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
The latest book in this romantic suspense series, Quarter to Midnight. However it is the start of a new wing of it and set in New Orleans. This means a reader could start here. I have it ordered.
The latest in the pys/changeling series, Storm Echo, and I really like Nalini Singh series. I know I thought I wasn’t into these kind of books until … I got invested in them. I already now have this one sitting on my shelf and even have it signed by Nalini Singh as I got it from a bookshop in Auckland where she lives.
I don’t mind what Other Birds is about because its the authors name I go by here. However this is what it is about and I am in line for it through the library.
Another series book The Secret of Bow Lane – which is set in England and has a little Downton Abbey feel to it.
Girl Forgotten was definitely not on my radar, however a couple of good reviews plus hearing an interview on the radio has convinced me to give it a go. So have put myself again in the line for it at the library.
The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan. 4.5 stars. A really feel good story set in England during WW2. I love these kinds of stories that tell of women doing things that made a difference in their local community. The three characters – Grace, the vicar’s daughter, Violet daughter at the manor and Cressida – Violet’s aunt and well known dress designer all change and grow as the war goes along and various opportunities come their way. The local community and their support was wonderful and it was good seeing class barriers fall. Well worth reading. 4.5 stars
How Hard Can it Be sat on my shelf for three years so good to attend to it. It is set in England and tells the story of an almost fifty year old and her life with a husband, and two teens Ben and Emily.
It took me a little while to warm into this story, The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews. I think the Hollywoodish angle put me off a little. I liked Hattie and Cass and I felt they could have had more to say about what went on with the renovation of the house. That said, it was a very good read, I enjoyed the mystery – the unravelling of an old murder. Hattie’s relationship to her father-in-law, her own father and loss of a husband were all low key but provided background. There is a low burn romance and that worked out well in the end. That house would have looked amazing by the end. 4.5 stars
Not quite sure about this book. I did find part of it overly descriptive and slow. Yet there is a charm and pull in to it. There is the library, Hanna finding her own two feet after divorce. Did I like Hanna and her mother Mary? Well in some ways not really. Who wants a gruff “keep quiet” librarian? My least favourite kind! Yet they grow on me and I was wishing them life and growth. My favourite character was Fury, the builder who obviously has a kind heart but isn’t beholden to anyone and rules can be side stepped. He is rather creative. Will I read any more. I don’t know. Our library doesn’t hold any of these books so I’d need to buy them. Will I? Time will tell. 3.5 stars.
The Book Date 