elkiedee reading and reviewing in 2012

This is my 3rd year in this group - I was slightly late in 2010 and failed to maintain my own thread in 2011, but I'm having another go.

My aim for this year is to review more, better and more promptly, even if that means reading less.

I'm Luci, I live in London and have reviewed for www.thebookbag.co.uk since 2009. Last year I was also invited to review for www.curiousbookfans.co.uk and Amazon Vine, and I also wrote a much smaller number of reviews for www.newbooksmag.com and the Waterstones Cardholder scheme.

1. 01.01.12 Liza Cody, Ballad of a Dead Nobody 4.2

2. 03.01.12 David Downing, Stettin Station 4.6

3. 03.01.12 Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies 3.9

4. 07.01.12 Philip Larkin, Letters to Monica 4.2

5. 07.01.12 Emile Zola, L'Assommoir, 4.7

6. 08.01.12 Marika Cobbold, Drowning Rose 4.6

7. 09.01.12 Jennifer Egan, Look at Me 4.7

8. 10.01.12 Shannon Hale, Austenland 3.9

9. 11.01.12 Kevin Brophy, The Berlin Crossing 4.2

10. 11.01.12 Roopa Farooki, Corner Shop 4.1

11. 13.01.12 David Downing, Potsdam Station 4.7

12. 13.01.12 Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright 4.4

13. 13.01.12 Geling Yan, The Flowers of War 4.2

14. 14.01.12 Diana Athill, Midsummer Night at the Workhouse 4.5

15. 14.01.12 Rosanne Cash, Composed 3.9

16. 15.01.12 Elizabeth Taylor, At Mrs Lippincote's 4.7

17. 18.01.12 Isabel Ashdown, Glasshopper 4.2

18. 18.01.12 Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black 4.2

19. 19.01.12 Paddy O'Reilly, The Fine Colour of Rust 4.6

20. 20.01.12 Jane Gardam, The People on Privilege Hill 4.4

21. 21.01.12 Emile Zola, The Ladies' Paradise 3.9

22. 21.01.12 Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 4.0

23. 21.01.12 Leslie T Chang, Factory Girls 4.8

24. 22.01.12 Denise Hamilton, Los Angeles Noir 2 4.3

25. 23.01.12 Kate Williams, The Pleasures of Men 4.1

26. 24.01.12 Gin Phillips, The Well and the Mine 4.3

27. 25.01.12 Josephine Hart, Sin 3.0

28. 26.01.12 A D Miller, Snowdrops 4.0

29. 27.01.12 Candia McWilliam, What to Look for in Winter 4.5

30. 27.01.12 Laura Barton, Twenty-One Locks 4.1

31. 28.01.12 Elizabeth Edmondson, The Devil's Sonata 4.3

32. 29.01.12 Lissa Evans, Their Finest Hour and a Half 4.2

33. 29.01.12 Henry Metelmann, A Hitler Youth 4.2

34. 31.01.12 Peter May, The Firemaker 3.8

35. 01.02.12 Animatta Forna, Ancestor Stones 4.2

36. 02.02.12 Andrew Martin, The Necropolis Railway 3.8

37. 02.02.12 Elly Griffiths, The Janus Stone 4.2

38. 03.02.12 Pippa Wright, Lizzy Harrison Loses Control 4.3

39. 04.02.12 Lynn Knight, Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue 4.6

40. 05.02.12 Peter Lovesey, Diamond Dust 4.2

41. 07.02.12 Katharine McMahon, The Crimson Rooms 4.0

42. 08.02.12 Carol Marinelli, Putting Alice Back Together 4.1

43. 10.02.12 Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot 3.9

44. 11.02.12 Kate Grenville, The Secret River 4.3

45. 12.02.12 Kerry Jamieson, The Forgotten Lies 4.3

46. 12.02.12 Lise Kristensen, The Blue Door 4.2

47. 13.02.12 Elizabeth Taylor, Palladian 4.4

48. 14.02.12 James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room 4.0

49. 16.02.12 Elizabeth Wilson, War Damage 3.8

50. 17.02.12 Lene Kadaderbok and Agnete Friis, The Boy in the Suitcase 4.3

51. 18.02.12 Peter May, The Blackhouse 4.4

52. 19.02.12 Emylia Hall, The Book of Summers 4.3

53. 19.02.12 Kate Thompson, The Kinsella Sisters 4.2

54. 19.02.12 Philip Kerr, The Pale Criminal 3.8

55. 21.02.12 Cecelia Ahern, The Time of My Life 4.2

56. 21.02.12 Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 4.6

57. 23.02.12 Clare Morrall, The Roundabout Man 4.3

58. 24.02.12 Elly Griffiths, The House at Sea's End 4.1

59. 24.02.12 Peter May, The Lewis Man 4.6

60. 25.02.12 Roopa Farooki, The Flying Man 4.2

61. 25.02.12 Constance Maud, No Surrender 3.8

62. 26.02.12 Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez, Indian Country Noir 4.2

63. 27.02.12 Geraldine McCaughrean, The Death Defying Pepper Roux 4.5

64. 02.03.12 Camilla Ceder, Frozen Moment 4.2

65. 03.03.12 Adrian McKinty, The Cold Cold Ground 4.2

66. 06.03.12 Val McDermid, Fever of the Bone 4.6

67. 06.03.12 Kate Grenville, The Lieutenant 4.7

68. 06.03.12 Kate Thompson, The O'Hara Affair 3.9

69. 08.03.12 Susanna Jones, When Nights Were Cold 4.2

70. 10.03.12 Matthew Hollis, Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas 4.2

71. 11.03.12 Judith Kinghorn, The Last Summer 4.3

72. 13.03.12 Dorothy Whipple, Greenbanks 4.2

73. 14.03.12 Kate Thompson, That Gallagher Girl 4.1

74. 14.03.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A View of the Harbour 4.2

75. 16.03.12 Rosie Thomas, The Kashmir Shawl 4.4

1. 01.01.12 Liza Cody, Ballad of a Dead Nobody 4.2

Format: Kindle - page number estimate from Amazon 320 pp

TIOLI 4: Winter scene on cover (as far as I can tell)

My first read for the year and January TIOLI is Ballad of a Dead Nobody by Liza Cody for Challenge 4: I'm sure the cover photo includes snow (winter scene) though it's hard to see. Liza Cody is a crime writer and this was her first novel for 11 years - her best known works are the Anna Lee series (80s PI) and the Eva Wylie (90s female security guard/wrestler caught up in crime cases rather inadvertently. This latest novel is self published on iUniverse - I tend to avoid self pub books but make an exception for writers whose earlier work I know and love who have had to take this route for new or reprinted work. It's available in ebook format (Kindle and other) for about $3 in the US and about £2 in the UK.

It's the story of a woman trying to write a biography of a young songwriter/musician who was brutally murdered and trying to interview those who knew her. I love Cody's writing and and would rate this higher than 4.2 if the ending was more satisfactory, it was a bit up in the air. I think I'm going to have to go back to make sense of it.

From where?: Amazon Kindle download 19.11.11 £1.98 (44 days)

Hi Luci look forward to keeping up with you in 2012. Happy new year from a fellow Yorkie.

Welcome back!

Glad to see you back, Luci! Happy New Year!

Welcome back Luci! Happy New Year!

Found you, Luci! Welcome back, and Happy Reading (and Reviewing) in 2012!

Found you on the threadbook and look forward to following for another year.

2. 03.01.12 David Downing, Stettin Station 4.6

Format: Paperback 293 pp

TIOLI 8: station used as verb and noun

#3 in John Russell & Effi Koenen series

Although it's mainly still focused on him, his girlfriend does take a more active part in activities in this one and has some scenes to herself. It is 1941, and the war is making Berlin a grim place to live as is the increasingly unpleasant treatment of Jewish residents. I'm really hooked on this series and have downloaded #4 on my Kindle.

From where: The Book People as part of set of 1st 3 in the series for £5 - £2.50 as one already owned - acquired 15.11.11 (50 days)

3. 03.01.12 Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies 3.9

I started reading this with the group read but then slowed down considerably reading over the Christmas holidays. Interesting, but I think I may not have given this the attention it deserved.

