The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer - #bookreview

***

I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from Netgalley. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and wrangle characters that go off-script.

Book witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction.... Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don't even think about it.

Except Rainy has fallen hard for the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite noir series. After their illicit romance is exposed, Rainy is forbidden from ever seeing her fictional lover again, lest she be expelled from her book coven-and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

When a priceless book is stolen from her home, there's only one person she trusts to help her get it back: the Duke. Thus their shared quest begins through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

My Review

This book has a fun premise which was entertaining to read.

Haven't we all wanted our perfect fictional romantic partner to step from the pages of a book at some point in our reading lives? I've been awaiting Atticus Finch since I first read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was thirteen!

For the main character in this book, Rainy March, that very thing happens when fictional detective, the Duke of Chicago, steps from within the pages of his book series, along with his cat, Koshka. It's just as well, as she soon needs his detective skills in attempting to find her missing grandfather.

The role of a book witch, such as Rainy, is to prevent 'burners' from deleting characters from books. Her mother and grandfather were also book witches, and so her destiny was already mapped out for her.

I loved the way the author took us into some classic literature. We follow Rainy into Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby and the Nancy Drew books. It was wonderful to experience these books through Rainy's eyes while she was within their pages.

The book was imaginative and creates a world of escapism for the reader. Ms Shaffer is a great storyteller and I felt very involved in the story.

I adore books about books. However, books of this genre aren't my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed this and I feel encouraged to perhaps dip my toes further into the genre.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1529443868

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Formats: e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages: 320 (hardback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game, which was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist, a Book-of-the-Month finalist for Book of the Year, a #1 Barnes & Noble bestseller, and a Reader’s Digest Best Book of the Year. 

She holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. Her second novel, the instant national bestseller The Lost Story, is available now from Ballantine.

Shaffer lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

You can also find Meg at:

Author Website

Instagram

Facebook

(media courtesy of the author)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur and Translated by Faridoun Farrokh - #bookreview

The orchard, vibrantly green and with adobe walls, backed up against the village at one end and bordered the river at the other. It was an orchard mostly of sweet and sour cherries...

***

It has recently come to my attention that I must make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publisher. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.

***

The Blurb

Women Without Men traces the interwoven destinies of five women – including a wealthy middle-aged housewife, a sex worker and a schoolteacher – as they arrive by different paths to live together in an abundant garden on the outskirts of Tehran.

Drawing on elements of Islamic mysticism and recent Iranian history, this unforgettable novel depicts women escaping the narrow confines of family and society, and imagines their future living in a world without men.

Translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh

My Review

Before I even begin my review of this short book, I want to acknowledge the author's courage and strength of character in the writing and publishing of this book. She had already been imprisoned for almost five years without charge. Following her release, she soon published this book and was imprisoned again.

This book contains a series of stories of Iranian women who have chosen to live their lives without men. In our western culture, this would not be considered outrageous, but in a patriarchal society such as Iran, this is unheard of and not without consequence.

The chapters about the five individual women are all interconnected and the author does a marvellous job of interweaving them. Indeed, the book has much to say about the friendship of women and the courage which these women portray.

Much of the narrative is based on mythological stories and the magical realism elements add to the story. There are many elements within the stories that many woman will identify with. It is a short but powerful novel that explores the expected role of Iranian women within society, and then turns it on it's head through folklore, family and society.

Publishing in the UK for the first time, it is no surprise that the book is an International Booker Prize longlist nominee and deservedly so. Ms Parsipur is a talented writer and it's thrilling to read her insights into feminism. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in Iranian history or feminism.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 0241792513

Publisher:  Penguin Classics

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  128 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Shahrnush Parsipur was born in Iran in 1946. She began her career as a writer of fiction and producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. She was imprisoned for nearly five years by the Islamist government without being formally charged. Shortly after her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and jailed again, this time for her frank and defiant portrayal of women’s sexuality.

While still banned in Iran, the novel became an underground best-seller there, and has been translated into many languages around the world. She is also the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, among many other books, and now lives in exile in Northern California.

You can also find Shahrnush at:

Author Website

Instagram

(ARC and media courtesy of the publisher)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

My Heart is Hurting by S. E. Reed - #bookreview #blogtour

 

My name is Jinny Buffett.

