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Original poster

Of Mice and Malteasers - Lolaladybird's book

28 replies

Itsjustafleshwound · 09/06/2009 13:16

Sorry - I started a thread for your book as I didn't see one

Just finished the book today - it was an engaging read but I think in the end it was just a mismash and a very ho-hum mystery and love afair...

What did you think of the book??

OP posts:
LolaLadybird · 10/06/2009 23:17

Thanks for starting the thread. I hadn't got round to it - was waiting to finish re-reading the book which I've finally managed this evening (by the way, you read fast!).

Like you, I though it was an engaging read which is a really big plus for me when reading a book. I enjoyed the mystery and whilst there were clues as to how things would turn out, the end was still a surprise for me.

Interested in why you thought it was a mishmash - was it the structure and the moving backwards and forwards? I have been put off before by novels that move between two periods of time before but it didn't bother me in this case.

It's certainly not a literary great but it's probaly quite representative of the type of reading I've felt able to manage with 2 small DC's. Also, anything slightly weightier that I've tackled in recent years have also been best-selling popular reads and I was trying to choose a book that others were less likely to have already read. Ah well, perhaps my choice will serve as the light relief read of our book club?

pooter · 13/06/2009 17:49

Im next to read this - and very naughtily i am sneaking a peek to see if i can work out what it is . Im thinking it may be the TTW - am i right? If so - i really enjoyed it and will look forward to reading it again!

artifarti · 13/06/2009 20:54

Bad, bad pooter! Stop this immediately!

(And you're wrong, BTW )

pooter · 13/06/2009 23:25

yikes - caught by the headmistress

however - this begs the question - why are you looking at this thread arti??

artifarti · 14/06/2009 06:48

Patrolling, pooter.

As you were, everybody...

artifarti · 14/06/2009 06:57

[Disclaimer: not really patrolling, as that would make me weird. I was just being nosey as to other people's discussions, whilst trying not to guess what the books were! I will cease forthwith... ]

Original poster
Itsjustafleshwound · 14/06/2009 19:40

I did enjoy the book -

However, it wasn't so much the switching from past to present, but I felt that the narrator in the past and present were such different people - I think her story and reasons would have been far more interesting...

The book took such a long time to get going and so many things were not really explained but just tidied up (IYKWIM) and rushed to a conclusion at the end.

As mentioned before, it was a book that I have been meaning to read. It was a page turner and enjoyable!!

As far as reading goes I can't say I have made the time or effort to read anything too taxing (hence my delight in being able to join this swap club!)- getting through a book of 'Poppy Princess' at bedtime has kind of been the 'lofty' lietrary heights reached over here!!

I hope I haven't given too much away - don't want to spoil anyone's surprise!!

OP posts:
pooter · 14/06/2009 20:00

oh, i want to know what it is!!! Its got to be the TTW surely??

You just know i was the kind of child to root around to find the christmas pressies

Original poster
Itsjustafleshwound · 14/06/2009 20:13

No - If it was the TTW, I wouldn't be using the words 'enjoyable' !!

Do you want me to post the book to you to read??? (I hate keeping people in suspense ...)

OP posts:
pooter · 14/06/2009 20:29

no!! i must resist!
you didnt enjoy the TTW?? i did! Although i was a tad confused about one little scene.

Original poster
Itsjustafleshwound · 14/06/2009 20:39

I had to read it again just to confirm how bloody awful it was in the first place ... grrr...

OP posts:
pooter · 15/06/2009 00:07

well i liked it, so ner!

(am a bit scared you are going to HATE my book)

As long as you don't dislike the 'william' books by Richmal Crompton. They are my all time favourites and can still make me laugh out loud. When i read them i get all nostalgic for an age i never lived through.

LolaLadybird · 26/06/2009 21:16

Hi there. Just back from hols and catching up.

Itsjustafleshwound - glad you enjoyed the book a little bit. Had a major regret thing while I was away wondering why I chose the book I did as it's not my fave book of all time or anything. Could have picked so many others, don't know why I didn't. I also read Mrs Muddle's book while I was away which was in a different literary class, which served to consolidate the regrets further!

Pooter - you nosy bad person. I would never have lurked on another book thread to try and get a sneak preview ! I can confirm that it's not TTW although that one did make my shortlist of book swap choices but I dismissed it as bound to have been read by so many already. For the record, I also really enjoyed TTW although remember bawling at the end of it.

Original poster
Itsjustafleshwound · 01/07/2009 11:36

Now I feel bad ! I suppose I am very judgy and impatient with my reading at the moment and perhaps don't give things a chance before they are tossed or given up on ...

Please don't feel bad - I don't think I chose particularly well either ...

