Monthly Archives: June, 2013

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zapon

This is a masterpiece! My friend Leah gave me The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zapon.  She had just finished reading it and thought I would enjoy it, so she passed it on. Let me just say it was the best gift I’ve had in years. The Shadow of the Wind is one of my …

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Perfectly Correct by Philipa Gregory

I most associate Phillipa Gregory with historical novels so  this book really surprised me.  It is nothing like the very popular historic books by this author.  I borrowed Perfectly Correct from the library and started reading it thinking that it was another rather indulgent story about university lecturers and their lives, dropping in rather pretentious ‘in jokes’. …

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The Adultery Club by Tess Stimson

I would not say The Adultery Club was the best book I have read in my life. It is by Tess Stimson and I just borrowed it from the library because I needed something to read in the evening.  I was looking for something light and easy to read.  However, as it turned out, this was …

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Around Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawk

Antony Gordon Hawksworth, better known as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. He was born in Brighton, England on 12 May, 1960. He was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and Brighton College.  I met him when he was promoting Round Ireland with a Fridge at a fair in Earl’s Court in London. …

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The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne deals with the horrors of prejudice and war through the eyes of a child.  Its humour and lightness of touch make the subject all the more vivid.  The book was recommended to me by my 10 year old nephew, Mathew because he had enjoyed the book so …

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Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham

The author, Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham, England.  He worked for a while as an actor, then later as a T V writer and a stand-up comedian.  The book, Sleepyhead was his first novel.  It was published in 2001 and was an instant best seller.   It introduces D I Tom Thorne, …

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Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie, queen of crime writing, was the first crime novelist whose work of this kind I read.  It remains my favourite genre.  Her style of plotting is one that I like too. Peril At End House was one book in a set given to me by my mother as a Christmas present. It involves Christie’s …

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The Appeal by John Grisham

John Grisham is practically an American institution.  This book, The Appeal is a 2008 novel, his twenty-first book and his first fictional legal thriller since 2005. He is a writer whose best selling status is assured.  So assured, in fact, that expectations for each of his new books are as high as can be imagined.  However, I am not sure …

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Blood Red Roses by Lin Anderson

I read this book as a quick reads edition.  I needed to get through it quickly because Lin Anderson was coming to speak to the group of students on my Post-Graduate Creative Writing Class.  She was delightful and very open.  She took time to answer all our questions about whether to use a pen name, …

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Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay

Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, driven, stubborn.   Bearing in mind his turbulent private life I find it funny when he gives conciliatory family advice on his Kitchen Nightmares television program.  However, this is his own story.  In this bestselling autobiography, Humble Pie, Ramsay tells his life story starting long …

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