It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Its Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme run by Book Journey and you can mention books you've just finished, are currently reading and any you plan to read this week. You can leave a link to your blog and read other bloggers posts.

 

This week I started The Fever by Megan Abbott, I've never read anything by her before but this one sounded interesting and I got an ARC from Netgalley. I couldn't get into it at all though which was disappointing so have given up for now. I did finish The First by Jason Mott, a short story that I got free for my kindle and is a prequel to his novel The Returned.  I also read a great book, Road Ends by Mary Lawson, my review is here

 

I'm now reading A Commonplace Killing by Sian Busby

 

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

Road Ends tells us the story of the Cartwright family during the 1960s in the small town of Struan, Canada. It is narrated by three of the characters, Tom, Megan and Edward.

 

Tom, an aeronautical engineer, is the eldest of eight; he has returned home following the suicide of a friend and has got himself a job driving a snow plough. Meg is the only daughter and the one member of the family who manages to keep everything together and ticking over while her mother seemingly has baby after baby. She has managed to escape to England and is trying to make a life for herself in London. Their father, Edward, works in the bank and when not there spends most of his time hiding away from all the chaos in his study at home. He looks back through his mother's old diary and is reminded of a difficult childhood and of his violent father. Edward's wife has just had another son, Dominic, despite being told by the doctor that she mustn't have another baby because it wouldn't be good for her health. She is devoting all of her time to the new infant and seems very vague, even more so than normal.

 

I absolutely loved this book, it's so beautifully well written and Mary Lawson is a wonderful storyteller. I found it a joy to read, I never lost interest and the story never dragged at any point. It's amusing at times but mostly very moving, there was a paragraph on the bottom of page 147 of my edition which I found particularly heartbreaking. In fact I had to pause for a while to take stock before continuing. 

This is the author's third novel and my only complaint is that she isn't more prolific. There's an eight year gap between this and her previous book, I just hope the wait isn't as long until her fourth.

 

Rating: 5 out of 5

 

Book Beginnings on Fridays (Road Ends)

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

 

Two weeks before Megan left home she began a clear-out of her room. She put her suitcase (the biggest she could find, purchased from Hudson's Bay) on the bed and a large cardboard box (free of charge from Marshall's Grocery) on the floor beside it and anything that wouldn't fit into the one had to go into the other. She was ruthless about it; she intended to travel light. Out went any items of clothing she hadn't worn for a year or more, any shoes ditto, any odd socks or underwear with holes in it that she had saved for days that didn't matter, in full knowledge of the fact that none of her days mattered, or at least not in a way that required respectable underwear.

 

  

Book Description:

 

On a perfect August morning in 1967, above a river just outside a small town in the north of Canada, a young man meets his death. And so begins the unravelling of his best friend Tom's already precarious family.

Eighteen months on, and the town of Struan is in the grip of winter. Still reeling from his friend's death, Tom has dropped out and spends his days driving a snow plough. His mother has yet another new baby and is nesting upstairs, increasingly lost in her own world. His father, Edward, retreats to his study and his diaries, unable to cope with his growing, unruly family. There are so many brothers in the house that Tom has almost lost count, but Adam, who is only four, somehow can't be ignored. Their one sister - capable, dependable, formidable Megan - who used to run the show, has escaped to London and is finally living her own life. But then come disturbing letters from home.  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Its Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme run by Book Journey and you can mention books you've just finished, are currently reading and any you plan to read this week. You can leave a link to your blog and read other bloggers posts.

 

This week I read Secret Window, Secret Garden which is the second story in Four Past Midnight by Stephen King and The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I've only just started The Fever by Megan Abbott, a Netgalley ARC and I am also thinking of treating myself to The View On The Way Down by Rebecca Wait.

 

 

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia after the end of the first world war and becomes the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. Whilst on the mainland he meets and falls in love with Isabel; they marry and she moves to the lighthouse to live with him. Their only contact with the outside world, apart from very rare allowed visits to the mainland, are the occupants of the boat that occasionally brings them provisions. Isabel is happy with their life apart from one thing; she wants to have a child, and after three miscarriages this isn't looking like it will ever happen. Then one day a boat is washed up and in it a dead man and a small crying baby. They both make a decision that will change their lives, and others', forever.

