Books I Have Read This Month - February 2026

 

As we near the end of winter, the only thing keeping me going is the thought that spring isn't too far away.  When I see the crocuses popping up their glorious little mauve coloured heads, it fills my heart with joy as they promise that spring is just around the corner.

Of course, the other thing that has kept me going through this grey, wet February is the books that I have read.

The Heart-Shaped Box by Lucy Kaufman

This novella was a quick and excellent read.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Fireflies in Winter by Eleanor Shearer

I felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

I have read that the author of this book wrote it as it combined two of her greatest pleasures – reading and knitting.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Man Who Wore All His Clothes and Other Stories by Allan Ahlberg

This is a collection of very funny stories. The humour contained in both text and illustration are very well done and it made these stories come alive.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Other Mother by Heidi Field

This book made for fabulous reading.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

Less by Patrick Grant

This is a fabulous book written by The Sewing Bee's Patrick Grant. It discusses over consumerism and is quite the wake up call. My review will be following.

Love Struck by Ally Bloom

This was a tense story line. Review to follow.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

This is one I'd been wanting to read for ages. It's set in a Jewish/Black neighbourhood. It made for excellent reading.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

My review of this book about Iranian women will follow.

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

Written with a dual timeline, this book kept me hooked throughout.  If you would like to read my review you can find it here.

The Last Laugh Club by Kate Galley - #bookreview #blogtour

My dearest friend,

If you are reading this, then I am dead!

A little melodramatic, but please indulge my dear deceased heart. And it's not as if we didn't know it was coming...

The Blurb

Three former friends. One last request. The journey of a lifetime!

In life, Norman George – passionate knitter, excellent friend and secret youtube sensation – liked nothing better than a good laugh. And, it seems, he gets the last laugh even in death, because at his funeral, he invites his three closest friends to scatter his ashes in a place close to his heart, the Shetland Islands. The only issue is, while Bridget, Gloria and Derek might have loved Norman, they can’t stand each other.

So it’s with trepidation that the eclectic trio set off in their minivan on the ferry to Lerwick, each harbouring their own reason for wanting to grant Norman this last request. But as storm clouds roll in over the Shetland Islands, all of them are about to discover that some secrets are best shared, and that even after death, good friendship can change everything…

My Review

When I was offered the opportunity to read this book as part of the blog tour, I jumped at the chance. Back in January, I read Kate Galley's book, The Old Girls' Chateau Escape. I loved that one, so was very keen to take up this opportunity. The link to my review can be found via the title.

There are few books which could be so instantly appealing to me: a trio of older characters and knitting. When Norman passes away, he leaves each of his three friends a letter. Gloria, Bridget and Derek were all former colleagues of Norman. Unbeknownst to the trio, Norman had become a successful knitting YouTuber during the last few years following an accident at work which forced him to retire. 

He asks the three of them to take his ashes and scatter them at the most northern part of the Shetland Islands. This is a huge undertaking for the three of them, who feel some animosity towards one another. However, for Norman's sake, they decide to honour his last wishes and set off to do so.

This was a fabulous book which was both light-hearted and tender. The author has created three wonderful characters. None of them are prepared for the adventure ahead, and this made for fun reading. They are each flawed, complex and relatable, and they come alive vividly on the page.

Indeed, the setting of the Shetland Islands is every bit as important a character as the trio. It is beautifully described, and the author's descriptions of the landscape and weather were visceral. I am sure that anyone who reads this book will be left with a longing to visit there themselves.

I was sorry to finish this book as I so enjoyed spending time with Gloria, Bridget and Derek on their adventure in the Shetland Islands. It was an entertaining read whilst dealing with themes of guilt, forgiveness and friendship. 

I would not hesitate to recommend this book, or indeed anything else by this author. I am definitely intending to delve into some of her other books.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1835338834

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  264 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Kate Galley is the author of uplifting golden years fiction, including The Second Chance Holiday Club. She lives with her family in Buckinghamshire and works part time as a mobile hairdresser.

You can also find Kate at:

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(ARC and media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)

Back to Her Future by Cary Hansson - #bookreview

Tuesday 14th January 1986

Dear Mery,

I'm writing this letter even though I haven't got your address. Mum says she's sure we'll get one soon. I thought I'd write because otherwise I'm going to forget all the things I need to tell you. It's been twenty-four days already and I miss you.

