Review, Top Ten Tuesday

Books I Loved but Never Reviewed Here.

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Linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl

We could choose any back listed topic from Top Ten Tuesday so this is mine, books I have loved but never reviewed here on my blog.

The Reading List.  Sara Nisha Adams..  2022. This was a very good read, it is more character driven than plot driven but … things do happen. There is inter-generational friendship, family difficulty, loneliness, mental health problems, grief and loss, and best of all books and a library. I came to love and care about the characters and cheer them on. Set in Wembley, London.  4.25 stars. Debut book. Author has another book coming out this year and I’ll want to read it.

The Winners. Fredrik Backman. 2022. What an amazing read. So sad and yet so heart warming. I almost want to go and live in Beartown or even Hed! My heart bled for the inhabitants of these towns and my heart cheered for them. Backman really completed the end to this trilogy in such a wonderful way. I read it as slow read over about a month or so. I found just a small visit each day meant I really lived in this book, and deeply cared about all that happened. It’s tough but rewarding reading. Only read it though after the first two.  5 stars +

Someone Else’s Shoes.  Jojo Moyes.  2023. A throughly entertaining read that kept me up at night reading on to find out what these women would get up to next.  Two women mix up their gym bags and there is huge complications for both of them. It’s entertaining and light, yet explores values, women standing up for themselves and “boys’ club”. workplaces.  I know of one author I follow that read this and it took her out of a book slump.  5 stars.

Lessons in Chemistry.  Bonnie Garmus. I loved this audiobook version of Lessons in Chemistry. It was so well narrated. Loved so many of the characters, it had me chuckling out loud, a few times my heart was touched by sadness and always engaged. It highlights how difficult it was for women not so long ago, and let’s be honest it hasn’t all gone away. I loved Mads the daughter and her ability to cut through all the garbage and say it like it is. I just didn’t want to say good bye to these characters.  I’ll read it at some point. This won best Debut novel on Goodreads 2022.  5 stars.

Thank You for Listening. Julia Whelan. 2022.  Absolutely delightful listening. The story is great, loved the characters and the variety therein. It’s a Rom Com that I really recommend, but its more than that. It has wisdom and growth of character and things to think about. This is about a book narrator who has had a tough time and now is no longer going to narrate romance  – except for one last time for a special narrator.  Julia Whelan is a fabulous narrator. Oh my I want more where this comes from. Another entertaining easy listen.  5 stars.

I’m Watching You.  Karen Rose. 2004 Well I dislike the crime parts, I might skip a little here and there! But it is so fast paced and the characters are so likeable. I love the Reagan family. Part of what I like about these books is the family aspect and the friendships. And often we get ongoing updates as other members of the family or friends get a book of their own. The crimes escalate and its more than one perp. Creepy deaths, maybe they deserve it but… Points to the corruptness of the system really. Romantic aspect – top notch.  The book is part of a series but can be read as stand alone. 5 stars

A Mother’s Heart. Carmel Harrington  2022 A Mother’s Heart is a beautiful bittersweet yet heartwarming read. My heart ached for the ever gracious Rachel, who was an excellent mother to 5 year old Dylan and 8 year old Olivia. The three of them have been through the wringer with Lorcan’s death. And now one set of grandparents seem determined to take Rachel on and challenge her for the children’s care and loyalty. Set in Ireland and New Zealand.  5 stars

In The Middle of Hickory Lane.  Heather Webber. 2022 A really delightful story, with great characters. Friendship and family are strong themes. A little bit of magical realism thrown in. I listened to the audio and it was really well done. True justice was done to the characters and the story just sprung alive.  5 stars

A Gentleman in Moscow. Amor Towles. 2016 What an unusual book. I read it over a month as a slow and steady read and it did deserve that. So I was reading to appreciate rather than gobble down. What a character the Count is. A man who takes his circumstances and chooses what he does with it. I think I will need to read it again to fully appreciate it.  “A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.”  5 stars

