My record keeping has gone by the wayside a bit this month, other distractions, so I "think" this is the sum total of my labours this month...

Roots of Evil - Sarah Rayne - What a fabulous writer!  This is my second venture into Rayne territory, the first was A Dark Dividing, and I was not disappointed. A riveting read with her usual spooky, gothic elements and a very moving representation of life in Buchewald during WWII.

Watching the English - Kate Fox - Another goodie for me.  Kate Fox is a Social Anthropologist and I am intrigued by the study of peoples' quirks and what makes them tick.  Her examination of the English and their little foibles is very readable and accessible and at times both sad and funny.  I now need to find a book about the Irish! 

When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson (Mobile Library) - the third of a series of expertly written literary crime novels featuring Jackson Brodie.  To think that I had the first two books of the series on my shelves and hadn't read them!  She really is a consummate writer whose ability to bring to life a vast array of characters left me quite awestruck/stricken???? (I'll just make up my own words from now on..)  What a delight to rediscover a writer who I'd neglected.

Case Historires - Kate Atkinson -  Spurred on by my immense enjoyment of OGT I decided to adopt my convoluted approach of reading book one in the series after book 3.  This author has seriously impressed me and joins Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman on my all time favourite writers' podium.  It's dark but funny and the author really gets to the heart of what makes the characters tick.  I love the way she lets each character go off on a tangent allowing them to fill in their own background story but it's all done with such a light touch.  Another amazing read.

One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - the second of the JB series, a very good read but slightly less engrossing than the other two mentioned above.  I found the characters less interesting and the plot weaker.  She has certainly found her form again with . When Will There Be Good News.

The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - (Mobile Library)  A fascinating thought provoking read - there is no blurb, that would spoil the story but this is an intriguing, at times harrowing read. 

Speaking of Love - Angela Young - I was pleasantly surprised by this one - the blurb says it's reminiscent of Maggie O'Farrell and I guess the story of Iris's descent into mental illness/schizophrenia has something in common with Esme Lennox but this isn't a copy but a confidently written novel, very readable and peopled with ordinary characters who have had difficult and extraordinary experiences.  It's an uplifting read.  I look forward to reading more from this author.

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen - I can't remember if I read this this month or last but never mind, humour me... It lacked some of the sparkle of Garden Spells for me but was nevertheless an enjoyable read, maybe too saccharine for me - she's a good author but pales in comparison with the likes of Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman but having said that, it's a light, entertaining read - a marshmallow rather than a rich chocolate gateau which is more to my taste.

lovelytreez:

When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson (Mobile Library) - the third of a series of expertly written literary crime novels featuring Jackson Brodie.  To think that I had the first two books of the series on my shelves and hadn't read them!  She really is a consummate writer whose ability to bring to life a vast array of characters left me quite awestruck/stricken???? (I'll just make up my own words from now on..)  What a delight to rediscover a writer who I'd neglected.

Case Historires - Kate Atkinson -  Spurred on by my immense enjoyment of OGT I decided to adopt my convoluted approach of reading book one in the series after book 3.  This author has seriously impressed me and joins Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman on my all time favourite writers' podium.  It's dark but funny and the author really gets to the heart of what makes the characters tick.  I love the way she lets each character go off on a tangent allowing them to fill in their own background story but it's all done with such a light touch.  Another amazing read.

One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - the second of the JB series, a very good read but slightly less engrossing than the other two mentioned above.  I found the characters less interesting and the plot weaker.  She has certainly found her form again with . When Will There Be Good News.

The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - (Mobile Library)  A fascinating thought provoking read - there is no blurb, that would spoil the story but this is an intriguing, at times harrowing read. 

.

