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Capital by John Lanchester
As soon as I read the blurb for this, I realised I'd seen the serialisation that was on TV a couple of years ago. I couldn't really remember much of the detail so it didn't really spoil the book for me.
Set on Pepys Road, a street in London, that has become expensive to live in purely due to its locality, we meet quite a cast of characters, some who live on the road and some who have connections in other ways.
We have Roger & Arabella Yount, a couple who are well off but still live well beyond their means; Petunia, an elderly lady who has lived on Pepys Road the longest and is dying of a brain tumour; a Pakistani family who own the corner shop on the end of the street and Freddy, a Premiership football star from Senegal. All receive an anonymous postcard with the message "We Want What You Have". The story follows a year in the life of these and many other characters. I really enjoyed it - the people were a real mix including many different cultures and I thought it was a good social character study. Not a great deal happened but I didn't mind this (but I do wonder if it needed to be almost 700 pages long). I hadn't heard of this author before but I'd be interested to read other books he has written.
Set on Pepys Road, a street in London, that has become expensive to live in purely due to its locality, we meet quite a cast of characters, some who live on the road and some who have connections in other ways.
We have Roger & Arabella Yount, a couple who are well off but still live well beyond their means; Petunia, an elderly lady who has lived on Pepys Road the longest and is dying of a brain tumour; a Pakistani family who own the corner shop on the end of the street and Freddy, a Premiership football star from Senegal. All receive an anonymous postcard with the message "We Want What You Have". The story follows a year in the life of these and many other characters. I really enjoyed it - the people were a real mix including many different cultures and I thought it was a good social character study. Not a great deal happened but I didn't mind this (but I do wonder if it needed to be almost 700 pages long). I hadn't heard of this author before but I'd be interested to read other books he has written.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated The Princess Bride in Books
Sep 19, 2018
Nostalgia (2 more)
Characters
Plot
Great Nostalgia!
For the past week or so I have been struggling to read. Nothing has seemed to grab my attention and due to stress & drama in my life I had to put down books that I would have otherwise loved. Needless to say, I needed something that would help put a smile to my face. I've been putting off reading The Princess Bride simply because I love the movie so much. It's one of those books where I have always worried that it would ruin the movie so I've always put it off even though I owned the book for years. With the mood I've been in, I figured that this was the perfect time to revisit old characters in a new way and boy am I happy I did.
The Princess Bride is a cute quick read. The audiobook has a fantastic narrator & I loved Rob Reiner reading the book to me. It just made it that much better. Don't expect this book to be a beautifully written masterpiece because it isn't. The writing is basic and it's definitely a midgrade book. It's something that you can read to your children and know that they too will enjoy the actionpacked book.
All in all, I'm giving this 5 caffeinated stars. Partially due to nostalgia but mainly due to it being a dang good midgrade book that is sure to pull you into the story.
The Princess Bride is a cute quick read. The audiobook has a fantastic narrator & I loved Rob Reiner reading the book to me. It just made it that much better. Don't expect this book to be a beautifully written masterpiece because it isn't. The writing is basic and it's definitely a midgrade book. It's something that you can read to your children and know that they too will enjoy the actionpacked book.
All in all, I'm giving this 5 caffeinated stars. Partially due to nostalgia but mainly due to it being a dang good midgrade book that is sure to pull you into the story.
Merissa (13495 KP) rated The Beginning in Books
Dec 17, 2018
For a prequel novella, this book packs in a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time. Cecily is a 'royal' Witch but she is royally fed up with her life. She wants to live like a human but is being hassled to be the one who gives birth the one long awaited, the one who will save the witches. Unfortunately, this means that she has suffered through nine miscarriages. I don't mean one or nine relationships though. She is there as a brood mare, along with the other royal witches, until the Tenth is born.
She meets up with her friend, only to find out that the meeting was just a ruse to try and get her to continue. Hurt by the betrayal, she leaves and finds her way to a bar where the music tempts her inside.
Like I said, there is a lot of information in here that will delight and tempt you, and definitely leave you wanting to know more - about Cecily, about James, about the situation they find themselves in, about their world in general.
With no spelling or grammatical errors that I found, this was an enjoyable and quick read, perfectly leading on to the next book in the series - A Late Summer Bloom. Definitely recommended.
* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
She meets up with her friend, only to find out that the meeting was just a ruse to try and get her to continue. Hurt by the betrayal, she leaves and finds her way to a bar where the music tempts her inside.
Like I said, there is a lot of information in here that will delight and tempt you, and definitely leave you wanting to know more - about Cecily, about James, about the situation they find themselves in, about their world in general.
With no spelling or grammatical errors that I found, this was an enjoyable and quick read, perfectly leading on to the next book in the series - A Late Summer Bloom. Definitely recommended.
* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Russell Evans (179 KP) rated The Songs of Us in Books
Feb 22, 2020
Heartwarming, heartbreaking and beautiful
‘The Songs of Us’ is an amazingly emotional book. Beautifully written and quirky, it made me laugh out loud many times, but in perfect balance, it made me cry as it also dealt very sensitively with some more serious issues. It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but it was heart-warming, heart-breaking, funny and sad all at the same time.
