My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 30th July 2022

Hello and Happy Saturday!!  A lovely baby robin has been out and about in my garden this week so that’s been lovely to watch…. and keeping me on my toes making sure there’s enough food put out for him/her!  A small price to pay!

And it’s been a much better bookish week too with 5 books finished this week, 2 of which were audiobooks! So yay!  Now if only I was that motivated to get the reviews done….  And just 1 newbie for my bookshelves and nothing from Netgalley!

Here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

THE BOOKSHOP by PENELOPE FITZGERALD (audiobook) – 3 STARS

THE LITTLE HOUSE BY THE SEA by TRACY REES – 5 STARS

SOULJOURNER by PAUL STEVEN STONE – 5 STARS

OH WILLIAM by ELIZABETH STROUT (audiobook) – 3 STARS

THE LIGHTHOUSE BOOKSHOP by SHARON GOSLING – 4 STARS

BOOKHAUL

Just one from my subscription with the fabulous RENARD PRESS

FOGGERTY’S FAIRY by W.S.GILBERT

‘Take care. The consequences of an act are often much more numerous and important than people have any idea of.’

Today W.S. Gilbert is best known for the comic operas he produced in collaboration with Arthur Sullivan, a creative partnership that diverged over the supernatural. Unlike Sullivan, Gilbert was a great fan of fairy tales, and Foggerty’s Fairy, one of his most unjustly neglected plays, is a brilliant farcical comedy that hinges on the wish-granting of a fairy.

Loosely based on his short story ‘The Story of a Twelfth Cake’, Foggerty’s Fairy considers the dangers of playing with the past. Trying to shore up his relationship, a man enlists a fairy’s help to make a few tweaks in his past – he soon realises, however, these small changes have made great waves through time, and his present becomes unbearable.

CURRENTLY READING

SNEGUROCHKA by JUDITH HENEGHEN

HAPPY READING!!

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#BookReview THE MOVEMENT by AYISHA MALIK #TheMovement @headlinepg

ABOUT THE BOOK

With words come power. But do you speak out or shut up?

Everywhere Sara Javed goes – online or outside – everyone is shouting about something. Couldn’t they all just shut up? One day she takes her own advice.

At first people don’t understand her silence and are politely confused at best. But the last thing Sara could anticipate is becoming the figurehead of a global movement that splits society in two.

The Silent Movement sparks outrage in its opposers. Global structures start to shift. And the lives of those closest to Sara – as well as strangers inspired by her act – begin to unravel.

It’s time for the world to reconsider what it means to have a voice.

A sharply observed novel, charged with compassion and dark wit, that will spark important conversations about how we live, relate and communicate now

.PUBLISHED BY REVIEW

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

Wow!! This has gone straight into my favourite books of 2022!! This is one of those books that is perfect for the times we are living in as it balances out so many pros and cons of this ever increasingly loud world that we live in nowadays. Once I’d started this book I just couldn’t put it down!

Sara is a successful author, but she’s sick of the shouty world she finds herself living in. People jostling for their opinions to be heard and shared online and IRL – something I think we can all relate to! – so she does the unthinkable and takes a vow of silence. Much to the disgust of her Publishers who want her to accept awards, make speeches etc about her book. So The Silent Movement begins and her silence gets the world talking, and makes a lot of people worry.

Two women she inspires, Grace and Zainab, then share their stories of their journey into the Silent Movement and I loved seeing different perspectives of other characters and the dialogue it sparks between people. Women have fought so hard to have a voice so is the actions of people joining this movement, undermining all that women fought for?! Or is there more power in silence?

The story is told over a number of years and follows these women on their different paths and the reactions over the world are quite staggering. A lot of powerful people are worried, and the parallels with how we found ourselves living fairly recently with strict guidelines really struck home with me. The governments try banning the movement, the resistance grows – it throws up so many moral questions that you will find yourself for and against it at some point as you read!

it also throws out the dilemma that are some people just making noise for the sake of it? By people being quiet they find themselves with more time to think, and deleting social media also makes them happier individuals…. so very true of our reality now!

