Summer reads 2014

Thursdays In The Park by Hilary Boyd is excellent, also anything by Jo Jo Moyes. A friend has just leant Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers to me, & I'm really enjoying it. It's about a retired teacher who takes a six month holiday in Venice, after the death of her ( only ) friend. Also if psychological thrillers are your penchant, then any of Sophie Hannah & Rachel Abbot are really good.

The Undertaking by Audrey Magee is an excellent novel that examines two aspects of life for ordinary Germans during World War II. One deals with an ordinary soldier on the Eastern Front and the other with the woman he marries on the strength of an exchange of photographs. While he tries to survive the Russian winter and the siege of Stalingrad she is living in a Berlin under constant allied bombardment. For a time she manages by cultivating her father's Nazi Party connections, but when the Russians arrive her story becomes the stuff of nightmares. While The Undertaking is not for the faint-hearted is deserves as wider readership as possible.

A Time for Silence by Thorne Moore.

Kindle Store 99p. A surprisingly good read for the money.

Roses, Hamish is proving to be enjoyable but soporofic. I fell asleep last night reading about his exploits and dropped my Kindle! which of course woke me up again.

I have just finished The Goldfinch. Rosesarered I know another person who thought it needed some editing, but although Donna Tartt is quite wordy, I thought it was a wonderful book, definitely the best I have read this year so far. Prior to reading The Goldfinch, I read The Luminaries and in spite of winning the Booker Prize, in my opinion that needed some serious editing again 800 pages, but unlike Donna Tartt's book, which whizzed along for me, this latter one dragged and although well written, it was ultimately tedious.

roseq I have just bought the Hamish McBeth series for my Kindle [it was only 99p!] Sometimes only lighthearted stuff will do and vice versa.Am reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt just now, and it's like all her books, very well written but could use some editing.Its a shame when a good author begins to bore you.

My other suggestion is the sequel to My Dear I wanted To Tell You by Louise Young. The Heroes Welcome continues with all the characters we met in the first book charting how the Great War continued to affect them all once the Armistice wasigned. Riveting, sometimes disturbing, but a really good read

If you enjoyed The Hundred Year Old Man who climbed through a Window & Disappeared, do try The Girl who Saved the King of Sweden. Both by Jonas Jonasson and both SO amusing, you have to share the jokes. Really worth buying

KarenP, I have just finished reading The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty and enjoyed it more than anything I have read so far this year. I do like Australian novels, and this was set in Australia but, not being historical, just had a flavour of that country.
I am now reading the Hamish Macbeth Omnibus by M C Beaton which was lent to me. Quite light and enjoyable but I may need to tackle something with a bit more depth afterwards (but not too much depth, after all, it is summer!). I have bought a book about Mary Magdelene which I keep glancing at but haven't started yet.

Good to look on here for some ideas.

coppull51, we seem to have the same taste in authors. I think I`ve read all Tess Gerritsen`s books, love them, and I`m reading a Chris Carter one right now, One by One. I have Tom Sawyer upstairs on a shelf, but haven`t read it for a good few years now. I also loved Louisa May Alcott`s books, Little Women, etc, did you?

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen. Amazing book that I read in less than a day. All her books are fantastic as are books by Lisa Gardner and Chris Carter. Richard Montanari is another excellent author as well. I also read James Patterson. I also read books such as Tom Sawyer, The Three Musketeers and similar ones to these As you can tell I am quite an avid reader. I am glad to say that all of my grandchildren are also avid readers. I am very happy they have got the love of reading from not only me but also their parents. What a great gift to give to them, the knowledge they can gain simply from reading is fantastic.

I`ve just started A Mother`s Shame, by Rosie Goodwin. Not very far into it yet, but it looks like it`ll be good. It`s about unmarried mothers in 1857, being hidden away by their families in the local lunatic asylum.

I'm reading "The Yorkshire Shepherdess" by Amanda Owen now and loving it. We had a flock of sheep several years ago so her writing is very interesting to me although I was never in such a remote part of the country as she is and I never had to cope with as large as family as she has. She's an amazing lady - I'm full of admiration for her

I've just finished "The Things We Never Said" by Susan Elliot Wright. I can't remember where I first saw a review of the book but I really enjoyed it and have now started on another of her books.

I also enjoy books by Diane Chamberlain

I recommend "Sister" by Rosamund Lupton.
Beatrice is trying to find out what happened to her sister. A psychological thriller with a good twist. Keeps you hooked to the end !
Also two books by Katherine Webb. "The Misbegotten" and "A half forgotten song". She is an excellent storyteller.
I also really loved "The Rosie Project " already mentioned in an earlier email.
Thanks for all the other recommendations.
Looking forward to trying them.

Sorry, that should have read SIXTH, stupid me!

I`ve also heard that there`s going to be a fifth Shardlake story, it`s ,long overdue, but the author has said it will be the last one, because they are coming to the end of that era in history. Pity though.

I have really enjoyed the Shardlake books a series of 5 by CJ Sansom. All brilliantly writte. Shardlake is a hunchback lawyer in the employ of Thomas Cromwell, the first in the series is Dissolution covering the destruction of monasteries by Henry V111 with an added murder mystery. Compulsive. So disappointed when i finished the 5th. I hear he is writing a 6th, can't wait! I've also read several already reommended but the one that stands out is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry which I think is a must read.

Three books that I've loved -
'The One Plus One' by Jo Jo Moyes
'Burial Rites' by Hannah Kent
'The Shock of The Fall' by Nathan Filer.
All very different but all are remarkable with such great characters.
Having said that they are very different, one thing in common is that you might need a box of tissues handy.

A book i have read a few times now because i just loved it,I have lent it but always want it back lol.
It's 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Andrew Golden.It is love story but takes you to the fascinating would of the Geisha.Seen the film but book is a lot better.
The other book i liked & lend & want back lol is'Think of a Number' by John Verdon.This also has been out yrs its about a retired detective life changing when he is drawn in to solve Murder.Great Read.

I too read 'The Shell Seeker's' someone told me about it years ago & i ordered it out the library.Great Read.

I can quite happily recommend a series of books by Carola Dunn, set in a little seaside village in Cornwall. Manna from Hades, Valley of the Shadow, and A Colourful Death. They are murder stories, but gentle ones, the main character is an old lady who keeps getting mixed up in murders, she`s a sort of combination of Miss Marple and the lady in Murder She Wrote. I found them quite enjoyable.

I really enjoyed reading Jamaica Inn after watching the TV series. Also love the Inspector Montalbano books. So easy to read and funny. I imagine myself in Sicily which is probably better than D Du Maurier's Cornwall!

Apple Tree Yard, a compulsive read in the vein of Gone Girl, but if you like your books free from American terminology, you may prefer this as it's set in England. I see Barbara Kingsolver has been mentioned, The Poisonwood Bible is a fantastic read for anyone who hasn't read it yet. From this year, Burial Rites is very well written but ultimately quite depressing, so if you like your reading to be a bit lighter I would also recommend The Midnight Rose. A good book for anyone heading off to Greece would be The Thread. Personally I loved Life after Life, I know everyone seems to prefer Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books but for me this was the best one to date along with Behind the Scenes at the Museum. I recently finished the Luminaries a 800 page tome which I found bordering on tedious. I have just started the Goldfinch which I think will be rather better!