Book Review Year 6 No 3
Apr. 30th, 2020 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitSix more books, and due to lockdown, none of them were from the library.
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
This was recommended bymoth2fic as one of the ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ushobwri suggestions. It's very many years since I've read any Heyer, although I've listened to a few audiobooks, but I enjoyed becoming reacquainted. The story takes place during Wellington's Peninsular campaign and concludes at the Battle of Waterloo and there's a lot of army action as well as romance, which I found an excellent mix.
A Vineyard in Andalusia by Maria Duenas
Duenas is my favourite author, and although I began the book some months ago and got sidetracked I had no trouble picking the story up again. It begins in 1861 in Mexico City, moves to Havana and finishes in Jerez. I liked all the local colour and the settings - which is unusual for me, too much description and I'll start to skip parts, and the characters are compelling. I really enjoyed the book and the drama within it and the twists and turns which kept coming.
Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh
This was a fun case, particularly as it involved Agatha Troy. In fact Alleyn doesn't start to investigate until nearly halfway through, but because Troy has been present all the characters are already described with all their annoying idiosyncrasies.
Deep Waters (Mysteries on the Waves) edited by Martin Edwards
More short stories from the Golden Age of crime fiction. I had bought the book (MIL book token) to take when we went away at the end of March, so I ended up reading it over Easter instead. I skipped the first story (ACD's The Adventure of the Gloria Scott) and enjoyed the variety of tales.
The Black Count by Tom Reiss
My fourth recommendation fromushobwri this time from green It's the biography of Alexandre Dumas, the father of the author of the same name. He was the son of a French nobleman and his black slave and born in the French sugar colony of Saint-Dominique. He went on to become a successful general in the French army, but for various reasons, including the colour of his skin lost everything before his death. It was a very interesting read about someone who was very different and seeing a bit more about French life at the time.
Women Artists by Flavia Frigeri
SM bought this for me when I was unable to go with him to London for his birthday concert. (I'd paid for the ticket.) The book lists over 50 women artists from the late 1500s onwards. I found the early periods very interesting, but the second half of the book was about modern artists, a considerable number of whom used art forms other than painting, and I had little interest in them. I found them too determined to put forward a point of view, and their artwork required explanation, which isn't what I look for in art. But I liked the earlier artists.
My book bingo card:
The Spanish Bride by Georgette Heyer
This was recommended by
moth2fic as one of the ushobwri suggestions. It's very many years since I've read any Heyer, although I've listened to a few audiobooks, but I enjoyed becoming reacquainted. The story takes place during Wellington's Peninsular campaign and concludes at the Battle of Waterloo and there's a lot of army action as well as romance, which I found an excellent mix.A Vineyard in Andalusia by Maria Duenas
Duenas is my favourite author, and although I began the book some months ago and got sidetracked I had no trouble picking the story up again. It begins in 1861 in Mexico City, moves to Havana and finishes in Jerez. I liked all the local colour and the settings - which is unusual for me, too much description and I'll start to skip parts, and the characters are compelling. I really enjoyed the book and the drama within it and the twists and turns which kept coming.
Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh
This was a fun case, particularly as it involved Agatha Troy. In fact Alleyn doesn't start to investigate until nearly halfway through, but because Troy has been present all the characters are already described with all their annoying idiosyncrasies.
Deep Waters (Mysteries on the Waves) edited by Martin Edwards
More short stories from the Golden Age of crime fiction. I had bought the book (MIL book token) to take when we went away at the end of March, so I ended up reading it over Easter instead. I skipped the first story (ACD's The Adventure of the Gloria Scott) and enjoyed the variety of tales.
The Black Count by Tom Reiss
My fourth recommendation from
ushobwri this time from green It's the biography of Alexandre Dumas, the father of the author of the same name. He was the son of a French nobleman and his black slave and born in the French sugar colony of Saint-Dominique. He went on to become a successful general in the French army, but for various reasons, including the colour of his skin lost everything before his death. It was a very interesting read about someone who was very different and seeing a bit more about French life at the time.Women Artists by Flavia Frigeri
SM bought this for me when I was unable to go with him to London for his birthday concert. (I'd paid for the ticket.) The book lists over 50 women artists from the late 1500s onwards. I found the early periods very interesting, but the second half of the book was about modern artists, a considerable number of whom used art forms other than painting, and I had little interest in them. I found them too determined to put forward a point of view, and their artwork required explanation, which isn't what I look for in art. But I liked the earlier artists.
My book bingo card:
