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[[deleted user]]

Janis wrote: "Love Jodi Picoult but have them all in book form - she is a keeper, trying to get rid of some of my books.

Just finished Swedish for Beginners - a novel and just started [book:A Cot..."

I've never read any Jodi Picoult because I'm worried that it would make me depressed. Are they depressing reads or have I got hold of the wrong end of the stick?

[Janis]

They are about tough subjects and also let you form your own opinion -often seem to end leaving you wanting more, a question in mind. I enjoy them.

[Kath]

I love Jodi Picoult too they are more though provoking than depressing I'd say. Yet one of our village book group members can't even bear to read them. Folks eh? Now't so queer.

I've just finished Florence and Giles. Strange little tale but I enjoyed it immensely.

Just started Death in the Physic Garden. Not really got far enough in to comment yet.

[[deleted user]]

Ingnite wrote: Just started Death in the Physic Garden. Not really got far enough in to comment yet.
"

I've read that book and would be interested to hear what you think of it. I did mainly enjoy it, but there were some random sex scenes in it which I thought detracted from the story but I enjoyed the whodunnit worked in with gardening aspect. I enjoyed the sequel more. Death in the Winter Garden

:0)

[Kath]

I have that too Karen. Seemed silly not to get both. Random sex - mind in boggle-overdrive! But I think I know what you mean. I read most of Jean M Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series and I even found myself skipping the sexy bits - not like me! They just seemed to have been slotted in, as you say, randomly, to up the temperature a bit

[Catalina]

I have discovered Jodi Picoult almost an year ago, and from all her books the only one i did not really like was Second Glance
her books are based on very controversial topics, and they are extremely well written and documented.
what i enjoy most about her writting is the feelings i develop while reading. her books are also very challenging and push me to think more about the subjects she tackles.
at time i was disappointed with the final outcome, other times perplexed, but i was forced to argument my opinions and defent my view.
all in all, she is an interesting author that i recommend.

[Jud]

i just finished eragon and am continuing with madam bovary. Loved eragon, its really my kind of book got the second one lined up for after madam bovary

[Jud]

p.s dont think i've ever read jodi picoult

[[deleted user]]

I finished The Fashion Policelast night which I enjoyed - chick lit mixed with crime mystery, light hearted escapism. Now I've started Lye in Waitwhich is free at the mo, just because the title grabbed me. Too early to form any impressions of it yet...

:0)

[Susan]

Just finished In the Blood,enjoyed it. Just started The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, for my real life book club, but will miss the meeting as I'll be on holiday.

[Aunty Janet]

I love Jodie Picoult and have read all of her books. I'm not so keen on some of the re-released earlier books that have come out in the past couple of years. I think it's interesting to read her earlier work, but notice that she's really developed her writing style. You can tell that it's one of her earlier books by the publication date, but otherwise wouldn't know from the cover.
I'm really looking forward to reading 'sing you home', her latest and newest (as far as I can tell) novel, but waiting for amazon vouchers for my birthday next month before I buy it.

[Sharon4]

I'm well into Mud, Muck and Dead Things the first in Ann Granger's Campbell and Carter crime series and so far, I like it. The central protagonists are appealing and there's plenty of mordant humour as well as a strong sense of place. It's not in Kindle format, however the second in the series Rack, Ruin and Murder is. It's newly published and quite expensive, so I'll probably hang on for a bit.

[Jud]

just finished its amazing! and have just started white fang cause i got my kindle back YAY :o)

[Patti (baconater)]

Yay! How is your friend, Jud?

[Jud]

still not great and havent got a diagnosis but she's out of hospital and happier to be at home with her boys. Thanks. She's possibly a kindle convert now too, once she's better

[Anita]

Just finished The Gallows Curse, I enjoyed it but not as much as The 2 other books by Karen Maitland.
I am about to start Secretum by R. Monaldi (I have this in paperback) but to keep my kindle fix I am still reading Sarum.
Madam Bovary looks very interesting!

[Patti (baconater)]

Jud (judder) wrote: "still not great and havent got a diagnosis but she's out of hospital and happier to be at home with her boys. Thanks. She's possibly a kindle convert now too, once she's better"

A diagnosis would be a help, I'm sure. Good to hear she's happier, at least.
I'm not surprised to hear she's a potential kindle convert.
Tell her the group is sending her good thoughts.

[Audrey (Seaholly)]

I'm with patti there jud sending good thoughts her way.

[Jud]

thanks guys :o)

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

Yes, add me to the good wishes list. Hope she's up and about real soon.

