Litsy

TheSpineView

The British Knight | Louise Bay

#ItTakesAllKinds @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#WithLawyer

Eggs Brilliant 👌🏼 13mo

44 likes1 comment

TheSpineView

The British Knight | Louise Bay

#SummerEndReadathon #SeriesLove2023
@Andrew65

I'm reading this series out of order. Read book 1 months ago. This is book 4 and I started book 3 yesterday. They are loosely tied together but can be stand alones. So far, this book is my favorite. I loved Alex, the broody, arrogant barrister in London and his new assistant, Violet, who just waltzes in and rocks his world. I throughly enjoyed watching these two come together and how each of the ⬇️

TheSpineView ... characters grew. Even though an office romance is nothing new, I enjoyed the characters so much I didn't want this one to end. 4⭐️ 2y

Andrew65 Excellent 👏👏👏 2y

TheSpineView @Andrew65 🌞🤩📖 2y

50 likes3 comments

Gissy

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

pick

I enjoyed this story, how Mr. Baldwin goes through the process of adaptation after his job retirement, affecting everyone in the house: his wife who had a routine for 30 years and even the maid. How funny that scene with the broom. But also is about to take risks at that age. Sometimes he was annoying with all those insecurities during his decision but understandable. Slow pace, more character driven, love the writing style, loved that couple 4⭐️

Gissy January 2023 #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaOfBooks
#PersephoneClub2022 I decided to read some of the books read by PersephoneClub in 2022 @LeahBergen 2y

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 2y

LeahBergen Isn‘t this a lovely book? 🥰 I‘m so glad you‘re enjoying some of our past reads! 2y

42 likes3 comments

Cathythoughts

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I really enjoyed this one with the #PersephoneClub recently. A story about Tom‘s and Edie‘s retirement .. beautiful writing, an insightful look at life. I‘m anxious to read more by this author.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing!! 3y

LeahBergen Loved this one, too! 3y

Cathythoughts @LeahBergen ❤️ 3y

50 likes3 comments

BarbaraBB

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

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A man retires, a life changing affair. What to do with his time? Gardening? Writing a book? It takes getting used to, for him and his wife.

Another wonderful book by Sheriff, whose A Fortnight in September I loved too, about daily life of two decent people in the early 20th century. A real gem!

#52books #BookISawSomeoneReadInPublic

LeahBergen Yay! I‘m so glad you enjoyed it, too. ❤️ 3y

Megabooks Great review! 💜💜 3y

CarolynM Such a great read. I don‘t know how he did it, but he made so much of so very little. I‘m looking forward to reading Fortnight in September (my copy arrived last week🙂) 3y

BarbaraBB @CarolynM You‘ll love it! He does exactly that again: making so much of so little. 3y

67 likes2 stack adds4 comments

BarbaraBB

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

#weeklyforecast 25/22

I just started When the Ground is Hard, for #ReadingAfrica2022. Next will be the tagged one, a nice #Persephone by an author who I discovered recently. If there‘s time left, I‘ll read another book for Africa.

Cinfhen

LeahBergen I hope you love Greengates! 🤞 3y

BarbaraBB @LeahBergen I expect to, I know you buddyreaders did and I enjoyed his other book so much

The Fortnight in September

Cinfhen Which countries do these books cover??? 3y

BarbaraBB @Cinfhen Swaziland (Eswatini) and Burkina Faso! 3y

48 likes4 comments

Tamra

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

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Muster the courage to make your happiness, take the leap!*Fine print reads: “A leap by its nature is not without risk.”😬

I am going to order Sherriff‘s The Hopkin‘s Manuscript now. 😊

#PersephoneClub
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @CarolynM @elkeOriginal @quietjenn

quietjenn @Tamra haha, I opened up the Persephone website last night to see if The Hopkin's Manuscript was in stock. 😅 Trying to resist the urge to place an order - my collection of Persephones is rapidly outgrowing the shelf it is on - but not sure I'll manage very long. (edited) 3y

Tamra @quietjenn such a sad state of affairs! 😆 I didn‘t order a Persephone edition this time. 3y

Tamra @quietjenn I preferred Fortnight in September. The ending of Greengates almost seemed like a different book because the emotional temperature was very different from the rest. Fortnight seemed more evenly written. What do you think? (edited) 3y

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LeahBergen I prefer Fortnight in September, too, I think? 🤔 I haven‘t read Hopkin‘s (although I‘ve heard good things) and only have one other of his books on my shelves to read

Wells of St Mary's

quietjenn @Tamra I agree. There were a few bits at the end that felt discordant with the rest of it. I think it would've been better if that last chapter were an Afterward, instead of a regular chapter. Overall, Fortnight was more consistently itself. 3y

Tamra @LeahBergen ohhhh yay, I hadn‘t run across that title. Must investigate - thank you for mentioning it! (edited) 3y

quietjenn @LeahBergen Oo, that sounds great too! 3y

Tamra @quietjenn I like the way you describe it! 3y

CarolynM While I was happy for the Baldwins that the risk was worth it, I was a bit surprised that the money issues apparently disappeared once they'd made the move. How much did a subscription to that club cost, I wonder? I was also a little nonplussed at how easily they discarded Ada. 3y

Tamra @CarolynM I know! I had the same thought about Ada. 😒 I guess it is part of the frenzy of acquiring the new. Indeed, it seemed liked they were going to have to live like misers to get by with a mortgage and then that seemed to have miraculously become a nonissue. 🤔 3y

quietjenn @Tamra also, thanks for the non-Persephone tip. I just got the Penguin 😂 3y

