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[Joo]

Slow Boat to Purgatory by Vernon Baker
I vaguely recall Ignite saying she loved it some time ago and it fits in nice with my challenge, so I started reading it.
I was thinking it was a bit like a family saga type story. Then I read the blurb and how wrong I am.
Still, it starts well :)

[Andrew]

Have just finished and enjoyed it immensely; great if you like rough action thrillers.

So taken was I by it, that I've moved onto another of his: Enjoying it so far, but he does tend to leap around with POV quite often.

[Kath]

Just finished Baby Snatchers by Bo Brennan. It's a dark tale about corruption and money-making and it's the children who suffer. Stonking stuff.

http://ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/201...

Just about to start The Magpies

[David]

Just finished which was sort of ok.

Just started

[Marc]

Did you know David Foster Wallace wrote a book about the hip hop and rap scene? He did you know & I'm about to read it

Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present

[Fiona (Titch)]

I've just finished Jack: Grime and Punishment - Z.A. Maxfield. Now I am about to read Fall For You - Cecilia Gray.

[Fiona (Titch)]

I've just finished Fall For You - Cecilia Gray. Now I am about to read Multiples of Six - Andy Rane.

[Debbie]

Just finished The Dark Tide - book 5 of the Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon, and before that Death of a Pirate King - book 4 of the same. Gutted it's the end of the series, but it was brilliant. Feeling too bereft to decide what to read next.

[David]

Just started - - looking good already.

[Andrew]

Finished Dirty, was okay, but certainly not as good as The Fix.

Now on with one that's been on my Kindle for ages... Infinite Sacrifice.

[Joo]

After that eye looking at me for a long long time, I finally succumbed to reading . It' s quite good so far, although I'm a bit bored of the "home life", I want more murder death kill :)

As for choosing another book. This site is fab for seeing also boughts on .com http://www.yasiv.com/

[Jemima]

Just finished with a review & blog tour today on http://jemimapett.com

Just starting for next week's review & blog tour!

Good thing the following two weeks are already read and reviewed!

[Natasha]

Just finished the excellent five-star My Madder Fatter Diary by Rae Earl (my review)

Just started an unlikely book-of-the-month read for me, Ash by Malinda Lo, based on Cinderella. 40% through. Just about coping.

[Michael]

I've just finished reading , which isn't the best of the Discworld series, but was a decent read:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto

[Jim]

I agree with you comment about Raising SteamIt's not the best of the series but is a decent read. I got the feeling he wanted to bring in as many old friends as possible, if only because it might be the last time he got to meet them.
For me there was a feeling of underlying sadness but that might have come out of my own attitude to the book

[Michael]

Jim wrote: "I agree with you comment about Raising SteamIt's not the best of the series but is a decent read. I got the feeling he wanted to bring in as many old friends as possible, if only be..."

I got the same feeling from Thud.

[Jim]

I know what you mean, looking back, but it didn't strike me so much at the time

[Lexie]

Just started My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell, which I've intended to read for many years. Very amusing so far, though I may be the last person on the planet to read it!

[Jim]

I read it at school and enjoyed it immensely :-)

[Michael]

I've posted my review for Frazer Lee's fun horror short story 'The Lucifer Glass':

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I'm now onto:

[Marc]

just started the much vaunted Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

[Lexie]

Jim wrote: "I read it at school and enjoyed it immensely :-)"

Lucky you! I had James Joyce and Somerset Maugham (urgh).

[Jim]

Lexie wrote: "Jim wrote: "I read it at school and enjoyed it immensely :-)"

Lucky you! I had James Joyce and Somerset Maugham (urgh)."

Ah but I was pronounced thick (I went to a Red Brick northern Grammar School) and did CSE English lit and CSE French so we skipped the whole 'quality' literature thing :-)

[Lexie]

Darn it! I knew I'd have to pay somehow for the pleasure of taking Latin!