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen - I can't remember if I read this this month or last but never mind, humour me... It lacked some of the sparkle of Garden Spells for me but was nevertheless an enjoyable read, maybe too saccharine for me - she's a good author but pales in comparison with the likes of Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman but having said that, it's a light, entertaining read - a marshmallow rather than a rich chocolate gateau which is more to my taste.

hi treez
i love kate atkinson, one of my favourite authors too.
but am slightly disappointed that her last 3 books have all been in this detective series.
i much preferred her stand-alone novels, hope she goes back to doing them at some point.
you've a treat in store if you've not started on them yet.

i also really liked The Other Hand and agree about Sugar Queen being slightly too sweet, Ms Harris need not fear.

seanat:

lovelytreez:

When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson (Mobile Library) - the third of a series of expertly written literary crime novels featuring Jackson Brodie.  To think that I had the first two books of the series on my shelves and hadn't read them!  She really is a consummate writer whose ability to bring to life a vast array of characters left me quite awestruck/stricken???? (I'll just make up my own words from now on..)  What a delight to rediscover a writer who I'd neglected.

Case Historires - Kate Atkinson -  Spurred on by my immense enjoyment of OGT I decided to adopt my convoluted approach of reading book one in the series after book 3.  This author has seriously impressed me and joins Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman on my all time favourite writers' podium.  It's dark but funny and the author really gets to the heart of what makes the characters tick.  I love the way she lets each character go off on a tangent allowing them to fill in their own background story but it's all done with such a light touch.  Another amazing read.

One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson - the second of the JB series, a very good read but slightly less engrossing than the other two mentioned above.  I found the characters less interesting and the plot weaker.  She has certainly found her form again with . When Will There Be Good News.

The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - (Mobile Library)  A fascinating thought provoking read - there is no blurb, that would spoil the story but this is an intriguing, at times harrowing read. 

.

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen - I can't remember if I read this this month or last but never mind, humour me... It lacked some of the sparkle of Garden Spells for me but was nevertheless an enjoyable read, maybe too saccharine for me - she's a good author but pales in comparison with the likes of Joanne Harris and Alice Hoffman but having said that, it's a light, entertaining read - a marshmallow rather than a rich chocolate gateau which is more to my taste.

hi treez
i love kate atkinson, one of my favourite authors too.
but am slightly disappointed that her last 3 books have all been in this detective series.
i much preferred her stand-alone novels, hope she goes back to doing them at some point.
you've a treat in store if you've not started on them yet.

i also really liked The Other Hand and agree about Sugar Queen being slightly too sweet, Ms Harris need not fear.

I really enjoyed Behind the Scenes at the Museum and another, Emotional Weird (not sure of the title) and still have Human Croquet to read but had put off reading Case Histories et al as I wasn't sure how she would fare with the this literary crime genre. I was very pleasantly surprised. I must read Human Croquet next now that I've sought it off the bookshelf!

Bones To Ashes ~ Kathy Reichs - 8/10

Tricks Of the Mind ~ Derren Brown - 9/10

Flowers For Algernon ~ Daniel Keyes - 10/10

This Other Eden ~ Ben Elton - 8/10

Losing You ~ Nicci French - 8/10

Pomegranate Soup ~ Marsha Mehran - 7/10

The Rain Before It Falls - Jonathan Coe - 10/10

This month for me ....

The wise woman - Philippa Gregory - Great, loved it especially as its set in Bowes which is just 5 miles from where we just bought our caravan and I didn't know this when I began reading the book! I found the heroine a completely dislikeable charancetr and very confused but she kin dof atoned for this in the (shock) ending which had me in tears.

The Coming of Dragons - A.J. Lake - well written fantasy adventure for kids, set in the dark ages, nice characters and very evident that its the first in a series as it only just really gets going and its finished. I'll look forward to the others tthough.

Lois on the Loose - Lois Pryce - pretty enjoyable travel journey about a woman who drives the length of the States on her motorbike.

The house on falling star hill - Michael Molloy - Another fun kids read about a parallel world reached by falling in holes made by falling stars.

The 199 steps - Michel Faber - Beautifully written short novella by the author of Crimson Petal - good strong characters and a nice mix of romance and spooky mystery.

The Amazing Maurice and his educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett - Great - my first foray into Terry Pratchett but won't be the last.

