My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 26th September 2020

Hello all and Happy Saturday! Another month is drawing to a close, and the madness continues!! So I’ve done my best to ignore the crazy world this week by reading more than ever and buying books!! Yes I went inside a bookshop for the first time since March and it was blooming wonderful!!!! I went in for one book, came out with 3 instead!! Oh how I had missed the art of browsing and being seduced by book covers!!!  Normal service was resumed and I loved it!
So this week I have managed  to finish 5 books – including 1 audiobook – and got 2 from Netgalley, borrowed a digital book from the library, and bought 4 books!
Here’s my look back..

BOOKS FINISHED

CHOCOLAT by JOANNE HARRIS – 4 STARS

OLIVE by EMMA GANNON – 4 STARS

A WEDDING ON THE RIVIERA by EVONNE WAREHAM – 5 STARS

MY LIFE IN PLANTS by KATIE VAZ (audiobook) – 3 STARS

THE ZENNED OUT GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CRYSTALS by CASSIE UHL – 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

A trip to a Waterstones made me leave with these 3 beauties!

SMALL PLEASURES by CLARE CHAMBERS

1957, south-east suburbs of London.

Jean Swinney is a feature writer on a local paper, disappointed in love and – on the brink of forty – living a limited existence with her truculent mother: a small life from which there is no likelihood of escape.

When a young Swiss woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the Tilburys: Gretchen is now a friend, and her quirky and charming daughter Margaret a sort of surrogate child. And Jean doesn’t mean to fall in love with Gretchen’s husband, Howard, but Howard surprises her with his dry wit, his intelligence and his kindness – and when she does fall, she falls hard.

But he is married, and to her friend – who is also the subject of the story she is researching for the newspaper, a story that increasingly seems to be causing dark ripples across all their lives. And yet Jean cannot bring herself to discard the chance of finally having a taste of happiness…

But there will be a price to pay, and it will be unbearable.

THE GIRL WHO LIVES ON THE METRO by CHRISTINE FERET-FLEURY

In the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop, a modern fairytale about a French woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter.

Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her metro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.

One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman’s name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette’s daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.

Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Metro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all.

CHERRY INGRAM by NAOKO ABE

The irresistible story of Japanese cherry blossoms, threatened by political ideology and saved by an unknown Englishman

Collingwood Ingram, known as ‘Cherry’ for his defining obsession, was born in 1880 and lived until he was a hundred, witnessing a fraught century of conflict and change.

After visiting Japan in 1902 and 1907 and discovering two magnificent cherry trees in the garden of his family home in Kent in 1919, Ingram fell in love with cherry blossoms, or sakura, and dedicated much of his life to their cultivation and preservation.

On a 1926 trip to Japan to search for new specimens, Ingram was shocked to see the loss of local cherry diversity, driven by modernisation, neglect and a dangerous and creeping ideology. A cloned cherry, the Somei-yoshino, was taking over the landscape and becoming the symbol of Japan’s expansionist ambitions.

The most striking absence from the Japanese cherry scene, for Ingram, was that of Taihaku, a brilliant ‘great white’ cherry tree. A proud example of this tree grew in his English garden and he swore to return it to its native home. Multiple attempts to send Taihaku scions back to Japan ended in failure, but Ingram persisted.

Over decades, Ingram became one of the world’s leading cherry experts and shared the joy of sakura both nationally and internationally. Every spring we enjoy his legacy. ‘Cherry’ Ingram is a portrait of this little-known Englishman, a story of Britain and Japan in the twentieth century and an exploration of the delicate blossoms whose beauty is admired around the world.

THE GIRL FROM THE HERMITAGE by MOLLY GARTLAND

It is December 1941, and eight-year-old Galina and her friend Katya are caught in the siege of Leningrad, eating soup made of wallpaper, with the occasional luxury of a dead rat. Galina’s artist father Mikhail has been kept away from the front to help save the treasures of the Hermitage. Its cellars could now provide a safe haven, provided Mikhail can navigate the perils of a portrait commission from one of Stalin’s colonels. Nearly 40 years later, Galina herself is a teacher at the Leningrad Art Institute. What ought to be a celebratory weekend at her forest dacha turns sour when she makes an unwelcome discovery. The painting she embarks upon that day will hold a grim significance for the rest of her life, as the old Soviet Union makes way for the new Russia and Galina’s familiar world changes out of all recognition. Warm, wise and utterly enthralling, Molly Gartland’s debut novel guides us from the old communist world, with its obvious terrors and its more surprising comforts, into the glitz and bling of 21st-century St. Petersburg. Galina’s story is at once a compelling page-turner and an insightful meditation on ageing and nostalgia.

