Hobbies and Crafts

I keep making a note on my iPad of different books recommended on here and the list is getting longer and longer. I now have to take the iPad to the library and I go round the shelves checking if they have any of the books there. They hardly ever do. I'll have to order a few I think.

I've just finished "And the Rest is History" and "An Argumentation of Historians", books 8 & 9 in the Chronicles of St Mary's series by Jodi Taylor. The kindle price was 99p. If you haven't read any of these books, they are fantasy with a touch of humour and involve the personnel of an Institute of Historical Research who travel through time to record historical events as they happen. Needless to say, they encounter lots of problems and disasters along the way.

The books could be read as stand-alones but I think they are best read in order as the lives of the characters progress through the books. I thought these two books showed more of the private and emotional lives of the characters, particularly Max, the main female in the books, and her relationship with her husband, son and colleagues.

I recommended these books to someone who read one and hated it so they wouldn't suit everyone but they are a good read if you like the genre.

All downloaded thanks Emma mwahhhh….will let you know how I get on <3 <3

**ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN**!!! Get in here :-D :-D

Now reading a biography on Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Could not remember what she wrote but husband
reminded me of Uncle Tom's Cabin, senior moment.
She came from a very religious family but there is
so much more to her than that.
So far finding it an easy, interesting read.

Finished reading the book on Elizabeth Berry the first woman
to be hanged in Walton Prison Liverpool in 1887.
She appears to be the only woman to be hanged by a man
with the same surname (James Berry)

Elizabeth poisoned her daughter and other members of her
family. She was a greedy, cold hearted person and felt superior
to everyone. She worked as a nurse at a Oldham Workhouse.

Good read if you are into true crime.

I read an abridged version (for teenagers) of Lorna Doone many years ago. Want to start read (or rereading) some of the classics, i.e. Lorna Doone, The Last Mochican ans possibly some Charles Dickens books.
Have never read Pilgrims Progress, I wonder if I am grown up enough yet?

I quite often reread books, sometimes unintentionally, but a second (or third ) reading is never a waste of time.

Going to the Library tomorrow, taking back The Hourglass by Tracy Rees (recommended on here). I enjoyed the book, have visited Tenby (in 1973) and now would like to go back. What a shame that I can'y use my free bus pass there!

Will also be returning "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Somer is a married physician living in San Francisco, everything is going to plan in her life, .....till she finds out that she is unable to have children.

The same year in India, a poor mother makes the heartbreaking choice to save her newborn daughters life by giving her away to an orphanage. It is a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Asha is the adopted daughter of Somer and her Indian husband, Kris.

We follow both families over the next twenty tears, untlk Asha's journey of self-discovery leads her back to India

Looking at different life styles and cultures on two continents, this is a moving story. Well worth reading.

Will be renewing "Capital" by John Lancaster. Just as a teaser ....it is about the residents of Pepys Road, London - a banker and his shopaholic wife, an elderly woman dying of a brain tumour, the Pakistana family who run the corner shop, the local young football star from Senegal and his minder - all recieve an anonymous postcard with a simple message -
"We want what you have"

read the book to find out what is going on! A strange and strangely compelling story.

Will be back with more when I have finished it,

How We Lived Then - Norman Longmate

I also use my Kindle for Suboru and Solitaire

I've over 50 books in my Kindle some half read.

Gulp by Mary Roache is a very good read, I recommend it :-D

That’s an interesting selection David. Not sure if I would want to read about Shipman or not.

I might download that one myself Emma.

I’ve just read two Paul Doherty books “The Treason of the Ghosts” and “The Darkening Glass”. The first features his character High Corbett and the second one features Mathilde of Westminster. Both very good if you like medieval murder mysteries.

I’m currently reading “The Fix” by David Baldacci, the third in his series featuring Amos Decker. Quite a complex plot but easy reading, though I have to grit my teeth at some of the Americanisms like “she lawyered up”!

Just downloaded the following to my kindle.

Better off Dead by Michael Fleeman.

When Robert Limon was found dead false leads kept
detectives searching for answers. But when a tip pointed
to Limon's wife Sabrina, shocking secrets about their seemingly
peaceful community began to surface.

True Crime ....99p

Ive recently finished read Harold Frederick Shipman story. Incredible !!
He was found guilty of 23 murders but is believed to be guilty of 263.

Also Ive recently read In God's Name by David Yallop and Merchants in The Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi and Ratzinger Was Afraid, by the same author.

Hiyaaaa Bookworms :-D :-D :-D <3 <3 <3


Sounds an interesting read Emma
:-D

After having read my last book by Fiona Valpy and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it
so have decided to read one of her other books...one for me to read in the garden me thinks.....

Lovely to see what we are all reading......

