I am definitely a one-book-at-a-time faithful reader! I have tried to read more than one in the past but it isn’t for me! Regardless, my Kindle is with me all the time, and if for any reason it isn’t, I have the app on my phone too. If I’m reading a physical copy, then that has to go with me instead!I am also not an audio book listener. If I am reading, I actually have to read. I am only just catching on with Podcasts, for goodness sake!
If you’re reading more than one book at a time, how do you decide when to switch to reading the other book (do you read a certain amount of pages in each?)
Nope. Can’t do it! Actually, there have been a few occasions, if I am reading a non fiction book, I can read a fiction along side it, but the non fiction has its set time. Fiction is for me to disappear into as and when!
Do you ever switch bookmarks while you’re part way through a book?
I try not to. I have a couple of special ones that, when reading a physical book, stay with me through the whole book. It so frustrates me if I lose a bookmark!
Where do you keep the book(s) you’re currently reading?
My Kindle, as I said before, is with me, pretty much all the time. It is by my bedside, goes upstairs and downstairs with me in the house, it takes trips with me in my handbag for those moments I have spare, to read.
What time of day do you spend the most time reading?
Right now, there is no rhyme nor reason to when I read. It can be at any time in the day, but when I lived my old normal, I would read, without fail, every night.
How long do you typically read for in one go?
Very much dependant on what time I have available, how tired I am, and what I am doing. I can read for minutes at a time, when snatching spare time, or a whole day, if given the chance!
Do you read hard covers with the dust jacket on or off?
To be honest, I don’t tend to buy hardbacks, but if I have, the dustjacket stays on.
Which position do you mainly use to read?
However I am at the time! I love to curl up on my sofa with a blanket and hot drink, and curl up with a bookk. Equally, I can be stretched out in my bed, or, I do, on occasion, read as I am walking!
Do you take the book you’re currently reading with you everywhere you go?
Absolutely! If there is a moment spare, where I don’t have to interact with anyone, the book comes out!
How often do you update your progress in the book you’re currently reading on Goodreads?
I don’t update progress on it at all. I log when I start it, and then when I finish it, and am writing a review.
I honestly thought I would get about five books read, but what with all that is happening in the world, I have managed to plough through a few more books than that… check out what I have been reading!
Flora works in a florist. She is there morning, noon, and would happily be there night, too, if the place didn’t close. She filled gaps in her own life, by working nonstop, choosing beautiful blooms at the markets, creating floral masterpieces and generally brightening the days of the customers. But nothing fills the void she feels upon entering her substandard apartment. No family to call her own. No partner to share a meal with. Just a space filled with damp and discord. Losing her mother at a young age, and having to live with an aunt who makes it pretty clear she wasn’t wanted, does nothing for her self esteem. Then she meets Jack. Or rather Jack enters the florist and her house. Jack, who has voids of his own. Despite her best efforts, Flora gets swept up into a romance that she is convinced won’t work. After all, no one else important in her life ever hangs around. Besides, Jack already has a family. Two motherless girls. How is that going to work? And then, he wants to take her on a long-standing family holiday to visit the dead wife’s best friend, Claire? Sarah Morgan, you did it again! I knew I’d enjoy this book. I’ve liked other Sarah Morgan books, so I was under no doubt of that. But, it wasn’t just good, it was fantastic! I felt so much emotion, learning about Flora and her background, I rooted for Izzy, Jack’s eldest daughter, who didn’t want anyone taking the place of her mother. I sympathised with Claire, a woman who lost who she thought was her best friend,,, Told from the point of view of the three women, this story really captured the feelings of different people involved in familial loss.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, so I have to officially say, I am in love with this book. I was lucky enough to win an advance copy from HQ Stories, and I am so grateful to them for choosing me as a winner because this book was just AMAZING Through quite a light-hearted way, author Jessica Ryn tackles some pretty HUGE issues, such as mental health, postnatal and homelessness, and more. It is told from the perspective of two women. Dawn Brightside, our main character, who is homeless, and running from someone, has been for a long time, yet has the positivity of Little Miss Sunshine. All she wants to do is help others. And find her daughter, Rosie. Then there is Grace Jennings, manager of St Judes, a hostel for the homeless that is on the brink of having funding pulled. Both have led hard lives in their own ways. Both want to help others. Both would be devastated if St Judes closed. I don’t quite know how much to say, without giving away spoilers, but I was totally immersed in the story, pretty much immediately. I giggled at points, and honestly, felt tears pricking at others. Life, love, relationships – all covered. A simply magnificent debut from this author, who I will definitely want to read more from!
