-
All books
-
-
-
- Mouse Tales (2)
- A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland
- By David Koenig
-
Finished on Feb 16, 2008
-
-
-
-
- Secrets of a Family Album
- By Isla Dewar
-
Finished on Mar 23, 2008
-
-
-
-
- This Is All
- The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn
- By Aidan Chambers
-
Finished on Feb 27, 2008
-
-
A unique book that should be on your must read list
-
I picked this book up on impulse at Downtown Disney back in 2006 - Virgin have these great stands with books just sitting there looking inviting and asking to be bought. My husband thought I was mad as this being a hardback - and 800 pages long - is quite a hefty tome! Of course it has since been ga ... (continue)
- — Mar 1, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- The Book Thief
- (Definitions)
- By Markus Zusak
-
Finished on Jan 27, 2008
-
-
1 person find this helpful
You'll want to enjoy this again and again... -
Review
I’ll admit that I picked this book up and was put off by the description… Nazi Germany… and narrated by Death?? Hmm not my idea of a fun read - and so it went back on the shelf.
Then someone recommended it so I thought why not give it a go.
I am so glad I changed my mind - t ... (continue)
- — Jan 28, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- The Book of Lost Things (24)
- By John Connolly
-
Finished on Mar 12, 2008
-
-
-
-
- Marshmallows for Breakfast (3)
- By Dorothy Koomson
-
Finished on Feb 9, 2008
-
-
*** This comment contains spoilers! ***
Fabulous book for a Sunday afternoon -
This is the third Koomson novel I’ve read, following The Cupid Effect and My Best Friend’s Girl, and I really enjoyed it - stormed through it in a weekend in fact - it’s just ne of those books that’s easy to read and keeps you wanting to find out more.
Koomson covers some hard hitting issues - ... (continue)
- — Feb 16, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- Don't Make Me Think (27)
- A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition)
- By Steve Krug
-
Finished
-
-
A must-read if you're involved in website design!
-
- — Dec 31, 2007 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- The Disney Mountains
- Imagineering At Its Peak
- By Jason Surrell
-
Reading since Dec 25, 2007
-
-
1 person find this helpful
Imagineering secrets at their very best -
A really interesting read about how the Disney World mountains were conceived and built - definitely a keeper!
- — Dec 31, 2007 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- Eclipse (293)
- By Stephenie Meyer
-
Finished on Jan 16, 2008
-
-
2 people find this helpful
Best one of the trilogy -
Meyer does not disappoint in the final part of the Cullen trilogy - the love triangle continues as Bella fights to combine her obsessive love for Edward with her friendship with her soul-mate Jacob. Not an easy task when vampires and werewolves are sworn enemies. It’s one of those tales where you fi ... (continue)
- — Jan 19, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- New Moon (339)
- By Stephenie Meyer
-
Finished on Jan 7, 2008
-
-
*** This comment contains spoilers! ***
Loved this one -
With Edward off *finding himself* and hoping Bella will be better off without him we get to find out more about Jacob - and his struggles as he becomes a werewolf! Check out my review here: http://www.clareswindlehurst.com/bookreviews/2008/01/10/new-moon-stephanie-meyer/
- — Jan 10, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- Twilight (402)
- By Stephenie Meyer
-
Finished on Dec 29, 2007Re-reading
-
-
A definite re-read
-
It's been a long time since I read a book pretty much in one sitting - couldn't put this down and can't wait to move onto the next in the trilogy.
- — Dec 31, 2007 | Add your feedback
-
-
-
-
- Body Surfing
- By Anita Shreve
-
Finished on Mar 18, 2008
-
-
Another great novel from Shreve
-
Rating
4 stars - a really enjoyable read
Description
At the age of twenty-nine, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing, she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a well-to-do couple as they spend a sultry summer in their o ... (continue)
- — Mar 29, 2008 | Add your feedback
-
RSS feeds: subscribe to apfopd's shelf
Helena
Lilbichwitch
Amz310783
cjspock
The Trash Pa…
Secrets of a Family Album
*** This comment contains spoilers! ***
Rating
5 stars - a book so comfortable you’ll want to read it more than once
Description - from Amazon
Compulsively neat, obsessively organised, Lily is a writer who writes about writers. When she is asked to contribute to a book on lost icons, she visits Rita Boothe - photographer ... (continue)
Rating
5 stars - a book so comfortable you’ll want to read it more than once
Description - from Amazon
Compulsively neat, obsessively organised, Lily is a writer who writes about writers. When she is asked to contribute to a book on lost icons, she visits Rita Boothe - photographer, journalist and wit - who took LSD when she was forty and never lived up to her promise. Rita shows Lily some of her photographs, including one of a beautiful, sexy creature drinking Jack Daniels in a white limousine. It is Mattie, Lily’s mother. Lily stares in wonder and with envy - she wishes she could live with such abandon. But Mattie is no longer the woman in the limo, and she and Lily’s father live in a neglected house with their neglected marriage. Lily and her siblings want to mend their parents’ rift, but Marie’s husband has walked out, and Rory avoids coming home altogether. Unless something happens, the family’s going to fade away. But something is about to happen…
Why did you choose to read this book?
The honest answer? I put my TBR books in alphabetical order and this one was next! I picked it up from the shelf and really didn’t want to read it - but that was the rule I set and so I did. Of course you could ask why I have the book on my TBR pile - and I honestly have no idea - the cover isn’t too inspiring and the blurb on the back could be more inviting - so i can only think it must have been on sale and found it’s way into my shopping basket some time ago!
A review of the book
So I’ve admitted I wasn’t too keen on reading this - and it was a little slow to start so I nearly gave in - but I forced myself to stick it out and I’m glad I did - for I really enjoyed this book. Despite the fact that the description focuses on Lily, this book doesn’t really have a main character - or a plot for that matter - rather it is a year in the life of a family, told from the point of view of each and every family member - as they go through normal life events.
It’s heart warming, it’s friendly, it’s comfortable - and it’s oh so true to life that you’ll find yourself smiling as you realise that you do these things too.
If you are part of a family, you’ve ever gone to bed on an argument, or looked at another person and assumed their life was better than yours - then you need to go and buy a copy of this book today.
And now for the book exploration
If you haven’t read this book - and plan to do so - do not read any further for there will be spoilers. If you have read it and would like to share your views then keep reading…
Could you relate to the characters? Did you empathise with them and their plight?
While the changing voices of the characters threw me at first I really enjoyed learning about each of the characters - the way they were thinking and feeling - and could empathise with each of them. Mattie - the mother - is a worrier - when someone says they have a problem she instantly fears the worse and her imagination runs away with her. Lily can be quite paranoid - and thinks that people are saying negative things about her, completely misunderstanding their words and actions.
It was interesting to see the same plot from the different points of view - to see that perceptions and assumptions are not always right - and that this can often stop you doing things that will make you happy for fear of what other people will think.
Is this book driven by the plot or the characters?
The book is definitely driven by the characters - the plot isn’t at all obvious - it’s not like a crime novel where there’s a murder to be solved, or a action adventure where there’s treasure to be found - it’s simply a year in the life of an everyday family, experiencing everyday events.
Share a quote from the book
“She still thought this family like starlings, flying together, whooshing apart, then joining one another again, milling and calling, coming back to where they’d started. She knew, of course, that she’d never truly be one of them; she just hoped that now and then they’d invite her to stand back and observe their flight”
I’m rather sad that this book has come to an end - I feel like I know these characters so well and I’m going to miss them!
Is this helpful?