J-I-N-N-Y... not Jimmy and definitely not Jimmy Buffett.

Everyone in Hollywood knows who Jimmy Buffett is because of the huge, flashing neon signs and music blaring... That's where my Mama works every, single, stupid night for two reasons...

***

The Blurb

Jinny Buffett is lonely…

She’s never had the comfort of a white picket fence with a loving family. Her subsidized apartment in Hollywood Florida echoes with the void of her dead Daddy, and the nights drag long into twilight while her Mama works the block outside the Margaritaville resort.

It’s idealistic Ms. Fleming, who’s brave enough to come knocking first. She wants to see Jinny rise up and use her ace scores to escape the wheel of poverty, convincing Jinny to start a school book club, where she finds the friends and boyfriend she never knew she needed.

But when her Mama spirals out of control and threatens her entire existence, it’s Jinny’s Everglade ancestors who arrive in a mist of magic, bringing the swamp and hope with them.

My Review

There are very few books that have me reaching for the tissues but this one did. It was so moving and heartfelt and I was completely swept up in the issues of the main character.

Jinny, the main character has an old head on young shoulders. She is fifteen and lives with her chaotic mother who leaves her alone for weeks at a time. Jinny is lonely and desperately in need of help and guidance. However, she hides her situation from adults as she doesn't want to be taken into care if the authorities discovered that she is alone.

Whilst reading this book I felt that the author portrayed Jinny superbly. She seemed to completely inhabit her character, so when I read in the Afterword that much of Jinny's experience had been her own I was not at all surprised. However, she wrote in a way that allowed her readers to really get alongside her characters. I was almost experiencing Jinny's feelings and emotions with her, some of which resonated with me personally. There were a great cast of secondary characters, all of whom were there for Jinny and who were able to recognise issues in Jinny even though she was not revealing them.

The book is aimed at a young adult readership but it was a fantastic read for this not so young adult too! It oozed with authenticity whilst having an element of magical realism. Jinny takes comfort and courage from her deceased father's ghost and his family who she has never known. This elevated the book to another level. This book is so much more than the tale of a troubled teen.  I don't think I have ever found myself rooting for a character so much as I did with this one.

I had not come across this author before being offered the opportunity to read this book for the blog tour. I would love to read more of her work. Perhaps you have come across her before? Either way, I would highly recommend this book to you.

Book Details:

ISBN:  978 1958531259

Publisher:  Wild Ink Publishing

Formats:  e-book and paperback)

No. of Pages:  180 (paperback)

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blackwell's

Waterstones

About the Author

S.E. Reed lives in the south and writes strange, haunting, real stories of people and places along old highways.

Winner of the 2024 Florida Book Awards and the 2024 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People.

Additionally, she's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won honorable mention twice in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest.

You can also find her at:

www.writingwithreed.com

Twitter / X

BlueSky

My Heart is Hurting was the 14th place finalist in BBNYA 2024!

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads. 

(ARC and media courtesy of The Write Reads)

(all opinions are my own)

The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey - #blogtour #bookreview

 

A long long time ago, when I was a little chick, not even a chick but a pink and naked thing, a scar a scrap a scrape fallen on roots and wriggling, when I was catching my death and all I knew of sky was the feel of feathers above me, the belly of black as warm as a cloud above me...

***

The Blurb

In this darkly comic work of literary satire by New Zealand’s most acclaimed and best-selling novelist Tama, a talking magpie and social media influencer, is the sole witness to a marriage in freefall.

Tama is just a helpless chick when he is rescued by Marnie. ‘If it keeps me awake,’ says Marnie’s husband Rob, a farmer in the middle of a years-long drought, ‘I’ll have to wring its neck.’ But with Tama come new possibilities for the couple’s future. Tama’s fame is growing, and with it, his earning potential. The more Tama sees, the more the animal and the human worlds – and all the precarity, darkness and hope within them – bleed into one another. Like a stock truck filled with live cargo, the story moves inexorably towards its dramatic conclusion: the annual Axeman’s Carnival.

Part trickster, part surrogate child, part witness, Tama is the star of this story. And although what he says to humans is often nonsensical (and hilarious), the tale he tells makes disturbingly perfect sense. The Axeman’s Carnival is Catherine Chidgey at her finest – comic, profound, poetic and true.

