Earlier this year, I finally dragged myself into the 21st century (after much nagging from family and friends about my absense) and joined Facebook.
Now I’ve gone one step further and have set up a page for The Book Whisperer (I know – get me!)
So, please stop by and “like” my page and chat etc – would love to see you all there 
This is the ninth Tess Gerritsen book I have read this year in the same series. I read the first eight all in a row as I couldn’t put them down (something I have never done before). As soon as I knew that there was a number 9 in the series I could not WAIT to get my hands on it and was totally sure that Gerritsen wouldn’t let me down and would deliver a cracking book once again. I was right!
Rizzoli & Isles are back on the case, this time in Boston’s China Town where the body of a young lady has been found with her neck slashed and her hand cut off by what looks like a sword. As Rizzoli and team get to work, they start to uncover links with not only a massacre that took place in a Chinese restaurant 19 years ago, but also the disappearance of two of the victims daughters within a few months of each other. Rizzoli becomes convinced that the crimes are related but she can’t figure out how and meanwhile, her and her team become stumped at the apparant presence of something lightning fast, human size but with monkey fur at some of the murder scenes.
I love how all Gerritsens books are so diverse. She has clearly done her homework and seems passionate about other cultures and rituals etc and often brings them into her books and this is no exception. I read somewhere that Gerritsen, being Chinese American herself, has wanted to write about something to do with Chinese culture for a long time but had been told that it wouldn’t sell. I beg to differ. Not only is this book, as usual, gripping and a real page-turner but I loved the bits of Chinese culture that were woven into the plot to help us understand the killers motives and actions. I have wanted to get myself a copy of Wu Cheng’en’s Journey To The West and now I have an excuse to buy myself a copy as I am fascinated to learn more.
Verdict: Another poweful and absorbing book from this author who has become my all-time favourite crime fiction writer. Write faster please, Ms Gerritsen!!!
PS/ I will interviewing Tess Gerritsen on my blog shortly so make sure you look out for that
(Source: this book is from my own collection)
Hence three rather large piles of books that have managed to work their way into my house over the last few weeks.
Firstly, thank you to the following publishers for sending me these lovely goodies: Simon & Schuster, Headline Review, Short Books, Amazon Vine and Peirene Press.
Tomorrow Pamplona by Jan van Mersbergen (translated by Laura Watkinson) – I love Peirene Press’s novella’s – they haven’t let me down yet and this looks like a good’n!
Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen – Had been lookig forward to this one anyway and then saw this great review from Kim at Reading Matters and now I can’t wait to read!
The Godless Boys by Naomi Wood – there have been some good reviews of this book around the blogosphere recently – looks interesting!
Ophelia in Pieces by Clare Jacobn – a sort of legal chicklit/thriller from what I can tell
The Story of Beutiful Girl by Rachel Simon – apparantly being compared to The Help and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (big shoes to fill, but looks interesting)
I’ll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark – *squeeeeeeal* This is coming on holiday with me: I just love MHC’s books!
Blue Monday by Nicci French – the first in a brand new series by this author pair staring a psychologist who finds herself caught up in the case of a missing child (looks fab!)
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith – first book by this author and I have heard so many good things about it that I’m not sure why it has eluded me thus far
Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith – a signed hardback proof of the third book by this author, out in July
Well, perhaps according to my bank manager and my husband…. but me? I’m just happy, happy, happy These are all little treats for myself for no other reason than I WANTED THEM!!!
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – I have been told by so many people that I will love this book so why I haven’t read it before now is anyone’s guess but I am thinking I may take this on holiday with me
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay – I was at a BBQ recently at a friends who comes from Zimbabwe’s house and I got chatting with other Zimbabweans who all recommended that I read this book. Really looking forward to it
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis – Judith from Leeswammes said this was one of the funniest books she had ever read and I love books that made me laugh, so……
Forgetting Zoë by Ray Robinson – I heard loads about this when it came out last year that made me want to read it and it’s now out in paperback
Purge by Sofi Oksanen – another one raved about on severall blogs including Stu at Winston’s Dad
The Dark Side of Love by Rafil Schami – one of Jackie at Farm Lane Book’s favourite books of last year and it’s set in the middle east (which I love)
The Unseen by Katherine Webb – I read (and loved) this authors debut book, The Lagacy, last year. This is another that is split between present day and secrets from 100 years ago
The Somnambulist by Essie Fox – I bought this because I follow the author on Twitter (@essiefox) as she runs the Virtual Victorian blog that I love (you know how I love books written in and set in this period). It looks really intreguing
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford – some of my American friends have recommended this to me and it is finally out in the UK – hurray!