[Karen]

Lexie wrote: "Darn it! I knew I'd have to pay somehow for the pleasure of taking Latin!"

At least you know your garden plants though

[Nigel]

Just finished the excellent Ravenfold (review follows) and it must be my lucky week, because I'm reading another blinder, The Accident

So, Ravenfold:

On International Women’s Day, I was lucky enough to have a few hours to myself as I waited for my children to complete various tasks and functions. My choice of book was Ravenfold by Kath Middleton. It had me so involved that by the time I had a few hours free in the evening, it was the book that became my focus.
To my mind, this was the perfect read for a day set aside for reflecting about the rights of women. Not only that, it’s so well written that the journey was a pleasure to take.
The ravens alluded to in the title are birds that have become close to their human friends, a group of teenagers who hang around together enjoying the things that only children can. Life’s an adventure of sorts for all of them, but the fact that they’re growing up means that there’s a dark cloud hanging over them, especially the girls.
Ravenfold is set in medieval times. Things were very different then and those differences are woven into the detail of the story rather skilfully. Above all, the role of girls and women is so limited and rigid as to make the framework tense and charged in itself.
Romelda Bolt is almost fourteen and has caught the
attention of a brute of a man who rules the area,
Oswald. He has the power to crush people or to raise
their status at his whim. It’s not long before Romelda is
learning to sew and is then chained in marriage to her
drunken lord.
Marriage doesn’t make life any easier for Romelda or
her family. Oswald is no noble man and lacks any of the
qualities that a decent human being might possess.
There’s a sense of claustrophobia about the whole tale
as Oswald tightens his fist and we get to see what
powders crumble from between his fingers.
I’m loath to give away too much. Suffice to say, things
don’t go well and Romelda and her family are deeply
damaged by what occurs. It’s this damage that leads to
thoughts of taking revenge and for me, that’s exactly
what I wanted.
This is a really interesting story. It has a haunting
atmosphere right from the off when a young man
slaughters a pig and takes away a vial of its blood
before leaving. It has the feel of a really strong, dark
fairytale where the cruelty and chill have the power to
enclose and suffocate. This creates a real drive to find
what is about to happen and a real need to reach some
kind of escape. I was at the author’s mercy from an
early point; whether she was generous or barbaric, I’ll
not say.
Back to Women’s Day. A read like this is a strong
reminder of how much things have changed over the
years and had me reflecting over how much more
change is needed. As I sat in my own bubble in a world
full of bubbles, I had to remind myself that the shifts
that have come through processes of evolution or
revolution have not been uniform across the globe. The
reminder is not enough unless it causes a shift in
thinking in some way; reading a book like this is one
way to get the cogs moving. One small cog can
sometimes make a big difference. Here’s hoping.

[Kath]

Wow, Nigel! I'm so glad you enjoyed it - and that you read it on such an auspicious day!

Edit - Just seen that you've put it on Amazon too! Thanks for that!

[Nigel]

No, thank you Kath. Great stuff.

[Michael]

I've just finished reading and it was so bad it was awesome:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

I've now started

[David]

Just finished which is fine if you like your battlefields strewn with bloody entrails and so forth.

Which I do.

Just started which -from what I can gather - is about a ravenous cargo-handler scouring a hostile alien planet in search of a bacon sandwich - possibly.

[Lynda]

Just finished Socko's First Case by Tim Arnot and enjoyed the cleverly devised short story very much. Bravo, Tim.

[Jim]

David wrote: "
Just started which -from what I can gather - is about a ravenous cargo-handler scouring a hostile alien planet in search of a bacon sandwich - possibly. ..."

NO SPOILERS!

;-)

[David]

Jim wrote: "David wrote: "
Just started which -from what I can gather - is about a ravenous cargo-handler scouring a hostile alien planet in search of a bacon sandwich - possib...

NO SPOILERS!"

Spoilers? Are those bacon sandwiches with mushrooms on?

