Hobbies and Crafts

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.

Sounds like one for me Emma, taken a look and now downloaded, thanks
for that
:-D

Just bought for my kindle..Let Me Go by Helga Schneider.

About a child who was abandoned by her mother when
she was four, she found out years later that her mother Traudi
was a guard at Auschwitz.

99p on Amazon...I believe they may make a film from this book.

I am the same Vera, read a book and a month or so later can’t remember what it is about. But I still enjoy the original read.

That sounds like another book to be added to my list of books to read Ann. It sounds a bit like I See You by Claire Mackintosh which I read a few months ago and loved.

I’ve just been reading back over the last couple of years’ posts on this thread. I’m pleased that I have been introduced to a few new authors but reading my own posts I am horrified at how much I have forgotten about books I have read. I’m clearly not retaining as much as I used to - I must be getting old.

An example: I am currently reading The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory which is the story of Lady Jane Grey and her sisters Katherine and Mary and their relationship with Elizabeth 1. I thought I knew little about them, though every so often I read something Philippa Gregory has written and think I’ve come across that fact before. I’ve just found I read a book by Elizabeth Chadwick fairly recently and it was about Katherine and Mary Grey :-S

How could I have forgotten it so soon?

I have just read Copy Cat by Alex Lake. I don't often read psychological thrillers but this one appealed to me and I thought it was very good, read it while away for two days, a difficult to put down book because you want to know what happens.

mitation is the most terrifying form of flattery…

Which Sarah Havenant is you?

When an old friend gets in touch, Sarah Havenant discovers that there are two Facebook profiles in her name. One is hers. The other, she has never seen.

But everything in it is accurate. Photos of her friends, her husband, her kids. Photos from the day before. Photos of her new kitchen. Photos taken inside her house.

And this is just the beginning. Because whoever has set up the second profile has been waiting for Sarah to find it. And now that she has, her life will no longer be her own…

I actually enjoyed it although it is some time since I read it Vera. I think we read it for Greaders.

I've just read The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. I was in a rush as usual so grabbed the most likely book from the "quick" shelf at the library. I don't remember reading any of her books before so thought I would give it a try.

In the 1990s a letter is finally delivered to the recipient 50 years after it was sent. From the reaction of the woman who receives the letter her daughter realises that her mother has been keeping a secret and starts delving into the past. From then on the book dodges around between WW2 and the 1990s, as the daughter gradually learns what happened in the past.

I did finish the book but it was a struggle. Unfortunately I didn't really find any of the main characters believable. Everything was a bit over the top and everyone had something to hide. I also found it too long, mainly because Kate Morton seemed to put in a lot of unnecessary description. A good description should fire up the imagination but I found a lot of this was just tedious. Too much style and not enough substance.

You'll gather by now that I didn't much like it but since finishing it I have read several reviews and the book seems to be the literary equivalent of Marmite. Not many people said it was OK, they either loved it or hated it.

This review put into words just what I felt about it. I think it is OK for me to c&p it here as it was on a public, open site.

"Did you ever go to a Tupperware party where the hostess spent forever demonstrating all the gadgets in a dramatically effervescent voice? And at the end nobody bought anything? And there weren't even any refreshments being served to make it worth having shown up? And you didn't like any of the other people who came to the party?
This book is that party---all elaborate demonstration, no sale, no refreshment, and no one I care about." :-D

I hope I haven't put you off - you might love it.

There are lots of Unlimited kindle reads on Amazon as you may know so rather than paying the full pay price of a kindle read you don't pay anything apart from the 99p that is required for the subscription. Usual price for Unlimited is £5.99/7.99 per month (I think)

So for 3 months you can get to read the unlimited kindle reads as many as you can read for 99p......

Just have to remember before the date is due to cancel as you say
:-)

That sounds a good read Mersey. What does Kindle unlimited allow for you?

Will do Ann :) got it on my calendar :)

Hiya Bookworms, and kindle readers... This read is through Kindle Unlimited I mentioned yesterday on this thread.....

I have just started Tall Chimney's - A British Family Saga spanning over 100 Years - Allie Cresswell
Winner of the prestigious One Stop Fiction Five Star Book Award, Tall Chimneys is the new novel by Amazon #1 best-selling author Allie Cresswell.
Considered a troublesome burden, Evelyn Talbot is banished by her family to their remote country house. Tall Chimneys is hidden in a damp and gloomy hollow. It is outmoded and inconvenient but Evelyn is determined to save it from the fate of so many stately homes at the time - abandonment or demolition.
Occasional echoes of tumult in the wider world reach their sequestered backwater - the strident cries of political extremists, a furore of royal scandal, rumblings of the European war machine. But their isolated spot seems largely untouched. At times life is hard - little more than survival. At times it feels enchanted, almost outside of time itself. The woman and the house shore each other up - until love comes calling, threatening to pull them asunder.
Her desertion will spell its demise, but saving Tall Chimneys could mean sacrificing her hope for happiness, even sacrificing herself.
A century later, a distant relative crosses the globe to find the house of his ancestors. What he finds in the strange depression of the moor could change the course of his life forever.
One woman, one house, one hundred years.

Make sure you remember to cancel it Mersey. :-)

Thanks for that Mers :-)

~~~~~~s to Emma and Gwyn :-D :-D <3 <3

Emma I remember watching a documentary about this story, was really interesting,
a very dark story...If I remember the name of it will let you know might be worth a look.

Also might be worth a look on Amazon because yesterday I got Kindle Unlimited for 3 months for wait for it 99p!!! Certainly a bargain and the at the end of the 3 months you can cancel it!!!

Happy Reading !!! :-D :-D <3

Not started yet, but daughter has bought me a copy of Flesh and Blood by Stephen Mc Gann, known to many as Doctor Turner in BBC's Call the Midwife.

It is 'the story of the McGann family as told through seven diseases, wounds or ailments that have afflicted his relatives over the past century and a half.................

It is said to combine his passion for genealogy with an academic interest in the social dimensions of medicine............

Let me know what you think Vera.

As I said just started the other one and easy so far to get into.

Emma, I meant to download A Right Royal Scandal when you mentioned it was on Amazon for 99p, then went down with flu and forgot. Just had a look and the kindle price is now £9.64! I think I’ll look in the library for it.

I like the sound of the other book you mention about the murder of Rasputin so I’ll keep an eye out for that too.

Just started reading ..Prince Felix Youssoupov..The
Man Who Killed Rasputin.

Really enjoyed A Right Royal Scandal, and was surprised
the connection of Sinetta the gypsy to the member of our
Royal family. An interesting read.

~~~~~~s to Tess :-D <3