It's a bit strange, but Nigel Slater is one of those famous chefs that I don't actually know much about. We have one of his cookbooks that Mr C's mum bought him once as a birthday present, but we've not yet made anything from it. I'm not sure why though.My mother in Law recently lent me a copy of Slater's autobiography, Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger as she initially thought my mum would like it. It turned out that my mum had already read it, so I thought I ought to give it a go.Toast isn't really an autobiography in the traditional ... read more
Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult
After being a tad disappointed with the last Jodi Picoult I read I wasn't really too sure what to expect with Nineteen Minutes when my mother in law leant me her copy. It has certainly changed my mind about Jodi Picoult though.One think I particularly liked about Picoult when I read my first book by her, Plain Truth, was how much she researches a story. That is very obviously the case in Nineteen Minutes, in a way which almost becomes painful at times.One day seventeen year old Peter Houghton goes to school and shoots dead ten people - nine pupils and ... read more
The Welsh Girl – Peter Ho Davies
Peter Ho Davies' The Welsh Girl was a book that I picked up on a three for two offer when buying something else. I read the cover and wasn't too sure about it at first, and to be honest that was a feeling that continued through much of the book and I only felt like I'd really got into it in the last 100 pages or so.There are two threads that seem to run through much of the book. They come together, just, but it was one of the threads that I enjoyed much more than the other one. Firstly we meet Captain Rotheram, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence during ... read more
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive – Alexander McCall Smith
A return to Botswana to catch up with Mma Romotswe and the rest of the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency cast in The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. Once again it felt like being back with old friends from the first page of this book. Mma Makutsi starts thinking about whether or not a woman engaged to Mr Phuti Radiphuti should be a career woman in her own right. A rash decision may well put an end to Mma Makutsi's career, but would this be the right decision for her?Mr J. L. B. Matekoni is also considering his career. Should he remain a mechanic? Or should be too consider ... read more
Man Alive – Dave Hill
When returning some other books to the book sharing shelf at work I picked up a copy of Dave Hill's Man Alive, mainly being attracted by the cover design. I thought it may be a bit like some of the John O'Farrell books that I've enjoyed before. Not quite though.Derek Hawker does something to do with designing shopping centres. He seems to be having a mid-life crisis. His wife, Denise, has gone to China for a year to visit pandas and teach English. Son Matthew is in Australia and keeps trying to psycho-analysis his Dad over e-mail. Daughter Charlotte is a student ... read more
Garden planning
It's been a week of form filling, building societies and Mr C's birthday! The house is still progressing with solicitors involved and lots of paperwork being generated. This also means that we're starting to spend money, so fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong from here. Mr C and I have been to visit a couple of building societies about mortgages. We're waiting for one final piece of information from one and then we should be able to decide once and for all as to which we are going with. They will then need to get the survey done - fingers crossed that it won't ... read more
Exit Music – Ian Rankin
After reading Dead Souls I felt that I had to pick Exit Music up from the bookcase and read it straight away. This book is Rebus' last outing and covers his last few days as a Police officer before retirement.Rebus being Rebus means that things are of course not at all straightforward. He was planning a few quiet days in the office whilst trying to get Siobhan to help him tie up a few loose ends. Things did not go according to plan though when a dissident Russian was found dead. As Rebus and his old team start looking into it further it becomes apparent that it may ... read more
Dead Souls – Ian Rankin
I think that may have been my second reading of Ian Rankin's Dead Souls, but when I found a copy on the book sharing book shelf at work and read the cover I have to admit that I wasn't sure if I'd read it before or not. Even if I did it shouldn't distract from what is a fantastic book.I went through a bit of a Rankin and Rebus phase a few years back when I read every book that had been published at the time. It's been a while though since I picked up any of Ian Rankin's books and I'm so glad that I did as reading Dead Souls reminded me why I enjoy ... read more
Playing for Pizza – John Grisham
If you're anything like me then I'm pretty sure that you'll hear the name John Grisham and instantly think of American lawyers and books in which the underdog beats a large company, law firm or even the law itself. That's how all John Grisham books that I've read before have panned out. Playing for Pizza couldn't be more different!In this book we follow the story of Rick Dockery. Rick played American Football for an NFL team in the States, until he gave the worst performance of his life in a crucial match. At this point he became a ... read more
No time for goodbye – Linwood Barclay
The title of this book has this week more significance than I realised when I read it a week or so ago. Sadly this this week has had a complete lack of time for anything other than work and sleep, and a friend of Mr C's was tragically and suddenly taken away from him and his friends with no time for any of them to stay goodbye. Life can be incredibly cruel sometimes.------------------------------ Linwood Barclay's book tells the story of Cynthia who twenty-five years ago woke up one morning (with a teenage hangover) to find a silent house and no sign of her parents or brother. Even ... read more