Tag Archives: books

Great Opening Paragraph 95… ‘Perfume’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages. His story will be told here. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name – in contrast to the names of other gifted abominations, de Sade’s, for instance, or Stain-Just’s, Fouché’s, Bonaparte’s, etc. – has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immortality, or, more succinctly, wickedness, but because his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of smell.”
Patrick Süskind From ‘Perfume’ by Patrick Süskind 

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Mara and Dann’ by Doris Lessing
‘A Bouquet of Barbed Wire’ by Andrea Newman
‘The Last Tycoon’ by F Scott Fitzgerald

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#Books #FirstPara PERFUME by Patrick Süskind http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2ql via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Sometimes I Lie’ by Alice Feeney @alicewriterland #thriller

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At the beginning of Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney, Amber is in a coma. What happened to her and why she is there, is told in three strands – a series of flashbacks of the previous few days, her childhood, and her trapped-in view of life from her hospital bed. ‘I’ve been returned to my factory settings as a human being, rather than a human doing.’ Alice FeeneyI’m not sure how to describe this book. It starts off as a study of young women, sisters and friends, and turns into a pacey psychological thriller. At times I forgot the title of the novel, a timely reminder that Amber may be an unreliable narrator. What starts off as a puzzle turns into a sprint, as a mystery visitor to Amber’s hospital bed may be trying to drug her. Her husband is being questioned by the police, it is days before her parents visit, and her sister and husband are arguing at her bedside.
Amber is a radio presenter with a touch of OCD, her repetitive checking of things increases as she is stressed. There are problems at work, her husband keeps disappearing, and an old boyfriend turns up out of the blue.
The plotting is tight, it has to be as there are many disguised clues and un-mentioned facts which only come to light at the end. The twist, when it came, was disorientating and curiously it made me disconnect from Amber’s predicament.
A difficult book to classify.

If you like this, try:-
‘Please Release Me’ by Rhoda Baxter
‘Beginnings’ by Helen J Christmas #1SAMEFACEDIFFERENTPLACE
‘Good Me Bad Me’ by Ali Land

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview SOMETIMES I LIE by Alice Feeney @alicewriterland via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2po

#BookReview ‘Bloodline’ by @FionaMountain #geneaology #mystery

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Bloodline by Fiona Mountain is a combination of genealogical mystery, murder investigation and historical examination of the Nazis. The second Natasha Blake mystery, it covers a lot of ground from its seemingly innocuous starting point when Natasha hands in her report to a client. But nothing is mentioned lightly in this book, everything has a meaning. Fiona MountainNatasha is not sure why Charles Seagrove requested this particular family tree, but knows he is unrelated to any of the people featured. The real reason for Seagrove’s interest in genealogy is at the heart of this storyline. There are many dead ends and I admit to losing track of who was who at one point but Mountain ties all the loose endings together so there is clarity at the end. At first, Natasha is simply conducting another genealogical research but everything changes when she receives an anonymous note, ‘Cinderella is in the bluebell woods at Poacher’s Dell’. Once her client is murdered with his own shotgun, Natasha feels threatened as well as puzzled.
There are many storylines to be connected including Charles Seagrove’s grand-daughter Rosa and her father Richard, Second World War land girls, and two soldiers – one German, one English – who meet in the trenches during the Christmas truce of 1914. This is a lot to handle but Mountain manages the complicated history with ease and I enjoyed trying to work out the solution.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

And here’s my review of the first book in the Natasha Blake series:-
PALE AS THE DEAD

If you like this, try:-
‘The Lost Ancestor’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin
‘Deadly Descent’ by Charlotte Hinger
‘Blood-Tied’ by Wendy Percival

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BLOODLINE by @FionaMountain via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2oY

My Porridge & Cream read: Kate Frost

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Today I’m delighted to welcome women’s novelist Kate Frost.

Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is the classic Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Kate Frost“To be honest, I have more than one ‘Porridge and Cream’ book, and they’re all quite different, but the book I’d happily pick up when feeling ill or run down is Joanne Harris’ Chocolat – a delicious and delightful character-driven novel centred around single mother and chocolatier Vianne Rocher and her young daughter, Anouk. I first read it over a summer, not long after it had been published, so around 2000 or 2001. I’d recently moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) and we’d been to Greece together to meet his parents and the whole of his extended Greek family, so a book set in a French village that immersed its characters in local life with the focus being on food and delicious chocolate creations resonated with me and my first experiences of a Greek family and their abundance of delicious food.

I’ve only read Chocolat two or three times (like I said it’s one of a number of favourites), but it is the perfect book to get pulled into when I’m feeling down. The most recent time I read it was after recovering from a minor operation and the wooziness of a general anaesthetic. It was winter time and cold and grey outside and Chocolat with its luscious descriptions was the perfect antidote to raise my spirits. The setting is what appeals most and the way Joanne Harris weaves smells, textures and tastes throughout the novel is perfect.”

Kate Frost’s Bio
Kate has always made up stories, ever since she started writing at seven years-old when she spent months at home recovering from open heart surgery for a hole in her heart. After working various jobs including in a factory, a cinema, a bookshop, as a Health Advisor and Team Manager at NHS Direct, and a Supporting Artist in the films Vanity Fair, King Arthur and The Duchess, she’s now lucky enough to spend her time running around after her energetic just-turned-three year-old and writing novels. Kate has a MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and has published two women’s fiction novels and a time travel adventure for 9-12 year olds.

Kate Frost’s links
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Kate Frost’s books

Kate Frost

Kate’s debut novel, The Butterfly Storm, was published in 2013 and has recently had a cover revamp. Set in Greece and on the north Norfolk coast it follows Sophie as she escapes an unsatisfying life with her boyfriend, Alekos, and a domineering Greek mother-in-law to be, to come back to the UK to look after her estranged mum after she’s injured in a motorbike accident. Faced with a physical and emotional distance from Alekos, a complicated relationship with her mum, an emerging friendship with a handsome and newly divorced man, and a shock discovery, will Sophie be able to make the tough decision of where she wants to be and, ultimately, who she wants to be with?
‘Butterfly Storm’ by Kate Frost [UK: Lemon Tree Press]

Porridge & Cream

What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message via the contact form here.

Joanne Harris

 

‘Chocolat’ by Joanne Harris [UK: Black Swan]

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Rosie Dean
Rachel Dove
JG Harlond

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does #author @Kactus77 love CHOCOLAT by @Joannechocolat #amreading via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2py

#BookReview ‘Darktown’ by Thomas Mullen #crime

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Darktown by Thomas Mullen is a gripping book. A combination of the social history of black Americans in post-war pre-civil rights USA, and crime story, it tells the story of the first black policemen in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1948 and the physical, emotional and moral challenges they faced. Thomas Mullen Page after page, and they turned quickly, I was astonished by what happened and the knowledge that similar events really took place. It is a commentary on racial divides in the USA that the summer (2016) this novel about white police brutality was published, white policemen are still shooting and mistreating black citizens.
Politics aside, I read so quickly because the story of Officer Lucius Boggs and the case of the murdered Jane Doe grabbed me and made me resent the moments I wasn’t with them on the page. Twined together are the stories of Boggs and Police Officer Denny Rakestraw; one black cop, one white cop, both dissatisfied with the rules they must police and with the way black people, cops and citizens, are denigrated, both disturbed that the dead Jane Doe has been ignored. Boggs and Rake investigate alone and off-duty, risking suspension plus hatred and injury at the hands of fellow policemen. When they find themselves looking for the same witnesses, they find it difficult to trust. This is a time of corrupt cops and officials, when black people do not expect to have their rights upheld and Mullen shows the suspicion and mistrust of black citizens for the new police officers.
Darktown is a both a depressing story and one which offers a hint of hope. A hint, mind. It is a book which stays with you.
One of the best books I’ve read this year.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

If you like this, try:-
‘Nightfall’ by Stephen Leather [Jack Nightingale #1]
‘Butterfly on the Storm’ by Walter Lucius
‘An Uncertain Place’ by Fred Vargas [Commissaire Adamsberg #8]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DARKTOWN by Thomas Mullen via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2bT

A poem to read in the bath… ‘Alone’

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This is a short poem from a pamphlet by Yorkshire-born, Lancashire-based poet Dea Parkin. The collection is varied, designed to appeal to people who don’t normally read poetry. Some of the poems are based on stories or images. When I read the first stanza of ‘Alone’, I knew where I was standing. Read it. Where do you see yourself? Dea ParkinBecause of copyright restrictions I am unable to reproduce the poem in full.

