Emma: The Twice-Crowned Queen by Isabella Strachan

This is a profoundly frustrating book! The author's to be commended for having done a great amount of research to pull together an array of fascinating characters, violent times and courtly intrigues. Sadly, though, although all the characters and events of epic drama are present and correct the drama itself doesn't come to the party. The author just doesn't have any sense of narrative flow.

Take, for example, the incident of the St. Brice's Day massacre. It's heavily touted within the book as the single most catastrophic incident in the reign of Ethelred the Unready (and, arguably, Saxon England history) but when the moment comes in the narrative you would hardly notice it. A couple of pages afterwards it suddenly dawned on me that the author's references to the event had changed from "would be" to "was."

There are other instances, and plenty more where the narrative flow begins to build and then is lurched out of the way to make room for a short, distracting side issue. It reads and feels very much like reading a chronicler's efforts: "here's the latest installment of the story and while I remember here's a couple more facts."

Sadly, this is a book written by an encyclopedist, not a historian.

-- Steven

Friends Forever by Lynn Andrews

More comments and reviews by the Home Library Reading Circle

"A good read"
— D.

"A very enjoyable book. YOu have to keep turning the pages, and it makes you realise how lucky we are to have good friends.!
— N.R.

"A very good read. I loved every page."
— L. McE.

"A light-hearted story line. Well written, which makes 'Forever Friends' a very easy read."
— D.Y.

"One of those books which is an enjoyable, light-hearted read. I will be looking forward to more books by Lynn Andrews."
— L.N.

We have copies of "Friends Forever" at most of our libraries. It's also available in large print and as a Talking Book.

Spread The Word!

Spread The Word — the organisation set up by The Bookseller's Association to encourage a love of reading — has set up a web site called Books To Talk About, which does what it says on the tin. Amongst the features on the site are competions and a discussion forum.

You'll also find links to the web site for this year's World Book Day on March 6th. This site will be listing events and activities for World Book Day but you don't have to wait until then to have a look at the games and links.

We've added links to titles from the Books To Talk About list on our Web Catalogue. Borrowers registered with Rochdale Library Service can reserve any of these titles by clicking on the "Request item" button and it won't cost you a penny. All you need is the barcode from your library card and your PIN number (if you don't have a PIN, or can't remember it, you can ask a member of staff to set one up for you next time you're in the library).