Silent in the Grave by Deanna Rayburn

Lady Julia's husband dies during a dinner party which is not only very inconvenient for the guests but Lady Julia had no idea she would be wearing black so soon. Shortly after her husband's demise Lady Julia is called upon by a private investigator claiming that her husband's death was not due to natural causes. The idea of her husband being murdered brings Lady Julia out of her comfortable environment and into the less aristocratic parts of London but she must find out if it 's true or not.

I decided to buy this book after having read the first 3 lines:
"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor."

Well, what can I say? There was no way I would not buy a book with such an introduction and it kept on delivering more and more and better and better. At times it's funny and at other times a bit sad but the quality is high throughout.

It's a difficult book to write about because I know I couldn't do it justice. So there's really only a few things to say;
1) I've ordered the second novel "Silent in the Sanctuary" from Amazon.co.uk and I can't wait until it gets here
2) It's one of the best books I've ever read!

The Shakespeare Secret by J.L. Carrell

Kate is the director of Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe when she has a visit from an old friend, Roz, with whom she fell out with some years back. Roz asks for Kate's help with something important but it must be kept a secret. Before they have a chance to talk Roz is murdered. Kate decides to try and find out what it was Roz was searching for. When people around Kate starts to die in ways copied from Shakespeare's plays she realises that she has to follow it through to the end or she too will die without having found the truth.

Ok, how many have read the Da Vinci Code? Did you enjoy it? Despite it being poorly written? I agree that The Da Vinci Code was entertaining as far as the idea of it but that's as far as it got, at least with me...

Why am I writing about a book that's not the one I've just read? Well, it's just to explain that the idea behind i is the same. Ancient secrets (although not as ancient as The Da Vinci Code - that was about Jesus) that can be tracked down and brought to light. Some people want it discovered, others are ready to kill for it to remain a secret. So far there's little difference between The Da Vinci Code and The Shakespeare Secret.

But! and that is a very big "but" - where The Da Vinci Code was poorly written, The Shakespeare Secret is the complete opposite. It's well written with a flow that was non existent in Dan Brown's book. Not to mention how nicely Carrell has managed to fit in various quotes and anecdotes from Shakespeare's plays and life. It's not only entertaining, it also told me a bit about the plays that I have no knowledge of.

You don't have to be a Shakespeare fan to read this book - or maybe you shouldn't be - I know for one, that the only play by Shakespeare I've thoroughly enjoyed is Macbeth. I did, however, really like reading this book and I enjoyed Carrell's style of writing so I'll most definitely read more books by her.

Heaven Sent by Christina Jones

Clemmie is a girl who haven't been able to settle down with a job that she likes and/or a boyfriend. Not for lack of trying but she knows what she wants to do and who she wants to be with (and do). Clemmie has always been crazy about fireworks and it just so happens that the local fireworks company is run and owned by a total hottie...

Enter various misunderstandings that are the essence of books like this one and that's also exactly why we like them.

It's quite a fun book to read even though, as mentioned above, it's fairly predictable but it doesn't matter that it is. I like it anyway and I enjoyed reading it and to be honest, I haven't read a book that focus on fireworks and the chemistry behind it and it works. It works quite well in a book like Heaven Sent.

Run For Home by Sheila Quigley

A girl is being kidnapped and it becomes clear to her older sister, Kerry, that it all has something to do with what happened 16 years ago. Something that has had a big impact on her family's life. Kerry's mother refuses to talk about it so Kerry has to search on her own as she fears that the police aren't to be trusted.

It's a thriller/crime novel. It's not bad at all, it made me want to finish it (in a good way) but it was also fairly predictable albeit with a few twists and turns.

It's a safe book to read but what i really like about it is that it's written in a new "fresh" kind of way. If I were you I'd read it if I came across it and you were in the mood for a simple but enjoyable read.

Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth

- A true story of the East End in the 1950s -

Jennifer is training to be a midwife by an order of nuns that worked in the slums since 1870s and she experiences poverty and the hard life lived by the people in the London docklands in the 50s but she also discovers something that goes beyond the surface. A sense of community where families are everything and the ability to enjoy life despite all their hardships.

This is not the kind of book I'd normally pick up and I am very glad that I did. Jennifer describes her work in a way that makes you feel as if you were her assistant during all those labours. There's the Spanish lady who's pregnant with her 25th child and all the other people that somehow have etched their way into Jennifer Worth's heart and memories.

It's sometimes difficult to envisage what it was like to live in the East End during the 50s as it was quite severely damaged by the bombs during the war and even though plenty have tried to describe it, it's just passed me by. Jennifer Worth has the ability to write and describe her life and experiences in a way that makes you embrace and cherish the insight she's given you, without ever going "over the top".

The book is brilliantly written and you can really feel the love Jennifer Worth had for her work, the people she worked with and the area that so many people shunned. I, as a non English person, found it very educational (again without noticing it) and I think it's a book to be appreciated by everyone, not to mention how much easier it is to give birth these days. Jennifer Worth describes a book she used during her studies where the women were advised to contact a doctor if the labour contractions 12 days...

I encourage everyone to read it, you really won't regret it.