***

Meryem has learned to look out for number one.

Abducted as a teenager from England to Turkey, where she was forced to marry a man twice her age, thirty years later she is finally free to live life on her own terms.

She is divorced and wealthy, working a lucrative job in Dubai when a whispered confession from her dying father turns her world upside down, and sets her on a path to discover the truth.

The first step is a return to London, and her childhood best friend, Alma.

But the women, once so close, struggle to reconnect as forgotten memories and shocking revelations surrounding Meryem's abduction, tear open unhealed wounds for both of them.

 Beautifully and boldly written, Cary J Hansson merges history, everyday circumstances and aching tragedy into an unforgettable narrative.

Back to Her Future is the compelling first novel in The Gen X Series of women’s contemporary fiction. If you like scarred but resilient heroines, nostalgic interludes, and transformative epiphanies, then you’ll love The Gen X Series.

***

Wow! It is rare that I begin a review with such an expression but on this occasion there is no other word which will do. This is a fantastic novel and was easily a five star read for me.

I have previously read all three books in the author's Midlife series and I am posting links to my review of each of those books below. I really enjoyed all three of them and highly recommend them. 

When I picked this book up, I was expecting it to be as good. However, my expectations were surpassed. In Back to Her Future, the first in a new series, Ms Hansson writes with depth and self assuredness and it is a delight to witness how accomplished her writing has become.

She has delved deeply into the complex lives of the three women in the book, Meryam, Alma and Sammy, who were friends as children. Life has taken them in very different directions and when they come together again as adults, it is not without problems.

The author demonstrates a depth of understanding of her characters. Each of them is complex in her own way, and I enjoyed the way in which the author brings the three of them to a point of understanding of one another, and themselves.

There are some difficult themes running throughout this book but there is nothing gratuitous and they are dealt with sensitively and compassionately. The story also looks at identity and culture and how they make us act.

However, the thing that is common to all these women is the guilt that they carry for one reason or another. Add to that themes of motherhood, friendship and forgiveness along with some excellent writing and you have a superb book.

The narrative is written through prose and a series of letters from the past and this permits the reader to understand the situation from differing perspectives.

All in all, this is an excellent book which I highly recommend. I can hardly wait for the second book in the series.

ISBN: 978 9152786017

Publisher:  Hansson Publishing

Formats:  e-book and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  326 (paperback)

Links to Previous Reviews

A Midlife Holiday

A Midlife Baby

A Midlife Gamble

About the Author:

Cary’s  work has been shortlisted in national and international competitions. She writes for various publications, digital and print. She lives in Stockholm, where she enjoys a glass of wine and a cold water swim daily, but not in that order.

(book and media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

Tell Me How it Ends by V. B. Grey - #BookReview #SocialBlast

"England, early 1950's - I have lost everything a person can lose. And, should I ever attempt to forget, my failing body will remind me. I've lived in the cramped attic flat of this big house in Birmingham, where I work as a housemaid, since the Red Cross parcelled me up and sent me here seven years ago......"

Delia Maxwell is an international singing sensation, an icon of the 1950's glamour who is still riding high on the new 60's scene. Lily Brooks has watched Delia all her life, studying her music and her on-stage mannerisms. Now she has a dream job as Delia's assistant - but is there more to her attachment than the admiration of a fan? Private investigator Frank is beginning to wonder.

As Lily steps into Delia's spotlight, and Delia encourages her ambitious protogee, Frank's own suspicions of Lily's ulterior motives increase. But are his own feelings for Delia clouding his judgement?

The truth is something far darker; the shocking result of years of pain and rage, rooted in Europe's darkest hour. If Delia thought she had put her past behind her, she had better start watching her back.

***

It came as no surprise to me to learn that the author is also a screen writer as the book has a real cinematic quality and I would be very surprised if the film rights to this book are snapped up.

