General Chat

thanks everyone will put the vote thread up tomorrow. Don't miss it!!!

Trust Me by Lesley Pearce~~~~~~
A gripping story about two children sent to an Australian orphanage in the 50's.

Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben
Life isn't going well for Myron Bolitar. His business is struggling, and his father has recently suffered a heart attack when, out of the blue Myron's college sweetheart, Emily, appears. Her 13 year old son Jeremy is gravely ill and can be saved only by a bone-marrow transplant from a donor who has vanished without trace.Then Emily reveals even more shocking news, Jeremy is Myron's son, conceived the night before Emily's wedding to another man

While I haven't joined up with you all, as I can't always find time to read as much as I like, I love the sound of many of these books so will be looking out for them.
The Scenes of a Museum one (can't recall full title) was mentioned on Richard and Judy a while back and they said it was good, I think.

Enjoy your reading, will check back in and see if any others I like the sound of.
I just finished one called the Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore, it was a lovely story.

Lizx

Hi everyone!

Here are my suggestions

The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Penman

He was the last-born son of York and would become the last Plantagenet King of England. Born into an England ripped apart by the bloody and vicious Wars of the Roses, he was in awe of his eldest brother Edward, who snatched victory from the battlefield and claimed the crown for York. A man devoted to those he loved, Richard stayed loyal to his brother, forging a bond of blood that withstood war, treachery and even the malice of Edward's queen, Elizabeth. And loyal to Anne Neville, the daughter of the enemy, and the woman he adored with a passion that would last a lifetime.

The Sunne in Splendour sweeps away the myths to tell how one of the great sovereigns of England was betrayed by his allies, and then by history. But it is also the story of a man and his fight to win the woman he loves


Watermelon - Marian Keyes

Claire Webster has exactly the life she planned, complete with gorgeous husband James, cosy London falt, and a great job. But just hours after the birth of their first child, the bubble bursts when James abandons her for an older woman.

With a baby she doesn't know what to call, a wardrobe two dress sizes too small, and her self-esteem at an all time low, Claire decides there is only one place she can run to, and that's back home to Dublin.

Jeanette x

Thank you Theresa

I have Pm'd Jeanette and Maisie but the vote will have to go ahead tomorrow PM come what may.

Ann
Glos

n

Here are my suggestions -

"The Bluebird Cafe" Rebecca Smith

John Vir owns a shop in Southampton. His is the only shop that still stocks spacedust along with packets of petrified celery soup, "The Lady" and "Marxism Today", drosophila-studded fruit and boxes of henna.
Paul and Lucy are his favoured custimers, especially Lucy with her enchanting purchases of catnip mice, hair bobbles and spangly combs.
They live across the road .. and open The Bluebird Cafe ...with a grant from the Council.
Lucy, Paul and their friends stencil blue doves below the picture rails and fit out the cafe with stripped-pine chairs from the Oxfam furniture store,
While Lucy works in the cafe, Paul spends his time at The Badger Centre, supposedly working on his PhD, but actually spending his time bird-watching and clearing out the Small Native Mammals.

Into the newly opened cafe drifts the unemployed Golbert. He finds it a welcome change from his usual haunts, the DSS bed-sit, the library and the park.
Then he gets a job on the dust carts, and meets Mavis who enjoys haranging the council.
Meanwhile John Vir thinks of little else but Lucy and invites her to the Cash 'n' carry, hoping it will be a prelude to carrying her away ....
-------------------------------------------------------
My second suggestion is-

"The Little Friend" Donna Tartt

Twelve-year-old Harriet is doing her best to grow up, which is not easy as her mother is permanently on mrdication, her father has moved to another city, and her sister rarely notices anything.
All of them are still suffering from the shocking and mysterious death of her brother, Robin, twelve yaers earlier, and it seems to Harriet that eher family may never recover.
Inspired by Houdini and Robert Louis Stevenson, she sets out with her only friend, Hely, to find Robin's murderer and punish him.
But what starts as a child's game soon becomes a dark and dangerous journey into the menacing underworld of a small Mississippi town.

-------------------------------------

Happy reading,
Tess

n

Still Jeanette, Thersa, Maisie and CMD to come although not sure if CMD will be with us this month.

Not seen Jeanette around lately either.

