World Book Night 2021: Book Seven

 

Sunshine and Sweet Peas in Nightingale Square by Heidi Swain (Simon & Schuster)

Borrowed from the library eBook catalogue

I wasn't sure that I was in the mood for a light and fluffy read when the notification from the library came in saying it was my turn to download this book, and I almost delayed the delivery date for a few weeks.

I'm really glad that I didn't for although the plot was reasonably light and I did guess a lot of the twists before they happened this book was an unashamed delight from (virtual) cover to cover.

There's nothing new at all in the story but it was just so well written that I felt I lived in Nightingale Square and that these were my neighbours. Being set in Norwich was also nice, and it is obvious that Swain is familiar with the city. Nightingale Square might be fictitious but all of the other local nods were spot on  - another reason to see this book as a warm hug of a read.

I'm not going to read any more of Swain's books immediately but I do now have a go to author when I want something comforting, romantic and easy to read. I'd never have read this without my challenge and once more I am delighted to have found something new.

World Book Night 2021: Book Four

 

Faking Friends by Jane Fallon (Penguin)

Borrowed from the library eBook catologue

The colder weather and lockdown rules are helping me to power through my personal World Book Night challenge and my 4th read was a more traditional novel.

This was a read that would definitely sit quite happily under the chick-lit banner but this is to do it a little bit of a disservice. While the characters are just fit into the end of Gen X age wise much of the plot revolves around problems experienced by Millennials which could mean a wide appeal or a book that falls through the cracks.

For me the plot was fun and definitely a new take on the revenge comedy and for once a book where the peripheral cast was as well written as the main protagonists. That's not to say I liked them all, even the ones I was supposed to, but I did believe in them completely.

The book felt a little overlong, the start was fast paced and a real page turner and then the final third returned to this style so I am glad that I didn't abandon the book. The middle however felt a little too slow and explain-y (for want of a better word), it gave lots of back story but for me I found it dull and not really necessary to the main story.

Unless I am reading for review purposes this is the sort of book I usually treat myself to when I am on holiday and I think that if I'd been on a sun lounger somewhere warm I might feel more warmly towards this one but in the depths of a miserable winter it didn't quite give me the escapism I wanted.

Book Review: The Flat Share

The Flat Share - Beth O'Leary

This is a book that really took me by surprise when I read it. 

I'm lucky enough to read for several different projects and this was one that was on a review list a couple of months ago - it blew me away then but I've not been able to talk about it until now!

I really did think that it was going to be a run of the mill chicklit/romcom book. 

Tiffy needed to find a cheap place to live after a relationship break up and Leon also needs to raise some cash.

Tiffy works during the day and Leon by night so they are actually bed sharing, and not flat sharing and the idea is that they will never meet.

As I said so far, so fluffy, and it is obvious that they will meet...

But slowly, as you get drawn into their worlds, the plot takes several twists and becomes much darker. However the story unfolds slowly and the darkness slipped in and right under my skin before I realised it, very much like it does in real life I would imagine! I found my heart pounding at certain parts and wanted to shout at the characters to look out. I love being that involved in a book.

This is all very cryptic but while I really want people to read this book without knowing anything other than the bare plot outline.

I really did think that this was going to be a light, frothy, inconsequential read - perfectly fun but nothing more - I was pleasantly surprised and hope that this book does well. I look forward to reading more from Beth O'Leary too.

This books was provided as an electronic proof from Net Galley and Quercus and I was under no obligation to review the title.

Too many books, too little time - and wasting what I have!

Books, books everywhere

Now that I am reading more again (although still nowhere near pre December 2017 levels) I am taking on more reading projects and finding that I can manage them in the time scales which is really heartening.  I am generally also more willing to give up on books that don't hook me, rather than wasting my time and concentration on them.

This is all well and good but as a new project is just started and many of the library books I've reserved have also come in recently I am feeling a little pressured. Of course this isn't stopping me requesting books (from Netgalley & the library) or from buying more so I am my own worst enemy sometimes.  I am watching a lot less television on my days off so that is probably a good thing! Hopefully I will sort the book balance out before too long, but realistically speaking this is only going to happen if publishing takes a 10 year break!

This week however I feel a little bit like I have wasted my precious reading time and concentration as I read (probably my first and definitely my last) Danielle Steel book - Beauchamp Hall.

While I do love a good chicklit book on occasion this one only crossed my radar because I read an article/early sales pitch stating that the book was set in Norfolk, but that the author had never visited the area. With this in mind I started reading this looking for errors.

On the plus side apart from building a stately home/castle in an area of the county where one doesn't exist there were no glaring geographical errors and Steel didn't try to recreate any Norfolk dialect.

That is pretty much all I have to say that is positive about this book!

I found the writing style dreadful and repetitive and I spotted every plot development coming all the way through - not something I often do with 100% accuracy, there is usually at least one surprise or twist that makes the read more enjoyable. As for the sex scenes at least the book was so unremarkable I should soon forget them! Let's not forget the repetitiveness either ;)

Even the trope of a 'superfan' coming to the location of their favourite TV show wasn't explored in anyway that is different and I'm pretty sure labour laws in the film/TV industry are a little stricter than implied here.

This book was like an identikit book you see advertised for children, you supply the name and a few details and the child is dropped into the plot - each book is the same but very slightly different and feels personal. The same was the case here - all that needed to be changed was the county the book was set in, the train station used and the drive time to London and the book could have been set anywhere!

