Happy New Year fellow Book Dragons!! Here’s to another year filled with more books than we can cope with, and new favourites appearing on our shelves!!
So I do this every year to try and give myself a bit more focus! And I always start off with the best intentions and then by about mid January I’ve normally gone off the rails! So it’s fun while it lasts and we will see how we get on this time round…….
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1. Book Reading Target
Every year I set myself the target of 200 books to be read in the year, and I’ll be sticking with that again this year!
2. Read more Classics
I got a 12 day book advent calendar for 2022 Xmas and it was wonderful opening up some lovely editions of Classics, and hopefully I can settle down with those over the course of the next 12 months – 1 a month! – and not be too scared of them as I often am!
3. Less Netgalley
Yep I’m laughing too!! Every year I say I’m going to get the NG shelves under control, and then I fail miserably by requesting way too many! So this year I’m going to be more ‘selective’… no really! I am!!!
4. Buy less books
We know how this one goes don’t we?!!! Shelves are full of books still to be read, and I had a blast in the Waterstones sale with book vouchers I received, so it NEEDS to be more restrained over the next year! I give myself a month before it goes tits up!
5. read more non fiction
I don’t tend to buy that much non fiction, but when I do I really love them! I also find reading non fiction a little tougher on my poor old brain! But this year I’m going to find topics I love – nature, history, wildlife – and hopefully lap them up!!
6. Let go……
Why do I keep hold of so many books?! I had a big sort out of my shelves the other weekend so they’re all a bit more organised but still find myself hanging on to books that have gathered dust over the years and STILL haven’t been read! While it’s wonderful having bookshelves full of books, it’s just a question of space, and unless I win the lottery and buy a castle I just can’t keep storing them all!! So time to let go of those books I’m never going to read or re-read!!
7. Read a page a day….
Sounds simple enough! There are some days where I don’t feel like reading though but I’m going to promise myself to at least read 1 page a day, as that normally leads on to a chapter… or maybe more!
8. Simplify….
I do like keeping a note of what I’ve read in a physical diary, and also make notes in a little review notebook – I just need to stop using so many notebooks and then forgetting where I’ve put them!! Time to stick them all in one book and hopefully that will be easier to keep track of! Famous last words!!
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So we shall see how we get on with this little lot! Are you giving yourself some reading goals for the year ahead?! Good luck!!
So we have made it to the end of November and I’m very happy to report I can now shout – BINGO!!! I made it!! Completed my Netgalley board for November thanks to the wonderful challenge set up by NeverEndingNetgalley over on Twitter! It’s set up to help you get your NG shelves under control a little and I need lots of help on that front! And this past month has helped…. if only I could stop then adding new titles to the shelves! Whoops!!
So here’s my look back at the titles I got to read!! Click on the title for a link to my reviews…
So there we have it! Always happy to complete a challenge and it does feel good to clear some older titles off my Netgalley shelves, so now I need to keep being good and keep that up!!! Wish me luck haha!!
It’s that time of the year again!! Not the C word!! But just as important!! It’s time to get a bit of help with the Netgalley shelves!! No matter how hard I try they always spiral out of control so this is always such a great help for me to get a bit of it chipped away at and hopefully start me off on a path of being more organised on the Netgalley front….. a girl can dream!!
Hosted over on Twitter NetgalleyNovember it’s a set of monthly ‘challenges’ to help you focus and connect with other readers battling the same issues!! And here’s the Bingo card of prompts which is always my favourite part!!
I’m going to be a little ‘creative’ with the Buddy Read tag – you’ll see how down below – but these titles have been fun to hunt through the shelves for and the books below are the ones I’m hoping to get through this November….
So that’s my choices for this November!! I’m not feeling very confident in being able to yell BINGO by the end of the month, but I’m going to have fun trying!!
How is it that time of year already?!! I can remember picking out my books for 2020 what seems like last week! But here we are and the fabulous Cathy over at 746 BOOKS is setting up the 20 Books of Summer once again! And it’s my favourite time of the year! Time to get some books off the TBR mountains!
The rules are simple – sign up to read either 10, 15, or 20 books over the Summer months from the 1st June to 1st September – and join in the fun using the hashtag #20booksofsummer21 to help and support everyone else in achieving their dream!
I always like to change things up as to how I pick my books for the Summer months – and it never gets any easier!! Sat here surrounded by physical books as well as being shocking embarrassed by all the digital books I have stashed away (out of sight, out of mind!) I really never know how to narrow down the choice! BUT this year I’m going simple!! I’ve just taken a look at my Netgalley shelf and I am shamed!! It is in the high treble figures and that is just awful! So I’m going to clear a page of Netgalley reads! That matches the 20 perfectly! I’ve gone for my most recent additions and maybe this will now inspire me to go back and explore the others! Let’s just hope I don’t keep adding to the shelf over the Summer!