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin – Jackie at Farm Lane Books reviewed this and it caught my attention so I have swapped a copy on RISI
Out by Natsuo Kirino – another one that Jackie and Judith are responsible for grabbing my attention with! Damn them! 
The Bad Book Affair by Ian Sansom – I picked this up for a quid (brand new) in my local garden centre. It’s a crime thirller set in Northern Ireland, starring a Jewish librarian
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami – ever since Shannon from Giraffe Days chose it as her scary read last October I have been on the look out for this – £1.00 from the garden centre. Result!
Marriage by Susan Ferrier – another one from RISI. This was written in Georgian times and apparantly Ferrier was as popular as Jane Austen back in the day…
Goodnight, Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson – picked up in a charity shop for 10p (it would have been rude not to…)
Still Alice by Lisa Genova – I have been recommended this book by several people now and I am intruiged
The Step Mothers’ Support Group by Sam Baker – given to me by my gorgeous cousin Sara wnen she popped round last week. Looks like a fun chicklit read to kick back with
Check out these babies from my recent trip to London and the south coast (where Mr Whisperer told me I had been a good girl and I was allowed to wander round the most beautiful flag-stone-floored Waterstones in Chichester without a nagging husband in sight and pick out some books!)
From the wonderful Daunt bookshop in Marylebone (where the books are set out by country) I got:
The Attack by Yasmina Khadra (set in Israel)
Three Sisters by Bi Feiyu (set in China)
The Last Brother by Natacha Appanah (set in Africa)
This Rough Music by Mary Stewart (set in Greece)
Mantissa by John Fowles (one of my al-time favourite authors)
Check out the free bag I got too (I was just as excited about this as I was about the books!)
From Waterstones in Picadilly, London I got:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
From Waterstones in Chichester I got:
Harvest by Tess Gerritsen
Jump! by Jilly Cooper (I have never read a Jilly Cooper before now but it was on offer and I fancied a big romp of a scandalous read. Has anyone read any of her books? What do you think?)
Thank you to the following publishers for these books sent: Simon & Schuster (who sent me a very exciting large package with 4 books in it), Michael Joseph and Bluedoor:
The Nightmare Theif by Meg Gardiner
Blue Monday by Nicci French
Here Come the Girls by Milly Johnson
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
Goddess of Vengeance by Jackie Collins
Daughters of Fortune by Tara Hyland
Have you read any of these books yet? Which ones do you recommend?
I have bowed to my “aholism” once again and welcomed these new lovelies into my home.
Thank you to the following for sending these book for review:
Green Books, Transworld, Amazon Vine, Hodder & Stoughton, Gallic Books.
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson
Where Would I Be Without You? by Guillaume Musso
Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
Blood Harvest by S J Bolton
Now You See Me by S J Bolton
Wink Murder by Ali Knight
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (this was also supposed to be in the pile but it isn’t because I am a donut and forgot to take a photo of it!)
These are books that I have either swapped using www.readitswapit.co.uk or I have found for a few pennies in a charity shop and it would have been rude not to. Right?
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Missing by Jane Casey
The Woman He Loved Before by Dorothy Koomson
Darkside by Belinda Bauer
To satisfy my unquenchable thirst for all things Tess Gerritson. Ta – daaaaaaa!
Despite only buying these a couple of weeks ago (buy two for £7.00 in Asda – bargain!!) I have now read all eight books in the Rizzoli & Isles series. LOVE THEM! I am now suffering from withdrawal symptoms and about to embark on her stand-alones
Nope, but it sure feels like it……
Let me explain. Six months ago (on my actual birthday) Mr Whisperer bought me a Kindle as a surprise. I then spent many a happy hour downloading as many books as I could find for free from Amazon (all the classics etc). Last week my brother-in-law told me to take my Kindle down with me when we went to visit at the weekend…..this is where the excitement comes in…….as his friend had given him a disc with 1,700 free books on it and I could download them all!