A bittersweet tale about a friendship that soured because of an awful mistake made, and the illness and small child who brought them back together. Lauren, or Loll, is reeling from the break up of her marriage, then she receives a letter from someone who was more important to her than anyone else, in her life, until that mistake. Cass has never really forgiven herself for the huge mistake she made, that lost her the best friend a girl could ask for. Would she be able to rekindle that bond now, six years later, knowing she had such little time, and so much to say and explain? Vee’s life is turning upside down. Her mum is getting sicker and suddenly her new ‘aunty’ shows up. This book tells of a journey, both physical, and metaphorical, of two women who try to patch up a relationship that tore apart. Can they repair it? A sad tale, but beautifully written. Many thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The description of this book made me intrigued enough to request it. Unfortunately, the story failed to capture my attention enough. A Sardinian translator travels back home to see his grandmother who is on her deathbed while in the middle of translating a version of Moby Dick. There were no chapters in the book, which I found a bit strange, I finished, but at a push. But it did make me intrigued about Sardinia… maybe one day I’ll visit the Domas de Janas… NetGalley and Hodder and Staughton, for an ARC . in exchange for an honest review.
A classic rom-com, if ever there was one! Imagine, being in a grief-stricken stupor, adding alcohol to it, and ending up at home with a hot stranger who leaves you wanting more, but disappears the next morning, Then, finding out the next morning that said hot stranger is actually the new employee at your own company! That is exactly what happens here and the ups and downs that ensure make for a great, addictive story! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, One More Chapter fort an ARC, in exchange for an honest review.
Kiley Dunbar is an author who I have come to love, having read her first two releases swiftly in 2019. Summer at the Highland Coral Beach most definitely didn’t disappoint my expectations. A feel-good story, with a touch of sadness, but filled with positivity and hope. Beatrice finds herself in a rickety old pub hotel in Port Willow, a tiny village in Scotland after the devastation of a miscarriage and separation. A drunken decision to get away, at first, seems like a great idea, but after arriving, Beatrice has second thoughts. A place in the back of beyond, with gruff, rude landlords, a tiny room, and to top it, the activity she’d booked, hadn’t been. The story unfolds as Beatrice begins to get to know characters in the village, despite promising herself to leave and go back t the Midlands, and her woeful life back home. The landlords, brothers Eugene and Atholl reveal softer sides, and yearnings of their own, Ever the problem solver, Beatrice gets sucked into their lives, and soon finds herself having feelings for someone she hadn’t been expecting. There’s matchmaking, romance, a broody Scotsman, laughter, celebration and acceptance. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to more from this author. Many thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is definitely a book I think all young women of a certain age should have access to reading. It follows the story of Marin, a high school student at her prime, gearing up for college applications. She ends up developing a kind of friendship with an English teacher, Bex, that turns sour soon enough. He takes advantage of opportunities presented to him, and when Merin finally finds the confidence to tell someone of authority, she is the one blackened, not him. She loses friends, and more importantly, her best friend, and her self respect, for a while. But there are people out there for her too… A tale about trust, mistrust, abuse of power and belief in one’s self. Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I have long been a fan of Susan Lewis, and this book was another delve into fantastic storytelling, Joely is reeling from a marriage that is collapsing, due to her husband embarking upon an affair with her best friend. The betrayal doesn’t end there. He. decides to move out and their daughter decides she wants to leave too. An opportunity arises for Joely to work away for a while, as a ghostwriter for an established enigma of an author who ends up with much more than just her own story to tell. Forbidden love, loss, revenge, lies and secrecy: it’s all there and more. Such a compelling story, I finished it in a day! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh, I really enjoyed this book, soooo much! Initially, I wondered if it was going to be a fictional version of from 13 to 30, you know, that film where the girl wishes she was older and somehow ends up in her 30th decade. But now, this was a book with a much more literal switch!. Leena Cotton is suffering. She might be on the cusp of having a breakdown. In fact, she kinda does in the middle of an extremely important presentation at her high-flying job. Being forced into a two month paid break by her boss means she decides to go back home. Leave the bustle of London for her family village in the north, to the home of her grandmother, Eileen Cotton. Eileen has been struggling in her own way. in her golden years, with no husband any more, she wants options, and there are not many local to her. What ends up happening is the switching of lifestyles of these two women, in a surprisingly entertaining way. I loved both Leena and Eileen. I want a grandma like her! There was excitement, love, conflict, and many cups of tea. a perfect book! Many thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Published April 16th 2020
Some really great reads up there! Which one caught your eye? What have you been reading this month?
