Summer reads 2013

I agree, GrandmaH - I think this could be an even longer-lasting series than HP since it's not age-limited. I liked this detective and his assistant.

Just read Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith who of course is really J K Rowling.
Excellent book & I do hope it becomes the first of many featuring this private detective. About as far from Harry Potter as you could get!
She does write so well. I haven't read Casual Vacancy yet but DH enjoyed it.

I too loved 'The hundred year old man etc., etc.,' A real fairy tale for grown ups. It was amusing, laugh-out-loud funny in places and so original.

Just finished 'The Collaborator' by Margaret Leroy. Set in Guernsey during WW2, and extremely interesting, would really recommend it. As Guernsey is one of my favourite places in the world, I enjoyed it all the more, but it's well worth a read. And the very last sentence in the book is such a surprise!

Just read Mark Haddon 's The Red Room. A family on holiday where a brother and sister try to reconnect.their mother had been in a care home paid for by the brother but visited by his sister. Her husband is unemployed and ineffectual and the brother has a second wife and step daughter. All set in beauTiful scenery in a self catering house which the sister and family could not have afforded. Family dynamics at its best with plenty of darker threads . I did find that the conversations in italics a tad difficult to get used to and there were stream of consciousness pieces where I felt guilty when I didn't know the allusions and didn't go and look them up.

Favourite three books so far this year include "Life after Life" Kate Atkinson, "The Secret Keeper" Kate Morton and a fairly old book "The Blind Assassin" Margaret Atwood, sublime! All would make very good holiday reads, in my opinion. I'm going to buy Margaret Atwood's "Alias Grace" and I've heard very good things about "Beautiful Ruins", I'll hang on a bit longer in case GN send me a copy of that otherwise I'll buy it.

Oooh, what a lovely combination of Summer reads you have all mentioned so far.

Talking of Veronica Henry I have just read A Night on the Orient Express, which whizzed you on THE train to Venice.

And also recently really enjoyed:
The Perfume Garden by kate Lord Brown which totally transports you to Valencia.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann which is set mid 20th Century in Martha's Vineyard, really evocative of era and location.

Sweet Mandarin by Helen Tse ---she tells her autobiography about a Chinese family, recounting her grandmother's life in China and the family life after they moved to the UK, opening Chinese take-away shops. Helen now runs a restaurant in Manchester. Fascinating.Well worth a read.

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer. A great book telling the story of a house basically. It doesn't sound very exciting but do try it !
It is based on an actual house in Czechoslovakia ( Tugendhat Villa in Brno --see it on Google images )

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf is really a gripping tale. It is told by 4 women each telling their part of the story... eg. babies, adoption, prison.

Wow joannapiano., I just read The Age of Miracles yesterday. I was stuck in bed feeling grotty and picked it up simply because it was there.
It isn't my usual sort of book but I couldn't put it down. The narration by the soon to be teenager was extremely well done. I will look out for more of Karen Thompson Walker's books.

nanaseaside I couldn't find "Love on the Rocks" by Victoria Henry, but found another one by her. Lovely, light summer reading! thank you.

The Age of Miracles by American author Karen Thompson Walker.Unlike anything I have read and really enjoying it.
Main theme is the drastic consequences when the Earth's rotation slows down and night and day each become 20 hours long.Birds and whales die as the migratory patterns are upset, and crops are grown completely under cover with lights as the long darkness takes its' toll.
The other theme is that of a young girl becoming a teenager in a rapidly disintegrating society.
By the by-really couldn't get into 'Gone Girl' and didn't finish it. Know I'm in the minority.

And the Mountaind Echoed by Khaled Hosseini another long novel, but worth it's length as it explores how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. Not heatwave reading though!

Another book I feel is summer-time reading (though it's subject matter would melt in this heat!) is The Sweethearts by Lynn Russell and Neil Harrison which follows the lives of "girls" who worked in the Rowntrees factory in Yorkshire. It shows the work they did but also the care and education and recreation given by the firm to all its employees.

The perfect beach/ back garden book is Love On The Rocks by Veronica Henry. Sea, sand, romance, building a new life, a story of complete escapism set on the North Devon coast. A very light, easy read. Just right for a heatwave!

Home Front Girls by Rosie Goodwin is a touching & tender novel set during the War and the hardships three friends indured. How awful it must have been to live in Coventry during all that bombing and how through stamina & friendship they survive it all.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. If you haven't already read this it is a must! One of those books that you simply can't put down.

Without a doubt, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Make sure you read them in the right order though or it won't makes sense! There are seven in total with another one on the way.

I'll look out for that. Crete is one of my favourite places in the world!

For anyone visiting Crete, Bob Bibby's latest powerful novel 'Known unto God' entwines romance, heroism, the Battle of Crete and the transforming power of love and forgiveness in a powerful modern Cretan setting. The title is taken from the inscription on the headstones of unknown soldiers.

Oh I loved "My dear I wanted to tell you" too Gally excellent choice.

My Dear I wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young. A tale from WW1 set in London and France. A cracking good read of childhood, friendship, love, war and injury and the inevitable outcome......
I whizzed through it (by the pool!) in a day. Thoroughly recommend it.

I enjoyed 'The Light between Oceans' by M.L.Steadman which is set in Australia and is the story of a Lighthouse Keeper and his wife and a baby they find and keep.
Also 'The Orphan Train' by Christina Baker Kline about two young Jewish sisters who are separated; one ends up in America and the other in England.

I have just finished and thoroughly enjoyed " the 100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared" which was quite unusual and very amusing in parts.

" Stolen " written by Rebecca Muddiman, new writer, very good debut book

'The Girls' by Lori Lansens Fictional diary of a pair of Canadian conjoined twins. Moving and thought provoking story.

Bay of Secrects by Rosanna Ley. Story spans from 1939 in Spain where a young girl is forced to enter a convent for her safety. 2011 where secrets are divulged in England which lead to Fuerteventura and stolen babies.Great read.
The Letter by Kathryn Hughes. When a father's cruelty ruins his daughter's life in 1939 it takes a stranger to put things right forty years later.I cried buckets reading this book.