With not a lot to do here this blog is threatening to turn into a book blog. Books and TV are my time fillers at the moment and it's very frustrating!
But it is what it is and won't be forever.
Anyway back to Debenham library last Saturday to pick up some more requested books.
I shall take the cookery book back fairly quickly - because each recipe has about 15 ingredients and feeds 4+!
The other 3 all look good - crime fiction of course!
From those picked up the week before - pictured below. 'Solo' was another cookery book that's gone back already. But my favourite read out of the rest was V2 by Robert Harris.
The story covers just five days at the end of November 1944 and as Harris says " the framework is factual" although the main characters are fictional.
The
book begins on the Dutch coast, in an area still held by the Germans.
It's from this spot in the forest that they have been firing the lethal
V2 rockets to destroy London. The story is mainly about Rudi Graf a
young German scientist whose interests in rockets for space travel
means he is soon involved in the building, testing and firing of the V2
rockets.
In London an officer in the
WAAF - Kay Caton-Walsh - finds herself surviving one of the rocket
attacks while in the home of her lover. Almost immediately she joins a
small team of WAAFs sent out to Belgium to help work out from where the
V2 rockets are being fired.
The last part of the jacket blurb says "But
for every action on one side there is an equal and opposite reaction on
the other. As the death toll soars, the separate stories of Graf and
Kay ricochet off one another until,in a final explosion of violence,
their destinies are forced together"
Both find they have been lied too by those in charge.
There are some awful facts in the acknowledgements ....20,000 slave labourers died building the V2 rockets and manufacturing sites. While about 2,700 people died in London, 1,700 in Antwerp and around 600,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.
The V-weapons programme has been described as 'by a distance the greatest waste of resources by any combatant country'
Such a good writer - this is the third of his books I've read.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
They all sound very interesting - and I agree about ingredient heavy recipes. I don't mind the 'four four, as most are easily halved and one portion for the freezer, but a great long list of ingredients really puts me off.
ReplyDeletexx
I'm easily put of by any recipe with weird ingredients that only need part of a packet or tin or whatever and then the rest sits around.
DeleteWell, the V2 book sounds like one I wouldn't have picked off the shelf but you have made it sound a really good read and I never knew any of the facts - just heard of the V2 rocket in passing. So many lives lost . . . those poor slave labourers . . .
ReplyDeleteThere's quite a lot of factual background about the lethal V2 in the book with fiction woven around it - A good read
DeleteThe V2's were aimed at Norwich because from The Netherlands London was out of range but they missed the target and most fell around the countryside so no lives were lost although damage and fear were achieved. They hit London with a few from an earlier launch site and had a bit of success. The first ballistic missiles.
ReplyDeleteThe labourers described as the slaves were concentration camp prisoners put to work on the missiles.
ReplyDeleteSo many died, and they took all the potatoes grown all around to make fuel - the population starved
DeleteNowt wrong with a book blog! I've just finished reading a book PG Murakami short stories, 'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman'. Strangely beautiful. Not read much generally about WWII but do love Powell Pressburger films!
ReplyDeleteI've read so many crime fiction set in WWII - a popular theme
DeleteI don't know where that 'PG' came from. Predictive text does some strange things. Perhaps it confused Murakami with PG Wodehouse. Nothing would surprise me!
DeleteAlways interested in book reviews and this was timely as it reminds me of an author whose novel 'Conclave' I thoroughly enjoyed reading a few years ago for my book club. I do miss our face to face meetings so much and hope our members will feel confident enough to reinstate them in the summer. Hope you get some good news about the bungalow after the weekend, Vicki
ReplyDeleteI've not read that one yet - must order it from the library
DeleteStrange isn't it we've been put in a position where we have little to do and we're twiddling our thumbs wondering what to do? Or at least that's how I'm finding things at the moment. If we had moved I'd be building flower beds, growing tomatoes in pots plus anything else I could get to put in a pot. Enjoy your books.
ReplyDeleteIt's frustrating knowing there's a garden waiting for me!
DeleteI remember my mother talking about the V-1 and V-2 rockets in London. She drove an St Johns Ambulance during the war. Said the V-1 was bad enough in that you could hear it before the noise cut out, and even though you never knew where it would drop after the sound stopped, you could try to get to cover. She talked about pressing herself into the side of a building when walking down the street, even knowing it wouldn't save her if it hit close by. But the V-2 didn't make noise and seemed even more sinister.
ReplyDeleteThe V2 rockets were huge and just appeared unannounced - it must have been horrifying
DeleteThe book sounds interesting. In this time of change, or not change, it seems like most of us read or do some type of hobby. There is hope for that to change and change quickly.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I'm looking forward to getting a greenhouse - might be too late for this year though
DeleteIn quite happy reading your book reviews. Be good when the libraries are actually open on visit again or the charity shops to stock up on books.
ReplyDeleteLuckily I always have a heap of books on order from the library to look forward to
DeleteThe V2 book does sound like a good one. Enjoy your books and television programs now because soon I'm sure you will be quite busy! I'm looking forward to hearing about your new home.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your book reviews too, Sue, so please keep 'em coming! Have a lovely Easter. Hope you enjoy the sunny weather we are having at the moment 😎
ReplyDeleteI have just discovered Val McDermid who writes crime novels and will never be without a title to look for as she has written dozens of books.
ReplyDeleteI'll never complain about hearing about books! They are one of my favourite subjects! Our little library bookshop is open again. I am thinking that I might go for a visit. It's been over a year since I last went as they haven't been open!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog, and always like to read about books. I've put V2 on hold at my library. I enjoy books about WWII, and hadn't heard of this one. Thanks for the recommendation and the new-to-me author.
ReplyDeleteA book blog would not be a problem for me ;-)
ReplyDelete