April Bargain Book Buys

If I told you I only went into the charity shop to try and find some pirate books for my work colleague.would you believe me!?

Tis true!
My work colleague was searching for books on pirates in the library and we tried to fathom which part of the Dewey system was most helpful to us to no avail. Then we just randomly searched the picture book spines for anything that might yield some books. Unfortunately, no-one with the library search system was around to log us in.

We found nothing so I said I would have a look in the charity shops for her on my way home as I had to nip into town for a birthday present.

There was a paltry selection of children's books so there was not even the faintest whiff of Piratology!
However, I was SO excited to find SO many excellent books in Oxfam. They had a 3 for £2 deal on paperbacks.

Do you find, like me, that somehow, despite the old saying telling us not to judge a book by its cover, that you can always seem to spot a spine you will like!? I always find that.

I saw the set 5 E.F.Benson books and KNEW from the font that they would be someething I'd enjoy and yes, they are set in the 20's, an era I love reading about.  My family friend (she of the Dalek costume) confirmed for me that they are brilliant (and I always trust her taste in books)

The British Library Crime classic had my name written all over it- I mentioned last month that I was looking for these!

Somehow, just by glancing at the Jacqueline Windspear books, I knew they'd be historical-inspired detective/whodunnit type books and was right!

Last but not least, I have adored every Eva Ibbotson book I have read and when I saw these two, I was really delighted. To be honest, I have not wanted to read all her books because, like Alexander McCall Smith or Edward Marston, I like to know I have always got at least one more still to read or look forward to. Is that strange or do you understand this tendency? I remember the sheer misery when I realised there were no more Agatha Christie books to go (hence why I STILL haven't read the Monogram Murders despite having owned it for a year and a half)

All in all, 10 books that cost me £6 in total (he threw in the extra book for the £6.

Have you bought or read any excellent books this month? DO share!
xxx

April Reads

I feel like it was rather a self-indulgent month in the sense that I read a lot of sequels or books in a series or by a favourite author although there were a few different books.  What did I think of them
Let's find out!


Madame Pamplemousse and the Time Travelling Cafe - Rupert Kingfisher
The name of this book appealed to me on in all sorts of ways when I spotted it in the Save the Children bookshop in Haltwhistle.  It is the sequel to another book. The cafe in question takes on the idea that a taste can take you back to a certain place in time through memory and so special coffee is served in the time travelling cafe. BUT, the president of France is a nasty individual with advisors who wish to change things and make them not at all fun so they are trying to find Madame Pamplemousse and try to shut her down. It means that a little girl (talented cook) named Madeleine and MP's cat, Camembert are the only ones who can help to try and fetch special ingredients for a potion to change the President and all and revive the spirit of France again! They must travel back in time to fetch ingredients like a Sphinx's tear and T-rex drool!

This was a quick read, great fun and rather silly. It was very imaginative though although I found the ending rather abrupt.


 A colourful death -Carola Dunn
If you want a Gentle Whodunnit that isn't too taxing on the brains full of nostalgia, gentle and slightly eccentric people and a gorgeous location, look no further than the Eleanor Trewynn Cornish mysteries.  In this book, Eleanor is meeting her Artist neighbour, Nick Gresham at the train station and takes him back to his studio which he left in charge of a fellow artist. But when they get back, he finds his works of arts ruined and the artist gone. He suspects it is her competitive Boyfriend Geoffrey Monmouth and goes to have it out with him, only to find him dead!!!  Immediately, Nick finds the finger pointed at him, despite Eleanor having been with him.  Eleanor gets involved much to the chagrin of DI Scumble and her own niece, Megan Pencarrow!
This was as enjoyable as the previous books in the series- I love a good Carola Dunn book- easy and quick to read and not at all taxing on the little grey cells!