[Jim]

:-)

[Kath]

Just finished a book by a young woman in her early 40s who is suffering from advanced bowel cancer. This is a novel and it's absolutely gripping. I read it yesterday afternoon and late into the night. It's not maudlin or self-conscious but it just reads so true. It's got a huge slice of 'if only' in it - I rarely call a book unforgettable but this is.

http://ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Karen]

Thankfully finished Ngaio Marsh's Enter a Murderer (this month's read over on the GR English Mysteries forum). Somewhat underwhelmed. At least it was a quick read. Now started another Ann Cleeves, The Glass Room - so far, very promising. For me, it's back on safe ground: a reliably good storyteller

[Debbie]

Just finished Scribbling On Foucault's Walls by Elly Tams. If I could tell you what it was about, I would! Well, I can, a little! It starts from the premise that Foucault had a daughter, and ends up being a big crazy hotchpotch of fiction, academic text and anecdote. Mad as a box of frogs.

Just starting...not sure. I'm writing for a Goodreads anthology and it's got a tight deadline, so maybe going to have to hang fire on the reading for a while.

[Fiona (Titch)]

Over the past few days I have read and finished Endless - Amanda Gray (Netgalley review) and also Otherworldly - Nicua Shamira (which I found pleasing).

[Debbie]

Just finished I Spy Something Bloody by Josh Lanyon. There are two more books in this series, but I don't think I can take the emotional trauma.

Once again working on the 'just started'...

[Kath]

Just (yesterday) started The Magpies which is turning out rather spooky. I'm 40% through already - it's addictive!

[Natasha]

Finished Ash by Malinda Lo, a reworking of the Cinderella fairytale. Quite a sweet romance in the end.

Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which I found pretty creepy. ...

Now 10% through The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, which I'm really enjoying.

[David]

Just finished which was rather splendid.

Just started rereading which is also a very good thing.

[Karen]

Finished on Friday night, then went and read . Currently reading - not a bad read for an accidental purchase!

[Jim]

David wrote: "Just finished which was rather splendid.

Just started rereadingwhich is also a very good thing."

Glad you enjoyed it :-)
At least it looks I'm rubbing shoulders with the greats, if I'm being followed by PG Wodehouse :-)

[David]

Jim wrote: "Glad you enjoyed it :-)
At least it looks I'm rubbing shoulders with the greats, if I'm being followed by PG Wodehouse :-) "

It was a good read, excellent dialogue, a nicely involved plot and an interesting world with maybe a bit too much yak.

I thought you'd appreciate being followed by Wodehouse.

One thing: Do you know what font the cover typeface is on Justice 4.1 at all? I'm bringing out a SF book in a few weeks or so, and I like the look of that font for its cover.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

At least there wasn't too much yakking!

[Julie]

Kath wrote: "Just finished a book by a young woman in her early 40s who is suffering from advanced bowel cancer. This is a novel and it's absolutely gripping. I read it yesterday afternoon and late into the nig..."

I agree, Kath! I'm 90% through and had to force myself to stop this morning or I wouldn't have got anything else done. Highly recommended.

[Julie]

Kath wrote: "Just (yesterday) started The Magpies which is turning out rather spooky. I'm 40% through already - it's addictive!"

I was disappointed in this. I won't say more in case I spoil it for you, but I found myself skimming to get it over with!

[Kath]

Just finished it - I actually enjoyed it but I must be getting old because the sex scenes weren't erotic, just a bit clinical. I enjoyed the nasty neighbours though!

[Julie]

Kath wrote: "Just finished it - I actually enjoyed it but I must be getting old because the sex scenes weren't erotic, just a bit clinical. I enjoyed the nasty neighbours though!"

I found the whole thing very lacking in atmosphere and characterisation. It felt like an extended synopsis. Shame, as it's a promising storyline, but lots of other people have enjoyed it, so maybe it's just me.