I’m not kidding, I really think this is what it feels like when people tell you it’s like all their birthdays come at once! Oh my!
Pulling up a chair, I perused this vast catalogue of books and authors and alternating between doing little celebratory jigs and fanning myself down I managed to download over 400 books (with the rest still saved on discs for later). Here is just some of what I got:
Every book written by: Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, J K Rowling, Franz Kafka, Janet Evanovich, Barbara Kingsolver, China Mieville, Christopher Moore, Sue Grafton, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Cornwell, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Chick Palahniuk, Neil Gaiman, John Wyndham, Orson Scott Card, Philip K Dick, Jules Verne……………etc etc
Random titles: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Wolf Hall, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Postmistress, The Red Queen, Ape House, Cutting For Stone, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Freedom, The Kite Runner, The Angles Game, Angelology, Things Fall Apart, Solar, Middlesex, Mockingjay, Last Night in a Twisted River, A Confederacy of Dunces, Never Let Me Go, The Passage, Outlander, Live to Tell, In The Woods…………..etc etc
Somewhat confusingly, this lovely little lot seems to have given Mr Whisperer the impression that I won’t need to buy any more books for the next few years. I’ll let him live in his little fantasy for now…..
Thank you to Transworld, Riot Communications, Simon and Schuster and Amazon Vine for the following books:
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian (30th birthday edition)
Sacrifice by S J Bolton (already reviewed – brilliant book!)
These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Everything and Nothing by Araminta Hall (already reviewed)
I received this gorgeous package from Simon & Schuster – a book wrapped in lovely paper with silver hearts and a little bag of sugared almonds.
RSVP by Helen Warner
I bought the following books on a trip to Whitby where I managed to pick up a load of Agatha Christie’s that I haven’t read yet in a second hand book shop and which I just had to snaffle (you can’t beat a good Christie whodunnit when you’re in the mood for some cosy crime).
And finally, when there was an offer on at Waterstones that gave double points for all purchases over the weekend….well, it would have been rude not to really wouldn’t it?
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
The Gendarme by Mark T Mustian
The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan
The Jewel of St Petersburgh by Kate Furnival
A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
I also picked up the following at a charity shop for only 10p each:
Life Support by Tess Geritssen
Body Double by Tess Geritssen
Worst Case by James Patterson
Thank you to Oxford World Classics, Penguin, Headline, Simon & Schuster, Hodder & Stoughton and Salt Publishing for sending me the following books!
The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas (how gorgeous is that cover?)
The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards
Altar of Bones byPhilip Carter
I won these books from @saltpublishing on Twitter for being their 15,00oth follower (what a lovely surprise when I got the message from them!). I was given a £20 gift voucher and this is what I chose:
Too Many Magpies by Elizabeth Baines
Nude by by Nuala Ní Chonchúir
Shop Diaries by Emily Benet
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Moon Lake by Eudora Welty
Bliss by Katherine Mansfield
Delerium by Lauren Oliver
I have already read The Secret Garden (review coming soon) and I’m looking forward to the rest.
Sent to me for review
These books have been sent to me by publishers and I am looking forward to every single one of them!
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
The Weed That Strings the Hangmans Bag by Alan Bradley
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Merry Christmas to myself!
Well if nobody else want to buy me books then I have no choice but to buy them for myself Here is my latest loot:
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Miral by Rula Jebreal
This Bleeding City by Alex Preston
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
The Complete Book of Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm
The Leopard by Jo Nesbo
"Read, flip pages and be merry!"
I’t been quite some time since I last posted about my new arrivals so once I had collected all my books from their new homes (my shelves) for their first photographic outing I looked down and found myself surrounded what can only be described as a veritable banquet of books. Lovely!
Thank you to Oxford University Press, Harper, Haus Publishing, Chatto & Windus, Jonathan Cape, Orion, Little, Brown and Amazon Vine:
Trick of the Dark – Val McDermid (I asked for this and I am so excited about reading it!)
London Labour & The London Poor by Henry Mayhew (had never heard of this but it looks fantastic!)
