Reading Down to Earth was a journey back to my childhood. A nostalgic trip down memory lane being in the garden with my dad, also a horticultural by trade. Working with the seasons, preparing and working the ground, planting and harvesting. Learning to live with nature, not against it.
‘… all good gardens are as much about the people that make them as the plants growing in them.’
Monty Don.
The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Not quite sure why I persevered with this. Maybe because of the French setting, certainly not for the narrative, which was lost in a whole mountain of unnecessary description. Or for the main character, Heidi, who spent approximately three hundred pages wallowing in detailed self pity.
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All Things Nice by Sheila Bugler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Spent another week in Sheila Bugler’s criminal world. Set in London, with a tense ending at Beachy Head in East Sussex. Sheila tells a good story- fast paced and gripping.
Four hundred and nine years ago today, 2 May 2020, we had a New Bible. After seven years work, the King James Bible, a new version of the Christian holy book in English, is published for the first time in London. It was commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of James VI.
Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum by Michael McCreary
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had never heard of Michael McCreary- and I didn’t know a lot about Autism. I feel I learnt a lot during the course of this book and will also now look out for Michael McCreary’s comedy.
The Shortlist.
What do you think of the 2020 shortlisted titles? I’d love to know.
Deadly Primrose by Suzette A Hill
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Quintessentially English with hints of Agatha Raisin in the main character Primrose Oughtergard. Part of the Francis Oughtergard series by Suzette Hill . Set in East Sussex it had local attraction for me. it was OK- cosy crime with a comedy slant.
BE PART OF A MULTI-VOICED READ-ALOUD OF I GO QUIET!
David Ouimet is one of Shortlisted authors for the East Sussex Children’s Book Award- #ESCBA.
Check out this exciting venture on the above link.
Concentrating on a full book at the moment can be difficult! Sample the first chapters of a huge range of new books and see what takes your fancy.
What with working from home, as well as everyone at home together,I am definitely having trouble concentrating on reading at the moment. Really annoying when to my mind I should have loads more reading time. So I love this idea from the Reading Agency Hub.
I blogged on this a few months ago. TV adaptation coming soon- cannot wait!
I Could Be You by Sheila Bugler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Have spent the week in my home town in more ways than one this week:- physically and hanging out with the guys in Sheila Bugler’s book. This is an easy moving suspense novel set in Pevensey and Eastbourne (and a little bit of London). I’ve enjoyed the week reading the story and wandering around the area where the action took place. Will definitely be reading her earlier books now.
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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was good. Had me looking up the ‘Ten Little Soldiers’ nursery rhyme to guess the murders. I am really loving rediscovering Agatha.This novel is based on the poem and the deaths of her characters directly reflect the circumstances of the rhyme:
Ten Little Soldier Boys went out to Dine, one choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine Little Soldier Boys stayed up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight Little Soldier Boys travelling in Devon; One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven Little Soldier Boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six Little Soldier Boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five Little Soldier Boys going through a door; One stubbed his toe and then there were four.
Four Little Soldier Boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three Little Soldier Boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two Little Soldier Boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was One.
One Little Soldier Boy left all alone; He went and hanged himself and then there were none.
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Love Is for Losers by Wibke Brueggeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Geeky, Sassy, Phoebe- you made me laugh. I loved you so much and my sixteen year old self would certainly have identified with you.
Well done debut author Wibke Brueggemann.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B081YZV4KV/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B081YZV4KV&linkCode=am2&tag=millyspace-21&linkId=98c2a22dd9887c6416793a501ad96350
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One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A game of Truth or Dare.
Take the dare or else face the consequences of a secret truth revealed about you, that you would rather stay hidden, revealed to all of your fellow students.
A dangerous high school game played over text.
Brilliant. Loved it.
Lighthousekeeping is rich and poetic. It’s about the relationship between orphaned Silver and mysterious and pragmatic lighthouse keeper Pew. And it’s about stories. Silver’s hunger for stories and Pew’s willingness to tell them. Stories about people and past lives. Every life has a story long after the physical body has gone. Oral stories passed down through the generations.
‘Tell me a story Jeanette’-
… you certainly told a magical one in Lighthousekeeping.
