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Read any good books lately?
We've launched this readers book review page. You can use it to recommend good reads or even ones to avoid.
Don't forget to include the author and title in your review - you
might also want to give it a mark out of 10.
Simply click on the "Add Review" button and send us your message.
After reading a few English translations of the Quran, I found the one translated by Dr Rashad Khalifa to be the best by far. Easy to understand (Simple English). Rating: 10 out of ten. Abdur-Raheem, England, 09/07/2002 16:26:39 Web Administrator: Thank you for the recommendation. For Better For Worse by Nora Kay. This is a family story set in the 1950s near Glasgow. Jenny is stunned and shattered when her husband Paul who has been a model husband and father to their two daughters tells her that he is leaving her to live with another woman, Vera who is his secretary and many years younger than them both! With her mother's support she applies for a part time job in a gift shop. It is arranged that Paul sees his daughters, Wilma 14 and Katy 10 years, once a month. Wilma is awkward with her mother and admires fashionable Vera. As the story develops Jenny becomes more confident and friendly with Moira Ramsey, the owner of 'Log Cabin' where she works. They now have a caf� selling home made produce and light meals as well as the gift shop and the Gallery selling paintings by local artists. When she confides in Moira that she is worried about Paul continuing the mortgage payments Moira persuades her to put the house on the market. Without her knowledge Moira buys Jenny's house through her solicitor so that Jenny can pay her back out of her wages without interest and she now owns her house outright which annoys Paul! She also goes into partnership with Moira and the girls help in the caf� on a Saturday. A new neighbour takes an interest in her but Jenny does not want a relationship with him. As Wilma gets older she realises that her Dad and Vera have many faults and when Vera gets fed up with them and stops going out with them on their visits she is hurt at first and then angry. She stays on at school to follow her ambition to be a reporter and tells her Mother that she should have some fun in her life and if she wants a relationship with anyone it is allright by her! Actually, it is Jenny's Mother who is the most disapproving of Jenny getting her divorce and moving on. However, although she has met Andrew, an antique shop owner whom she is attracted to, their relationship does not go smoothly and she is not sure. Paul splits up with Vera as he realises how selfish she is and is embarrassed when she flirts with Andrew when he is with Jenny. He tries to go back to Jenny but it is too late as the trust has gone and Jenny has her new found independence and is happy so he decides to work and live in London. Jenny talks to her daughters about Andrew and tells them that she might marry him one day but not for a long time as she is happy with just the three of them although they wouldn't mind if she did marry again though they wouldn't be keen on moving away. It ends on a happy note with Jenny idly reflecting the past years since the split and how content she is. A family story about relationships, loyalty and conflicting emotions which run smoothly on from one event to another keeping the attention of the reader. Rating: 8 out of ten. Christine Daly, [email protected], Great Lumley, Durham, 26/01/2002 16:45:34 Web Administrator: Thank you Christine. 'The Family at Number Five' by Sheila Newberry. It is not a riveting tale but a steady family story about a typical family and their "ups and downs" pre, post and during the second war. Fred, Mirrie and her sister move into 5 Kitchener Avenue, which is the first house they have owned, much to Fred's pride. Mirrie is pregnant and Barbara has just left school and was to work in Woolworth's. Time moves on and when she starts in labour Mirrie is assisted by Anna, who lives opposite with a father who is rather eccentric. Glory was born and Anna asked Bar to go to her dancing school, which she did on a regular basis. The war comes and Mirrie evacuates to the country with Glory and her friends and they stay in a farmhouse. The story follows their ups and downs and Fred gets over regularly to see them. They have another daughter called Beula. Bar does well in her job but doesn't want to tie herself down by getting married. They take part in a documentary about evacuees during the war and how they cope with it all. Bar falls in love with Clive who is invalided out of the army but dies after Bar is expecting his baby. She gives birth to Robin and goes back to live with Mirrie and Fred who are back