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Now Reading: Sam Savage – Firmin (Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife)
Now that I’ve finished the Lily Bard series that my parents got me for Christmas, it’s time to change it up a little bit. Mike has lent me a few books to read, so that has me sorted for the next week or two. Definitely good to not have to spend ages choosing which book to read, and I always like reading books that other people have suggested, it’s a great way to discover new authors, or different genres that I wouldn’t usually choose.The first one I’m reading is Firmin, which is about a rat that lives in a bookshop. Sounds a bit unusual, but I’ve read the first couple of chapters already and it’s looking pretty good. Can’t really judge it until I’ve read some more though!
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Review: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Counselor
So this book review is a little late, my Grandma has been in hospital the last few days, so this wasn’t a priority. She’s home now though and looking much better!I really really liked this book, although it was a bit weirder than the other 4. In this one, Lily finally decides to go for counselling to overcome the problems from her past. Then, a woman turns up dead in her counselor’s office, and it turns out that her counselor is being stalked. Having now given up most of her cleaning clients to train to become a private detective (under the tuition of Jack), Lily decides that she needs to find out who the stalker is. We spend a good portion of the book unable to decide if it is the counselor pretending to be stalked, or if it is the mysterious police woman who has just arrived in town.
Running alongside that storyline is the relationship of Lily and Jack. She got married to Jack, and now they are living together (apart from when Jack has to to back to Little Rock for business). She finds out that she is pregnant in this book, but unfortunately she only finds that out when she’s having a miscarriage.
The only thing that disappointed me in the book was the ending, as I had feared it might do. It just kind of tailed off at the end, with no definitive finish. It made me wonder if Harris had originally planned to write another book in the series and then decided not to. All in all, it was a good book though, and a brilliant series. Exactly what I would have expected from Charlaine Harris, although not quite as good as the Sookie Stackhouse series.
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Now Reading: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Counselor
So here we are on the last book in the series, it seems like it’s come far too soon! I hate it when I read a series that ends without tying up all the loose ends, like Harris’ Harper Connelly series that I read last year. What I really want from this book is for it to end in a good place. I know there won’t be any more books in the series as this one was written over 10 years ago, so it would be nice to know what will happen.Saying that though, I don’t want it to do like what Rowling did with the last Harry Potter book, and just have a couple of chapters tacked on the end about the future. I’d rather be left wanting more than to be disappointed with how it ended.
From reading the back of the book, it doesn’t seem like we will already know the victim in this book, but nothing would really surprise me. This town seems more dangerous than the town of Midsummer…
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Review: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Trollop
Woohoo! Finally caught up on my reading challenge, so I’m back on track now! This was book 5 out of 100, it’s been hard so far, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it up all year!In my last post, I speculated that I thought this book would be about Becca Whitley or Deedra Dean. Turns out I was kind of right on both counts.
Deedra was found dead by Lily right at the start of the book. All the way through the book, we were lead to believe that it was the sheriff’s brother that was guilty of the murder, but in a shocking twist at the end, we found out that Becca Whitley was not actually Becca Whitley, just someone pretending to be her in order to claim inheritance from a rich family member. Deedra had figured her out, so ‘Becca’ killed her to keep her quiet.
I also wondered about what would happen with Lily’s relationship with Jack. I was pleased to find out that they have agreed to move in together, and that they will be staying in the town of Shakespeare rather than moving to Little Rock. I guess a move would kind of throw off the book title for the last in the series!
I really enjoyed the book, although I do wish it was a bit longer. There seems to be a lot of build up throughout the book, and then murder seems to be solved very quickly and the book is over before you know it. Still another great book from Charlaine Harris though!
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Now Reading: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Trollop
Onto book 4 out of 5 in the Lily Bard series, which I have to say, I’m really enjoying!Having already read 3 books out of the series, it feels like I’m getting to know everyone within the town of Shakespeare, so from reading the title of the book, I guessed that it would either be Becca Whitley or Deedra Dean that would be the victim. Having read the back of the book, I was disappointed to find out that it was Deedra, as she seemed like quite a nice person, if a little promiscuous (as you can probably tell from the title of the book).