So here’s my run down of what I’m hoping to read – I’d best get my Kindle charged up and ready to go!! Click on the book title for a link to the GoodReads blurb!
So there we have it! I’m committed!!Aarrgghh LOL!! A good mix of fiction and non fiction to hopefully keep me inspired!! Fingers crossed this is the motivation I need to FINALLY start getting my Netgalley shelves looking a little more respectable……. a girl can dream anyway!! I hope you’ll be joining in the fun too!!
Let the book challenge sign ups begin!! I spotted this challenge over at The Secret Library Site today and thought it sounded lots of fun, so I wanted in! It’s hosted by Carolina over at Carolina Book Nook and it’s pretty simple to follow!
The challenge runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. You can sign up any time, but only count books that you read between those dates.
Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category.
Don’t use the same book for more than one category.
Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
You can choose your books as you go or make a list ahead of time.
Hello! And Happy December!! We made it!! That’s worth celebrating! And pushing on with the Goodreads total which says I’m behind on last years target… how can that be??!! I demand a recount….. 😉
So what to read in the month ahead?! I’m torn!! Do I try and catch up with the squillions of books I failed to read each month this year?! Or do I push ahead with reading new and future releases?! And dare I peek at the Netgalley shelves to see what kind of state that is in?!! Decisions, decisions…
Here’s a look at the physical books that I’ve pulled off the shelves to make a start on, and then we’ll see where the rest of the month takes me!!
PANENKA by RONAN HESSION – publication date May 2021
His name was Joseph, but for years they had called him Panenka, a name that was his sadness and his story. Panenka has spent 25 years living with the disastrous mistakes of his past, which have made him an exile in his home town and cost him his dearest relationships. Now aged 50, Panenka begins to rebuild an improvised family life with his estranged daughter and her seven year old son. But at night, Panenka suffers crippling headaches that he calls his Iron Mask. Faced with losing everything, he meets Esther, a woman who has come to live in the town to escape her own disappointments. Together, they find resonance in each other’s experiences and learn new ways to let love into their broken lives.
OLD BONES by HELEN KITSON – publication date January 2021
Diana and her sister Antonia are house-sharing spinsters who have never got over their respective first loves. Diana owns a gift shop, but rarely works there. Antonia is unemployed, having lost her teaching job at an all girls’ school following a shocking outburst in the classroom after enduring years of torment. Diana is a regular at the local library, Antonia enjoys her “nice” magazines, and they treat themselves to coffee and cake once a week in the village café.
Naomi lives alone, haunted by the failure of her two marriages. She works in the library, doesn’t get on with her younger colleagues, and rarely cooks herself a proper meal. Secretly she longs for a Boden frock.
When a body is discovered in the local quarry, all three women’s lives are turned upside down. And when Diana’s old flame Gill turns up unexpectedly, tensions finally spill over and threaten to destroy the outwardly peaceful lives all three women have carefully constructed around themselves.
Helen takes us back to the fictional Shropshire village of Morevale in this, her brilliant second novel, which exposes the fragilities and strengths of three remarkably unremarkable elderly women.
THE ORDER OF THE PURE MOON REFLECTED IN WATER by ZEN CHO
Zen Cho returns with a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history.
A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.
LIVING WITH TREES by ROBIN WALTER
Trees and woods offer great potential for rebuilding our wider relationship with nature, reinforcing local identity and sustaining wildlife. We need more trees and woods in our lives, to lock up carbon, to mitigate flooding, to help shade our towns and cities and bring shelter, wildlife and beauty to places. Living with Trees is a cornucopia of practical information, good examples and new ideas that will inspire, guide and encourage people to reconnect with the trees and woods in their community, so we can all discover how to value, celebrate and protect our arboreal neighbours.
THE APPARITION PHASE by WILL MACLEAN
An atmospheric and stunning literary debut, reminiscent of the gothic suspense of Shirley Jackson and the ghost stories of MR James
Tim and Abi have always been different from their peers. Precociously bright, they spend their evenings in their parents’ attic discussing the macabre and unexplained, zealously rereading books on folklore, hauntings and the supernatural. In particular, they are obsessed with photographs of ghostly apparitions and the mix of terror and delight they provoke in their otherwise boring and safe childhoods.
But when Tim and Abi decide to fake a photo of a ghost to frighten an unpopular school friend, they set in motion a deadly and terrifying chain of events that neither of them could have predicted, and are forced to confront the possibility that what began as a callous prank might well have taken on a malevolent life of its own.
