Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

I read this book in October 2013
I picked up this book in a charity shop recently
It turned out to be a bit of serendipity.
I really liked this book -  written as a series of free verse poems, each moving the story on. A story about a 12 year old girl who runs, her life at home and at school...
a great idea format wise it really works
9/10
Helen

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

This is a World Book Night Book I picked up at Waterstones in April
I read this October 2013
This is a 'cross- over' book - teen to adult.
Very easy to read, a thick book that keeps going along, building up and sustaining the excitement.
A world where everyone's' thoughts can be heard... noise all teh time. Todd the last by in Prentisstown comes across a patch of silence.....
There are supposed to be on silences no women and no other settlements, suddenly Todd's world is turned on it's head....everything he had been told was lies...

A coming of age book

8/10
Helen

Chupsie by Bessie Marchant

I read this October 2013
I bought thsi book because it had teh type of cover I collect.
A children's book written c.1904 with all the moral and prejudices of the time.  Very un-PC! but I do so love to read something about the time written at the time.  It shpws people's attitudes and what was acceptable at the time.

2 children find an abandoned baby and eventually manage to restore it to the mother it was stolen form.  Set in India, the girls and baby are all white.  It shows the life style of the children of the colonialists...
So revealing

Helen

Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks

I read this October 2013
It was my choice for the Waterstones Book Club read.
I picked it as I have read 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' some time ago and really enjoyed it.
I found this informative but hard going.  I hadn't realised  I'd experienced Hallucinations before - noises in the night, tinitus, but now I know lots of things are classed as Hallucinations - aything not real really, should have thought of that.
Glad I read it, glad I've finished it
7/10

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

I read this in September 2013
It was a Waterstones Bury St Edmunds Book Club chioce.
I had read this years and years ago.  I had forgotten how readable George Orwell books are.  I enjoyed this dispute it's grim subject matter.  Ok we all know GO was an Eton boy and well heeled but he did actually live as a down and out so must be commended for that.
It made me understand teh hardship of the tramps lives - many tramps were still around when I was growing up (I lived near a Rowton House)
Very moving and interesting...
8/10

Briefs Encountered by Julian Clary

I read this in September 2013
It as a Waterstones Boob club book.
I thought I would really enjoy this book as I am a fan of Julian Clary's and so was looking forward to reading this one.  However I was somewhat disappointed to find it neither clever nor funny...I think I missed the point on this one!
5/10

From Her Own Correspondent by Rosie Irish

I read this September 2013
This book is by a fellow member of The St John's Street Writer's Group.
Rosie found a bundle of letters addressed to her mother from a family friend when her mother died. The friend John Ridley was at the time the Daily Telegraph forgiegn correspondent.  The letters are form the East and far fulng places he was sent to.  Containing mostly 'domestic' information and John's feelings being away form home friends and family.
Intriguing

If you are interested in a copy it is available on Amazon.co.uk or you can contact me and I will pass your information on to Rosie.
Highly recommended.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I read this September 2013
It was bought for me by my friend's husband as he had read it and enjoyed it and saw a copy when we were out so got it for me.
This is one of those books with two stories set at different times but 'in parallel, one reflecting the other.  The tale is told through stories written by various different characters.
Set against the backdrop of Spain after the Civil War.  Set in Barcelona. It contains love, thrills and violence in equal measure.  The author takes us form a time when his bookseller father takes him to a the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' where he finds a book , The Shadow of the Wind, which sets the whle storry going...there ha been someone buying and destroying them...very sinister.
I enjoyed this book
8/10

The Small Hand by Susan Hill

I read this September 2013
I found this in N&P Buildiing Society, Bury St Edmunds, they have a charity bookshelf.. check it out.
Another great book from Susan Hill, a creepy ghost story, short, small but perfectly formed.
A man, lost on his way to see a client in the country, stops at a house for directions, only to find it's derelict.  A small hand takes his while he's there and it's no coincidence that he stopped at this particular house.  I found it resonated with Winter Ghosts for me.
Beautifully written as always.
9/10

The Beacon by Susan Hill

I read his in September 2013
I bought this in a Charity shop, it is a small book just 148 pages.
Beautifully written as all hers are, so neat and precis. T|he story is of a family one of whom writes a book about his childhood and the subsequent fall out
Love it
10/10

Death Message by Mark Billingham

I read this in August 2013
I saw this on the charity book shelf at work and as Mark Billingham had been on the radio lately decided to give this a try.
First off it was a surprise tat tis is a British dectective novel, why did I think MB wrote 'American' novels whenI knew he's British... who knows?
The detective DI Tom Thorne is sent text pictures of dead bodies ... I quite enjoyed this and will certainly read some more
7/10

Before I go to Sleep by SJ Watson

I read this August 2013
It had been recommended to me and I saw it in a charity shop and decided I'd give it a go.
This is a compelling story of a women who loses her memory every time she goes to sleep.
Who can she trust?  what stories are true, what are lies?
I really enjoy this type of book, intriguing...

