A Dop Called Kitty - Bill Wallace

I picked this one up amongst a box of from Freecycle.  It caught my eye because 1.  It was a small book in size and also had only 137 pages and the font was a good size for me to have as a quick read.  Except it took me over a week because other things got in the way.

Description on the back:

The puppy was small and fuzzy with a friendly, wagging tail - and Ricky was afraid of him!  No wonder, since he was attacked by a dog when he was just a bay.  So when a stray puppy comes sniffling around the farm, Ricky tells it to get lost.

But the puppy keeps trying to play with Ricky.  and every time Ricky's Mom feeds the cats, the little dog comes running. The cats aren't sharing their food, however, and the poor pup is slowly starving.

If Ricky does not overcome his fear, the little puppy may die - but if he lets himself get close enough to feed it, he may find the best friends he has ever had!



It was only when I was half way through the book, that it dawned on me that it could be a children's story and so I read the "About the Author" and he was a fourth grade teacher in America, who could not find a book to read to his students to hold their attention long enough, so he decided to have a go, and since he liked animals, this book is one of many he had written.

This is the saddest book I have ever read - I never thought I would ever shed a tear over a book, but I found myself almost sobbing - like one of those hic/sniff  kinda feeling.  Absolutely recommended read for animal lovers. 

Sadly Bill Wallace died this year.  He lived in Olkalhoma.  This is the first time I have heard of him, but it has made such an impression I will be looking out for more books by this author. 

The Boy in the Burning House - Tim Wynne-Jones

Description on the back...

Someone was trying to blackmail father.  She did not expect it would be easy to find proof and no one was going to believe her without it, so she searched when and where she could and watched and listened......

Ruth Rose is the wild and troubled stepdaughter of the local preacher, Father Fisher.  She thinks she knows the truth behind the sudden disappearance of Jim Hawkins' father, but Jim does not want to believe her crazy theories - he would rather carry on slowly rebuilding his life in peace.  Eventually Ruth Rose's burning conviction sparks in Jim an equally fierce determination to root out the truth, no matter how painful.  And when they start to uncover a web of guilt and deceit he realizes just how dangerous Father Fisher is. 

Father Fisher says his step daughter is a crazy, and has her on medication to quieten her down, but she suspects her step father is not what he should be, a local preacher.  Ruth Rose is just 16 and she believes that her step father is a murderer and with the help of Jim Hawkins she sets out to prove she is right.  Will Jim believe her....since it is his father who was killed??.......

This was a great book! Kept me at it til the end. Thank goodness I had some time to read on my trips to see people. Just 272 pages, good print and the line spacing wider than most which made it comfortable to read.  Recommended. 

The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy

Well this books was something......really really enjoyed it.

 On the back:

"She's my daughter, but in some weird way I feel she isn't really my child". 
Young single mum Grace is drowning.  Her little girl, Sylvie is distant, troubled and prone to violent tantrums which the child psychiatrists blame on Grace.  But Grace knows there is something more to what is happening to Sylvie.  There has to be.  Travelling from the London suburbs to the west coast of Ireland, Grace and Sylvie embark on a journey of shocking discovery, forcing Grace to question everything she believes in and changing both their lives forever.

Well...I read the write up on the back page and it wasn't anything like I imagined.  It was better.  I did think of giving up after the 15th page, as it takes a while to get into, I really thought it was going to be boring, but far from it.  I felt for that little girl.

The book also goes under another name, so be careful you may have already read it. 

War Horse - Michael Morpurgo

 

Description:

Sold to a drunken farmer, Joey, a beautiful red-bay foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, finds a friend in the farmer's son, Albert. His father brutally demands Joey work or be sold, so Albert gently trains him to pull the plough. But it's not enough. When war breaks out, Albert's father, needy for money for his struggling farm, sells Joey to the army, where he, like the soldiers around him, must try to cope with the horrors of the First World War. Joey and another thoroughbred horse, Topthorn, lead in a terrible cavalry charge towards the machine guns of the enemy's lines. Joey is captured by the Germans and for while he is lovingly cared for by Emilie, a young French girl and her grandfather. But he and Topthorn must pull a heavy gun, battling through the mud until Topthorn dies of exhaustion. Joey wanders in no man's land, back towards the British trench, but despite a joyful reunion with Albert, Joey is not out of danger. First tetanus threatens his life, and even then Emilie's grandfather has to bid to save him from the butcher. The old man promised his granddaughter when she died he would find the horse she loved and buy him, but recognising Albert's love for Joey, he sells Joey back to Albert on condition he will love for him all his life - for the princely sum of one English penny.

I really enjoyed this short story, the print in the book was a nice size, the space between the lines made it an easy quick read. 

The story is told by the horse, and very well done, you almost felt that you were Joey.  Very sad moments throughout. 

Property - Valerie Martin

How about that then!  Overdid my personal challenge of 50 pages a day!  Started this book last night   - 214 pages, finished late this afternoon.  Mmmm I wonder if I can now have a rest from reading for a few days.  Perhaps not..... I might need catch up time later on in the week!