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss
I just love this quote, Spidey! Thank you for popping it up on here today!
If I can’t do a lot of creating, which I am finding to be the case at the moment, with health issues etc., then reading is my next go-to!
And I honestly find that the more books I read, the more my world expands.
I am able to visit places I may never get to in reality, experience lives that I may not cross my path otherwise, escape in to fantasies that would otherwise always remain just that.
And the big one – I can dream that one day, my own book will end up taking readers on a similar magical ride one day too!
So, tell me, which book really helps you escape from reality?
August falls in my summer break from school, and I hoped to be reading plenty, though my other priority, #RiNoEdMo, had to take a little presedence. Still, I didn’t do too badly, and read a couple of books in Beta reading capacity too, which I can’t review on here yet!
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I requested this book, but I am definitely glad I did.
Imagine America with a royal family. Imagine knowing you would be Queen one day. Imagine knowing you would never be as important as your sister. Imagine a life where you can’t wear what you want, eat what you want, love who you want…
And all the ups and downs of being a Royal, with all the expectations on you.
We are introduced to the Washington family. This is America’s first family, in a Royal way.
The King and Queen, and their three children; Beatrice, heir to the throne and on course to be the first-ever female monarch of the country, and in love with the wrong person, Samantha, one-half of the Royal twins, a Princess with a mischevious streak, and is in love with the wrong person, and Jefferson, the other twin, a fun-loving eighteen-year-old, who just happens to be a handsome Prince, fighting off the advances of many, yet in love with the wrong person.
A bit of a running theme there.
Forbidden love.
Connor, a member of the Royal Revere Guard. Teddy, or rather Lord Theodore Eaton, a prospective groom for the Heir to the throne. Nina, best friend to Princess Samantha and daughter of a Latino lesbian couple, one of whom happens to be a Cabinet minister. Daphne, titled socialite, and daughter of a Baronet who has spent every moment of her life preparing to be a princess. Ethan, best friend of Prince Jefferson, and holding a torch for someone.
It took me a little while to get into the story, but within a few chapters, I was hooked. My Kindle went everywhere with me, and I would whip it out whenever there was a spare moment to read a little more of the story. I had my own thoughts on what the ending would be, and when it didn’t pan out that way, I was teetering on edge. How could the author leave the book like this? Then the final page told me that American Royals was due out next year, and I heaved a sigh of relief because I really want to know what happens next!
Many thanks to NetGalley, and Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As I opened the book, the song from The Greatest Showman of the same name kept running through my mind. Quite apt, considering the musical theme that runs through the book.
There are moments in all our lives where we wonder “What if?”
This story was exactly that. The story of Charlie Taylor, a young teacher with a passion for songwriting. She meets Tom, a drummer who plays in her brother’s band.
He turns her life upside down within one meeting. He feels like The One. He understands her music. He makes her feel unbelievable.
Yet her brother goes to many lengths to keep them apart.
A chance meeting a few years later makes her wonder whether she should have heeded her brother’s warnings, or listened to her heart.
Tragedy strikes and she is torn away from him again.
More time passes and she is happy, settled and married, with a wonderful husband, great friends and a life she is more than happy with.
But that “What if?” keeps popping up in her head, on the radio, in magazines…
What if, indeed.
I’ll tell you something, One sign of a good read for me is when I don’t constantly look at the percentage counter on my Kindle, to see how much is left, or how much I have read. With this book, I glanced down at 38%. The next time I looked, it was at 73% and then, it was finished!
It only took me over two days to read, because kids needed their mother, but a wonderful read. I’d recommend, definitely.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve dipped in and out of this book by @humblethepoet over the last couple of months and found different meanings to what I read each time. Definitely a book not to be devoured in one sitting, but to ponder upon in a leisurely fashion. There might be a little repetition in it. It’s not necessarily the most literarily correct book, but the thoughts behind the chapters resonate.
This was just my kind of feel-good story, about sisterhood and family.
