The book is delightful and I enjoyed it immensely, the only downside of this paperback edition being that pages fall out as you turn them over and read them (only a problem if you drop them, which I did!). But what can you expect for £1.99?
It gives a very interesting insight into Victorian life of both poor and rich, and links what goes on in the outside world with the inner thoughts and the actions of individuals. Wonderful descriptions of people and places. Better than the television production, though rather long and needing a lot of concentration. Well worth buying, well worth reading, and I would have given it 5-star for content, but I marked it down to 4-star because of the many loose pages.
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I read Frank's autobiography last year and loved it so was excited to find out he had a second one coming out. Really interesting read, following him on tour, and finding out about how he makes people (including me!)laugh. I've got the new DVD too which he talks about in this book! Both ace!
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Don't get me wrong; this is a great read. The atmosphere created by the author really makes you feel as though you're stuck in a Tudor monastery in the middle of a blizzard yourself....and you feel as though you need to continue with the book because of this.
Sadly I feel that it's over long and drawn out. 420 pages could have been trimmed down easily without losing any of the main plot.
One other thing....I found it difficult to follow the plot when all of the main suspects are called Brother something.
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This was on show at the Good Food Show last week beside the original - Maw Broon's Cookbook. Same kind of nostalgic appeal - days oot ! Cookin' the catch o' the day, some really basic stuff too. Recipes not as old as the first cookbook perhaps, but real Broons humour and great memorabilia tucked in to the pages - a 'must-have' if you got Maw Broon's Cookbook. Compared with other cookbooks on the go this year, this is great value.
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Warning - spoiler
"The Pagan Stone", book 3 in the "Sign of Seven" - trilogy by the sensational Nora Roberts is my personal highlight in the series, there could not have been a better way to finish what was started in "Blood Brothers" and continued in "The Hollow". The book is a really intense , sometimes sweet, sometimes sexy and an always thrilling read.
In "The Pagan Stone" the six friends (Cal, Fox, Gage, Quinn, Layla and Cybil) are preparing for the finale fight to destroy the evil that Gage, Cal and Fox set free unintentionally 21 years ago. For both sides, the good and the evil, it's a now or never situation and the six know that if they don't succeed this time there will be no next chance. But there is hope because for the first time the ... Read More:
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I just finished reading the Temporal Void last night, and I would implore anyone who has a mind for imaginative sprawling space operas to buy this book. It is a wonderful addition to Hamilton's established Commonwealth series, beginning chronologically with Pandoras Star and Judas Unchained (known collectively as the Commonwealth saga), and the Void trilogy, of which the Temporal Void is number 2.
The plot picks up directly after the end of Dreaming Void, with Justine escaping Centurion Station, immediately after the Void encroachment is triggered by the Second Dreamer's rejection of the Void entity known as a Skylord. Aaron, the ANA agent, is on Hanko with Inigo and his estranged wife Corrie Lyn, trying to escape before the world implodes from an m-sink which ... Read More:
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A fantastic read! I've recommended it everyone I know, and have now starting reading the rest of Patrick Gale's books. Rough Music is also excellent.
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The plot of this very readable and exciting novel is based on actual historical doubt about the validity of King Henry VIII's claim to the throne. Sansom very convincingly conveys the web of suspicion and fear in which his hero finds himself caught. Torture and execution threaten all who conspire against the King and the novel reveals how complex and dangerous the political and religious situation was.
Also shown is the terrible hardship suffered by ordinary people as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries and the understandable anger against the reformist `southrons' who descend on York as part of The Progress. This picture brings to life the upheaval and excitement caused by King Henry's arrival with 3,000 soldiers, courtiers, servants and whores: the sounds, the smells ... Read More:
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It is perhaps appropriate that this was the first book I read after the election of America's first black President. My real reason for re-reading it, however, was for the purposes of comparison with Faulkner's "Intruder in the Dust", which deals with a similar theme. Indeed, I recently came across an allegation that Harper Lee's novel was essentially a plagiarism of Faulkner's.
The book is set in Maycomb County, Alabama, during the depression era of the 1930s. It is a first-person narrative told through the eyes of Jean Louise Finch who, for some reason, goes by the nickname Scout. Although she is only a child at the time of the events described, the narrative voice is that of the adult Jean Louise looking back at her childhood from some point in the future. The action of "Intruder in the Dust" ... Read More:
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