An Island Wedding Jenny Colgan.  2022. I really loved another visit to Mure and wedding planning that goes awry but finally sorts itself out. One storyline in particular is heartbreaking – please let there be another book in this series. The way to read this book is via audiobook. The narrator is excellent, with consistent voices for all the characters. If this is the first book in this series you are reading drop it and begin with the first one, you will miss out on so much otherwise. There are five in the series, the first being The Café by the Sea.  Set in Scotland on an island, full of quirky characters and heart warming and heart breaking scenarios. Every book in the series earned 5 stars from me.  5 stars

#IMWAYR

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

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Welcome in.  I had a slow but good reading week. I might have spent a little bit of time completing a jigsaw as well. Apart from that the week seems to have rushed by.  Today I plan to make some soup in the slow cook crockpot looking towards autumn and winter.

What I read last week:

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What I am reading now:

The London Girls

And still listening to The Color of Light by Emilie Richard

Up next:

Set against the backdrop of a small town in the throes of a very real opioid crisis, Unlikely Animals is a tragicomic novel about familial expectations, imperfect friendships, and the possibility of resurrecting that which had been thought irrevocably lost.

book coverLast Week’s Posts

Books on my Autumn Reading List

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Top Ten Tuesday

Books on my Autumn Reading List

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Linking up with ThatArtsyReaderGirl

Well its meant to be Spring reading list but as I live in the Southern Hemisphere lets make that Autumn to me.

These are books on my Autumn reading list.  There are a number of books coming out during this time but I am looking mostly at books that are already long out or just out. By the time I buy the books coming out they might make my winter reading list! That’s most likely your summer.

The Color of Light. Emilie Richards. A reread via audiobook. #4 in her Goddess Anonymous series.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue. Fiona Davis. An audiobook and a book I’ve wanted to read for awhile.

The Wife’s Promise Kate Hewitt. An audiobook and since I saw a good review for it its been in the back of my mind to read.

The London Girls Soraya Lane. Set in WW2 and one on my Kindle for awhile.

In the Unlikely Event. Judy Blume. I have already started this as a slow and steady read, most likely through a good part of this season.

Tom’s Midnight Garden. Philippa  Pearce. I have long wanted to read this book and so its on somewhere for the month of March. It won a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1963 and the Carnegie medal in 1958.

Unlikely Animals.  Annie Hartnett. An unlikely read! I heard about it from Anne Bogel.

Paper Cuts.  Ellery Adams.  This is a review book and is the latest one in the Secret Book and Scone Society. A cozy series I really enjoy.

The Money Club. Fiona Lowe A review book too from my top favourite Australian author

The Cruellest Month. Louise Penny. #3 in the Gamache series and I am due to read the next one so its going on this list.

Review

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

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Welcome in to another Monday. Don’t they come around so fast!

I had a good reading week and am about to start a couple of new books.

I had a normal week for me, all the usual stuff. Time with a good friend and time with family. Time to quilt and time to read.

My lawn mowing man retired so today I have to start ringing around to see if I can find someone else – not my favourite thing to do!

What I read last week:

Really loved all three of these.

What I am reading now:

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Listening to (an a reread)

The Color of Light

Up next:

The London Girls

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Review

Johanna Porter is Not Sorry. Sara Read

Blog Tour Banner_JOHANNA PORTER IS NOT SORRY

Published: Graydon House
Date:  7th. March 2023
Source: Publicist via NetGalley

Twenty years ago, Johanna Porter was a rising star in the art world. Now she’s an unknown soccer mom. When an invitation arrives for an elite gallery opening for her former lover, the great Nestor Pinedo, Johanna wants to throw it in the trash where it belongs. But with some styling help from her daughter, she makes an appearance and comes face-to-face with the woman she was before the powerful and jealous Nestor ruined her.

La Rosa Blanca is a portrait of Johanna herself, young and fierce and fearless—a masterwork with a price tag to match. When she cuts it out of its frame, rolls it up and walks out, Johanna is only taking back what was stolen from her.