GIRL A by ABIGAIL DEAN – publication date January 2021
‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.
THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by STUART TURTON
A murder on the high seas. A detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist.
It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.
But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.
And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.
Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.
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What is on your reading plan for the month ahead?!
Another month arrives! And are we on the verge of getting back to a litgtle bit more of a ‘normal’ life??!!! Let’s blooming hope so!!
But books are always with us no matter what is going on in the world, so here’s my monthly attempt to try and structure my reading a little! It’s also the start of #20BooksOfSummer so I won’t be including any of those books in this list, but they will be about!! Hopefully!!
A couple of blog tours for me this month, plus a couple from Netgalley that need my attention – while I conveniently ignore the other books on the very well stocked Netgalley shelves! – and I’m sure there’ll be others I pick up on a whim!!
THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN THINGS by VICTORIA CONNELLY
United by tragedy, can two broken souls make each other whole?
After the tragic loss of his wife, Helen, Luke Hansard is desperate to keep her memory alive. In an effort to stay close to her, he reaches out to an online friend Helen often mentioned: a reclusive photographer with a curious interest in beautiful but broken objects. But first he must find her—and she doesn’t want to be found.
Orla Kendrick lives alone in the ruins of a remote Suffolk castle, hiding from the haunting past that has left her physically and emotionally scarred. In her fortress, she can keep a safe distance from prying eyes, surrounded by her broken treasures and insulated from the world outside.
When Luke tracks Orla down, he is determined to help her in the way Helen wanted to: by encouraging her out of her isolation and back into the world. But Orla has never seen her refuge as a prison and, when painful secrets and dangerous threats begin to resurface, Luke’s good deed is turned on its head.
As they work through their grief for Helen in very different ways, will these two broken souls be able to heal?
THE CURATOR by M.W.CRAVEN
It’s Christmas and a serial killer is leaving displayed body parts all over Cumbria. A strange message is left at each scene: #BSC6. Called in to investigate, the National Crime Agency’s Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are faced with a case that makes no sense. Why were some victims anaesthetized, while others died in appalling agony? Why is their only suspect denying what they can irrefutably prove but admitting to things they weren’t even aware of? And why did the victims all take the same two weeks off work three years earlier?
And when a disgraced FBI agent gets in touch things take an even darker turn. Because she doesn’t think Poe is dealing with a serial killer at all; she thinks he’s dealing with someone far, far worse – a man who calls himself the Curator.
And nothing will ever be the same again…
CALL ME JOE by MARTIN VAN ES
The world is on the brink of disaster. The environment, society and mankind itself are facing extreme challenges in a world that is both more connected, and yet more divided than ever before. Fear and confusion seep into all parts of everyday life now, more than ever, the world needs one voice, one guide…
One day the Earth is plunged into darkness and when light appears again so does a man – call him Joe – claiming to be the son of God.
Can Joe bring the world’s most creative thinkers and leaders together to tackle the ills of mankind?
Can he convince us all to follow him before it’s too late?
In this compelling and prescient novel, Martin van Es and Andrew Crofts highlight the key concerns of our time and imagines a future where we, at last, all work together to ensure the future of our world and all the life that calls it home.
THE LITTLE TEASHOP IN TOKYO by JULIE CAPLIN
Grab your passport and escape to the land of dazzling skycrapers, steaming bowls of comforting noodles, and a page-turning love story that will make you swoon!
For travel blogger Fiona, Japan has always been top of her bucket list so when she wins an all-expenses paid trip, it looks like her dreams of the Far East are coming true.
Until she arrives in vibrant, neon-drenched Tokyo and comes face-to-face with the man who broke her heart ten years ago, gorgeous photographer Gabe.
Fiona can’t help but remember the heartache of their last meeting but it’s not long before the Japanese art of contentment and a special, traditional tea ceremony work their magic…
Amidst the temples and clouds of soft pink cherry blossoms, Fiona and Gabe start to see life – and each other – differently
MISS BENSON’S BEETLE by RACHEL JOYCE
It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.
Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.
This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.
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Wish me luck!!! What are you looking forward to reading this month?!
Hello!! How are you?! Staying safe? Staying sane? I think I’m just about ok on both counts! I think it’s more about the fear now of what happens when life tries to get back to a bit of normality – there’s a lot of stupid people out and about in the world and whilst most of us do the right thing, you can’t count on everyone to do the same…….
