Monday 29 July 2013

Book Catch-Up

I can't believe I haven't blogged since January! I kept putting it off thinking I'd get Live Writer installed again but it just won't work so I'll use the blog post system or I'll never blog again!!!

I'll start out by updating my reading list.


 The last book I blogged was a biography on the Queen Mum, it was excellent, & as I was still wanting more royal family, I then read Magnificent Obsession by Helen Rappaport. This is a biography of Queen Victoria & I loved it. It made me realise I knew very little about Queen Victoria, & her life was very interesting.

Next was A Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. Hmmmm, to be honest if I'd read this book not knowing who wrote it, I probably wouldn't have gone in search of more of their books. It was a good read, definitely very well written, but it didn't really get me in, & I felt it ended suddenly without resolving everything.

Against the Current by Joan Hellegers. I read this book years ago & enjoyed rereading it. It tells the story of Adeline Keating. An incredibly interesting book, Adeline had an amazing life growing up in Bendigo in a prosperous family who lose everything. She travels to Melbourne to work, & ends up travelling the world for Myers, the first female buyer.

31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan is a whodunnit based on a true story. Set in New York four years before the outbreak of the American Civil War this is a real page turner.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. I loved the movie & the book was great! The book is set in the 20's, 30's, 40's & 80's, moving backwards & forwards through time very successfully.

The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope is one of my all time favourite books. I've read it several times & just find myself drawn back to it every so often. Obviously it is about the Rector's Wife, but rather than being a meek & mild woman, Anna rebels against her role, & the expectations of the church & the community. Her husband is distant & doesn't understand her need to retain an identity for herself. It is so well written, as are all Joanna Trollope books. I just love her work.

Summer of Love by Katie Fforde. I've read a lot of Katie Fforde books, they are lightweight romances set in England. I enjoy them. This one is about Sian moving to the country with her young son Rory to start a new life.

My Life in France by Julia Child. Love, love, love this book. I love the movie Julie & Julia, & this book tells the Julia side of the story. It is just so entertaining, Julia Child led such a fun & interesting life. 

The Vault by Ruth Rendell was a very different Wexford novel as Wexford has retired. In this book he is an advisor to a London Detective Superintendent. The case is a real mystery & keeps you guessing till the end.

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher, a fabulous saga of a book stretching from 1935 till after WW2. This was classic Pilcher, I love her work. A brilliant story very well told. Judith is sent off to boarding school when her mother & sister travel to Ceylon to join her father. She is befriended by a school friend Loveday & taken into her family.

Liz by C. David Heyman. Well they may have made some very tame movies during this time, but the stars led anything but tame lives! I've always loved Elizabeth Taylor but this book proves she would have been a very difficult lady to live with! Mind you, she was an incredible friend to many people & would stand by them through thick & thin. This book covers her life from birth until the 1980's & her last marriage, this time to Larry Fortenski. A good read I really enjoyed it.

The same can't be said for this book, Going Too Far by Catherine Alliot. What a dog of a book. I've read other books by this author & thoroughly enjoyed them but I actually gave up on this one. The main character was a selfish, shallow cow & I wouldn't have cared if she'd fallen under a bus!

I decided to treat myself & read another Marion Keyes book. I've bought them all & I'm rationing them. :-) This one, Angels, is about another of the fabulous Irish Walsh sisters, this time Maggie. With her marriage on the rocks she heads off to stay with a friend in Los Angeles. Lots of fun characters keep you entertained & laughing. I enjoyed it so much I'm rereading Watermelon, Marion's first book & the first novel about the Walsh family. I laugh so much while reading these books. 

Next time I'll blog about some of the work I've been doing to the house, & I'll be sharing 2 lots of exciting news. :-)