wgeddert Female. York, United Kingdom

Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin's father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity, Chaplin embarked on a film-making career which won him immeasurable success, as well as intense controversy. His extraordinary autobiography was first published in 1964 and was written almost entirely without reference to documentation - simply as an astonishing feat of memory by a 75 year old man. It is an incomparably vivid reconstruction of a poor London childhood, the music hall and then his prodigious life in the movies.

I bought the book for a Leona Lewis fan and ended up reading it myself. Nice little glossy autobiography, possibly aiming at the teen market, with only 90 pages of actual text but LOTS of photographs. In particular I liked the ones with the little Maltese dog - but then again, I'm quite partial to this breed...

The book starts with a horrific car accident after which the main protagonist finds himself in a hospital burns ward. During his year long hospital stay, a woman enters his life and a love story spanning centuries unfolds.
The book is well researched and very detailed, but still leaves quite a few questions open…

Frances Mayes – widely published poet, gourmet cook and travel writer – opens the door on a wondrous new world when she buys and restores an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. There are snippets of poetry, linguistics, Etruscan and Roman history, cookery and personal experience ranging from hard work to the joy of living in this beautiful part of the world. Hard going at times but generally good reading.

In the moments before he is born, Jimmy Tock has a strange destiny thrust upon him. His dying grandfather prophesies five dark days in his grandson’s life. The moment his grandfather dies, Jimmy emerges squalling into the world, destined to struggle against an evil so dark and pervasive only the most extraordinary of human spirits can shine through.

What dangers await Jimmy on these five dark days? What terrifying events must he survive? At each of the crisis points a mystery unfolds that will challenge his understanding of god and evil, life and death – and everything in between.

Great read, excellent humour, and a fabulous and unexpected twist…

Pleasant read set in the year 866 depicting the struggle between the English and the Danes, and the strife between Christianity and paganism. I particularly enjoyed the references to York (“Eoferwic”): “Eoferwic was, and still is, the chief city of northern England. It possesses a great abbey, an archbishop, a fortress, high walls, and a vast market. It stands beside the River Ouse, and boasts a bridge (…)” Well, not much has changed since then, has it?

Although I love Philippa Gregory's books, this - regrettably - was a bit too slow going for my taste. The book is written in three voices: George Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, who were charged with responsibility for the Mary, Queen of Scots; and the third narrator being Mary, Queen of Scots. Having read the author's full set of Tudor novels, this (to date) is the "final chapter".

If you want to establish the time line of Philippa Gregory's Tudor novels they would go: The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon); The Other Boleyn Girl (Anne Boleyn); The Boleyn Inheritance (Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard); The Queens Fool (Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I); The Virgin’s Lover (Elizabeth I) and The Other Queen (Mary Queen of Scots).