Liberty Silk by Kate Beaufoy was one of the Twelve Days of Christmas gifts which was sent to me by Lisa from Jumble and Jelly. The story follows three different women from 1919 through to 1965 in Paris, Hollywood and London. It was a brilliant story and I really enjoyed reading this book. I found myself going off to bed a little bit earlier whilst I was reading it just so that I could read an extra chapter before falling asleep. I'm sure that many of you would enjoy it too.
My Agatha Christie read this month was Murder on the Orient Express. This must be her most famous murder mystery and one of my favourites so far. It's another crime which is solved by the little Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and if you haven't read any of Agatha Christie's books but you fancy giving them a go, I can fully recommend this one.
I've read Jennifer Worth's (of Call the Midwife fame) first three books about her time delivering babies in the East End of London so I thought I'd read In the Midst of Life which is about her experiences as a nurse and ward sister, treating patients who were nearing the end of their lives. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first three, she does write about personal experiences like she did in the others but there's also a lot of information about procedures and the author's opinions of death which I found rather boring. I can highly recommend the first three books but I wouldn't particularly encourage anyone to read this one.
I remember Lynda Bellingham taking the part of James Herriot's wife in All Creatures Great and Small and also from the Oxo adverts. It was very sad last year when she passed away, she'd been fighting bowel cancer. I used to read quite a lot of biographies and autobiographies, I don't read so many these days but Lynda's book, There's Something I've Been Dying to Tell You, which she wrote whilst fighting the disease interested me because she was suffering from the same type of cancer I had sixteen years ago. I'm sorry to say that I found most of the book quite boring, the parts where she wrote about her illness were fewer than I expected and the rest of the book was padded out with stories about her career. There was a lot of name dropping and I hadn't even heard of most of the people she mentioned, producers and the like. I'm afraid this book wasn't really for me.
I think the idea behind Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey is very clever. Maud is suffering from dementia but she's sure that her friend, Elizabeth, is missing and she's determined to find out what's happened to her. Running alongside the dementia storyline is a seventy year old mystery which everyone, except Maud, has forgotten about. I really enjoyed this book and can thoroughly recommend it.
You may remember that I bought The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin from a charity shop last month. It turned out that I'd already got the book waiting to be read on my Kindle. Oh well, I've passed the paperback copy on to my mum and made a list of all the books I'm waiting to read on my Kindle in my Filofax so that I've got it with me when I'm out and about. That's the only downside to a Kindle, I read lots of books on it which I think other people would enjoy but I can't pass them on to them. I thought this book was going to be a real tearjerker but it wasn't as sad as I expected. As you can guess from the title, Rabbit Hayes is dying so there's no surprise there. It actually wasn't Rabbit's story which kept me reading but that of her boyfriend, Johnny, as I wanted to know what had happened to him. It's a heartwarming story and one I'd recommend.
Quite a few books about death and dying this month, let's see if I can find something a bit cheerier in March.
... glad that Daniel's feeling better now.
ReplyDeleteI think you have done very well with your reading - quite puts me to shame!!!
Yes, it is of course extremely sad when ever a family or friend dies, and there are times when it helps others to deal with bereavement to perhaps read a story like Lynda Bellingham's. However, for some reason or other I do think both her and the family were perhaps in the news far too much. Grief although it shouldn't be hidden away, should also be more of a private affair ... just my thoughts not all may agree.
Anyway - I wonder what your book choices will be in March?
Have a good weekend
All the best Jan
I've had a really good month this month, I don't usually read this many books so quickly. I agree with how you felt about Lynda Bellingham and her being in the news, it seemed she dealt with the illness very privately in the beginning, she didn't even make the type of cancer she was suffering from public and then she released this book and did all the publicity for it. It then seemed she was more than happy to discuss anything at all and I agree with what you say, I think it would have been better to be a tad more private about the whole thing. I haven't decided yet what I'll read in March but I do know one book I will be reading and that's the next Agatha Christie, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
DeleteMurder on the Orient Express has always been a favorite of mine, liked Elizabeth is Missing too.
ReplyDeleteYou can loan e-books, for 2 weeks. I've loaned books to my daughter.
I really enjoyed Murder on the Orient Express, I'm loving working my way through the Agatha Christie books. I didn't realise that you can loan e books, though I still wouldn't be able to lend them to my mum as she doesn't have an e reader or computer and she wouldn't be able to work them if she did have them. I'll just have to continue buying her paperbacks.
DeleteThe Agatha Christie book is one of my favourites. I enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing as well.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading, Flighty xx
Murder on the Orient Express is one of my favourites from the Agatha Christie books I've read so far. I really enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing, I think it was such a good idea for a story.
DeleteI loved Liberty Silk, read it on holiday last year.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a good story, I really enjoyed reading it.
DeleteVery interesting reviews. I have been stuck with the Louise Penny series and I have enjoyed them but they can be a bit slow which makes me nod of a bit at nighttime.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
I only read when I'm in bed so I know what you mean about nodding off when a book's slow. I hope you find something to keep you a little more involved.
DeleteYou've done well with your reading this month especially as I know that you have your sewing on the go as well. I've been trying to do a bit of handicraft and some reading, but that depends whether I get engrossed in a book then that takes over. Liberty Silk sounds interesting and a new author to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to find the time to do everything we want, isn't it? To think that people told me I'd be bored when I gave up work, no chance. I haven't read anything by Kate Beaufoy before either, though I believe she also writes under the name of Kate Thompson.
DeleteThat's good going on the reading front. My reading has virtually stopped in favour of other leisure pursuits. There aren't enough hours in the day.