The Kill Call by Stephen Booth (never read anything by him before but it’s a crime series set in the Peaks which I love so I’m curious)
The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist by Emile Habiby (I love the look of this book as it is set in Palestine/Israel which is dear to my heart having lived there)
Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (loving my Scandanavian crime and this is supposed to be a good one)
February by Lisa Moore (longlisted for the booker prize)
C by Tom McCarthy (shortlisted for the booker prize)
The Reversal by Michael Connelly (an ARC of this book due out next month)
The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill
Midnight Fugue by Reginal Hill
Killing the Lawyers by Reginald Hill
Born Guilty by Reginald Hill
The Group by Mary McCarthy (I got this in a blogger swap hosted at Unputdownables and will be reading and reviewing shortly – heard good things about this)
Small Island by Andrea Levy (won from Kim at Reading Matters – thanks Kim!)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (won all the next 3 on the Oxford University Press Twitter comp)
Billy Bud, Sailor and Selected Tales by Herman Melville
The Confidence Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Evelina by Frances Burney (love the cover and love my Vic lit!)
Mysteries by Knut Hamsun (Norwegian author from the Victorian era who I have been dying to read)
Name to a Face by Robert Goddard (couldn’t get enough of his books in the 90′s – so full of twists and turns – looking forward to getting reaquainted)
Blind to the Bones by Stephen Booth
A Cotswold Mystery by Rebecca Tope (looking forward to this cosy mystery)
Ferney by James Long (this was recommended to me as a great book for discussion)
The Chalet Apprentice by Nicolas Le Floch (French and a mystery – what’t not to love?)
Fima by Amos Oz (really looking forward to this Israeli author)
The Indian Trilogy by Lynne Reid Banks
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell (spooooooky! Perfect for Halloween reading)
The Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories by Anton Checkov
The Monk by Matthew Lewis (read some great reviews of this gothic classic recenlty and dying to get stuck in)
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott (this looks like such fun)
Helen by Maria Edgeworth (never heard of this author but she was apparantly more popular than Jane Austen in her day)
Jezabel by Irene Nemirovsky
Because of Pity by Stefan Zweig (read a review that made me HAVE to buy this!)
The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (I cannot WAIT to read this! Second in the series and loved the first one)
Changeless by Gail Carriger (second in this steampunk series and I just adored the first one)
The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg (another Scandanavian crime book: what can I say? I can’t resist them.)
The Reunion by Simone van der Vlugt (psychological thriller translated from Dutch – seen some great reviews on this)
Sister by Rosamund Lupton (part of Richard & Judy’s new bookclub and looks intruiging)
The Easter break is over and it’s back to work we go. We have been down in London this weekend for my nieces 7th birthday party so we have had a weekend chock full of bike rides, games and cholcoate eggs. We took them to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D at the cinema and it was brilliant! I am in love with Toothless the dragon.
We also went to see Clash of the Titans (again in 3D) but I can’t say I was overly enthralled. I’m not a massive fan of fighting films but I was really interested in the greek mythology of Zeus and Hades etc. Is it just me or is this common to book geeks: the thirst for knowledge to find out more about what you have seen or read? As soon as we got home I was googling all their names!
When I got an email yesterday confirming my interview with this author I nearly screamed the house down! It’s only Mary Higgins Clark!!! I am such a HUGE fan of this lady (if you haven’t noticed yet ) – she is my Queen of the Comfort Read. She has 44 published books in the crime / mystery genre and I am rather quickly working my way through them all. Here are some of my reviews. I hope you will join me to see what one of my favourite authors has to say shortly.
Roll up, roll up! We still need cheerleaders for this weekends 24-hour Read-a-thon. All you need to do is arm yourself with a pair of virtual pompoms and create some noise and excitement about this weekend.
Is anyone going to be joining in the Read-a-thon this weekend? What are you planning to read? I haven’t narrowed my choices down yet – it takes a lot of careful preparation (a little like going on holiday) deciding on the right book.
I have learnt that as many as 1 in 23 people could have synaethesia.
From Wikipedia: “In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme → color synesthesia or color-graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored, while in ordinal linguistic personification, numbers, days of the week and months of the year evoke personalities. In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be “farther away” than 1990), or may have a (three-dimensional) view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise. Yet another recently identified type, visual motion → sound synesthesia, involves hearing sounds in response to visual motion and flicker.Over 60 types of synesthesia have been reported by people, but only a fraction have been evaluated by scientific research. Even within one type, synesthetic perceptions vary in intensity and people vary in awareness of their synesthetic perceptions.”
