Under the Garden by Graham Greene (Review)

Under the Garden by Graham Greene

About the author

Graham Greene (1904-1991) wrote over twenty novels, including the masterpieces The Power and the Glory and The Heart of the Matter, as well as three volumes of autobiography, four travel books and essays, short stories, plays and numerous book and film reviews.

Blurb

Strange characters and mysterious threats will keep readers enraptured in this tale of a man who revisits his childhood home and recalls a youthful adventure “under the garden”.

Review

This short story first appeared in A Sense of Reality, I have read it as a Penguin 60 but it is available in the Graham Greene Twenty-One Stories.

So this is my first read of the Penguin 60’s that I bought whilst on holiday, at 87 pages long it did not take me long to read.

The story is based on Wilditch, a man who has health problems, returning to his childhood home and reliving an adventure he had in the garden as a child. The question is did it really happen or is it a young boy’s imagination running wild?

Wilditch is clearly a man of the world, he has been in WWII and has traveled almost everywhere but now he is back in England at his childhood home trying to decide what to do next with his health. Wilditch is clearly very different from his brother and was obviously different to his mother who sounds like a real awkward character who hates mistakes, fantasy and rejoices in cold hard facts, not an ideal mother when you are a child with a wild imagination. It is no wonder that Wilditch spent all his time as a child in the garden and when he was old enough left home as soon as he could.

Wilditch’s memory of his childhood adventure is amazingly vivd and made me wonder how a child could make up such an adventure and all the details of the conversations he had. The story left me wanting to know more and desperately wanting Wilditch to go back to the garden and check the story and although he does it still doesn’t answer all my questions.

I enjoyed the story but just felt dissatisfied at the end and wanting more which is the reason I only gave the story 3 out of 5 Dragons. A good little read and I think I will get the complete short stories and have a read of those as well.

To Purchase the Twenty-One Stories

Waterstones

Lady Book Dragon

Star Sullivan by Maeve Binchy (Review)

Star Sullivan by Maeve Binchy

About the author

Maeve Binchy was born on the 28th May 1939 in County Dublin and was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer and journalist. After a short spell as a teacher Binchy became a journalist with the Irish Times, for which she wrote feature articles and columns. Her first novel Light a Penny Candle, was published in 1982, and from then she has written more than a dozen novels and short stories. Several of her novels have been adapted for cinema and television. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award at the British Book Awards in 1999. She sadly passed away in 2012 at the age of 73.

Blurb

Molly Sullivan said that the new baby was a little star. She was no trouble at all and she was always smiling… so she became known as Star.

Star Sullivan just wanted everyone to be happy- her father to stop gambling, her mother not to work so hard, her brother to stay out of trouble, her sister to stop worrying about every little thing she ate. Then Laddy moved in next door – and everything began to change, until Star was no longer the sweet, thoughtful girl everyone loved and no one worried about…

Review

I’ve never read a book by Maeve Binchy and when I saw this in the book pile at church I thought I would give it a try as it was only a quick read of 106 pages. I must admit I read it in one sitting but shouldn’t have started it so late at night because I ended up going to bed at 1am. Not good when you have work in the morning.

I really enjoyed Binchy’s style of writing and I will definitely read more of her books. I liked how real life the story was and how well it all flowed. I also appreciated how Binchy fit a good story into such a short space without the story suffering.

Star, the main character of the book, in my opinion has been let down massively by her family. She is a beautifully kind soul who worries about everyone, she worries so much that she doesn’t notice or care about her own wellbeing. She is very naive and her parents and older siblings do not try to help, teach or really notice the poor girl. Everyone is wrapped up in their own lives and worries that they do not nice Star worrying about everyone else and not growing up herself.

The other element I do not understand in this book is why they turn on her? When I read the blurb I thought it was going to be a typical tale of good girl goes bad because of bad friends etc. However that is not the case, Star still remains her good natured self just trying to help her family and friends.

I also did not understand Laddy at all especially at the end when he turned on Star’s family. The whole thing was rather a mystery to me as was Kenny’s sudden turn of character.

