Turing: Pioneer of the Information Age
Book
Alan Turing is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. But who was Turing,...
Spills
Book
In Spills Angela Leighton combines poetry, memoir, libretto, short story, prose-poetry and...
Mongol
Book
Mongol [mong-gohl], noun, 1. a member of a pastoral people now living chiefly in Mongolia. 2....
A Nazi in the Family: The Hidden Story of an SS Family in Wartime Germany
Book
WARTIME BERLIN: The Niemann family - Karl, Minna and their four children - live in a quiet, suburban...
Remembering Lucy: A Story About Loss and Grief in a School
Book
Joe and his friends miss Lucy very much. When she died and they learned they wouldn't see Lucy again...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Cross My Heart (Hearts, #5.75) in Books
Jan 8, 2021
This one follows Liam, the youngest Cross brother, and Iris, a waitress at Liam's older brother's restaurant. It seems Liam has been watching Iris for a while, almost from the start of her time working for Lee and has been intrigued by her. Iris is homeless and struggling for every penny she earns so she can begin renting someplace. She acts tough and stays disconnected from her colleagues as she doesn't know how they'll take her living situation but then Liam takes a serious interest in her and she struggles to keep him at length.
This was actually super cute for such a short read. I still love all the Cross family and Liam has changed a lot from that little punk in Lee's story.
I liked the Bowie thing that Iris had going on and that Jareth is my favourite version of him, too. I love Labyrinth. It's been one of my favourite films since I was a kid.
I'm looking forward to the last book and Trevor's full story.
The Body
Book
'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and...
Violeta tells the story of a woman’s life over 100 years. It starts during the Spanish flu and it’s terrible repercussions, and goes on through both tumultuous political times and Violeta’s own turbulent past - her life and her country’s history pretty much mirroring one another.
I felt consumed by this story and I’d come up for air, wondering why on Earth I hadn’t heard of Allende before A Long Petal?!
This, I believe, is the history of Chile and there are a fair few autobiographical bits of Allende’s own life thrown in for good measure. What a life the fictional Violeta and her family experience - and what a force Violeta is. She needs to be as well.
I can’t believe that 100 years could be fit into such a relatively short book without it feeling rushed.
It really is a wonderful read.
Debbiereadsbook (1166 KP) rated London Tales (Short Stories #2) in Books
Dec 2, 2023
What this is, right, is a step out of my comfort and I needed this book right now!
It's a wonderful tale of London, through the ages, told in short stories. You could, I suppose, skip ahead a few stories, and you wouldn't miss anything, other than a few years!
Each story is set at key points along London's timeline, right from when the Romans invaded, up to the present day, told by the Londoners who lived then. Ordinary people telling their extraordinary tales.
I found each story complete, and wholly engaging. I found myself fully engrossed in these tales, all of them. I even recognised a few places when they were mentioned. I'm not a Londoner, but have been a time or two.
As I said, a step off my usual book path, and one that led me to fabulous place.
4 very VERY good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
2 bus journeys.
That's roughly how long it took me to read this, from virtual cover to virtual cover (and on my second attempt - I don't think I was in the right mood the first time around), after it was recommended to me by a friend.
As I'm pretty sure was the authors intent, I got a definite feeling of a 'Suicide Squad' setup out of this, with the story told from the point of view of a member within that team. I also got the distinct feeling that this was more of a taster, if you will, more of a trial run to see if the idea worked than a full formed and fledged novel in its own right.
Think a short story in an omnibus collection, or something along those lines - something to introduce readers to the characters and the world they inhabit and to (hopefully) whet the readers appetite for further entries.
In that regard, as least, and for me: job done.