I think I may have a form of the number-form synsthesia as I see days and years and dates in a curve and a loop and stretching away from me. Does anyone else do this?
(from blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris)
These are some books that I found in a garden centre near where I live – they sell them at £1.00 each and they are all brand new! I am going back there this week to see what else I can find. I got:
The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
The Yiddish Policemans Union by Michael Chabon
The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
She by H. Rider Haggard (I swapped this one on Readitswapit)
These are books that I have recieved from either the author or the publisher. Thank you to Oxford University Press for the 3 Victorian classics (which I can hardly wait to dive into) and to Keren David (author of When I Was Joe) for the above copies.
Zofloya, or The Moor by Charlotte Dacre
Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Doctor’s Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
When I Was Joe by Keren David
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks Chez Book Whisperer! My NBF has been a busy boy again recently and brought me all sorts of goodies. For anyone with a nervous disposition please look away now.
Aren’t they beautiful? It’s amazing how long I can stare lovingly at a pile of books for, really it is. The following have been sent to me as review copies by publishers or authors (thank you all very much) and also won two of them in a twitter competition.
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (currently reading and LOVING it)
Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
A Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
The Fallen by Mark Terry
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
Timecatcher by Marie-Lousie Fitzpatrick
Burley Cross Postbox Theft by Nicola Barker
Jane’s Fame by Claire Harman
The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen by Arielle Eckastut
Wild Romance: The True Story of a Victorian Scandal by Chloe Schama
Pearl of China by Anchee Min
Yes, that’s right, you read that correctly! The church hall down the road has a used book sale (some of which look like they haven’t even been read!) and this week they had a sign saying “Fill up a carrier bag with books for £1.00″. Erm, OK then!
The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillippa Gregory (brand new hardback)
The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah (brand new hardback and signed!)
A Woman’s Life by Guy de Maupassant
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I Claudius by Robert Graves
Hovel in the Hills by Elizabeth West
Stories for Summer by various (inc. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, D H Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Oscar Wilde etc)
Second Fiddle by Mary Wesley
Portrait of the Artist by James Joyce
Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer
They Were Defeated by Rose Macauley
A Woman of Cairo by Noel Barber
You know, a girl’s gotta treat herself!
Esther Waters by George Moore (love my Victorian classics)
The Captive of Kensington Palace by Jean Plaidy (want to know more about the lady on the throne)
The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Waloo
Jane Eyre’s Daughter by Elizabeth Newman
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain by John O’Farrell
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles (given to me as a gift by the lovely Tisha who stayed with me last week on her travels round Europe)
In My Mailbox is brough to us by Kristi at The Story Siren.
I think I’ve done pretty well again this week, with some nice suprises in the post and a few little treats (OK, more than a few) for myself.
Here is what gems are now adorning my bookshelves this week:
I was recommended this book by Love Reading on their Like-for-Like page when I put that I love John Fowles. It looks beautifully written so can’t wait to read this one.
I managed to track a copy of this book down when I saw Savidge Reads and Novel Insights raving about it. It’s out of print now but apparantly Persephone Books are going to reprint it soon.
The Secret Cinderella Society by Carolyn Turgeon
I have seen quite a lot of review on this book around th blogosphere and thought it was about time I got my own copy. There doesn’t seem to have been much fuss made about it in the UK though.
This book has been read by quite a few of my Goodreads friends and they all had great things to say about it so when I saw a copy staring up at me in Waterstones I just had to have it.
I love the look of this book. Gothic, Victorian, secrets: what’s not to love?
Bequest by A. K. Shevchenko
Sent to me by Sam at Headline Books. Thanks, Sam. Looks like one I will enjoy.
and Falling, fly by Skyler White
Sent to me by The Berkley Publishing Group. Thank you!
In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi over at The Story Siren and it is a place where we can show off and drool over our latest books.
I have had a good week this week with some great books landing on my doormat (and a few little treats for myself too!)