G

[Denise]

Just joined this group and thought I'd join in....

I've just finished Pigeon English I picked this up on Amazon when I saw it on the TV Book Club.

I'm going to go through my TBR list to decide on my next one - will let you know.

[Kath]

Just finished Death in the Winter Garden by Karen Lowe. I read Death in the Physic Garden immediately before it. I like the gardening aspect - it was all good stuff and accurate too. That matters!

But honestly - Fern Green. Like Rosemary and Thyme on TV the names are too twee to be true. Reasonable story lines but for an intelligent woman the heroine is SO STUPID when it comes to allowing herself to be alone with someone she suspects of murder. I mean you just wouldn't!

Just started Touches, from the Beyond, by Launa McNeilly. Only 9% in but it's shaping up.

[Jane]

Just finished Shard, lots of formatting problems, names changing, couple of missing chapters & the main battle at the end! I quite liked it though
Just about to start White Fang....

[Vanessa (aka Dumbo)]

Jane wrote: "Just finished Shard, lots of formatting problems, names changing, couple of missing chapters & the main battle at the end! I quite liked it though
Just about to start White Fang...."

I downloaded Shard the other day. It looks like a really long book. I got it from smashwords free.
Is there really chapters missing and is it the type of book that is just the start of a story and leaves you hanging at the end?

[Jane]

Hi Vanessa

2 Chapters are missing, but the author gives you a brief few lines of what went on. The main good guy & evil guy duel at the end is just missing! It jumps to the epilogue, at first I thought it was me, but its just not there. It is a very similar story to Lord of the Rings, band of different race people battling evil while 1 carries a sword that wishes to be returened to its master. I did enjoy it though for all its flaws. One chapter there were quotation marks at every paragraph?!? I suppose you could say that all the ends were tied up but somehow not!

[Kath]

OOOOh, that would aggravate the hell out of me! I'd better not read it.

[Ian]

Just finished and about to start

[Kath]

Just finished Touches, from the Beyond by Launa McNeilly. I really found the prose rather stilted and it could have done with editing. On a couple of occasions someone was 'lead' into a room, out of a short cast 2 were called Sam which led (not lead!) to confusion and she altered the spelling of a character's name seemingly at random. Sometimes she was Laci, sometimes Lacie. Ted was called Ken at one point, and I had a good guffaw when one of the characters was feeding the children with her mother. I'd have given them cereal!

It's obviously going to be a series but I shall not be following it up.

Just started - literally, to the extent of opening at the cover page and moving to the synopsis - Cornelius Harker's Words to the Wise book 1.

[Jud]

Ingnite wrote: "Just finished Touches, from the Beyond by Launa McNeilly. I really found the prose rather stilted and it could have done with editing. On a couple of occasions someone was 'lead' into a room, out ..."

Makes me think its maybe one i dont need to bother adding to my tbr pile!!! not when its as massive as mine currently is...

[Kath]

Exactly Jud - life's too short - and I must rush off to stuff a mushroom!

[Jud]

Ingnite wrote: "Exactly Jud - life's too short - and I must rush off to stuff a mushroom!"

poor mushroom! Whatever did he do to deserve that...

[Kath]

Wasn't it a Shirley Conran quotation?

[Jud]

Ingnite wrote: "Wasn't it a Shirley Conran quotation?"

I dunno... i've not heard of Shirley Conran...

Edit: Did a quick google search and yes you are right! Shirley Conran is well known for coining the phrases "Life's too short to stuff a mushroom" and "First things first, second things never".

[Sharon4]

I've just finished The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett. It's readable, dry and funny and Denry Machin is not the sort of protagonist one should approve of. Even so, it's hard not to be pleased whenever he falls on his feet.

Kindle seems to have just about everything Arnold Bennett ever wrote, mostly free or reasonably priced. He doesn't seem to be easily available in chain bookshops (even in the Potteries) so it might well be that a Kindle is the easiest way for modern readers to enjoy him. That might also be true of a number of writers in the future.

I'm also reading The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It's a crossover novel, which means that in places, it's for stronger stomachs than mine, but it's powerful, well-written stuff. The idea of a whole village of men who have to live inside each others' heads is terrifying and painful.

[Jud]

I've just finished it was really good! and now I have started which i cant wait to get my teeth into

[Maureen (Mews)]

Just finished In The Blood. I have no idea what I am going to read next. It was one of those books that is going to be a hard act to follow.

Maybe a few short stories before I make a decision on something longer.