Thanks for posting as always

The Beekeeper's Promise

Heartbroken and hoping for a new start, Abi Howes takes a summer job in rural France at the Château Bellevue. The old château echoes with voices from the past, and soon Abi finds herself drawn to one remarkable woman’s story, a story that could change the course of her summer—and her life.
In 1938, Eliane Martin tends beehives in the garden of the beautiful Château Bellevue. In its shadow she meets Mathieu Dubosq and falls in love for the first time, daring to hope that a happy future awaits. But France’s eastern border is darkening under the clouds of war, and history has other plans for Eliane…
When she is separated from Mathieu in the chaos of German occupation, Eliane makes the dangerous decision to join the Resistance and fight for France’s liberty. But with no end to the war in sight, her loyalty to Mathieu is severely tested.
From the bestselling author of Sea of Memories comes the story of two remarkable women, generations apart, who must use adversity to their advantage and find the resilience deep within.

Finished Let Me Go and can see why the daughter
had a conflict of feelings towards her mother.
The mother believed to her dying day that she did
what she was ordered to do and was proud of it.

She was angry that she and her SS comrades
we're stopped from fulfilling the orders of the Fuhrer.

Now reading about Elizabeth Berry serial killer in the
1800s who used poison to dispose of her victims including family.

You're definitely not alone Dermot. I re-read all the time; sometimes like Ann I have forgotten what happened in the book, sometimes I just enjoy the books even though I know them well.

Do you ever have a mental block where some books are concerned? I have tried many times over the years to get through Lorna Doone. Usually I give up after a few chapters but when I last had a go at it, about 2 years ago, I got about half way.

The reason I am so keen to read it is that my paternal family came from that area of Devon and several of the characters in the book make an appearance in my family history. John Ridd, the main character in the book, existed and is a signatory on an apprenticeship indenture of an ancestor. Farmer Snow is apparently based on Nicholas Snow of Oare and he has a distant vague relationship to my family in that his grandson married my 4 x great aunt. So I feel I really ought to read and enjoy Lorna Doone but, oh dear, I do struggle with it.

Anyone else have this sort of block where a particular book is concerned?

No Dermot I too reread. Mind you I often forget how the story pans out, one of the benefits of an older memory :-D

Mersey that sounds good might look for that one.

Am I the only one who, fairly often, reads & re-reads the same book when the subject appeals to me.

The 2nd reading is regularly more rewarding! ;-)

Started reading Let Me Go (14th April post)
since last Friday, I feel for the daughter who has torn
feelings toward her mother ( if you could call her a mother)
will be interesting to see how this will pan out in the end.

Hiya Book Worms :-D :-D <3 <3

Today I have just downloaded and started reading a book a Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy.......So thought I would share


When Kendra first visits her ailing grandmother, Ella has only one request: that Kendra write her story down, before she forgets…
In 1937, seventeen-year-old Ella’s life changes forever when she is sent to spend the summer on the beautiful Île de Ré and meets the charismatic, creative Christophe. They spend the summer together, exploring the island’s sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters, and, for the first time in her life, Ella feels truly free.
But the outbreak of war casts everything in a new light. Ella is forced to return to Scotland, where she volunteers for the war effort alongside the dashing Angus. In this new world, Ella feels herself drifting further and further from who she was on the Île de Ré. Can she ever find her way back? And does she want to?
From the windswept Île de Ré to the rugged hills of Scotland, Sea of Memories is a spellbinding journey about the power of memory, love and second chances.

Just finished a book I got off the shelf in our local community hub, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it but I thought it was a really good read.
All that I leave behind by Alison Walsh.

t hadn't been Rosie's idea - a 'quaint' wedding at her childhood home in the Irish countryside. Nevertheless she finds herself back in Monasterard after a decade away, with her American fiancé on her arm and a smile fixed to her face.

As expected, the welcome from her siblings isn't exactly warm. Mary-Pat, the one who practically raised Rosie, is avoiding her. June is preoccupied with maintaining the illusion of her perfect family. And Pius, who still counts the years since their mother left, is hiding from the world. Each of them is struggling with the weight of things unsaid.
In the end, it's their father who, on the day of Rosie's wedding, exposes what has remained hidden for so long. And as the O'Connor siblings piece together the secrets at the heart of their family, they begin to forgive the woman who abandoned them all those years ago.

It is a family saga of a very complicated family.

Alison Walsh is very perceptive in the understanding of people's lives.

I finished Philippa Gregory’s “The Last Tudor”. It’s the story of Lady Jane Grey, the nine days queen, and her two sisters Katherine and Mary, and their relationship with their cousin Elizabeth I. The background is the fight between the Papists and the Protestants to get their chosen candidate on the throne.

It is in three separate parts, each written by one of the sisters. It is a novel but as with all Philippa Gregory’s books, it is based on solid research. I found it a good read though I am still not sure whether The Last Tudor refers to Elizabeth as the last Tudor monarch or Lady Mary Grey as the last Tudor heir to the throne.