My Review

This book is well worth the five stars I have given it. I have not read any books by this author before but I certainly intend to change that as it was a fabulous read.

What makes this book unusual is that it is narrated by a magpie named Tama. In fact, he is the main character of the book. He lives with Marnie and Rob on their sheep farm. They are struggling to make ends meet, and this, amongst other things means Rob has a very short temper. He hates Tama until he realises that the bird may have the ability to change their financial position.

It is a very powerful and sometimes dark novel. It is clear from the very beginning that the book is working towards the annual event, the titular Axeman's Carnival. As we observe Rob preparing to win the title for the tenth year running, we can feel his inner anger oozing from the pages. As readers we know that the book is creeping towards its climax of the carnival and the author has done a great job in building the tension as the story moves along.

Meantime, Tama has learned to mimic speech and as such has become a media sensation. The book has much to say about social media, for good and bad.

The bird is devoted to Marnie and there is a mutual love between them that is palpable. It demonstrates an innocence which contrasts so well with the darker aspects of the novel. Tama also injects a little humour into the story with his mischievous nature.

The book is extremely well written, and the author has bought her story alive on the page vividly. There were aspects of the book which took my breath away. Something happens at the end which had so much to say about human nature and social media and is was quite shocking.

This book is releasing tomorrow, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I feel privileged to have read it.

Book Details

ISBN: 978 1787705517

Publisher:  Europa Editions

Formats:

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)

Preorder Links

Bookshop.org

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Catherine Chidgey’s novels have been published to international acclaim. Her first, In a Fishbone Church, won Best First Book at the NZ Book Awards and at the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific). In the UK it won the Betty Trask Award and was longlisted for the Orange Prize. Her second, Golden Deeds, was a Notable Book of the Year in the New York Times and a Best Book in the LA Times. Catherine has won the Prize in Modern Letters, the Katherine Mansfield Award, the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship and the Janet Frame Fiction Prize. She lives in Ngāruawāhia, NZ, and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Waikato. Her novel Remote Sympathy was shortlisted for the DUBLIN Literary Award and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her novels The Wish Child and The Axeman’s Carnival both won the Acorn Prize for Fiction, NZ's most prestigious literary award.

(book courtesy of Random Things Tours)

(media courtesy of Europa Editions)

(all opinions are my own)

(bookshop.org afilliated)

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson - #spotlight

 

 

I am delighted to be shining the spotlight on When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson.

It publishes in the UK today and I plan to read this very soon so watch this space.

The Blurb

Welcome to Paradise Springs, Northern California – a hot, dusty, half-magical, wine-country town where there are so many grapes fermenting at one time, you get drunk from breathing the air; where devil winds blow so hard they whip your sense away. A town where every fairy tale you've ever read could be set ... and "home" to the family Falls.

When a strange, enigmatic, rainbow-haired girl shows up in their fantastical hometown, it sends the lives of Fall brothers Wynton and Miles and their sister Dizzy into tumult. With road trips, rivalries, family curses, love stories within love stories within love stories, and sorrows and joys passed from generation to generation, this is the intricate, luminous tale of a family’s complicated past and present. And only in telling their stories can they hope to rewrite their futures.

ISBN:  978 1406363098

Publisher:  Walker Books

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  528 (paperback)

About the Author:

In her own words.

As a Child

I was born in New York, lived outside of the city until I was ten. From that time, I remember these positively bursting purple peonies outside the house that were larger than I was. Always. No matter how big I got, they got bigger. I remember my mother’s mad manic love for Madeline and how reading anything else was a subversive act on my part, especially my favourite Harold and the Purple Crayon. I remember worshipping my big noisy brothers, sitting alone in sunny fields, going to Manhattan every weekend to see my dad. It was in this house that my oldest brother, who was and is quite a mad scientist, had pyramids in the basement, just like Uncle Big in Sky. My grandmother also lived in this town, and she, like Gram in my novel, painted lots of green people and lined her walls with them. It’s because of her I became a superstitious nut. She taught me to knock wood, throw salt, talk to the dead—discretely, so as to pass as a sane member of society—and the fail-proof method for finding four-leaf clovers in any patch.

