Chris Brookmyre to read next.

[Pippedydeadeye]

The Cut wasn’t as funny or gory as other Brookmyres, but still very clever.

[Bat Macdui]

Oh, thank you, Pip, I'm short of an appealing, easy read that I know will be satisfactory. I shall pick up that Chris Brookmyre.

[sally maclennane]

I read a Val McDermid book while on holiday, and am now reading another one of hers, they are both good. I have just about finished the series (Karen Pirrie books) but there is a new one in her Allie Burns series due out soon. Also there's a new Christopher Brookmyre book his month and a new Strike one due out too later in the year.

[Pippedydeadeye]

That is excellent news Sal! I’ll have to get on & pre-order those.

[Duophonic]

Finished:
The Midwich Cuckoos - I preferred the book to the tv show
Troubled Blood - absolutely loved this, couldn't put it down
Chocky - John Wyndham - fantastic story reminded me of Ray Bradbury's Zero Hour
Don't Make a Sound - David Jackson - audible freebie and it was a non-taxing page-turner
Strange Loyalties - William McIlvanney - love his writing

Currently reading:
A Tale of Two Cities - still reading this it's a massive slog. I should give it up but I'm 3/4 of the way through
Early riser - Jasper Fforde - it's started well
The Right Sort of Girl - Anita Rani
Meantime - Frankie Boyle

Gave up:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - couldn't finish this, I got a chapter in and returned it

[Kenickie]

I've just finished the Seven Husbands last night as I was too hot to sleep. I enjoyed it, but was a bit underwhelmed as I didn't feel emotionally involved with anyone unlike with Malibu Rising.