Reading Between the Wines - Hadme's book

[Hadmeathello]

I need to be honest and say it's been a good few years since I read this book. I decided a while ago to stop buying books and make better use of our local library, which is fab. I will endeavour to get hold of another copy and re-read it myself asap.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy it

I certainly did enjoy it. It wasn't one I would normally choose because I usually only like books set in modern times, but that's the beauty of a book club- you can read books that you normally wouldn't.

It was really gripping and mysterious and gives exactly the right amount away that you're wondering about the truth but not frustrated at the lack of clarity. I was hooked!

There's more I could say but I'm not sure how much we're allowed to give away...?

Argh, I knew I should have written onto this thread when I first read the book! I've read another couple of books since and so I've forgotten some of the details of this one.

I know I found it readable and gripping, if a bit slow in places. I know I loved the setting and the description (especially rural Wisconsin, big tick in the box for any Laura Ingalls Wilder fan :) ). I thought that the female characters were interesting, especially the prickly Amanda, who I thought was really well drawn.

I thought bits of the plot were a bit silly though, and other bits rather random - what happened to Carl? He was a main character and then he was written out all of a sudden.

I love the mystery/ thriller genre so started to read this one immediately. I did feel that the pace of the book was rather slow however it is nicely written and a very good first novel.

I also thought there was too much switching back and forth between characters and timelines, this just made for a confusing read.

I liked Carl and felt his disappearance was rather odd ( surely his character could have developed more?) and also wondered was the Amanda/ Clement scene at the lake intentional?

I haven't got on with the last couple of books I've had so I'm really glad to have this one. Just finished it and really enjoyed it. The story is gripping and for the most part well written.

I was thrown off by the way that the perspective shifts. It's easy to see when it's first person from Ruth or Amanda as their name is before those sections but then it suddenly switches to third person again. Didn't realise immediately and thought Amanda had taken to talking about herself in third person and it took me a while to get in to the flow of it.

I agree about Carl. It seemed like the author realised she didn't have any further use for it so just wrote him out. I don't think he would just disappear like that in reality.

I think that the Imogene/Arthur potential marriage story cheapened it and brought it down to the level of cliched soap drama and had to force myself through those pages. The story could easily be told without that element.

But the pace was good and although the secret was revealed sooner, the mystery of what happened kept me interested until the end.

Thought the book was a bit of a slow burner but i was interested to see how the scret was unfolding

I wasnt 100% positive about what had happened so really wanted to see how it ended

I liked the characters of the two sisters and it did take me a little while to figure out 'the cousins'

A few leaps in the plot and in the passing years but overall a good read