8/10

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

I read this in July 2013

It was on the charity bookshelf at work and it had been recommended by a friend.  I have read other Kate Mosse books before, this one was very easy to read, another story across time.  This time a young man recovering for a breakdown after his brother is killed in the First World War, travells through France and comes upon ghosts form teh Cather region.
I liked his book very much

9/10
Helen

The Savage Garden by Mark Mills

I read this in July 2013

I had this on my 'guilty shelf ' for a long time.  Sorry I hadn't ha time to  read it before - it's a good book for bedtime.  Light easy to read but with a good strong plot running through it.  Intrigue modern and in the past, family secrets.  A young researcher goes off to Italy and stumbles upon a the secret in the creation of a memorial garden.
Very enjoyable
8/10
Helen

Mourning Ruby by Helen Dunsmore

I read this July 2013
I bought it from the charity bookshelf at work as I have read others of hers.
This is a fascinating story of a women who losses her daughter, Ruby.  She herself had been abandoned in a shoebox as a baby.  A good psychological read.

7/10
Helen

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

I read this June 2013
Why: I found this in a charity shop and as I had read some of  hers before.
This one is about the 1941 siege of Leningrad.  I don't think I had really thought about how awful it must have been before and reading how it effects a family brought home the real impact of what life must have been like. So many people died that winter -blockaded in.  I also hadn't thought how dependent a city - any city is on the import of goods, as there is no farming, stockkeeping even smallholdings.  Chilling
9/10

Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen

I read this June 2013
Why: A guest had left this in our condo and I wanted something easy and quick to read
How wrong I was, this is a really good book, complicated, tense and intriguing.
What a find
A couple have been living together for 15 years and have a young son, the husband has an affair, the wife has a one night stand - with the wrong person! the character has OCD and is a possessive of a former 'girlfriend'   in a coma after an accident... Strange, weird things happen...
Chilling!

9/10
Helen

The Calling by Alison Bruce

I read this June 2013
Why: I have read Cambridge Blue and Alison came to our Writing Group to talk to us, I ha also previously seen her at Waterstones and we read CB for Book Club.
I really enjoyed this one in the Gary Goodhew series.
The Chapters are really short - ideal bedtime reading for me...
The plot is not overly complicated but very interesting and easy to follow the different characters...
9/10
Helen

Utterly Fuelled by Pauline Manders

I read this June 2013
I have read the first Utterly book, Utterly explosive  and know the author.
I enjoyed the first bok in the series and I must say I enjoyed this even more. A good read,- well paced and relevant to how life really is in Suffolk.
Well done Pauline - highly recommended
Helen

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

I read this June 2013
An impulse buy at Waterstones
The blur says think of the Hunger Games with Vampires - this book does exactly what it says on teh tin!
A teen read - gory in parts
I enjoyed it for what it was...
6/10
Helen

One Night by Debbie Macomber

I read this May 2013
Because I wanted something quick and easy to read while on holiday an it was on the bookshelf at the condo left by one of our guests.
It's a sort of Mills and Boon type novel, but with a twist and crime story running through the love story.  It was written sometime ago and updated.
I got what I wanted a relaxing holiday read...

Helen

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

I read this May 2013
I had seen it in Waterstones and bought it with Rosie at Book Club. 
It was the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Proze.
A beautifully written book about first love and how things pan out over the hero's life. Very ordinary, very extraodinary and very believeable.
I really enjoyed this book and will read if again, I'm sure.
10/10
Helen

Murder on the Thirty-first Floor by Per Wahloo

I read this May 2013

I bought this on impulse at the counter in Waterstones...