And over at Netgalley, I managed to get approval for these two…

WITCH BOTTLE by TOM FLETCHER

out November 2020
A deeply atmospheric literary horror novel about the nature of repressed guilt, grief and fear.

Daniel once had a baby brother, but he died, a long time ago now. And he had a wife and a daughter, but that didn’t work out, so now he’s alone. The easy monotony of his job as a milkman in the remote northwest of England demands nothing from him other than dealing with unreasonable customer demands and the vagaries of his enigmatic boss.

But things are changing. Daniel’s started having nightmares, seeing things that can’t possibly be there – like the naked, emaciated giant with a black bag over its head which is so real he swears he could touch it . . . if he dared.

It’s not just at night bad things are happening, either, or just to him. Shaken and unnerved, he opens up to a local witch. She can’t t discern the origins of his haunting, but she can provide him with a protective ward – a witch-bottle – if, in return, he will deliver her products on his rounds.

But not everyone’s happy to find people meddling with witch-bottles. Things are about to get very unpleasant . . .

THE OPEN HOUSE by SAM CARRINGTON
out December 2020

Everyone’s welcome. But not everyone leaves…

Nick and Amber Miller are splitting up and selling their Devon family home. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t moving. Not a single viewing so far.

When their estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees, even as she worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.

But Amber has more to worry about than nosy neighbours. Because thirteen people enter her house that afternoon, and only twelve leave.

Someone doesn’t want the house to sell, and is willing to do anything to stop it…

CURRENTLY READING

THE LOLLIPOP SHOES by JOANNE HARRIS

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#PromoPost NICK by MICHAEL FARRIS SMITH #nicknovel #NickCarraway #TheGreatGatsby @noexitpress @michael_f_smith

Delighted to be part of the ‘Nick’ promo Blitz today on behalf of NO EXIT PRESS who are happy to share the news with you today about this exciting prequel!! Publication date is 25th February 2021 so make a note of it!! This is a book you don’t want to miss out on!! Today also marks what would have been  the 124th birthday of F. SCOTT FITZGERALD so what better day to share the news!

ABOUT THE BOOK

NICK CARRAWAY STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO THE SPOTLIGHT IN THIS EXHILARATING PREQUEL TO THE GREAT GATSBY, LEADING UP TO CARRAWAY’S MEETING WITH THE ENIGMATIC JAY GATSBY

This rich and imaginative novel from critically acclaimed author Michael Farris Smith breathes new life into a character that many know only from the periphery. 

Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s world, he was at the centre of a very different story – one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I. Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed first-hand, Nick embarks on a redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance – doomed from the very beginning – to the dizzying frenzy of New Orleans, rife with its own flavour of debauchery and violence.

 NICK is an inspired concept realised with delicate, rhythmic prose, profound characterisation and deep emotion. Charged with enough alcohol, heartbreak, and yearning to transfix even the heartiest of golden age scribes, NICK reveals the man behind the narrator who has captivated readers for decades.

PRE-ORDER LINKS

Publisher Website

Book Depository

waterstones

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

No Exit Press also publish Michael Farris Smith’s novels Desperation Road, The Fighter and most recently Blackwood. Farris Smith has been a finalist for the Gold Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix des Lectrices in France, and his essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters. 

#AudioBookReview MY LIFE IN PLANTS by KATIE VAZ

ABOUT THE BOOK

From stumpy potted houseplants to intricate and delicate flower arrangements, My Life in Plants is a heartfelt, honest memoir that intertwines the complex nature of houseplants with a journey of self-discovery.

From Katie Vaz, author of Don’t Worry, Eat Cake, the beloved Make Yourself Cozy, and The Escape Manual for Introverts, comes My Life in Plants. Her newest book tells the story of her life through the thirty-nine plants that have played both leading and supporting roles, from her childhood to her wedding day. Plants include a homegrown wildflower bouquet wrapped in duct tape that she carried on stage at age three, to a fragrant basil plant that brought her and her kitchen back to life after grief.

