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    Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliffe 

    by
    Bitza
     Number of Views: 99 
    1. Categories:
    2. Fiction,
    3. Adventure/Thriller,
    4. History
    Article Preview
    I still remember the day that I found my first Rosemary Sutcliff historical novel, The Eagle of the Ninth. I can remember the school library – deeply unfashionable these days of course with the internet; I can even remember the shelf the book was on. That is the impact that her writing had on me. I must have been all of 14 years old, and had no idea that historically accurate novels could be, well, such fun to read!

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    Rescue Me by Rachel Gibson 

    by
    dizzy.chick
     Number of Views: 98 
    1. Categories:
    2. Fiction,
    3. Chick-Lit
    Article Preview
    I was looking forward to some comforting chick lit after reading some rather heavy books over Christmas. Whilst the book started out as one of those easy to read predictable stories that settle well into the chick lit category, by the third chapter I was starting to get disappointed By the end of the book I was so frustrated it was a relief when I finished the final page.

    What could be so disappointing in a book that you almost want to be a bland read? Well I can only refer to it as "the 50 shades effect". I am happy enough for there to be a little bit of sauce in my chick lit but this book seems to have it on almost every other page which would be bad enough in itself but to add insult it sounds as though it has been written by a 16 year old virgin trying to impress her new boyfriend!

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    Trains and Lovers, The Heart’s Journey. By Alexander McCall Smith. 

    by
    SarahB
     Number of Views: 204 
    1. Categories:
    2. Fiction,
    3. Non-Military,
    4. Chick-Lit
    Article Preview
    Imagine you’re on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, the different experiences you've all had. But there is one thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. In this surprising and poignant story four strangers meet on a train journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale to tell: for Hugh, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that shaded into love; and Andrew makes a discovery that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance. Love may come to us, then, in very different guises, and be unexpected too, but loving others, as one of the characters in this tale observes, is the good thing we do in our lives.

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    Capital Crimes - Seven Centuries of London Life and Murder by Max Decharne 

    by
    Boldnotold
     Number of Views: 141 
    1. Categories:
    2. History,
    3. Non-Fiction,
    4. Non-Military
    Article Preview
    This is a hardbacked book, well researched and very readable, telling the story of crime and punishment in London from 1381 (Roger Legett – a ‘questmonger’) to Styllou Christofi who killed her daughter-in-law and was hanged in 1954.

    I found the stories of the murders, court cases and punishments interesting, but was utterly fascinated by the descriptions of life, society, policing and the strange workings of the law throughout this period. The book covers topics from ‘baby farming’ to highway robbery, whilst describing streets, buildings, professions and moral codes that have long gone. I was interested by the development of policing and forensic science, which are also included.

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    A Time for Heroes by Frank Barnard 

    by
    dizzy.chick
     Number of Views: 216 
    1. Categories:
    2. War,
    3. Military
    Article Preview
    Firstly let me apologise for taking so long to complete this review. I have a very good reason though. I kept re-reading sections of this book. Not because it was hard to follow but because I came to really care about the characters and wanted to relive the twists and turns this story offered.

    Set around 3 generations of a family from the turn of the 20th Century through to the end of World War 2; the book follows the exploits of the males in the family and how they each were a hero in their own right. The story was unexpected and kept me guessing right until the end. Several times I nearly missed my stop on the train desperate to finish the next chapter.

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