Summer Readalong

If I ever go into a 'real' bookshop I'm hopeless at choosing new books, I almost always read Crime Novels and I have my favourite Authors plugged in to Amazon anyway so that I can keep up with the new releases. In order to introduce a little variety I decided that I would 'Read Along with Richard & Judy' and for the last two years have been reading their chosen book selections.
Overall it's a really good experience as I've read books by authors I'd never heard of and books with subject matter that I wouldn't normally touch with a barge pole. I think it's good for the soul as well as the mind to try new things.
The Summer Reading List for 2007 (Starts Wed 4th July) has just been released and the books are:-
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Relentless by Simon Kernick
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
The Savage Garden by Mark Mills
How To Talk To A Widower by Jonathan Tropper
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson

I have a few self-imposed rules for the ReadAlong:-
1. Books may be read in any order - the point here is to expand your reading horizons not keep up with the Joneses.
2. Books may be read at any speed - I have 3 children, do Richard & Judy really think I've got time to read a book a week, even on holiday?
3. You must read at least the first chapter of each book. If it's so awful that you can't bear to continue then you may give up but please recycle the book! This has only happened to me once with a book set in the Deep South of the US at the time of the Civil War and I'm sorry but despite the fact that Richard raved about it - it was deadly dull and it had to go.
4.Books should be obtained from a) the shelf of the library (cost-nil) b) Library Reservations (cost - 80p per book) c) http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/ (cost - 2nd class postage) d) Charity Shops e) ebay or GreenMetropolis.com for a SECONDHAND COPY and finally you are allowed to buy a new copy if all other options have been exhausted.

So I'm starting with Relentless because it's a thriller and so ought to be an easy first read. I found it on the shelf of the village library so I grabbed it before Richard and Judy start talking about it - once they mention a book it goes out of my library for months on end.....

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