I was five when I had my first tomato, or so Mum would tell it. I’d proudly proclaimed, ‘Mummy, these are yummy! We should tell people. Why doesn’t everybody know about tomatoes?’
My mum dines out on this story to this day. Every time she has a guest round for lunch, she’s sure to include a tomato salad just to tell it. I’d roll my eyes; what else could I do? Thin smiles and sips of tea.
Even dinner parties when salads weren’t expected, there it was. Tomato bloody salad. ‘You’ll never believe what my little one said when he had his first tomato!’ Yes, they do, mother, you told them a thousand times. Polite titters and sips of merlot. Knowing nods to the kid at the end of the table. The kid who never stood up for himself.
I never told anyone, but I’m pretty damn certain she made the whole thing up.
Hello again, book lovers! A few weeks ago, I asked my followers for their best book recommendations and had an overwhelming response. Here is the final round, featuring all the Mystery and Thriller recommendations. Thank you again to everyone! I hope their suggestions were helpful and inspiring.
The Shadow of the Lynx by Victoria Holt
Linda says – It was one of the first books I purchased as a nineteen-year-old after marrying and both of us working shifts. It was a great start to reading romance books instead of the mysteries I usually read.
Cathryn says – It delves into the hidden costs of pornography and trafficking in a fictional novel. Horror yet also reality with one hell of a slap to your face.
Hello, avid book fans! I asked my followers for their best book recommendations and had an overwhelming response. Here is the next round of the best, with more to come next week! Thank you to everyone, and I hope their suggestions make it to your Goodreads wishlist. I know they’re on mine!
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
Margaret says – It’s one I read many years ago, and loved it. The story of a country boy who left his village as a teenager to go off to fight in the Spanish Civil War. The only thing he took with him was his fiddle – it helped him to earn a living by busking. It became a classic – deservedly so – and has lost none of its intrinsic charm with the passage of time. There was a sequel many years later: “As I Walked Out one midsummer morning”. Another terrific read.
Guns of Navarone / Where Eagles Dare by Alistair Maclean
Craig says – Guns of Navarone was made into a movie with Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, etc. It is a fascinating look at Nazi Germany from the viewpoint of intelligence assets, but with some logic flaws when considered from intelligence work 30 years later. It was a great story and a great movie.
Where Eagles Dare is much more strictly a military story, again based during World War II, during which commandos must assail the Greek island of Navarone and destroy the huge guns embedded in the mountain. Personal animosities and leadership failures make the task more difficult than it would have been. This book also was made into a blockbuster movie.
Gara says – The story is narrated by an older man about experiences he had as a young man during the Great Dust Bowl and the years that followed. We see events both through the eyes of the old man and through the eyes of his younger self. Love historical fiction!
Red says – It’s one of my favorite stories, and I’ve read it multiple times. It’s funny, exciting, sad, and well-developed, with interesting and believable characters. It can also be read for free at diggercomic.com, and the comments section frequently makes it even better; sometimes adding information about the inspirations about certain details in the story and frequently being quite entertaining in their own right.
Nancy says – Because the b*stard is brilliant! The Other Hotel series has you choose …what?? That’s right, you choose. Which I didn’t like when I was younger, but I liked those because it was like six books in one, lol. The characters are believable, and the descriptions of stuff are awesome. I still love the description of the pig farmer going after Lucky to get his drugs. I won’t say anymore, so it won’t be spoiled if you read it. But omg, I read that passage ten times. Hilarious!!! I tell people about that moment, but I am always laughing so hard no one understands me. Great reads!
Hello, avid book fans! I asked my followers for their best book recommendations and had an overwhelming response. Here are some of the best, with more to come in the next few weeks! Thank you to everyone, and I hope their suggestions make it to your Goodreads wishlist. I know they’re on mine!
Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Carlo and Teri say – Engaging, all the twists and plots and then all the adventures. This series is captivating and pulls the reader into the story from the very first page. One becomes intimately familiar with the characters and everything they struggle with and their triumphs. You will find these books are unputdownable; you will get so wrapped up in the story you’ll lose track of time and everything else. Read the series today, you won’t be disappointed!!!
Jennifer says – This book was a debut release last year that was absolutely fantastic. It is a MG fantasy about a young boy who wants to become a unicorn rider. It’s a mix of magic academy, adventure, and mystery, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. In fact, I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in one sitting. My personal opinion is that it is better than both the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series, and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel’s publication in May.
This is my pick, and also one from Richard. Humour and strangeness pretty much sum up Terry Pratchett. But there is also a sort of dry wit to it that will have you giggling like a madman on the bus. The first of his books may not be the absolute best, but still surpassed most, and is where his Discworld is first introduced, along with the much-loved Rincewind. Therefore it’s a great place to start!
David says – I think that David Eddings was the first author who gave me a fantasy series that had a main character that I could see myself in. I was 16, and Garion was around 15 in the first book. As for Shayne’s Nate Temple books, I love Urban Fantasy, and his are some of the most fun stories I’ve read in years!
Timothy says – Irreverent, funny, silly, stream of consciousness feeling to the first several books, but you can see his style change and improve while keeping the fun in later books, multiverse, quantum physics with some string theory, science fiction, vulgar, naughty language, “innovative” spelling and grammar (He uses 3 different spellings of an alien race in the space of 2 paragraphs), and the snarkiest narrator I’ve read in ages.
Jackie says – It’s the first of a series of cozies in space. Knowing the author there’ll be 26, book 2 is on pre-order. I always used to recommend Barry J. Hutchison’s Space Team series but it’s kinda been abandoned so the author can write crime thrillers as JD Kirk.