The stories are personal, poignant, heartwarming, and relatable, and will prompt readers to recall plants of their own that have been witness to both the amazing moments of life and the ordinary ones. This illustrated memoir covers the simplicity of home, the sharpness of loss, the lesson of learning to be present, and the journey of finding your way.

PUBLISHED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL PUBLISHING

MY REVIEW

I listened to the audioversion of this book via Netgalley.

This was a sweet, easy listen as the author shares moments of her life through various plants! It is a fun way of looking back at her life and how certain plants remind her of some events and family members. She had a happy upbringing so there’s lots of throwbacks to her parents or grandparents introducing her to different aspects of gardening and how, now she is older, she has learnt to appreciate those little moments more and a slower pace of life that a lot of gardening gives you.

Each chapter is very short and snappy and the whole audiobook only lasted for an hour and a half, so it’s a little potted (no pun intended!) history of events in her life that have made her the person she is today. From school days, to living abroad by herself, to married life, I found it really easy to listen to and enjoyed her honesty about her flaws!!

★★★

#BookReview THE ZENNED OUT GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING CRYSTALS by CASSIE UHL #nonfiction #crystals #zennedout

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Zenned Out Guide to Understanding Crystals covers everything you need to know about crystals and their unique healing properties.

This is your spiritual guide to using crystals for healing, meditating, boosting energy, improving mood, elevating your health, and much more. Discover which crystal is right for you and harness its power as you become more balanced and centered. Approachable exercises make it easy for you to practice techniques for amplifying healing energy, manifesting your intentions, and enhancing your ritual work. A gorgeous illustrative guide to over 90 crystals helps you identify which crystals resonate with you the most. With this book, you’ll:
Learn the significance of each crystal’s color and its relation to chakras, the best way to position it, and ideal crystal pairings.
Find out which moon phases, days of the week, zodiac signs, and chakras work best with each.
Learn how to best clean, program, and protect your crystals by using elements such as the moon and the sun, so you can enhance each crystal’s power as you work with them.
Use crystals as intention-setting tools to manifest what you want to bring into your life and add more meaning to your spiritual craft.

Practice meditation techniques and protect your energy to raise your vibrations.
With The Zenned Out Guide toUnderstanding Crystals, you’ll deepen the connection between your mind, body, and spirit as you explore the earth’s energy through crystals.  
  The 

Zenned Out series is an open invitation to seasoned and curious spiritualists who want to explore their craft. With Cassie Uhl’s approachable steps and explanations to mystical tools and symbolism, readers can start using the information right away. 

PUBLISHED BY ROCK POINT

MY REVIEW

As a fairly new arrival to the world of crystals, this was the perfect little handbook for me! Filled to the rafters with all you need to know about crystals, their healing powers and how to use them, I found myself learning so much in this really easy to follow guide.

It’s also beautifully illustrated which helps to bring things to life, and I loved how it showed different exercises you can do to get the most out of your crystals now that they’re in your life!

Set out in different chapters, it takes you through how crystals work, how you can cleanse and charge them, how to use the energy and the different meanings behind each crystal. This was really helpful as it gave you clear indications what crystals were best used for whatever issue you needed them for. The meanings were really well laid out and easy to read, and this book even introduced me to some new crystals so I look forward to adding them to my collection at some point!

There’s also help to guide you through using crystal grids with illustrations that made it so clear to understand and follow along with guides to your chakras and overall this was such a helpful look into the different aspects of crystals.

★★★★★

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the e-copy in return for a fair and honest review.

#GuestPost A WEDDING ON THE RIVIERA by EVONNE WAREHAM #PublicationDay @ChocLituk @evonnewareham

Hello!! Happy Tuesday! And Happy Publication Day to Evonne Wareham for the fabulous  A WEDDING ON THE RIVIERA! She’s sharing a post here today to share a little more info about the book and hopefully get you to grab your copy straight away!!
Over to you Evonne………

Release Day Post: A Wedding on the Riviera by Evonne Wareham

A Wedding on the Riviera is my fifth book for Choc Lit and the second in what I hope will be a Riviera series. It can be read as a stand-alone, with a new central couple, but if you have read Summer in San Remo you have the chance to catch up with a few of the characters from that book, and see how their lives have moved on. It’s a romantic suspense, so you get some mayhem mixed in with the romance. I have to say that in this one not all the mayhem comes from the villains. The action centres around a group of friends taking on a con man, and to do that they set up a sting. Of course things are never quite that straightforward, and two of the group are on the verge of falling for each other, so it all gets quite exciting – or at least I hope it does!