4. 07.01.12 Philip Larkin, Letters to Monica 4.2

5. 07.01.12 Emile Zola, L'Assommoir 4.7

I plan to try and note my current reading each weekend:

I now only have 2 of the books left that I started before Christmas - drawing them out over such a long time has made reading them more disjointed than it would have been otherwise

Jennifer Egan, Look at Me on Kindle - several strands of the story here, I'm enjoying this one nearly as much as I liked A Visit from the Goon Squad

Shannon Hale, Austenland on Kindle - a woman finds that her dead godmother has left her a holiday with an English company offering a Jane Austen experience, a chance to pretend to live like a JA heroine for a few days. Sort of quirky and gently ironic. Quite fun.

Kevin Brophy, The Berlin Crossing to review for Amazon Vine - Michael is struggling to adapt after the fall of the Berlin Wall - I like this one a lot so far.

Roopa Farooki, Corner Shop - library book - still getting into this one

Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright - choice of new library reading group, historical novel set in late 18th century London

Geling Yan, Flowers of War - Amazon Vine review book - Mission schoolgirls in Nanjing as the Japanese invade during WWII.

Marika Cobbold, Drowning Rose on Kindle - superior chicklit - Eliza is haunted by the death of her friend as a teenager, thinking it was her fault, and she still feels that she is struggling to get her life together. Cobbold's last book was ok but a bit soso, I'm really enjoying this one.

#18: Lots of good reading there, Luci! I will be interested in seeing what you think of Look at Me in the end, even though I still have not gotten around to reading A Visit from the Goon Squad.

I finished Look at Me yesterday - there are several intertwined storylines and I wasn't sure where it was going at first, but in the end I did really enjoy it.

Looking forward to The Keep (already on my Kindle) and to two of her other earlier books appearing on Kindle soon here.

Oh, there you are Luci! I hadn't seen this thread before but you are now starred!

I think I read a couple of Liza Cody's books years ago but had completely forgotten about her. Just the name feels like a blast from the past! I used to like Marika Cobbold too. I haven't kept up with her new books but have had Drowning Rose on my wishlist since reading a review in the Independent.

Luci, you tried to slip L'Assommoir without so much as a by your leave! Not my very favourite but certainly in the top rank of the Rougon Macquart novels. How many of them have you read so far?

Paul, I think I've only read 3 of the 20 - I read L'Assommoir and Nana 20 years ago, and Germinal perhaps 6 or 7 years ago. Last year Waterstones had a 2 for the price of 1 offer on Oxford World's Classics, and Radio 4 had just broadcast an adapation of The Ladies' Paradise which made me want to read that one properly, so I bought the two together. I actually started L'Assommoir for the alcoholic challenge last month, as Ilana meant to read it too, but I was distracted by Christmas and the Berlin stations series.

Which is your favourite Zola?

I'm really glad to hear Look at Me is good although so far I have stayed strong and not bought the discounted kindle book (so tempting though).

#22 & 23 For a future date when I run out of books to read (ha!), where would be a good place to start with the Rougon Macquart novels?

Sorry Luci for missing your thread. My favourite Zola would probably be La Bete Humaine. I think I have just about all of them but haven't managed to read all of them yet.
I've read, La Bete Humaine, La Terre, Germinal, La Debacle, The Joy of Life, The Masterpiece, Pot Luck, Nana, L'Assommoir, The Ladies Paradise and A Page of Love. Pretty much liked all of them in the order stated. Have a great weekend.

Heather, I missed your question. There is an order, and the first is La Fortune des Rougons or The Fortune of the Rougons, but it's not really like a modern series - my favourite from memory of the 4 I've read is Germinal which is one of the later ones and one of the best known, the major character is a child in L'Assommoir apparently. The first I read was Nana, possibly at an unsuitably early age for a story of a prostitute, but I would suggest L'Assommoir first as that is about Nana's family and tells the story of her early years.

6. 08.01.12 Marika Cobbold, Drowning Rose 4.6

7. 09.01.12 Jennifer Egan, Look at Me 4.7

8. 10.01.12 Shannon Hale, Austenland 3.9

9. 11.01.12 Kevin Brophy, The Berlin Crossing 4.2

Reviewed for Amazon Vine

TIOLI: Up to 6 paragraphs Acknowledgements

The Berlin Crossing, a debut novel, is an interesting mix of thoughtful thriller and love story, set in east Germany at two different times.

In 1993, Michael Ritter is struggling to adapt to the realities of life in a reunified, post communist Germany. The Berlin Wall has gone, his wife has left and now he is losing his job as a teacher, as his new boss doesn't see him as willing to be part of winning hearts and minds to capitalism. Then his dying mother urges him to go and talk to a rural pastor. At 30, Michael is about to learn about his parents.

This was my favourite part of the novel, as I really felt for the narrator, trying to cope with so many difficult things in his life, fending them off with sarcasm. Also, it is set at a really interesting time in the history of eastern and central Europe. I also thought he was more convincingly portrayed as a character than the others.

When reading the Berlin Crossing, I really enjoyed the whole story and was carried along by it, but on reflection, I found some of the plot of the 1960s story of Roland and Petra a little bit farfetched. Roland was a young Irish man with a German father, coerced and blackmailed to Germany on a spying mission, after being arrested by the police in London. I found it hard to believe someone with no experience or knowledge of espionage would be used in this particular way. I didn't really understand what he had been sent there to achieve, or why he had been singled out. The scenes of Roland being bullied by the police were well written and really quite frightening, and I found the bullying and anti-Irish racism all too plausible.

That clumsy plot device is used to get Roland to Germany where he can meet Petra, brought up in an orphanage since her parents died in the war. Their love story is moving and unashamedly romantic, and seems to be the real centre of the story.

For all my criticisms, this was a really good read, and I would recommend it, just don't think about the plot too much, and I will look out for more books by Kevin Brophy.

(I initially rated this higher because I really enjoyed reading it, but downgraded it a little on plausibility grounds).

10. 11.01.12 Roopa Farooki, Corner Shop 4.1

How did you like Corner Shop? I bought that one on clearance awhile ago, but haven't read it yet.

I enjoyed Corner Shop, though there isn't really that much about the shop in it. There is a shop but it's really about family relationships - Lucky wants to be a footballer and is infatuated with Portia who works in his grandfather's shop. I can't remember the character names to write mor eand need to go and do other things now.

Luci - staggering amount of reading as usual! Will certainly get The Berlin Crossing if and when it is available in the tropics.

11. 13.01.12 David Downing, Potsdam Station 4.7

12. 13.01.12 Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright 4.4

13. 13.01.12 Geling Yan, The Flowers of War 4.2

Translated from Chinese by Nicky Harman

Harvill Secker, 250 pages

TIOLI: China

Amazon Vine review book

The Flowers of War is a story of a group of unlikely people thrown together in a crisis. It is set in a mission compound in Nanking, China in 1937. The Japanese have invaded. Sixteen girls at the mission school who have been unable to leave the city to go somewhere safer have taken refuge in the building, with Father Engelmann, an elderly priest, and his assistant, Fabio, who has relatives in America but who chose as a child to stay in China when his mum died. Engelmann still hopes to find some way of getting his charges to safety, but everything in the occupied city is likely to be hard fought for.

Engelmann and Fabio are dismayed to find themselves taking on more unwanted guests - a group of prostitutes.

This sets the stage for an odd mixture of eccentric social comedy against the backdrop of a very scary, violent conflict. Can Engelmann stop his charges being attacked and probably raped? And can he prevent their moral contamination by the prostitutes.

The story is told from the viewpoint of a number of different characters, starting with a schoolgirl having her first period, but Fabio is perhaps the most intriguing and fully drawn character, a young man who knows he is not Chinese but has never known any other country.

I was really caught up in the dilemmas, scared of the danger they were in but amused by the absurdities of the situation.

14. 14.01.12 Diana Athill, Midsummer Night in the Workhouse 4.5

15. 14.01.12 Rosanne Cash, Composed 3.9

16. 15.01.12 Elizabeth Taylor, At Mrs Lippincote's 4.7

17. 18.01.12 Isabel Ashdown, Glasshopper 4.2

18. 18.01.12 Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black 4.2

19. 19.01.12 Paddy O'Reilly, The Fine Colour of Rust 4.6

Amazon Vine review book

TIOLI: 3 words which can be used as noun/verb (and fine is an adjective too)

Loretta describes herself disparagingly as "an old scrag" at all of thirty. Don't believe a word of it. She is a fierce, funny fighter, living in a tiny Australian town which is short of jobs, services and husbands. After 10 years of marriage her husband drove off and never came back.

