Hobbies and Crafts

two books as usual please.

My suggestions are:-
Alentejo Blue, by Monica Ali.

For some, Mamarrosa is a place you merely pass through. For others it is somewhere from which you want to escape. Some people come here to disappear.
A small town in Portugal, it is on the way to other places, but you rarely stop there. And those who do usually have a reason.

Men and women, children and old people all tel their stories, piece by piece, locals, expatriates, tourists alike, and in so doing assemble the story of the town itself, a tale of exile and belonging, rich with resonance and regret.

(Note - This is the blurb from the book It gives no real clue about the people you will encounter as you leaf you way through the story. Each new chapter you reach therefore can introduce you to entirely new and unexpected characters.).


Second suggestion:-

Peach Blossom Pavilion. by Mingmei Yip

Peking, 1918.


Xiang Xiang's life as an innocent young girl is about to change when her father is falsely accused of murder and executed.

With her family name dishonoured, her mother is forced into a Buddhist nunnery and Xiang Xiang is befriended by an"aunt" and unwittingly enters the Peach Blossom Pavilion.

Given the name Bao Lan or Precious Orchid, she is trained in the fine arts of womanhood and seduction.

Despite her success, Xiang Xiang's past haunts her and, determined to avenge her parents, she sets out on a dangerous journey of adventure and passion

My Suggestions

NYPD Red by James Patterson & Marshall Karp

Every cop wants to be part of NYPD Red.
It is the elite team in New York’s police department, handling the cases involving the most important and high-profile individuals in the city. It’s Detective Zach Jordan’s dream job, but he’s about to step into a nightmare.
In the middle of a New York film festival, a maniac begins a very public and very brutal killing spree targeting Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Zach is assigned a new partner, Detective Kylie MacDonald, who is also his ex-girlfriend. But they’ll need to put their history aside to have a chance of stopping this homicidal psychopath before he brings New York City to its knees.

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their flat, she has to move miles away from everyone, to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop.
And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . . And people start to hear about it.
Sometimes, bread really is life . . . And Polly is about to reclaim hers.

Still 'recovering from two holidays followed by a hospital visit for a minor op on Tuesday so not caught up with myself. Will be back with my suggestions tomorrow :-)

Summer on the River by Marcia Willett

Evie loved the house. The bright, sunny rooms looking across the river. The terraced gardens with fruit trees growing against the high stone walls. The scent of lavender at the end of a hot day. It was a family house. As summer beckons, Evie's family gathers once more at the beautiful old riverside house they all adore. But when Evie discovers a secret that threatens their future, a shadow falls over them all: this summer by the river could be their last together...For Charlie, a visit home to see stepmother Evie is an escape from his unhappy marriage in London. Until a chance encounter changes everything: in the space of a moment, he meets a woman by the river, falls in love, and his two worlds collide. As Evie and Charlie struggle to keep their secrets safe, they long for the summer to never end...Can the happiness of one summer last for ever?

The Little House by Philippa Gregory

A contemporary psychological thriller

It was easy for Elizabeth. She married the man she loved, bore him two children and made a home for him which was the envy of their friends.

It was harder for Ruth. She married Elizabeth’s son and then found that, somehow, she could never quite measure up…

Isolation, deceit and betrayal fill the gaps between the two individual women and between their different worlds. In this complex thriller, Philippa Gregory deploys all her insight into what women want and what women fear, as Ruth confronts the shifting borders of her own sanity. Laying bare the comfortable conventions of rural England, this spine-tingling novel pulses with suspense until the whiplash double-twist of the denouement.

The girl Next door by Elizabeth Noble
For Eve Gallagher home is miles away in England since she and her husband relocated to an apartment building in New York’s Upper East Side and life is not coming up roses.
Violet has lived in the building for decades but always kept herself apart, until eve’s loneliness touches her heart and friendship blossoms.
Jason Kramer in apartment 6a is no longer sure he loves his wife but he is head over heals for Rachel Schulman in 6B.
Meeting Emily Mikanowski from 3A turns Trip Grayling’s world upside down. It’s love at first sight, but he needs help from Charlotte, the shy romance addict in 2A if he is going to win the girl.
Dreams come true, hearts are broken and no one is left unchanged when the secrets and desires hidden behind closed doors are finally brought into the light.

Family Ghosts by Sarah Quick
You love or hate Genealogy. Hepsie Anderson sets out to undermine her father, Eb’s obsession for genealogy. Blind Eb believes his ancestors are trying to get in touch with him. Professional genealogist, Mike Johnson wishes he wasn’t a genealogist.
In Amberley 1894, Zennor Anderson has more stressful family concerns on her mind: can she find the courage to tell her husband George the truth? Before he and the rest of the village find out.