at home and she continues working while Mirrie looks after Robin, which she is glad to do after giving birth to a still born child. Mirrie meets and falls in love with Peter but he is still in the army and not due to be demobbed. Eventually, he is and Bar gives birth to twin daughters, Crystal and Anna. Then they emigrate to Canada. Glory is becoming a Star on the stage and in the epilogue she is getting married, Bar and Peter and family are over for the wedding and Beula and Robin are going to university. The story closes with Fred and Mirrie moving house to pastures new having spent many fruitful years in number five Kitchener Avenue! It is an easy to read, pleasant family story set in the war time years. 'In For a Penny' by Lynda Page. A lighthearted book of family loyalty and love. Jenny lives with her Mum May, who is quite a character and keeping a secret from her. Money is tight and May likes a drink but she is too easy going with fellows and one has been living with her, and sponging off her and Jenny. Thoroughly fed up she puts him out but he creates a scene at Jenny's work and she loses her job. Confused at her Mother's behaviour towards a visitor who has called earlier and worried about her lack of a job Jenny walks out into the dark. Having gone further than she realises and hit by torrential rain she goes into a warehouse for shelter. There she meets Herchell who is from Jamaica and finding it difficult to get work and lodgings because of the colour of his skin. They are found by the owner, Bill Wadham, who after talking to them realised that they were genuine. Herchell had been sleeping in the warehouse, as he had no lodgings so he went to stay with Bill until he could get lodgings. Bill offered Henchell a job and eventually Jenny went to work for him too in the office. There are a lot of undercurrents from past occurrences and relationships that come to light as the story progresses and Jenny finds love with Bill's nephew, Alan but initially no one realises it as Bill's ties with his family have been severed years ago. However, that and May's relationship with a previous lover who turns out to be Jenny's Dad are rekindled. Eventually they all come together with their rightful partners, though Bill's brother who is married to Alan's Mum nearly bankrupts them all as he disappears with a huge bank loan in the firm's name. It ends happily as Jenny and her Mum both marry their 'fellas' and Bill and Val (Alan's Mum and the woman he has loved for years) are due to be married. Another delightful story line running through the book is Hechell settling in to his life in Britain and his wife joining him and giving birth to her baby daughter. It is worth reading! Rating: 7 out of ten. Mrs Christine Daly, [email protected], Great Lumley, Durham, England, 23/01/2002 19:58:56 Web Administrator: Thanks Christine, two more tales full of twists and turns! 'Station Master's Daughter' by Maggie Craig Carrie is the Station Master's daughter and is a secure and happy seventeen year old with two boyfriends. Mathew, who is her mother's choice, and Ewan who is from an undesirable family. He cannot read or write properly, and so Carrie teaches him and a strong bond grows between them. However, when her father dies Mathew is very helpful and they have to move to a poorer area. She still sees Ewan but when she finds out that her Mother is going to die soon through cancer she turns to Mathew for support. They soon get married and live with his parents. Shona who is Mathew's Mother always finds fault with Carrie and doesn't like the way she feeds her son, Archie. With another one on the way and Mathew having lost his temper through Carrie disagreeing with Shona they move out into a small flat. As the years go by Mathew shows his temper but Carrie has unexpected support from Isa and Florence Cooke. Florence lives in the adjoining flat with her dead husband's mother. Flo was Ewan's mother's best friend and when she died Flo befriended Ewan. They knew how Carrie had turned him down but as they grew to know her they became staunch friends. When Mathew goes into the army during the war life becomes happier for Carrie and her two children as she goes to work on the railway and Isa watches the children when they are not at school. She meets up with Ewan again and they become good friends and he takes the children out a lot. He actually works in Edinburgh on the railway in a well paid job. Unfortunately, Mathew comes back unexpectedly and finding out about Ewan beats Carrie verbally and physically. He hides in waiting at the station when Carrie is working there knowing that Ewan will turn up eventually, which he does. While they are arguing a train goes by without lights. Both men forget their