Overall I enjoyed the book and was pleased with the ending, although I was a little confused in places, may be the confusion is just me though. I think Star was very let down by her family and friends but thankfully rose above all this and turned into a mature, hard working adult, who didn’t worry so much about others. I gave this story 3 out 5 Dragons and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a quick little read.

To purchase

Waterstones

Lady Book Dragon

ABC Book Challenge

Hello Everyone!

I’ve decided to take part in ABC Book Challenge because I’ve been seeing it quite often and it looks rather fun.

So here goes with the letter A. I am only listing the books that I have given 4 or 5 Dragons as otherwise I will be here forever.

Books I have loved beginning with A

Able Sea Cat Simon: The Wartime Hero of the High Seas by Lynne Barrett-Lee

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

American Ghosts & Old World Wonders by Angela Carter

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Antrax by Terry Brooks

Books on my TBR list beginning with A

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Angel Time by Anne Rice

Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession by Alison Weir

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

The Assassination of Margret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel

Have you read any of these books? I would love to hear your thoughts. Also please drop me a link to your blog if you are also doing the ABC Book Challenge.

I will be posting B very soon.

Lady Book Dragon.

Happy Star Wars Day!

May the 4th be with you all!

Yes, I love Star Wars and to me 4th May is Star Wars Day.

From an early age I have been obsessed with the Star Wars franchise I have even read a lot of the books attached to the franchise. I remember getting all the books I could find attached to the making of the movies and reading everything I could about them. All in all I love Star Wars and thankfully so does my husband.

I think the old traditional fight of good versus evil fought across galaxies is the main reason I love the story but also because hey lightsabers are amazing!

So if you are also a massive Star Wars fan like myself please feel free to comment with your reasons for the franchise addiction.

Lady Book Dragon.

Friday Poetry

I read this poem a few days ago and it has really stuck with me. I think I am becoming a real fan of prose poems, I just really enjoy reading them. Maybe I don’t like rhyming? Who knows?

Anyway my chosen poem is by Max Ehrmann. The poem offers words of advice and encouragement and at its core is the message ‘Be yourself’.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggresive persons,

they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than

yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden

misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

Words to live by I think. Photo is from my walk yesterday after the rain had finished.

Happy Friday!

Lady Book Dragon.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Review)

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

About the author

Elly Griffiths was born in London and began her career in publishing, she then turned to writing full time. In 2016 she won the CWA Dagger in the Library for her work. Griffiths lives in Brighton with her family and the cat Gus.

Blurb

A child’s bones are discovered near the site of a pre-historic henge on the north Norfolk coast, and the police ask local forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway to date them. Are these the remains of a local girl who disappeared ten years ago?

DCI Harry Nelson refuses to give up the hunt for this missing child. Ever since she vanished, someone has been sending him bizarre anonymous notes about ritual sacrifice, quoting Shakespeare and the Bible. He knows Ruth’s instincts and experience can help him finally put this case to rest.

Then a second child goes missing, and Ruth finds herself in danger from a killer who knows she’s getting ever closer to the truth…

Review

A couple of months ago I read the latest Dr Ruth Galloway book The Stone Circle and absolutely loved it. Since then I was determined to read all of the series and have been buying the books when visiting Waterstones stores. So a few days ago I began the first novel in the series which actually links in with The Stone Circle.

I just love the character of Ruth, she is an academic who doesn’t seem to care about what people’s opinions of her are. It is clear her weight is an issue though as she thinks about it a lot in this book but doesn’t really do anything about it. She is a woman who just seems to have reached a certain age and has decided she is happy in her own skin and circumstances. She lives in a tiny remote cottage in the middle of nowhere but she loves it and she definitely loves her own company.

Harry is a tough DCI who takes no nonsense and has seen a lot in his job. He has developed a hard shell that takes a lot to break but certain cases like child abductions do get through and cause him a lot of pain. He comes across as an arrogant and grumpy cop but he has a heart and a caring side, which comes across as the story goes on.

I loved how this story has the archaeology in it as well, I found it so fascinating how Ruth excavated the bones and recorded everything down. I loved the references in the mysterious letters and how Ruth methodically works out where they all come from. Ruth is methodical in everything she does and gets excellent results. Harry does not come across as methodical, more run from one clue to another and try and figure it out as he goes along. Even though he says to Ruth he likes lists, he doesn’t come across as a list person to me, but maybe that is just how I am interpreting him.