Hiding out with La Rosa Blanca in a shack on the Chesapeake Bay, Johanna digs into the raw work of reviving her own skills while battling novice-thief paranoia, impostor syndrome and mom guilt. But Johanna doesn’t just want the painting—she wants to paint again. To harness her powerful talent, she must defy everyone’s expectations—most of all her own—for what a woman like her should be.

Picking up a debut novel can be a little bit of a mystery and as a reader you can never be sure whether you will gel with it. As I started Johanna Porter is Not Sorry I noted the story is told in the first person which isn’t my favorite, but truthfully after awhile I didn’t notice.

I liked Johanna Porter despite of her strong use of language at times. She has had some very challenging experiences and it has brought her to a place where she is beginning to recognise how its all affected her and that making a choice is key. And yes committing a felony just might seem really beyond what you’d condone. However I can see where Johanna was coming from, and I thought she was daring and gutsy. And what she does a little later into the book really had me gasping.

She takes up her painting and allows her creativity to grow again. I think she was able to remain a good mother to her daughter Mel and I really liked her relationship with Mitchell, the guy next door to her retreat. In this relationship she is gutsy too.

The story is engaging, it had me turning the pages, and the ending was very satisfying.

Buy Links:

Bookshop
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Books-a-Million

Sara Read Author PhotoSara Read Website.                Facebook

Instagram.                  Twitter

Goodreads.

#IMWAYR

It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

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Well a reasonable week really. The first part of the week I carted the firewood from the front of the property to the back where I store it. It took me three days which was pretty good really. I just did some every day. Another day I helped a friend clear some rubbish into a skip bin as the family are selling the property. I did a little quilting, some pieces into a jigsaw and read from time to time!

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

About to start….

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This one has been sitting in my listening library for awhile so time to get listening to it!

The Last Mrs summers

Up next:

strawberry Lane 

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Month in Review

February Reading Round Up.

Total books read this month:   11

Book Ratings

Birds in the Air   3 stars
The Matzah Ball. 4 stars
Woodrose Mountain. 3.75 stars
The Light We Carry 4. 5 stars
Archangel’s Resurrection  3.75 stars
The Vibrant Years.  3.75 stars
The Winners.  5+ stars
No River Too Wide. 5 stars
Johanna Porter is not Sorry 3.6 stars
Sweet Laurel Falls.  3.6 stars
Carrie Soto is Back.  4 stars

New to me authors:

Frances O’Roark Dowell
Jean Meltzer

Format

Paperback.   5. one of which was from the library.

Kindle. 3. Plus one review book on Kindle.

Audiobook. 2

Top Book for February

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Thoughts on February Reading.

Not an awful lot of reading done.  I am keeping my review books to a minimum and that sure is a plus.

Linking up with Nicole from FeedYourFiction Addiction.

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Top Ten Tuesday

General/Women’s Fiction on my Shelves

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Linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl

This week its exploring any kind of genre that takes our eye.

I have chosen what loosely might be termed general/women’s fiction and could be both contemporary or historical. These are all actual print books I have sitting on my TBR waiting to be read.

The Life You Left.  Carmel Harrington. Her husband leaves for work and doesn’t return.

The Hope Chest.  Viola Shipman. Mattie has ALS and Don her husband of fifty years can’t imagine life without her. The discovery of a hope chest unveils some precious memories.

Bad Behaviour.   Liz Byrski.   Zoö in Freemantle, Julia in London. These two women made choices back in 1968 that shaped their future pathways.

The Tea Chest.  Josephine Moon. Three women come together to realise a vision of a tea shop in London. It may fail and they may need to look at what is important to each.

Grown Ups. Marion Keyes. About a family – the Caseys who are a large family until one gets concussion and spills some secrets – leaves them wondering if its time to grow up.

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines.. Pamela Terry.  When their mother dies Lila and Henry return home and start to uncover some shocking secrets that overturns their family history as they know it.

