Hobbies and Crafts

I have just finished One Last Dance by Judith Lennox.A family saga, a story of a family house in Kingswear, Rosindell, from the end of the 20th century to 1970s, and the family headed by Devlin Reddaway that loved it, hated it, rebuilt and lived in it.
Just over 500 pages of an excellent read by this great story teller.some of her previous books, Footsteps in the Sand, the winter House, the Italian Garden, Some old lover's ghost.
I really liked this one. :-)

Sounds as you've picked up some good'uns, Vera.

We love the Lindsey Davis books. From what I can remember there are either 3 or 4 Flavia books now. She probably got fed up writing about Falco!

I had a coffee morning at my house recently with a bring and buy book stall so I have been reading a couple of books I picked up there. Both of them are historical murder mysteries.

The Butcher of St Peter's by Michael Jecks

This takes place in Exeter in 1323 where Sir Baldwin de Furnshill is attempting to solve a murder, which is shortly followed by two more deaths. Michael Jecks is very good at portraying the clergy, good and bad - some very bad, and the antipathy between Cathedral and Priory. He's also good on the position of women at the time, particularly the poorer classes for whom work in the brothels was often the only option. He writes well and evokes the general filth and squalor. Quite a satisfying read if you like this genre.

The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis

Lindsey Davis is the author of the series of books featuring Marcus Didius Falco, the Roman investigator. This book features his adopted daughter Flavia Albia and I suspect is the first of a new series. Flavia Albia, a young widow, is following in the footsteps of Falco and is also establishing a career as an independent investigator. While the story and the characters are fictional, the author has an excellent understanding of both the geography of ancient Rome and how the political system worked, with the various levels of officialdom. I very much enjoyed this book.

I also picked up from my book stall "The King's Mistress. The true and scandalous story of the woman who stole the heart of George 1", so that will probably be my next read.

A book I have just read and enjoyed.

The Girl next door by Elizabeth Noble.

This is only her second novel. She wrote Things I want my daughters to know which was very good.

EN has an uncanny ability to get inside her characters and make them so real. This is about an apartment block in New York and the people who live there, so we follow their individual stories and how they link with the other residents (or don’t).

The residents are a mixed bunch, from Eve and Ed, newly arrived English, and 78 year old Violet English but lived there many years, who always laid the table the night before for breakfast, with a linen napkin and silver cutlery, toTodd and Gregory a gay couple. There are young families, elderly curmudgeony men and Cuban doormen who all have a part to play.

The individual stories are very well written as is the way they interact with other residents. It is sad and funny, very readable and clever.

A really good book that held my attention and that I really enjoyed.

Thanks for the recommendation SuffolkVera. That ones already in my 'wish list' ; I'm waiting for the price to drop. :-)

I've read most of the ones in the series & have filed them in a seperate folder on my kindle. Theyre well worth reading again :-D

I've been reading Jodi Taylor's "Lies, Damned Lies and History", no. 7 in the Chronicles of St Mary's series. It's just as good, if not better, than the earlier books.

This time Max has really overstepped the mark and she is in real trouble. It is difficult to say much without spoilers but, if you have enjoyed the earlier books in the series, you will love this one. Some new characters are introduced and there are hints of further developments, particularly in respect to Max and her husband Leon, so I think there must be plans for book no. 8.

If you are new to these books they could be read as stand alones but, as the characters change and develop throughout the books and it is a continuing story, I think they are best read in order.

This series is about time travelling historical researchers and if you enjoy history and fantasy, I'd recommend you to give these books a go.

Det - Still reading The Wreckage by Michael Robotham. I've been really busy with work the last few weeks so not reading much.

Got a few hours in today sat in the garden in the lovely sunshine. I'm about halfway through. It's a bit slow-going and a little hard to keep track of the two story lines, but not a bad read.

I know J.D. Robb (didn't realise it was Nora Roberts though). Haven't heard of her other pseudonyms.

Thanks DET, J.D.Robb is the name I had at the back of my mind. A little bit more Science Fiction. I think.
I have read some of the Lindsey Davis Falcon books, whenever I have been able to get them from a charity shop.
At the moment though I have a few books waiting GI be read. Including three for the Greaders group. Yes, I am rather late with one of my reviews (The Stonecutter) which I began earlier today. I reviewed The Quality of Silence a few hours ago.

Went to the library this morning to return. Couple of books and for the first time in a long while, I didn't come away with any new ones.
I keep distracting myself with library books that have yo be returned within four weeks.
Feel so lucky that we still have, despite cut backs, a library service. :-)

Possibly Tess

"Nora Roberts is a great thriller writer who also creates novels under the pen name J.D. Robb"

Apparently she's also written under the names Jill March & Sara Hardesty.
From what various sites say, she's chosen different names for different genre.

We were glued to Montalbano when it was on TV, even the Young Montalbano series! Having seen those, it would be distracting reading the books they were based on. We have even considered having a holiday is Sicilly after seeing the stunning scenery.

Thinking of the Inspector Morse books by Colin Dexter. Not only does he come over as an alcoholic, he also a randy so and so, and not just towards women in his own age group!

OH has a passion for 2 book series - Terry Pratchetts Disc World, and Lindsey Davis's Falco. He thinks he's missing a couple of those. The new series featuring Flavia Albia is coming along. The Graveyard of the Hesperides will be published this year.
I think I may have heard an interview with the author a number of years ago and realised he was a she!

Am I getting confused, or does Nora Roberts wrote books of a different genre under another. name.??