The ending of the book was a massive surprise to me as I did not see the end result at all and that made me love the book even more. I do have a habit of predicting the end of crime novels but with this book I thought I knew the ending but was very wrong. The other element I loved was that I started to meet Harry’s team and hope in the following books I learn more of the team members as I find them very intriguing.

The other character I absolutely loved was Cathbad, he seems surreal to me and rather amusing with his druid ways. The main thing that comes across though is that he is happy, unbelievably happy and completely at one with himself and nature. The druid way of life obviously has some benefits.

Overall I loved this book and would happily recommend it to anybody who will listen to me. I will be lending my copy to my dad as he loves a good crime novel. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and I can not wait to start reading the next one in the series. I am officially hooked to the Dr Ruth Galloway Mystery series.

To Purchase

Waterstones

Lady Book Dragon

Mid Week Quote: Laozi

Happy Wednesday!

Firstly, I want to say a big hello and thank you to all my new followers, I hope you will enjoy my blog.

My chosen quote is attributed to Laozi who was a philosopher in ancient China. The quote is from the Tao Te Ching which is regarded by some as a text made up from many individuals input and by others as soley written by Laozi. Laozi is regarded as one of the founders of Tao. Taoist thought emphasises nonaction, contentedness and simplicity in life. The quote reflects this.

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

Laozi

c. 550 BCE

The photo is from a walk yesterday and the reason I chose it was because at the time I was content and feeling very relaxed.

Lady Book Dragon.

April 2019 Wrap Up

Well April hasn’t been exactly as I expected. To be honest I wanted to do a lot more reading but I have struggled to get any real reading done this month. However I have done some Waterstones adventures, so that makes me feel better.

Books I have Read

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton

Thorns in a Realm of Roses: The Henry Queens by Thomas Crockett

The Time for Murder is Meow by T. C. LoTempio

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Click on the pictures to go to the reviews.

Waterstones Stores Visited

Walsall

Peterborough

Wells

Poems from April

Last Words by Peter Porter

The Railway Children by Seamus Heaney

Good Friday by Christina Rossetti

St George and the Dragon by Finola Akister

My favourite was Good Friday by Christina Rossetti, I plan on getting the complete poems by Rossetti soon as I really want to read more.

A good month but I hope in May I manage to read a few more books. I must admit I am really enjoying NetGalley and the new books I get to read. I hope everyone had a good April.

Lady Book Dragon.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (Review)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

About the author

Samantha Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. She is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bone Season series. She currently lives in London.

Blurb

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Review

I got very excited about this book and dragged my husband out to Waterstones to buy it for me (he is very good at feeding my book addiction) on the day it came out. I had the last copy in the store. Needless to say I went straight home and started reading it. However due to a heavy work load and falling asleep instead of reading it has taken longer than expected to finish.

I loved this book and at times I could not put it down. I loved the idea of good dragons and bad dragons and that the two dragons are very different from each other. The history and religion in this book are fantastic and very well thought out by Shannon, she gave a thorough background of both, where no holes were visible. I adored the world Shannon created and did not want to leave it.

Ead was such a strong powerful character who you couldn’t help but support and love. I did find Queen Sabran a little bit trying at times and to be honest that is when I had to put the book down for a while and also why the book got 4 dragons instead of 5 but I suppose all monarchs can be trying at times.

The other element I found enchanting was Tané and her relationship with her dragon. I was so worried for both of them and found myself tense with worry and anticipation. It reminded me of the love a human has with their dog or horse, as a dog or horse are fiercely loyal to their owner and will generally do anything to help and protect them. I could not get enough of dear Tané.

I desperately wanted to know more about the history of the trees and magic in this world and I really hope that Shannon does decide to do another book instead of keeping this book as a stand alone. I WANT TO KNOW MORE! Shannon in my opinion has been clever with the ending as she could easily do a sequel. I gave this book 4 out of 5 Dragons because I did love it and have recommended it to friends and family. The reason it didn’t get the full 5 Dragons was because of Queen Sabran and the fact in the middle I found it dragged slightly, but overall an amazing book.