I’ll be interested to find out how Lily is involved this time, she seems to have an uncanny knack for finding dead bodies, I’d be a little worried if I were her. I’m also interested in seeing how her relationship with Jack carries on, she seems to be falling for him quite hard, but she’s still cautious after what has happened in her past.
I still have a bit of catching up to do with my 100 book reading challenge, but it feels like I’m getting there…
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Review: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Christmas
Thankfully (and as I had hoped), this book was not actually about Christmas, just set at Christmas, which meant I enjoyed it more than I thought.This book saw Lily go back to her hometown for her sister’s wedding, which meant she had to confront all the people from her past, who she had not seen since she left town when everyone stopped being able to look her in the eye.
Two people were killed early on in the book, but the main storyline was not about the murders, but about a little girl that had been abducted 8 years before. Lily’s private detective boyfriend (Jack) just happened to be in the same town to investigate after he had been mailed a picture in connection with the abduction. There were three possible girls that it could have been, including the daughter of her sister’s fiancé, so it was a race against time to find out the culprit before her sister possibly married an abductor.
When the mother of one of the 3 children turns up dead outside Lily’s sister’s house, things get a bit stranger, especially when her last words are ‘The Children’. At this point, Lily decides that she will help Jack to investigate, so that they can find out the truth before her sister’s wedding.
In the end, it turns out that the culprit is a man who likes little girls a bit too much, and abducted the baby on an impulse after his baby boy was born and died. Lily finds this out in a dramatic chapter while she is baby-sitting the three girls and their siblings. It was definitely a very tense part of the book, but also quite emotional too, especially when one of the girls hides her little brother so her dad can’t hurt them.
Only two books left in the series now and already I don’t want it to end, really looking forward to the next one.
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Now Reading: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Christmas
I’m now onto book 3 of 5 of the Lily Bard series that my parents bought me for Christmas. I’m loving this series so far, so I’m guessing that this one is going to be just as good.The only thing I hope out of this book is that it’s not too Christmassy. It seems like a long time since Christmas now, so I don’t want to read anything too festive. But on reading the back of the book, it looks like it might just be set at Christmas time rather than actually about Christmas.
From reading the description, it looks like we’re finally going to be introduced to Lily’s family at her sister’s wedding. It’s been two books so far and we don’t know anything about her family, other than she moved away after the terrible things that happened to her. The only problem is her sister might be marrying a killer…
Before this set of books, I’ve never really read murder mysteries before, but I’m really enjoying reading them. I have the feeling that because they’re Charlaine Harris there’s a bit more romance in these books than a usual murder mystery, but that’s one of the reasons why I like Charlaine Harris.
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Review: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Champion
Finally finished this book, it took me longer than I thought it would so unfortunately I’m still behind on my reading challenge.I enjoyed this book even more than the first in the series. After having being introduced to the characters in the last book, you can feel more involved in the story.
This major storyline of this book was to do with racial tensions and a gang of white supremacists out to cause trouble. I know this book was written a while ago, so is set in the 90’s, but I didn’t expect the book to go quite so far.
This book was a lot more violent than the first one, and I found myself quite shocked a couple of times. First of all was when a bomb went off after a meeting at a church, and I read this:
“I saw the head of the woman beside me separate from her body as a collection plate clove through her neck.”
Next was towards the end when the main character (Lily) and her friend Mookie were confronting the gang of men. The books that I read usually have happy endings, so I was shocked to read this:
“I glimpsed Mookie fixed to the wall by an arrow through her chest. Her head sagged to one side and her eyes were open”.
Apart from being a little freaked out by a couple of parts, I really enjoyed this book. The worst part of a book for me is usually the end, knowing that it’s going to be over soon, so the best part about reading a set of 5 is that you know that there’s more coming!