‘Alone’
I stand in a startling place
White-cold and bleak
With absence all around.
 
The clamour of the world
Grows bold and strident in my ear
But I am quieted.

Dea Parkin

 

‘Any Other Business’ by Dea Parkin [UK: Open Circle]

Read these other excerpts and find a new poet to love:-
‘Name’ by Carol Ann Duffy
‘Not Waving but Drowning’ by Stevie Smith
‘Lost Acres’ by Robert Graves

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A #poem to read in the bath: ‘Alone’ by @DeaWriter via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2lp

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#BookReview ‘We Are Water’ by Wally Lamb @WallyLambAuthor #contemporary

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We Are Water by American author Wally Lamb is the examination of a family riven by differences, tragedy and horrors, how they first avoid then finally admit the truths and shame, in order to face the future. It is a story about looking forwards, not back. Wally LambI loved the storyline set-up in the Prologue, elderly artist and curator Gualtiero Agnello recalls the discovery of a self-taught artist, Josephus Jones, a poor black man in the Sixties with a raw untapped gift. But then as the story develops, Jones is not centre stage. The focus is on Annie Oh, another untutored artist discovered by Agnello, who lived in the same house where Jones lived in a shed out back and where he died in a well. Murder or accident, it is never proven.
Via the Oh family, Lamb explores the imbalance of family life, its events and consequences. When she is small. Annie loses her mother in a flood which devastates the town of Three Rivers in Connecticut. This flood is based on a real-life event though the town is fictional. Growing up, Annie is subjected to abuse which remains unspecified for a long time. The reader comes to realise she was abused, but not how or why. Annie’s husband Orion knows only that she had a difficult childhood. As a psychology professor, he suspects a tough childhood but backs-off challenging her about it.
Raising her three children – Ariane, Andrew and Marissa – Annie is a strict mom who occasionally hits her son, but never her daughters. In an escape from motherhood she starts to make art in the basement of the house, using materials foraged from refuse. When a New York art agent sees her work, this is the catalyst for change. Annie leaves Orion and falls in love with her agent, Viveca. This action puts the focus on all the fissures within the Oh family and raises various issues they have denied and hidden. Andrew finds God, Marissa is a jobbing actress and an alcoholic, Ariane conceives by artificial insemination. When they gather for the wedding of Annie and Viveca, a sequence of events brings the past to life again and the secrets and horror come crashing back.
Lamb’s focus on family reminds me of the novels of Anne Tyler and Jane Smiley, although of course he is a man writing a woman’s point of view. Once I got over my disappointment at not reading more about Josephus Jones I enjoyed this, at times difficult, novel.

If you like this, try:-
‘Did You Ever Have a Family’ by Bill Clegg
‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara
‘If I Knew You Were This Beautiful, I Never Would Have Let You Go’ by Judy Chicurel

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview WE ARE WATER by Wally Lamb @WallyLambAuthor via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2ps

First Edition: The Hobbit

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My worn copy of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein was published by George Allen & Unwin – the edition dates from 1966 – and cost 50p/10s. I’m not sure of the date it was bought for me, I remember reading it when I was about 11 or 12, which corresponds with the dual pricing on the back cover [the UK adopted decimal currency in 1971 and for a time, goods and services had dual prices]. I particularly love the cover, which is an early sketch by the author. The HobbitThe story
This is a quest, a journey both geographically and of personality, undertaken by a quiet unassuming hobbit called Bilbo Baggins. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know the story? The themes of personal growth and bravery are rooted in Tolkein’s experiences during the Great War. Never out of print, The Hobbit appears not only as book and film editions, audiobooks and games, but also stage adaptations and video games and countless merchandise. Forget all of that, and go back to the book.