I really enjoyed this story of a woman fighting to save the local school and other services in the town, standing up for what she believes in and trying to resist the slide into total cynicism and apathy. I'd hate to live in Gunapan, but I'd love to meet Loretta, her kids, and her friend Norm who owns the junkyard.

I hope there are plans to bring O'Reilly's first novel and her short story collection out over here soon, very soon.

The Paddy O'Reily novel does sound good. I just checked amazon and it doesn't seem to be available in the UK until September but I have wishlisted it and hopefully I'll remember why come September!

The Fine Colour of Rust is due out next week, and is a hardback on sale at trade paperback prices RRP £12.99, a lot less at Az) though it's published under the author name P A O'Reilly - it does mention her as "Paddy" on the back.

I finally wrote a long overdue review from last year, for Curious Book Fans, there are more overdue reviews to come:

229. 11.09 Anna Funder, All That I Am 4.7

To be reviewed for Curious Book Fans - a story of anti Nazi refugees in exile

At long last - it's only taken me 4.5 months!

“When Hitler came to power, I was in the bath”.

In Sydney, Australia in the 1990s, Dora Becker receives a package, containing the writings of a long dead friend. Those writings and the memories of Dora, a German woman now in her nineties, form the narrative structure of this thought provoking novel. I have read a lot of novels and non fiction about this period recently, but All That I Am is more than just another tale about more victims and survivors of Nazism.

Please see the rest of my review at:

http://www.curiousbookfans.co.uk/2012/fiction-books/9036/all-that-i-am-anna-fund....

Sadly, I've lost the opportunity to write further reviews for the Bookbag, as over the last few months I've been too slow doing them (not as slow as some others), and I've been told I can't have any more books. I feel very sad about it, especially as it is my fault, but I still have plenty of books to read and review, and I will continue to get lots from Vine and other sources, it's just the Bookbag had some interesting non fiction I might not have heard of otherwise.

I still have an outstanding review for Curious Book Fans and then I will probably send some of the other reviews I do there. At some point I'll ask for more books through them but I think I'll give myself a few weeks to catch up/take stock first. I still have a lot of outstanding reviews to write for various places including LTER books.

We put up bunkbeds (my dad and Mike did) for the kids today, and although there was a lot of fuss and I'm a bit nervous about it, they actually went to sleep quite fast, though D just woke up crying. Only dealing with toddler temper tantrums is one thing, I could really do without them from the oldest person in the house, especially at the time when being calm, firm and reassuring is that's needed.

Sorry to hear your news Luci. You will no doubt realise that I am somewhat in awe of the reading prowess of Suz and yourself and enjoy greatly the friendly "rivalry" every month in the TIOLI. Hopefully it is a temporary set-back and that the interesting and intriguing titles you introduce contnue unabated.

45: Oh thanks, Luci. I had searched for Paddy on Amazon which was probably why I didn't find it.

47: I'm sorry to hear about Bookbag. It seems rather harsh to completely dump you like that and foolish on their part as they've lost an excellent reviewer.

Also sorry to hear about the temper tantrums from the person who really should have grown out of them by now! The bunk beds sound like a success though. I know we considered them for our boys when they were younger and sharing a room and I don't know why we didn't do it. I'm sure the boys would have loved them and it would have saved on space.

Edited to add: I'm trying to work out if I can make the New Books Magazine day in Winchester at the end of April but probably can't. It's a shame it's not earlier in April as I will be visiting my mum who lives quite near Winchester then. Will you be going?

#26 Thanks Luci.

#47 Oh that's sad news about the Bookbag - as Dee said it seems a bit harsh, especially as you've been such a good reviewer for them for a long time. Sorry also to hear about temper tantrums from someone who really should know better. I didn't have bunkbeds as a child so I thought they were a great adventure any time I did get to sleep in one.

I'm also sorry to hear the Bookbag news, I always enjoyed the reviews you wrote for them. I have a copy of Berlin Crossing home from the library, I just hope I get time to read it as I seem to be in a bit of a funk at present.

I agree about the Bookbag news, it seems harsh when you do write good reviews for them. Sorry to hear of that one.

20. 20.01.12 Jane Gardam, The People on Privilege Hill 4.4

21. 21.01.12 Emile Zola, The Ladies' Paradise 3.9

22. 21.01.12 Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 4.0

23. 21.01.12 Leslie T Chang, Factory Girls 4.8

24. 22.01.12 Denise Hamilton, Los Angeles Noir 2 4.3

25. 23.01.12 Kate Williams, The Pleasures of Men 4.2

Reviewed for Amazon Vine

In east London in 1840, a serial killer who has been dubbed "The Man of Crows" is preying on young women. Instead of finding a man to marry, Catherine is defying her uncle and following the newspaper reports, worrying about what has happened to the women who disappeared, and trying to piece together what is going on. Can she do this safely and avoid becoming a victim herself?

I'm always a bit worried that serial killer books will turn out to be tacky and exploitative, but Kate Williams' first novel balances great storytelling, an engaging heroine, some rather more malevolent characters (male and female), rather well. I began to feel a sense of real suspense and apprehension. I also liked the use she made of her setting (the Spitalfield area) I did find the shifting narrative point of view and the number of characters a little bit confusing initially.

Williams has written several non fiction books but this is her first novel, I will certainly look out for any future ones she may write.

I probably wouldn't have tried this one if I'd read the back cover information on my ARC copy somewhere before asking for it - she did a lot of presenting Royal Wedding coverage last year and otherwise presents property programmes and stuff. Glad I didn't come across such offputting information first.

Are you trying to read 75 books in 2 months! ha!

#59 Actually, she probably could :-)

Hi Luci!

No, I'm not trying, if anything I think I should try to slow down. I'll probably read no 75 in March, at current rate. I think it was March in 2011 and April in 2010.

Sorry to hear about Bookbag. Good luck with getting reviews written that need to be written - and I hope the boys enjoy the bunkbeds.

26. 24.01.12 Gin Phillips, The Well and the Mine 4.3

27. 25.01.12 Josephine Hart, Sin 3.0

28. 26.01.12 A D Miller, Snowdrops 4.0

29. 27.01.12 Candia McWilliam, What to Look for in Winter 4.5

30. 27.01.12 Laura Barton, Twenty-One Locks 4.1

#64 I'm not sure I've seen anyone who particularly likes the new Virago Josephine Hart books so far - books I can safely leave off my Virago wishlist.

31. 28.01.12 Elizabeth Edmondson, The Devil's Sonata 4.3

32. 29.01.12 Lissa Evans, Their Finest Hour and a Half 4.2

33. 29.01.12 Henry Metelmann, A Hitler Youth 4.2

34. 31.01.12 Peter May, The Firemaker 3.8

The first of Peter May's series of Beijing novels. I liked the story, the setting and characters a lot, but felt a bit let down by an overblown plot and am a bit puzzled, given the end of this story, that there are 5 more novels in the series. Nonetheless, I wish I could find the other 3 that I own, and that #2, which I don't have, was more easily available.

35. 01.02.12 Animatta Forna, Ancestor Stones 4.2

36. 02.02.12 Andrew Martin, The Necropolis Railway 3.8

37. 02.02.12 Elly Griffiths, The Janus Stone 4.2

38. 03.02.12 Pippa Wright, Lizzy Harrison Loses Control 4.3

39. 04.02.12 Lynn Knight, Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue 4.6

40. 05.02.12 Peter Lovesey, Diamond Dust 4.2

41. 07.02.12 Katharine McMahon, The Crimson Rooms 4.0

42. 08.02.12 Carol Marinelli, Putting Alice Back Together 4.1

43. 10.02.12 Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot 3.9

44. 11.02.12 Kate Grenville, The Secret River 4.3

45. 12.02.12 Kerry Jamieson, The Forgotten Lies 4.3

46. 12.02.12 Lise Kristensen, The Blue Door 4.2

Waterstones Cardholder Read and Review book

"It was towards the middle of the year when my friends started disappearing.”

I have read lots of memoirs, fiction and history about WWII in Europe but know less about Asia. The Blue Door is an account of a Norwegian family’s internment by the Japanese in Indonesia.

