Atonement (A Review)

Simply one of the best books I have recently had the pleasure of reading! The way the story was presented through several different view-points and effortlessly spanned the centuries was pure genius. Ontop of that, I became enthralled by the exploration of character and writing techniques made by Briony. I'm certainly interested both in reading more of Ian McEwan's work and watching the film of this book!

Wild Release #48 and another new book

Used the bank holiday as an opportunity to visit Grey's Court near Henley. They had a booksale on when I got there. I was very good, however, and only bought one book (to replace to one I had planned to BookCross whilst there).

The book I bought was 'No Full Stops in India by Mark Tully'. I'm hoping to use this one towards the Round the World Reading Challenge that I'm currently participating in. There's also a BookCrossing release challenge called 'The Places Where We Go' that I took part in this year. Maybe this book would be useful for that if its repeated next year.

The book I sent on its way at Grey's Court was Katherine by Anya Seton. I had planned to save this book for a release challenge involving names, but I couldn't resist making a release for the 52 Towns in 52 Weeks Challenge and this was the most suitable book for Grey's Court.

By the way, do take a look at my new challenge pages if you're interested in release or reading challenges.

Songbird (A Review)

Not the sort of book I would normally choose to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story was interesting and vivid. The main character was intriguing. All in all, well worth a read.

I will be registering and RABCKing this book as soon as I'm sure the new BookCrossing website will take the strain. 

The Queen and I (A Review)

The premise of this book was fantastic and often produced hilarious moments. The royal family were portrayed is an imaginative and convincing way. This would probably be better suited to those who know about the way UK politics works. The only disappointing thing for me was the ending.

Fantastic booksale & Wild Releases #46 and #47

Popped out to Shippon's church for their Spring booksale this morning. Having been disappointed by the description giant being attached to the last sale I went to (elsewhere) I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. There was barely room to move between the two rows of tables stretched right across the hall, and there were 2 more tables outside. Much deserving of the label 'giant', although it was not applied.

Now, those of you who have been following my blogs may realise that in these conditions I would surely end up coming away with quite a few books. OK in this case quite a few is probably an understatement, in fact 'all you can carry' would probably be a more appropriate phrase. I left with two bags full- 16 books in total (including 2 which I already had, 1 on purpose and 1 by mistake).

The full list is as follows:

• A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer
• The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer
• A Man Named Dave by Dave Pelzer
• Only Strange People Go To Church by Laura Marney
• First Light by Geoffrey Wellum
• Not The End of the World by Christopher Brookmyre
• Back Home by Michelle Magorian
• Mourning Ruby by Helen Dunmore
• Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
• The Eternal Quest by Julian Branstorm
• Gridlock by Ben Elton
• Blast From The Past by Ben Elton
• The First Casualty by Ben Elton
• The Miracle Maker Resource Book
• Inconceivable by Ben Elton (turned out I already had this one)
• Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (to donate to the BC SF-F Library)

As usual, I plan to register these books with BookCrossing (with the exception of The Miracle Maker Resource Book) and wild release them (apart from Night Watch). If any UK BookCrossers would like to be sent one of these books as a controlled release then please let me know. I may also be open to creating rings for these, or some of my other bought books listed on this website, due to increasing lack of space. Do contact me via BookCrossing if you would be interested.

Anyway, having bought all these books, I had to get rid of at least 1. So I decided to wild release 2 which I had finished with. 'A Sudden Fearful Death' was left near the booksale in Shippon and I also dropped off That's Amazing By Spike Milligan on a bench opposite the toyshop in Abingdon. Neither have been journalled yet, so they may still be out there. Good luck if you go hunting.

What would you think if this happened in your library?

Certainly makes a change from the usual stereotype of dull, quiet libraries ;)

Nowhere Man (A Review)

I felt that this book should have been fantastic, but I just didn't get it. Sometimes I was confused by which character's POV was being taken and I felt that I didn't have enough background about the characters to help me. I wonder if having read 'The Question of Bruno' first would have helped me with this. As it was I was able to appreciate the interesting language and the different approach of the author, but it didn't really work for me.

Cakes Created For Book Lovers

Saw a BookCrossing link to a fabulous blog entry about cakes shaped like or inspired by books. Some absolutely fabulous ones over there, well worth a look.

Just to give you an taste, here's my favourite (or should I say favourites):

More on the 'Cake Wrecks' blog

The Painted Veil (A Review)

I found this book a hard read at first, but I'm glad I persisted because it turned out to be rather a gem. Kitty's character was complex and intriguing, as were the book's events. Definatly worth a read.

This book was the April read for The Historical Fiction BookClub on BookCrossing.

Wild Release #45

Diwali- Living Festivals

Released in Abbey Meadows, Abingdon, this is a book given to me after a house clearout.

Second Sight- A Review

 An often moving story spanning several generations, Second Sight is hard to put down. I found myself feeling part of the extended family whose emotions and experiences we were told so much of. The only thing I wish for this book is that the story had carried on for just a few more pages.

Wild release #44 inc. review

Leakey's experiences are interesting and, sometimes, almost unbelievable. They can be funny and, occasionally, daunting. This account is a real testimony to the bravery of many young men who have fought for their country. The only downside, in my opinion, was the proiliferation of military jargon which was confusing at times.

I released this book as a Special Sunset Mission for VE Day, which was today. I hope it will help someone else to remember elements of the war that have been forgotten by many.

A Theory of Relativity and Sickened Reviews

A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Interesting story delving into the issues surrounding adoption and child custody. Was a little slow at the start and ocassional US references sometimes lost me. Final chapter, from child's POV, made a lovely ending.


Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory.
A moving and gripping account of a girl (and a family) entangled in the grip of Munchausen by Proxy. Intense and revealing, it was hard to put this book down- especially once I realised that it was a true story written by the very person who was abused. The way this abuse was carried and twisted through the generations was particularly haunting

Wild Releases #38-43

As promised, my releases whilst I was up North.

Harmony 

Too technical for me, but maybe it will find a musical home suitable for it

Family Life

Someone picked this up, so I hope its found a nice new family life of its own

God's Wonderful World: Trees

A colouring book

Day Of Honor (Star Trek)
My first holiday accomodation release. Hoping that it finds a good home with a future visitor

First Amendment (Stargate)
Missed the Sci-fi release challenge, but I hope whoever finds this book enjoys it anyway

Mango Spice
Not a cookery book, but a book of interesting songs

Reviews of books read to follow

Turn of the month update

Well I've been up in Yorkshire the last few days, busy reading and doing other stuff. As with all my holidays, I tend to end up buying loads of books and releasing a few as well.

So firstly, here is what I've bought:

1. Cry Silent Tears by Joe Peters
2. The Queen of Subtleties by Suzannah Dunn
3. King Arthur's World by Kevin "Rossley" Holland
4. Tommy's War by Thomas Livingstone
5. The Last Hero By Terry Pratchett
6. The Duff Cooper Diaries
7. The World Acording to Clarkson

Not bad for £11, I think. None in bad condition and a wide-range of subjects as usual. Apologies for the lack of synopsis this time, but there's too many there for me to go into detail at the moment. Look out for my reviews and, if you want more details in the meantime, try Amazon or something.

Anyway, I said I did a few BookCrossing releases as well. All were wild, partly because I wanted to go some more places towards the 52 towns in 52 weeks challenge. I'll provide more details of these when I get a chance to write them onto BookCrossing (wondering whether some finder will get a chance before me). All I'll say for the moment is to look out for them if you're in Yorkshire, or travelling south along the M1.