differences and work together for the sake of the passengers. Unfortunately, they don't manage to divert an accident and Mathew dies saving two passengers. Carrie feels oddly guilty about his death and turns Ewan away for a second time. He goes to work away, the war goes by and Florence meets and marries Donald. Carrie still takes the children to see their Grandparents occasionally. It is difficult for her as it was actually her father in law who was Ewan's father to his mother Anne who supported her son by prostitution and that is why Ewan had carried such a burden over the years. The irony was that Mathew and Ewan were half brothers. Ewan comes back to apply for the Station Master's post and Carrie meets his fianc�e, Janice Muirhead. She is a lovely person and pregnant. It transpires that the baby is not Ewan's, he knows that but is trying to save Janice from ending up like his mother. They get married and live in the Stationmaster's house with the children. Rating: 9 out of ten. Christine Daly, [email protected], Great Lumley, Durham, 23/11/2001 14:13:46 Web Administrator: Thanks Christine, I have some more of your reviews to publish and will do them over the next couple of weeks! Kay. I just finished reading a great little book "FEARLESS: The Complete Personal Safety Guide for Women" by P H Danylewich. Ladies, this is a must read. It really has helped me open my eyes. I feel alot safer and much more confident. Full of practical tips and self defense techniques. Safety advice to help on at parties, on dates... I think it is just great, especially with everything that has been happening since September 11!! Rating: 9 OUT OF 10 out of ten. Victoria French, Great Lumley, Durham, 11/10/2001 17:42:26 Web Administrator: Thanks Victoria, keep the reviews coming. Kay. "Echoes Across The Mersey" by Anne Baker In this novel Anne portrays the Social barriers between the Classes before and during the First World War. It tells the story of Sarah and her love for Toby the eldest son of Maurice, a Pickle Manufacturer. She lives with her Mother in the same tenement as John whom she went out with before Toby. Her Mother feels that John is genuine and more in her class than Toby. However Toby pleases himself and to spite his Father joins as an Army Corporal also he thinks that John is joining the Army so wants to impress Sarah. However, John is refused on health grounds. When told, his Father is so upset and, combined with the pressures from his second wife, Claudia to change his will in favour of their 4 year old son Adam and the baby she is expecting, causes him to have a heart attack and he dies. It really hits home to Toby what he has done by joining up so he tries to retract it in order to run the factory but to no avail. They decided that the foreman would now become factory manager and Miss Potts who had worked in the office for years would become Office manager, Sarah took over the ordering and her Mother kept the books. John took over Toby's position as Salesman to bring in more orders. Edward the youngest son was only 15 years old so was to learn the trade by doing six months in the factory and six months in the office. They had weekly meetings to make major decisions. Claudia widowed now, Maurice has died had been having an affair behind his back and is worried as there was only the original will in place, which states that the business is left to his two sons and the house between all of them and that Claudia receives an allowance. She wanted provision for her two children who actually belonged to her lover, Gideon. He married someone else even though Claudia was now free to marry him. Claudia and her Mother tried to interfere with the business but after her Mother was caught stealing the wages they were banned from the factory. Toby is unhappy in the army and keeps taking leave without permission to sort out problems at the factory, and on one occasion comes home to marry Sarah when he discovers that she is expecting his child. He keeps getting extended sentences but when he tries to come home from France to see his daughter Dinah, he is caught and court marshalled. Poor Sarah doesn't tell anyone the truth about how he died she is now living in the big house, in separate apartments from Claudia and family who now also has a daughter. There are surprises all the way through to keep one's interest alive, like when Claudia sends round a pot of crystallized ginger laced with arsenic on a silver tray as a wedding present for Gideon and his intended! hoping that he will die. Edward thinking that he is falling in love with Sarah but he meets someone after he comes out of the army. Then there is the stunt that John's Mother plays to bring disgrace to the factory, in revenge for Sarah not