It opens with a wedding in Bath, and a runaway groom who absconds with a large amount of money. He gets found out because my hero, Ryan, recognises him. Ryan is a professional escort, who is attending the event with Nadine, who is his favourite client. That professional relationship is the first stumbling block to any romance between them, but both of them are beginning to wonder if there may be a chance of something more. When the group sets out to try to trap the thief, they are thrown together. You can see where this is going, can’t you?

The sting operation gave me the opportunity to plan the most glitzy wedding in the South of France, which is the lure to draw the con man. I created a beautiful Art Deco villa outside Nice, with fabulous grounds and its own chapel, and had immense fun researching all the things I could include to make it the wedding of the century, and a few embellishments of my own on top. I have a weakness for glamorous settings and sunshine, and this book gave me the chance to channel those 1950’s films – blue sky, blue sea, fast sports cars on the coast road, motor boats …

I hope A Wedding on the Riviera will conjure up the spirit of a fabulous holiday in a gorgeous part of the world, but as it is a romantic suspense, it also has its dark side, as Nadine and Ryan realise that the con trick may be part of something a lot more sinister …

For various reasons I haven’t been able to travel abroad for a while, so the first draft of the book was written from memories of holidays in the past. I had a trip to the Riviera booked in May, when I was going to soak up atmosphere, collect quirky little details, take photographs… Well, we all know what happened to that. I’ve had to rely on memory and my trusty guide books, and the Internet, which is brilliant for images and even virtual tours. I was able to wander round the Cours Saleya market in Nice and around the Marais district in Paris, without leaving home. The scene in Paris didn’t make it into the final version of the book, but it’s still lurking there. I would love to write a Paris book. One for the ‘to do’ list. The one I’m working on next is set in equally glamorous Portofino. Riviera number three.

💙💙💙

About the book:

A return to the Riviera on the trail of a runaway groom … When out-of-work actor Ryan Calder attends a wedding as the plus-one of successful businesswoman, Nadine Wells, he doesn’t expect to get in a scuffle with the groom. But Ryan has a good reason. He recognises the groom from another wedding where the same man made a quick getaway, taking the wedding money and leaving a heartbroken bride in his wake. It seems he’s struck again, and Nadine’s poor friend is the target. Ryan and Nadine decide they can’t let it happen to another woman, so with a group of friends they hatch a plan that will take them to the French Riviera, hot on the heels of the crooked groom. But could their scheme to bring him to justice also succeed in bringing them closer together?

Buying links:

Amazon

Kobo

Apple Books

About the Author:

Evonne Wareham was born in South Wales and spent her childhood there. After university she migrated to London, where she worked in local government, scribbled novels in her spare time and went to the theatre a lot. Now she’s back in Wales, living by the sea, writing and studying a PHD in history. She still loves the theatre, likes staying in hotels and enjoys the company of other authors through her membership of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

Evonne’s debut novel, Never Coming Home won the 2012 Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award, the 2013 Colorado Romance Writers’ Award for Romantic Suspense, the Oklahoma National Readers’ Choice Award for Romantic Suspense plus was a nominee for a Reviewers’ Choice Award from RT Book Reviews. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/evonnewareham

#MusicMonday TINY DANCER by ELTON JOHN

Happy Monday one and all! Time for more tunes to take part in the Music Monday tag, hosted weekly by Drew over at The Tattooed Book Geek, it’s a chance to share a song or video that you love!

And one song that has stuck in my mind this week after seeing it on a Twitch/Periscope stream is Tiny Dancer by Elton John! Choon!!!!

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must’ve seen her dancing in the sand
And now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back, she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad
Piano man, he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on, she sings the songs
The words she knows, the tune she hums

But oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you’ll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must’ve seen her dancing in the sand
Now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Oh, how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you, and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today
Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton John

Tiny Dancer lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

#BookReview TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI #TSIASOS

ABOUT THE BOOK

“To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Paolini.

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she’s awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . .”