Lise Gronn-Nielsen (she writes under a married name) was born in Java, Indonesia in 1934, the oldest of 3 children of Norwegian parents. Indonesia was then a Dutch colony and she writes of an idyllic and luxurious childhood, living in a big house with lots of servants and spending lots of time at swimming pools. She went to school with other European children, and remembers seeing Javanese children as young as six at work, making bricks, operating looms and pulling ploughs.

Then the Japanese invaded in 1942 and started interning Dutch and other European families. They came for Lise’s family in 1943 – her father was taken somewhere else and Lise, her mother, her 7 year old sister, Karin, and her baby brother, Lasse, were taken to the first of several internment camps.

This is a moving and vivid account of a very grim existence from a child’s viewpoint (though written in old age), but also of the bravery and spirit of a child in a dreadful situation. She learns to steal useful things from houses where families have been moved on (presumably to another camp), to kill flies and rats to earn sugar to supplement a very meagre diet and avoid starvation. Her mum and other adults try to keep some of the darkest secrets from her, but brutality and the deaths of other internees are frequently all too visible.

I was very impressed by the author’s powers of recall of her dreadful experiences almost 70 years later. Much of the content is horrible, but she avoids well the pitfalls of the misery memoir. The Blue Door is well written (especially considering English is not her first language. There is only a little bit of the political and historical background to her story in the book – I know very little but looked some of it up online - but it is about what she perceived and experienced as a child, so this seems appropriate. There is a chapter about Lise’s life since the camps, trying to resume normal family life back in Norway and what happened to everyone since, and she doesn’t shy away from describing the after effects of the war on her mother. She also very clearly retains a lot of bitterness and anger, and expresses a wish to see a Japanese person without feeling these negative emotions but says she can’t.

I would recommend this book for adults and teenagers with an interest in the history and experiences of those who lived through the war, and a different and unusual perspective on it.

This review was written for the Waterstones Cardholder scheme

47. 13.02.12 Elizabeth Taylor, Palladian 4.4

48. 14.02.12 James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room 4.0

49. 16.02.12 Elizabeth Wilson, War Damage 3.8

50. 17.02.12 Lene Kadaderbok and Agnete Friis, The Boy in the Suitcase 4.3

reviewed for Amazon Vine

I found this first in series crime novel from Denmark exciting and moving. The story shifts between several viewpoints but focuses on two women. Nina is the series heroine - a nurse at a clinic with a passion for human rights and helping immigrant women. She is asked to help an old friend by collecting a suitcase, but when it turns out to contain a little boy, and then Karin turns out to be beyond further assistance, she feels well out of her depth.

I found Nina a sympathetic character and look forward to meeting her in further instalments of the series, but my favourite character was Sigita, a Lithuanian single mother whose child has gone missing. I found her back story quite moving.

It was a quick and absorbing read and I was keen to know what happened.

The translation from Danish to English is by one of the two authors, Lene Kaaberbol herself - her English is smooth and fluent.

I will definitely look out for future books in the series.

51. 18.02.12 Peter May, The Blackhouse 4.4

52. 19.02.12 Emylia Hall, The Book of Summers 4.3

Beth receives a package containing news that her mother, Marika has died in Hungary, and a book of photographs, taking her back to her childhood and teenage years visiting Marika and her new partner in the Hungarian countryside, and experiencing a very different style and pace of life from the one she knows at home. She remembers Zoltan, Marika's artist lover, and Tamas - they were friends and had a romantic interest. But why had she lost touch with Marika?

I really enjoyed the portrayal of a young girl growing up, her relationships with others and her shifting perceptions about what was going on around her, and the portrait of life in rural Hungary. This is an absorbing and slightly sad novel - I loved it and think it would appeal to teenage girls as well as to more mature women like me.

53. 19.02.12 Kate Thompson, The Kinsella Sisters 4.2

54. 19.02.12 Philip Kerr, The Pale Criminal 3.8

55. 21.02.12 Cecelia Ahern, The Time of My Life 4.2

57. 23.02.12 Clare Morrall, The Roundabout Man 4.3

58. 24.02.12 Elly Griffiths, The House at Sea's End 4.1

59. 24.02.12 Peter May, The Lewis Man 4.6

60. 25.02.12 Roopa Farooki, The Flying Man 4.0

Amazon Vine review, Orange Prize longlist

He is a man of many identities and names - Maqil, Michael, Mikhail, Mike, Mehmet - chosen to suit where he is living. The protagonist in this novel is a thoroughly unscrupulous man, a con artist, a gambler, a liar, a cheat, and yet he is utterly charming. This is a fictional biography of a loveable rascal who tries to move on whenever his misdeeds threaten to catch up with him, whether the problem is tax evasion or the failure of one of his marriages. I enjoyed reading this, and particularly liked the portrait of two of his wives, the spiky Samira and the caring Bernadette. I had mixed feelings about Maqil himself - sometimes I thought he deserved things to go wrong, other times I wanted him to continue getting away with it, but this made the story seem all the more realistic. This is a witty perceptive novel.

(I enjoyed this but not as much as her third novel, The Way Things Look to Me)

Luci - no updates since 3 March? Hope everything is well with you. I am unable to access this month's TIOLI lists for some reason so have lost touch somewhat with your reading progress. Take care x

I'm ok but I'm having a bit of a computer crisis - electrical problems here seem to have killed our old computer and the "new" one is useless. I'm currently borrowing Mike's laptops and it's very unsatisfactory! I have a bit of holiday to use in the next couple of months so I'm off today but I'm just really tired.

66. 06.03.12 Val McDermid, Fever of the Bone 4.6

67. 06.03.12 Kate Grenville, The Lieutenant 4.7

68. 06.03.12 Kate Thompson, The O'Hara Affair 3.9

69. 08.03.12 Susanna Jones, When Nights Were Cold 4.2

Amazon Vine review book

"Last night I tried to climb the Matterhorn again".

Grace opens her story with echoes of one of fiction's most famous unreliable narratives, Daphne Du Maurier's (Rebecca (Virago Modern Classics), although for most of the story, I wanted to believe her. She is looking back telling her story a few years later, a lonely woman haunted by her past.

Edwardian child Grace dreams obsessively of adventure and Polar exploration, a huge contrast with her upbringing with parents whose ideas of their daughters' future are stultifyingly oppressive. Somehow Grace escapes to university, where she founds an Antarctic Exploration Society. They offer their services to Ernest Shackleton in a letter signed with initials and surnames only, though sadly they never get a response, and an expedition to climb the Alps ends in tragedy.

I was totally drawn into Grace's story by her voice, which made the question of female madness raised by the story all the more compelling (more echoes of Rebecca?)

A disturbing and thought provoking read.

70. 10.03.12 Matthew Hollis, Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas 4.2

71. 11.03.12 Judith Kinghorn, The Last Summer 4.3

review book for Amazon Vine

The Last Summer is an unashamedly romantic historical love story. Clarissa has grown up in a big oountry house with several brothers. Tom is surprisingly well educated for a housekeeper's son, as well as devastatingly attractive, and Clarissa soon falls for him. They are soon parted by her mother's intervention, then WWI, and lots of terrible things happen to the family.

Despite so many cliches, The Last Summer is a terrific debut historical novel. Tom's educational opportunity seems very far-fetched, but I enjoyed the period detaill of WWI and the 1920s, and the character of Clarissa, and got very emotional at some points in the story. If you don't mind romance in your historical fiction, and are looking for light but not trashy reading, this is recommended.

Hi Luci, I hope your computer problems get sorted out soon and that you are feeling a bit less tired.

I liked the review of The Blue Door - a very different perspective on WWII by the sound of it.

Hi Luci - also sorry to hear about your computer problems.

I'm glad to see you enjoyed Grenville's The Lieutenant and The Flying Man. When Nights Were Cold sounds intriguing.

When Nights Were Cold does sound interesting- onto the wishlist it goes!

72. 13.03.12 Dorothy Whipple, Greenbanks 4.2

73. 14.03.12 Kate Thompson, That Gallagher Girl 4.1

74. 14.03.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A View of the Harbour 4.2

75. 16.03.12 Rosie Thomas, The Kashmir Shawl 4.4

Amazon Vine review book

While clearing out her father's house after his death, Mair finds a beautiful handwoven shawl which belonged to her grandmother, and this inspires her to travel to India to find out more about Nerys, who died before she was born.

