Episode 254
(A reminder of the People’s Choice plan. Once a month or so, I shall list the four oldest books on the TBR, then the next four, and so on, and each time you will select the one you think I should read, either because you’ve read and enjoyed it, or because you think the blurb looks good. And I will read the one you pick within three months! If I begin to fall behind, I’ll have a gap till I catch up again. In the event of a tie, I’ll have the casting vote.)
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OK, time for the next batch of four! I’m well into 2015 now, strictly in order of acquisition or addition to the TBR in the case of re-reads. I seem to have had a buying splurge in April, nearly all books that were being recommended by fellow bloggers at that time. I’ve read and enjoyed John Grisham’s two novels set in Ford County, but don’t remember reading any short stories by him before. The other three would all be new-to-me authors. Still quite crime-heavy, but overall I think it’s a nicely mixed bunch this time.
I’m intrigued to see which one you pick…
Fiction
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Added 1st March 2015. 653,288 ratings on Goodreads, with a 4.06 average rating. 546 pages.
The Blurb says: The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it — from garden seeds to Scripture — is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
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Crime
A Perfect Match by Jill McGown
Added 20th April 2015. 808 ratings on Goodreads, with a 3.76 average. 184 pages.
The Blurb says: A young woman is found murdered in a small English town, while the main suspect has spent the night drinking, and denies any involvement. It looks like an easily solved case for Detective Inspector Lloyd and Sergeant Judy Hill, but it soon proves more complex than they originally thought.
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Crime
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell
Added 20th April, 2015. 3,321 ratings on Goodreads, with a 4.01 average. 314 pages.
The Blurb says: Reduced to near penury by the iniquitous demands of the Inland Revenue, young barrister Julia Larwood spends the last of her savings on an Art Lovers holiday to Venice.
But poor, romantic Julia – how could she possibly have guessed that the ravishing fellow Art Lover for whom she conceived a fatal passion was himself an employee of the Inland Revenue? Or that her hard-won night of passion with him would end in murder- with her inscribed copy of the current Finance Act subsequently discovered just a few feet away from the corpse…
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Crime Short Stories
Ford County by John Grisham
Added 20th April, 2015. 20,153 ratings on Goodreads, with a 3.62 average. 308 pages.
The Blurb says: Ford County. The heart of the American deep South. A place of harsh beauty, of broken dreams and final wishes.
From legendary legal thriller author John Grisham comes a unique collection of stories connected by the life and crimes of Ford County, the setting of his iconic first novel A Time to Kill.
From a hard-drinking, downtrodden divorce lawyer looking for pay-dirt, to a manipulative death row inmate with one last plea, Ford County features a vivid cast of attorneys, crooks, hustlers, and convicts. From their stories emerges a rich picture of lives lived and lost in Mississippi.
Completely gripping, frequently moving and always entertaining, Ford County brims with the same page-turning quality and heart-stopping drama of his previous bestsellers.
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VOTE NOW!
(Click on title and then remember to also click on Vote, or your vote won’t count!)
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NB All blurbs and covers taken from Goodreads or Amazon UK.
Haven’t read any of these so just going on blurb…
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Often the best way!
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None of these massively appeal to me but i remember the Kingsolver as one of those ones everyone was reading when it came out but I never got round to. So I’ve voted for that in the hope you can tell me if I should finally read it!
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Yes, there was a while when everyone was talking about it – enough to persuade me to buy it but not to read it! Story of my life… 😉
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Mine’s a negative vote, I’m afraid. Despite being a Kingsolver fan I couldn’t get along with the multiple narrative voices of The Poisonwood Bible at all.
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Hmm, I’m not a great fan of multiple narrators either. But it looks like it’s going to win, so I’ll soon find out!
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Good luck! You may well love it – I’ve been in a minority for years with this one.
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Being in a minority is always more fun… 😉
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Oh, you have some great ones there, FictionFan! Thus Was Adonis Murdered has such wit in it – I’ll bet you’d like the narrator. It’s a good story, too. But my vote was for A Perfect Match, which is a strong (I think) police procedural that has a solid mystery to it. I’ll be interested in which one wins.
