General Chat

Sadly we will not be joined by Daff and Susan as they are taking time out.

ann
Glos

thank you Michelle.

Ann
Glos

The Alibi Man by Tami Hoag

Elena Estes, former policewoman, former member of the elite of Palm Beach, Florida, is thrust back into both aspects of her former life when she discovers a woman's body in a canal. Physically healed from the wounds she sustained while working on a meth-lab bust, she has yet to recover emotionally from causing another officer's death and has been living and working at her best friend's horse farm. When she realizes that the victim is the farm's beautiful, vibrant young groom Irina, Elena is determined to bring her justice no matter what. Her search leads to the creme de la creme of Palm Beach society and the powerbrokers who hang out at the tony polo fields, including her ex-fiance, who, Elena knows, is capable of committing the crime.

I have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes (A fairytale for grown-ups) by Jaclyn Moriarty

This book is about the appropriately zanily named Zing family who live in a Sydney, Australia where it snows. The family guards the Zing Family Secret and meet every Friday in the garden shed to Maintain the Secret. The family is made up of Maude Sausalito (a maker of remarkable cherry pies), David Zing (an erstwhile inventor) and their daughters Fancy (her mother wanted to give her the gift of imagination) and Marbleweed (her name means the gift of luck), who is known as Marbie, who works as an insurance clerk, is beautiful and somewhat misguided. She lives with Vernon (princely, handsome and an amazing lover) who looks after his little sister Listen because they have no parents. Fancy is married to the dull Radcliffe. She writes erotic fiction and makes lists under the heading "Irritating Things About My Husband".

thank you Kate

Ann
Glos

Hi and Happy New Year everyone

The Savage Garden - Mark Mills

Behind a villa in the heart of Tuscany lies a Renaissance Garden of enchanting beauty. Its grottoes, statues and classical inscriptions seem to have a life of their own - and a secret message, too, for those with eyes to read it.
Young scholar Adam Strickland is such a person. Arriving in 1958 he finds the Docci family, their house and the unique garden as seductive as each other. But post-war Italy is still a strange, even dangerous place and the Doccis have some dark skeletons hidden away in their past.
Before this mysterious and beautiful summer ends Adam will uncover 2 stories of love, revenge and murder separated by 400 years - but is another tragedy about to add to the Villa's cursed history?


And .... sticking with gardens (helps me think of Spring!)

The Cement Garden - Ian McEwan

In the relentless summer heat, 4 abruptly orphaned children retreat into a shadowy, isolated world, and find their own strange and unsettling ways of fending for themselves...


TTFN Kate

n

From Dee

Searching for Tilly – Susan Sallis

Three women come to a remote Cornish village for the summer: Jenna, only 26 and grieving for the loss of her life; her mother Caro, whose husband Steve has also died; and Laura, who had been married to Caro’s beloved brother Geoff. They are staying in a house called Widdowe’s Cottage – a poignantly suitable name

In that tine Cornish community they discover many strange memories of their forbears, and especially of Tilly, Caro’s mother, whose family history seemed to mirror so much of their own. They become swept up in the dramatic story of Tilly and her family, a story which takes them on an epic journey across the West Country and to the solution of an amazing family mystery

Trains and Buttered Toast – John Betjeman

First can I say this is NOT poetry.

It was a Richard and Judy selection a while back and is an anthology

Broadcasting in the golden age of wireless, Betjeman was a national treasure for millions of devoted listeners. Here his eccentric, whimsical and homespun radio talks are collected in book form for the first time. From train to buttered toast to hymn-writing vicars and Regency terraces, his enthusiasms are infectious
Travel with him as he potters about at the seaside, delves into country churches and marvels at provincial cities. And rediscover, as he did, how to appreciate our discarded heritage.

classic/Social History book

London The Wicked City (A Thousand Years of Vice in the Capital) – Fergus Linnane

For more than a thousand years vice has been a vibrant strand in the history of London. Alongside the normal commercial life of the capital this alternative economy flourished, fostering a bazaar of opportunity for the rich, the curious and the sexually adventurous. Every whim and aberration was catered to by an army of willing women, estimated to number 80,000 in the early Victorian period. They thronged the streets and theatres, amazing visitors by their numbers, boldness, youth and beauty

This book surveys vice in London from the Bishop of Winchester’s licensed brothels on Bankside in the eleventh century to the saunas, massage parlous and anonymous suburban brothels of today’s city. It is not a story for the squeamish, but a fascinating investigation of the social realities behind London’s prostitution and the vivid characters engaged in the oldest profession in the world

Classic/Social History book

Can any Mother Help Me by Jenna Bailey

In 1935 a young woman wrote a letter to the woman’s magazine Nursery World. ‘Can any Mother help me? I live a very lonely life as I have no near neighbours. I cannot afford to buy a wireless, I adore reading but with no library I am very limited with books… I know it is bad to brood and breed hard thoughts and resentment. Can any reader suggest an occupation that will intrigue me and exclude “thinking” and cost nothing!’