marrying her son! John himself uses his contacts to sell his own brand of brown sauce. In the end events and people fall into place and together, even Sarah who looks as if she might find true happiness and love again. A lively, eventful and interesting book which I highly recommend. Anne Baker is an exceptional Author with her books set in Liverpool. Rating: 10 out of ten. Christine Daly, [email protected], Great Lumley, Durham, England, 14/08/2001 20:51:11 Web Administrator: Another twisting tale, full of intrigue and surprises! Kay The Bird Flies High by Maggie Craig. This is an amazing book full of highs and lows! It starts off with Josie and family living in Drygate in Glasgow. Josie's Stepfather and Stepbrothers are hard drinking men who cause her, her mother and brother and sister a lot of grief. When Josie leaves school she secures a job as a copy and messenger girl in The Dispatch newspaper office. She is in love with a local boy who drives Clydesdale horses. He wants to marry her and take her away from the drudgery but when her Mother dies she tries to keep the family together by working and looking after the other two, as well as having to cook and clean for her Stepfather and his sons who are abusive and unkind. During the National Strike Tam who she has made love to, for comfort as well as love! dies, and around the same time Josie is raped by her Stepbrothers and Stepfather. Badly abused she is sleeping off the effects when an Officer from the Authorities comes to remove the two children. Taking refuge in a neighbour's house she tries to find them and get them back but is not told where they are. Then she discovers that she is pregnant so leaves and goes into a home for unmarried Mothers. She falls in love with her child and is desperate to keep him but is not allowed so he is adopted. Josie is put into Service but eventually decides to write articles for the newspaper and leaves there and gets a job back with the newspaper and lives with her friends Sally and Ben. There is a lot of drama in the story as National events such as the war in Spain unfold and her friends who are just married go there to cover the war for the newspaper but Sally dies. Then there is World War two and the traumas that it brings with it. A growing relationship with Roddy who is an Editor at the newspaper and Josie develops but when it looks like they will get together they fall out over his nephew and harsh words are spoken on both sides. It is Ben who forces the issue as he cares about them and they get married. In the meantime Josie has been reunited with her brother and sister, though that wasn't how she had planned it. At the end of the book Josie and Roddy happily married with three children of their own meet up with Josie's son. Tam her former lover had a dream to live in a house in the country with Clydesdale horses and a bit of land, which is exactly what his son has! That makes it a lovely ending. It is a great book and obviously I haven't covered nearly all of the drama and events that take place. I thoroughly recommend it as a must to read. It was a book that I could not put down. It makes interesting and absorbing reading. Rating: 10 out of ten. Christine Daly, [email protected] , Great Lumley, County Durham, 11/08/2001 17:04:30 Web Administrator: Thanks Christine, there's obviously a lot packed into this one! Kay. Queen of The Road by Helen Cannam Set in the sixties this is a novel about a family and in particular the daughter and their business. In a previous book 'Family Business', to which 'Queen of The Road' is the sequel, it has obviously told how the women of the family were running the business and this has to stop now that the war is over. I could not get into the book because I had not read the first book. A lot of events that had happened then were referred to. I would suggest that you read 'Family Business' before you read this one and you may enjoy it better. I am also not a fan of the sixties but if you are, you would probably enjoy it as the styles and Jazz music etc. are relevant factors in the story. Rating: 6 out of ten. Christine, Great Lumley, Durham, England, 11/08/2001 16:53:52 Web Administrator: If you do read 'Family Business' please send in your review, thanks, Kay. The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy. Wow, this is some book! To be read in small mouthfuls. Utterly gear! Rating: 9 out of ten. Name Withheld, [email protected], 18/06/2001 18:59:55 Web Administrator: Thanks for that Janie, it does sound like you really enjoyed this one. It follows on from American Tabloid, have you read that one too & what did you think? There are copies of both these titles in our libraries so anyone reading your recommendation can try them too. (Kay) |