So here is what is new for me this week:
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
“Major Ernest Pettigrew (Ret’d) is not interested in the frivolity of the modern world. Since his wife’s death, he has tried to avoid the constant bother of the village women, his ambitious son and the suburbanisation of the English countryside. He prefers to lead a quiet life, upholding the values that people have lived by for generations – respectability, duty and a properly brewed cup of tea (very much not served in a polystyrene cup with teabag left in). But when his brother’s death, and a love of Kipling, sparks an unexpected friendship with the widowed village shopkeeper, Mrs Ali, the Major is forced to confront the realities of the twenty first century. Written with a delightfully dry sense of humour, “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” is a charming, against-all-odds love story that introduces unforgettable characters and questions how much risk one should take for personal happiness in the face of family obligation and tradition.”
I was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison
”When shy Jenny Cooper goes to stay with her cousin Jane Austen she knows nothing of the world of beautiful dresses, dances, secrets, gossip and romance that Jane inhabits. But Jane is already a sharp observer of the customs of courtship, and when Jenny falls utterly in love with the dashing Captain Thomas Williams, who better than Jane to help her win the heart of this most eligible of men?”
Far From the Land: A Irish Memoir by Thomas J Rice
“
The setting of Far From the Land is rural Ireland in the 1950s. Thomas Rice has written a memoir about a way of life that no longer exists: no running water, no toilets, no electricity, and little access to education, jobs or basic health care. Early on the story plunges into a culture haunted by recent memories of famines and still showing some of the scars from The Great Hunger of the 1840s.
Writing about father-son relationships, the author recalls the night his absentee IRA father returns from England for the first time in ten years. Known as “The Voice” because of his tenor’s talent, the impact of his first song, Thomas Moore’s haunting tribute to the sweetheart of his martyred friend, Robert Emmet, was beautiful. The poem was titled, She is Far From the Land. No one in the kitchen that night ever forgot it. It was the perfect song, sung by the perfect voice, at the perfect time.
Far From the Land has the benefit of five decades of retrospection as the author brings each of his characters to life with startling honesty, without nostalgia or cliché. Readers will come away with a renewed respect for rural Irish culture and her people.”
Playground by Samuel Bonner
“Jonah had been looking forward to going back to London since the moment he was forced to leave. After being away for so long, Jonah wasn’t expecting the sinister and brutal changes in his friends personalities and behaviour. It wasn’t that long ago, they were up to wayward antics typical of boys their age. Gone were the times of hanging around the fried chicken shop and loitering in the park where they got drunk on cheap booze. Shootings, rape, stabbings, robbery and drug induced violence were now their games of choice. What should have been the best week of the summer quickly turns into a nightmare for Jonah, as he is sickened by the depravity he witnesses. His friends prey on the weak, and before long Jonah is himself hunted down. Confused, betrayed and terrified, he scrambles across the once familiar streets as he desperately tries to survive and escape the viciousness of an unforgiving city. This is a shockingly disturbing tale of peer pressure and the evil among a gang of inner-city youths.”
You Belong to Me by Mary Higgings Clark
“Regina Clausen is forty-three, successful in her career but insecure and unfulfilled in her personal life. Travelling alone on the luxury liner Gabrielle, she disembarks in Hong Kong saying she will rejoin the ship when it docks in Japan. She is never seen again. Three years later, an anonymous caller to psychologist Susan Chandler’s radio show tells of a strange encounter with a man on a cruise ship, and his sinister gift of a ring engraved: ‘You Belong To Me’. Susan thinks little of it at the time. But when Regina’s mother appears at her office with a ring bearing the same inscription, found amongst her daughter’s belongings, Susan begins to suspect that they are on the trail of something menacing and dangerous. As she looks deeper, Susan finds herself confronted with the horrifying possibility that she may know the killer, and that she may even be his next victim …”
While My Pretty One Sleeps by Mary Higgins Clark
“A story of domestic danger and mystery, set against the world of New York’s fashion industry. The sudden disappearance of Ethel Lambston, a gossip writer known to many but loved by few, draws boutique-owner Neeve Kearny into a tangled drama in which she is already unknowingly involved.”