In this novel, Rosie Thomas also tells the story of Nerys' adventures in 1940s India. I was impressed that she doesn't resort to the usual devices for bringing the stories of past and present together in the novel - there are few convenient coincidences or improbable letters and diaries, as from what we learn about Nerys, this would have been most unlikely - some of the past secrets will remain secret, others will be suspected by the present day characters but never confirmed.

This is an enjoyable read about friendship, relationships, secrets and sadness, with fully drawn and memorable characters. While some of the tensions in late colonial India are very apparent, it isn't a novel about India so much as one about the British and other European characters there.

76. 17.03.12 Monica Dickens, One Pair of Hands 4.2

77. 17.03.12 Mary Horlock, The Book of Lies 3.0

78. 18.03.12 Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, 4.6

79. 19.03.12 George Pelecanos, D C Noir 2 4.2

80. 20.03.12 Helen Simpson, In-Flight Entertainment 4.3

81. 22.03.12 Kate Grenville, Sarah Thornhill 4.6

82. 24.03.12 Daphne Du Maurier, The House on the Strand 3.9

83. 25.03.12 John Harvey, Now's the Time 4.7

84. 29.03.12 Hans Fallada, Alone in Berlin 3.9

85. 31.03.12 ed Maxim Jakubowski, The Mammoth Book of British Crime 7 4.2

86. 31.03.12 Marge Piercy, Sex Wars 4.3

87. 01.04.12 Alexandra Singer, Tea at the Grand Tazi 3.2 218pp

88. 03.04.12 John Harvey, Good Bait 4.6

89. 04.04.12 Sita Brahmachari, Artichoke Hearts 4.7

90. 05.04.12 Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire 4.7

91. 06.04.12 Anne Tyler, The Beginner's Goodbye 4.6 198 pp

92. 06.04.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A Wreath of Roses 4.0

93. 08.04.12 Helena Pielichaty, Accidental Friends, 4.6

94. 09.04.12 Ian Rankin, The Complaints 4.0 471 pp

95. 11.04.12 Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay 4.5

96. 12.04.12 Sita Brahmachari, Jasmine Skies 4.3

97. 13.04.12 Anna Stothard, The Pink Hotel 4.0

98. 13.04.12 Jennifer McVeigh, The Fever Tree 4.6

99. 16.04.12 Cynthia Ozick, Foreign Bodies 3.8

100. 16.04.12 Pippa Wright, Unsuitable Men 4.2

101. 17.04.12 Belinda Seaward, The Beautiful Truth 4.1

102. 19.04.12 Francesca Kay, The Translation of the Bones 3.7

103. 22.04.12 Lisa Brackmann, The Year of the Tiger 4.3

104. 22.04.12 Jessica Ruston, The Darker Side of Love 3.9

105. 23.04.12 Penny Feeny, That Summer in Ischia 3.8

106. 24.04.12 Laurie R King, The Moor 3.6

107. 26.04.12 Anna Gmeyner, Manja 3.9

108. 27.04.12 Margaret James, The Penny Bangle, 4.0

109. 28.04.12 Marina Lewycka, Various Pets Alive and Dead 4.5

110. 29.04.12 Elly Griffiths, A Room Full of Bones 4.3

111. 30.04.12 Donna Leon, The Anonymous Venetian 4.1

112. 02.05.12 Laurie R King, O Jerusalem 3.1

113. 03.05.12 Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present 4.0

114. 03.05.12 Heather Peace, All to Play For 4.3

115. 05.05.12 Esme Raji Cordell, Educating Esme 4.2

116. 06.05.12 Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden 4.7

117. 07.05.12 Marcia Muller, Locked In 4.4

118. 08.05.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek 4.1

119. 10.05.12 Laura Moriarty, The Chaperone 4.7

120. 12.05.12 Ruth Adam, A Woman's Place 4.7

Luci - nice to see you catching up a little! John Harvey and Anne Tyler are quite different but both invariably winners.

The author of my favourite ever children's picture book, Maurice Sendak, has died aged 83....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-....

117: Yes, I was sorry to hear that. Where the Wild Things Are is my favourite children's picture book too.

Edited to add, I'm assuming of course, that was the one you were refering to and not, say, In the Night Kitchen which I found a bit sinister as a child!

I've just had really bad news. Brian, my boss, has been off sick, off and on, with cancer, he returned for a few weeks after radiotherapy but has been off again for the last fortnight.

One of my colleagues has talked to his wife. It's spread "everywhere", he's due to be moved to a hospice and is making plans for his funeral.

He's blind and my job has been to work for him. We're already going through a restructure and it may or may not reduce my chances of getting a job in the new structure, I'm not sure, it probably doesn't help but I'm just so upset for Brian, one of the nicest, kindest and cleverest men I've ever met.

Luci - sorry to read about your boss and friend and his fight with cancer. Words of comfort are fairly useless in such situations as well intended as they indeed are but I'm sure that his wife and family and Brian himself are strengthened by your warm wishes and tears.

So sorry to hear this has happened to your lovely colleague and friend, Luci.

Luci - So sorry to hear this sad news.

Hi Luci, belatedly catching up with your thread, and I'm so sorry to read about your boss. We've got a couple of people in our congregation with terminal cancer at present too, and another relatively young person who has just died of a rare form; it's so hard for everyone. I'm sorry for the uncertainty it leaves you for your future work as well - that is hard to deal with on top of the thought of losing such a good person from your life.

No more uncertainty, we've just had a restructure and I was told yesterday I didn't get my job. It's a bit of a knock - one post at my grade was being cut but at least two of us haven't got jobs so it feels even worse. They're also making two very senior PAs redundant and there's good reason to think someone had made decisions before they put us all through the interviews and tests.

On the positive side, there are lots of people who seem like they'll be sad to see me go, the employment team have been very grateful for my help recently, one of the housing lawyers was telling me how mad my boss would be about it if he was here, and urging me to fight it. I just don't think I have the emotional energy left to try. My most recent appraisal was very negative, and I don't even know what's happened to my previous appraisal documentation because I don't know where my files since 2005 have got to. I just feel like the last two years or so have been one thing after another (life , not just work).

Oh Luci, I am so, so sorry to hear this. It must feel devastating on top of everything else.

I do hope you are getting the support and comfort you need from family and friends right now until life sorts itself out and you find a new direction.

Luci, that's awful - I'm glad there are people being supportive, but a shame that those making the decisions don't seem to share their view. Perhaps you need to give it a few days to get over the shock and then maybe you'll be able to summon the energy to fight it - but I can see that with your supportive boss not able to fight your corner either, it will be especially hard.

I hope you have some nice things to look forward to over this long weekend, and can face next week in better spirits...

Luci - that is bad news. Someone of your erudition and obvious abilities should not be without work for very long. Will you be looking for work only in the London area? Anyway keep your chin up and make the best of your weekend.

I'm sorry to hear about that bad news for you and your former boss, Luci. I hope that something better and more rewarding is just around the corner.

Luci, I'm so sorry to hear the bad news for you and your old boss. I hope you've managed to get some rest over this weekend - will be thinking of you.

Hope you're ok, Luci!

I'm still feeling quite tired and anxious. 4 out of the 6 of us doing the same job as me haven't got a post in the new structure - we know one has and the other is annual leave (I would be very surprised if she hasn't but then I'm quite shocked and surprised that so many of us are being deleted as it is.

What a horrible situation to be in. I'm not surprised you're feeling tired and anxious right now.

Sending you best thoughts and wishes and hope life resolves itself in a more satisfactory fashion for you, very soon!

Luci - I hope all is well. Miss your updates on your prodigious reading. Hugs from Malaysia and wishing you every success in your job hunting.

Sorry for being absent for so long - I will try to cross post my Amazon Vine reviews at some point if nothing else. My former boss died last week and I went to his funeral yesterday (Thursday). Over 30 of his colleagues/former colleagues and client officers went so we were quite a lot of the people there. I did a lot of crying in the evening, and a little bit of sleeping.

I've just submitted an online job application - I worked there before in one of my two favourite jobs - I was covering maternity leave so it was just for 9 months but that was great at that time. Actually, once I've collected my redundancy money a maternity leave cover post now would suit me very well if such a thing still exists.

I'm now off to Yorkshire for a few days - trains to Harrogate this am and then staying with my mum tonight in Ilkley - Mike and the boys will join me tomorrow and we'll stay until Tuesday. Yay!