This is an epic book that centres on the right to choose, something also very central to the world of today. This is a book that made me think so much about what I say, how to say it and how our actions can impact so much, especially around the subject of feminism and women’s rights. A staggering book that needs to be read by all!! Go buy it!! Thank me, silently, later!!

★★★★★

#BookReview THE LITTLE HOUSE BY THE SEA by TRACY REES

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bluebells bob in the salty sea wind and the cottage gate swings open to reveal the inky-blue cove. It’s exactly how Kitty always pictured it… except in her head, she wasn’t standing here alone.

Kitty Roberts spends her days searching for the perfect home for two… until her boyfriend dumps her. Devastated, she flees to a tiny seaside village called Pennystrand, where she spent golden summers as a child, before her family fell apart.

At first, Kitty’s dramatic escape proves to be exactly what she needs – golden sunsets over warm, sandy beaches, lovably eccentric new neighbours and even a blush-inducing run-in with Cory Hudson, a floppy-haired local surfer with a heart-stopping smile.

But just as Kitty feels herself beginning to heal, Cory reveals that his time in Pennystrand is nearly up. What’s more, some strange reactions to Kitty in town make her wonder if her connection to this place might go deeper than she thought.

What is this tranquil little village hiding? It seems there’s a secret in Kitty’s past that is about to turn her life on its head once more… Is she ready for the truth? And will it bring her and Cory closer together, or drive them apart?

A page-turning story full of unexpected twists and turns. It will make you smile, laugh and wish you could visit Pennystrand! Absolutely perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Heidi Swain and Carole Matthews.

PUBLISHED BY BOOKOUTURE

PUBLICATION DATE – 24TH AUGUST 2022

PRE-ORDER LINK

AMAZON

MY REVIEW

Loved Loved Loved!! This is one of those books that puts a smile on your face and warms your heart! And it was just a wonderful treat to read in the sunshine – and to know that you’re not alone in being someone who searches estate agents looking and dreaming of that perfect life away from it all!

Kitty is the main character in this book and she’s looking for something but she’s not sure what! Her happy times are spent in estate agents looking for a dream house, away from the noise and bustle of London – her other half Mitch doesn’t share that dream but fate soon finds a way for her to follow her own path!!

So she finds herself moving to Wales to reassess her life, in a place where she has happy memories from her childhood and with her family. She finds a lovely spot to stay with a nice landlady, and soon finds herself at the heart of the village, trying to make new friends and find a new way of life.

I loved how she threw herself into her new life, and how new doors, literally!, opened up for her! There was lots of fun banter and the introduction of Cory really spices things up and their relationship was just perfect! There’s also a little mystery thrown in, along with some shocking family secrets and I just loved how the story evolved and didn’t want it to end! Home truly is where the heart is!!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 24th July 2022

Hello! Happy Saturday!!  And we made it through the heatwave here in the UK – blooming heck it was hot!  And normally when it’s hot it means I read more! Not this week! I think the heat just fried my brain and I failed miserably on the reading front!

Just one book finished for me this week, an audiobook,  but 3 new additions to the Netgalley shelves – oops!

Here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by BONNIE GARMUS (audiobook) – 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

Netgalley lured me in with 3 newbies this week!

THE ROMANTIC by WILLIAM BOYD

publication – October 2022

Soldier. Farmer. Felon. Writer. Father. Lover.
One man, many lives.

Born in 1799, Cashel Greville Ross experiences myriad lives: joyous and devastating, years of luck and unexpected loss. Moving from County Cork to London, from Waterloo to Zanzibar, Cashel seeks his fortune across continents in war and in peace. He faces a terrible moral choice in a village in Sri Lanka as part of the East Indian Army. He enters the world of the Romantic Poets in Pisa. In Ravenna he meets a woman who will live in his heart for the rest of his days. As he travels the world as a soldier, a farmer, a felon, a writer, a father, a lover, he experiences all the vicissitudes of life and, through the accelerating turbulence of the nineteenth century, he discovers who he truly is. This is the romance of life itself, and the beating heart of The Romantic.

