Notes of Life

I can’t believe it’s the end of April already! Where has time gone? I’m sure time goes by quicker the older you get! Anyway, as real life took presidence at the beginning of April, I had a slow start to the month reading-wise…

9th April – The Burning by Jane Casey
A serial killer known as The Burning Man, who brutally beats his victims to death before setting their bodies alight, is on the loose and now what looks like a fifth victim has been found.

17th April – The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina
The savage murder of a young woman in Glasgow somehow links back to the hanging of a millionaire banker in Kent.

19th April – Winnie the Pooh: Let’s Go Outside
A colourful, musical board book for toddlers featuring Tigger and his friends.

24th April – 13 rue Thérèse by Elena Mauri Shapiro
The discovery of a box of photographs, postcards, letters and other personal possessions leads to a story of history, love, mystery and a ltitle bit of magic.

26th April – The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin
A railway detective finds himself deep in undercover work and in the company of dangerous villians in 1906 York.

A couple of the books weren’t really for me, but I’d say my favourite of the month is The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin. I really enjoyed it and I’d like to read the other books in the series.

I’m currently reading The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. It’s the first book in a new children’s fantasy series and it’s being compared to Harry Potter. I haven’t read the Harry Potter books (shocking, I know!), but I’m half way through The Emerald Atlas and I’m really enjoying it.

Author: Andrew Martin
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN: 978-0-571-21904-9

Jim Stringer arrives in York expecting to be put to work as a normal railway detective, but instead finds himself deep in undercover work and in the company of dangerous villains, caught in a situation he can’t get out of.

I loved reading The Lost Luggage Porter. The writing took me straight into the book, right to winter 1906 in York where I totally lost myself in the story. 1906 York, with it’s dark, cobbled, gas-lit streets and down-and-outs, gives the perfect setting for a detective novel. Between Andrew Martin’s period writing and having been to York a few times, I was able to picture the scenery quite vividly (I don’t think the centre of York has changed much over the years, to be honest).

The characters in the book are right characters and are all quite memorable (and some you wouldn’t want to meet down a dark alleyway!). They speak in local (but entirely understandable) accents, giving the story even more authenticity.

I loved Stringer’s simple disguise of a scruffy suit and a pair of spectacles with no lenses (yes, you read that right, no lenses)! Whilst some may think that’s not much of a disguise, it’s actually a clever one in some ways… For example, one day I passed a colleague in the street without even realising it was him. He normally wears glasses, but was wearing contact lenses and had me totally fooled! Anyway, I digress…

The story had a steady pace throughout, very much like the steam trains in the book, which kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. There’s something going on all the time. There’s a few twists and turns and surprises along the way, too. I enjoyed the book so much that I started it one afternoon and finished it the next morning, and I’m eager to read the rest of the series.

Despite being the third book in the Jim Stringer, Steam Detective series, The Lost Luggage Porter also does well as a stand-alone book. There’s no need to read the early books in the series to enjoy this one, but now I’ve read this one I want to read the rest!

Highly recommended!

Buy The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin from the Book Depository.

Andrew Martin is a British author from Yorkshire.

This is the 13th book I’ve read for the British Books Challenge.

… and I’m currently reading The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin.

Set in winter 1906, The Lost Luggage Porter follows Jim Stringer, Steam Detective, into York’s underworld. At first he’s on the trail of pickpockets and the like, but then he finds himself undercover in the company of a dangerous, disturbed villan playing for much higher stakes.

Having bought the book in Ludlow on Saturday, it somehow made its way to the top of my TBR pile. I started reading it yesterday afternoon while sat out in the garden in the beautiful Easter sunshine and I’m already 3/4 of the way through. I’m thoroughly enjoying it, so expect to see a review up here in the next couple of days.

The last book I read was 13 rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (read my review). It was an interesting read and certainly different.

What’s up next? I don’t know, but I’ve got plenty of books to choose from! I’ll have plenty of reading time too as it’s another 4 day weekend next weekend due to the Royal Wedding and then Bank Holiday Monday.

Anyway, things to do, people to see and books to read!

What are you reading?

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Posted for It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Why not join in?!

Author: Elena Mauli Shapiro
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 978-0755374229

American professor & translator Trevor Stratton has just moved into his office at a Paris university and there he discovers a box filled with letters, photographs and personal objects. Who do these belong to? Whose life is this? The box and its contents tell the story of Louise Brunet, who lived through both world wars. Trevor finds himself captivated by the story and we join him in this mystery.

Having read a great review of this book on another blog (sorry, I can’t remember which) and then it appearing in my Amazon Vine list, I decided to snap it up and give it a go. I loved the premise of Louise’s life in a box. The pictures, the postcards and letters, the personal possessions… Somebody coming across these so many years later and imagining the life of their former owner.

The pictures, postcards, letters and personal possessions are actually pictured in the book throughout the story. I loved seeing these and the only thing better would to have had the box itself! I love family history and so to me rooting through a box like that and imagining that person’s life would be wonderful.

The author actually lived in the apartment below the real-life Louise Brunet’s apartment and she ended up with a box of Louise’s possessions when her neighbour died and no relatives came to collect them. The items captured her imagination and gave way to this intriguing story.

13 rue Thérèse is a story of history, love and mystery and a little bit of magic, all set in the city of love itself – Paris. There are a couple of sex scenes in the book (though with some added humour), but nothing too explicit.

There isn’t a clear, straight timeline throughout the book, with chapters bouncing back and forth between times every now and then, but I found it easy enough to follow.

One thing I did notice about the book was that a few of the pages had a little fleur-de-ys in the bottom corner. The page numbers don’t all match between my uncorrected proof copy and the website, but a visit to the book’s website will give you more detail and in some cases, an audio track or video too.

The story did take on a slightly different slant towards the end and it’s one on which I can’t quite make up my mind, but it didn’t take away too much from that fact that I quite enjoyed this imaginative book. It’s different and one that will possibly divide the opinion of its readers.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Buy 13 rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro from Amazon UK or the Book Depository.

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Please note: I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program. However, this has in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

… More like in my shopping bag!

Mum & I have had a lovely day out in Leominster and Ludlow today. The sun was shining and I’ve got a 4 day weekend this weekend and next weekend, so I’m a very happy (Easter) bunny!

I don’t go to Leominster very often (it’s just over an hour’s drive from here), but when I’m there I always head to Foxwoods Bookshop and, more often than not, treat myself to a book. There are two floors of books and the owners couldn’t be more helpful. Today, however, I came out with not one but two books and I could have so easily have bought more! In the end I chose The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and Death at Dawn by Caro Peacock.

Don’t you just love these covers? The Gargoyle’s pages have black edges, they’re effective and something I’ve seen only a handful of books have over the last few years.

In Ludlow, I always head to The Castle Bookshop. It is there, a couple of years ago, that I found a book I fell in love with – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Today I left the bookshop with The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin – part of the Jim Stringer Steam Detective series. I haven’t read any of the books in this series before, but they do sound good.

So, yet more books added to the pile! Still, with all these bank holidays I should be able to get through a few of them… Hopefully!

Regarding yesterday’s post about the silly car park charges in Church Stretton… Ludlow (also in Shropshire) also has the same parking charges in force!

Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying Easter weekend!