Wish You Were Here.  Jodi Picoult.  A woman is stranded in the islands of Galapagos and as she faces dangers she finds she is evolving into someone different. She breaks down years of estrangement with her mother, takes the initiative in her profession and looks and her partner Finn.

The Reading List.  Sara Nisha Adams.  When Aleisha discovers a crumpled reading list in a tattered library book it sparks an extraordinary journey.

Someone Else’s Shoes. Jodi Moyes. Sam and Nisha mix up their bags at the gym, each has quite different shoes in them and both of them must use what’s there.

The Last Summer. Karen Swan.  Set in the 1930’s and goes from a remote Scottish Island to a position on an Estate in the mainland. There is murder and mystery and relationship involved.

If you have read any of these let me know. If not do you know a book that could easily be added to this list?

Review

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

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Well the end of February. For me that means ordering wood for the fire in winter. Our weather seems to have cooled although I am not sure if that is actually autumn setting in or just a blip.

I finished my slow and steady read – The Winners – it was so good I think I need a day or so in-between before I start my next one.

What I read last week:

The first two of these had been ongoing and happened to finish this week.  No River Too Wide was my audiobook and a reread. Stood up to a reread and loved it.  The Winners. Totally great.  Sweet Laurel Falls was my warm and comfy read and Johanna Porter was a review book.

What I am reading now:

Just starting all these.

Carrie Soto is Back

My new audiobook via Audible Plus is

Someone to Hold

And my new Slow and Steady book is

In the Unlikely Event

Up next:

I think I’ll be ready for another cosy mystery and this one is sitting on my Kindle

By Book or by Crook 

Last Week’s Posts

Favourite Book Heroines

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Top Ten Tuesday

Favourite Book Heroines

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Linking Up with That Artsy Reader Girl

I love a good heroine – who doesn’t?

Claire from Outlander. I’ve read the books only not the TV series. I like Claire because she is a time traveller who adapts really well. Plus she has some really amazing adventures.

Sam from the First Family series. Sam is a detective who really goes the whole way to solving murders, she is as well now the First Lady and she is an amazing mother to her adopted children.

Elizabeth Zott from Lessons in Chemistry. Elizabeth really fights for what she believes in.

Sunshine Vicram from Sunshine Vicram series. Sunshine is a local sheriff in New Mexico. She takes on the job even though she didn’t apply for it. Plus she puts her best foot forward in it and she is a great mother to her teenage daughter.

Sophy from the Grand Sophy.  Geogette Heyer.  Sophy is just larger that life and I just plain love her and her kindness and not taking no for an answer.

Kate Coppola.  Kate was the first heroine I met in Karen Rose’s suspense series. All her heroines are great but I’ll always have special love for Kate – Special Agent Kate Coppola is the heroine of Karen Rose’s  book Every Dark Corner. Kate is on a mission to stop the man who is trafficking drugs and acquiring teens for the internet sex trade. Tough as nails, yet compassionate, Kate is an origami and knitting queen, with a songs playlist you wouldn’t expect. She also has a very good reason to always carry a certain genre of book on her. (No, not telling, can’t spoil the surprise.). Meet a badass with a yarn bag and a work partner named Agent Luther Troy.

Daunis Fontaine   –  The Firekeeper’s Daughter As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother.  She is very brave and stands against the crowd. Won my heart.

Kat Holloway. From the Kat Holloway Mystery Series.  Kat is a cook in a London household. She is a very good one too, and as well when it comes to sorting out murders she is a dab hand. Very practical and.. a great mother to her young daughter.

Sasha Duncan  from Slave to Sensation.  Sasha is a psy in the pay changeling world and she has been deeply affected by Silence. But it falls and then she falls for the leader of the local changeling leopard pack. They make a wonderful pair right through out the series and I love how she operates with Lucas Hunter.

Helen Demetriou.  A Home Like Ours. Helen has been homeless but she is determined to make something more of her life. She stands up for others and she stands up for herself and what she believes in a very ordinary situation against the local council.