I moved to California with my mother when I was twelve and the whole world tipped over. We lived on a canyon and could see a piece of the ocean from our house. We were at the end of the continent, teetering on faulty ground. Light poured out of the sky. I couldn’t believe any of it. It was love at first sight and I’ve remained true to California since. I had incredible English teachers in high school, read fanatically, made lasagnes in a deli window like Lennie in Sky, and somehow decided then I wanted to be a poet, a most practical decision. I think my parents thought I’d grow out of it, but alas.

As an Adult

I went to Cornell University in upstate NY where I studied creative writing and comparative literature, then studied French literature and literary theory in Paris for a year through the Sorbonne, then off to graduate school in poetry at Brown University, and then years and years later, I went to graduate school again, in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I love being in school as well as teaching. I’m concocting a plan to go back again, to study art history this time.

I live in San Francisco where I’ve been a literary agent for thirteen years representing amazing authors writing for adults, but had no idea what was going on in the world of children’s literature until I went back to graduate school. I’d never written a word of fiction before that either, only poetry. But in school, I read a ton of YA verse novels and other YA and middle grade novels as well. I was blown away by the vibrancy of voices like Laurie Halse Anderson’s, Francesca Lia Block’s, Sharon Creech’s, by the experimentation going on with form, by the overall urgency of the storytelling. I decided I would try to write a YA novel. I had an idea for a story and an image that wouldn’t let me go. The image was of this grief-stricken girl scattering her poems all over a town, the germ for The Sky Is Everywhere. I wanted to write about the intricacies and complexities of grief, and I also wanted to write a first love story—so, a novel in which joy and sorrow cohabitate in very close quarters.

As an Artist

I wrote The Sky Is Everywhere like a banshee, wrote a mess of a first draft in five months, then ten more drafts in the next two years, before sending it out to agents. I was a shut-in, completely lost in the story, obsessed with bringing it to life. What’s so odd is that despite the subject matter, writing Sky was the happiest time of my life. I was falling in love with writing fiction so that in itself was a joy. But more importantly, I feel like I discovered over and again by writing the book the same thing Lennie discovered within the book, that grief and love are conjoined and you can’t have one without the other, and that somehow love is eternal. I think that’s very hopeful and it filled me with hope as I was writing it and discovering it with Lennie.

Things you didn't know about Jandy Nelson

I am the most frightened person on the airplane, without a doubt—that’s me there, head between my legs in the crash position, while everyone else is enjoying their lunch.

My favourite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez but Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and The Waves are close seconds.

I like very clunky high-heel shoes as well as clunky jewellery. I also suddenly realize I like the word clunky.

I go to many movies in a row—just me and a huge tub of popcorn in the dark. I also really like to look at paintings and swoon. For hours. And out windows.

I love giraffes. Seriously, think they’re such a wonder. And rivers, and rainstorms. And super hot weather. Hate spiders--insects profoundly freak me out.

I have a useless superpower—I can catch anything as it’s falling, even if I’m looking the other way: wine glasses by their stems, etc. It makes dinner parties very exciting.

I love to be madly, passionately, ridiculously, out-of-my-mind, out-of-my-tree in love. (Though you might have surmised this from reading my novel.)

I believe every day is a miracle.

This quote by John Keats is a favourite: “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections, and the truth of the imagination.”

I am just crazy about finger-foods, wish for every meal, a guy would show up with a cocktail tray full of scrumptious appetizers, and actually while we’re at it: flutes of champagne!

(author media courtesy of Walker Books)

(all opinions are my own)

Reading Roundup for August 2024

 

It is so nice to be back after my visit to Cheshire where I visited my son and his lovely wife. I took the above photo while I was away. It is a huge Paddington Bear which is completely made from straw. It is sited at Snugberry Farm in Cheshire where they sell the most amazing range of ice creams. It would have been rude not to sample a few while we were there! 

I managed a fair bit of reading while I was away, not all of which I have written reviews for yet.

Did you have a good reading month? What was your favourite read of August?

Books I Have Read

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley - This is an author that I already liked and this book lived up to my expectations. Historical fiction of a lesser known queen. You can read my review by clicking here.

