Hobbies and Crafts

'Raising The Ruins' (The fight to revive the legacy of Herbert W Armstrong) by Stephen Flurry.

Just downloaded for £1.99 for my kindle,
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.

Emma :-)


Edit......forgot to say also bought Twopence to Cross The Mersey
for 99p. Author...Helen Forrester

Im just about to start We That Are Left - Juliet Greenwood Kindle £1.99

August 4th, 1914: ‘It was the day of champagne and raspberries, the day the world changed.’ Juliet Greenwood’s moving, thrilling novel honours the sacrifice of soldiers and civilians in World War I and captures how lives were changed afterwards, some destroyed, but some, with love and courage, rebuilt anew. Elin lives a luxurious but lonely life at Hiram Hall. Her husband Hugo loves her but he has never recovered from the Boer War. Now another war threatens to destroy everything she knows. With Hugo at the front, and her cousin Alice and friend Mouse working for the war effort, Elin has to learn to run the estate in Cornwall, growing much needed food, sharing her mother’s recipes and making new friends – and enemies. But when Mouse is in danger, Elin must face up to the horrors in France herself. And when the Great War is finally over, Elin’s battles prove to have only just begun.

:-D :-D :-DPammy

Yes, Ann, I finished it too, tho I wasn't sure if I had reached the end or not! :-S

I'm enjoying the Perfume Collector as well.

Pammy. I finished it :-( Did you? So pleased to get to the last page. :-D

Just finished The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro, can't tell you the story as it is a Greaders book but if you look at the Greaders suggestion thread you can get an idea. It is under a £1 on amazon for Kindle. A very readable book, I enjoyed it.

Has anyone read.. Empress Dowager Cixi..The Concubine
Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang £4.68 Kindle.

She became a Concubine at the age of 16 and gave birth to
a son, when he was aged 5 he inherited the throne on the death
of his father but his mother Cixi took over the role of Empress Dowager.

She is reputed as having death by hundred cuts and foot binding banned
amongst other things...this is her biography, and documents only came to
light after the death of Mao.

Worth having a lot at the intro on kindle....what do you think?
If you are interested in history this could be a book for you.

Emma :-)

I've been reading Dervla Murphy's "Full Tilt: from Ireland to India with a Bicycle" .

This is an account of a journey she undertook in the early 1960s, put together from the diaries she wrote at the time. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it at first as the beginning of the book is quite rushed as she hurtles through several countries. The bulk of the book is about her travels in Afghanistan and Pakistan and it is interesting as a historical document in view of what has happened in these countries since. The author clearly loves these places and people, particularly the Afghans.

She puts up with some amazing hardships along the way but also is helped by a lot of influential people and it is not clear from the book how much of this was arranged in advance. After all, how many people in her situation would get to have dinner with the President of Pakistan?

She also makes one or two sweeping generalisations - the Kashmiris are the most moronic people she met and teachers in Pakistan display a very low level of intelligence!

I think this was the first of Dervla Murphy's travel books and, once I got past the first couple of chapters I found it well written and enjoyable.

Well, I will try it again when I have read one of the other choices, life is too short to waste on rubbish (my opinion of course).

well I have just re-read some of the comments and I wish I had read more than just the first one before I started to read. Some comments written by 'a customer' which always makes me suspicious, compare the book to To Kill a Mocking Bird. I can't go with that. Somebody else rightly said it should have been edited. I agree it is too long. However I shall persevere.

I agree with you about the Little Friend, Ann.
Isn't it funny how the blurb can make the book sound completely different from the actuality. I shall try to finish as it is for Greaders but I probably wouldn't bother otherwise.

Just finished reading Bernard Cornwell '1356', the story of archer Thomas Hookton during the 100 years war, leading to the battle of Poitiers. Really enjoyed it (so did OH) exciting but a little bloody!

Liz I will have to finish Borgia Bride first but will
certainly let you know my opinion.

Do let me know how you get on with it G.G. I shall be interested to have your opinion.
Liz

Well I have struggled through a third of The Little Friend – DonnaTart and still haven't a clue what it is about, can't get into it, and definitely don't like her style so I am going to give up on it for now.

Read the reviews Magpie and that decided me to
look into what happened to this young boy as I
know nothing about him to any great degree.

Emma :-)

I'm sure you'll enjoy it Golden Girl. It did, prey on my mind though, the treatment of that little boy was quite shocking.

Kept going back to have another look at The Lost King of France
by Deborah Cadbury £6.02p and have now downloaded it.

Emma :-)

Mersey, I do prefer a proper book, but as we now live in a small bungalow, an e.book has been a godsend on the storage front, so now nearly all my new books are on kindle. 'Peter' and I are on the verge of parting company! Think I'll go onto Alan Bennett next with Writing Home', and leave the Uboats for a while!! Glad you're enjoying your latest read.

I have just started Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Kindle £3.99)

Louis Zamperini was one of America's greatest heroes. An Olympic runner and WWII POW, his life story was written by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Laura Hillenbrand (author of "Seabiscuit") and the book "Unbroken", released in November, 2010.

Lucky Louis Zamperini, Olympic hero, WWII bombardier, plane crash survivor, POW, and survivor of post-war turmoil was one of the last of the greatest generations.

I am hooked already :-)

Hi Magpie do you have a kindle or do you prefer books.....??


:-)