[Kath]

The Card was serialised on radio many years ago. Mr Ig and I loved it!

[Anita]

I enjoyed ITB too Maureen & was not sure what I felt like reading after it either. I finaly went for a good solid serial killer & started The Crucifix Killer (sorry can't do a link) that I got in the sale for £1.99 I think, only about 30% in but looking good & is fast moving too.

[Maureen (Mews)]

After thinking about it a bit, I have decided to go with Fold. I used to play online poker a few years ago so I am hoping it's enough to interest me (although I was never so bold to play anything higher than the 5 cent tables...lol).

It's described as "lad-lit" (first time I have heard that term!)

[[deleted user]]

I finished Lye in Wait a few days ok and it was quite enjoyable but without much depth to it, nice bit of escapism. I haven't been reading seriously much since then as we're enjoying visits from various grandchildren - so I've been skip reading and dipping in and out of some of the light romantic freebies (none of which are worth recommending.) Wanted something a bit more meaty again so now I'm reading Rachel's Shoe and so far it is excellent. Set in Guernsey during the german occupation. I enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society some time ago, but then read a recommendation in one of its reviews for Rachel's Shoe which was written by a native of the Channel Islands and is supposed to be a bit meatier - so far I'm finding it very good!

:0)

[Jud]

I' going to interpret this topic slightly different. I've just finished the housework so now i'm about to begin reading Eldest, I'm so excited!

Yay.

While the husbands away the wife will... um... read.

[[deleted user]]

I finished Rachel's Shoelast night but was disappointed with it, I certainly wouldn't say that it was better than The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as some reviewers had suggested. The beginning of the book was so good, but only the first few chapters dealt with the time of the occupation and were very well written, after that it skips to the 1970s and deals with a mystery about Rachel's inheritance - the writing is much shallower than at the beginning, so although it was still quite a good read, it didn't fulfill it's early promise IMO.

I'm reading some more of Bryson's At Home: A Short History of Private Life which I've been reading off and on for several weeks now. It's very interesting but as the topics change so much I prefer to read it in chunks between other reads.

I've read A Town Like Alice a few years ago Ignite and really enjoyed it. I would like to read it again.

:0)

[Susan]

Karen (Kew) wrote: "I finished Rachel's Shoelast night but was disappointed with it, I crtainly wouldn't say that it was better than The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as ..."

I quite agree about At Home - small chunks are best! I feel the same about Alex's Adventures in Numberland (sorry, can't do links) about maths. I also enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'm reading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey about Richard III; the premise is that he didn't murder his nephews. Very interesting, but I am getting muddled with all the characters, still not as muddled as I am with Wolf Hall as an audio book!

[[deleted user]]

The Daughter of Timeis a book that I keep hearing about but haven't read yet - it's one of those that I keep meaning to! :0)

[Catalina]

did my best and managed to finish Harvesting the Heart tonight...no idea what i will start next. as tuesday i go for holiday to romania i think i might need something light and fit for holiday...might try Out of time...not sure :(

[Susan]

Catalina wrote: "did my best and managed to finish Harvesting the Heart tonight...no idea what i will start next. as tuesday i go for holiday to romania i think i might need something light and fit for..."

Romania - try Dracula!

[Catalina]

i have already read Dracula a couple of years ago. i have it on my kindle, in spanish. i might give it a try.
i think i will read The White Queen..
thanks for the suggestion :)

[Jud]

Some big fat meaner wrote housework Ingnite! Of course i'd rather do housework than live like a caveman

[[deleted user]]

I finished At Home: A Short History of Private Life last night, quicker than I thought I would because I was only 70% odd throught - but the rest of the writing was made up of indexes and bibliographies etc. Spent quite a while starting a few different books, not sure what I was in the mood for reading next, then started The Last Fighting Tommy: The Life of Harry Patch, the Oldest Surviving Veteran of the Trenches and found it difficult to put down, especially once Harry starts to tell his own story! :0)

[Sharon4]

I'm reading At Home. It's very readable although I can understand why a lot of people find Bryson's style hard to cope with. He throws a lot of facts at you and quickly moves on, before you've had chance to digest it all. I like a lot of detail, so I don't mind that. However, if you've studied social history (especially from the 18thc onwards,) you might think you are skimming the surface a bit. That said, for those who would like to dip a toe into this area of history, there are worse places to start.

On the practical side, the paperback is an unwieldy volume so a lot of people will find the e-book very convenient. The last time I looked, it was also very cheap!