First up, The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths.
Next, Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuval.
Lastly, a non-fiction book, Best Foot Forward by Susie Kelly.
Sunday, 14 May 2017
More catching up...
Yet again I'm behind on reviews. Since the beginning of May I've read three books and not had a moment to review any of them... admittedly I have been away for a week in Cornwall so that explains it a bit. So, this is yet another catch up post from me.
First up, The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths.
Ruth Galloway's new-age, Druid friend, Cathbad is cat sitting in the historical village of Walsingham in Norfolk. Out searching fot the cat one dark night he sees a vision of a woman in blue in the graveyard. Cathbad being Cathbad this doesn't bother him much until a body is discovered in a ditch and it's a woman, or 'the' woman in blue. DCI Nelson is brought in to investigate and it's not long until Ruth is brought in too via a friend who's a female priest who's been recieving hate mail. Ruth's not thrilled about this: Ruth and Nelson's daughter, Kate, is now five but Ruth has still not really come to terms with her feelings for her married daughter's father. Why does life have to be so damn complicated? Yet another superb instalment of Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series. I've loved every single one and this was no exception. I love the humour in them, the mysteries are always historically based, which suits me, and although I find Ruth and Nelson's relationship a bit frustrating... it's real. Life is messy like that for some, there are no easy answers and Ruth's struggles make me feel so sorry for her. Long may this series reign.
Next, Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuval.
A young girl, Rose, is desperate to try out her new birthday present, a bike. She rides it into the woods at Deadwood, South Dakota, and literally falls through the ground, into a giant metal hand. Many years on and Rose is a prominent scientist in charge of the project to recover the separate parts of what turns out to be a giant robot, buried thousands of years ago... but by whom? Not saying any more about this book as it would involve spoilers and for my money it would be shame to know too much about this unusual book before starting it. It's written, rather oddly, in the form of interviews by an unknown person with the main characters in the book. It's quite original and makes for a pacey read, I found it to be quite the pageturner. This is the first book in what I think is going to be a trilogy. Book two, Waking Gods, is just out I believe. I shall be reading it.
Lastly, a non-fiction book, Best Foot Forward by Susie Kelly.
I seem to have been in a bit of a French mood for some months and having a lot of fun. I'm enjoying the Jacquot murder books set in the south of France and various other books set in France have crossed my path recently. Including this non-fiction account of the author's walk across France from La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast to Lake Geneva. Susie Kelly was in no way a hiker or camper when she decided to embark on this epic journey, she pretty much suffered every step of the way and her descriptions of the state her feet got into were quite harrowing. But this was a really enjoyable recounting of the people she met, the landscapes she walked through, and how much she got lost. I really enjoyed it all, the author writes engagingly and honestly about her failings and triumphs. I shall look for more books by her.
~~~oOo~~~
First up, The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths.
Next, Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuval.
Lastly, a non-fiction book, Best Foot Forward by Susie Kelly.
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7 comments:
Sleeping Giants actually sounds kind of fascinating. I think I'm gonna need to look it up. Thanks!
Hi Cath,
I hope that you had a great time in Cornwall (what part did you visit?) and have come home good and relaxed.
Cornwall is one of my favourite places, although we do tend to drive all over when we are down there and generally make good use of our National Trust membership into the bargain. We tend to base ourselves centrally around the Newquay area if we are with the family, as that is their preferred choice, however we would probably base ourselves somewhere much quieter if we were on our own.
I am always a mile behind with my reviews and I am trying desperately to force myself into the routine of reviewing a book as soon as it is read. The trouble is, I then get further behind with my reading and more general posts. Let's face it, I just need more hours in the day!
I have just about all the Elly Griffiths books marked as 'Want To Read', so this one is definitely on my radar, although I am not so sure about your other couple of choices.
Thanks for sharing and have a good week, despite the lousy weather forecast :)
Yvonne
I've really liked some of Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series, despite the fact that they'e written in the present tense and sometimes that really irritates me, so I've read books 1-6 and then had a gap, until reading no. 9 (The Chalk Pit) and found her use of the present tense still seemed clunky, so maybe I'll give The Woman in Blue a miss.
Sleeping Giants interests me. It sounds different and I like that - I'll look out for it.
I'm behind with my review posts too - but then I usually am. Sometimes I just want to get on with reading the next book and sometimes 'real life' (holidays etc) just get in the way.
These all look interesting, Cath, but "Sleeping Giants" has me curious and rather intrigued by the style of writing. I'm just starting to try to catch up on favorite blogs and so glad I started here with yours.
Robert: It is a really interesting book, not everyone's cup of tea, but I like a bit of weird sci-fi so it suited my tastes.
Yvonne: We stayed at The Lizard for week, hired a house on the edge of the village and it was delightful. Luckily we had a good week weatherwise, this week would not have so great... I don't know Newquay that well but my daughter goes there with her son and partner, out of season, and enjoy it very much.
More hours in the day would be excellent. Who do we apply to? :-)
Elly Griffiths is an excellent author. I wouldn't recommend the sci-fi book to you but the non-fiction, French book, I would happily give to anyone as it was so readable and enjoyable.
Margaret: Oddly enough RG's use of the present tense doesn't worry me but it does in other authors so I know what you mean. I think you might like Sleeping Giants as, like me, you have an eclectic taste in books.
Penny: Sleeping Giants was interesting and really unusual and a quick enough read that you would feel you'd wasted your time if you weren't keen in the end.
Can you imagine walking like that?! I sure can't. I wonder if she was alone, and also how old she is.
Nan: I would love to be 'able' to walk like that. She was alone for most of the trip and I think she's in her mid to late forties. I just would not have confidence to do what she did, nor would I feel safe.
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