Have a great holiday Luci - it is finally supposed to be summery over the weekend! I still see maternity cover roles in my field, so I hope there are some in yours.

Luci - bittersweet to get your news. Trust that you get the breaks you deserve and am happy to see that you have ascended to God's country for a few days to wallow in the TLC that mothers know best how to give.

#134 Sorry to hear the news about your boss Luci. Hope you enjoy your stay in Yorkshire - are you going to visit the crime festival? Will hope you get the post you applied for.

I'm very sorry to hear about your former boss's death, Luci. Best of luck in the new job search, and I hope that you have a relaxing stay with your mother and family.

Sorry you've had such a rough time recently, Luci. I hope you enjoy yourself in Harrogate and good luck with the job application.

I went to just a couple of sessions at the crime festival, but they were quite good, and there are 9 charity shops clustered on 2 streets, as well as a secondhand bookshop with special sections for children's books and crime fiction (a most dangerous place!). Most of my acquisitions have been better copies of books I had already, or replacements - my sister has some of my Noel Streatfeilds, but the ones she has are very very worn.

I went to discussions about ebooks - are they a threat? - and crime novels v literary fiction and a reference to a book as "a donkey in the Grand National". The ereader discussion made me feel a bit guilty, but I've certainly bought my fair share of real books in my time. The advocate of ereader/ebook publishing and marketing, Stephen Leather, got up everyone's nose a bit and Mark Billingham, who was a standup comedian before he became a really successful crime writer (and an organiser of the Harrogate Crime Festival), started heckling loudly from the audience.

The crime festival sounds great, wish I could have been there. I love that Mark Billingham started heckling on behalf of real books!

I feel a bit guilty on the subject of bargain ebooks, though Stephen Leather really doesn't appeal to me much, but I'm quite a fan of Mark Billingham as the author of the Tom Thorne series and as a really nice guy - I still remember the launch party for his third book, which turned out to be a sad occasion in ways which rather overshadowed the original plan for the do, and how lovely he was about it. (It was held at Crime in Store, a lovely independent specialist bookshop in London) and just before the date which had been scheduled well in advance, it was announced that the shop was closing down, and also, one of the workers there died suddenly (only early 30s, I think it was suicide).

MB was also the Chair of this year's Festival for the second time. Val McDermid did the first 3 years and he did the 4th, and they're both on the organising committee almost every year - Martyn Waites took over the role of reader in residence from Ann Cleeves a few years ago and there are a host of regulars who have lots of input behind the scenes as well as regularly appearing.

I think you might be able to find some Radio 4 coverage from BBC Iplayer - particularly Front Row - Mark Lawson and Jenni Murray of Woman's Hour are both nearly always there.

Thanks Luci, I'll look out for that!

Sounds like they had some interesting discussion topics at the festival. Despite having an ereader and enjoying reading books on it, I feel like I'm still very undecided about how ebooks will change the book world.

Ooh, exciting - the Kindle summer sale must have started. I just looked at the Kindle price drop and there were two pages of drops on there since a few hours ago when I last looked. It includes lots of books I've been wanting to buy, including two wishlist books that were over £6 down to just over £1 (glad I chose other books when I was spending my most recent vouchers now!)

Hi Luci, just wondering how things are going for you. Are you still up in Yorkshire or are you back to job-hunting at home? I hope you find the kind of maternity cover job you are hoping for.

Sounds like you got some good bargains in the Kindle sale. I don't think you of all people need feel guilty about buying eBooks, you certainly keep the paper books circulating round the country too!

I'm in London at the moment - childminder holidays for two weeks from next Monday so we're taking the kids to see their other grandmother in Norfolk, there is another of my restructure victim colleagues having a leaving do on Thursday, and we're back up to Yorkshire from 28 August for a week, I'm sure the kids will get very excited. I invited someone on Read it Swap It to come for a little raid on the charity shops, and it looks like about 8 people might turn up, so that should be fun.

Charity shop raid sounds fun! And kids enjoying grandmothers. But funerals and redundancy leaving dos not so much fun... I hope you do manage to have a good time while you are away.

76. 17.03.12 Monica Dickens, One Pair of Hands 4.2

77. 17.03.12 Mary Horlock, The Book of Lies 3.0

78. 18.03.12 Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake 4.6

79. 19.03.12 George Pelecanos (editor), DC Noir 2 4.2

80. 20.03.12 Helen Simpson, In-Flight Entertainment 4.3

81. 22.03.12 Kate Grenville, Sarah Thornhill 4.6

82. 24.03.12 Daphne Du Maurier, The House on the Strand 3.9

83. 25.03.12 John Harvey, Now's the Time 4.7

84. 29.03.12 Hans Fallada, Alone in Berlin 3.9

What did you think of The house on the strand? Having finally got round to reading Rebecca, I'm interested to read some more du Maurier...

85. 31.03.12 ed Maxim Jakubowski, The Mammoth Book of British Crime 7 4.2

86. 31.03.12 Marge Piercy, Sex Wars 4.4

Historical novel set in late 19th century New York and including several "real people" as characters such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, as well as a Russian Jewish immigrant who starts her own business making condoms.

87. 01.04.12 Alexandra Singer, Tea at the Grand Tazi 3.2 218pp

Amazon Vine review book

I was drawn to this book by the vivid colours of the cover and by the setting of the story, in which a young woman goes to Morocco.

Initially, I found it hard to get into, and while it did pick up a bit and become more interesting, nearly everyone was very unpleasant. Maia herself is naive and lacks insight, rather worryingly for someone with artistic ambitions. I thought the portrayal of Moroccans had rather racist overtones, although most of the Western expats were quite obnoxious. Gay/lesbian sexuality seemed to be equated with corruption.

Although I didn't like this much, I would be curious to see what the author writes next, perhaps with a stricter editor and less purple prose.

88. 03.04.12 John Harvey, Good Bait 4.6

89. 04.04.12 Sita Brahmachari, Artichoke Hearts 4.7

Lovely older children's/YA novel about Mira whose lovely and beloved grandmother Josie is preparing for her death from cancer with the help of her family. Mira has joined a special writing group at school and has a romantic interest.

(I'd been interested in this for a while, as it was one of my Read It Swap It friend's first Vine review choices, and it was a Kindle bargain a few months ago).

90. 05.04.12 Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire 4.7

158: The House on the Strand was interesting - I thought the storyline was intriguing but found the main character a bit unsympathetic, I think. I want to reread the ones I enjoyed in my teens, like Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel and see what I make of them after 25-30 years!

#150 I just bought The Book of Lies in the kindle sale - I hope I enjoy it more than you did...

91. 06.04.12 Anne Tyler, The Beginner's Goodbye 4.6 198 pp

Amazon Vine review book

"The strangest thing about my wife's return from the dead was how other people reacted."

Anne Tyler isn't known for ghost stories, more for beautifully observed stories and character studies of people moving forward from domestic crisis.

Despite the opening, this isn't so different from Tyler's previouos 18 novels. Aaron's family publishing firm has a succeessful series of beginner's guides offering step by step advice to all life's events, everything carefully broken down and simplified. This echoes, perhaps, one of her earlier novels, The Accidental Tourist, in which the main character writes guidebooks for American travellers who would really prefer not to leave the safety of home.

After Dorothy's death, Aaron gradually learns a little more about the living peeople around him, as he learns how to let go (hence the title). A short, thoughtful novel.

92. 06.04.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A Wreath of Roses 4.0

93. 08.04.12 Helena Pielichaty, Accidental Friends 4.6

94. 09.04.12 Ian Rankin, The Complaints 4.0 471 pp

New Books magazine for author feature, though my review wasn't used. First in his new series featuring Malcolm Fox. A good read but I can't help missing Rebus.

95. 11.04.12 Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay 4.5

96. 12.04.12 Sita Brahmachari, Jasmine Skies 4.3

97. 13.04.12 Anna Stothard, The Pink Hotel 4.0

Orange Prize longlist novel

98. 13.04.12 Jennifer McVeigh, The Fever Tree 4.7

Amazon Vine review book

The Fever Tree is an impressive debut, a historical novel set in 19th century South Africa. Frances is an impetuous young woman. When her father dies she finds herself with a choice between marrying her father's protege, now a young doctor planning to go to South Africa, and living with an aunt in Manchester. She reluctantly opts for Edwin Matthews, but on the ship out she meets another adventurer. A lot of the story is set in Kimberley, where everyone is keen to exploit the diamond mines (and the local black African labour force). Frances finds her marriage to Edwin difficult in many ways, but as a doctor he is concerned to protect everyone's health even when it's inconvenient.