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Top 15 Albums of 2011
I know we’re now over a week into 2012, but I was thinking today about the best music that I heard in 2011, and I thought I’d turn it into a blog post. I’ve been told (quite often) that I have a very weird taste in music. I wouldn’t necessarily say weird, but maybe a little random and eclectic. I tried to put them into order, but that was too hard, so here they are in no particular order:
1. Wakey!Wakey! – Almost Everything I Wish I’d Said The Last Time I Saw You…
I love love love this album. I first heard the song Dance So Good on an episode of One Tree Hill and immediately fell in love with it. I’ve been to see Wakey!Wakey! live 3 times this year, twice in Nottingham and once in Manchester. Every time was completely epic, the songs have so much more passion live, and Mike Grubbs is hilarious. My favourite song is Almost Everything, the refrain of ‘It feels bad now but it’s gonna get better‘ is the best line from the album in my opinion. I only picked one Wakey!Wakey! album for the list, but I could easily have included others. A special mention to Wakey!Wakey! Wednesdays, which is a CD of cover songs, and of which I am the proud owner of a limited edition copy.
2. Chris Young – Neon
Over the past couple of years, I have developed a particular soft spot for country music, and Chris Young is my absolute favourite, his voice is so rich and smooth. I love the diversity of country music albums, from the completely random (but totally catchy) Save Water Drink Beer, to the completely beautiful Old Love Feels New. There’s no sad songs on this album like Flowers from his first album, which is one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard, although is also one of my favourites.
3. Luke Bryan – Doin’ My Thing
This album is another country music favourite, and like Chris Young, has a wide variety of songs on it. Rain is a Good Thing is about exactly what it sounds, but is so so catchy. Once I hear it, it’s in my head for the rest of the day. I have two favourites from the album, Do I and Apologize. Do I is a song from a guy asking his girlfriend is she still loves him, and the words are really emotional. Apologize is a cover of a OneRepublic song which was originally released in 2006, but I love the words, and I much prefer Luke Bryan’s version to the original.
4. Casey Shea – Love Is Here To Stay
Casey Shea is another artist that I have been to see live this year, twice – in Nottingham and Manchester. He has such a laid back style on his albums, which carried over into his live sets, although with a bit more oomph on the vocals. My favourite song is Good Man, I love the chorus: ‘When the black clouds come wash over you, will you stand tall and strong, or blame it on luck‘. I got his new album (In Your Head) towards the end of the year, but I haven’t really listened to it enough yet to include it on the list.
5. Pearl and the Beard – Killing the Darlings
I went to see Pearl and the Beard live in Manchester in November, and they were awesome. I found it hard to pick which of their albums to add on the list, but I had to narrow it down so the list didn’t end up 50 albums long! The catchiest song on this album has to be Douglas Douglass, its a floor stamping, hand clapping song that’ll be stuck in your head for days. I also love the cello and the soft vocals on The Lament of Coronado Brown.
6. To Kill a King – My Crooked Saint (EP)
I’ve seen To Kill a King live three times this year as a support act to Wakey!Wakey! I cannot wait for their headline tour this year, if I can get tickets and time off work. This album was much anticipated, I first saw them live in June, but the album didn’t come out until October. They released a series of videos to go with the EP, which were well thought out and very effective in combination with the songs. Even though the album only had 4 songs, I still had to include it on this list as I listened to it so much.
7. Brad Paisley – This is Country Music
I’ve got lots of Brad Paisley albums, so when this came out in May, it was a sure buy. I have two favourite songs from this album. Remind Me, which is a duet with Carrie Underwood about two people trying to remember how it was back when they were in love. My absolute favourite is One of Those Lives, which is a poignant song about how we should all stop complaining about bad days and think of those that have it worse than we do. I liked this song so much, I wrote a blog post about it earlier this year.
8. Blake Shelton – Red River Blue
I discovered Blake Shelton this year through an iTunes recommendation, and I’m so glad I clicked the link and found this album. My favourite song from this album is definitely God Gave Me You. The lyrics are really beautiful; For when I think I’ve lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it’s true. God gave me you. Other highlights from this album include Honey Bee and Addicted.