Julia makes a major mistake while on air, as co-anchor for a daytime TV show. The consequences aren’t pretty, and she just needs to get far away. Of all the places in the world, it ends up being her home town in Arizona that pulls her close. Better weather than New York, yes, but she has to overcome the cold from her older sister Ginny who she hasn’t spoken to for three years, since their’ parent’s death. Ginny, a Michelin starred chef, who gave up all her accolades in New York, to manage her parent’s affairs after their untimely demise. After accepting that she wasn’t going anywhere fast, Ginny sets up a secret supper club, with the begrudging help of her daughter, Olive. Julia walks into a tension that is high, and drama that is higher. Will her sister even want her there? Will her employers want her back?
Well, you have to read it to find out!
I enjoyed the whole concept of the story, and though there were romantic elements, I liked how it concentrated on the relationship between the two women.
I would recommend this as an easy read, with a heartwarming ending.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A collection of short stories by award-winning author Cecelia Ahern. What’s not to like? This was a collection of 30 well-written stories, all woman-centric, with a moral behind most. I could have read it in one sitting, but I didn’t want, to as it felt better to read a couple at a time and digest them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review
An absolutely hilarious recount of being a mum on the 21st century! I have to say, I laughed eleventy billion times and guffawed out loud a good few too! Yup, so many bits I could relate to, though, as a near tee-totaller (apart from the odd gin) my eleven-year-old daughter did question my choice of book, given that I don’t drink, and why family is a “sentence”, looking at the cover! Funny. And I am looking forward to seeing why we swear next!
Welcome to the world of Ellen, or a more realistic Bridget Jones as a mother, with plenty of sweariness! As I said after the first book Why Mummy Drinks, I caught myself giggling eleventy billion times. I could picture scenes in this book identifying with some parts, and nodding at the absurd situations Ellen managed to get herself into. Her moppets, Peter and Jane are brilliant. In fact Jane is the fictional version of my 11 year old, and I actually sent her a photo of the passage where Jane was insisting on an Instagram account at 11… yes. We’ve been there, done that, she’s not got the app! My only niggle? Jane turns twelve in the book, yet she’s still in Year 6 at primary? Sorry if it’s picky, but I am a primary school teacher, and really, this should have been her first year in secondary school… Other than that, really funny book. I read it in a couple of days, and look forward to checking out the third installment!
I’ve been swimming in a week of Ellen and her Eleventy Billion issues with her children, from primary age woes to the beginnings of teen craziness, Dealing with marital ups and downs, handling life as a working mother. Today I finished the third in the Why Mummy trilogy, and I wasn’t disappointed. Okay, so I didn’t giggle out loud as much. In fact, I even had a cry, especially at ‘that’ point with Ellen and her father. I won’t say what, but when you read it, you’ll know! (I’m a sucker for emotion, and anything to do with father/daughter relationships gets me, any time! It was a fitting end to the current phase, Ellen is going through. Not a tied up happy ending, but it finished, knowing there was light at the end of the tunnel. I’d love to know if Gill Simms is planning on another sequel, detailing the joy of parenting adults too! Loved each one, and definitely recommended!
Amanda Prowse has fast become one of my favourite authors, with her way of weaving a story, so relatable and believable that you could be living it yourself, or you may even imagine knowing someone in the same situation.
The Light In The Hallway is no different.
We are taken on a journey with Nick, a grieving widower and father, who is still young enough to be in his prime, yet old enough to ‘really know better’. At home, alone, having dropped his son to University, he begins to wonder how his life will pan out. How is he to greave? How long for? And with a sister-in-law hell-bent on making sure he abides by the rules society have set, regarding being a widower, and a son who is finding it hard to accept his mother’s death, it’s not easy.
Alongside Nick’s story, runs a parallel tale from nearly thirty years before, involving Nick and his two best friends, Eric and Alex. Three young boys, at the beginning of their summer holiday, given a challenge by Nick’s dad to build a bike. And they do. They complete that challenge, and experience a whole host of ups and downs along with it, proclaiming it the best summer.
The friendship provides Nick with a lot of support while he comes to terms with losing his childhood sweetheart and wife, Kerry.
This was a bittersweet tale about loss, and expectations, coupled with hope, and a definite recommended read from me! Mrs Amanda Prowse, I am guessing there will be many calls for a follow-up. We will all want to know what happens to Eric!
May thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published 11th November
This was my first foray into Japanese literature, and I chose to read Before The Coffee Gets Cold because the blurb sounded intriguing, It was initially very hard for me to get into the book because I found the translated version a little stilted, but the subject matter kept me interested. I did get a little confused with characters as there were a lot of K names! It was interestingly written, with all four of the mini-stories within interweaving within one another, but as I mentioned before, it was hard to keep up sometimes. Having said that the ending was very heartwarming. Many thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Picador for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published 19th September
The Confession is my first Jessie Burton book, and I have a feeling I may go searching for her previous two now…
The Confession is a story of self-discovery, told in two time trails.
We meet Rose in the present; a woman who is trying to find her mother or any information about her. A mother who disappeared when she was a baby, Rose is stuck in a life rut. In a relationship that is just floating along the surface of the sea of life, in a boring job, with nothing to look forward to.
Then we travel to 1982 where we are introduced to Elise, an impressionable young woman, whose dreary life gets a wash of colour after meeting an up and coming author, Constance Holden.
Connie Holden is a common thread for both the women, and the stories that progress in both time frames, able to provide excitement for Elise, and answers for Rose.
What a fantastically told story! I found myself willing Rose to be brave, to ask all the questions she needed to ask. I wanted Elise to be strong, and not crumble under the pressures life put her under. And Constance, or Connie? I wanted her to soften…
Did she? Did any of them achieve what I hoped? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Picador for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was so pleased to be able to read the sequel to Wildflower Heart, as I had really enjoyed, it, warmed to the characters and the situations.
Kara Hart has much to grieve over, from the death of her husband, after a car accident, in which she suffered multiple injuries, and the loss of her best friend who she thought was in cahoots with her husband. This is followed by the death of her father. She seeks solace in the form of medications that threaten to push her over the edge. On top of dealing with life, Kara has muddled relationships building with Seth, the neighbour who is working away, and Will, the Landscape gardener who is helping her realise her dreams, and assisting her in making her own father’s hopes materialise too.
Author Grace Greene has tackled some extremely tough situations with a beautiful delicacy, such as loss, grief and addictions. Her descriptions are wonderful too. I could picture the wildflower fields and all the different locations in the book, which always adds to my enjoyment of a book!
A beautifully told tale and I can’t wait to find out what is next in the Wildflower series! Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
Groucho Marx
Oh, I loved this quote, Spidey!
This weekend I have been talking reading and books a lot, with my uncle, who came to visit me. This is my mum’s eldest brother. My Mamaji. And he lives in Kenya. I haven’t seen him in 18 years, since my wedding,
He’s a very special man to me. Another dad. And someone who has inspired me to read. Both him and my mother read copiously when I was younger, and though life may not allow them to read as much, even in retirement, they are both like me and would rather have a good book in their hand, than an eye on the goggle box, as my mum always calls it!
My Mamaji treated himself this trip, to an All New Kindle Paperwhite, and he brought it with him, to compare with mine, and to discuss book-related matters.
He’s a non-fiction reader more than fiction, and my memories of him are always of him with his nose in a book or the paper. I remember his bedroom in Kenya distinctly, with piles of books lining walls too!
In fact he was nearly a PhD Graduate in the 60s, but due to personal problelms, he never finished it, and it is a regret he feels keenly. He studied here in London, at Queen Mary’s College and Imperial College, both of which his took my aunt, my Mamiji, to visit last week!
There was a trunk filled with his belongings in my parent’s garage. My mum has kept it safe since it was entrusted to her care in the early 70s and she hasn’t dared open it, or get rid of it.
A couple of weeks ago, Mamaji stationed himself in the garage of Pops and Mum’s house, to rummage through his memories. The trunk was filled with all sorts, including a handmade suit of his, some other hilariously 60s clothes and TONS of books. When I phoned mum that day, she was laughing as she told me how he was like a child in a toyshop, delving into the memories of an extremely precious time for him.
I was in awe of his memory.
Even yesterday, as he mentioned the titles of some of the books, and the authors, some of whom had been his PhD lecturers, his eyes glistened with pure joy. He told mum to give the books away, as he can’t take them back, but he also had a ‘small’ list of ones he would ask her to keep, for memory’s sake.
I know I shall be rummaging around in that trunk before they get given away, to get another insight into Mamaji and his younger life.
Before he left, his parting words to me were, “Send me that book of yours when it’s done.”
Another member of my family who has been such a strong, silent support of my writing dream. He was so proud the day my poetry book came out, and I know I just need to do this, get this book published, not just for me, but for all those dear to me, who have so much faith in my ability.
So… tell me, who is part of your silent support group?
But I Smile Anyway... 