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From kate Shaw: Perfect Match - Jodie Piccoult As an assisant DA Nina prosecutes the sort of crimes which tear families apart but when she discevers her 5 year old son has been sexually abused it is her own family which is devastated. The lines between family and professional life are erased and answers to questions she thought she knew are no longer easy to find. 'At the heart of this enjoyable novel are 2 gripping Q's. How can you manage to be a good parent in difficult circumstances and what happens when you take action which is morally right but legally wrong' My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson Best friends Adels and Kamryn thought nothing could come between them until Adele slept with Kamryn's fiancee - and had his child. Years later Adele writes to Kamryn asking her to visit her in hospital where she is dying and begging her to adopt her daughter. With a great job and hectic social life the last thing Kamryn wants is a 5 year old but does she have a choice? So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and a better understanding of herself.

Hi All. Please add your two ordinary book suggestions for June. Vote to be 29th May, result 30th after 5pm. book to be read by and reviewed 10th July. (i.e. 6 weeks as agreed) Ann Glos

Hi Ann Suite Francaise – Irene Nemirovsky In 1941, Irene Nemirowski sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. Nemirowsky’s death in Auschwitz in 1942 prevented her from seeing the day, sixty five years later, that the existing two sections of her planned novel sequence, Suite Francaise, would be rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece Set during the year that France fell to the Nazis, Suite Francaise falls into two parts. The first is a brilliant depiction of a group of Parisians as they flee the Nazi invasion; the second follows the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation. Suite Francaise is a novel that teems with wonderful characters struggling with the new regime. However, amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy and compromise, there is hope. True nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places --------------------------------------------------------------------- A Place Called Here – Cecilia Ahern Since Sandy Shortt’s childhood classmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding becomes her goal – whether it’s the sock that vanished in the washing, the car keys she misplaced or the graver issue of finding the people who vanish from their lives. Sandy dedicates her life to finding these missing people, offering devastated families a flicker of hope. Jack Ruttle is one of those desperate people. It’s been a year since his brother Donal vanished into thin air. Thinking Sandy Shortt could well be the answer to his prayers, he embarks on a quest to find her But when Sandy goes missing too, she stumbles upon the place – and people – she’s been looking for all her life. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit – searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home

I hope everyone has remembered that we agreed I would put this up earlier han the review thread and that there would also be a separate classic suggestion thread. Ann Glos

The Terminal Man by Sir Alfred Mehran The extraordinary true story of the charming eccentric Sir Alfred Mehran who has spent the last 15 years living on a bench in Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris and dining on MacDonalds every day - the strangest case in immigration history! The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie Inquisitor Glokta, a crippled and increasingly bitter relic of the last war, former fencing champion turned torturer extraordinaire, is trapped in a twisted and broken body - not that he allows it to distract him from his daily routine of torturing smugglers. Nobleman, dashing officer and would-be fencing champion Captain Jezal dan Luthar is living a life of ease by cheating his friends at cards. Vain, shallow, selfish and self-obsessed, the biggest blot on his horizon is having to get out of bed in the morning to train with obsessive and boring old men. And Logen Ninefingers, an infamous warrior with a bloody past, is about to wake up in a hole in the snow with plans to settle a blood feud with Bethod, the new King of the Northmen, once and for all - ideally by running away from it. But as he's discovering, old habits die really, really hard indeed . . . . . . From the blurb on the back of the book - Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villian is sharp enough to draw blood. Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgottabe characters. The Blade Itself is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge.

Kim Edwards..... The Memory Keeper's daughter. It should have ben an ordinary birth, the start of an ordinary happy family. But the night Dr David Henry delivers his wifes twins is a night that will haunt five lives forever. for though David's son is a healthy boy, his daughter has Down's syndrome. and, in a shocking act of betrayal whose consequences only time will reveal, he tells his wife their daughter died while secretly entrusting her care to a nurse. As grief quietly tears apart David's family, so a little girl must make her own way in the world as best she can. Families have secrets they hide even from themselves. Jodi Piccoult Salem Falls Jack St Bride was once a beloved teacher at a private girls' school until a student's crush sparked a powder keg of accusation and robbed him of his career and reputation. After a devastating pubblic ordeal that ;eft him with an eight month jail sentence and no job, Jack resolves to pick up the pieces of his life. He takes a job washing dishes at Addie Peabody's diner in the quiet New England village of Salem Falls and slowly starts to form a relationship with her. But a quartet of teenage girls harbours dark secrets - and they maliciously target Jack witha shattering allegation. Now at the centre of a modern-day withc hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of grey, and to the woman who has come to love him.