Wedlock: How Geaorgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match by Wendy Moore
“WEDLOCK is the remarkable story of the Countess of Strathmore and her marriage to Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary Eleanor Bowes was one of Britain’s richest young heiresses. She married the Count of Strathmore who died young, and pregnant with her lover’s child, Mary became engaged to George Gray. Then in swooped Andrew Robinson Stoney. Mary was bowled over and married him within the week. But nothing was as it seemed. Stoney was broke, and his pursuit of the wealthy Countess a calculated ploy. Once married to Mary, he embarked on years of ill treatment, seizing her lands, beating her, terrorising servants, introducing prostitutes to the family home, kidnapping his own sister. But finally after many years, a servant helped Mary to escape. She began a high-profile divorce case that was the scandal of the day and was successful. But then Andrew kidnapped her and undertook a week-long rampage of terror and cruelty until the law finally caught up with him.”
I can’t wait to dive into these books. The review books all look very exciting and I just love Mary Higgins Clark for a good old cozy mystery so I always look forward to reading those. The final one has some great reviews and I love non-fiction about historical figures so this should be a good’n.
Ally synopses are take from Amazon except for Far From the Land which is taken from Goodreads.
It’s so long since I did an update on my latest lovelies so there are quite a few to post. Anyone with a nervous disposition (and my husband) please look away now.
Firstly, the books I have been sent by publishers recently (thank you, all!)
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Random by Craig Robertson – sent to me by Simon & Schuster on behalf of the Mystery and Thriller challenge on Book Chick City’s blog
Trespass by Rose Tremain – sent to me by Chatto and Windus for review
Country Driving by Peter Hessler – sent to me by canongate for review
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Books I have won:
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Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen sent to me by Puffin Books on behalf of Jenny at Wonderous Reads
Raven: Sons of Thunder by Giles Kristian sent to me by Bantam Press
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Books sent to me by Amazon Vine:
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The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran
Successful Novel Plotting by Jean Saunders
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Books swapped on Readitswapit:
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Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Oystercatchers by Susan Green
After reading the absolutely BRILLIANT Corrag, I just have to read more by this author.
Oh, and look out for an interview with Susan Fletcher about her upcoming book, Corrag, on 8th March!
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Book’s I’ve bought:
I recently got a £20.00 book voucher for Waterstones so I spent a glorious couple of hours in the big shop in Leeds – pottering, cooing, admiring, drinking coffee, more cooing and admiring and here is what I came home with:
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East Lynne by Ellen Wood (I’m reading it right now and it’s FANTASTIC!)
Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Dead Souls by Gogol
Forever Amber by Kathleen Windsor
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That’s all folks! Actually, it isn’t but I will have to finish the rest later as I have a book I’m dying to get back to read and it’s Sunday afternoon so that means cup of tea, horizontal on the sofa, cat on lap and book in hand. Perfect.
Here’s a photo of some of my latests beauties. They’re sitting on a shelf just waiting for me to dive into them.
Horns by Joe Hill – ARC copy from my friend Lori (Thank you!)
Country Driving by Peter Hessler – ARC from Canon Gate (Thank you!)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters – Hardback copy sent by Virago Press (Thank you!)
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty – Secret Santa present from my fellow book-loving friend Jesse (Thank you!)
The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett – Swap on Readitswapit
Beastly by Alex Flinn – Swap on Readitswapit
Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfieffer – A treat for me from Amazon
I Can See You by Karen Rose – only £7.00 hardback in Asda so it would have been rude to walk away
In my mailbox is courtesy of Kristi The Story Siren
In my mailbox is courtesy of Kristi The Story Siren
These are the books I bought in New York in December.
In my mailbox is based on an idea by Kristi The Story Siren.
Three of these books are from Amazon Vine and the others I picked up ‘cos I have heard good things. I am reading The Amanda Project right now and really enjoying it (review soon).
There is:
Invisible I (The Amanda Project) - Stella Lennon
The Last Ghost - Helen Stringer
Fallen - Lauren Kate
Kissed by an Angel – Elizabeth Chandler
13 Curses – Michelle Harrison
Secret Lives (Darke Academy) – Gabriella Poole
Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Boof and I am a bookaholic. I have a very serious book-buying habit that I have yet to find a cure for (phew!). In this blog I read, review and discuss books - the good, bad and the downright ugly. I love all books and read from most genres. All reviews are my own thoughts and feelings about a book. I am not a literary critic so all a book needs to do to get a rave review is make me happy and glad that I've read it. Simples!
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