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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 09 Jan 2017, 20:57
by joanne_chan
Just finished The Manor House School by Angela Brazil. Intrigues and inheritances mixed with boarding school makes for a great read.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 09 Jan 2017, 21:39
by Chrissie777
I've started reading a Norman Dale trilogy last night.
Dale was one of EB's British children's books contemporaries.
This is the first volume called "Secret Service" (1943). WW II and Hitler are mentioned. The little protagonist, Peter, is evacuated from London and doesn't like country life very much.
As I've read this only once before (in 2005), I forgot the rest of the plot, but vaguely remember that the two sequels were even better than this first volume.
Each of the three books has a map in the front, so you can better imagine where it's taking place.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 19:31
by Lucky Star
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 20:48
by Chrissie777
"Marianne Dreams" by Catherine Storr.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 22:14
by Anita Bensoussane
Have you read Marianne Dreams before, Chrissie? It was one of my daughter's favourites when she was younger, and I enjoyed it too. Most unnerving.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 22:37
by Chrissie777
This is my first time reading it and I'm amazed it's from 1958...like the illustrations 8).
I only watched the very atmospheric and scary movie based on the book, "Paperhouse" with Ben Cross.
It also has a sequel, but I would have to order it via Inter Library Loan as Massachusetts does not have a copy.

Did you ever read the sequel, Anita?

Does unnerving mean scary?

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 22:44
by Anita Bensoussane
Yes, scary and unsettling.

I haven't read any more books by Catherine Storr as the other titles that interested me were out of print and horrendously expensive at the time I checked (which was years ago).

I watched Paperhouse and enjoyed it, but some details of the storyline were changed.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 23:13
by Courtenay
I'm currently reading The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor... it's actually the Christmas present I gave to Mum (belatedly, as I brought my family's Christmas presents with me in order to save posting them to Australia), but she's happy for me to read it before I go back to England at the end of the week. Sgt Taylor has served for a number of years as the head of the (very small) police force on the Isles of Scilly and shares plenty of stories — many of them hilariously funny — from his beat. There's not a lot of serious crime on Scilly but there are still plenty of interesting incidents to keep the cops busy, it seems... :wink:

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 23:20
by Chrissie777
Anita Bensoussane wrote:I watched Paperhouse and enjoyed it, but some details of the storyline were changed.
I've only read the first 30 pages, but I'm already hooked.
Will re-watch "Paperhouse" once I'll be done with reading the book. It has been some 5 or 6 years since I've watched it the last time and one of the things about getting older is the bad memory that many develop (I certainly do :roll: ), however, re-reading a book or re-watching a movie after years can feel like discovering it for the first time. 8)

I also discovered a TV series based on this book.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 16 Jan 2017, 23:36
by Courtenay
Aha, just minutes after my previous post, I've hit on an Enid Blyton reference in the book I'm reading! :D Sgt Colin is relating the story of the time when he needed to get across the island of Tresco in a hurry and a generous 11-year-old boy lent the policeman his bike, which of course was far too small for an adult man:
Once I had found my balance I set off, to a ripple of poorly suppressed giggles, and cycled down the narrow concrete road... The wind flapped my trousers, and my knees were up around my ears as I pedalled. It was marvellous!... It felt like living. If Enid Blyton had written a book about the policeman that Dick from the Famous Five would grow up to be, I could not have been a million miles from that vision. All that was missing was Timmy the dog running alongside me, and a knapsack on my back containing a bottle of ginger beer and a brown paper parcel of jam sandwiches.
I can just about picture the scene! :lol:

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 17 Jan 2017, 20:35
by Chrissie777
During the day I'm reading "Marianne Dreams".
At night I've started (and almost finished) reading vol. 2 from a Norman Dale trilogy. Vol. 2 is called "Dangerous Treasure". It takes place during WW II near the British south coast.
Peter, Ginger and Veronica try to find an old treasure in the underground passages of a ruin on top of a hill. The treasure was hidden during Oliver Cromwell's time.
I find this sequel even more compelling than "Secret Service".

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 18 Jan 2017, 17:49
by Kate Mary
I've just got round to reading Well Done Denehurst by Gwendoline Courtney, the sequel to The Denehurst Secret Service and I'm finding it hard to put down. Elaine, Moira and Avice from the earlier book together with Avice's brother Bob are spending a holiday in the New Forest but it's no ordinary holiday. Elaine's cousin Deryk who serves in the wartime secret service enlists the help of the girls and Bob as cover for his spying operations but also asks them to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious, a fifth columnist is known to be in the area. The adults in the story are soon disposed of leaving the gang to fend for themselves and do their bit for the war effort by tracking down the traitor.

It's wildly implausible of course but also one of the best adventure stories I've read in ages.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 18 Jan 2017, 17:57
by Chrissie777
Kate Mary wrote:I've just got round to reading Well Done Denehurst by Gwendoline Courtney, the sequel to The Denehurst Secret Service and I'm finding it hard to put down.
Sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for mentioning it. I will look it up.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 18 Jan 2017, 20:38
by John Pickup
I've got both of the Denehurst books in the GGB editions but I haven't started them yet.
Does anyone know whether Girls Gone By are continuing with the Marston Baines thrillers by Malcolm Saville? They published Three Towers In Tuscany ages ago but there is no mention on their website whether they intend to continue with the series.

Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Posted: 19 Jan 2017, 00:37
by Courtenay
The Denehurst books do sound good — must look out for them some time. I like the author's surname, too, even if she can't spell. 8)

Just finished The Life of a Scilly Sergeant and thoroughly enjoyed it. The author gave Enid Blyton another brief mention towards the end, too, when he remarked that being brought up on the Famous Five and other such adventures had a lot to do with his love for islands and the thrill of exploring them, which is partly what made the job of police sergeant on Scilly so appealing to him!