Purchase

Waterstones

Lady Book Dragon.

Down the TBR Hole #7

Time for another installment of Down the TBR Hole!

Down the TBR Hole was the brain child of Lost In A Story. The idea is to reduce the length of your Goodreads TBR.

How it works:

Go to your Goodreads want to read shelf.
Order on ascending date added
Take the first 5 or 10 books.
Read the synopses of the books.
Decide: keep it or should it go

The list is now at 482, lets see if we can shrink it a little bit more.

The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857) is a pioneering biography of one great Victorian woman novelist by another. Gaskell was a friend of Bronte’s and, having been invited to write the official life, determined to both tell the truth and honor her friend. This edition collates all three previous editions, as well as the manuscript, offering fuller information about the process of writing and a more detailed explanation of the text than any previous edition.

I was sure I had read this book but it appears no where on any of my old reading journals or Goodreads so obviously I have not read it. I do own it so I might have just read bits of it dipping in when I’m in the mood. This will stay on the list because I would like to read it all at some point.

KEEP

2. What Katy Did by Susan Collidge

Twelve-year-old Katy is constantly making and quickly breaking resolutions about how she will change her ways and treat others, especially her five younger brothers and sisters, with more respect and compassion. When Katy meets her Cousin Helen, an invalid, Katy is awed by her kindness, prettiness, and generosity. Katy is determined to become more like Helen, a resolution that lasts only a few hours. Soon, however, Katy gets a chance to become more like cousin Helen than she ever wished as she finds herself confined to her bedroom for four years as a result of an accident. Much of the story is focused on the change Katy undergoes during her illness. Helen visits again to advise Katy to learn from her experience and to try to become the center of the house by making her room and herself more attractive to others. One way Katy decides to take Helen’s advice is through assuming the responsibility of running the house, a job that consists of giving the servants instructions and ringing her bell to summon her sisters when she has a task for them. As soon as Katy has learned the lesson about how to care for others, she recovers and regains the ability to walk.

This definitely stays on the list! I love the blurb and want to dig out my copy and read it straight away. A book I have long forgotten and this needs to be corrected.

KEEP

3. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore

A romantic adventure story set in south-west England in the 1600s. John Ridd swears revenge upon the evil Carver Doone who murdered his father. But who is the beautiful young girl he meets in Doone Valley?

This is a real mystery as I have already read it! I have many copies of this book, one a very treasured copy that my mom gave me, which she won at school when she was little. My parents took me on holiday to Lorna Doone country and I read the book whilst on holiday. I really do not understand why it is on this list. Anyway it leaves the list and goes on the Read list instead, but I think I will read it again in the future.

4. Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, first introduced in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, quickly became one of the fantasy genre’s standout characters. But Homeland first reveals the startling tale of how this one lone drow walked out of the shadowy depths of the Underdark, leaving behind a society of evil and a family who want him dead. It is here that the story of this amazing dark elf truly began.

To be honest I do not remember adding this book or why. It is also a series and I’m really struggling committing to series at the moment. So I am afraid it is bye-bye for this book.

5. The Railway Man by Eric Lomax

During the second world war Eric Lomax was forced to work on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway and was tortured by the Japanese for making a crude radio.

Left emotionally scarred and unable to form normal relationships Lomax suffered for years until, with the help of his wife Patti and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, he came to terms with what had happened and, fifty years after the terrible events, was able to meet one of his tormentors.

This has been on the list for a while and to be honest after seeing the film I am not sure I can cope with the book. I found the film very sad and disturbing and I do not think I want to relive it in the book.

GO.

Fantastic 3 down this time. I was planning on trying to do 10 books today but we are having major issues with our wi-fi and I have lost the will to live trying to use Goodreads and the fact that everything I was writing was failing to save on WordPress. Thankfully my phones hotspot came to the rescue to finish the job.

Anyway, 3 down is a massive improvement and the total has gone down to 479! Next week I definitely plan on doing 10 books, otherwise I will be here for years if I keep just doing 5 books.

Happy Reading!

Lady Book Dragon.