Billed as the Godfather of Scandinavian crime fiction

This is set in an unnamed country, city and time.
A bit Brave New World/ 1984 ish...but a crime thriller.
I was amazed at how modern it seemed, a potentail terrist bomb in a skyscraper. The Media owned by a Monopoly...The only things that date it are the use of typewriters, no computers and landline telephones.  But very readable and enjoyable... in so many ways actually ahead of it's time.

8/10
Helen

The Dark Judges by Wagner, Grant, Bolland, Ewins, Robinson, Smith

This is a World Book Night book 2013

I read this April 2013

This is the first graphic novel produced for World Book Night...
A Classic Judge Dredd.  I haven't read any before, but loved the style and the graphics are superb...

8/10
Helen
Have you read this? did you get given an World Book Night Book? please let me know what you thought of WBN... either comment on my WBN blog myworldbooknight.blogspot.com or email me on blog@feathersonline.co.uk

H

Dear Lupin by Roger and Charlie Mortimer (Audio book)

I listened to this April 2013
This was put up as a read for the Waterstones Book Club, but lost out to Skios
 A series of letters written to his son by Roger Mortimer.
Set over 25 years showing the trails ans tribulations of a family...

I quite liked this

8/10

Helen

Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie

I read this April 2013

This is a teen book about a 14 year old girl who is adopted and her parents won't tell her until she's older the circumastances about her adoption.

She sets off via the internet to find out what she can.  The trail leads her to missing child website, child abuction and trafficing...

A very quick enjyable read with a strong plot line...
7/10
Helen

A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks

I read this April 2013
This was another form my 'Guilty Shelf' I've had this since last year.
Well I usually admire SF but can't understand how this one got through!
5 stories and not one of them memoriable or worth me taking tme to read...
3/10
Helen
Anyone out there actually like this one???

Skios By Michael Frayn (Audio Book)

I listened to this April 2013
It is the Waterstones Arc, Bury St Edmunds book for July.
As I am very busy I decided to get it from the libarry as an audio book
Michael Frayn is known for his farces and this is one.  I'm not really a 'British farce' fan much. I think I made the right decision getting this as an audio book - Martin Jarvis is a superb reader and this farce was brought to life by him.
I think it was over long and  got boring in parts.  I didn't gel with any of the characters.
Overall OK but it dd not 'fire my imagination'.

4/10
Helen

A Week In December by Sebastian Faulks

I read this April 2013

One down off the 'Guilty Shelf'

The plot, as the title implies, centres round 7 days in December just as the financial crisis hits... the lives of the various characters are  examined in detail and the interactions between the lives.  One of the characters is a hedge fund manager and the sections with his life in go some way to help to explain what had been going on, making money out of money and how the crash was engineered.  It makes a mockery of the 'we're all in this together' rubbish we get fed ... don't you believe it! I never have, even before reading this book and even less now....

As with all SF novels I found some it it  a bit less than interesting to read, but mostly I enjoyed it and learnt some things so that's always worthwhile...

7/10
Have you read it? What did you think of it?

The Life and Works of William Morris by Eleanor Van Zandt

I read this April 2013
More about William Morris works than his life, a slim book, beautiful photos and lots of information on Morris & Co patterns, wallpapers and fabrics.
A a fan of the P re-raphaelites and Arts & Crafts I enjoyed looking through this book.  A good book to add to my collection
8/10

Rude Britain by Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst

I 'read' this book April 2013
I picked this up in a charity shop.
100 rude place names in the UK
A light hearted read - amazing to see how many are in East Anglia...
6/10

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

I read this April 2013
I am giving copies of this book away on World Book Night - Tuesday 23 April 2013 at Waterstones, Buttermarket Bury St Edmunds 6 - 7pm.....

I had previously read Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde and really enjoyed it.

This is described as a silly book for smart people - don't know if I'm smart but I love this sort of cleverly written book.
It is set in an alternative 1985 where special ops agent Thursday Next is involved in finding out who is stealing original manuscripts of famous books and changing the plots...Thursday gets involved with Jane and Rochester when she is transported into the plot

I loved this book and I am going to really enjoy giving copies away

10/10
Helen

Hang in There Bozo By Lauren Child

I read this March 2013
This was a WBD children's book. 
Sub titled The Ruby Redfort Emergency Survival Guide for Some Tricky Predicaments
I am trying to write a childrens story, so am reading some!

I liked the style of this little book, friendly, chatty, not patronising.

Ruby Redfort is   13 year old secret agent and detective.

This book includes passages form otehr books, what a good way to encourage the reader to go further and read the RR novels.