Rakiya: Stories of Bulgaria by Ellis Shuman - Needless to say, this is a collection of short stories which are all set in Bulgaria. I enjoyed reading them very much. You can read my review by clicking here.

The House of the Witch by Clare Marchant - This is probably my favourite read in August. A dual timeline set in the 17th century and the present. I highly recommend this one and you can read my review by clicking here.

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall & Illustrated by Yas Imamura - This picture book tells the story of how the author's grandparents, Tama and George, first met and fell in love. You can read my review by clicking here.

No Funeral for Nazia by Taha Kehar - I enjoyed this very much. Written from the persepective of a narrator who has passed away. Excellent fiction. You can read my review by clicking here.

When You Were Mine by Emma-Claire Wilson - This was an extremely enjoyable read based around two women who meet in the emergency department of a hospital in Spain when they both go into labour.

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott - This was fabulous and I really hope to get a review up soon. It features a native American woman who marries a white Canadian man. It made for riveting reading.

One Midnight With You by Shari Low - This was a nice book and my review will be up tomorrow as part of the blog tour.

Hanukkah by Leslea Newman - A wonderful picture book for children and my review will be up later this week.

One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz - A coming of age story which was beautifully written. You can read my review by clicking here.

A Class Act by Julie Houston - Quite frankly I would read anything by this author. This was another wonderful read and you can find my review by clicking here.

The Missing Family by Tim Weaver -  It is number thirteen in the David Raker series. It worked well as a stand alone and was an enjoyable read.  You can read my review by clicking here.

Ancestry by Simon Mawer - This was a very enjoyable fictionalised account of the author's ancestors. Well worth reading.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang - I'm always sceptical when I approach a book which has had so much hype. However, this was fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Books I Am Partway Through

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

The Witch of the Breton Woods by Jennifer Ivy Walker

Henry V by Dan Jones

Folklore of Sussex by Jacqueline Simpson

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid - #bookreview

 

I first reviewed this book back in 2017. As we are now celebrating West Asian Heritage month, I thought it an apt time to give this review another airing. It is largely how it appeared at the time but I have updated it very slightly to reflect the new cover and so on.

***

An extraordinary story of love and hope from the bestselling, Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

This is Nadia. She is fiercely independent with an excellent sense of humour and a love of smoking alone on her balcony late at night.

This is Saeed. He is sweet and shy and kind to strangers. He also has a balcony but he uses his for star-gazing.

This is their story: a love story, but also a story about how we live now and how we might live tomorrow. Saeed and Nadia are falling in love, and their city is falling apart. Here is a world in crisis and two human beings travelling through it.

Exit West is a heartfelt and radical act of hope - a novel to restore your faith in humanity and in the power of imagination.

***

This is a contemporary novel with both significance and relevance for modern times. Told from the perspective of refugees it provides an opportunity for the reader to understand the issues facing people who find themselves a long way from the place they call home and who frequently arrive in destinations where they are not made welcome.

The magical realism in this book is used to great effect and is designed to correspond with the feeling of some native born residents that refugees seem to arrive suddenly and from nowhere. This is an extremely clever device and very much enhances the main issues of the story.

However, the main thing that this book does is to allow the reader to empathise with the refugees and which makes this an extremely relevant book in today's current climate. We are able to understand the plight of refugees amidst our own current political and sociological situation.

This is a profound text which influences the reader and has the potential to make us understand how to be better people both as individuals and communities. This book deserves the accolades it has received and I would not be surprised if this does not appear on the school syllabus as there is so much to learn from it.

It is a slim volume with a massive significance and I encourage everyone to read this as I am sure that you will get as much from reading it as I have.

ISBN: 978 0241979068

Publisher:  Viking UK

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback

No. of Pages:  240 (paperback)

About the Author:

Mohsin Hamid is the author of five novels, including the international bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, both of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as well as Moth Smoke, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, and his most recent, The Last White Man. His books have been translated into over forty languages, adapted for film, and awarded numerous prizes.

He speaks and writes on topics ranging from literature, culture, and the arts to migration, technology, business, and politics. His essay collection, Discontent and Its Civilizations, brings together some of his writings for the New York Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times, the New York Review of Books, and other publications.

