Hello!
My chosen quote today is by Margaret Mead. Margaret Mead (1901-1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured as an author and speaker in mass media during the 1960’s and 1970’s.
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”
Margaret Mead
Happy Reading
WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.
The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I seem to have been quite busy this week so far which has has sadly meant less reading.
What I am Currently Reading
Still reading this and still enjoying it. I just wish I had more time to read it.
What I Have Recently Finished Reading
I read this whilst my husband was watching the Grand Prix and I think this will be a new tradition for me. Reading a Maigret book whilst the Grand Prix is on should help my Goodreads Challenge. Review will follow shortly.
What I Think I will Read Next
As usual I’m never sure what I will read next but maybe it will be one of these.
Please drop me a link with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
The House Party: A Short History of Leisure, Pleasure and the Country House Weekend by Adrain Tinniswood
Blurb
A delightful journey through the glamorous story of the English country house party by the bestselling historian.
Croquet. Parlour games. Cocktails. Welcome to a glorious journey through the golden age of the country house party – and you are invited.
Our host, celebrated historian Adrian Tinniswood, traces the evolution of this quintessentially British pastime from debauched royal tours to the flamboyant excess of the Bright Young Things. With cameos by the Jazz Age industrialist, the bibulous earl and the off-duty politician – whether in moated manor houses or ornate Palladian villas – Tinniswood gives a vivid insight into weekending etiquette and reveals the hidden lives of celebrity guests, from Nancy Astor to Winston Churchill, in all their drinking, feasting, gambling and fornicating.
The result is a deliciously entertaining, star-studded, yet surprisingly moving portrait of a time when social conventions were being radically overhauled through the escapism of a generation haunted by war – and a uniquely fast-living period of English history.
Review
We bought this book when we visited Croome last month and it has been tempting me to read it ever since. I could have easily read this book in one sitting as I found it so interesting but I made it last two days instead.
The book begins at the beginning of house parties starting from when Queen Elizabeth I used to visit and stay at people’s houses when she was travelling through the country to when eventually the traditional house party died out.
This book is filled full of glamour, wealth, luxury and everything you can imagine that happened in fine country houses during house parties.
I loved how the book described every detail of the house party from the invitations to what food and drink would have been served and the activities people would have partaken. The stories told in this book about different house guests and their hosts were hilarious. I particularly liked the house guests who brought their own thermos flask with cocktails in to have in their room because they knew their particular hosts didn’t hold cocktails before dinner.
There were a lot of little stories in this book and a lot of famous names mentioned. However, for such a short book I think too many stories were mentioned and maybe just a few famous houses should have been focused on. To be honest I would have loved a much longer book as I could have happily read another 200 pages about the famous houses and their parties. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons and I will definitely be reading more of Tinniswood’s work.
🐲🐲🐲🐲
Purchase Links
Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery
About the author
Adrian Tinniswood has worked as an author, broadcaster, lecturer and educational consultant for nearly 30 years in both Britain and the United States. Tinniswood studied English and Philosophy at Southampton University and was awarded an MPhil at Leicester University.
Hello!
Happy Friday! I hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend.
My chosen poem today is by William Wordsworth. Wordsworth (1770-1850) was an English Romantic poet who was Poet Laureate from 1843 till his death in 1850.
I think this is a good poem for everyone who is finishing their studies this month for their summer break.
The Tables Turned Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books; Or surely you'll drop double: Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks; Why all this toil and trouble? The sun above the mountain's head, A freshening lustre mellow Through all the long green fields has spread, His first sweet evening yellow. Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife: Come, hear the woodland linnet, How sweet his music! on my life, There's more of wisdom in it. And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! He, too, is no mean preacher: Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher. She has a world of ready wealth, Our minds and hearts to bless - Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health, Truth breathed by cheerfulness. One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; Our meddling intellect Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things: - We murder to dissect. Enough of Science and of Art; Close up those barren leaves; Come forth, and bring with you a heart That watches and receives. William Wordsworth
Happy Reading
Hello!
Some of you might have read that I have been attempting to read all of the Agatha Christie novels in order of publication but I haven’t really made it into a challenge but I have decided that it needs to be a challenge because I like ticking things off lists. This challenge only includes Christie’s full length novels and not her books of short stories.
So here is the big list of books. The crossed off titles are the ones I have already read and reviewed, click them to be taken to the review.
So just 74 books to read! Thankfully, I have already read 3 of these books so that just leaves 71 which is still a lot of books.
Wish me luck!
Happy Reading
Hello!
Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a good week so far.
My chosen quote this week is by Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs (1955-2011) was an American business magnate, industrial designer, investor and media proprietor.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
Steve Jobs
Happy Reading
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.
Hello!
I hope this post finds everyone well and having a good week so far.
This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is rather different and it is to celebrate Jana’s birthday. Happy Birthday Jana!
So this week you post ten books that you would love to own and also post your Wishlist in case anybody would like to grant you a wish. I will be going blog hopping today to see if I can grant a few people their bookish wishes.
So here are ten books off my extensive Wishlist.
6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – Being a classics student has left me wanting to read loads of classics and this has been on the Wishlist for a while.
7. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell – I came across this book years ago on a TV programme done by the BBC but sadly I have never got around to reading it.
8. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje – Another book I have been wanting to read for what seems like forever.
9. Flowers in the Rain and other stories by Rosamunde Pilcher – Pilcher is one of my favourite authors, I just love her writing.
10. Evelina by Frances Burney – This is a bit of a wild card because I can honestly say I do not remember why it is on my Wishlist.