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I think it was probably you that put A Perfect Match on my TBR in the first place – and maybe Thus Was Adonis Murdered too! In fact, I pretty much hold you responsible for my whole TBR problem… 😉
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Bwahahaha…… 😉
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I voted for the Kingsolver. I haven’t read the other books,so it’s no contest. But I did love The Poisonwood Bible.
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That’s good to hear, because it looks like The Poisonwood Bible is going to win!
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I love the Caudwell books. If you’ve not read them definitely go for this.
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I can’t imagine why I’ve had it sitting unread for so long – I know almost everyone who’s read it seems to think it’s great!
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Kingsolver got my vote instantly because I had a little flurry of excitement over that book on my blog when it emerged that I hadn’t read it. So of course, I dutifully did read it and true to form failed to post my thoughts on it. I’m not at all sure it’s your sort of book, FF, which is almost certainly why it’s been malingering with you for so long, but I have a feeling you’d get a worthwile post out of it – for us legions of FF fans at least! (S pauses for a while, wondering about the morality of voting for a book I don’t think you will like…. 🤔 Ah! Yes, I have it! All the other choices are crime reads and your reading diet is perhaps a little heavy on crime. Variety is the spice of life and all that. Nothing to do with how much I enjoy your one-star reviews…. Nothing to do with that At All. Have some chocolate…. 🍫 😉)
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Hahahaha, now I’ll feel really guilty if I love it! I shall go into it with my most critical hat on, and have a newly sharpened red pencil handy! 😉 There was a time when everyone was talking about it and it almost seems to have achieved modern classic status. But *whispers* secretly, more recent reviews have made me think you might be right about it not being my kind of thing. Looks like it’s going to win by a landslide, so we shall soon find out! 😀
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Vote placed, and it seems to be popular!
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Looks like it’s going to be a landslide victory this time!
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I would go with the Poisonwood Bible, as at least I have heard of it, and it is on my own reading list somewhere. Like Sandra, I’m not quite sure whether it would be your kind of book, any of the other options are probably safer bets, but who knows.
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I’m not sure whether I’ll love The Poisonwood Bible either, but I’d like to read it anyway – it’s one of these books I feel everybody has read but me! It looks like it’s going to win by a landslide, so we’ll soon know…
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I’ve chosen The Poisonwood Bible, because it would be in my top 5 reads; but I wonder what you’ll make of it, very interesting!
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That’s good to hear – I’ve certainly seen a lot of hugely positive reviews of it over the years. The pressure will be on for me to love it… but you know me… 😉
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This was tough for me, but I finally decided to go with the Grisham collection. He usually tells a good tale, I like his settings, and I enjoy short stories.
The Poisonwood Bible would have been my last choice. While I read and enjoyed a couple of her early novels, my last outing with her (Unsheltered) was massively disappointing. I’ve heard this one was better, but I’m not ready to take another chance with her.
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I’ve had the impression that she seems to have turned into one of these writers who beats you over the head with her politics, which I’m never keen on. But this early one gets lots of good reviews, so fingers crossed, especially since it looks like the certain winner!
I can’t believe I’ve had those Grisham stories unread for five years! I always enjoy him, and the Ford County novels were particularly good. Must get to it soonish even if it doesn’t win.
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I read the Poisonwood Bible in my younger days, and I recall loving it. But my tastes have changed over the years, and I wonder what I would think of it now. I voted for it so I could hear what you have to say about it. From your poll, it looks like it’s going to win!
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I suspect I’d have enjoyed it more if I’d read it when I got it – I’m kind of tired now of authors beating me about the head with their pet politics. But it looks like we shall soon see!
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I’ve always been curious about The Poisonwood Bible and I love Africa – both in real life and in books. So there you go! It seems to be the popular choice.
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Yes, it looks like it’s going to win by a landslide! I know that nearly every review I’ve seen of it has been very positive, so I have my fingers crossed…
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Anything John Grisham gets a vote from me! I hope you enjoy whichever book wins and you decide to read!