PUBLISHED BY  TOR

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon £12.98

blackwell’s – signed edition £20

Book Depository  £12.99

MY REVIEW

Epic!! Outstanding!! Awesome!!

What is it about space operas that are just so fascinating and captivating??! I was a little daunted when I got my mitts on this beast of a book – 870 pages or so – and prepared myself for those normal ‘filler’ bits in a book of this size BUT found none!! It all just flowed so perfectly as you follow Kira and the crew of the Wallfish as they face up to alien wars and personal battles and I’m already itching to read it again just to soak up more of the atmosphere and pick up on extra little nuggets of info that I may have passed by on the first read through!

Kira is the female star of the show here. And what a fascinating character she is! She’s all loved up with Alan and preparing for a new chapter in their lives together, but that’s all about to change when she discovers an alien relic on an uncolonized planet – her initial joy of finding this rarity soon turns to terror and sets them all on a different course.

What follows is a rollercoaster ride as they encounter battles with aliens and fellow space travellers and it’s a journey of chaos, emotions and humour as they search out the meaning of the changes that have happened to Kira and try to make sense of it all! And often none of it makes sense, and that’s what makes it even more enthralling!! Any idea you think you have of how things may play out are always way off base and that’s why I often couldn’t put it down – despite the weight of the book giving my arms a rather decent workout!!

I also have to point out the stunning illustrations/artwork that is littered throughout – of planets, ships … all the space vibes and info you need it is here and it really just added to the whole experience. Their quest evolves over many months and years so you really begin to understand their pain and suffering

This is all the good bits of science fiction and drama without all the pages of technical info that can often leave readers feeling cold! There’s such an eclectic mix of characters throughout that you get to build up a rapport with thanks to the way they are written. You can see why it took the author so long to write – almost 10 years – as it is so involved and extravagant but it’s always a triumph when it pays off in spectacular fashion like this story! It also has a wonderful change of gear throughout – sometimes you’ll find yourself holding your breath at the action unfolding in front of you, other times the pace is much gentler allowing you to spend more time with each character to hear their thoughts and see them finding their feet once more.

Out of this world!!

★★★★★

Huge thankyou to the team at Tor for my advanced reader copy in return for a fair and honest review. It is always highly appreciated.

#BookReview OLIVE by EMMA GANNON

ABOUT THE BOOK

The debut novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author, Emma Gannon.

Independent.
Adrift.
Anxious.
Loyal.
Kind.
Knows her own mind.

OLIVE is many things, and it’s ok that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations, there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and – sometimes – stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices – because life according to Olive looks a little bit different.

Moving, memorable and a mirror for every woman at a crossroads, OLIVE has a little bit of all of us. Told with great warmth and nostalgia, this is a modern tale about the obstacle course of adulthood, milestone decisions and the ‘taboo’ about choosing not to have children.

PUBLISHED BY HARPERCOLLINS

MY REVIEW

This was a refreshing read as it features a character who has chosen not to have children, and they seem very rare in a lot of fiction nowadays! It centres around her and her group of friends who have been together since Uni and the ups and downs that follow the lives of the women as they follow different paths.

Olive has a really great career as a journalist and you get the impression she always has her writer head on all the time as she does tend to over analyze every situation she finds herself on – my only gripe about the character! – and those thoughts then plague her response as she lets them fester.

As her friends around her begin to get married and have kids, she finds herself becoming an ‘outsider’ to their conversations and I can totally relate to her on that account! When she is suffering personally she doesn’t find it easy to share what she is going through as there’s always something else going on in their lives so she tends to keep things to herself and try to work through them, but does find salvation in the form of her elderly neighbour Dorothy and that was a really touching aspect of the book.

Her ex is still on the scene as they obviously still care for each other, it was just the issue of babies that split them. He wanted them, she didn’t. And it really captured the battle of emotions – the little comments of ‘you’ll change your mind’ to name but one! – that she faces over ‘her choice’! This book really does explore the judgement of others over a choice made by an individual that doesn’t fit the social norm! Why should young girls just grow up wanting to get married and have babies?! And why are those who choose not to do those things judged so much by others?

Olive gets to see that the life choices of her friends who she thinks have it all together, aren’t quite as great as she imagined and I think that helps show the balance between women on either side of the debate! As she investigates the ‘child free’ lifestyle for part of the article she is writing she meets a variety of people who think the same way as her, and those who offer therapy for women to change their mind.