Women from all over the country wrote back expressing similar frustrations. They were full of ideas and opinions but had nowhere to express them. So they decided to start a private magazine.

The Cooperative correspondence club – or CCC as it quickly became known – was a place for these women to describe the subjects close to their heat: the pain and elation of child birth, the difficulties during war time or the struggles and comedies of daily routine. None of the women anticipated the way that the magazine would come to play such an important part in their lives.

(Note: I was given the book for Christmas and have read the first chapter. I quickly became aware that it is a social history of the 30s, 40s and 50s. The book consists of letters from the women to the correspondence magazine, letters which cover all aspects of their daily life and it looks fascinating)



Ordinary books

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A story of a father and son’s friendship and betrayal and the casualties of fate.

1970s Afghanistan: 12 year old Amir is desperate to win the local kite fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event hat is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his world cannot grant him: redemption.

(Ben Fogle of the Daily express says “ It’s like a condensed history of Afghanistan, mixed with a Shakespearean tale of friendship and love….. brilliant”


Intimate Strangers by Susan Lewis

Investigative journalist Laurie Forbes is planning her wedding to Elliot Russell when she receives a tip-of that a group of illegally smuggled women is being held somewhere in the east end of London. During her search unexpected and devastating events begin throwing her own life into chaos, so fellow journalist, Sherry McElvoy steps in to help. Taking on undercover roles to get to the heart of the ruthless gang of human traffickers, neither can even begin to imagine what dangers they are about to face.

Neela iis one of the helpless Indian girls being help in captivity. Her fear is not only for herself, but her six year old niece Shaila. A birth disfiguring birthmark has so far saved Neela from the abuse, but she knows it is only a matter of time before she is sent for – and worse, before Shaila is taken. Her desperate bids to seek outside help are constantly thwarted , until finally she, and the women with her, agree there is only one way out….

(Daily Mail… ‘Spellbinding… you just keep turning the pages with the atmosphere growing more and more intense as the story leads to its dramatic close.’)




ann
glos

From Alfie

Classic.
Lorna Doone by R D Blackmore.

The perenially popular story of how John Ridd, an unsophisticated farmer, falls in love with the beautiful and aristocratic Lorna Doone, kidnapped as a child by the outlaw Doones on Exmoor.


Ordinary.
The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan.

Winnie Louis and Helen Kwong have kept each other's secrets since they met as young brides in China in the 1930's. Once in San Francicsco Winnie and Helen start all over again, with happy marriages, children and work at the Ding Ho flower shop. Then Helen becomes convinced she is dying and decides to unburden herself of all secrets before the Chinese New Year, so she can fly off to heaven without shame. But her secrets are also Winnie's; so Winnie sits down with her daughter Pearl and some long harboured terrible facts: about her first marriage to an evil man and how that evil man was Pearl's father....A poignant confession. The novel's momentum may be purgative but its telling, written with a mesmerising beauty, is pure delight.

Jan/Feb 2008 VOTE 8th Jan 08

Greaders book suggestions please for January/ Feb 08. Books to be reviewed 20th Feb 08
This time I would like to try something different. Below is a list of all the authors that we have read in the past 8 months. So that we get a variation of material would you make sure that your suggestions do not include any of these authors please.

You will also notice that the classics have rejoined the main thread. This is to help me keep track of the thread. The same thing applies to the classics, re authors in the past 8 months. The other difference is that the classics are now re-named Classics and Family History/Social History type books. You are only required to suggest a book for the Classic section if you intend reading the selection.

Please suggest two ordinary and one classic/social history.

Authors read in past 8 months

Philippa Gregory (X2)
Minette Walters
Anita Shreve
Joe Hill
Louise Candlish
Mark Billingham
Kim Edwards
Kate Morton
Jane Harris
Sharon Penman
Charlotte Bingham
Marcus Zusak
Elizabeth Kostava






Classic authors read

Dickens (X2)
Hardy
George Elliot
Charlotte Bronte
E M Forster
Emily Bronte
Jane Austen



Please PM me if you have any queries re this. Thanks

Ann
Glos