9. Miranda Lambert – Revolution
Miranda Lambert is married to Blake Shelton, so its safe to say that’s a pretty talented couple. I’m not usually a fan of female country music singers, but Miranda Lambert is one of the exceptions, this album is so catchy. There are some pretty silly songs like Time to Get a Gun and That’s The Way That The World Goes Round, but then there’s also some really lovely songs like The House That Built Me.
10. Adele – 21
I was threatened with actual bodily harm if this album didn’t make the list (thanks Vicky), so it’s a good job I was going to add it anyway. There’s not really much to say about this album that hasn’t already been said by many people, so I’ll just say that I’ve sung along to this album a LOT of times in my car, and there isn’t a single song I don’t like.
11. Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops and Hooligans
I bought this album at the start of the year, and it’s so catchy. I listened to it a lot driving to Sheffield and back to pick Vicky up from work, so every time a song from this album comes on, I get flashbacks of the M1 at 10pm on a Saturday night, and completely random and bonkers conversations on the way home.
12. The Overtones – Good Ol’ Fashioned Love
This album is completely different to my usual kinds of music, but it’s one of my favourites. My iTunes library has classified these as a Doo Wop band, which is a pretty cool name for a genre. I just love the old songs like Blue Moon, and the covers of new songs like Only Girl in the World and Rolling in the Deep. I was sent an email about tickets for their tour, and I was about to book when I realised it wasn’t until December 2012. Who knows what I’m going to be doing that far in advance, so I thought I’d better not!
13. Ron Pope – 26 Tuesdays of Music
Okay, so this one doesn’t quite classify as an album, but close enough. From July to December last year, Ron Pope released one song a week, delivered direct to your inbox. It was a great idea for getting new music out, and he used it as a chance to experiment with different types of songs. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I would probably go for Reason to Hope and Got My Mojo Working, along with a new version of I’m Yours. I’m seeing Ron Pope live for the first time next month, it’s gonna be awesome!
14. Tim Hughes – Love Shine Through
Tim Hughes is my favourite Christian artist, and I missed this album for a couple of months after it first came out. When I finally bought it, I listened to it on repeat for at least two weeks. It’s the kind of album where you really need to listen to the lyrics, which as usual for Tim Hughes, were completely fantastic. He has an amazing ability to write songs that you can immediately feel connected with, which I think is what makes this such a brilliant album.
15. Eli Young Band – Life at Best
After buying Jet Black and Jealous at the start of the year, I liked it so much I bought a few other albums later on in the year. This is one I bought in August, and was kind of the soundtrack to my summer. Even if it Breaks Your Heart is my favourite. The chorus line ‘Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart‘ is a great line. I think my favourite song from the album is I Love You, a very simple song but really connects with you.
Well this list kind of turned out longer than I thought, so if you’ve got this far, thanks for reading (or scrolling really fast)! Leave me a comment and let me know if you agree/disagree with any of my choices, and let me know your favourite album from last year.
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Now Reading: Charlaine Harris – Shakespeare’s Champion
This is book 2 of the Lily Bard series by Charlaine Harris. The last one was awesome, and left it at a bit of a cliff-hanger in Lily’s life, so I’m excited to see where that goes in this book.After being introduced to the inhabitants of the town of Shakespeare in the first book, I’m quite interested to see who will be killed in this book. From the pictures on the front of the book, I’m guessing it will be someone from the Body Time gym that Lily goes to which narrows the group down, but I’m guessing that whoever dies, it will still be a shock to me.
In the first book, it was easy to see why Lily would get involved in solving the murder, but I’m intrigued to see how she will be involved this time. All I know is that it will probably be another great book, being written by one of my favourite authors.
To keep on track with my reading challenge, I should really have finished this book by tomorrow, which is probably not going to happen, but I reckon by the end of this 5 book series, I’ll be back on track.
Louise Douglas
(I've got no) Shelf Control…
Louise Douglas 