A little wary after seeing an average 3 star rating I almost didn't read this book but loved it. Loved the characters, the story and the humour. Aug 02, Sherry rated it it was ok Shelves: However, I was a little disappointed with this offering, it felt like something that had been dashed off fairly quickly - using ideas that had perhaps been left on Father Frank's cutting room floor. Paul Burke is great when he writes about music and vibe, and anti-trend trendsetters: This could have been a much better book if he had taken a bit more time to think through his concept.
Also, it bugged me that one of the characters was said to have a Trappist uncle in the first half of the book, but in the second half the uncle was suddenly Cistercian. A subtle but significant difference, I know - but this seemingly minor inconsistency was the last straw that served to seal the quick-and-nasty effect for me. Jul 18, John Butler rated it really liked it. Author Paul Burke and I went to the same school in north west London - but at different times so I never knew him.
Since we have exchanged a few emails. Ironically the book is centered aroung a cinema where I used to work as an usher on the weekends 15 years prior to the time of the book. I enjoyed Untorn Tickets - believable characters that interested me, a credible plot, amusing - I thought I may be predujiced as I was so close to it all. So I gave it to my wife to read - she was born in Texas Author Paul Burke and I went to the same school in north west London - but at different times so I never knew him.
So I gave it to my wife to read - she was born in Texas with no knowledge of my school, the cinema or north west London - she unhesitatingly gave it the thumbs up. Aug 28, Jo rated it liked it. When the cinema is thre Notting Hill - When the cinema is threatened with closure, the boys realise that more than their new-found freedom is at risk.
Feb 26, Bethan rated it really liked it. My mum recommended this book to me and I was hooked by the fact that I have a family member called Rachel who lives in Edgerton Gardens. As I am still a teenager, the records and the mopeds appealed to me as a major escape from the reality of cars and the internet. I often read sections of this book, if only to see what life was like when music wasn't so easily available to search anything and everything.
Apr 26, Marcela Tizo rated it it was amazing. Narrates the coming of age of Notting Hill and its young residents in the late 70's and early 80's. Funny, poignat at times, its charismatic characters will keep you cheering throughout for a happy ending. Jan 09, Campbell rated it liked it Shelves: Very different from my usual fair but I liked it, and you can ask for much more than that.
Jan 04, Discoverylover added it Shelves: Read this on holiday last year. He writes light, easy to read books, perfect for relaxing in the sun, or on a wet day Summer in NZ in other words! Jan 09, Pam rated it did not like it. Jun 04, Catherine rated it it was ok.
The blurb on the back of the book sounded interesting but it didn't pass the 3- pages-to-grab-my-interest test. With a million other books on my shelves, I'm moving on. Aug 06, Issi rated it really liked it. I registered a book at BookCrossing.
Feb 05, David rated it it was amazing. I liked it, an easy light-hearted read. Stephanie Fleming rated it really liked it Jul 26, Jane rated it really liked it Oct 21, Maureen Williams rated it it was amazing Oct 03, Oliver rated it did not like it Oct 23, Allan rated it really liked it Dec 03, Ian rated it it was ok Nov 05, Nessan rated it liked it Dec 25, Alexander Lound rated it it was amazing Dec 01, Debbie rated it really liked it Apr 29, Liam Annis rated it really liked it Feb 12, They travel to London, to an apartment wall-papered with indigo-eyed birds, to Oscars oldest friends, to a canal and blooming flower market.
Mina, a classicist, searches for solutions to her failing mental health using mythological women. But she finds a beam of light in a living woman. Friendship and attraction blossom until Oscar and Mina's complicated love is tested. Mariastella Fortuna, known as Stella, was born into rural poverty in a Calabrian village in the early 20th century.
After being abandoned by their father, who left to seek his fortune in L'America, Stella grew up with her beloved mother Assunta, her brothers Giuseppe and Luigi and her sister Tina. Tough, vivacious, and fiercely loyal, the sisters were inseparable, going on to support each other through immigration, marriage, children, loss - and the seven or eight near-death experiences Stella suffered throughout her life. Beginning in their childhood with the time she was burned by frying oil, Assunta became convinced that her eldest daughter was cursed, a victim of the Evil Eye or a malevolent ghost.
But after Stella woke up from 'The Accident', an eighth brush with death, it was Tina who she refused to speak to.
Now the sisters have not spoken in thirty years. Determined to solve the mystery of this falling out, it's up to the family historian to connect the inexplicable dots in Stella's dramatic story, and to suggest, redemption of the battle-scarred and misunderstood woman who has lived her life with a fire inside her which could not be put out.
But it's when her body is found the secrets really start to come out From the moment Lucy met her husband's mother, Diana, she was kept at arm's length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and perfectly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. Even so, Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.
That was five years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer. But the autopsy finds no cancer. The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation. Everyone in the family is hiding something. And where will the secrets stop? With Lucy's secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans.
As these groups converge upon the town, the habitants, who up until this point have been under strict curfew, begin to stir from their dwellings, demanding answers from the intruders. Create An Account Why Join? When you create an account with us, you'll be able to save your favourite books, make a wishlist of upcoming titles, receive newsletters about books you'll love, get recommendations tailored to you and order our books directly. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Untorn Tickets By Paul Burke. Notting Hill - Sceptre Saltwater Jessica Andrews.
King Gustav of Sweden has been assassinated, years of foreign wars have emptied the treasuries, and the realm is governed by a self-interested elite, leaving its citizens to suffer. On the streets, malcontent and paranoia abound. A body is found in the city's swamp by a watchman, Mickel Cardell, and the case is handed over to investigator Cecil Winge, who is dying of consumption. Together, Winge and Cardell become embroiled in a brutal world of guttersnipes and thieves, mercenaries and madams, and one death will expose a city rotten with corruption beneath its powdered and painted veneer.
The Wolf and the Watchman depicts the capacity for cruelty in the name of survival or greed - but also the capacity for love, friendship, and the desire for a better world. Dr Susan Jeffers, whose previous books have touched millions throughout the world, provides the tools and concepts that show us how to feel calmer, more in control, and more excited about life. With wisdom, humour and clarity, she opens our eyes to what pulls us down and what lifts us up.
This is an invaluable source of insight and practical guidance that inspires us to create a life filled with peace and joy. He's alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story. Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him.
Through these stories - of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice - the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare. Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said. Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. It's been five years since Mia and Brynn murdered Summer Marks, their best friend, in the woodsIncreasingly obsessed with a novel called The Way into Lovelorn and by their fan-fiction imagining of its sequel, the girls were drawn by an undertow of fantasy into the magical world they'd created.
But eventually, their delusions turned sick, and the Shadow, Lovelorn's central evil, began to haunt them. Or so the story goes. The only thing is: On the anniversary of Summer's death, a seemingly insignificant discovery resurrects the mystery and pulls Mia and Brynn back together once again. But as past and present, fiction and reality, begin again to intertwine, Brynn and Mia must confront painful truths they tried for so long to bury-and face the long shadow of memory that has, all this time, been waiting.
In this engrossing, twisty novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver weaves an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale of exquisite obsession, spoiled innocence, and impossible friendships. The Cloven is the epic climax to B. Catling's beloved genre-busting Vorrh Trilogy. In the stunning conclusion to Brian Catling's Vorrh trilogy, the colonial city of Essenwald gives up all its secrets, as the ancient forest seeks to reclaim what has been taken from it. Those who have been enslaved shall be no longer, and two heroes once thought dead shall reemerge stronger than ever.
A man will be split in two, and a young woman will rise to the height of her powers. Meanwhile, the threat of war looms over London.