 

The Light Between Oceans is beautifully written and gets across the isolation that the couple experience on the rock. I also found that I didn't take sides and felt sympathy for everyone, seeing all their points of view and reasons for what they did. Indeed Tom and Isabel's decision is very believable. I cried near the end of the novel, something that very few books have made me do, thankfully I was on my own when this happened.

 

This successful novel was published two years ago but I've only recently heard of it, I'm not sure why. I'm so glad that I did though as well as deciding to download and read it straight away.

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Book Beginnings On Fridays (The Light Between Oceans)

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

 

On the day of the miracle, Isabel was kneeling at the cliff's edge, tending the small, newly made driftwood cross. A single fat cloud snailed across the late-April sky, which stretched above the island in a mirror of the ocean below. Isabel sprinkled more water and patted down the soil around the rosemary bush she had just planted. 

 

Book Description:

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Its Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme run by Book Journey and you can mention books you've just finished, are currently reading and any you plan to read this week. You can leave a link to your blog and read other bloggers posts.

 

This week I read The Langoliers by Stephen King which is the first novella in Four Past Midnight. As I mentioned in last weeks post I've read this book before but I remembered The Langoliers mainly from the TV adaptation. Then I read a fantastic psychological thriller by Paula Daly, Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? and now I'm back to Four Past Midnight again. I can't recall much about the three remaining stories though.

 

 

I'm not sure what I'll choose as my next book but the Stephen King will keep me busy for a while.

 

Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly

 

 

Lisa Kallisto is a busy mum of three who works at her local animal shelter in the Lake District, while her husband Joe works all the hours he can as a taxi driver. Her daughters 13 year old friend Lucinda was supposed to come for a sleepover, but Sally is home from school ill and Lisa has forgotten to tell Lucinda's mum Kate. Lucinda doesn't go home after school and as no one is expecting her isn't reported missing until the start of school on the following day. Lisa obviously feels it's all her fault and so is determined to find her. But she is the second girl in the area to go missing and the first has now reappeared, naked and very distressed.

 

There have been many psychological thrillers published by female authors over the last year or so and it is one of my favourite genres, but this is definitely one of the best I have read. I found it hard to believe that this well written novel with believable characters was the author's debut. I thought quite early on in the book, and rather smugly if I'm being honest, that I knew what was going on and who was to blame. I then changed my mind several times but didn't once work it out correctly and I was surprised when all was revealed at the end. I raced through the story and it had me gripped throughout, it won't be too long before I read her second novel, Keep Your Friends Close.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in return for an honest review

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Book Beginnings On Fridays (Just What Kind Of Mother Are You?)

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

 

Just What Kind Of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly:

 

He arrives with time to spare. Reverse-parking, he gets out and the cold hits him. Slapping him hard in the face and stinging his skin. He smells good. Expensive.

 

  

 

Book Description:

 

She's gone and it's your fault. You were supposed to be watching your best friend's 13-year-old daughter, and now she's missing.

But you know she's not just missing - she's been taken. Because Lucinda is the second girl to be abducted within a fortnight. And the first was found on a busy high street, naked and severely traumatised. No one expects the next to be so lucky.

You're going to have to figure this out - who did it. Because if you don't, then Lucinda will be next. And you'll never forgive yourself.  

Waiting On Wednesday (Want You Dead)

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we can't wait to be published.

 

This week mine is Want You Dead by Peter James

 

Virtual romance becomes a terrifying obsession in Want You Dead...

 

Single girl, 29, smouldering redhead, love life that's crashed and burned. Seeks new flame to rekindle her fire. Fun, friendship and - who knows - maybe more?

 

When Red Westwood meets handsome, charming and rich Bryce Laurent through an online dating agency, there is an instant attraction. But as their love blossoms, the truth about his past, and his dark side, begins to emerge. Everything he has told Red about himself turns out to be a tissue of lies, and her infatuation with him gradually turns to terror.