In her debut novel, Sarah Quick vividly brings her characters to life with perception, humour and heart. Portraying a good sense of place, she paints her settings with an artist’s eye, from the prehistoric wilderness of Zennor Hill in Cornwall, to the gentle buttercup strewn beauty of Amberley common in the Five Valleys, Gloucestershire.

My suggestions are....

Janey's War - Barbara Murphy

When WWII is declared on 3rd September 1939, twins Jane and Rose Harrison are eleven years old. They should have started at the new Grammar School next day, but are being evacuated to Norfolk, returning home before the London blitz begins.

The girls are very different in appearance and personality, but devoted to each other. Jane is tall and somewhat angular, her brown eyes and dark, straight hair showing little sign of the elegant young woman she would become. She ignores the unfair nickname of 'the plain one', but Rose tries to copy the 'blonde bombshell' looks she sees at the cinema. Jane is realistic about her dream of becoming a concert pianist, whereas Rose is convinced that it is her destiny is to be a famous singing and dancing star, like Ginger Rogers. She does not study so hard as Jane, but usually gets good results despite little effort. Unfortunately their mother, Nell, supports Rose's belief and pays little attention to Jane's efforts or need for affection.

As with most families, war brings a mixture of warmth, humour and tragedy to the Harrisons. Their house is bombed and relatives arrive on the doorstep of their next home. Combined with fears about her eldest son, a missing glider pilot, Nell's health suffers. Jane tackles more chores, but only her sister receives any affectionate gratitude. When Jane works for the same firm as a clerk she discovers that Rose is a machinist, not a model, and is now more interested in luxury items provided by American soldiers. Although she knows her pretty blonde sister is pretending to be older, Jane is shocked to see a photograph of her outside a strip-club. Apparently she was approached by two dodgy 'agents', who said it was the only way into films but Rose is now disillusioned and agrees with Jane that she will leave…


The Sisters of St Croix - Diney Costeloe


When Adelaide Anson-Gravetty finds out her father is not the man who raised her, she is both shocked and intrigued. Determined to find out more about her new family, she travels to the convent of Our Lady of Mercy in France to meet her aunt, the Reverend Mother.

But when France falls to the German army, Adelaide and the nuns are soon in the thick of a war that threatens both their beliefs and their lives. Collaborating with the Resistance, sheltering Jewish orphans, defying the rulings of Vichy France: these are dangerous activities in dangerous times

Summer on the river is not available here until 16th June 2016. Perse if you see this can you give an alternative please. And maybe add it next time.

Oh my goodness me I was going to suggest it when I suggested Dorothy Koomson's "Girl from Nowhere" which I didn't bother finishing.

So how about:

Rosie Thomas's The Illusionists

London 1885
As a turbulent and change-filled century draws to a close, there has never been a better time to alter your fortune. But for a beautiful young woman of limited means, Eliza’s choices appear to lie between the stifling domesticity of marriage or a downwards spiral to the streets – no matter how determined she is to forge her own path.

One night at a run-down theatre, she meets the charismatic Devil Wix – showman, master of illusion, fickle friend. Drawn into his circle, Eliza becomes the catalyst of change for his colleagues – a dwarf, an eccentric engineer, and an artist – as well as Devil himself. And as Eliza embarks on a dangerous adventure, she must decide which path to choose, and how far she should go when she holds all their lives in her hands.


Oh and I have read "The Girl Next Door" many moons ago.

I see Family Ghosts is not anywhere to be found maybe it is too old for the libraries.. They started to cull them a few years back and it's all new or forever favourites,

I don't believe it.. can get Janey's War and Little Beach street Baker in large print. I think that's how I eventually got Water for Elephants which was such a wonderful book.

I will just choose two and try all the libraries.. I have yet to join the Hamiton libraries which are not that far away.

Perse, Lol, they are all on Kindle.

I am just waiting to see if Another Anne in Glos is going to join us this time then we can vote.

My two books if I am not too late

Personal by Lee Child a Jack Reacher thriller. Taken from the back

Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go to hard man in the US Military police, now he is his own boss, going where the mood takes him. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long range shot at the French president.

2nd book is Head over heels in the Dales. By Gervase Phinn. From the back.
Gervaise Phinn writes warmly, and with great wit, about the children and adults he meets in Yorkshire schools. An enchanting montage of experiences. Colourful, funny and honest.

Anne

That is such a gorgeous photo GlossieAnn of Luke and Adam.

Yes I love it Perse. Have to chuckle, Luke has been a model child until now, smiley, good tempered and very biddable. Apparently this week he has been the toddler from hell. Yesterday he threw his cereals across the kitchen for some reason. We think he has suddenly realised Adam is there to stay Lol!!! Poor Mum doesn't know what has hit her.


Anne, thanks for the suggestions. I will put the voted thread up now.

:-) :-)