Like I say I did go into this book expecting not to enjoy it, but I expected this to be due to a badly researched and stereotypical portrayal of Norfolk - not because of the plot/writing.

I'm guessing that to fans of Steel none of this matters but if you are someone who collects/reads books set in Norfolk I'd say really don't bother with this one - try the new Georgina Harding book Land of the Living which is set in the same area just post WW2 and has a far more interesting plot.

July Reading Round Up

July was another great month of reading for me, and one where I had lots of time to catch up on requests from Net Galley.  2017 is shaping up again to be a great year for books.

Two of the books that have made my top reads of the month I reviewed earlier The Children of Jocasta and These Dividing Walls but other standouts this month were:

Circe - Madeline Miller.
This was a very early proof (the book isn't actually out until sometime in 2018!) but I loved every word. It is very different from her first book The Song of Achilles whilst still firmly being rooted in Ancient Greece. The scope is huge but told very intimately - I hope it does really well.

The January Man - Christopher Somerville

Another walking book come memoir makes my list this month and this one is also shortlisted for the Wainright Prize. Somerville (and his wife or friend on occasion) takes a different walk around the UK each month. He talks about the history of the area he is walking and the legends but is quite open about how unobservant he is about his surroundings!

The story also tells of Somerville's relationship with his father and is wonderfully moving without being sentimental.

Artemis - Andy Weir

I loved The Martian when I read it on holiday a few years ago (I've not seen the film) I love this type of sci-fi - set in the not too distant future with a premise that could be true. Artemis is just this sort of fiction and added to this is a bit of a crime caper. The icing on the cake? The person "science-ing the shit out of the moon" is female!

The book is out later this year and I hope that it does even better than The Martian because there was no hint of the 'difficult second novel' here.

Travels with my Sketchbook - Chris Riddell
Chris Riddell has just completed his two year stint as the Children's Laureate and he has been a huge supporter of libraries and school libraries throughout his tenure. This is a collection of his sketches, cartoons, drafts for his final work and a diary in image form and a pure delight.  Riddell manages to capture the whimsy of life along with the terrible and I wanted to race through this book and savour every image simultaneously. Who says picture books are just for for children?

One Summer in Tuscany - Domenica de Rosa

This is a real guilty pleasure book - I won it in a Twitter competition with Quercus books and it was a pure delight to read some unashamed chick lit. Okay I guessed the main plot points early on but I enjoyed the ride as we got there and the writing definitely made me think I was in Tuscany in summer with the heat and the food. This was a fun escapist read.

Postcards from a happy place in book form

Book review: Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop

A couple of years ago I read and reviewed Victoria Hislop's last book The Sunrise and was left a little wanting at the end.  I was therefore looking forward to this one nervously.

A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to get a beautiful sampler to this book and my fears were allayed. This book made me think I was back in Greece throughout.

It has a clever structure that allows Hislop to pull together all of the little stories you hear in a place (but aren't enough for a full plot) along with the stories of two other people - all linked thought postcards.

The ending was a little too predictable and trite for me but it didn't ruin the overall effect and the whole time I was reading this book I felt like I was sitting on a harbour-side taverna in the Greek sunshine.  My copy came from the library and  I loved this so much I've asked for a copy for Christmas.  Greece is my happy place and this book took me there on a day I didn't feel well (and had to miss a trip to London).

What's wrong with chick-lit?

Book Review: The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg.

Fannie Flagg wrote the the book that one of my favourite films (Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe) is based on and for once the book and film are very similar and I'd happily take either to a desert island.  I've read all of her books since, sadly importing them from the USA as they aren't always available here.

This book came from Net Galley and in a week that I was tired and a bit fed up it was a wonderful escapist read and it comes close to displacing Fried Green Tomatoes as my favourite book by Flagg.

It is a simple story to start - our main character has just married off her last daughter and and is starting to plan the rest of her life when a letter arrives and throws her whole world in to chaos.  The book then alternates between past and present until the two strands meet. It was also a really good book to read for International Women's Day as in their own way every single female in the book compromises nothing and carves her own path BUT at the same time had fun.

In many ways it is a predictable and typical women's romantic fiction novel but Flagg is a skilled writer and there are just enough strands of surprise and sadness to make the book a page turner.

I loved it - can you tell?

World Book Night Challenge 9/25

Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes

This is pure chick-lit indulgence and for me was another re-read. I haven't read any Marian Keyes for a while as I found her books started to become very samey but it was a pleasure to go back to this one.


Rachel is Irish but living in New York when she accidentally takes a drug overdose. Concerned friends and family think that she has an addiction problem and she comes home to Ireland and is checked into a rehab clinic. Rachel denies that she has a problem and the rest of the book is her coming to terms with her life, her family and her future.

It all sounds a little bleak but there is a lot of humour in the novel and it becomes more poignant when you read more of Keyes' non-fiction and realise that many of the things Rachel experiences Keyes' went through too as she is a recovering alcoholic.

I think that this is quite a brave book to put on the World Book Night list, it is unashamedly aimed at women, is quite dark and is hugely long at 640 pages.
However the story is good and while all the characters have problems you really do want them to win through, even if you don't always like them. I'm glad I reread the book and I might look out for more books by Keyes next time I am going on a beach holiday, I had forgotten how good she was.