From one of Britain’s best-loved and bestselling writers comes an intimate yet panoramic novel set across the nineteenth century.

THE GIRLS WHO DISAPPEARED by CLAIRE DOUGLAS

publication September 2022

Three missing girls. A twenty year mystery. A woman who may be able to crack this cold case.

In a rural Wilshire town lies The Devil’s Corridor. A road which has witnessed eerie happenings from unexplained deaths to the sounds of a child crying at night.

But nothing more puzzling than the Olivia Rutherford case. Four girls drove home but after their car crashed only Olivia was found.

Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is covering the case. But the locals aren’t happy with this stranger’s arrival. Least of all Olivia.

Jenna soon starts receiving threatening notes and it is clear someone wants her out of this town before she suffers a dark fate . . .

THE LITTLE HOUSE BY THE SEA by TRACY REES

publication – August 2022

Bluebells bob in the salty sea wind and the cottage gate swings open to reveal the inky-blue cove. It’s exactly how Kitty always pictured it… except in her head, she wasn’t standing here alone.Kitty Roberts spends her days searching for the perfect home for two… until her boyfriend dumps her. Devastated, she flees to a tiny seaside village called Pennystrand, where she spent golden summers as a child, before her family fell apart.At first, Kitty’s dramatic escape proves to be exactly what she needs – golden sunsets over warm, sandy beaches, lovably eccentric new neighbours and even a blush-inducing run-in with Cory Hudson, a floppy-haired local surfer with a heart-stopping smile.But just as Kitty feels herself beginning to heal, Cory reveals that his time in Pennystrand is nearly up. What’s more, some strange reactions to Kitty in town make her wonder if her connection to this place might go deeper than she thought.

What is this tranquil little village hiding? It seems there’s a secret in Kitty’s past that is about to turn her life on its head once more… Is she ready for the truth? And will it bring her and Cory closer together, or drive them apart?

CURRENTLY READING

SOULJOURNER by PAUL STEVEN STONE

HAPPY READING!!

#CoverReveal THE COTTAGE IN THE HIGHLANDS by JULIE SHACKMAN @rararesources @G13Julie

Delighted to be part of the cover reveal today for the forthcoming release of THE COTTAGE IN THE HIGHLANDS by JULIE SHACKMAN!  My thanks to the author, publisher and Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for letting me be part of it all with so many other wonderful Bloggers!

And here it is…..😍😍😍

THE COTTAGE IN THE HIGHLANDS

The Cottage in the Highlands

When Leonie Baxter finds herself out of a job and out of a relationship, she’s at her wits end. Her life has just been turned upside down and she needs a plan, fast.

By chance, on a walk with her rescue puppy, Leonie stumbles across a striking house in the woods; fully furnished but unoccupied. As a journalist, she is determined to find out more, after all, reporting is in her nature.

But her attempts are thwarted by Lily Cruickshank who lives in the cottage next door. Why won’t Lily help Leonie? And who is the mysterious Flynn Talbot, whose letter Leonie finds inside the house?

And in uncovering the secrets of the abandoned house, will Leonie open her own heart and let love back into her life?

The brand new escapist story from the bestselling author of A Secret Scottish Escape and A Scottish Highland Surprise, for fans of Jo Thomas, Trisha Ashley and Cathy Bramley.

Pre-order Links:

 UK – The Cottage in the Highlands: Relax and unwind with the brand new winter romance (Scottish Escapes, Book 3) eBook : Shackman, Julie: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

 USA – Amazon.com: The Cottage in the Highlands: Relax and unwind with the brand new winter romance (Scottish Escapes, Book 3) eBook : Shackman, Julie: Kindle Store

Publication Date: 1st December

Author Bio – 

Julie Shackman is a former journalist from Scotland, who has always wanted to write feel-good romance. As well as being an author, Julie also writes verses and captions for greetings card companies. Julie admits to having an obsession with stationery and handbags. She is married, has two sons and has a Romanian rescue puppy, Cooper. The Cottage in the Highlands is Julie’s seventh novel.