This is a compelling story of competing values, with vividly evoked settings and some memorable characters and exotic pets. While I sometimes found Frances and her choices exasperating, I came to really care about whether she could find her way through.

99. 16.04.12 Cynthia Ozick, Foreign Bodies 3.8

Orange Prize shortlist book and a Kindle bargain at the time I bought it (£1) soon after the longlist announcement.

100. 16.04.12 Pippa Wright, Unsuitable Men 4.2

Amazon Vine review book

Rory has been dumped by her first and only real boyfriend, and a colleague suggests that she needs to get some dating experience with a few unsuitable men. Somehow she finds herself writing a column about her experiences for the website of the magazine she works on.

I was tempted by this as I really enjoyed Wright's first novel, and this was just as much fun. This is definitely chicklit but Rory is no bimbo, but an intelligent, likeable and warm character learning more about the people around her and herself.

While there is an obligatory romantic story, this is a social comedy with a great cast of interesting and entertaining characters, particularly at Rory's work and home. Rory works on a country house magazine, one of the few staff members who is not very posh and well-connected, and I enjoyed the terrifying boss Amanda, the posh girl Ticky and the precocious work experience boy. Even better is Rory's home life, as she moves from her boyfriend's home to live with her beloved aunt Lydia, landlady to several other elderly actors. I found many of the scenes at home and work much more interesting than the outrageously unsuitable men.

Brain candy at its tastiest.

A few updates from messages 159 to 175.

I'm finding the negative votes on Amazon Vine psychologically quite demoralising, if you find the reviews useful I wouldn't mind if you have a minute to drop buy to cast the odd positive vote. If you have comments or questions, do say/ask.

There are always lots of stories on the news that make me want to just turn it off, particularly those featuring dead children. But there's a hilarious UK news story today - a woman camping in Essex reported seeing a lion yesterday, but after a search the police have decided it's probably just a very large cat (as opposed to a specifically leonine big cat!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-19391572

I even managed to talk Danny out of a tantrum with a discussion of it earlier - we have a fondness for big cat stories in the house, such as The Tiger Who Came to Tea and Library Lion.

Ooh, the Harrogate crime festival discussion on ebooks v real books is on Front Row this evening. It should be available via Listen Again or even as a podcast for a few days.

I've got a copy of The Complaints which has been waiting for over a year for me to get round to it. I think I'm missing Rebus too, there is not the same urgency to read it.

I've followed up some of your reviews on Amazon and given them positive votes.

Big cat story is funny - I didn't pick that up at all up here, maybe its more on London/Essex news.

Being an ex-Essex girl myself, I'm allowed to repeat this Twitter tweet: Lion Spotted in Essex, has he no pride? (Sorry!)

Actually, I can see how that sort of thing happens. I was having drinks in a neighbours garden the other day when one woman and I spotted something in the distance, that the person whose garden it was said was a cat but looked far too big. In retrospect, I think it was probably a fox.

I've added The Complaints to a TIOLI challenge this month. The urgency to read it for me has suddenly surfaced now I've heard that Rebus is featured in the new Malcolm Fox book.

The tweet is quite funny - I heard the original story and you could hear the interviewers trying to keep their voice serious as obviously they didn't believe a word of it.

Yes, I noticed a few newsreaders trying not to giggle over that one.

101. 17.04.12 Belinda Seaward, The Beautiful Truth 4.1

Amazon Vine book for review

Catherine travels to Krakow, Poland, to find out more about the father who disappeared when she was a child. She meets Konrad, who knew her father in later life and now lives in the US. His aunt Krystyna was in the Polish resistance with Catherine's father Janek.

The present day story is interspersed with the story of Krystyna and Janek during and after German occupation. It's an interesting and moving story of courage and bravery, of the practical problems of surviving and fighting against occupation, of life in constant danger. Despite all those things, I found the present day story more memorable.

This is beautifully written and made me want to know more about Polish history.

Recommended.

184: That's a really clear and helpful review, Luci. I just went over to Amazon.co.uk to add The Beautiful Truth to my wish-list and noticed that some reviewers are still marking other reviews as unhelpful to boost the status of theirs. So annoying and it must be disheartening when you've spent time on writing a review which is actually very helpful.

Thanks Dee, and yes, it is demoralising. I'm not even sure it's that, I feel I have a stalker who plants a crop of negative votes on my reviews every few days. In fact, either there are 2 or 3 of them or one person has some sockpuppet accounts for the purpose of doing it. I know I sound paranoid but there's a pattern to their appearance!

That is unpleasant, Luci and I don't think it's just you that it's happening to. I often spot reviews by another Amazon Vine reviewer who I know from LibraryThing and they always seem to have several negative ratings even though she writes lovely, thoughtful reviews.

102. 19.04.12 Francesca Kay, The Translation of the Bones 3.7

103. 22.04.12 Lisa Brackmann, The Year of the Tiger 4.3

104. 22.04.12 Jessica Ruston, The Darker Side of Love 3.9

Amazon Vine book for review, chicklit

This tells the story of a few years in the lives of a group of women and men, their relationships and jobs. A lot of different characters are introduced at the beginning, but they are effectively and memorably distinguished quite quickly. Everyone has secrets at the start, from each other, their loved ones and perhaps even themselves. I thought this was an enjoyable read though I did feel a bit frustrated by some of the characters' actions.

105. 23.04.12 Penny Feeny, That Summer in Ischia 3.8

106. 24.04.12 Laurie R King, The Moor 3.6

107. 26.04.12 Anna Gmeyner, Manja 3.9

108. 27.04.12 Margaret James, The Penny Bangle 4.0

109. 28.04.12 Marina Lewycka, Various Pets Alive and Dead 4.5

110. 29.04.12 Elly Griffiths, A Room Full of Bones 4.3

121. 12.05.12 Charlotte Rogan, The Lifeboat 3.9

122. 12.05.12 Anne Enright, The Forgotten Waltz 4.1

123. 12.05.12 Stuart Pawson, A Very Private Murder 3.7

124. 13.05.12 Karen Thompson, The Age of Miracles 4.2

125. 16.05.12 Madeleine Miller, The Song of Achilles 4.1

126. 19.05.12 Georgina Harding, The Painter of Silence 4.2

127. 19.05.12 Ursula Jones, The Youngstars 3.7

128. 20.05.12 David Downing, Lehrter Station 4.2

129. 21.05.12 Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God 3.6

130. 23.05.12 S J Watson, Before I Go to Sleep 4.1

131. 26.05.12 Ellen Wilkinson, Clash 4.7

132. 28.05.12 Various, The Library Book 4.5

133. 28.05.12 P L Travers, Mary Poppins Opens a Door 4.0

134. 28.05.12 Laura Marney, Only Strange People Go To Church 4.2

135. 30.05.12 Harriet Lane, Alys Always 4.1

111. 30.04.12 Donna Leon, The Anonymous Venetian 4.1

112. 02.05.12 Laurie R King, O Jerusalem 3.1

113. 03.05.12 Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present 4.0

114. 03.05.12 Heather Peace, All to Play For 4.3

115. 05.05.12 Esme Raji Cordell, Educating Esme 4.2

136. 31.05.12 Louise Voss, Are You My Mother? 4.5

137. 02.06.12 Louise Welsh, The Girl on the Stairs 4.2

138.

139.

140.

150.

116. 06.05.12 Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden 4.7

117. 07.05.12 Marcia Muller, Locked In 4.4

118. 08.05.12 Elizabeth Taylor, A Game of Hide and Seek 4.1

119. 10.05.12 Laura Moriarty, The Chaperone 4.7

Amazon Vine review

It is 1922. Two women take a train journey. Louise Brooks is a beautiful 15 year old from Wichita, Kansas, taking up the chance of a lifetime to study dancing in New York City. Her companion, Cora, is a 36 year old housewife, and seems respectable to the point of being dull. This summer will change the lives of both women.

Louise Brooks was a real person – she had a brief career as a start of silent movies, but is still remembered, with her trademark glossy dark bobbed hair, as the epitome of 1920s glamour. I learned quite a lot that was new and interesting to me about her life, and what happened to her after her period of fame. However, this is a novel, and the real story, as the title suggests, is that of the chaperone, Cora Carlisle, a fictitious character. I found it a fascinating and enjoyable story.