Heirs of the body  - Carola Dunn
And if you enjoyed the other Carola Dunn, then try her more established series, the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries. I always liken these to a mixture of Agatha Christie and the Famous Five when I recommend these to people.  Again, the deciding of 'Whodunnit' is not taxing in this series and the characters are very likeable and readable.  In this story, Daisy's cousin, the current Lord Dalrymple realises he needs to find his heir to the Dalrymple and has set motions in place to trace the line of descendants from the black sheep of the family a few generations back.  Three and a last minute fourth come forward to be invited to the family estate but of course that spells trouble that will ultimately result in murder. Can they find the true heir?
I enjoyed this one, there are some good old-fashioned rotters and jolly-good sports in here and a good deal of suspense and action.  Perfectly enjoyable. Thank you to the library for putting it in such a prominent position!

The jewelled moth -  Katherine Woodfine
I really enjoyed the first book in the Sophie Davidson mysteries, The Clockwork sparrow.  The story is set in the 20's and Sophie works for the wonderful department store Sinclair's. She and her best friend and fellow workers helped to find Mr Sinclair's clockwork sparrow and foil a plot to blow up the store but now their fame has led to a request to help them find a brooch given to a debutant by a very successful man who is suspected to be going to propose to her.  The BARON, who is the ultimate Moriarty-type character, is somehow involved in this book and it means there is severe danger involved. There is a link to a guardian of a temple and a moonstone diamond and East London Chinese family.
This was very exciting but in a not-too-scary way!

The roaring boy- Edward Marston
I absolutely love Edward Marston's historical Whodunnits. This one comes from his Lord Westfield's Men series which follows the fates and adventures of an Elizabethan theatre company in London under the guardianship of Lawrence Firethorn. Our hero is Nicholas Bracewell, the Bookholder for the company and general sensible fellow (who travelled with Sir Francis Drake). In this play, the company is worried as Edmund Hoode, the playwright of the company's muse seems to have dried up. At the start, an actor dies on stage mid play which means the characters have to alter the plot to reach the end unscathed.
However, salvation lies in the audience in the hands of a mysterious stranger who has come to offer them a very topical play about the recent death of a mathematician and the subsequent hanging of his wife and her lover.The anonymous author wishes the play to work as a catalyst to get the authorities and people to realise a wrongdoing has been done.  BUT, it seems someone will go to any lengths to avoid the play going ahead and the company face dark times.

 What I love about this series and Marston's skill, is the way he gets across the gritty reality, seediness, squalor and difficulties of life in the Elizabethan era. No sense of Whimsical 'isn't it lovely' romance but you realise how difficult life was and the fragility of those in the arts field and indeed most of the lower and middle classes.  The characterisation is excellent. I love the characters greatly with their foibles and he cleverly manages to keep the tension there- some little clue, some action, some crucial detail is yielded at every turn. You hear from the perspective of the baddies and there is certainly a fighting chance of guessing whoddunit!

Hamish and the never people - Danny Wallace
I bought this from Forumbooks Corbridge as it was their Kids Bookclub read of the month and thus Cheap!!! And I will admit that the decorated sides of the book were a big pull too!
This is the second in a series about Hamish and his friends who faced some Worldstoppers, some dastardly aliens who stopped everyone in the world, only foiled by Hamish and pals.
In this book, Hamish and his friends are excited to hear the quirky Primeminister is coming to Starkley town for the filming of Question me Silly.  BUT, something odd is afoot as the Prime Minster appears to lose his mind (if he wasn't a bit mad before) and seems to only be able to repeat nonsense. And then it seems to be spreading all over important people in London and abroad. Hamish and his gang decide they need to get up to London to see the Prime Minster (after all, his advisor Mysterio told them to get in touch).  But, they find themselves called by a mysterious lady who leads them to an alternate London and the Nowhere people who are the you you might have been, had you been a girl (if a boy) or brave rather than cowardly.    And then it seems, the old enemies, the Terribles,  are back in a new guise...

I admit, this book was rather silly but it was also rather entertaining. I was giggling at all the opposites in the alternate London- such as Fathercare and Wagapapa and King Les! Danny Wallace is very fun and although I think some kids would miss some of the clever alternates and references, that they would love the silliness of this book. Plus, it has some old unused tube stations in it so must be good!