 Social Media Links –

Tweets by G13Julie

https://www.facebook.com/julie.shackman

https://www.instagram.com/juliegeorginashackman

#BookReview BLUE HOUR by SARAH SCHMIDT @headlinepg @Emily_JP #BlueHour

ABOUT THE BOOK

She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. ‘We’re going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’ She eyes the rearview mirror, keeps a look out for headlights, keeps a look out for him.

As dawn breaks over sleeping houses, Eleanor straps her infant daughter Amy, into the back of her car. Together they will escape the private hell of Eleanor’s marriage to make the drive to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor’s childhood. Can she be sure that her husband, Braun, is not on their trail?

As the car eats up the long miles of highway, so Eleanor’s mind dives back into the depths of her childhood, and into her fraught relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty a woman who wanted so much, in marriage and in love. Kitty who always tried to hard to bend Eleanor, her brother and her father, to her image of the perfect family.

In her masterful second book, Sarah Schmidt, acclaimed author of SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE? reworks the classic road novel to tense, devastating, and ultimately redemptive effect.

PUBLISHED BY HEADLINE BOOKS

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

This was an exquisite read. Often troubling, very dark and unflinching in the way it explores relationships, it is a story that grips you from page one and still has a hold on you long after you close the book up after finishing it.

It’s the story of a family over different generations – starting with the dramatic story of Eleanor who is leaving with her daughter Amy, walking away from her marriage, to escape to blue mountain where she has the strongest memories from her childhood. It was her refuge and you notice that nature is always her ‘get out’ at the most troublesome of times and that leads the story to take us back to her mother and father, cleverly switching between the 1970’s and the 1940’s.

The story of Kitty is another shocking aspect of this book. It tells of a troubled relationship with Eleanors’ father and how the times shaped their lives. Her life was always focussed on getting away from her parents, so she became a nurse tending to returning soldiers and it’s here she meets George and quickly falls in love. But they’re young and their passion soon fizzles out but she feels obligated to be with him – it seems to become her duty to take care of him when he returns a shell of his former self, dealing with his mood swings and she is pregnant too.

What follows is an exploration of those expectations of what life is – the reality of motherhood, the impact of mental illness on those around, and trying to make sense of it all and trying not to let history repeat itself. Noticing those signs and trying to change the course of your life, but then walking that same path allows her to understand what really was going on back in her childhood that she missed seeing.

This is a brutal book at times, it shares some explicit scenes as the author isn’t afraid to confront the worst of human relationships – the lengths people go to for love and the fine line between that and control. You get that sense of ownership, be it of a parent over a child, or a lover over a partner, and how dark and soul destroying that impacts on the people involved.

There is so much hurt in this family that your heart just breaks as you read their stories. There’s tragedy throughout and it can make this a very disturbing read at times, but it just lays bare the realities and complexities that humans face, and how that shapes them in their journey and future relationships.

There are shocking revelations littered throughout which just adds to the emotional impact of this story, but it is a staggering piece of work and although it may break you at times as it did me, it is one of those powerful stories that you feel honoured to have read. Stunning! 

★★★★★

My thanks to Emily Patience and Headline Books for the advance copy in return for a fair and honest review.

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 16th July 2022

Hello! Hope you’re well!! I’m ok but melting in the heat!! Someone please make it stop!! And it looks to get even hotter in the UK next week….. I will never complain about grey skies and rain again… honest!!

BUT on the plus side, hot weather makes me read more!! It makes me conserve energy haha! So it’s been a good week with 5 books finished and only 1 addition from Netgalley!