But thankfully there’s always books! And I’ve hit the jackpot this week with 3 stunning books that I’ve read that just made me realise why I love reading so much!! And then there was Netgalley…… 3 approvals in one day doesn’t help.. especially when you forgot you’d requested 2 of them! Oh well! Maybe I’ll do better on that score next week…..
Book 10 in the series and just as wonderful as when it all started!
BOOK HAUL
Netgalley…….
DEAR READER by CATHY RENTZENBRINK
out September 2020
‘Reading has saved my life, again and again, and has held my hand through every difficult time’
For as long as she can remember, Cathy Rentzenbrink has lost and found herself in stories. Growing up she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, books kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help.
Dear Reader is a moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another.
OLIVE by EMMA GANNON
out June 2020
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.
IN THE TIME OF FOXES by JO LENNAN
out July 2020
‘A fox could be a shape-shifter, a spirit being. It could appear in human form if this suited its purposes; it could come and go as it pleased, play tricks, lead men astray.’
A film director in Hackney with a fox problem in her garden; an escapee from a cult in Japan; a Sydney café-owner rekindling an old flame; an English tutor who gets too close to an oligarch; a journalist on Mars, face-to-face with his fate.
The world has taught these men and women to live off their wits. They know how to play smart, but what happens when they need to be wise?
In the Time of Foxes is both compellingly readable and deeply insightful about the times in which we live, each narrative a compressed novel. With an exhilarating span of people and places, woven together by the most mercurial of animals, it shows the short story collection at its most entertaining and rewarding, and introduces Jo Lennan as a captivating new storyteller.
WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS by JOE HEAP
out October 2020
This is the story of Ella.And Robert.And of all the things they should have said, but never did.Through seven key moments and seven key people their journey intertwines.From the streets of Glasgow during WW2 to the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll of London in the 60s and beyond, this is a story of love and near misses. Of those who come in to our lives and leave it too soon. And of those who stay with you forever…
There has been book purchases arriving in the post too….
Seabirds in northern Norway share the parenting of chicks equally. Even in the twenty-four-hour darkness of winter they care for their young together. Among these birds a research scientist makes her home in an abandoned fisherman’s hut. Surrounded by nature, she observes the birds for her PhD and waits for her lover to arrive. As the days pass, secrets of the cabin’s past are revealed: a mysterious fire; a tragedy from generations long ago; a child who waits for their mother to return. Perhaps what comes naturally for seabirds is not always so natural to us…
2028, eight years after a pandemic swept across Europe, the virus has been defeated and normal life has resumed.
Memories of The Lockdown have already become clouded by myths, rumour and conspiracy.
Books have been written, movies have been released and the names Robertson, Miller & Maccallan have slipped into legend.
Together they hauled The Crows, a ragged group of virus survivors, across the ruins of London. Kept them alive, kept them safe, kept them moving.
But not all myths are true and not all heroes are heroes.
Questions are starting to be asked about what really happened during those days when society crumbled and the capital city became a killing ground.
Finally the truth will be revealed.
Weighing in at a hefty 580 Pages, King Of The Crows is a truly genre-busting novel in terms of both content + structure.
The story is told over the span of 8 years from 2020-2028 using flashbacks and extracts from survivor accounts, screenplays, academic studies, online chat-rooms and police reports.
You will never have read a book like this one.
CURRENTLY READING
I think I’m going straight in with King of the Crows as it’s a chunkster of a book! Reading a book about a pandemic, during a pandemic….. what could possibly go wrong?!
What does May have in store for us I wonder??!!!! If it’s anything like April then I’m off to hibernate for the rest of the year! Someone come and get me when all the crazy is over and life is back to normal again!!
So that means another month ahead of reading…. and only one blog tour to take part in! So how do I pick what to read next??!!! HELP!! Left to my own devices I often struggle to pick my next read as we all know that reading is often a mood thing, so our best intention to read a certain title depends on whether we’re ‘feeling’ it at the time! And with the extra reading time in April I’ve managed to start reading ahead for releases and I think I’m now deciding whether to read ‘back’ with releases ( my netgalley shelf still makes me weep everytime I look at it!!), or to use this time to read ‘forward’ and get ahead of the game! Decisions Decisions!!
So my May TBR is looking a little blank right now! That’s helpful isn’t it!! So I’ve decided to go for a mix of some Netgalley reads, along with some recent purchases (those birthday vouchers NEEDED to be spent straight away!!) and see how we get on with those!!
Netgalley reads
THE PARIS LIBRARY by JANET SKESLIEN CHARLES
Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.
Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.
Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.
A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.
RULES OF THE ROAD by CIARA GERAGHTY
The simple fact of the matter is that Iris loves life. Maybe she’s forgotten that. Sometimes that happens, doesn’t it? To the best of us? All I have to do is remind her of that one simple fact.
