Bring Me Sunshine by Charlie Connelly
Having read his guide to the shipping forecast and loving his style, I bought another couple of books by this author. This one's a guide to Britain's weather- the history of weather forecasting, biographies of the scientists and crackpots who've tried to understand or control the weather, and the author's own reminiscences and experiences of the great British weather.
Very enjoyable. There are a lot of characters described in this book - mostly obsessive Victorian scientists, who along the way invented the barometer, the Beaufort scale, the weather forecasts and various methods of collecting weather related data.
Excellent little book.
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
The Moment Keeper
The Moment Keeper by Buffy Andrews
Another Carina author! This is an unusual story of two girls, a generation apart. One is poor, brought up by her grandmother, bullied at school, with few friends. The other is rich, spoilt by her doting parents, popular at school. On the surface they have little in common, but the first girl, Sarah, who has killed herself, is the 'moment keeper' for the second, Olivia. It's Sarah's job to record the most important moments in Olivia's life. As she watches her grow and develop, Sarah finds they have more in common that was at first apparent.
A warm-hearted tale of love, which keeps you turning the pages. Possibly to my middle-aged English mind the values and preoccupations of the teenage American girls were a little hard to comprehend but it's an enjoyable tale nevertheless.
Another Carina author! This is an unusual story of two girls, a generation apart. One is poor, brought up by her grandmother, bullied at school, with few friends. The other is rich, spoilt by her doting parents, popular at school. On the surface they have little in common, but the first girl, Sarah, who has killed herself, is the 'moment keeper' for the second, Olivia. It's Sarah's job to record the most important moments in Olivia's life. As she watches her grow and develop, Sarah finds they have more in common that was at first apparent.
A warm-hearted tale of love, which keeps you turning the pages. Possibly to my middle-aged English mind the values and preoccupations of the teenage American girls were a little hard to comprehend but it's an enjoyable tale nevertheless.
Sunday, 10 August 2014
Dear Lizzie
Dear Lizzie by Annie Lyons
Annie's a fellow Carina author who I met at the RNA party in the summer. This is her second book published by Carina.
Lizzie's beloved sister Bea has just died of cancer, and Lizzie is bereft. She's estranged from the rest of her family, due to complex events which happened when she was a teenager. Bea was her only link and her only friend. Bea leaves her 12 letters, to read one a month for the year following her death. Each one contains a challenge designed to help Lizzie move on, become stronger, and build a better life for herself.
This is a really warm, tear-jerker of a novel. I can't count the number of times I needed to reach for a tissue. It's a wonderful exploration of human relationships in all sorts of ways, and I would highly recommend it.
Annie's a fellow Carina author who I met at the RNA party in the summer. This is her second book published by Carina.
Lizzie's beloved sister Bea has just died of cancer, and Lizzie is bereft. She's estranged from the rest of her family, due to complex events which happened when she was a teenager. Bea was her only link and her only friend. Bea leaves her 12 letters, to read one a month for the year following her death. Each one contains a challenge designed to help Lizzie move on, become stronger, and build a better life for herself.
This is a really warm, tear-jerker of a novel. I can't count the number of times I needed to reach for a tissue. It's a wonderful exploration of human relationships in all sorts of ways, and I would highly recommend it.
Lady of Hay
Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
Ms Erskine is always recommended whenever someone mentions timeslip novels, and this is widely regarded as one of her best. I bought the 25th anniversary edition, which has an extra chapter at the end, covering what happened to the characters in those 25 years and with an extra twist or two. It's a whopper of a book - I bought the paperback but at over 800 pages think it would have been an easier read on my kindle.
It has a huge an complex plot. In the present day (well, mid 1980s) journalist Jo Clifford is experiencing regressions to a past life - that of Matilda, a lady from the 12th century. Jo's got trouble in her private life - the love of her life Nick has left her and is seeing someone else. Nick's brother Sam is a hypnotist, and can make Jo regress back to the 12th century and be Matilda for a while. He has her best interests at heart - or does he?
Matilda is married very young to a brute of a nobleman, and in her complex history has several children, consorts with Prince then King John, has a love affair with another man. She's a real character who actually existed at that time, and you can tell the author has done a lot of research.
I found the whole reincarnation thing a bit far-fetched, especially as Jo/Matilda isn't the only one in the book. Everyone seems to have been someone else from that time. I know you have to suspend disbelief when reading any book that has a supernatural element, but for me, this one pushed me a bit far without having an adequate explanation of why it was all happening and why these people were targeted as hosts by the long-dead historical characters. Having said that, I very much enjoyed this novel. Erskine is a superb story teller, and I loved the historical strand of the story.
Ms Erskine is always recommended whenever someone mentions timeslip novels, and this is widely regarded as one of her best. I bought the 25th anniversary edition, which has an extra chapter at the end, covering what happened to the characters in those 25 years and with an extra twist or two. It's a whopper of a book - I bought the paperback but at over 800 pages think it would have been an easier read on my kindle.
It has a huge an complex plot. In the present day (well, mid 1980s) journalist Jo Clifford is experiencing regressions to a past life - that of Matilda, a lady from the 12th century. Jo's got trouble in her private life - the love of her life Nick has left her and is seeing someone else. Nick's brother Sam is a hypnotist, and can make Jo regress back to the 12th century and be Matilda for a while. He has her best interests at heart - or does he?
Matilda is married very young to a brute of a nobleman, and in her complex history has several children, consorts with Prince then King John, has a love affair with another man. She's a real character who actually existed at that time, and you can tell the author has done a lot of research.