Here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

SUMMER AT SEASPRAY COTTAGE by ANGELA BRITNELL – 5 STARS

THE MOVEMENT by AYISHA MALIK – 5 STARS

THE DOVES IN THE DINING ROOM by LAURA LAAKSO – 4 STARS

THE HOLIDAY BOOKSHOP by LUCY DICKENS – 4 STARS

AN ITALIAN GIRL IN BROOKLYN by SANTA MONTEFIORI (audiobook) – 4 STARS

BOOKHAUL

Just one from Netgalley…

HAVEN by EMMA DONOGHUE

publication date – August 2022

Around the year 600, three men vow to leave the world behind and set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them

In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar priest named Artt has a dream in which God tells him to leave the sinful world behind. With two monks–young Trian and old Cormac–he rows down the River Shannon in search of an isolated spot in which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find the impossibly steep, bare island known today as Skellig Michael. In such a place, what will survival mean?

CURRENTLY READING

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by BONNIE GARMUS (audiobook)

HAPPY READING!!

#20BooksOfSummer2022 Catch Up Reviews!! Two for One! #BookReviews

A double dose of reviews today as the sunshine has kicked on my reading speed!  If it goes on much longer I might be able to finish my whole 20 Books of Summer list in a week haha!!

MAGPIE LANE By LUCY ATKINS

MY REVIEW

This is book 7 of my 20 books of summer 2022.

A tense and dark read that me flicking the pages very quickly to find out more, but feeling a little uneasy about how much I didn’t care for many of the charaters!! They weren’t the most likeable of people, and my thoughts were with the child who goes missing. Her parents seemed to be inconvenienced by her being around, and the nanny they brought in, Dee, seemed a little too obsessed with the goings on around the family! My spidey senses were tingling throughout just wanting the little girl to be treated normally!

The story begins as the daughter goes missing, sparking a nationwide hunt, and Dee is being questioned by police over what she saw leading up to the disappearance and what she learned from being with the family. She then recalls life from when she was first offered the job, to time spent with the child, and all that she learned about the mum and dad from seeing them close up, all while hinting there’s skeletons in her own closet!

I liked the way the story was told, in the form of the police interviews, always hinting as to more going on that what we know and it played out at a nice pace to keep you interested and second guessing how things would turn out! A gripping page turner!

★★★

THE DOVES IN THE DINING ROOM by LAURA LAAKSO

This is book 8 of my 20 Books of Summer 2022.

This was a whole ray of magical light on my reading journey! I have the other books of The Wilde Investigations series in my possession, but jumped right in with this short novella, and now I’m itching to go back and read the first 3 in the series to see what else I’ve been missing out on!

This is cosy crime with a mystical, magical feel! Yannia is in Sussex attending a Mage wedding and things start to go wrong with the discovery of 2 dead doves in the dining room – is someone trying to stop this wedding? More keeps happening to dampen the mood so Yannia offers to investigate, with the help of the groom, and they, along with the Hearth Spirit, Wishearth, start to find out what is behind all the sinister goings on, and it was fabulous fun! I loved the whole feel of this story – the spells, the interaction between the characters and it really had that old fashioned crime feel as they get to the bottom of things, but with the added twist of using spirits and spells to help along the way!

★★★★

#BookReview THE COTTAGE ON WINTER MOSS by ALLIE CRESSWELL

ABOUT THE BOOK

Burned-out author Dee needs fresh inspiration. Impetuously, she abandons London and her good-for-nothing boyfriend to go wherever her literary quest takes her. Journey’s end is a remote village on the shores of a wild estuary, overshadowed by a ruined pele tower. She rents Winter Cottage and waits for a story to emerge.

The bleak beauty of the whispering dunes, the jacquard of colour and texture of the marsh and a romantic tree in a secluded glade—The Trysting Tree—all seduce Dee. Nevertheless, the secretive behaviour of a handsome neighbour, lights across the marsh, a spurious squire and a bizarre, moonlit encounter all suggest there is something odd afoot.

Local gossip and crumbling graveyard inscriptions give Dee the opening she needs. She begins to weave hints about the tragic history of a local family, feuding brothers and a fatal fire into a sweeping historical saga. Her characters clamour for a voice as the tale spools effortlessly onto the page—demanding to be told. Dee feels more like its instrument than its instigator.

As she becomes enmeshed in the local community, Dee is startled to find her fiction unnervingly confirmed by fact, her history still resonating in the present-day.
Is she being guided by echoes of the past?