The narrative is from Cora’s point of view, and Moriarty includes some biographical detail of Louise Brooks. She has little apparently in common with her charge, who turns out to be a brat with shocking behaviour, getting drunk with strange men. Cora tries to curb and protect her behaviour without much success. At the same time, Louise is very bright, with highbrow reading tastes. I had believed a popular myth that Brooks’ career was brought to an end by the introduction of “talkies”, that her speaking voice was terrible. In fact, she refused to go along with studio system expectations, was perhaps too clever and argumentative, as well as badly behaved. She lived into her 70s and after various failures found some success and respect as a film critic.

Cora turns out to have a motive for taking on the chaperone’s role – it is an opportunity to escape from a stifling home life, but more importantly, to try and find out more about her origins – she was adopted as a child from an orphanage in New York City. This summer will turn out to be just a start to her on a voyage of discovery.

I enjoyed the various shifts in the relationship between Cora and Louise, both over the summer and in occasional encounters later in their lives, when Louise has grown up. They have very different outlooks on life and will never be best friends exactly, but they make each other think.

I wasn’t sure that all the story of Cora’s later life, told in the last third of the book, was believable but I loved the way Moriarty develops her as a character who remains outwardly respectable but is inspired to choose a way forward to a much more satisfying life. I also enjoyed the look at social history in the US through Cora as a character.

I thought this was a terrific and memorable read.

120. 12.05.12 Ruth Adam, A Woman's Place, 1910-1975 4.7

121. 12.05.12 Charlotte Rogan, The Lifeboat 3.9

Amazon Vine book for review

1914: After 3 weeks in an overcrowded lifeboat, Grace Winter is facing trial for murder, with the death sentence as a possible penalty. Her lawyers have suggested she writes an account of her experiences, which they hope will assist them in preparing a defence.

I wasn't sure what to make of Grace. She certainly has reason to be an unreliable narrator, and to downplay wishing anyone dead or any active role in throwing someone overboard. In fact, she appears to be surprisingly honest in revealing her more negative thoughts and feelings alongside her worries about her new husband.

This is a very readable novel, and quite thought provoking about the ethical dilemmas of survival - rescuing any more people from the water around the wreck would have put all on the lifeboat in jeopardy. There isn't enough food and water for those already in the boat, and some of the passengers are soon discussing "volunteers" to go overboard.

Given its settings, a lifeboat and a prison cell, this is a claustrophobic story, but quite a page turner.

122. 12.05.12 Anne Enright, The Forgotten Waltz 4.1

123. 12.05.12 Stuart Pawson, A Very Private Murder 3.7

This is #13 (?) in a series I always enjoy, and I've met the author a few times, but I've downrated it for an apparently casual jokey racist comment by the main series character. It wasn't funny. His publisher (Allison & Busby) brings out some good stuff but sometimes I think the books need more editing and this is one such case - someone could have easily advised leaving such things out (it wasn't storyline related).

124. 13.05.12 Karen Thompson, The Age of Miracles 4.2

125. 16.05.12 Madeleine Miller, The Song of Achilles 4.1

126. 19.05.12 Georgina Harding, Painter of Silence 4.2

As a stataholic Luci I was a bit disappointed that your lack of updates meant I was unable to be agog at your extraordinary reading prowess. Hope to see you back invigorated in 2013. Happy New Year!

Thanks for visiting Paul.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try and make a fresh start with my LT thread next year. Some of the reasons I haven't done so are still an issue.

In particular, my mum was told that her cancer (first diagnosed in 2010, surgery then and in 2011) is back in September, and this time it's inoperable and treatment can only prolong her life and improve its quality (fingers crossed) rather than save it. We will learn whether her chemo has been successful in those terms in mid January. My little sister has brought forward her wedding plans from August to Easter (end of March), so I'm hoping that turns out to be a relatively well period for her.

Also, my boss was diagnosed with cancer in late 2011 - we learned that he was dying in May and he died in July. I was made redundant, and had to work out my notice period for over 15 weeks (12 weeks notice plus 25 days from being told to the formal notice meeting), alone in my boss's old office.

Someone I've known for 24 years fell out badly with Mike (they worked together) and I'm furious about the way that the boys and I have been treated about the whole thing.

So, I've had a rubbish year and I'm not expecting things to improve for some time yet.

Even if I don't keep up to date with posting or reading, LT has felt like a real lifeline this year.

127. 19.05.12 Ursula Jones, The Youngstars 3.7

The Youngstars is an unusual take on theatre stories for children and teenagers - it is a historical novel (set in the 1930s) and the main character is a somewhat reluctant performer - he has no choice as his bullying father is the boss.

This is an engaging story with an interesting cast of characters, but I found it tricky to get into and keep track of everything going on. My biggest criticism though was that I didn't get a real sense of the period. There are references to events of the time, for example one of the troupe has a brother who went on the Jarrow March to protest against unemployment and poverty. Too often, though, I was reminded that this is a contemporary novel and pulled out of the period when it is set.

Worth a read, though.

128. 20.05.12 David Downing, Lehrter Station 4.2

129. 21.05.12 Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God 3.6

130. 23.05.12 S J Watson, Before I Go to Sleep 4.1

131. 26.05.12 Ellen Wilkinson, Clash 4.7

132. 28.05.12 Various, The Library Book 4.5

133. 28.05.12 P L Travers, Mary Poppins Opens a Door 4.0

134. 28.05.12 Laura Marney, Only Strange People Go To Church 4.2

135. 30.05.12 Harriet Lane, Alys Always 4.1

136. 31.05.12 Louise Voss, Are You My Mother? 4.5

137. 02.06.12 Louise Welsh, The Girl on the Stairs 4.2

Jane has moved to Berlin to be with her partner, Petra. She is heavily pregnant and spends a lot of her time alone in her new flat observing some seriously creepy neighbours, while Petra is out working long hours as a banker. It seems odd to see a lesbian couple taking on such stereotyped roles, although things are complicated by the fact that Jane has come to live in Petra's country and her German isn't that fluent.

I liked the way that suspense and tension were built up and sustained in this short novel, and I'm always intrigued by writings about pregnancy. I thought the portrayal of the difficult emotional state of late pregnancy, greatly exacerbated by being in a foreign city where Jane hardly knows anyone except her girlfriend, was quite convincing and compelling. I did feel irritated by constant smoking and obsession with her cigarettes, while pretending that every packet would be her last, though.

I was drawn to this novel as I loved Louise Welsh's first book and have been meaning to catch up on her other works ever since. This is not at all like The Cutting Room, but it's a good creepy suspense story which might appeal to fans of writers like Minette Walters.

Wishing you a happier 2013, Luci

Thanks Dee, I fear it won't be, maybe 2014 or 2015? I'm hopeful family will be able to get together and support each other but it's very hard to imagine what we will all do without our mother.

That is heartbreaking. I don't think there's anything we can do to prepare ourselves for something like that but hope you and your family do find strength within each other.

Luci, I'm so sorry to read how difficult this year has been for you, and the uncertainty of 2013. I hope you start a new thread, even if you can't devote a lot of time to LT.

Luci, so sorry to hear about your Mum, on top of what I know you were going through re work. What an awful year it has been, and I'm sorry that the immediate prospects don't look much better. I hope this group continues to feel like a lifeline, however much or little you are able to update your thread - will be keeping an eye out for you.

I've just finished my last book for 2012, At Mrs Lippincote's, the copy which you gave me back in May which was an ex-library copy, so I was thinking of you as I read it. It's good to have these connections through the books we are reading and enjoying....

Luci - as I think I said on Dee's thread - life sucks. You on the other had are anything but.
So sorry that things have been so pig-awfully difficult and I think that the turn of the year will hopefully be a watershed with only good things for you and yours on the other side.
Love to see the record of your prodigious reading but I would much sooner see you happy and your family in good health. x

Luci, so sorry to hear the news about your Mum. I hope you and your family can spend some good time with your Mum in 2013 and that things pick up at work.

Thanks all for your messages.

Here's my thread for next year - lots of aspirations but we'll see:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/147192

Rachael and Cushla and Darryl will be pleased!

And the winner is.....

Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries

I've just realised I've been posting on the wrong thread.... duh!