http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk The online community for book lovers Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:47:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Amazingly, this is the first Sherlock Holmes story I have read – I don’t know how I have gone through life without reading one of these books but somehow I have. I have a whole volume now though, so have plenty to work my way through and enjoy. ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2010/02/14/a-study-in-scarlet-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/ I enjoyed this book. It feels like just a gentle read and quite charming on the surface, but it has quite sinister undertones. It is very cleverly written. The story is told from the viewpoint of two young boys through their games of make-believe and pretend, one ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2010/02/06/spies-by-michael-frayn/ I found this a very memorable and clever book. It is the story of Liesel, a German girl living through the Second World War. She has had a difficult start in life as she has been sent away to live with foster parents. Liesel struggles to cope ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2010/01/17/the-book-thief-by-markus-zusak/ I found this a bit of a strange book from Bryson as I expected a funny book full of amusing stories, and this is more of a text book. But it is really, really good. I loved it. The book is all about the history, formation, meanings, ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2010/01/06/mother-tongue-by-bill-bryson/ I found this quite an odd book altogether. It is quite disturbing and unsettling, yet I felt I had to read to the end to find out what would happen to the main character, Grenouille, as I couldn’t imagine what his ending would be. (I have to say ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/12/31/perfume-by-patrick-suskind/ I picked up this book for a pound in a second hand bookshop purely as the title sounded so intriguing – there is just something about the thought of reading a diary, something almost forbidden and guilt inducing. Then I read the back and realised the inn in question ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/12/02/an-innkeeper%e2%80%99s-diary-by-kit-chapman/ Review supplied by Ekta In today’s difficult times when mother nature is warming up, human relations are faltering and freedom is being misused, “Temple of Destiny” is a welcome reading. It takes us into a world of self-observation and self-realisation. The simple positive medium of connectivity with nature touches the soul. ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/11/27/temple-of-destiny-by-neeraj-singhvi/ This is a children’s book so is not one I would normally read, and I therefore find it difficult to judge whether it was good or not as I’m obviously not the target reader, and the subject matter (spies) isn’t really one that interests me greatly. But having ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/11/27/stormbreaker-by-anthony-horowitz/ I do absolutely adore Penny Vincenzi books, but, although I enjoyed this, I felt it wasn’t one of my favourites and I probably wouldn’t read it again and again as I do her others. Normally one of the main things I like about Vincenzi’s books are the details of ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/11/04/wicked-pleasure-by-penny-vincenzi/ Review supplied by Jack Henry Collings Close to the wind by Ben Ainslie is the best book of my life it has thrills and depressing times in this breathtaking autobiography http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/11/04/close-to-the-wind-by-ben-ainslie/ I find it difficult to judge whether I actually enjoyed this book or not. On the plus side it is an extremely gripping read, very clever plot twists, and a book you end up thinking about while you’re sat at work waiting to get home in the evening to ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/10/28/blindsighted-by-karin-slaughter/ I had been keen to read this book for ages as I know it’s received really good reviews and attention (and I usually like the Richard & Judy Book Club choices too!). But I found it quite an odd book. The first two thirds seemed to drag, the ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/10/14/arthur-george-by-julian-barnes/ Review supplied by Sue As a new reader of Robert Goddard novels Into the Blue was recommended to me by a friend as being 'one of the best'! I certainly wasn't disappointed! 'Unputdownable' from the start - Goddard enables the reader to get to know the main characters and ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/10/07/into-the-blue-by-robert-goddard/ I wasn’t really thinking I’d particularly like this book, as I’m not into mountain climbing and cannot comprehend that urge to climb something just because it is there and to put your life in danger doing so. But I honestly couldn’t put the book down; and all the time ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/08/02/touching-the-void-by-joe-simpson/ Review supplied by Rob Larkins I found this book very readable and enjoyable. It is one of the Inspector Lynley books. Lynley is walking along the South West Coastal path in an effort to deal with the death of his wife, and is wanting to leave his life and ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/08/01/careless-in-red-by-elizabeth-george/ I had only read Du Maurier’s better known books before (Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn) so wondered if her lesser known ones would be as gripping. This perhaps wasn’t as foreboding and as full of unseen menace as Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, but it was gripping ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/07/26/frenchman%e2%80%99s-creek-by-daphne-du-maurier/ I adore all the Jeeves & Wooster books, they actually make me laugh out loud. They are completely silly, but totally charming, and I love the world in which Bertie Wooster lives. The situations he finds himself in are so funny, and he is so totally inept at ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/07/26/jeeves-in-the-offing-by-pg-wodehouse/ Review supplied by Matthew Martin I chose to read this novel because it was the winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Award and I like to support new writers and discover new talent for myself. I loved this book, I found the style of writing easy to read and the story ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/07/26/half-truths-and-white-lies-by-jane-davis/ Review supplied by Daryl Moore pimp is an epic biopic an insight into the inner workings of a razor sharp mind. Living the gritty life of a pimp on the streets grimy streets of Chicago in a time cleverly forgotten. Slim passes down age old lessons in pimpdom on how ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/07/26/pimp-by-iceberg-slim/ I began this book with great anticipation as I adore all the other Wilkie Collins’ novels that I have read. However, I didn’t rate this one as highly as I have done the others – I still enjoyed it, but it didn’t have the suspense factor and excitement of ... http://www.classicbookclub.co.uk/2009/06/27/hide-and-seek-by-wilkie-collins/