The film 

Tolkein’s novel was taken by Peter Jackson – director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy – and turned into a trilogy, although for much of its development it was planned as a two-film project. Be-set by problems – change of director, union disputes – the first film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released in 2012.

See the preview of the first film of The Hobbit trilogy at You Tube.

Watch this clip on You Tube about the filming of The Hobbit.

The first edition 

Three firsts for this old edition – first edition, first impression, first issue jacket – published September 21, 1937. The first printing of 1500 books sold out by December. This edition is particularly valuable – priced at £35,000 at Peter Harrington – due to a hand correction to ‘Dodgeson’ on the rear inside flap.

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles
‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams

JRR Tolkein

 

‘The Hobbit’ by JRR Tolkein [Harper Collins Children’s Books]
Buy at Amazon

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Still loved: THE HOBBIT by JRR Tolkein #oldbooks via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2jW

#Bookreview ‘Hide and Seek’ by @mjarlidge #crimefiction

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Different from the preceding five books in the series and even faster-paced, Hide and Seek by MJ Arlidge is a relentless page-turner. DI Helen Grace is in prison, awaiting trial. Unsurprisingly, as a copper she receives brute treatment from her fellow inmates. And then one of them is killed and the prisoners don’t know who to fear – Grace, who is accused of murder; a fellow prisoner; or a prison guard. MJ ArlidgeThe action switches viewpoint as Helen tries to identify the killer and prevent him killing again. Her friend DC Charlie Brooks is on the outside, trying to prove Helen’s innocence and find the real murderer, the prison governor can’t cope, and the killer is planning the next attack. Meanwhile the aggressive journalist Emilia Garanita is somehow getting photos from within the prison. While Helen is struggling to survive from one day to the next, the prison guards are under-staffed and under-pressure.
Helen uses a few old prisoner tricks to unlock her cell door and move around the prison, I don’t know how realistic this is but it certainly moved the story along. How often do murders happen in a prison wing at night when the prisoners are locked in their cells?
This is a series to read from the beginning if you are to get the most out of Helen Grace’s ongoing story.

Read my reviews other books in this series:-
EENY MEENY #1HELENGRACE
POP GOES THE WEASEL #2HELENGRACE
THE DOLL’S HOUSE #3HELENGRACE
LIAR LIAR #4HELENGRACE
LITTLE BOY BLUE #5HELENGRACE
LOVE ME NOT #7HELENGRACE
DOWN TO THE WOODS #8 HELENGRACE

If you like this, try:-
‘The Nationalist’ by Campbell Hart
‘The Pure in Heart’ by Susan Hill
‘The Black Tower’ by PD James

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview HIDE AND SEEK by @mjarlidge via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2mH

Great Opening Paragraph 94… ‘Tipping the Velvet’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Have you ever tasted a Whitstable oyster? If you have, you will remember it. Some quirk of the Kentish coastline makes Whitstable natives – as they are properly called – the largest and the juiciest, the savouriest yet the subtlest, oysters in the whole of England. Whitstable oysters are, quite rightly, famous. The French, who are known for their sensitive palates, regularly cross the Channel for them; they are shipping, in barrels of ice, to the dining-tables of Hamburg and Berlin. Why, the King himself, I heard, makes special trips to Whitstable with Mrs Keppel, to eat oyster suppers in a private hotel; and as for the old Queen – she dined on a native a day [or so they say] till the day she died.”
Sarah WatersFrom ‘Tipping the Velvet’ by Sarah Waters

Here are two more #FirstParas by Sarah Waters:-
AFFINITY
THE PAYING GUESTS

Read my review of THE PAYING GUESTS.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Mara and Dann’ by Doris Lessing
‘Lucky You’ by Carl Hiasson
‘Middlesex’ by Jeffrey Eugenides

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara TIPPING THE VELVET by Sarah Waters http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2lj via @SandraDanby