Hello!! Greeted by this beauty in the garden this morning – it’s a Lily I’m helping to trial for the Richard Jackson Garden team and if you are looking for the easiest to look after plant then I’d highly recommend this Lily ‘Bright Joy’! We do like a plant that needs very little care!!
The sun continues to shine here in Essex and it seems to have helped no end with my reading and book acquiring habits!! Is that a good thing?! Yes to the first, No to the second! July definitely needs to be a more restrained month on the book buying front…… famous last words!
So this past week I’ve managed to finish another 5 books and have acquired 8 books for the shelves! Oops! Here’s a little look at all the bookish action! Please click on the book titles for a link to their GoodReads page for more info!
BOOKS FINISHED
My Mourning Year by Andrew Marshall – 4 stars
The Power of Dog by Andrew Marshall – 4 stars
Ahead of the Blog Tour for The Power of Dog I will be on in July, I read these two memoirs from Andrew Marshall and found them to be a really interesting look at grief and how to recover.
Summer at the Little Duck Pond Cafe by Rosie Green – 4 stars
I loved revisiting this Little Duck Pond Cafe series and this is number 2 in the series! Really good read!
Call of the Curlew by Elizabeth Brooks – 5 stars
I loved this dark, menacing read!! Watch out for a full review in July on the Blog Tour!
The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale – 4 stars
A magical but often quite dark story! Very enjoyable and that cover is just gorgeous!!
BOOKHAUL
The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap
Publication Date – 9th August 2018
received from publisher
The Rules of Seeing follows the lives of two women whose paths cross at a time when they need each other most. Nova, an interpreter for the Metropolitan police, has been blind from birth. When she undergoes surgery to restore her sight her journey is just beginning – she now has to face a world in full colour for the first time. Kate, a successful architect and wife to Tony, is in hospital after a blow to the head. There, she meets Nova and what starts as a beautiful friendship soon turns into something more.
Ordered these from Goldsboro Books as part of the Book of the Month club so have received these signed first editions
The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
The Baltimore Boys by Joel Dicker
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
This is the latest addition to my Alma Classics collection courtesy of their Year of Reading Classics club
The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers
Recent winner of the 2018 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction and it has been on my radar for a while so I treated myself!
The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
I couldn’t resist the gorgeous cover this was reissued with for the Virago Modern Classics collection!
Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile by Alice Jolly
An Unbound release that has caught my eye as it just sounds so fascinating!
CURRENTLY READING
3 on the go at the mo!
The Cafe at Seashell Cove by Karen Clarke
The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson
The Death of Mrs Westaway via The Pigeonhole app
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Hope your week has been as good?! Any recommendations or thoughts on this batch of books?! Would love to hear from you!
Books and Me! 
Love that lily and yay for The Pigeonhole! I almost signed up this one but I didn’t want to over lap with The Dead Ex.
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They don’t make it easy on us do they having to make choices! Am liking what I’ve read so far so think you’d enjoy it too!
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I’ve signed up for The French girl next week which looks like a goodie as well.
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I have Call of the Curlew to read for the blog tour so looking forward to it even more now.
I do hope you enjoy The Gallows Pole; I thought it was a remarkable book. Although not my favourite of the shortlist, I tipped it as the winner when I read it a few months ago. I believe I described it as the Days Without End of the 2018 shortlist. Wish I had the same ability with lottery numbers, lol.
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Thank you! What was your favourite from the shortlist then?! I’m intrigued! Hope to read Gallows soon so I can share my thoughts – if you ever do get lucky with the lottery numbers then please feel free to share your winnings! 😉
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My favourite (of the four I’ve read) was Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik. I’m currently part way through Grace by Paul Lynch and have yet to read Manhattan Beach. I intended to read them all before the winner was announced but ran out of time…
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