Month: June 2017

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

Title: My Cousin RachelAuthor: Daphne du MaurierPublished by: Victor Gollancz LtdPublication date: 1951 Read: June 24 – June 28 2017Genre: Mystery Thriller; ClassicPages: 351Mareli’s rating: 5 starsRecommend to: If you can read, you have to read Daphne du Maurier’s books. They don’t come like this anymore.Description: Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries – and there he dies suddenly. Jealous of his marriage, racked by suspicion at the hints in Ambrose’s letters, and grief-stricken by his death, Philip prepares to meet his cousin’s widow with hatred in his heart.Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. And yet… might she have had a hand in Ambrose’s death? Goodreads From the Queen of opening lines –  Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again. Comes another one-line wonder  They used to hang men at Four Turnings in the old days. Ever since reading […]

Posted June 29, 2017
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Plaasmoord deur Karin Brynard

Titel: PlaasmoordSkrywer: Karin BrynardUitgewer: Human & RousseauEerste druk: 2009Bladsye: 510 (sagteband)My gradering: 4 SterreGenre: Moord en doodslag, geskiedenis, speurAanbeveel aan: Afrikaanse misdaad en speurverhaal liefhebbers (soos Deon Meyer? Ja!)Kort opsomming: Plaasmoorde het nooit juis vastrapplek gekry in die ylbevolkte Noord-Kaap nie – maar dan word die drie en dertigjarige opkomende skilder Freddie Swarts en haar aangenome dogter aaklig vermoorSpeurder-inspekteur Albertus Beeslaar moet die moord oplos., maar kort voor lank word hy en die vermoorde se suster, Saar ingetrek by bisarre gebeure soos die moord op ‘n bobbelaan, ‘n veediefstal-sindikaat en ‘n groep omgekrapte boere wat sake in hul eie hande wil neem. GoodreadsEk gaan nogsteeds effens gebuk onder my streng gereformeede skuldbekenning dat ek nie genoeg Afrikaans lees nie. My boetedoening vorder glad nie sleg nie, en ek voel heel trots op myself (wat seker ook nie juis toelaatbaar is nie). Ek het die afgelope maand al 3 Afrikaanse boeke deurgewerk. Dankie tog vir goeie vriende en familie met uitstekende lees-smaak wat almal Afrikaanse boeke aandra. Ek het die lywige Plaasmoord saam met twee ander gewigte boeke en my getroue kindle in my tas gesmokkel oppad met vakansie. Nodeloos om te noem, het my man dit ontdek en gegrom oor die ekstra gewig. Deel van […]

Posted June 28, 2017
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Friday Meets – 23 June 2017

Greetings! While most of my fellow bloggers are enjoying the summer and sunshine, some of us here in the Southern hemisphere are freezing. No, we do not go to the gym. We read. The brain needs exercise too.  Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. For this date, you will need the following: Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading) Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this) Post it! Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky. And don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well. I had a good reading month so far and I am on schedule. That “monthly reads” shelf on my Goodreads profile proofs to be helpful. I’ve only deviated on one or two books, but they brought so much pleasure, I don’t care. I have My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier lined up for the weekend. Been […]

Posted June 23, 2017
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Top Ten Tuesday – Serious Series I need to read Seriously

It’s Tuesday and time to get serious about reading series’ with Top Ten Tuesday. Seriously, you need to start reading that series you’ve been putting off ever since Eskom first introduced load shedding.  Personally, I don’t read that many series. The problem with a series is you need to read them ALL, for if you take one out, none of the other bulbs will light up and you will be sitting in the dark.  But I still have the following series’ on my TBR list and I haven’t started with any of these. Not one book or even book one from anyone.     Maisie Dobbs Flavia de Luce Phryne Fisher    Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy The Dark Tower The Mediator    The Raven Cycle Department Q Temperance Brennan I am planning to start an Afrikaans series in July that might just give me the jeebie creeps, but I am sooooo looking forward to it! Promise to sleep with the lights on. Unfortunately, no English translation yet. Promise to tell you everything. But when do I plan to start the rest of the series’? Your guess is as good as mine. It will have to be light bulb moment. What […]

Posted June 20, 2017
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It's Monday! What are you reading? #7

The problem with Mondays…. Endless. I was actually looking forward to Monday, but then BAM – it just smacks you in the face with all its demands and oh-here’s-another-problem at 08:00 on a Monday morning. But I don’t hate Monday. I honestly don’t. At least not the part where we can talk about books.  We took a mini-break last week and I spend it reading. The whole time. Came to the conclusion that reading really does solve everything and it’s the best therapy. Monday should try reading. We as readers and bloggers should unite and force the world to spend Mondays reading. It will solve an endless amount of world problems. So nice to still believe in unicorns and the tooth fairy. Don’t you think? Recently finished     The Serial Killer’s Daughter by Lesley Welsh You get serial killers. And then you get Don. Jeez… This was a good read. So sad that the author passed away earlier this year. I’m sure we could have expected a few more great reads from her. Review Weeping Waters by Karin Brynard – I am binding myself to the promise to read more Afrikaans books. The Afrikaans title is “Plaasmoord” and it translates to Farm Murder. […]

Posted June 19, 2017
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The Serial Killer's Daughter by Lesley Welsh

Title: The Serial Killer’s DaughterAuthor: Lesley WelshPublished by: BookouturePublication date: 14 June 2017 Read: June 5 – June 10 2017Genre: ThrillerPages: 343ISBN:  9781786811929Mareli’s rating: 4 starsRecommend to: PSYCHO (Some new killing tips and how to lie about it here)Description: Suzanne’s life changes forever the day she receives a visit from Rose Anderson, the woman who has been living with her estranged father, Don. Don is dead, but Rose wants Suzanne to have his possessions – including a series of intimate diaries and a mysterious collection of photographs of women. To Suzanne’s shock, one of the photos is of her friend Sophie, whose death ten years before in an unexplained and devastating fire broke Suzanne’s heart. But Don only met Sophie once, on an unsettling visit he paid Suzanne just days before Sophie’s death… So why did he have a picture of her? Unable to let Sophie’s memory alone, Suzanne begins to dig into her father’s life. What horrors is she about to unearth in his journals? And who is it that’s out there, watching her every move? Lesley Welsh.com After Lesley Welsh’s editor at Bookouture read The Serial Killer’s Daughter for the first time, she turned to the author and said, “I do sometimes worry that Don Tyler came out of your head”.As a reader and lover of psychological […]

Posted June 14, 2017
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