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Post by Rachel on Apr 2, 2015 23:38:50 GMT
Oh, fabulous! 34 books already written. Thanks for alerting me to this series Kate, it sounds just like my cup of tea.
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 3, 2015 17:57:24 GMT
I'm happy to say that it is indeed 35 meanwhile (and counting, I hope!)
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Post by Rachel on Apr 25, 2015 1:50:37 GMT
I don't mean to be grumpy, but is anyone else done with Anne Perry? I used to love her books but I couldn't finish her last book in the Monk series (Blood on the Water) and the most recent Pitt book (Angel Court) was just as disappointing. Perry has always woven social issues into her books but now they seem preachy. Plus everyone is oh so sensitive and concerned with each other's feelings to such a degree it's unrealistic.
I think I need a re-read of Georgette Heyer's 'The Grand Sophy." That book is my sure-fire cure for the reading blahs. Also on a high note, we have another Cormorent Strike book ny JK Rowling to look forward to.
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 27, 2015 8:10:36 GMT
I haven't got too far in the Monk series yet (the last one I read was the fourth instalment). Pity that most series seem to lose their appeal at a certain point. Hopefully, the next volume will be better (in case you're still willing to give it a try). How many books are there meanwhile?
The last great read I had was once again on the World War I theme, "Wake" by Anna Hope. It is set in 1920 within the narrow time frame of the five days in November leading up to the burial of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey on the anniversary of the armistice. There are three main protagonists: young Hettie, who is trying to support her mother and shell-shocked brother by working as a "dance instructor" in a rather seedy dance hall; Evelyn, who in her late twenties works for the Pensions Office despite her well-off family background and is having a hard time getting over the losses she experienced during the war; and Ada, who cannot get over the death of her only son in the French trenches and keeps seeing him everywhere she goes.
These three women don't seem to have much in common at first glance, but the book slowly reveals that there is a certain connection between them other than having to cope with the impact of the war that still looms large two years after it has ended. Anna Hope isn't one for long epic descriptions and heroic battlefield scenes. She focuses on the home front, where traumatized and crippled young men were once celebrated as heroes but hardly get any proper support any more and women are struggling to sustain their families (and their sanity). A very impressive, moving read!
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Post by Rachel on Apr 28, 2015 21:36:35 GMT
"Blood on the Water" was the 20th book in the series. So yes, I definitely think it has run it's course. I saw on her website that there is a new one coming out "Corridors of the Night" but I'm not sure I'll read it. "Wake" sounds fabulous, I'll have to find a copy.
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 29, 2015 7:18:20 GMT
I'll look forward to your thoughts if you read "Wake". I daresay you might like it.
One of my current reads is promising to be one of this year's highlights, too. "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr doesn't only have the bonus of being set in Saint-Malo, Brittany, where I've spent several lovely holidays, but is a powerful tale of a blind French girl and a young German soldier in WW II, also telling their childhood stories. I'm about halfway through and really riveted. It's not your usual wartime novel, Doerr has a distinct, clipped style that sucks you right into these horrible times.
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Post by Rachel on Jun 16, 2015 23:22:36 GMT
Thank you Kate for recommending "Wake." It is an absolutely compelling book. All of the characters were so well drawn, their feelings, their hopes, and dreams so distinct yet at the same time they were the same, if that makes sense. Anna Hope did a masterful,job of pulling all the strings together without making it feel forced or to coincidental. My only problem with this book was the ending, I didn't want it to end! I want to know what happens next to these women and their families. I will have to seek out any other books she has written.
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Post by kygal on Jun 17, 2015 10:38:37 GMT
Has anyone read the Gourmet Detective books? Someone recommended them to me for some light reading.
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Post by kissmekate on Jun 17, 2015 12:28:34 GMT
Thank you Kate for recommending "Wake." It is an absolutely compelling book. All of the characters were so well drawn, their feelings, their hopes, and dreams so distinct yet at the same time they were the same, if that makes sense. The three women were very different in character and experience, but they were all struggling with the aftermath of the war and their losses. They did not only lose loved ones (I also considered Hettie's brother a loss in a way, so utterly changed), but also the future they had hoped for or dreamed of. My thoughts exactly! I loved the final scene, but I'd have loved even more to see what happens next, to all three of the ladies.
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Post by Rachel on Jun 17, 2015 22:59:52 GMT
Kate, yes the final scene was wonderful but it left me wanting more.
Sorry Kygal I've never heard of the Gourmet Detective, let me know what you think if you try one out.
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Post by francesca on Jul 14, 2015 16:30:48 GMT
I haven't posted here for a while; that is not because I haven't been reading but because I have read so much rubbish! I quite like Susanna Kearsley but had recently found her a bit repetitive . I was glad to find one of hers, called Every Secret Thing , a light mystery/thriller which I really enjoyed
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Post by kissmekate on Jul 14, 2015 17:43:56 GMT
Do you care to tell us/warn us of the rubbish, Frannie? Sorry to hear you've had a bad reading spell!
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Post by Rachel on Jul 14, 2015 23:25:17 GMT
Like Frannie, I've had a bit of a dry spell. I had one book I just could not finish, the title was "The Paying Guests" and I disliked it so much I can't remember the author. It sounded in the review I read like it should have been my cup of tea. It is set in London right after WW I, a favorite period and was about the effect of the war on the homefront, a favorite plot of mine. But I just couldn't get into it, to much interior dialogue, not enough action.
The doldrums have lifted, the local paper had a good review of Peter Lovesey's latest Peter Diamond book. Being as I've never read any of them, I got the first one, The Last Detective from the library. It was very good, interesting characters, well plotted, suprising ending. I'm now working my way through the series.
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Post by kissmekate on Jul 16, 2015 8:31:55 GMT
Oh, that's bad about "The Paying Guests". I read a few other books by Sarah Waters and quite liked them, but I was not satisfied with the ending of the last one I read, "The Little Stranger".
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Post by francesca on Jul 19, 2015 18:01:35 GMT
Do you care to tell us/warn us of the rubbish, Frannie? Sorry to hear you've had a bad reading spell! Yep,kate, This Time by Joan Szechtman (Richard III time travels to to the 21st century America !!} Yeah. It seemed a good idea at the time. The Boleyn King by Laura Anderson. I could not read more than half dozen pages of this. The Botticelli Secret By Marina Fiorato , Enough said. Caught by Harlan Corben. I am usually a fan of his but lately he has become formulaic .The last three I have read were almost identical .only the names and places had been changed to protect the guilty. Inferno by Dan Brown. A short story free to Kindle.. understandably so . . . Last and possibly worst. The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell, Preposterous ! Two brothers, both priests, one Roman Catholic , the other Greek Orthodox married with a son, their father, also a Greek Orthodox priest. Both attached to the Vatican ,as their father. had been, all three geniuses, of course! People being bumped off, right and left . Where the 5th gospel comes in beats me... the only mention of it is in the title. If either of you have or intend to get a Kindle, a word of advice , stick to the more expensive books , there is a good reason why the others are cheap.
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