I really enjoyed the wide range of angles about the debate that this book throws up and found it a really easy read. Seeing how their lives change over the years when looking back but what counts is the friendships that endure over the years despite the hiccups along the way. A really interesting read and nice to see a character in Olive that doesn’t conform! If only we lived in a world where others respected other people’s choices!!

★★★★

#BookReview HER SISTER’S SECRET by JAN BAYNHAM

ABOUT THE BOOK

Another wonderful sixties saga from the author of Her Mother’s Secret.

How far would you travel to find the truth?

It’s the 1960s and Jennifer Howells is a young woman with the world at her feet, just on the cusp of leaving her Welsh village for an exciting life in the city.
Then the contents of an inconspicuous brown envelope turn Jennifer’s world upside down. The discovery leaves her spiralling, unsure who she is. Overnight, Miss Goody Two Shoes is replaced by a mini-skirted wild child who lives for parties and rock’n’roll.
But Jennifer’s experience with the excesses of sixties’ culture leaves her no closer to her true identity. She soon realises she’ll have to travel further – first to Cardiff, then across the ocean to Sicily – if she wants to find out who she really is …

PUBLISHED BY CHOC LIT

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Sisters-Secret-Summer-66-ebook/dp/B08F5H7YQF/

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/her-sister-s-secret-6

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/her-sisters-secret/id1526141364?itsct=books_toolbox&itscg=30200&at=11lNBs

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jan_Baynham_Her_Sister_s_Secret?id=dpb5DwAAQBAJ

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-sisters-secret-jan-baynham/1137428123?ean=2940162698852

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54825624-her-sister-s-secret

Website: https://www.rubyfiction.com/dd-product/her-sisters-secret/

MY REVIEW

Another stunning story from Jan showing how quickly your life can be turned upside down, and all that you believed turns out to be a lie and the damage that can do to you as a person.

It’s the 1960’s and Jennifer has been living a blessed life – surrounded by family and friends, playing by the rules! A proper little good girl! But just as she’s about to set off for college she finds out something that tears down her settled world and leaves her distrusting those closest to her. She wants answers and wants to know who she really is.

The story also goes back to the 1940’s where life is tough for everyone – deaths in the family because of war, making the best of bad situations, and young Rose is just starting out as she gets a job working locally to help her family out. She always clashes with her father anyway but it’s getting tougher for them to be around one another so she’s grateful for the way out. But he’s always watching over her, waiting for her to slip up and when a budding romance between her and Marco begins to heat up things are about to get even more traumatic for the family. Rose is forced to make a decision she hates and it causes great division in the family.

Watching the stories over the ’40s and ’60s was fascinating – seeing life being much freer in the sixties but also watching similar things happen to characters shows that life can never be predicted, no matter the circumstances. Rose decides to rebel in response to the news she received and she won’t settle down until she is told the truth.

I really enjoyed this story as you just felt so connected to the characters and storylines. You try and put yourself in their shoes and wonder how you would react. It’s a story showing the impact of family secrets, personality clashes and determination to discover the truth. Highly recommended!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 19th September 2020

Hello and Happy Saturday! Hope everyone is well! Spotted Christmas bits in the shops this week…. no, no and no!!!!! Just stop it LOL!!

Been a quiet bookish week as I’ve been rather involved with a beast of a book (850 pages!) so that’s taken up most of my time, but still got 2 books read, only one new addition to the netgalley shelf and nothing new through the post….. yet!!

So here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI – 5 STARS

ALL THE WORDS UNSPOKEN by SERENA KAUR – 4 STARS

BOOKHAUL

Just one new approval from netgalley this week….

MIRRORLAND by CAROLE JOHNSTONE 

out April 2021

A thrilling work of psychological suspense with the startling twists of Gone Girl and the haunting emotional power of Room, Mirrorland is the story of twin sisters, the man they both love, and the dark childhood they can’t leave behind.

Cat lives in Los Angeles, about as far away as she can get from her estranged twin sister El and No. 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where they grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to the grand old house, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. No. 36 Westeryk Road is still full of shadowy, hidden corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues all over the house: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…

A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.

CURRENLTLY READING

OLIVE by EMMA GANNON

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