The Bookworm's Thread 2016

greentiger

I'm so glad it's not just me who is having a hard time getting through "The Versions of Us", amy. I saw somewhere else that someone went back and read each version as a separate story to help make sense of it all.

mumps

Callie22 wrote: »

Sometimes I think it's never a good idea to read too much by the same author all at once. I quite like Jodi Picoult but a few years ago I went on a bit of a binge and read far too many of her books one after the other, and I haven't been able to read one since. It got to the point where it felt like I was reading the same story but with slightly different characters - they all had the moral dilemma, the legal battle led by the embittered lawyer with a complicated personal life, and a slightly twisty resolution. I still think that they are good books - 'Plain Truth', 'Nineteen Minutes' and 'Handle with Care' were all ones I enjoyed - but I don't think I'll read any more for a few years.

I know what you mean, I was getting to that stage but read another book, I must have been halfway through it when I realised it sounded so familiar because I actually had read it before.:rotfl:

Callie22

I've just finished a book called 'Babbacombes', by Susan Scarlett (a pen-name for Noel Streatfeild). It was very enjoyable, if you like Streatfeild generally then you'd like this. It's a bit of a 'fluffy' story about a girl named Bath Carson, who goes to work in a department store called Babbacombes and falls in love with David, the owner's son. There's not much of a story but it's got some great characters - the thoroughly nice Beth, the 'needs a nice woman to calm him down' David and a spiteful cousin called Dulcie who tries to ruin everything. Great fun

I've also just started a non-fiction book called 'A Wonderful Little Girl' by Sian Busby, which is about Sarah Jacob, the Welsh fasting girl. She was a sensation in Victorian times as she appeared not to eat anything for the last two years of her life, and the book looks at what actually happened to her - was she a supernatural miracle or was there something else going on.

Goldiegirl

Book 7


The Nostradamus Prophecies - Mario Reading





This book is the first part of a trilogy. The whole trilogy was a deal of the day for 99p and as I had read and enjoyed a couple of other books by this author, I thought it was a good bet.


There were some negative amazon reviews, but I thought I'd risk it - I wish I'd taken notice of the reviews on this occasion!


It's a Dan Brown type story. The main protagonist, the bad guy who belongs to a secret organisation, and a policeman who is after the bad guy and the good guy, are travelling around France to get the clues to find the missing Nostradamus quartrains.


This was a weird book - the characters are very shallow, so it is difficult to care about them - all we know about the good guy is that he's an American author, and all we know about the policemen is just that - he's a policeman. The bad guy is slightly more interesting, but the good guy and the policeman always refer to him as the 'eye-man' which is quite annoying.


When the quartrains are finally found, the good guy deciphers them in a few hours and works out exactly what they mean - which is slightly unlikely.


The book finishes at the first interesting point in the whole tale - which I won't reveal, in case anyone reads the book.


I will read the next book as I'm curious enough to know wha happens next. Also, in a few days time I'm off on holiday, on a cruise. The cruise calls at the Yucatan peninsular in Mexico.... where the next book appears to be set, as it's called the Mayan Codex.


But I can't really recommend this book - there's much better out there, probably not worth spending time on this one


5/10

VfM4meplse

Wk 6:



I give this one 7/10. Although an easy read, I found it hard to give it my attention at first. I didn't like the sociopathic main character at all (even though I agree with him about "fine dining" being a waste of money!) and it didn't get gripping until p150, half way through the book. I ended the book dislikng both the protagonist and his wife. Interesting concept, though.

Not the kind of thing I would normally read but not a complete waste of time either.

greentiger

Callie, you certainly gave my memory a jog there, mentioning Noel Streatfeild. I got "Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Annual" as a prize for "general excellence" when I was in primary school in the 1950s. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. The only thing I remember about it is a full page colour picture of Margot Fonteyn as the Firebird! BTW I never ever went to dancing classes and was not in the least interested in ballet! Even then I was a football girl!

[Deleted User]

greentiger wrote: »

Callie, you certainly gave my memory a jog there, mentioning Noel Streatfeild. I got "Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Annual" as a prize for "general excellence" when I was in primary school in the 1950s. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. The only thing I remember about it is a full page colour picture of Margot Fonteyn as the Firebird! BTW I never ever went to dancing classes and was not in the least interested in ballet! Even then I was a football girl!

That made me smile, greentiger:rotfl::).

Gender stereotyping was rife then, what else would a pre-adolescent girl want but a book about ballet?:rotfl:

I recall receiving The Girls' Book of Heroines as a school prize in the early '60s. It was fascinating actually and certainly gave plenty of worthwhile role models. Maybe not so bad after all as at least it encouraged aiming high;)

Upsidedown_Bear

Just finished The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly.



Absolutely loved this, just my sort of book :T Big adventure with a great heroine.
I have read most of his other books but this is the one I've enjoyed the most.

pollypenny

greentiger wrote: »

Callie, you certainly gave my memory a jog there, mentioning Noel Streatfeild. I got "Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Annual" as a prize for "general excellence" when I was in primary school in the 1950s. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. The only thing I remember about it is a full page colour picture of Margot Fonteyn as the Firebird! BTW I never ever went to dancing classes and was not in the least interested in ballet! Even then I was a football girl!

I loved Noel Streatfield's books and all school stories when I was a kid.

They were absolutely outside my own experience, growing up in the South Wales valleys, but I still read them and empathised with the heroines.

Callie22

pollypenny wrote: »

I loved Noel Streatfield's books and all school stories when I was a kid.

They were absolutely outside my own experience, growing up in the South Wales valleys, but I still read them and empathised with the heroines.

I can really recommend Streatfeild's adult novels too. They're not that easy to get hold of but Persephone have republished 'Saplings', which is a really moving story about a family during WW2.