DEBBIE MACOMBER – 50 Harbor Street

Bought 31 Mar 2007 – Sue Ryder

I have a horrible feeling I’ve left one of these out of my reviews!

This is book 5 and just as entertaining as the previous volumes. We follow the McAfees as they try to work out where the mystery postcards are coming from… and gather their children into the fold as they move to Cedar Cove. Other families have their stories too, and the whole is woven into a lovely, coherent whole that keeps you reading and guessing, while giving you enough reminders that you don’t get lost.

Passing all these to Julie/Anglersrest at Uncon, to be passed on to Audrey/Scotsbookie then back to me. Not registered on BC as they are MINE!!!!!

HENRY HITCHINGS – Dr Johnson’s Dictionary

Bought 11 Mar 2007 – Bookends

The comprehensive and interesting story of the creation of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary. It was a great idea to head the chapters with words from the Dictionary, and this was carried out well, right to the end. There was enough detail, but not too much, and enough intellectual content without being over the top. Best of all, my colleague Fred is mentioned in the acknowledgements!

New dress!

Hooray, got a new dress in Stratford this week, which will work for the wedding.

I am going to try to post a pic.

Need help though – do the shoes and bag and jewellery (if you can see it – it’s a single strand of pearls (well “pearls”) at throat, wrist and one pearl in each earring.

There are more pics on Flickr (look for LyzzyBee) so feel free to comment on there or here.

Cheers!

DOROTHY CANFIELD – The Brimming Cup

Bought 31 Mar 2007 – Sue Ryder charity shop, Kings Heath

I picked this up because it was a Virago Modern Classic and because I’d enjoyed the Persephone reprint of her “The Home-Maker”. This ploughed the same furrow in a way – the domestic arena – looking at a marriage in a small community, the marriages and parent-child relationships in the community, and the effects of a couple of in-comers on the dynamics. The moral dimension is a little over-laboured and the writing a little turgid at times, so I’m going to let this one go to BookCrossing…

DAVID CRYSTAL – Listen to Your Child: A Parent’s Guide to Children’s Language

Bought 17 Mar 2007 – Swinging Pig bookshop in Kings Heath

A wonderful book on child language acquisition, a litte bit old now but still completely valid. For all his huge output of books (especially recently), Crystal is a very engaging writer, with just enough personal details about his children and his research being introduced into the text. The text itself is down to earth and includes lots of ideas for how to study your child’s language. Fascinating.

DEBBIE MACOMBER – 44 Cranberry Point

Bought 31 Mar 2007 – Sue Ryder charity shop in Kings Heath

The 4th installment in this excellent series. The characters we’ve come to know and love go about their lives, finding love, laughter and pain, and there are a mystery theme (which was OK) and another one which I didn’t really take to – but that’s not Macomber’s fault. I only have one more of these left and I think there’s only a couple more to go after that!

CHRISTINA HENRY DE TESSAN (ed) – Expat: Women’s True Tales of Life Abroad

Acquired via BookCrossing 05 Jun 2007 – Bookring

[Note: we were asked to contribute details of our expat experiences as part of the journal]

I enjoyed this book a lot – lots of different stories and if one was a bit self-consciously literary, there was another along soon. Most of the women thought and wrote pretty deeply about their experiences and what they had learned, which made for a satisfying read.

I don’t have any major expat stories of my own. I’ve spent a little time in America and had an interesting time adapting to having an American (long-distance) boyfriend – the language differences were amazing. Being a stay-at-home myself, I have always been fascinated in travel tales and novels about the immigrant/emigrant experience, and that is what drew me to this book.

Friends post: Book reviews are back (feel free to comment on THIS POST)

Hi all

This is the post you can comment on! It’s locked to friends only. (Hopefully) no nasties can see this page.

This is what I said on the open post:

“I was locking my book review posts as well as my other ones, as it had come to my attention that some people I did not want poking around in my LiveJournal had been looking at them.

However, one of my big joys is the messages I get from authors who get alerted to my reviews. So, I have decided that that outweighs the pains, and am going to unlock them again.”

Let’s hope I get a few more now – this came about cos I got a lovely message from an old review!

Don’t feel you have to comment, of course. But if you want to, please use this post not the open one!

Book Reviews are back!

I was locking my book review posts as well as my other ones, as it had come to my attention that some people I did not want poking around in my LiveJournal had been looking at them.

However, one of my big joys is the messages I get from authors who get alerted to my reviews. So, I have decided that that outweighs the pains, and am going to unlock them again.

Friends – there will be a friends post you can comment on – this one is open, so no comments on here, please!

GARY PAULSEN – Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Alaskan Dog-Racing

Bought 25 feb 2007 – Bookends

A wonderful book that I think I will be keeping. Gary talks truthfully about his obsession with dog racing. He ends up doing the Iditarod race across Alaska, but the first half of the book is concerned with a warts-and-all portrayal of his first forays into the sport, crashes, embarassments and lost dogs and all. There is some upsetting stuff, but it is in context and not problematic. A lyrical and unusual book. Thanks Linda Gillard for the recommendation!