Also I thought that Lindsey Davis was/is a man. Will have go check that out sometime. Although yes, murder/detective novels are often written by women.

I have been reading recently, I find that hard backs take longer go read than paperbacks, because I need to give my hand and wrist frequent rests if reading heavy hard backs.

Many of the books I 'be read have Ben ones on Ann's GReaders thread. Have a look there for any comments.
However, I have also read. Excursion to Tindari. by Andrea Camilleri (An Inspector Montalbano story).
Enjoyed the book, but because I watched the serieson t.v. I couldn't give my imagination full reign. Still a big Montalbano fan though, both the written word and the t.v. series edition.

But Catarella. is still my favourite.!

Also read. The Book Thief, by Marcus Z. Shops can't remember the surname and can't read my writing

I believe that this book has been made into a fim, but haven't seen it or heard from anyone who has.

A big story, told in small personal way. Set in Germany during WW11 THE Book Thief. of the title goes to live with strangers as a child. Her mother is unable to care for her and her brother and her father had"disappeared,". because of his communist beliefs.
A story of deprivation, tough love, kindness and bravery. Botheration, I am having another senior moment and can't remember the names of the main characters.
The narrator of the story is death, but don't let his put you off, it is just another way of being a fly-on-the-wall.
The kindness of strangers under very difficult circumstances is very moving. While this small "new family" is trying to survive, even n just a day to dsy fashion, horrific things are going on around them.
Well worth a read, not at all nationalistic, no real discussion of the changing. frontiers or the 'big picture'. just a story of people caught up in it all.

Well worth a read, I may even watch the film if I get the chance.
By the way, I have already taken the books back yo the library, so couldn't check out the names of the people involved.

Has no one been reading recently?

I’d wanted to add this to Amazon Reviews, except the function doesn’t seem to be working.
...............

The Man behind the Mask by Lorrie Bannett is a ‘Cozy Mystery’. Although its too lightweight for me, it occupied an hour or two.

Children are being Kidnapped. The police have no clues. Enter FBI Agent Melissa Cavez. The plot was OK although the main character did seem to walk away with the case only half solved. She had to watch TV reports to see the other gang member identified and arrested.

One thing which the author could do is to have someone proof read the book. Despite spellings being mainly correct, Capitalisation wasn’t. new Yorkers instead of New Yorkers. detective mark banner instead of Detective Mark Banner. When Detective or Agent is used as a title, they should be capitalised. A minor gripe, but one which spoilt the reading experience. Blame the automatic Spell Checker!
........

The Kindle Oasis has had some good reviews but, like others have said, at £270 its far to expensive. I'll stick to my ancient version thank you.

I do like Lucinda Riley and enjoyed The Midnight Rose.

Think I'll stick with my basic kindle thanks!

I read a Nora Roberts book a long while ago and decided she wasn't the author for me. Over the last 35 years or so she has written well over 200 books. I think anyone who churns them out at that rate must get predictable and cliched, but she does seem to be popular.

I'm about to start The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley. A friend recommended it. I have to admit she is another author I have tended to avoid which is a bit unfair as I've never read any of her books, so I thought I would give it a go.

I've been reading a few detective/crime novels, all good in their own way if you like the genre - a Falco book by Lindsey Davis, a Vera Stanhope book by Anne Cleves and an Inspector Lynley book by Elizabeth George. It struck me that a lot of crime/detection writers are women. I wonder what that says about the female psyche? :-D

Have you seen the new Kindle Oasis? Nice, but £270!!!

Finished Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts.

A good but totally predictable murder mystery/love story with no unexpected twists or turns and with an obvious ending.

I don't think I'd rush to read another of hers to be honest.

Next, The Wreckage by Michael Robotham.

"Two seemingly unrelated stories collide in unexpected ways.
Baghdad - Journalist Luca Terracini is living outside the wire and investigating a series of deadly million-dollar bank robberies but he's about to make some powerful enemies who seek to bury secrets and manipulate the truth, regardless of the cost.
London - A thousand miles away, ex-cop Vincent Ruiz rescues a young woman, Holly Knight, from a violent boyfriend but wakes next morning to find that she's robbed him. It was an elaborate scam. Furious at himself, and at her, he sets off to find Holly."

No I don't think so the battery would run down very fast. I think it is ok now we have done the update. :-D

Perhaps we ought to leave the wi-fi on? I normally have it 'off' unless downloading to save the battery life.

The strange thing is that I didn't get the message to say it was downloaded so I checked which version I needed and it was done. Then I closed the Kindle. A few days later I downloaded a host of free books, then closed the kindle (I am reading a paperback at the moment). Yesterday I opened the kindle to look at something and it immediately downloaded the message to say the update was done. (about a week after doing it.)

Thank goodness you've sorted that out Vera. No idea what version mine is, but probably 2nd generation.

I'm near the end of a free-bee download at the moment and will start the CoSt M's next

That sounds an interesting book Mersey.

After all the kerfuffle my kindle didn't need updating!

I left it plugged in for 24 hours but didn't get the message that says I had successfully downloaded. I tried it out by downloading a free book and that appeared on the kindle immediately. A bit puzzled I checked the Amazon instructions again. It is not terribly clear on the website but I had misread it. I thought it was saying if I had version 4.1.3 I needed to update, but it was saying if I had a 4th or 5th generation kindle I needed 4.1.3 or higher for it to go on operating. As I already had that version I didn't need to do anything :-D

DetEcTive, I am sure you will enjoy What Could Possibly Go Wrong. I'm just waiting for the latest book in the series to come down a bit in price before downloading it.

EDITED to correct book name