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Post by kissmekate on Dec 10, 2015 7:44:03 GMT
Kate , I must confess I was guilty of being a literary snob and of 'judging a book by its covers'. I can imagine the kind of cover you mean and totally understand your initial literary snobbery!  Thankfully, the Outlander series has always had slightly kitschy but otherwise OK covers in Germany, not half-naked maidens in the arms of a quarter-naked hunk  |
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Post by kygal on Dec 10, 2015 11:41:58 GMT
HaHa Frannie. We have a few of those here to!
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Dec 23, 2015 23:54:47 GMT
Having recommended Erin Kelly's book "The Burning Air", I've just finished reading her debut novel, "The Poison Tree". Not as many twists as the other one, but still a very good read. I've just started another of hers, "The Sick Rose" (I think it's called "The Dark Rose" in the US), and that's looking like another cracker.
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Post by Rachel on Mar 16, 2016 23:46:33 GMT
Have been through a few (ha! Who am I kidding, more than a few) meh books. Then I read "The Cellar" by Minette Walters. Chilling, there is no other word for it. It's very, very dark so it's hard to say that I enjoyed it but I found it absolutely riveting. Bare bones of the plot, what happens when an African family living in England, who are keeping a 14 year old girl as a slave, has a son go missing. The writing is so good I have to recommend it.
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Post by kissmekate on Mar 17, 2016 8:28:23 GMT
I haven't read a Minette Walters book in ages, but I loved several of her earlier novels.
One of my recent favourites was the fifth instalment in Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce mystery series, "Speaking From Among the Bones". When the remains of the village church's patron saint are supposed to be exhumed on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death, another dead body is discovered in his tomb - a far more recent death, namely the village organist who had suddenly gone missing. Young amateur sleuth and poison specialist Flavia is intrigued by yet another presumed murder and starts to investigate on her own, which, once again, leads to some funny and some scary situations. Full of wry humour and lovably weird characters, it is one of the best books in the series.
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Post by Rachel on Mar 18, 2016 0:54:42 GMT
I've heard so many good things about that series, I'll have to,give it a try.
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Post by kissmekate on Mar 18, 2016 8:03:15 GMT
Please do! I didn't enjoy the fourth volume quite as much because the murder case was a little lame there, but the family interaction and secrets and, above all, the wry humour are fine throughout the series so far.
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Post by kygal on Mar 18, 2016 10:40:53 GMT
I need a book to read. Both recommendations sound interesting!
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Post by kissmekate on Mar 18, 2016 13:37:37 GMT
If you want to give the Flavia novels a try, make sure you start at the beginning. The first book is "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". (I love those titles, they are all taken from poems or folk-song lyrics).
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Post by kygal on Mar 19, 2016 9:07:16 GMT
Thanks for the advice. Will check it out. I do like the title!
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Post by kissmekate on Mar 19, 2016 11:13:06 GMT
The titles are all lovely:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
A Red Herring Without Mustard
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
Speaking From Among the Bones
The Dead In Their Vaulted Arches
As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust
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Post by kygal on Mar 21, 2016 10:40:14 GMT
I love those titles. Thanks Kate!
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Post by Rachel on Apr 3, 2016 23:49:29 GMT
Kate , just finished "Sweetness" and I want to thank you for the recommendation. I enjoyed it so much! Flavia is a wonderful character, she and have whole world are beautifully drawn. Luckily my library had a copy of the next in electronic format so I could download it immediately.
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Post by kissmekate on Apr 4, 2016 6:37:01 GMT
Oh, I'm glad you liked it as much as I did! It is a great series. I can't say what I enjoy more: the murder cases themselves, the fantastic characters or the slightly weird humour.
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Post by francesca on Oct 5, 2016 17:01:32 GMT
I have just finished 'The Young Melbourne and Lord M" the two biographies in one volume by Lord David Cecil. As the titles state, these are accounts of the early and later life of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.
I had expected to find it, like most biographies, to be on the stuffy side.
Far from it!
The young Melbourne besides being brought up in a highly political family was extremely clever and moved in the most glittering and scandalous society.
The older Melbourne presided over an extremely forward moving period of history.
David Cecil emphasises his belief in Melbourne's laziness (as presented in letters by his family at the time,) though I find it difficult to agree that a man lin political power in that period could possible have been lazy.
Cecil's style of writing is far more flowery and gushing than we ,today, are accustomed to.( young Melbourne written in 1939,and Lord M in 1945. and have not been out of print since), nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed Melbourne's wit and charm and could not put this big book down.
In a interview about his part, Rufus has said this is the book he used as his research on Melbourne.
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Thankfully, the Outlander series has always had slightly kitschy but otherwise OK covers in Germany, not half-naked maidens in the arms of a quarter-naked hunk 
