50 Books Challenge: May round up

It’s been a while since I did a round up, mainly because I’ve read a couple of huge books (my Kindle was telling me they’d take 8 hours each, and I’m a pretty fast reader, although only really get an hour a day before going to sleep), but also because I seem to be not really getting huge chunks of time to read so feeling a bit behind my usual reading speed.

Here’re the books I’ve been reading in May with my quick thoughts on them:

Lace – Shirley Conran.

I got this free on Kindle, otherwise it’s not something I’d have usually picked out.  It was the starter to the bonkbuster genre in the 80s, telling the sex, scandals and success that surrounded 4 friends from school through to adulthood.  It’s a huge book, split into numerous parts which to me seemed never-ending with no real reason.  I think there are now a lot better books written in the chick lit/scandal genre – it caused a big hoo-ha in the 80s (then  was produced into a mini-series for tv as well), but nowadays seems a lot less special).

I also wrote up my review here.

All I want for Christmas – Lisa Mondello

Another freebie, another Mills & Boons style trashy romance.  This wasn’t too bad a plot, it had a bit more content than other similar books, and if you’re a fan of Christmas cheer like I am, you can’t go far wrong with a happy Christmas wish coming true.

11th Hour – James Paterson & Maxine Paetro

I’m a big fan of James Paterson books, and this is the next in his number series of 4 females in the ‘murder club’.  In it we get a bit more of the emotional stories behind the friends and their relationships, as well as the usual fast speed twists and turns with a vigilante cop murdering drug dealers.  Yes, once you’ve read a lot of his books, they can get a bit samey, but I know what I’m getting, I can have a good paced read and there’s usually a pretty good explosive ending.

Land of the Long White Cloud – Sarah Lark

This again was an ebook freebie, and the attraction for me was the story around the development of New Zealand’s South Island.  It’s great to read a novel set in places you’ve visited and this describes the New Zealand landscape brilliantly.

It’s the story of 2 women coming to New Zealand from England for marriage purposes, and tells of their ups and downs, family nightmares and successes, and love stories.  The relationships (good and bad) with Maori tribes and workers are also shown, but it’s very much about the struggles that women had to get their voices heard and make their rightful positions in society without their husbands’ support.

Definitely an epic (another 8 hour+ novel), it was a bit of a slog, but worth plowing through to hear how things turn out for the 2 women and their families.  Will be watching out for the next book in the series coming soon.

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