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I can’t believe I’ve had that Grisham sitting unread for five years! I always enjoy him, and the Ford County books were particularly good. Looks like it’s not going to win, but I really must read it soonish anyway. 😀
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I voted for Ford County. Grisham’s a favorite of mine, and this one is on my TBR, too. I’ll be interested in seeing how you review it. Who knows? If it doesn’t win in the voting, maybe I’ll get to it before you do!
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I don’t know why I’ve left it sitting around unread for so long – I always enjoy Grisham! Looks like it’s not going to win this time, but now I’ve reminded myself of it I’ll need to try to fit it in soonish anyway. 😀
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I’d normally go for anything involving Venice, but the idea of a night of passion ending in murder with a copy of the Finance Act on the floor just sounds way too silly!
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Haha, yes it’s a very strange blurb, but I’ve seen a few very positive reviews of it, so maybe the issue is with the blurb writer… 😀
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No – the blurb is accurate – because it is a strange book by what was, by all accounts, a strange author. However by absolute chance I have just finished reading this book, having previously read several others in the series out of sequence (they are quite difficult to come across!). There is a lot of intellect & wit in this series, despite a strange letter-style & reportage format, which repays sticking with it 🙂 This is the first in the series & the later ones are even better.
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I know that every review of it I’ve seen has been positive, and that now includes your comments! Sadly it isn’t going to win the poll, but it’s till on my TBR and I’m determined to get to these older ones soon… it does sound intriguing!
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Selfishly I want you to read The Poisonwood Bible because I really want to read it too but I want you to read it first to know if I should LOL
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Hahaha, looks like we’ll both find out soon! I don’t mind being the lab rat… 😉
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It sounds like my vote is irrelevant, but I’d also pick The Poisonwood Bible – I’ve been hearing very good things about Kingsolver for years, but I’ve never known where to start with her, so I’m curious to know what you think of it!
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Definitely looks like The Poisonwood Bible is the winner, so we’ll find out soon whether her style works for me – I’ve never read any of her stuff either, and this one seems to be the best known…
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It doesn’t look as if my choice will be read this time around, but agree with Sandra and look forward to what might be a particularly entertaining review!
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Hmm, wondering what your choice was… 🤔 Hahaha, I might foil you both by loving it! But then again, I might not… 😉
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I chose Ford Country by John Grisham. But this is a democracy, so the majority rule 🙂
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Haha, looking around the world at the moment I’m not sure I’m as enthusiastic about democracy as I used to be… 😉
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Do you like any of the alternatives any better?
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Dictatorship quite appeals, so long as I get to be the dictator… 😉
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A kindly dictator is supposed to be the best government of all. Your platform could be Books and Chocolates for Everyone 🙂
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I would be very kindly. Except to people who annoyed me, of course, but they’d deserve it… 😉
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Poisonwood Bible!!! I mean, it’s my least favourite of her books but then I LOVE her books so that by no means makes it a bad book!
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Hahaha, well, I’ll take that as a recommendation! Especially since it looks like it’s the winner… 😀
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I loved Poisonwood Bible when it came out but it’s been quite a long time since I’ve read it. Have some tissues handy from what I remember! I voted for that one but almost voted for the McGown because it’s so short, ha ha! Nobody writes short books anymore do they?
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I know – I miss short books so much! Well, it looks like The Poisonwood Bible is the winner, so I’m glad it gets your recommendation. I shall ensure I have plenty of tissues and medicinal chocolate handy… 😉
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My vote is definitely for The Poisonwood Bible. If you’re ever going to read Kingsolver, that’s the one to read and I think it is an excellent book.
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It certainly seems to be her best known and, since it looks like the definite winner, I’m glad it gets your recommendation!
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Late to the party on this. I voted for Poisonwood Bible because I’d heard about all of the point of view characters and wondered what you would think of the book for that reason.
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Hmm, I hadn’t realised there were lots of POVs in it when I added it – that only ever works for me if the author is really good at giving them all a clear separate identity. But since it’s the winner, we’ll soon find out how I get on with it!
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[…] was a People’s Choice Poll winner so thank you, People – you picked an excellent one! I thought this was a wonderful book, […]
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