 

lovelytreez:

Roots of Evil - Sarah Rayne - What a fabulous writer!  This is my second venture into Rayne territory, the first was A Dark Dividing, and I was not disappointed. A riveting read with her usual spooky, gothic elements and a very moving representation of life in Buchewald during WWII.

This is the book from my wishlist that Amazon and the PO managed to lose between them and then Amazon said they had no more available ........ ggggrrrrr! Luckily I've got a swap for it and should have it by Saturday (assuming the PO don't lose this one as it's sat at the sorting office waiting for me to collect it). Really looking forward to reading this after this review.

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September Reads

 

The Virgin’s Lover	Philippa Gregory	This has been my least favourite of her books so far but still readable enough.  7/10
No Time for Goodbye	Linwood Barclay	Okay but didn’t live up to the hype, a twist to the mystery at the end 8/10
To Die For	Carol Lee	True story of the author’s God-Daughter’s battle with anorexia.  6/10
Midnight Cactus	Bella Pollen	Didn’t really hold my attention 7/10
Abandoned	Anya Peters	Felt sorry for the author but I have read more compelling “misery Memoirs” 6/10
Catch Me Before I Fall	Rosie Childs	Another Misery Memoir, more readable than the last one 8/10
Love in the Present Tense	Catherine Ryan Hyde	A lovely book, really tugged at my heart strings 10/10
Minaret	Leila Aboulela	A good read!  I enjoy reading about different cultures 8/10
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Rebecca Miller	Not very interesting and I was surprised it made the Richard & Judy book club 7/10
The Brief History of the Dead	Kevin Brockmeier	Brilliant, loved this although it did go off on a tangent in places 9/10
Crystal	Katie Price	An easy read 8/10
1974	David Peace	Yuk.  I didn’t like this one 6/10

Orphans of the storm       Katie Flynn            6/10

Where there is evil          Sandra Brown         8/10

Samarkand                    Amin Maalouf          7/10

The Ghost                      Robert Harris          10/10

The Sixth Lamentation    William Brodrick      10/10

 

I didn't read as much as usual, I think a few books took me longer than usual!

Along Came A Spider - James Patterson
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
The Tiger In The Well - Philip Pullman
The Good Fairies Of New York - Martin Millar
The House At Riverton - Kate Morton
The Twelfth Day Of July - Joan Lingard

A toss up between The House At Riverton and Good Fairies for my read of the month, although reading The Twelfth again reminded me how much I enjoyed them as a kid and I am now on a mission to collect them all for Luke!

sazzymch:

I didn't read as much as usual, I think a few books took me longer than usual!

Along Came A Spider - James Patterson
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
The Tiger In The Well - Philip Pullman
The Good Fairies Of New York - Martin Millar
The House At Riverton - Kate Morton
The Twelfth Day Of July - Joan Lingard

A toss up between The House At Riverton and Good Fairies for my read of the month, although reading The Twelfth again reminded me how much I enjoyed them as a kid and I am now on a mission to collect them all for Luke!

Sarah, I have The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton if ur interested in readin it. If so, could I borrow The House At Riverton (or if I am wrong you have lent that to ur mum lol).

I got through fewer books on hols in September than I thought I would, I think mostly because it took me ages to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it, quite the opposite, it was brilliant and I devoured every word, no skimming!

 

The Killer's Guide to Iceland - Zane Radcliffe - not up to his usual standard but not bad 6/10

The Private Patient - P.D. James - very, very good murder mystery with a great twist 8/10

First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde - more enjoyable fairyland mayhem from the master! 8/10

The Call of the Weird -Louis Theroux - a very strange journey through America 6/10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -Steig Larsson - totally brilliant, can't wait for the next instalment 10/10

Sands of Death - Michael Asher - a fantastic true story of adventure, death and betrayal 8/10

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg - didn't like the character of Smilla which affected my enjoyment of the book 5/10

Talk to the Snail - Stephen Clarke - extremely funny guide to surviving France and the French! 7/10

The Appeal - John Grisham - not one of his best, peters out about half way through and a nasty ending 5/10