PUBLISHED BY ALLIE CRESSWELL LIMITED

PURCHASE LINK

AMAZON

MY REVIEW

Another stunningly beautiful book from Allie Cresswell! The settings and characters quickly get under your skin and the story just absorbs you, which means it’s very difficult to put down as you just want to keep on reading!!

The author in the story, Dee, has faced highs and lows in a very short space of time and now needs time to recharge and refocus. So she travels to the back of beyond for that time and soon finds herself under the spell of the local area, and all those who live there. The more she uncovers from the local gossips, the more it inspires her to write her new book about characters of the past, and it almost begins to feel like she is experiencing their story herself.

With a dual timeline, we get to read the story she creates and it centres around Todd, who lived in the village from the turn of the century and life was hard, especially on the farm where he had to work from a very young age. What follows on is a very dramatic life with sibling rivalry, unrequited love – really emotional goings on, both then and in the now as Dee learns more about her neighbour and his father.

I loved this story. There is so much to take on but you feel part of these characters lives as you see them unfold, amidst scandal and unresolved resentments with emotions being bottled up, and taken out in the wrong circumstances and towards the wrong people.

Emotional, evocative and a pure joy from first page to last!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 9th July 2022

Hello! Happy Saturday!! Is it me or are these weekends coming round quicker than ever… and disappearing just as quick too?!  A week of very hot weather awaits us here so I’m getting ready to hibernate as my freckly skin can’t cope with heat!! 

And it’s been a pretty quiet book week with just 3 books finished and only 1 new NetGalley arrival!  And I still have book tokens burning a hole in my purse!!  What is wrong with me??!! The guilt of over filled bookshelves may have got the better of me!

here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

SUN, SEA & STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE by ROSIE GREEN – 5 STARS

SAVING LUCIA by ANNA VAUGHT – 4 STARS

THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by SANGU MANDANNA – 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

Just 1 from Netgalley this week…

 A HISTORY OF LONDON COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUMS & MENTAL HOSPITALS by ED BRANDON

publication date  – 30th July 2022

From the Middle-Ages onwards, London’s notorious Bedlam lunatic hospital saw the city’s ‘mad’ locked away in dank cells, neglected and abused and without any real cure and little comfort. The unprecedented growth of the metropolis after the Industrial Revolution saw a perceived ‘epidemic’ of madness take hold, with ‘county asylums’ seen by those in power as the most humane or cost-effective way to offer the mass confinement and treatment believed necessary.

The county of Middlesex – to which London once belonged – would build and open three huge county asylums from 1831, and when London became its own county in 1889 it would adopt all three and go on to build or run another eight such immense institutions. Each operated much like a self-contained town; home to thousands and often incorporating its own railway, laundries, farms, gardens, kitchens, ballroom, sports pitches, surgeries, wards, cells, chapel, mortuary, and more, in order to ensure the patients never needed to leave the asylum’s grounds.

Between them, at their peak London’s eleven county asylums were home to around 25,000 patients and thousands more staff, and dominated the physical landscape as well as the public imagination from the 1830s right up to the 1990s. Several gained a legacy which lasted even beyond their closure, as their hulking, abandoned forms sat in overgrown sites around London, refusing to be forgotten and continuing to attract the attention of those with both curious and nefarious motives.

Hanwell (St Bernard’s), Colney Hatch (Friern), Banstead, Cane Hill, Claybury, Bexley, Manor, Horton, St Ebba’s, Long Grove, and West Park went from being known as ‘county lunatic asylums’ to ‘mental hospitals’ and beyond. Reflecting on both the positive and negative aspects of their long and storied histories from their planning and construction to the treatments and regimes adopted at each, the lives of patients and staff through to their use during wartime, and the modernisation and changes of the 20th century, this book documents their stories from their opening up to their eventual closure, abandonment, redevelopment, or destruction.

CURRENTLY READING

MAGPIE LANE by LUCY ATKINS

HAPPY READING!!