The Observations - Jane Harris Scotland, 1863. In an attempt to escape her past, Bessy Buckley takes a job working as a maid in a big country house. But when Arabella, her beautiful mistress, asks her to undertake a series of bizzare tasks, Bessy begins to realise that she hasn't quite landed on her feet. The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory The year is 1539. Henry VIII must take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. Although she is fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she can sense a trap closing around her. Katherine Howard, meanwhile, is to flirt her way to the throne. But her kinswoman Jane Boleyn is haunted by the past and the Boleyn inheritance of suspicion, betrayal and death. In this time of upheaval and uncertainty, these three young women must try to survive the most volatile court in Europe. Jeanette x

Ann, I may be having a senior moment, but I think you and Jeanette have chosen the same book ;-)))

Ann, I nearly nominated that one as well, as I have it sitting here ;-))

Dee, thanks, No you are right, i didn't check back the thread before I added, I will change mine as jeanette added first. we are keen you see. Ann Glos

Hi Ann I have just finished a book not a classic in the true sense but to me it was The true story of a young girl in Russia very gripping also sad but with a good ending thanks to some generous people Maria's Story by Robin Barratt Xxxx Howie

Hi Ann and everyone. I am just going to make one suggestion on this thread and one on the classic thread, as I have quite a busy month coming up. (My own book comes out in the middle of June and I have a few things going on to promote it) Smile Please by Jonathan Keates. At 3 in the morning in a gay club somewhere in London's Bermondsey, Adam Killigrew comes face to face with Nemesis- wreathed in an unknown boys devastating grin. Maybe it's just a question of smiling back? but life offers more complications for Adam and his black lodger Theo, the black actor busily reinventing himself as an expensive luxury for mysterious Guy from Bayswater. Others are caught in the web: blue-blooded Daisy, muse and fixer who needs to stay in control. Serena her sister, and country wife to the perfect Jeremy; Frankie the dancing divo with whom Adam falls in love; and sibylline Alice who knows all their secrets and one or two more..... from the book jacket. Alfie.

thanks Howie, will make a note of that. Ann Glos

Hi there Sorry to butt in, but have you heard of the Big Read? 'The Black Swan Green Big Read will be the biggest ever community read in Britain. It is supported by councils and libraries across England, Scotland and Wales and will unite readers and reading groups around Britain in reading Black Swan Green by David Mitchell during June and July. You will be able to join in the online discussion at www(.)blackswangreen(.)co(.)uk which will have a message board where readers can exchange opinions. We are hoping to achieve an official Guinness World Record for the greatest number of people reading a book simultaneously. This scheme will be officially announced at the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival on Saturday 26th May and launched on Saturday June 2nd, when copies of the book will be given away in city centres across Britain. Described by The Guardian as ‘a luminously beautiful book’, Black Swan Green tells the story of Jason Taylor, a 13-year-old growing up in rural Worcestershire at the time of the Falklands War. It is published by Sceptre (£7.99) who are supporting the Big Read together with with newbooks magazine.' I've read it myself, and thought it was great! All the best Nadine

Hi Nadine, was he the guy who wrote Cloud Atlas?? Greaders read that some time ago and I was one of those who was not impressed with the guy. Saying that the new book looks like it could be good, so I may be tempted to try him again Dee ;-)))

Hi Dee Yes he is the Cloud Atlas bloke. I didn't like that one, but I was really enjoyed Black Swan Green. Nadine

Dee - I bet I can guess which one Ann WON'T be voting for pmsl Jeanette has nicked one of my nominations lol (Boleyn Inheritance) at least it means I get to vote for it this time! here are mine .... The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Two 19th century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later. Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, they prowl edgily in the background of each other's shadowy life, driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity. At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, and the reader is in on it almost from the start, but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick. The Secret River by Kate Grenville This story is set in London, 1807. William Thornhill, happily wedded to his childhood sweetheart Sal, is a waterman on the River Thames. Life is tough but bearable until William makes a mistake, a bad mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land that they cannot understand and which feels like a death sentence. But, among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that 'unclaimed' land up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself, he is shocked to find Aboriginal people already living on the river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan and Mrs. Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life... Maz. XX

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The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas - John Boyne The journey of a nine year old boy, Bruno. The blub on the back cover fascinated me - and i seem to remember it being listed before but never choosen. (taken from the back cover of book) Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book - we think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. The Divide - Nicholas Evans (taken from back cover) In a journey of discovery and redemption that takes us from the streets of New York to the daunting grandeur of the West, this book tells the story of a family fractured by betrayal. It explores the pain we inflict on those we love the most and charts the passions and needs, the dashed hopes and disillusionments, that connect and divide all men and women.

The Last Coyote - Michael Connelly 'Suspended LAPD Detective Harry Bosch reopens the ancient file on the murder of his prostitute mother and is irresistibly drawn into the shadowy past. COnfronting his personal shame at his mother's prfession, he discovers a trail leading to the high-ups in the Hollywood hills and finds that flames of an sncient passion don't die, they kindle fresh fires.' (Have started reading this and it is really good so far!) Under the Knife - Tess Gerritson ' For David Ransom, it begins as an open and shut case. Malpractice. As lawyer for a grieving family, he's determined to prosecute a negligent doctor. Then Dr Kate Chesne storms in to his office daring him to seek the truth - that she's being framed. When another body is discovered, David begins to believe her. Somewhere in a Honolulu hospital, a killer walks freely among the patients and staff. Who is next and why?'