Manon Gaudet is unhappily married to the owner of a Louisiana sugar plantation. She misses her family and longs for the vibrant lifestyle of her native New Orleans, but most of all, she longs to be free of the suffocating domestic situation. The tension revolves around Sarah, a slave girl who may have been given to Manon as a wedding present from her aunt, whose young son Walter is living proof of where Manon's husband's inclinations lie. This private drama is being played out against a brooding atmosphere of slave unrest and bloody uprisings. And if the attacks reach Manon's house, no one can be sure which way Sarah will turn.

I wasn't sure if this would be my type of book - since I like crime thrillers and psychological thrillers the best.  But there are times you need to read something else to give the brain a rest.  So from my never ending 'to be read' pile I chose this one.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised - I enjoyed the storyline - a good light read.  The ending was a little strange, but one has to end it somehow and this could just be my opinion of the conclusion.

The Front - Mandasue Heller

When old school friends Lee, Mal, Ged and Sam decided to make some easy money, nothing could have prepared them for the catalogue of disasters that was soon to follow. Robbing a supermarket should have been an easy job; nothing could possibly go wrong. But it did. With one of them wounded and a dead body on their hands, could matters get any worse? They should have known that a small supermarket on a Manchester estate wouldn't make that much money; they should have known that the aisles of tinned tomatoes and loss leaders was just a cover up for something a lot more dangerous. But they didn't know. They had no idea that as small fish they had unwittingly plunged into a very big pond and were now swimming with the great whites of the criminal underworld. The shop they robbed, their ticket to an easy life, was merely The Front for something very bid indeed.

I really enjoyed this book - based on the same tradition as Martina Cole but not so harsh I didn't think. 

As far as my personal challenge to read 50 pages in a day - I started this book before the challenge and so it took 10 days to read which is below average of the number of pages read in a day (35).  So got to make some adjustments to my day so that I can read more books if I am to get through the whole 887 on my bookcase before in my lifetime.

The Millionaires - Brad Meltzer

Finished at last - and whether it was the fact it took me too long to read, I don't know, but I felt the end was not an end I would expect.  It was suspense all the way through, but just kinda dropped off at the end.  I guess I should re read the last ten pages in case I missed something.

The Story:  Two brothers, one an executive at a bank and the other in an entry-level position, hatch a plot to steal three million dollars. Using a sophisticated computer program, they plan to transfer the money into an account only they can access. But after the transaction has been completed, they quickly realize that rather than three million dollars, they stole three hundred million. The secret service are called in to investigate and Charlie and Oliver soon find themselves on the run not only from the law, but from the people they stole the money from. Using technology to alter their identity and conceal their personal records, the people hunting them down use the same technology to track their whereabouts. It's a high-speed game of cat and mouse, filled with twists and turns that are sure to have readers racing to the last page.

It is an author I would try again - but for now with so many books on the "to be read" pile, I will only read again if I happen to find another book by this author in a charity shop.

Photo a Day Challenge - 16th May - WHAT YOU ARE READING

Well I just finished the book I was reading about an hour ago.  Darker Domain by Val McDermid.  I have never read any of hers and so it was great that I enjoyed it so much.

 The description is:

 The superb new psychological thriller from bestselling author Val McDermid mixes fiction with one of the most symbolic and exceptional moments in recent history - the national miners' strike It seemed like an unsolvable mystery at the time: a wealthy heiress and son kidnapped in Fife, then a botched payoff, leaving her dead with no trace of the child. So when, over twenty-five years later, a possible clue is discovered by a journalist in Tuscany, cold case expert DI Karen Pirie doesn't hold much hope of unravelling the infamous enigma. She's already investigating a case from the same year. At the height of the miner's strike, Mick Prentice broke ranks to join 'scab' strike-breakers down south. But new evidence suggests Mick's disappearance may not be as straightforward as that - and Karen's investigations take her into a dark domain of secrets, betrayal and the ultimate violence! Past and present intertwine in a novel of taut psychological suspense that explores the intersection of desire and greed.

My new book is Are you Afraid of the Dark by Sidney Sheldon.  Already read 50 pages and I am hooked.  I have read two of Sidney Sheldon, so I know I won't be disappointed.

The description: 

In New York, Denver, Paris and Berlin, four people have died separately in apparent accidents. Two women - the widows of two of the dead - find themselves under ruthless attack and are drawn together in fear, confusion and for mutual protection. But are they being targeted because one of them is the prosecution witness at a famous criminal trial? Or is there a connection to the mystery behind their husband's deaths?Meanwhile, Tanner Kingsley, Chief Executive of an international Think Tank created only seven years ago, is on the cusp of an amazing discovery which could alter the future of the world. If properly handled, the outcome of this could deliver unbelievable power into the company's hands. But are the mysterious deaths connected to this volatile secret? And can it be further protected?