READ A BOOK A MONTH CHALLENGE-THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB/WILDFLOWER HILL

MONTH 2-THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB BY ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

Started Sunday 17th February 2013.

Yesterday I started my new book. By browsing in charity/thrift/op shops and keeping my eyes open in at Car Boot Sales I managed to acquire the first 4 books in the THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB series (written by the same author of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency). 

This is what the first one is about:

Behind Edinburgh's regimented Georgian facades, it's moral compasses are spinning with greed, dishonesty, lust and murderous intent. Isabel Dalhousie knows this. Isabel, in fact rather relishes it. An accomplished philosopher and editor of the Review of Applied Ethics, she knows all about the difference between good and bad. Which is probably why, by instinct, she is an amateur sleuth. And instinct tells her that the man who tumbled to his death in front of her eyes after a concert in the Usher Hall didn't fall. He was pushed.

And whatever Isabel lacks in official status, she more than makes up for with accomplices and contacts: there's her housekeeper Grace, whose applied philosophy is that the Edinburgh way is right and the way of the world is wrong; her beautiful niece Cat; and Cat's ex boyfriend, Jamie, who is leading lsabel to review her own ethics in the sexual attraction market.

With Isabel Dalhousie, Alexander McCall Smith introduces a new and wapish female sleuth to tackle murder, mayhem - and the mysteries of life!

I've read about 100 pages so far and will let you know what I think of it and whether I would recommend it. And of course I'll give it a SFT score out of 10.

MONTH 1-WILDFLOWER HILL BY KIMBERLEY FREEDMAN

 

STARTED JAN 19TH-THIS BOOK WAS 'LENT' TO ME BY A FRIEND AT SCHOOL. IT IS SO NICE THAT A FEW OF US EXCHANGE BOOKS WITH ONE ANOTHER. 


HERE IS A BRIEF SUMMARY PLOT:

GLASGOW 1929, Beattie Blaxland dreamed of a life of fashion and fabrics. She never thought she would find herself pregnant by her married lover, just before her 19th birthday and be forced to leave home.

London, present day, Emma Blaxland-Hunter is living her dream as a prima ballerina-until the moment her career is ruin and she loses everything.

Separated by decades, both women must find the strength to rebuild their lives. A legacy from one to the other will lead to Wildflower Hill and a house that holds traumatic family secrets.

My Thoughts: Don't you think a book can be judged by whether you miss it when you finish it? And I did miss this story. 

But this could be partly to do with the ending not quite satisfying my curiosity. 2 of the main characters finally meet but you never find out what they say to one another. So rather than remain frustrated I played that scene out in my mind. Who knows whether the author would agree..

I would recommend this book as I cared about the central characters, particularly Charlie.

I also enjoyed reading about Hobart, Tasmania in the 1930s.

And I liked the romances of the central characters. 

I would give the book 8.5 out of 10.

Look out for it if  you can.

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT?

Sft x