The Road Back by Liz Harris

The Road Back by Liz Harris

 When Patricia accompanies her father, Major George Carstairs on a trip to Ladakh, north of the Himalayas, in the early 1960s, she sees it as a chance to finally win his love. What she could never have foreseen is meeting Kalden – a local man destined by circumstances beyond his control to be a monk, but fated to be the love of her life. Despite her fathers fury, the lovers are determined to be together, but can forbidden love survive?

The story is classic, girl meets boy, controlling father forbids it, adversity needs to be overcome, and the rest as they say is history. However, this story takes the reader on so many twist’s and turns it becomes the ultimate emotional roller coaster. This book has all of the special ingredients we have come to expect from the Choc Lit library and does not disappoint. Im not going to give any spoilers but you will need the hankies along the way and a box of Malteesers, a cosy beanbag and the phone switched off would mean you really do get the full benefit of this wonderful novel.

Liz Harris has a degree in English and therefore the quality of the writing is excellent and it a real treat to enjoy. As well as following the story of Patricia, Kalden and others, the trip to Ladakh is insightfully picturesque and a fraction of the cost of going for real but no less vivid. 

The Commuting Bookworm 27/09/12

The Secret She Kept by Amelia Carr

As it was an Advance Reading Copy I was sent to review by Newbooks Magazine, there is no blurb on the back of my copy telling me what this novel is about, or what to expect.  This always makes for an exciting adventure within the pages and this book is no disappointment. I will focus on the barebones of the story but concentrate on how I enjoyed it, so as not to give any spoilers.

The story jumps between the 1950’s and the late 1980’s. We have Fliss and Jo who are sailing partners and best friends. When Fliss finds herself pregnant in the 1950’S she has no alternative but to marry Martin. We really get a bit of social history because the narrative tells us about the cars, the house and also people’s perception at the time. We also know about the emotions of heartbreak surrounding young girls who had to have babies adopted.

 In the 1980’S are introduced to Emma and we follow her journey for the search of the truth.  We follow her onto the Jubilee Sailing trust’s boat The lord Nelson, where she becomes a watch leader and becomes friends with a young disabled woman called Mel.  

Amelia Carr transforms us from one era, to another and keeps us attached to all of the characters in the most substantial way. I found myself being so attached to this book, I was even stirring the dinner whilst reading, so unable to leave it, it is a real page turner. I feel that Emma is my own personal  friend; I cared so very much about her and her story.

There is no disappointment in this emotional page turner, it has several ‘love stories’ for the romantics amongst us, lots of interest for those who like a bit of social history and plenty of emotional action and the twist and turns would make Agatha Christie jealous! 

Personal Read 5 : Reading Group 5

The Commuting Bookworm 06/09/12

http://www.newbooksmag.com/

Police, Crime & 999 by John Donoghue

I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the author, however this in no way has influenced my review.

I found this book to be laugh out load funny in many places, John has a very wicked sense of humour and this comes out in his reminiscence of situations he has found himself in, whilst on duty as a Police constable some where up north in the UK.

Because of his location, I found some of the stereo types of people quite sad, but I do know from personal experience they are probably very true. I’m sure he has cleaned up many of the stories so that they do not cause offence and to protect the innocent (and those that could influence his career). 

A well written book that has been written in a narrative form and therefore sometimes John does digress, and you feel like you want to prod him back on track of his original story. However, this is a trait that so many ex-solders have, and it’s a bit endearing and reminds me of sitting in the pub listening to my dads (also ex-solder) stories. Because each chapter is a separate incidence, this is a great book for having by your bed side or in the bathroom as it is perfect for dipping in and out of when you only have a few minutes to read.

The Commuting Bookworm 04/09/12

Vampire State of Mind by Jane Lovering

Jessica Grant knows vampires only too well. She runs the York Council tracker programme making sure that Otherworlders are all where they should be, keeps the filing in order and drinks far too much coffee. To Jess vampires are annoying and arrogant and far too sexy for their own good, particularly her ex-colleague Sil. When a

demon turns up and threatens the equilibrium they must work together. The stakes are high, the challenge is great and to top it all off she’s falling in love…

This is my first vampire novel and therefore I had no pre-conceived ideas as to what to expect, I also had no knowledge of what is excepted or known about vampires (They can drink synthetic blood, live forever ect) and I managed to stay in this story. Lovering explains the things that the reader needs and in a way that keeps the pace of the novel moving.

