Just finished

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picolt

This was a good read, it brought up some interesting questions about religion, but I feel the ending did not really answer all the questions. Why did Faith just suddenly stop performing miracles? Was it really a happy ever after? It also made me quite angry about the idea that we have to suffer when we get close to God. Is this just a Christian perspective? Or do other religions belive in suffering?

 

by Robert GoddardName to a face was the latest mystery from Robert Goddard, and although it mentions an ancient mystery, it did not grip me as much as his other novels, In Pale Battalions being his absolute best in my opinion. I feel this novel just rumbled on with the usual characters just different faces. The ancient mystery seemed to just stumble in and out of the story without any real purpose. The way it was connected seemed to be at best tenuous. Still a good read nevertheless. Just wish he would go back to his historical novels. Medium Allison Dubois

Just picked this up in the bookshop yesterday and could not put it down. As a fan of the television series, I wanted to know more. Alison comes across as a very down to earth person of integrity who wants to use her gift for the highest good. It is a fantastic insight into what it is like to be a medium, and written in a very engaging way. There is alot of love around Alison which comes across well. A really good read!

America Unchained by Dave Gorman

I have just finished this book, Dave decided to cross America using only independent traders for fuel, accommodation and fuel.

I picked this up because I would like to visit America soon and I thought it would give me a little insight into the country, however, this book is a little disappointing as it is mainly about car breakdowns, terrible map reading and the hunt for gas. As well as a strange section on the mormons. The DVD is even worse!

However, Dave does have a point, it seems that all the small businesses in America are being squeezed out by the Chain stores, and it is happening here too. Supermarkets have forced local shopping areas to consist of mainly charity shops all the grocers and small businesses gone. The only competition for these big chains is the Farmer’s Markets and the butchers. Meat from butchers is just better! I will have to look out for some other travel books.

America unchained

 

Books

I remember all the summers, when I was a child, were warm and full of promise. Waking up with the day ahead to fill as I chose, reading, writing, sunbathing. It was a time before sunscreen and skin cancer, when you could lay in the sun all day and not even turn pink. I don’t remember being bored, but I do remember enjoying endless days lost in my books, or cycling to the library to get more adventures.

Without books I don’t think I would have survived my childhood, escaping into another world or another time seemed to be essential. The first book that really hooked me into reading was the magician’s Nephew, it was the first time I had read a book from cover to cover and I remember being so proud of myself, but what was really magical was the escape to another world, one that had different problems from my own, that could all be resolved, neatly by the end. I think that is why the magician’s Nephew today is still special to me. With books I created the childhood I wanted, trips abroad, adventures and mysteries to solve as well as romance. I could drop into another person’s life and be someone else for a while.

I think the most important book for me today is called the secret life of bees. Why is it so special? Because it is the story of a girl who goes in search of people who knew her dead mother. The book is so well written the author describes the longing and sheer determination to know that special person even though the child’s memory is blank. The way the writer describes how important it is for the child to know her mother, the need to have some point of reference for self, that it really is a joy to read. I think the writing must be autobiographical somewhere, because of the feelings and emotions she conveys reflect my own experience that I don’t believe that anyone could write with such conviction unless they knew.

 

The other Boelyn Girl

Just finished this book which is a fantastic read! Phillipa Gregory really captures the essence of the times. The court atmosphere is so well described and the story of Mary Boelyn is a wonderful read, it shows Anne Boelyn in not too fair a light, but as a story between sisters it is a real page turner. You will be disappointed however, if you read this then watch the film. The film cuts out so much and reduces it to just the two sisters and the king, that it becomes a different story entirely. Increasing the role of their Mother surprisingly and decreasing the role of George blunts the way women were treated in that age. Perhaps they thought film audiences would not be happy with the way women were traded as if they were beasts, and in the film the mother speaks out about this. The role George plays in the film is virtually non-existent only emerging to father a child for desperate Ann. Yet in the book he is a constant ompanion, and the relationship with Anne slowly grows closer and more insestious. All I can suggest is that you read the book then watch the film, but realise they are two completely different slants! Yet another reason why reading a book is so much better than watching films!