So there are my ten books and here is my Wishlist. Please don’t feel like you have to grant any wishes, I am just glad you stopped by for a read of my post. However, if you do grant a wish I am extremely grateful.
Right I am off to grant a few wishes. I feel like a fairy godmother!
Thank you.
Happy Reading.
These Violent Nights by Rebecca Crunden
Blurb
Once upon a time, inhabitants of another world tore a hole through the universe and came to Earth. They called themselves Suriias, and rivalled humans in knowledge and skill with one great exception: they had magic.
War followed. Humanity lost. And three hundred years later, humans are on the brink of extinction.
Orphans Thorn and Thistle live in hiding. They are the last of their families, the last of their friends. They scrape by, stealing to survive and living on the streets or hiding in sheds. But even under the brutal regime of the Suriias, there are places where humans can mingle in secret with magical sympathisers, and one night Thistle gets an unexpected offer of marriage from a Suriia with high standing and friends in all the right places. For Thistle, it’s a chance at safety and comfort; for Thorn, it’s a chance to find the ones who killed her parents.
And so the pair move into the capital city of Courtenz. An urban monstrosity of magic and might, false friends and flying cars, drones and death tolls, the new city promises a fresh start – and new love – for both.
But if there’s one thing Thorn knows for certain, it’s that dreams can swiftly turn into nightmares.
Review
Firstly, a massive thank you to Rebecca Crunden for gifting me a copy of her wonderful book These Violent Nights in exchange for an honest review.
This is rather a substantial book and I was a bit worried about the size of the book when I first started reading it because I struggled to get into it to start with. However, thankfully I kept reading because I was soon hooked and was pleased at the size of the book because I did not want to leave the characters and finish the book.
Thistle and Thorn are humans who live in hiding from the Suriias who are magical beings from another world. Thistle and Thorn have a very sad past and this has left both of them scarred both emotionally and physically. When Nithin who is a Suriia proposes to Thistle, Thistle and Thorn move in with Nithin and his best friend Kol. Thistle is overjoyed to be safe and living in wealth and comfort but Thorn only sees it as an access to find the murderer of her parents.
I really felt sorry for Thorn during this book. She is forced to live with the very species she fears and hates and even though Nithin and Kol support humans and are fighting for the humans’ rights Thorn struggles to trust and believe them. At the same time Thorn sees her best friend slowly slip away from her and change. Thorn feels alone and angry with everything and no matter how much Kol tries to help her she still resists. I completely agree with the character Lucien who says that Thorn has never had a chance to breathe.
Thistle annoyed me and made me rather angry at times because she hurt Thorn so much. Yes, Thistle wanted to start living life and enjoy her new found freedom and wealth but she forgot her best friend at times and didn’t see just how much Thorn was suffering.
I loved the concept of this book and I loved how in the end humans and Suriia had to work together and overcome each species’ difficulties. I also loved the different romances that occurred within the book and how they crossed species. This book was brilliant and I will definitely be reading more books by Rebecca Crunden. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
🐲🐲🐲🐲
Purchase Links
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
Blurb
An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course.
But why is the dead man wearing his son’s overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse . . .
Review
This is the second full length Poirot novel I have read and I will be honest it kept me on my toes. This book is so full of red herrings I was never sure of who the murderer was until Poirot explained all at the end.
The more I read the Poirot stories the more I realise just how amazing he is and far better than the TV version. Poirot is funny, eccentric, cheeky and quite naughty at times. Hastings is his usual useless and silly self, always jumping to the wrong conclusions and getting into trouble.
In this book Poirot and Hastings rush off to France to help a man who has written begging for Poirot’s help as he believes his life is in danger. However, when they get there they realise that they are too late and instead of protecting someone they have a murder to solve instead.
Poirot has competition in the form of the young French detective Giraud. Giraud believes Poirot is a dinosaur and believes that Poirot will never solve the murder because his methods are old fashioned. Giraud rather amusingly spends most of the time on his hands and knees crawling around for clues and generally not finding them.
There are so many things that do not add up in this murder but Poirot uses his little grey cells to work them out and also finds time to sort out Hastings’ love life. I also loved how Poirot sometimes called himself Papa Poirot to Hastings.
I really enjoyed this book and I loved learning more about Poirot’s character but did find Hastings very annoying at times. Christie is so clever at writing a murder plot with so many different aspects you never see what is really happening until the end. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
🐲🐲🐲🐲
Purchase Links
Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. She also wrote the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap. She also wrote 6 novels under the name Mary Westmacott.
Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Happy Monday!
I hope you have all had a good start to the week.
I thought I would take part in Goodreads Monday this week. The answer is below the cats. Good luck!
“Andrew looked at the coffin and tried to remember who was inside it. It was a man, he was sure of that. But, horrifically, the name escaped him. He thought he’d narrowed it down to either John or James, but Jake had just made a late bid for consideration. It was inevitable, he supposed, that this had happened. He’d been to so many of these funerals it was bound to at some point but that didn’t stop him feeling an angry stab of self-loathing.”
Get Guessing!
and the answer is…
Sometimes you have to risk everything to find your something…
Andrew works with death for a living. Searching for people’s next of kin and attending the funerals if they don’t have anyone, he’s desperate to avoid the same fate for himself. Which is fine, because he has the perfect wife and 2.4 children waiting at home for him after a long day. At least, that’s what he’s told people.
The truth is, his life isn’t exactly as people think and the little white lie he once told is about to catch up with him.
Because in all Andrew’s efforts to fit in, he’s forgotten one important thing: how to really live. And maybe, it’s about time for him to start.
Please drop me a comment with your Goodreads Monday and will go over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Lady Book Dragon 