As expected (because it’s from the Choc Lit library) this story has you laughing, empathising, understanding and really feeling the emotions of the characters.  Lovering has a great knack at tying the reader in emotionally with all of the main characters and being able to see all points of view.

Terrific love story set within the Vampire world. Easily read and will make a great summer holiday read. Not to be missed. 

http://www.choc-lit.co.uk/html/vampire_state_of_mind.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampire-State-Mind-Jane-Lovering/dp/1906931747

Girl Reading by Katie Ward

The Blurb on the back tells us: An Orphan poses nervously for a Renaissance maestro in Medieval Siena, and an artist servant girl in 17^th century Amsterdam snatches a moment away from her work to lose herself in tales of knights and battles. In a Victorian photography studio, a woman holds a book that she barely acknowledges while she waits for the exposure and in Shoreditch bar in 2008 a woman reading catches the eye of a young man who takes her picture.

What is perhaps not apparent is that this book is a collection of short stories; all have a woman at the centre, and man somewhere and emotion everywhere. Viv Groskop, The Times states this book “has a real beating heart”, and I would agree with that statement. The book as a piece of literature is brilliant. I could really have got an essay out of this for so many courses in the past and I am confident some course lecturer will pick this as content for one of their books. It’s brilliantly written and the change in voices could be compared to David Mitchell (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) without a doubt. Any women’s reading group that chose this book would not be disappointed and they would run over time in their discussions.

It is somewhat more intellectual than your average bestseller and therefore if you are after something a bit more stimulating to read this would make an excellent choice, curled up in the beanbag, in front of the fire whilst it is pouring down with rain.

The Commuting Bookworm 08/08/12

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

I was supplied this book by We Love This Book for review, However the review is my un-biased and not influenced by any one else’s  opinion.

A tiny man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki, for two hundred years the sole gateway between Japan and the West. Here, in the dying days of the 18^th Century, a young Dutch clerk arrives to make his fortune. Instead he looses his heart but keeps his integrity.

This is one of those books that on reflection after reading it, when you go to list all of the things you have got out of it, you realise it’s a huge epic. To skate on but a few, we read about “Those Yankee leeches” and we realise that this was the time that the English were trying to get rid of the Dutch occupancy of New York in America. We also learn about the collapse of the Dutch East India company 1799. Mitchell also does a great honour to the culture of the Japanese of that period.

This book fits into so many boxes, it’s a love story, it’s a piece of social history, he covers the Dutch and Japanese trading exploits in much the same way as Dickens covered the social history of English childhood poverty in the 19^th Century. However, due to Mitchells fluid voices of different characters, its not a dusty old history lesson but an escape through a portal just like all other time-travellers.

This read would suit anyone who likes their books with a bit more meat on the bones, something a bit more challenging than a top 10 casual BOGOHP (buy one get one half price) but not quite as heavy as a Dickens, Trollop of any of the great classics.

The Commuting Bookworm 27/06/12

Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue The Story of an Accidental Family

Set in a part of Derbyshire (Chesterfield), the home to the Nash family and their corner shop, which served a small mining community. However this is no ordinary family. It’s a story about how three lost children of different generations found love and a home with people who had big hearts. The story starts with her great-grandfather, a fairground boy, given away when his parents left for America in 1865, then how her great aunt, who was rescued from an industrial school in 1909 and finally of her own mother was adopted as a baby in 1930 via the NCAA (National Children Adoption Association) and bought from London to Chesterfield.

The story spans three generations of attitudes regarding adoption and two world wars. Through the delightful story we learn from a social history point of view our changing attitudes to adoption, poverty, and what it is to be of a certain class. We learn about the tales of how the miners lived, the poverty, how they treated their wives and how the families survived. Along the way we get to know about how accepting often already a poor society can be regarding different people such as gypsies, teachers, bakers.  

We also get a snippet of attitudes of people during the Great War from a family perspective, of how families, wives and children coped with the restrictions, loss, injuries and aftermath of the both wars.

The tale itself trots along at the pace of life, at a rate to keep the reader interested but not so fast you think you have missed chunks of time. All characters are accounted for and no threads are left untied which is also nice. As with all families there are a lot of members to put into place, and it is necessary to remember who uncle_ is related to and therefore who auntie _ is married to, however by careful reading and remembering a few names this is not impossible.

There was sufficient depth to the book to make it a really good quality read and although I normally steer away from ‘memoirs’ I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this period.

The Commuting Bookworm 13/07/12 on behalf of Newbooks Magazine http://www.newbooksmag.com/