Moriarty  - Anthony Horrowitz
I have yet to read an Anthony Horrowitz book I haven't loved so I was rather excited to read something adult by him.
This book tells the story of the time after Holmes and Moriarty fell into the Reichenbad falls until Holmes returned for the Empty House.
The story begins in Reichenbach where one Frederick Chase from the Pinkerton's detective agency is urgently seeking the body of Moriarty to find a message. He meets with one Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard who has been despatched to see the body of Moriarty and to find out about Holmes.  The two join forces when it seems that a new criminal Mastermind is seeking to fill the vacuum created by the death of Moriarty, an American criminal who seems a million times more evil than Moriarty.  The two set out to try and find him and to try to find a way to seek him and rid London of him.

This had the action and excitement I have come to expect from this author and I was compelled to read on, stumbling to try and read on, so eager was I to reach the denouement.  I really enjoyed the characters of Athelney Jones and Chase and was really rather fond of them by the end of the book. The book is very dark in places, some horrid descriptions of violence but really clever.  As with any sort of book of this genre, there is a certain amount of guessing about things and I was pleased to be right in my conclusions, if not a bit sad about it. This was very VERY good and I MUST read House of Silk now!

28. Chocolatina - Erik Kraft
This is a super quick kid's book picture book with writing which is one of a number of books I've read that uses the King Midas story in a sort of Chocolate context.  Chocolatina is a girl who is obsessed with chocolate. There is a cautionary tale involved in this book about being careful what you wish for but it's all good fun. I'll be reading this to my year 1's soon!

The pursuit of love - Nancy Mitford
This is one of those classics which I find it hard to countenance only having just read so thank you to my mother-in-law for her great choice! In it, Fanny describes the eccentric life of her upper class Uncle, Aunt and Cousins who live in the country on an old family estate. The story centres of her cousin Linda and the obsession of the young cousins with love and relationships and the bizarre experience of growing up.   It is delightfully eccentric describing the activities of growing up, such as sitting in the airing cupboard (known as the Hons Cupboard)  for chats and trying to save animals from cruelty whilst revelling in the delights of the Hunt.  Linda, without a proper education, is obsessed with the idea of love and quickly becomes embroiled in marriage to a Scottish Tory obsessed with money.  It seems that this is a disaster and after running off with another man, Croesig ending up in France, it is only until she is in Paris just before the outbreak of WW2, that there is a possibility that she has found love with Fabrice (who picks her up in the railway station).

The book is delightfully quirky and I adored the idiosyncrasies of the characters which Mitford so skilfully describes. They are all rather odd and yet you accept them. She is wonderfully witty and I found myself smiling lots.


9 books this month.  Almost 10, bar 50 pages, so not a bad month all in all!

Have you read any of these? What did you think?  

Let me know in the comments if you've enjoyed any good books this month?

xxxboo

Travels through words

I keep putting off this post but finally I must publish it.  Very sketchy but it will do!
I've read some great books recently and if you're wondering what to read, might I suggest some of the following...

30.  Edward Marston The Railway detective in: Murder on the Brighton Express

I am a creature of habit and if I like an author, in some sort of obsessive vein, I regard it as my life's duty to read all the series by that author.  I definitely will be doing this with Mr Marston's Railway detective series. Set in the 1830's, the Railway detective had the magic and brilliance of Agatha Christie and others but a different era.  Great characterisation and an interesting twist and SUCH an interesting intended victim! Considering this cost me 10p in a library sale, I consider this money well spent.

31.  Georgette Heyer Frederica
Another classic Heyer.  Great heroine, great hero, lovely plot which though drawn-out, seems to pass by very quickly without any repetition or boredom.  Love it!