Helen

The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey

I read this March 2013
Why: Waterstone's Arc Bury St Edmunds Book Club for May

This is the first Peter Carey I have read, I have Oscar and Lucinda n my guilty shelf awiting reading.

What I thought: If I did not know that Peter Carey is a man I would have said this book was written by a woman.  It was a strange book to read as every time I got fed up with it , the corner seemed to turn and it became interesting again. The story centers around a mechanical duck (or swan as it turned out). Written using 2 narrators one in the present day and the other in the 1800's.

I neither liked or disliked this book

5/10 - I shall give O&L a try.

The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith (CD version) read by Hilary Neville

I listened to this in March 2013
I picked this up to listen to in the kitchen , thinkng I han't read it, but I had - oh well...
Ok to listen to 'while doing something else'.  I'm afraid I don't warm to the smug characters in either format...
Te story of Isabel, her impossibe to believe, fit, young, talented etc, etc boyfrind Jamie and their son...all a bit too twee for me.
4/10
Helen

The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

I read this March 2013

Thanks to James for lending it to me.

This is the third book in The Hunger Games Trilogy and not a patch on THG.  Like the middle book this, I felt, was over long at 455 pages.  I wish it had been shorter and more to the point and action filled like THG was.

5/10
Helen

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I read this March 2013
Thanks to James for lending it to me.
I had read The Hunger Games, which I thought was very good and wanted to read the sequels...
This one is really not a patch on the tension and feel of The Hunger Games. Very long , 472 pages and I feel it could have been done in half that.  It was over wordy and I must say I didn't enjoy t vey much.

4/10
Helen

Horrid Henry's Guide to Perfect Parents

I read this March 2013

This is  a World Book Day (the children's book day) book
I am reading some children's books as I am trying to write children's stories to send to Africa.
Now this is my style of book, funny & irreverent. Lots of illustrations.  A book about taming and training your parents!
Have you or your children read it?
Helen

Tom Gates Best Book Day Ever (so Far) by L.Pichon

I read this March 2013
This is a World Book Day Book (the children's book day) and as I am trying to write a children's story for African children earning English, I thought I'd better read some...
A charming little book detailing Tom's Book Day costume! form his mum making it to the Day at school.  I loved the interactions between Tom and his class mates especially. Lots of illustrations as well...lots for me to think about.
I won't rate this book out of 10 as I have nothing to compare it with.
I enjoyed it
Have you or your children had  any WBD adventures?
Helen

HHhH by Laurent Binet

I read this March 2013
Waterstone Book Club April choice

I put this one forward tfor us to read as I had herad lots about it.

Plot: This book is about Operatton Anthropoid, when in 1942, in Prague, there was an assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich.  It  covers not only the historical facts, but also the writers journey writing the book.  Some scenes are fictionalised, but all the palyers are real as are the events.
Quite odd to read as teh book has no page numbers and flits back and forth in time. 
I did enjoy it though and it was refreshing to read an book in such a different format.  I also learnt things I did not know or learnt about when I was so young I didn't register the human impact of the actions of the assassins.

8/10
Helen

If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr

I read this March 2013
Waterstones, Arc, Bury St Edmunds Book Club Choice for March
Plot: Set in pre 1936 Olympics Berlin, centring round the death of a construction worker

What I thought: A dectective novel in a very 'old school' sty;e.  The style seemed to fit with the era of the books setting... but I must say after about 200 - 250 pages it lost me...well it lost my attention, the idea was good, I enjoyed the information about pre WWII Berlin (always an interesting subject) but  after a while the style grated the back story disintegrated and I got bored.  If I can be so bold as to say I think this is more of a 'man's book' not that I like or read 'chick-lit' but most all the female characters were protrayed in a bad light.
I was glad I finished it, so then I can vote!
I have to say 4/10 from me

Helen

A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf (Short Story)

I read this Februaury 2013
I am trying to get to grips with Virginia Woolf, think I'm failing, but didn't mind this one..
6/10
Helen

The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy Illustrated by David Roberts

I read this poem Februaury 2013
A lovely poem, beautifully illustrated into a lovely little book
Poem is about the 1914 WWI Christmas Truce.
10/10
Helen