OP posts:
LolaLadybird · 01/07/2009 22:01

No, don't feel bad - I'll get over it [adopts wounded martyr expression]! Actually, I'm sure we're all having small regrets about what we chose. Just on the basis that you can't possible remember everything you've read and so after you make your choice, you then recall other, better books but hey ho. At the end of the day, we're all in the book club to open our minds to books we wouldn't have obviously chosen for ourselves.

By the way, didn't get to the post office today with your next book but will definitely do so tomorrow morning so should be with you by end of the week. Shall be amazed if the bar of choc is still in bar format by the time it gets to you in this heat!

muddleduck · 03/09/2009 12:05

Hi All.
I've just finished this book (unless I've got my books muddled up in which case I've just finished something cometely different .

So.... TBH I wasn't really a fan. In fact I moaned quite a bit to DH about this as I went along. It was like a longwinded version of "remains of the day" which is one of my all time favourites and which the author acknowledges in the bit at the end. IMO most of the interesting ideas came from RotD but were treated in a much less interesting way. All the twists were signposted far too crudely except for the exact details of who actually pulled the trigger, which to be honest didn't seem to matter very much. It was all a bit "everyone's life is awful" for my liking. I don't necessarily mind miserable books (the one I've sent is very miserable) but this just seemed like it was wallowing in the misery of all the characters without giving any insights into anything. I kept wanting the author to "just get on with it".

I'm sounding very grumpy here. Sorry .

LadyBee · 12/09/2009 18:25

I'm just marking my place here, as I always forget which book I've read (or rather, whose book) and have sent it off before I post. I'm looking forward to reading this, again, not a book I'd normally pick up so we're continuing the trend of stretching my reading horizons

FlyingMonkey · 30/10/2009 22:17

Apologies Lolaladybird but I haven't had time to re-read this book. If I recall correctly, it was a Richard & Judy 'read' of some description and therefore (in my mind and possibly without any real foundation) undemanding but enjoyable and a bit of a page turner. And I'm a bit of a sucker for a country house mystery! However, I agree that some of the twists were predictable but I didn't see the big reveal coming.

It didn't really remind me of The Remains of the Day either apart from the setting and upstairs/downstairs aspect.

Maria2007loveshersleep · 15/12/2009 13:25

OK hi everyone... have just sent this book off to Arti, who's next on the list to read it. Unfortunately- and I feel very guilty about this- I haven't had a chance to finish this book! . I did read half of it but a) was far too busy with the last stages of my PhD (due to be submitted in a month) to properly engage with it & finish it and b) it didn't really 'pull me in' if I'm honest.

From what I read, I also didn't think the young persona of the character matched the older version of her in any way. I would be interested in finding out how she came to be who she was later on. Do you think this becomes clearer towards the end? Also: what is the big reveal? Please do tell, I hate the fact that I haven't found out about the ending...

Finally. I too have read the Remains of the day, & to be honest I think that the writing style in that one is in another league. However, this book was a relatively enjoyable read, a page-turner for sure. Its just, as I said, that I simply didn't have the time with work & with Christmas coming up to finish it. Really sorry for this .

aristocat · 06/01/2010 18:52

i have this book now and will start it soon

artifarti · 06/01/2010 20:17

aristocat - stop pushing in the queue!

I read this over Christmas and although it was a page turner, I agree with those that said that there were way too many clues as to everything that was going to happen. I'm sure I had a lot more to say about it but my brain is befuddled at the moment by cold and child...will come back if I think of anything insightful!

Maria2007loveshersleep · 09/01/2010 07:26

Arti- so what was it that happened in the end? I'm curious since I didn't finish it!!

aristocat · 19/01/2010 11:18

Lola i must admit i am struggling with your book
finding it difficult and very slow.

aristocat · 25/01/2010 13:06

hello.....have finished this book and unfortunately i didnt like it very much .

i found it a slow read and thought that the writing style was clumsy and so repetitive.
i didnt warm to Grace at all.

this book could easily have been 150 pages shorter - which i think would have made it better.

also its a good job the author acknowledges her debt to UpstairsDownstairs - it is as close to plagiarism as it gets . the characters are undeniably similar!

sorry LolaLadybird this wasnt for me

Dysgu · 27/03/2010 10:40

I have just finished this book and really rather enjoyed it! I feel it was something of a page turner - but it has been my 'bedtime' book for the past fortnight or so which leads me to think I was happily putting it down each evening/early morning.

I have not read Remains of the Day and neither did I watch Upstairs/Downstairs so this was all new to me.

I did pretty much predict the ending - having originally thought that the younger sister would pull the trigger, I changed my mind partway through as that felt too predictable!

It is interesting to consider how 'society' has moved on in the past 100 years - it is something we are studying (albeit in a fascinating Year 6 kind of way) right now at work so maybe this just fitted in with my current mindset.

I would happily read other books by this author but may not actively hunt them out (IYSWIM)

(My downstairs book right now, btw, is Memoirs of a Geisha)