32.  Eva Ibbotson The Secret Countess
I feel really greedy in this post listing all my favourite authors. I seemed to save them up for the holiday.  Ms Ibbotson is one of my 'obsessive must-read list' (But I like to draw it out, so I don't read them all in one go).  This is a real Cinderella story telling of a Russian countess, who in the revolution and her Father's subsequent death in WW1, finds herself in England having to work as a servant.  It is totally Downton Abbey with a mean villainess who is going to marry the hero because he has no money and has to save the property when we really want her to marry our heroine.  A beautiful love-story, told in a gentle manner.

33.  Doctor Who The Completely Useless Encyclopaedia by Steve Lyons and Chris Howarth
This is one hilarious book about the most random Doctor Who trivia!!
Bloomin heck, when I checked the exact title on Amazon for this one, someone is selling this for £45!  Wow, I could make a mint on my £5 investment!  I bought this shop on my first trip to the Who shop in East Ham when I was about 15!  I went with my friend from school called Ruth- we discovered that apart from a passion for singing, we also loved Doctor Who equally!  We marvelled at the Tardis and daleks you could stand by and a whole myriad of items available!  It's moved to Upton Park now, but it's well worth a visit!
Anyway, this book totally and utterly pokes fun at/slags off Doctor Who but in a meticulous, affectionate and loving way which suggests these guys totally love it!  I learnt all sorts of random facts and laughed lots!  The best things are the 10 things about Doctor Who, e.g. '10 things that mean Doctor Who fans aren't as sad as other fans' or '10 names that could have been named by Doctor Who fans'.  This book is absolutely worth a read if you are a fan or not (and just want to mock Doctor Who. Don't worry, the authors do that in droves!) and I have enjoyed reading it again!

34.  Alexander McCall Smith La's orchestra saves the world.

Classic AMcS:  Heartfelt, witty, beautiful description, philosophising and a love story that you longed to happen throughout the book.  A beguiling heroine, interesting characterisation and includes reference to classical music and flutes:  I was bound to love it.
35.  Laura Ingalls Wilder Little house in the Big Woods
I loved the Anne of Green Gables series and in a sense this reminded me of those.  This is a classic child's book- it tells of life in a woods for a little girl a long time ago.  In an Enid Blyton-esque way, it was the description of food that really interested me (so sad!) and I loved how self-sufficient this family were and how they used, made and made do.  It really made me smile and imagine life for a little girl.

36. Laura Ingalls Wilder Little house on the Prairee
Likewise, I enjoyed the second book in the series.  I think that her Papa must have had great luck not to be eaten by a wolf or bear on many occasions- he must have been an amazing man!  Again, lovely description of family life:  I particularly liked thinking about all the tasks that Mama and Papa did on a daily basis!  They worked hard!

37.  Frank L. Baum Glinda of Oz.
I recently mentioned wanting to reread the Oz books again- this is the only one I have in my possession at the moment as I lent them to a little girl at church some years ago.  On second reading, I didn't find it as silly as I did the first time.  It is the last book that Frank L Baum wrote before he died and I believe it was published posthumously (he died in 1920).  It tells of how Ozma, the ruler of Oz went to quell a war between to of the strange groups of people who she had never met in the far-reaches of her kingdom of Oz with Dorothy.  The book reunites all the old favourites from all the Oz books and has an interesting storyline.  I think the thing that made me feel it was a bit silly the first time I read it was how you always know that Ozma and Dorothy will get out of every predicament- they seem invulnerable so nothing will hurt them so it lacks the suspense or worrying about what is going to happen. I suppose books were more tame for kids then but I found it lacking excitement.  However, still an imaginative read and if you love Oz, you'll forgive it these shortcomings.

38.  Noel Streatfield Ballet shoes for Anna.
I'm always SO excited to find a new Noel Streatfield book I haven't read and moreso in this case because I'd forgotten I'd bought it and for some reason, put it in my underwear drawer!!!!
The heroes of this book are three orphans who spent their life in Turkey and have to go and live in England with a mean Uncle who refuses to let Anna, the girl, continue her ballet lessons. The premise is that the 2 boys have to try and earn money for her lessons somehow.  Again, it had a difference to her books and yet that familiarity of the 'show biz' element and the grit and determination to succeed in the arts that characterise her other works.  Definitely worth a read if nothing but to laugh at the rebellious Gussy!