Tamra @quietjenn 👏🏾 3y

rubyslippersreads Maybe it‘s because I‘ve been watching the new season of #MrsMaisel but I pictured Jason Alexander as Van Doon. 😂 3y

rubyslippersreads @CarolynM @Tamra I know—poor Ada! (edited) 3y

Tamra @rubyslippersreads 😆 good one! 3y

54 likes2 stack adds15 comments

Cathythoughts

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

pick

#PersephoneClub I loved this book too. When I stopped reading last night I had nightmares about how all this would end ... I finished just now and it feels like a book of two halves ( well, more like 2/3 and 1/3 ) ...
I felt I lived through these times with Edith and Tom. Excellent book 👍❤️

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, LeahBergen, elkeOriginal, Tamra

Tamra Agreed, the characters were so well drawn that the middle section was nail biting! 😬 I‘m jealous you have greenery! (edited) 3y

LeahBergen I agree! I really needed that ‘happy ending‘ for them but found the change of narrative voice in the final chapter a little jarring. I still loved it, though. 😆 3y

Cathythoughts @Tamra The characters are so good 👍❤️ 3y

Cathythoughts @LeahBergen Oh I loved it too and I can‘t wait to get more by this writer... 3y

CarolynM I was expecting something to go wrong too and yes, the last third, while flowing from what went before, seemed like a sharp turn from the rest of the story. 3y

70 likes5 comments

LeahBergen

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

pick

Oh my God, #PersephoneClub ! I LOVED this book.

How can the story of a retired 1920s English couple, coming to terms with what their future holds, be such a compelling page-turner? 😆

I won‘t say anymore but do let me know what you thought of how their lives ended up (covered with a spoiler, please)!

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, Tamra, Cathythoughts

BarbaraBB As always, you sold it! #stackedandonmywaytobuy 3y

CarolynM I kept expecting disaster to strike, probably financial disaster. Although I was very glad it didn't, I did wonder at the way the money problems just disappeared. And the cost of a live-in maid was never raised at all! 3y

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I hope you like it as much as I did! It‘s a quiet story, but lovely. Have you read his

The Fortnight in September

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LeahBergen @CarolynM I was TOTALLY expecting some horrid disaster to strike… shady builders or poor health or something! As to the maid issue: from what I‘ve read in other books, one maid was a given in the pre-WW2 period for middle-class families and their pay was pretty minor in relation to household expenses. There WAS that bit about the new neighbour “showing off” the fact that he had more than one maid, though. 😆 3y

Cathythoughts I‘ve only a small bit to go .. looking forward to chatting about it. I agree , it‘s so moving ❤️ 3y

Cathythoughts When they banged the door shut of their old house ... I was in horror at what they‘d done. I was scared for them. A bit of a fairytale ending , but I‘m so glad it worked out. Not a chance that I would take myself, I can‘t imagine selling our house at this time in our lives. The writing was superb 👌 3y

quietjenn @CarolynM @LeahBergen Yep - I was so nervous for them, thinking it would all fall through and that they'd be left with nothing and nowhere. So happy to be wrong about that. (edited) 3y

Tamra I loved the writing, it was so perceptive! I didn‘t enjoy the ending; the final chapter felt like a tag given the tension and suspense that had ramped up. The two racist passages were disappointing even though I understand the context. (edited) 3y

Tamra @LeahBergen I thought for sure they were being taken by the builder! 3y

Tamra @Cathythoughts not in this economy! 😅 But it‘s such human nature to see the grass as greener on the other side. I thought Sherriff captured that so well. (edited) 3y

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I was so scared for them! 😆 And, like you, it was probably because I was putting myself into their shoes and imagining it for myself at his time. 😆😆 3y

LeahBergen @quietjenn I felt that I really needed that happy ending for them after all the anxiety I‘d felt. 😆 3y

LeahBergen @Tamra Yes! The use of those racist terms was so jarring and slammed me right out of the narrative (as it always does in books from this era 😬). And I agree about that final chapter: I appreciated the happy ending but the change in narrative voice was a little odd for me. 3y

Mitch Sounds like something I should read! 🤣🤣 3y

LeahBergen @Mitch Ha!! It IS you! 😆😆 They move to the country from the outskirts of London. (edited) 3y

78 likes5 stack adds15 comments

CarolynM

Greengates | R. C. Sherriff

pick

Who would have thought that the retirement of a "bowler-hatted man of the Banks and Insurances Offices" 100 years ago could form the basis for such a delightful novel? I marvel at a writer who can keep me engaged in such a modest story. An excellent first book for the #PersephoneClub. Can't wait to chat when we have all finished reading.

@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @quietjenn @Tamra @rubyslippersreads @elkeOriginal

LeahBergen Wonderful review!! And exactly what I thought of it. 😆 3y

BarbaraBB If I hadn‘t already ordered it based on @LeahBergen ‘s review I would have now 🤦🏻‍♀️. Your Persephone book club scares me - I‘ll probably end up buying all your choices too 🤣 3y

Ruthiella @BarbaraBB Me too!😆 3y

See All 6 Comments

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB @Ruthiella 🤣🤣 You two need to read along with us! 3y

Cathythoughts I‘m nearly finished! Very powerful book , can‘t wait to chat about it 3y

quietjenn I couldn't agree more 🙂 3y

72 likes6 comments

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