The characters are very easy to engage with and are well fleshed out. The dynamic between Delia and Lily is excellently portrayed.  Also, it is multi-narrated by Delia, Frank and Lily, and consequently, we see the story unfold from these three different perspectives which adds an element of complexity to both the characters and the story,

It has been well written and it has an element of gentility along with a much darker backstory. The narrative is gently paced and it is this that creates a mellow story rhythm that plays out slowly within the readers imagination. There is a depth to Ms. Grey's writing which continues throughout the whole story.

The writing is rich in historical detail and it was easy to envisage post war London in which the novel is set.

This is my first novel by V. B. Grey / Isabelle Grey and I anticipate reading more of her work. Anyone who enjoys 20th century historical fiction will love this book and I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 15249405392

Publisher: Quercus

About the Author:

V. B. Grey is the pseudonym of the acclaimed television screenwriter and crime novelist Isabelle Grey. A former arts journalist and feature writer, she has written for film radio and television, contributing episodes to Jimmy McGovern's award winning BBC series Accused. She is the author of two novels of psychological suspense and four books in a contemporary crime series under her own name.

On her pseudonym and change in creative direction, Isabelle says "I wanted to escape the bodies piling up around me in my television crime dramas and novels, and explore new ways to bring my love of film and television into my fiction. I've always been in awe of 1940's and 1950's noir thrillers and 'women's pictures', so turned to them, and to the stars who played in them, to inspire my new novel. It's been both exhilarating and rewarding to spend time in such a complex and glamorous world.'

Isabelle grew up in Manchester and now lives in north London. 

Diary of the Fall by Michel Laub - Translated by Margaret Jull Costa #BookReview

"My grandfather didn't like to talk about the past, which is not so very surprising given its nature; the fact that he was a Jew, had arrived in Brazil on one of those jam-packed ships, as one of the cattle for whom history appears to have ended when they were twenty, or thirty, or forty or whatever, and for whom all that's left is a kind of memory that comes and goes and that can turn out to be an even worse prison than the one they were in."

A schoolboy prank goes horribly wrong, and a thirteen-year-old boy is left injured. Years later, one of the classmates relives the episode, as he tries to come to terms with his demons.

Diary of the Fall is the story of three generations: a man examining the mistakes of his past, and his struggle for forgiveness; a father with Alzheimer's, for whom recording every memory has become an obsession; and a grandfather who survived Auschwitz, filling notebook after notebook with the false memories of someone desperate to forget.

Beautiful and brave, Michel Laub's novel asks the most basic - and yet most complex - questions about history and identity, exploring what stories we choose to tell about ourselves and how we become the people we are.

***

The writing in this book is beautiful. By that, I do not mean it is pretty and flowery, but that it is a collection of short, succinct, spare chapters that convey emotion and meaning. It was very moving and each word was meticulously placed and really mattered.

It was hugely thought provoking and engaged me from start to finish. If I had to sum up it's theme in one word I would say that it is about guilt and how a childhood prank can affect the life of both parties involved, well into adulthood.

However, it is about so much more than that. Each section is divided into the story of a grandfather, his son and his grandson and it tackles the generational impact of the Holocaust. However, it is not a book about the Holocaust per se. In fact, there are no descriptions of the grandfather's time in Auschwitz but it's shadow hangs over the theme of the book.

Written in the first person narrative of the grandson, the book has an immediacy despite it largely being about events of the past. It tells a relevant and purposeful story and is very well worth reading.

This book is a significant addition to the Jewish fiction canon and I highly recommend it. 

ISBN: 978 1846557323

Publisher: Harvill Secker

About the Author:

Michel Laub was born in Porto Alegre and currently lives in Sao Paulo. He is a writer and journalist, and was named one of Granta's twenty 'Best of Young Brazilian Novelists'. Diary of the Fall is his fifth novel, and is the first to be translated into English. It has received the Brasilia Award and the Bravo! Bradesco Prize.

About the Translator:

Margaret Jull Costa has been a literary translator for nearly thirty years and has translated novels and short stories by such writers as Eca de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Jose Saramago, Javier Marias, Bernardo Atxaga, Diogo Mainardi and Albrto Barrera Tyszka.

She has won various prizes for her work, most recently the 2012 Calouste Gulbenkian Prize, with Teolinda Gersao's The Word Tree, for which she was also runner-up with her version of Antonio Lobo Antunes' The Land at the End of the World.