 

Within a year, and under police protection, she evicts him from her flat and her life. But Red's nightmare is only just beginning. For Bryce is obsessed with her, and he intends to destroy everything and everyone she has ever known and loved - and then her too . . .

 

Publication date: 5th June 2014 by Macmillan

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Its Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme run by Book Journey and you can mention books you've just finished, are currently reading and any you plan to read this week. You can leave a link to your blog and read other bloggers posts.

 

Despite having a busy week I managed to read two books, Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach and Ghost On Black Mountain by Ann Hite.

 

 

I'm also happy as I have stuck to my decision to read books that I already have so I can get my tbr pile down before buying or downloading any new ones. 

 

I've just started re-reading Four Past Midnight by Stephen King which contains four of his novellas. I haven't read this since it first came out although I have watched the TV adaptation of The Langoliers a few times.

 

 

Ghost On Black Mountain by Ann Hite

Nellie Clay marries Hobbs Pritchard against her Mama's wishes at the tender age of only seventeen.

 

"she saw my future in her tea leaves: death."

 

He is eight years older than her and they move to the Appalachia Black Mountain to live. Nellie should have listened to her Mama's wise words, Hobbs isn't a nice man, as his new bride gradually realises. Not long after moving into her new house Nellie starts to see ghosts and finds out that, although a powerful man on the mountain, Hobbs is disliked by most people and with good reason too.

The story is set during the depression and told through the voices of five women who are all connected in some way including Nellie and spans different generations. Hers is the first part in the book and my favourite as well but they're all gripping. Ghost On Black Mountain is Southern fiction story telling at it's best, a book to pick up and lose yourself in and one that I didn't want to end.

 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Book Blogger Hop (7th-13th March)

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted at Ramblings Of A Coffee Addicted Writer and this week's question is:

 

Do you have a schedule set for blogging and reading time? Or do you not have a set time and just let it happen?

 

I don't have a schedule set for blogging and reading time. There are some memes that I like to participate in regularly if I can but apart from that I fit it in around other commitments. At the moment I'm not reviewing much because I've been busy but will hopefully start again soon.  I do try and sit down to read for at least one hour a day when I'm not at work but again this can vary and I always read for a little while in bed at night. If I set myself targets for reading and blogging then it can feel like a chore rather than something I enjoy to do.

Book Beginnings On Fridays (Ghost On Black Mountain)

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader and as she says the idea of this meme is for you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name. There's a linky list on the website and you can use #BookBeginnings on Twitter.

   

Ghost On Black Mountain by Ann Hite:

 

Mama warned me against marrying Hobbs Pritchard. She saw my future in her tea leaves: death. I was young, only seventeen, and thought I knew all there was to know about life. Nobody could tell me different. 

 

 

 Book Description: 

Nellie Clay married Hobbs Pritchard without even noticing he was a spell conjured into a man, a walking, talking ghost story. But her mama knew. She saw it in her tea leaves: death. Folks told Nellie to get off the mountain while she could, to go back home before it was too late. Hobbs wasn’t nothing but trouble. He’d even killed a man. No telling what else. That mountain was haunted, and soon enough, Nellie would feel it too. One way or another, Hobbs would get what was coming to him. The ghosts would see to that. . . .
Told in the stunning voices of five women whose lives are inextricably bound when a murder takes place in rural Depression-era North Carolina, Ann Hite’s unforgettable debut spans generations and conjures the best of Southern folk-lore—mystery, spirits, hoodoo, and the incomparable beauty of the Appalachian landscape.
 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Its Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme run by Book Journey and you can mention books you've just finished, are currently reading and any you plan to read this week. You can leave a link to your blog and read other bloggers posts.

 

 

This week I read This Dark Road To Mercy  by Wiley Cash and The Lie by Helen Dunmore, both of which I enjoyed.

 

Not sure how much time I'll get for books this week, Monday and Tuesday I'll be working and Wednesday it's my birthday. I'm currently reading Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach. It's been on my kindle for a while and I'm trying to catch up on my tbr before buying too many new books. I'm glad I chose it as my next read though because it's a very good psychological thriller.