The Bookworm's Thread 2016

Three Graham Masterson book on Amazon kindle Daily Deal today.

The first three Kate Maguire books, White Bones at 60p, the next two at 99p.

I'm hopeless at links on the iPad, sorry.

Have been dipping in and out of this thread and have been interested to read of the charges made (or not) for book reservations. Our council charge £1.30 to reserve a book. I belong to 2 local book groups and we have been discussing this and many of us prefer to buy books in charity shops (and share between members of the groups) although we have noticed prices going up in those too. One of the groups I belong to was started by the library service about 16years ago under an initiative to increase reading, and there was a list of books held in sufficient number for the various library book groups. Unfortunately this service was withdrawn a few years ago due to cutbacks so we continued by ourselves in a local church room. It is interesting to look back and see what I have read over the past 16 years, and am now trying to keep records of what I read for myself - although I often move on to the next book and forget to update my list.
I have just finished Moving by Jenny Éclair which my daughter gave to me for Mother's Day. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I'm not too fond of Jenny Éclair (a little too ascerbic for me) but it was a very enjoyable, easy read.

I've been away on a 5 week cruise and this is what I read while I was away. I averaged two books a week. I thought it'd have been more, but there was so much to see and do, I didn't read quite as much as I thought




8 - The Tea Rose – Jennifer Donnelley
9 - Precious Time – Erica James
10 - The Smile of a Ghost – Phil Rickman
11 - The Man from St Petersburg – Ken Follett
12 - The Last Letter from Your Lover – Jojo Moyes
13 - Summer at the Lake – Erica James
14 - The Scandalous Duchess – Anne O’Brien
15 - Best Kept Secret – Jeffrey Archer
16 - A Place Called Freedom – Ken Follett
17 - Gardens of Delight – Erica James


I've decided to stop looking at the Kindle Daily Deals for a while, as I want to try and clear my Kindle archive. I have more than enough books for the rest of the year.... I'll see how I get on

I've read quite a lot recently but nothing really memorable - quite a lot of Penelope Fitzgerald, who I love, and a few other books which I wouldn't bother recommending! I finished 'The Bees' by Laline Paull and I thought it was quite good, although there was something about the book that grated on me a bit. I really liked the concept of the story (and anything that gets people thinking about bees is a good thing) and I could accept the fact that the bees in the story were talking and thinking like people, but I just didn't like the way the bees spoke - lots of thees and thous and 'oh, great sister of the hive'! However, if you can get over that then I'd recommend it.

I've also recently read 'The Valley' by Richard Benson and I'd definitely recommend it if you're nosy like me and you enjoy reading about other families' histories. It's a non-ficton account of four generations of Richard's family, who lived in the Dearne Valley in South Yorkshire. It's beautifully written and really good.

I've also just bought 'Rush Oh!' by Shirley Barratt which I'm looking forward to starting. It's a novel about the daughter of a whaling family in New South Wales, and is set in 1908. It's had some really good reviews online and I'm hoping that it will be good.

Haven't been managing to read as much as I'd like at the moment as my concentration is lacking.


Have read Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healey. Liked it and enjoyed the way it was written but a bit close to home subject wise.


Read Midnight in Austenland - Shannon Hale. Real trashy read but I actually thoroughly enjoyed it.


Have just read Finding Audrey. This is Sophie Kinsella writing YA fiction. Was curious as I've read some of her books before.


Next on the go is Walking the Nile.