Mohsin Hamid studied international relations at Princeton and law at Harvard, and worked as a management consultant. He has spent about half his life in Lahore, where he was born, and much of the rest in London, New York, and California.

(author media courtesy of the author's website https://www.mohsinhamid.com/home.html)

(all opinions are my own)

Reading Roundup for April 2024

 

Another month has passed us by. April has gone and what a wet and rainy month it has been. 

I am still working hard at training my puppy, Roxie. She is almost five months old now and her training classes are going well. It is very much still a work in progress though, although she is learning to let me get on with my work a little better!  It has been unfortunate that I sprained my ankle badly and so haven't been able to take her out for walks during the day. She is still getting out though as my husband takes her before and after work but I was enjoying my springtime walks with her. Never mind, my ankle is healing now.

I have read some great books this month. Have you read anything that you would recommend?

Books I Have Read

From Crime to Crime by Richard Henriques - This was a really interesting non-fiction book which I borrowed from the libraray. The author was both QC and later Judge in some of the biggest court trials in Britain. 

Murder on the Dancefloor by Katie Marsh - This is the second book in the Bad Girls Detective Agency series and was very enjoyable. You can read my review by clicking here.

Wise Up! Wise Down! by John Agard and JonArno Lawson - A delightful collection of poems for middle grade children. You can read my review by clicking here.

Red Runs the Witch's Thread by Victoria Williamson - I read this for the blog tour. Set in Scotland during the late 17th/early18th century. You can read my review by clicking here.

Before the Swallows Came Back by Fiona Curnow - This is a gorgeous novel teeming with nature, wild life and a great plot. You can read my review by clicking here.

Whitechapel Autumn of Error by Ian Porter - Set in London's East End during the late 1880's when Jack the Ripper roamed the streets. This is a good addition to the genre. You can read my review by clicking here.

Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison - This title for young adults is about using DNA testing to find out about ourselves. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and a Horse by Charlie Mackesy - I'm a bit late to the part on this one but enjoyed it once I finally got around to reading it.

Hard Times for the East End Library Girls by Jean Fullerton - This is the second book in the series and I enjoyed it very much. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher - I loved this one. You can read my review by clicking here.

Takeout Sushi by Christopher Green - A collection of short stories which are mostly set in modern Japan. You can read my review by clicking here.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - This was a delightful book with a dual timeline, a mystery and magical realism. It's probably my favourite book this month. You can read my review by clicking here.

Dangerous Times on Dressmakers' Alley by Rosie Clarke - This was a great book in the saga genre. You can read my review by clicking here.

Books I Did Not Finish

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon - This has been on my TBR for so long and when I finally got to it I couldn't get into it at all.

Books I am Partway Through

The Book-Lovers' Retreat by Heidi Swain

Does My Dog Love Me? by Graeme Hall

Sleepers and Ties by Gail Kirkpatrick

Widows on the Wine Path by Julia Jarman

(header photo courtesy of Florencia Veadana)

(all opinions are my own)

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - #bookreview

 

When I first arrived at the redbrick Georgian house on Ha'penny Lane that cold, dark evening with rain dripping from my jacket, I hadn't planned on staying. The woman on the phone sounded less than friendly, but I had nowhere else to go and very little money...

***

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

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This book is charming, delightful and any similar adjective that you can think of. It had me gripped from the very first page and I loved it. Let me tell you why...

It was chosen by somebody at my Book Club for this month's read. In all honesty, I had never heard of it before and thus had no expectations. What I found though was a book that I could not put down. It called to me constantly when I was away from it and I picked it up at every opportunity. 

All three characters, Opaline, Martha and Henry were well portrayed and came alive on the page. The chapters are told from the perspective of each of them, and from their respective time periods. I liked the way that Martha and Henry are set in present time and the blossoming romance between them was all the better by being able to read what they were thinking about the other.

The chapters of Opaline begin in 1921 and the setting moves between England and Paris. She was an astonishinly brave character; at times she suffers heartbreak through loss and her living condiditions but she was a pioneering woman who showed fortitude and self-expression during a time when a woman was not expected to make her own choices as she was considered property of a man. In this case, her older brother Lyndon.

The titular bookshop is almost a character in and of itself and has a huge role to play in the story. It links all three of the characters which the author does marvellously. Coupled with an ending which made me sigh with satisfaction, this is an excellent book to read.