39.  Georgette Heyer Black sheep.
Again, finding another Georgette Heyer to read (in a charity shop is always exciting) is always a delight and finding one in our French cottage was fabulous!  Like the Streatfield, it contained the finest of Georgette Heyer's usual form but had a difference and a uniqueness.  Regency heroine meets Regency hero is the basic plot- but so fun and unconventional.  Definitely worth reading.

40.  James Herriott Every living thing.
As a child, I adored the TV show, All creatures great and small  which told the life of Yorkshire rural vet, James Herriott.  I subsequently read and adored all the other books he'd written.  This, possibly the last one, didn't fail to disappoint.  The anecdotes and stories of Herriot's veterinary life do not fail to touch, amuse and beguile on.  I was rolling around laughing at his tale of a pair of trousers he had been given that had been made for a corpulent man and he felt like he was going to explode with the heat in an important meeting!  I've had that feeling in clothing before- where you are just so hot but you can't do anything about it.  I found myself on the verge of tears when he consoled with those who lost pets and rejoiced with every victory in saving an animal.  This book as a lot of heart, and totally worth a read.  There is a great sense of the change of times and technology from the previous books and seeing the 'grown-up' Herriott family!  This is a beautiful read.

SO.... have I
a)  made you go to sleep
b)  made you want to read one (tell me which!)
c) made you totally bypass this post in your Googlereader!?
d) read something you've already read?!

From the deeply philosophical to the cheesiest of chicklit!

Hello!  I have read quite a few books but I keep forgetting to document them!  Eeek!!!
I hope you are well today!  I had quite a satisfying day today even though it was hard work and I had no lunch break etc!  I ended up teaching Guided reading in year 1 (an experience), my orchestra behaved themselves and got on, my choir were super superstars, a colleague had a heart-to-heart with me about something that was worrying her (a privelege that she trusts me), I taught science to year 4, Databases in ICT to two seperate Year 5 classes and a great session at my homegroup from church. All in all, great!

20. Jostein Gaardner Maya

This book deals with a story told from 2 perspectives. Frank, is a bereaved Norwegian Biologist who ends up in Fiji.  He meets a strange Spanish couple who are completely in love with each other- they seem to speak of high, mysterious, philosophical concepts and ideas.  Frank is instantly intrigued by them.  We hear of his grief and slowly how he learns more about Ana and Jose.  Another narrator is a bereaved English journalist.  Some memorable moments are Frank's conversation with a grumpy gecko, the idea of how a painting is the key to the mystery and some explanations of life!  This book can blow your mind in many ways with its philosophical ideas and debates but it is truly amazing and special!  I don't quite understand the ending but I certainly loved it!  It contains that magic that all Gaardner's books contain and makes you look at  the world in a different way.  Highly recommended.

21.  Sophie Kinsella The confessions of a shopaholic

After all that deep thought, I needed something a little frivolous.  Becky is a total shopaholic who is funny, endearing and highly in debt. As the book continues, Becky seems to get more and more in debt and less able to deal with it.  As someone who is ahem- fond of shopping, I identify with several events in this story although at times you just think"Noooooo, what are you doing!?!?!?!?!!"  .  I don't have credit cards so I did kind of want to shake her at times to say, "Stop!" when she maxed out yet another one!  I liked the love story running alongside Becky's issues and the conclusion of the book was brilliant! Gleefully recommended- it only took an afternoon to read.

 

22.Carola Dunn - Dead on the water
The grown-up version of Enid Blyton for adults!  The lovable Daisy Dalrymple finds herself embroilled in yet another mystery as she and her fiance, Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard try to have a weekend in the country. The thing I love about these books is that nobody nice ever does the crime or means to!  It's always the ones you'd prefer it to be! Great fun!

Have you read any of these!?  Are there any books you could recommend to me?

Thanks to http://www.amazon.co.uk/ for the images.