I highly recommend reading this debut novel from Emma Cooper – perhaps have some tissues at the ready!
The Blurb
‘Our life – no matter what happens in between – starts and ends with a heartbeat: our own personal rhythm, our own song’
If Melody hadn't run out of de-icer that day, she would never have slipped and banged her head. She wouldn't be left with a condition that makes her sing when she's nervous. And she definitely wouldn't have belted out the Arctic Monkeys' 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' in assembly at her son's school.
If Dev hadn't taken the kids to the zoo that day, then the accident wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have left Flynn and Rose without a dad. Or shattered the love of his life's heart.
But if they hadn't seen the missing person report that day, they might never have taken the trip to Cornwall. And, in the last place they expected, discovered what it really means to be 'Us'.
I highly recommend reading this debut novel from Emma Cooper – perhaps have some tissues at the ready!
The Blurb
‘Our life – no matter what happens in between – starts and ends with a heartbeat: our own personal rhythm, our own song’
If Melody hadn't run out of de-icer that day, she would never have slipped and banged her head. She wouldn't be left with a condition that makes her sing when she's nervous. And she definitely wouldn't have belted out the Arctic Monkeys' 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' in assembly at her son's school.
If Dev hadn't taken the kids to the zoo that day, then the accident wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have left Flynn and Rose without a dad. Or shattered the love of his life's heart.
But if they hadn't seen the missing person report that day, they might never have taken the trip to Cornwall. And, in the last place they expected, discovered what it really means to be 'Us'.
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Corrupt Bodies: Death and Dirty Dealing in a London Morgue in Books
Oct 25, 2020
Very interesting
Have to give a big thanks to @AJaneClark for recommending this book following from Richard Shepherd’s Unnatural Causes. It was a great idea to read this straight after, as the similar themes and topics complement each other but yet still showing completely different sides of the post-mortem.
Everett’s book follows the workings of a mortuary, and focuses a lot more on the criminality involved both at the mortuary itself and of the crime scenes Everett attends. It’s fascinating and I never knew until now what sort of state mortuaries in the UK were in less than a few decades ago. To think black market organ dealing was still happening as late as the 1980s is crazy. What’s also crazy is the similarities between Everett and Shepherd’s personal stories. Whilst Everett doesn’t quite go into as much detail about his private life, it’s concerning to read about how their mental health was affected by working in this sort of profession.
I don’t think I enjoyed this quite as much as Unnatural Causes. I’m not sure why, it may be related to the writing style or the focus on the non-scientific side of post-mortems. But despite this I still really enjoyed reading about such an interesting topic and about all of Everett's cases, and it’s good to hear that his story turned out alright in the end.
Everett’s book follows the workings of a mortuary, and focuses a lot more on the criminality involved both at the mortuary itself and of the crime scenes Everett attends. It’s fascinating and I never knew until now what sort of state mortuaries in the UK were in less than a few decades ago. To think black market organ dealing was still happening as late as the 1980s is crazy. What’s also crazy is the similarities between Everett and Shepherd’s personal stories. Whilst Everett doesn’t quite go into as much detail about his private life, it’s concerning to read about how their mental health was affected by working in this sort of profession.
I don’t think I enjoyed this quite as much as Unnatural Causes. I’m not sure why, it may be related to the writing style or the focus on the non-scientific side of post-mortems. But despite this I still really enjoyed reading about such an interesting topic and about all of Everett's cases, and it’s good to hear that his story turned out alright in the end.
Lindsay (1779 KP) rated The Heart Of A King: The Loves Of Solomon in Books
Oct 9, 2019
The heart of a king is well written. It seem to be about the life of King Solomon. We see it though the view of the his wives. This is what I got though reading the book. It seem like book that tell the story of the king.
It starts out with him with his father being King of Israel and his son a prince. We see how he becomes King and what he wants. Do his wives get what they want? I believe this is a story about King Solomon and his god. We are brought back to ancient Israel.
We also see him struggle with himself and his god. He seem to questions if he is doing what is right by his god. His he not following God commands or comments?
If you are into reading the bible, but in a simpler way. This book is good for you. This is what it kind gave me as I was reading it. I enjoyed it, do not get me wrong. It seem better then reading the bible it self to get the history or story of King Solomon. Wish is best for me to understand.
I am not into reading the Bible for say but learning about ancient Israel is something different and the lives of King Solomon and his wives. This book did have look up a bit about King Solomon on google. Which is interesting say the least.
It starts out with him with his father being King of Israel and his son a prince. We see how he becomes King and what he wants. Do his wives get what they want? I believe this is a story about King Solomon and his god. We are brought back to ancient Israel.
We also see him struggle with himself and his god. He seem to questions if he is doing what is right by his god. His he not following God commands or comments?
If you are into reading the bible, but in a simpler way. This book is good for you. This is what it kind gave me as I was reading it. I enjoyed it, do not get me wrong. It seem better then reading the bible it self to get the history or story of King Solomon. Wish is best for me to understand.
I am not into reading the Bible for say but learning about ancient Israel is something different and the lives of King Solomon and his wives. This book did have look up a bit about King Solomon on google. Which is interesting say the least.