This book will be adored by book lovers everywhere, particularly if you like a bit of mystery and magical realism thrown in. I have read some fabulous fiction this year and this is up there with the others. I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 0008609214

Publisher:  One More Chapter

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:  442 (paperback)

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About the Author:

Evie Woods is the author of The Lost Bookshop, the #1 Wall Street Journal and Amazon Kindle bestseller, which has now sold over half a million copies. She is also the author of The Story Collector, The Heirloom and The Mysterious Bakery On Rue De Paris under her real name, Evie Gaughan.

Living on the West Coast of Ireland, Evie escapes the inclement weather by writing her stories in a converted attic, where she dreams of underfloor heating. Her books tread the intriguing line between the everyday and the otherworldly, revealing the magic that exists in our ordinary lives.

(author media courtesy of Harper Collins)

(all opinions are my own)

My Favourite Books of 2021 - #Top12 - #ReadingRoundup

 

2021 has been another strange year for us all and I am not going to dwell on covid, lockdowns and restrictions. We constantly hear about it in the media and the last thing you need is to hear me waffling on about it too.

For me it has been a year of joys and sadness. We have had the joy of a family wedding and now a baby on the way to look forward to in the new year. Sadness, as I lost a beloved friend who I miss.

However, as I reflect on the passing of another year, I am grateful for so many things. My family who I love very much and who love me in return. My wonderful friends who enhance my life on a daily basis even though we are not always able to be together. Finally, I am grateful we have warm homes, clothes to wear and food on the table. I consider myself blessed.

I am also grateful to you, the followers of my blog. I am appreciative to each and every one of you who take time out of your hectic lives to read my blog. You are what make my blog worthwhile.

According to my reading log I have read 90 books during 2021. Of those books, there are twelve which really stood out for me. So, without further ado and, in no particular order, here they are.

Matilda Windsor is Coming Home by Anne Goodwin

In the dying days of the old asylums, three paths intersect.

Henry was only a boy when he waved goodbye to his glamorous grown-up sister; approaching sixty, his life is still on hold as he awaits her return.

As a high-society hostess renowned for her recitals, Matty’s burden weighs heavily upon her, but she bears it with fortitude and grace.

Janice, a young social worker, wants to set the world to rights, but she needs to tackle challenges closer to home.

A brother and sister separated by decades of deceit. Will truth prevail over bigotry, or will the buried secret keep family apart?

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

The Last Witches of England by John Callow

On the morning of Thursday 29 June 1682, a magpie came rasping, rapping and tapping at the window of a prosperous Devon merchant. Frightened by its appearance, his servants and members of his family had, within a matter of hours, convinced themselves that the bird was an emissary of the devil sent by witches to destroy the fabric of their lives. As the result of these allegations, three women of Bideford came to be forever defined as witches. A Secretary of State brushed aside their case and condemned them to the gallows; to hang as the last group of women to be executed in England for the crime. Yet, the hatred of their neighbours endured. For Bideford, it was said, was a place of witches.

Though 'pretty much worn away' the belief in witchcraft still lingered on for more than a century after their deaths. In turn, ignored, reviled, and extinguished but never more than half-forgotten, it seems that the memory of these three women - and of their deeds and sufferings, both real and imagined – was transformed from canker to regret, and from regret into celebration in our own age. Indeed, their example was cited during the final Parliamentary debates, in 1951, that saw the last of the witchcraft acts repealed, and their names were chanted, as both inspiration and incantation, by the women beyond the wire at Greenham Common.

In this book, John Callow explores this remarkable reversal of fate, and the remarkable tale of the Bideford Witches.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

Some Kind of Company by Nan Ostman

Anna lives with her husband and their dog by the shores of a lake in the idyllic Swedish countryside. But her youth is far behind her, her husband rarely speaks and their children have long since left home and live at a distance. She fears that even the translation work which keeps her going will soon dry up.

In the hope of opening up a new chapter in her life, Anna advertises in the personal column of a newspaper for a male pen friend. She is gratified to receive a number of replies and begins exchanging letters with a widower called Bo. The outcome is both surprising and convincing.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

The Image of Her by Sonia Velton

Stella and Connie are strangers, brought together by two traumatic events - cruel twists of fate that happen thousands of miles apart.