I found the whole reincarnation thing a bit far-fetched, especially as Jo/Matilda isn't the only one in the book. Everyone seems to have been someone else from that time. I know you have to suspend disbelief when reading any book that has a supernatural element, but for me, this one pushed me a bit far without having an adequate explanation of why it was all happening and why these people were targeted as hosts by the long-dead historical characters. Having said that, I very much enjoyed this novel. Erskine is a superb story teller, and I loved the historical strand of the story.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
The Winter House
The Winter House by Dee Weaver
I came across this book in a Facebook group dedicated to historical and timeslip fiction. It sounded interesting so I bought it for Kindle ages ago but only just got round to reading it. So many books and so little time.
Maidservant Lily Brent was murdered in the house, over a century ago. Her ghost lives there still, despite the house having stood empty for 40 years. Fynn McColl, a property developer, has bought it, fallen in love with it, and wants to restore it to live in. But Lily sees the reincarnation of the man who murdered her in Fynn, and wants revenge. Meanwhile Georgia, a local vet, has also fallen in love with the house and then falls for Fynn too. She's sceptical about ghosts but as strange things happen in the house she has to revise her opinion, and quickly.
This book is really well written and edited, and was an enjoyable fast-paced read. I felt at the end things had become too weird, too many ghostly activities, and although you have to suspend disbelief when reading a ghost story, this book pushed that suspension a bit too far. I prefer subtler ghosts I think!
But for lovers of ghostly horror, this one is definitely recommended.
I came across this book in a Facebook group dedicated to historical and timeslip fiction. It sounded interesting so I bought it for Kindle ages ago but only just got round to reading it. So many books and so little time.
Maidservant Lily Brent was murdered in the house, over a century ago. Her ghost lives there still, despite the house having stood empty for 40 years. Fynn McColl, a property developer, has bought it, fallen in love with it, and wants to restore it to live in. But Lily sees the reincarnation of the man who murdered her in Fynn, and wants revenge. Meanwhile Georgia, a local vet, has also fallen in love with the house and then falls for Fynn too. She's sceptical about ghosts but as strange things happen in the house she has to revise her opinion, and quickly.
This book is really well written and edited, and was an enjoyable fast-paced read. I felt at the end things had become too weird, too many ghostly activities, and although you have to suspend disbelief when reading a ghost story, this book pushed that suspension a bit too far. I prefer subtler ghosts I think!
But for lovers of ghostly horror, this one is definitely recommended.
Sunday, 13 July 2014
The Humans
The Humans by Matt Haig
Saw the author tweet about this book and it looked good, so I bought it. Proof that marketing on Twitter does work.
Very quirky and enjoyable novel. The narrator is an unnamed alien, who has taken the form of maths professor Andrew Martin. He's been sent to stop the humans finding the proof to the Riemann Hypothesis (you don't need to know what that is) because if they do, it'll unlock all sorts of knowledge to them (us) and they (we) are not mature enough to handle it properly.
The alien is supposed to find out who knows what the prof discovered, and then kill them all including the prof's wife and son. Sounds bleak, doesn't it? But actually this book is funny and warm, and says a lot about what it means to be a human, as the alien gradually learns more about this odd species with its emotions and passions and desires.
A short book and highly recommended. If Dad had still been with us, I'd have passed my copy onto him, knowing he would love it.
Saw the author tweet about this book and it looked good, so I bought it. Proof that marketing on Twitter does work.
Very quirky and enjoyable novel. The narrator is an unnamed alien, who has taken the form of maths professor Andrew Martin. He's been sent to stop the humans finding the proof to the Riemann Hypothesis (you don't need to know what that is) because if they do, it'll unlock all sorts of knowledge to them (us) and they (we) are not mature enough to handle it properly.
The alien is supposed to find out who knows what the prof discovered, and then kill them all including the prof's wife and son. Sounds bleak, doesn't it? But actually this book is funny and warm, and says a lot about what it means to be a human, as the alien gradually learns more about this odd species with its emotions and passions and desires.
A short book and highly recommended. If Dad had still been with us, I'd have passed my copy onto him, knowing he would love it.
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
The Ghost House
The Ghost House by Helen Phifer
I heard about this book at the RNA Summer Party, and briefly met the author there. The book appealed very much - timeslip, ghostly houses etc - as it's got elements in common with my novels. So I bought it after the party. I've since been offered a two-book deal from the same publisher so Helen and I are stablemates now, as it were!
I very much enjoyed this book. Annie Graham is a police community support officer, recovering from having been badly beaten by her abusive husband. She's looking after her brother's house, which is set in the grounds of a spooky deserted mansion. Something bad happened there a long time ago. Annie comes across an old diary, and also begins experiencing ghosts of the past. A girl's gone missing and to solve the current day problem, Annie must solve the mysteries of the past.
Really gripping book, with loads of suspense and twists and turns aplenty. Very much enjoyed it. It's one of a series featuring the same main character, so I'll definitely have to read the next one too.
I heard about this book at the RNA Summer Party, and briefly met the author there. The book appealed very much - timeslip, ghostly houses etc - as it's got elements in common with my novels. So I bought it after the party. I've since been offered a two-book deal from the same publisher so Helen and I are stablemates now, as it were!
I very much enjoyed this book. Annie Graham is a police community support officer, recovering from having been badly beaten by her abusive husband. She's looking after her brother's house, which is set in the grounds of a spooky deserted mansion. Something bad happened there a long time ago. Annie comes across an old diary, and also begins experiencing ghosts of the past. A girl's gone missing and to solve the current day problem, Annie must solve the mysteries of the past.
Really gripping book, with loads of suspense and twists and turns aplenty. Very much enjoyed it. It's one of a series featuring the same main character, so I'll definitely have to read the next one too.
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