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

I read this February 2013
For the Waterstones Book Club.
The year is 1914 Europe is on  the brink of war, a cruise liner goes down on the way to New York.
This is a story of the survivors in one of the lifeboats.  The boat is overcrowded, they have to lighten the load.  Who lives who dies... who cares - sorry but this book did not live up to expectations at all.. I was looking forward to reading it...I found it titanically tedious, trivial and torporific...
Just not the book for me.  I kept reading it hoping that the 'survivors' were actually all dead, but there wasn't even that twist to interest me...
3/10 it got published...sorry Charlotte, from the Q&A at the back you sound realy likeable, I just did not like this book...
Helen

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones read by Finty Williams

I listened to this February 2013

Sat on an Island in the South Pacific torn apart by Civil War.
A white man comes and agrees to be the School Master - he uses local people to come and give talks to the children.  But also he reads Great Expectations to the children.  They learn of a different life, a different country and over the course of 2-3 months become involved in the life of Pip.

The story is narrated by a 13 year old girl, Matilda, whose father has left o find work . Matilda retells Pips story to her mother at night.

The rebels come to the village demanding names and demanding to know who Mr Dickens is and the whereabouts of Pip... but the book has gone missing and the Rebels think Pip is real and seek revenge on those they think are hiding him.

I lovely, well told story.  I really enjoyed it

7/10
Helen

A Partisans Daughter by Louis de Bernieres

I read this January 2013


Well I have to confess, this is one of my favourite authors, he can do no wrong as far as I am concerned... so I have admitted my bias here...

I really enjoyed this book, not overly long, not overly complicated, but full of human emotion.

A middleaged man invites a prostitute into his car and they form a relationship.  She tells him stories of her past life in Yugoslavia...

Lovely book
9/10

Helen

The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill

I read this January 2013

I bought this book with Rosie from Writing Group and Book Club as we sometimes  buy books between us and share them.

Susan Hill is a very diverse and prolific writer.  This book is part of the Simon Serrailler Crime series.  I hadn't read any of those before.

I don't think Susan Hill can write a bad sentence.  Even if I don't particularly like the subject matter, I always have to admire her writing.  Not overly complicated but not simple either - easy to read, never patronising.

I liked this novel, although I always think crime/detective novels have too many characters, but that is their nature isn't it.  I shall definitely read some more in this series.

Really good read

9/10
Helen

Don Quixote by Cervantes

I listened to this aduio book in January 2013
Listened whilst in the kitchen so when cooking, ironing etc...
 I read this book many years ago and really enjoyed it.  I liked the audio book better as it seemed more accessible  - being read to.

This is a classic and Follows the adaventures and misadventures of Don Quixote and his manservant across Spain.  Don Quixote is suffering from delusions of grandeur and not everyone he meets along the way is sympathetic  - I like that because it doesn't have our 21st century sensiblilites that if written now it would have. 

9/10
Have you read this?
let me know what you think of it
Helen

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

I read this January 2013
I read, re-read and loved Life of Pi, so when I saw this in a charity shop I went for it.
The story involves a writer who has not published for a while and a taxidermist writing a play.  The pair meet and the book is about the play and their interaction.  It is an allegorical novel about the Holocaust.  VERY DARK, but excellent.
The play involves two animals a donkey and a howler monkey - Beatrice and Virgil,  talking about their hunger, pain, experiences.
I loved it.
10/10
Have you read it? tell me how you felt about it
Helen 

The Secret Shopper's Revenge by Kate Harrison

I read this Januaury 2013
I found it in a charity shop and it looked like fun.
It was.
A nice light read, but not with a simplistic plot... I really enjoyed this, it was an ideal bedside book
7/10
Helen

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

I read this Januaury 2013
It was teh January book for the Waterstones, Arc, BSE Book Club
I voited for this book as I had wanted to read it for a while now.
It is a non fiction book about Henriettea Lacks and her family, Henrietta's cells have been used for medical research ever since they were taken in the 50's and successfully grown in the lab.
They are used for all sorts of research, cancer, polio etc.
I think, for me, this book was over long.  I got a bit bored with what is a very inetersting subject.  I would recommend it, but I did have to slog through it a bit.
8/10
Helen

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I read this in December 2012
I downloaded this a free ebook
Plot: A young clerk awakes one morning to find he has changed into a giant bug.
A very interesting , magical realism type  book.  Exploring the state of mind of Gregor who before the incident had been supporting his family and the dynamics of family life and the realisation that the family will have to support themselves
I liked this book, strange as it was...
9/10
Helen