Stella lives with her mother, a smothering narcissist. When she succumbs to dementia, the pressures on Stella's world intensify, culminating in tragedy. As Stella recovers from a near fatal accident, she feels compelled to share her trauma but she finds talking difficult. In her head she confides in Connie because there's no human being in the world that she feels closer to.

Connie is an expat living in Dubai with her partner, Mark, and their two children. On the face of it she wants for nothing and yet ... something about life in this glittering city does not sit well with her. Used to working full time in a career she loves back in England, she struggles to find meaning in the expat life of play-dates and pedicures.

Two women set on a collision course. When they finally link up, it will not be in a way that you, or I, or anyone would ever have expected.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

The Darlings by Angela Jackson

When Mark Darling is fifteen years old, he is golden boy, captain of the school football team, admired by all who know him. Until he kills his best friend in a freak accident.

He spends the next decade drifting between the therapy couch and dead-end pursuits. Then along comes Sadie. A mender by nature, she tries her best to fix him, and has enough energy to carry them both through the next few years.

One evening, Mark bumps into an old school friend, Ruby. She saw the accident first hand. He is pulled towards her by a force stronger than logic: the universal need to reconcile one's childhood wounds. This is his chance to, once again, feel the enveloping warmth of unconditional love. But can he leave behind the woman who rescued him from the pit of despair, the wife he loves? His unborn child?

This is a story about how childhood experience can profoundly impact how we behave as adults. It's a story about betrayal, infidelity and how we often blinker ourselves to see a version of the truth that is more palatable to us.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

At fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man. When tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. And one day, someone hears her.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

Lily's Promise by Lily Ebert and Dov Forman

When Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert was liberated in 1945, a Jewish-American soldier gave her a banknote on which he'd written 'Good luck and happiness'. And when her great-grandson, Dov, decided to use social media to track down the family of the GI, 96-year-old Lily found herself making headlines round the world. Lily had promised herself that if she survived Auschwitz she would tell everyone the truth about the camp. Now was her chance.

In Lily's Promise she writes movingly about her happy childhood in Hungary, the death of her mother and two youngest siblings on their arrival at Auschwitz in 1944 and her determination to keep her two other sisters safe. She describes the inhumanity of the camp and the small acts of defiance that gave her strength. From there she and her sisters became slave labour in a munitions factory, and then faced a death march that they barely survived.

Lily lost so much, but she built a new life for herself and her family, first in Israel and then in London. It wasn't easy; the pain of her past was always with her, but this extraordinary woman found the strength to speak out in the hope that such evil would never happen again.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

Haven't They Grown by Sophie Hannah

All Beth has to do is drive her son to his football match, watch him play and then drive home. But the knowledge that her former best friend lives nearby is all-consuming. She can't resist. She parks opposite the house, and is still there when Flora and her children return home.

Except... something's not right.

Twelve years ago, Thomas and Emily were five and three years old. Today, they look exactly the same - they haven't changed at all. How is this possible?

Beth knows it isn't - yet she also knows what she saw, and that it was real. And, having seen it, how can she forget?

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens.

The Binding by Bridget Collins

Imagine you could erase your grief. Imagine you could forget your pain. Imagine you could hide a secret. Forever.

Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice - but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to hand-craft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there's something you want to forget, he can help. If there's something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor's workshop, row upon row of books - and memories - are meticulously stored and recorded.

Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.

The Binding is an unforgettable, magical novel: a boundary-defying love story with a unique literary event.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life, dreaming of greater things. But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and as she descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest. Shuggie is different, he is clearly no’ right. But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin

brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.

Hamnet is a novel inspired by the son of a famous playwright. It is a story of the bond between twins, and of a marriage pushed to the brink by grief.

It is also the story of a kestrel and its mistress; a flea that boards a ship in Alexandria; and a glovemaker's son who flouts convention in pursuit of the woman he loves. Above all, it is the tender reimagining of a boy whose life has been all but forgotten, but whose names was given to one of the most celebrated plays ever written.

If you would like to read my review of this book please click here.

(header photo courtesy of Jason Leung/Unsplash)