Black Swan

A beautifully descriptive novel set in India in the 1940s and 1850s, wonderfully interwoven, with a satisfying romantic finale.

Some irritations of course, the precocious child Billy, the inability of characters to talk to each other and a certain incompleteness in the character of Evie which means she fades a little and one cares less about her.

But for a sight, smell and sound of India past and present, and a complex and subtle tale this takes some beating.

Another huge book ! I found it only possible to read comfortably sitting at a table - are publishers deliberately trying to force readers buy Kindles ?

This book is a collection of essays written by several contributers in the Media world in aid of The Campaign to Protect Rural England.I enjoyed this book so much becouse of the diversity of the subjects and the different ways everyone treated their chosen subject. My favourite  contributor is Andrew Marr who wrote an essay on lines, a play on words but beautifully written.

This book deserves to do well and is a joy to read. It makes you feel proud to be part of this wonderful countryside and all it has to offer.

Translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt, this is a story of the river, the party and a dysfunctional family.

Having only read historical Chinese novels previously, I found this tale of ordinary working folk on and around the river culturally very strange. There is an obsession with genitalia and urinals, insults and proverbs - is this current, normal Chinese fiction ?

I found this a very poignant book. The authors vivid descriptions of loss and betrayal and the emotional turmoil and resentment on all sides is heart wrenching. A beautifully written book in an almost poetic style it is a joy to read.

Having not read 'e' I didn't quite know what to expect with 'e2' as it is written in the language of emails, webchat, and blogs.

But I needn't have worried as it is a fast paced easy to read book, with lots of laugh out loud moments that tell the story in a very innovative way.

This book is set in 1799 when Europe was in turmoil after the French Revolution. Anti Napoelon German
Nationslism was mostly in the German states that had been absorbed by France. Micheal Wrey who supported the French Revolution became very dissolutioned with the French ideals and has switched sides to become a spy for the Bishop Prince of Erzberg.

The main character is a girl called Florence who looks back on her adolesent years in France, where she spent most of her summer holidays in her grandmothers house with her cousins.

Natasha Farrant writes very well describing the fears and emotions of teenagers growing up in an adult world.The isolation that Florence felt when her parents had when she was twelve ,and her cousin Ben who could not tolerate his
fathers new wife.

This seasonal account of living off the land in an idyllic setting should have been good, but didn't work for me. Despite the graphic descriptions of the countryside, weather, plants and animals and the occasional glimpses of wry humour, apart from one section where the author tells of his grandfather and attempts to explain his attachment to that particular part of the land, I wasn't connected to the tale. This was a disappointment as having spent my childhood in the country and recently come to know this lovely area of Herefordshire, I expected to become totally engrossed.

As a mathematician I was drawn to the title of this book Two events from their childhood define Alice and Mattia's lives . Seven-year-old Alice is forced by her father to attend skiing lessons. One day, while she's waiting to go skiing, she dirties herself. She tries to get back home and falls, breaking her leg badly and earning herself a permanent limp. Mattia has a developmentally challenged twin sister, Michela, who poves to be a great embassment to him, and one day he leaves her in a park, with the promise he will be coming back to take her home soon. ..read more