Ann
Glos

Having a think .. be with you soon.


Tess

n

Hi everyone - here are my 2 suggestions....

Jigs and Reels - by Joanne Harris

Suburban witches, defiant old ladies, ageing monsters, suicidal Lottery winners, wolf men, dolphin women and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear, in these 22 short stories the miraculous go hand-in-hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive and the disturbing are never more than one step away.

The Raging Quiet - by Sherryl Jordan

Set in medieval times, this is the story of Marnie and Raver, each set apart from the community around them. Marnie because she is a newcomer having been brought to the village by her new - and much older - husband; and Raver because he is the village lunatic.

The villagers are suspicious of any newcomer, and they are especially wary of Marnie when her husband dies suddenly. She causes more consternation when she befriends Raver, but Marnie discovers that he is not mad: he is deaf. She develops a rudimentary sign language to communicate with the young man. This seals her fate: The villagers see Raver responding calmly to her hand gestures, and they try Marnie for witchcraft.

Sue

thank you Helen, that is a shame. Look forward to you rejoining next time.

Ann
glos

Morning Ann

Could you miss me out this time!!!

We go away 6am,on wednesday,for 3weeks.

Happy reading to you all.Helenxx

Looking forward to seeing what you vote for. I am back in the UK for the last 2 weeks of August and will pick up some books from Tesco.
Recently read one of Erica James (The Holiday) and am currently reading Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris (Chocolat) so would definitely read Lollipop Shoes.
Will email OH daughter to pick me up Sepulchre and The Forgotten Garden if they are still on at 2 4 7 at Tesco.

Rosalind

anyone seen jeanette around?

I was going to suggest "No Time for Goodbye", but that's already been nominated! So ...

East of the Sun - Julia Gregson

A sweeping epic set in 1928. Three women are travelling to India - Rose is to going marry a man she barely knows, Tor is in search of a husband and Viva, their chaperone, is travelling back to the country where she was born and where she lost her parents.


The Lollipop Shoes - Joanne Harris

Seeking refuge and anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmatre, Yanne and her daughters live peacefully, if not happily, above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped - at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l'Alba, the lady with the lollipop shoes, and everything begins to change ..."

AL

Remember This - Alexandra Campbell
Should Lily rebuild her marriage to Tom or walk away from it? Should Tom sell his mother Maud's cottage and Boathouse, scene of many memories? Should Dora reveal the truth of Maud's marriage?
Do love, forgiveness and compromis change over 50 years. Tha answers lie at the Boathouse where waves and wildflowers ripple over the bones of a dangerous family secret.

The Stuff of Dreams - Eileen Ramsey
14 years ago an actor died in a fire and his lover was arrested. Now Abbotts House has been rebuilt and a mysterious woman has come to live there. Kate cannot leaver her tragic past behind - but nor can she remember what actually happened that night. In the peace of a Scottish village her memory begins to return - and an epic love story returns to haunt the woman who survived.

Kate

Sarah Waters - Affinity.

From the dark heart of a Victorian Prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes weaves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud or a prodigy?

By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic.

Alfie.

Hi everyone, I am not a member although Ann has in the past tried to 'catch' me ;-0)

I must tell you about the book I am just about to finish.

BIRDS WITHOUT WINGS
by
Louis de Bernieres (a novel)

set against the background of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, the Gallipoli campaign, and the subsequent bitter struggle between the Turks, 'birds without wings' traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia- a community in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully over the centuries and in which friendships, even love, can transcend religious differences.

Among the inhabitants of this picturesque coastal town are Iskander the potter, fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmetcik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town; the two ho;y men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja; and the landlord Rustem Bey, who journeys to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. And beyond the confines of the town there is Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue if military genius and sheer bloody- mindedness reshapes the whole region in his image.

When war is declared against the Allies the young men are sent to fight. As the great world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed.
*******************************************
Now that is what the synopsis says.
Me.. I just think it is a fantastic read full of history, and all the best and very worst bits of human nature.
A great read... honestly.

Just make sure , if you have arthritis, that you beg, borrow , or buy... a paper back. My son bought me this, and it is a hard back... that is why I had to put it down so often.
It is a very *unputdownable* read.

Deanna X