ReplyDeletexx
I don't usually read quite so much as I only read in bed and I'm often asleep nearly as soon as my head touches the pillow. There definitely aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we want to do, there's just so many things I want to have a go at.
DeleteLost of good suggestions here for me, thanks. I am always standing in front of a wall of books, seeing nothing for all the books. x
ReplyDeleteI often buy books based on recommendations I see on blogs. If I read a good review and think it's something I might like, I jot the title down so that I can look out for it otherwise, as you say, there's just so many to choose from that I don't know where to start.
Delete6 books in a month - that's impressive! I can barely get through one in a month.
ReplyDeleteLiberty Silk sounds particularly interesting as I love novels that are set in the past - learning about peoples attitudes and way of life is just as enjoyable to me as the story itself.
I don't often have months where I read six books, I've done particularly well in February. I really enjoyed Liberty Silk. The author has some letters which her grandmother wrote just after the First World War and these letters have been used in the story, I think it makes it quite special.
DeleteOoo well done with the reading this month Jo. A good mix there. My months reading has been pretty dismal, cant seem to settle and enjoy anything for some reason. Have a good weekend x
ReplyDeleteI think we all have periods when we can't settle, usually when we have lots of things going on. I tend to read lots when I go on holiday when I'm relaxed and don't have other things on the go.
DeleteYour comment about discovering that the book was already on your Kindle made me smile Jo as it's happened to me too. I've now made a note not to buy any more books until I've read all those waiting on the Kindle. I don't know how long my intentions will last.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to read what I've already got before buying more too but I know something will come along and I won't be able to resist, especially if I see something at a good price, either in a charity shop or on a Kindle deal.
DeleteI'm in awe - 6 books is more than I managed in the whole of last year. I've heard Emma Healy interviewed on our local radio as she's a Suffolk girl, it's s book is love to read. The first one on your list looks good too, I shall see if I can get it on kindle.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually read six books in a month, I'm not sure how I managed it. I really enjoyed Liberty Silk and can definitely recommend it if you manage to find it.
DeleteWell done on the reading front. You've certainly done better than me. I have an Agatha Christie book waiting, so that will be my first and am trying to find some free time to get it started. Look forward to seeing what you read in March and hope it is a bit brighter. Have a good weekend and take care.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing which Agatha Christie book you're going to be reading, I'm thoroughly enjoying working my way through them all. I haven't decided yet which books I'm going to read in March but there's lots waiting on my Kindle so I hope to whittle them down somewhat.
DeleteI'm so pleased that you enjoyed the Liberty Silk one so much. I have seen the movie of that AC book but never read it. That's quite a number of books to have got through this month, well done you. I've read the JW ones when she was a midwife but I will steer clear of the other, it doesn't sound like I'd enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteLisa x
I really did enjoy Liberty Silk, I've passed it on to my mum now as I'm sure it's the kind of book she'd enjoy too. I loved Jennifer Worth's midwife books but the same can't be said of this one. Some parts of it quite upset me though I found others were quite boring. I wish I'd stuck with the first three now and given this one a miss.
DeleteI read six books this month, too, Jo. But I got into a rut reading the same author as I decided to read my way through Val Wood's regional novels. Very light. I'm ready for a bit more substance. I've downloaded Liberty Silk and Elizabeth is Missing on your recommentdation. Thanks. P. x
ReplyDeleteI have some authors whose books I'm working my way through but I don't do them all in one go, I take a break between them. I'm sure you'll enjoy both Liberty Silk and Elizabeth is Missing, you've chosen my favourite two of the month, though Murder on the Orient Express is another good one if you haven't read it before and you like Agatha Christie.
DeleteI love to read but my material is a little different to yours. I have a kindle and read a lot of books on it...mainly for convenience...I do hate getting to the end of a book when I am tucked up warm in bed and then have to think about getting out to find another...also the storage factor is so much easier. I am totally with you on not being able to pass the books on though.x
ReplyDeleteI love my Kindle, it's so handy when I'm awake during the night, I don't have to turn on the light and disturb Mick if I want to read.
DeleteThat's good going in the reading front! I love it when I find a book that grabs my attention only thing is I find myself reading really late!
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem when you find a good book, it's so hard to put it down. I'm not sure how I've managed six books this month, I don't seem to have done any more reading than I usually do but I obviously have.
DeleteI love my Kindle, but I read real books in the bath, as I have been known to drop them in the water! Malcolm's Kindle is registered on my Amazon account, so I can put books on either or both, which is handy.
ReplyDeleteI think you're definitely safer reading real books in the bath if you're prone to dropping them. Mick and I have our Kindles on the same account so that we can share books too but we read totally different things so we haven't yet read one book the same.
DeleteElizabeth is missing sounds like something I could get into.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Kindle as I prefer books, and so I hadn't thought about the fact that you can't pass them on. I love to give a book to a friend and tell them to pass it on when they're finished. I then find out that it's been passed to a number of people and I like this fact. I love books that have been well read. The more loved a book looks in a charity shop the more likely it is I'll buy it!
I really enjoyed Elizabeth is Missing and I think it's a really clever idea for a story. I'm always pleased when I can pass a book on, especially ones I've really enjoyed. I like to know if family and friends think the same thing about a story as I do.
DeleteI read There's Something I've Been Dying to Tell You when it first acme out. I didn't know until I was half way through the book that it wasn't her first autobiography.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently on my 4th Discworld book of the year. I quite fancy a crime thriller next though.
I think Lynda Bellingham wrote some novels as well as her autobiographies. It's good to read a variety of books, it certainly keeps things interesting.
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