‘A superb writer’ Irish Examiner
When Iris Armstrong goes missing, her best friend Terry, wife, mother and all-round worrier, is convinced something bad has happened.
And when she finds her glamorous, feisty friend, she’s right: Iris is setting out on a journey that she plans to make her last.
The only way for Terry to stop Iris is to join her, on a road trip that will take her, Iris and Terry’s confused father Eugene onto a ferry, across the Irish sea and into an adventure that will change all of their lives.
Somehow what should be the worst six days of Terry’s life turn into the best.
GROWING UP FOR BEGINNERS by CLAIRE CALMAN
It’s not easy being a grown-up, but at 47, Eleanor hoped she’d be better at it by now…
But when Eleanor waves her daughter off for a gap-year trip, she finds herself stuck as a satellite wife, spinning in faithful orbit around domineering husband Roger, with only a stash of hidden books and her brilliant but judgmental father Conrad for comfort.
Andrew isn’t mastering the art of growing up either. When he finds his belongings dumped on the drive, although he may not understand women very well, even he can see that this looks like some kind of hint… and so moves back in with his parents.
Backing onto Andrew’s parents lives artist Cecilia, always ready to recount tales of her innumerable ex-lovers, whilst her daughters feel she’s like a misbehaving teenager.
But now four lives are drawn together by long-buried secrets of the past, and it is time for them all to grow up, before it’s too late.
A desperate decision … A lost letter … A powerful secret hidden for thirty years…
BOOKS I’VE BOUGHT
THE YELLOW BIRD SINGS by JENNIFER ROSNER
Poland, 1941. A mother. A child. An impossible choice.
Poland, 1941. After the Jews in their town are rounded up, Róza and her five-year-old daughter, Shira, spend day and night hidden in a farmer’s barn. Forbidden from making a sound, only the yellow bird from her mother’s stories can sing the melodies Shira composes in her head.
Róza does all she can to take care of Shira and shield her from the horrors of the outside world. They play silent games and invent their own sign language. But then the day comes when their haven is no longer safe, and Róza must face an impossible choice: whether the best thing she can do for her daughter is keep her close by her side, or give her the chance to survive by letting her go . . .
The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner is a powerfully gripping and deeply moving novel about the unbreakable bond between parent and child and the triumph of humanity and hope in even the darkest circumstances.
WE BEGIN AT THE END by CHRIS WHITAKER
With the staggering intensity of James Lee Burke and the absorbing narrative of Jane Harper’s The Dry, We Begin at the End is a powerful novel about absolute love and the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between.
‘YOU CAN’T SAVE SOMEONE THAT DOESN’T WANT TO BE SAVED . . .’
Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.
Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.
Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.
Murder, revenge, retribution.
How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?
WHAT’S LEFT OF ME IS YOURS by STEPHANIE SCOTT
A gripping debut set in modern-day Tokyo and inspired by a true crime, for readers of Everything I Never Told You and The Perfect Nanny, What’s Left of Me Is Yours charts a young woman’s search for the truth about her mother’s death and the lengths that a family will go to keep safe what they hold most dear–whether or not that is one another.
In Japan, a covert industry has grown up around the “wakaresaseya” (literally “breaker-upper”), a person hired by one spouse to seduce the other in order to gain the advantage in divorce proceedings. When Satō hires Kaitarō, a wakaresaseya agent, to have an affair with his wife, Rina, he assumes it will be an easy case. But Satō has never truly understood Rina or her desires and Kaitarō’s job is to do exactly that–until he does it too well. While Rina remains ignorant of the circumstances that brought them together, she and Kaitarō fall in a desperate, singular love, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will forever haunt her daughter’s life.
Told from alternating points of view and across the breathtaking landscapes of Japan, Stephanie Scott exquisitely renders the affair and its intricate repercussions. As Rina’s daughter, Sumiko, fills in the gaps of her mother’s story and her own memory, Scott probes the thorny psychological and moral grounds of the actions we take in the name of love, asking where we draw the line between passion and possession.
I think we’re all in for a very weird month ahead! And I’m sure my TBR reading won’t go exactly to plan but I thought I’d make a little list to try and get myself a little organised so these are the books that I’m hoping to get to during the next month. I’ve actually managed to get ahead of myself in terms of Blog Tour reading – yay me! – so this month can be a little looser! Time to attack the Netgalley shelves for April releases and get through a few of the books I’d been meaning to read for ages…..click on the title for a link to the GoodReads page.
Borrowed a couple of audiobooks from the library digital app..
Books and Me! 
