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.

 

I didn't get as much reading done this week as I would have liked. I was at work Monday and Tuesday then had a cough and cold for the rest of the week which left me feeling grotty and tired. I did finish The Secret Life Of Bees though which I enjoyed and I'm still half way through Carve Her Name With Pride. I know the story quite well already from the film and as I'm not a big fan of non fiction this is probably one I'll dip in and out of between other books.

 

 

 

I'm now reading Her by Harriet Lane which is also my Mailbox Monday post for today.

 

 

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

This week I received Her by Harriet Lane which I won in a Twitter competition from Orion Publishing.

Book Description:

 

Would you be friends with her?

Two different women; two different worlds. Nina is sophisticated, moneyed and damaged. Emma is a struggling young mother who has put her life on hold. After Nina meets Emma by chance, she begins to draw Emma into her privileged world.

But this isn't the first time the women have crossed paths. Nina remembers Emma and she remembers what Emma did. But what did Emma do? How far will Nina go to punish her? And when will Emma realise that her new friend is a disturbing face from the past?

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 finished If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel (great title!) and my review is here . I'm now reading The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I've had this on my Kindle for a little while, at the time of writing this post I'm 20% in and it's very good so far.

 

If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel

It is the summer of 1972, and Katie has just turned eighteen. Katie and her town, Elephant Beach, are both on the verge: Katie of adulthood, and Elephant Beach of gentrification. But not yet: Elephant Beach is still gritty, working-class, close-knit. And Katie spends her time smoking and drinking with her friends, dreaming about a boy just back from Vietnam who’s still fighting a battle Katie can’t understand.  Impeccably crafted and hugely affectionate, this novel in stories is a vivid portrait of a place whose conflicts—between mothers and daughters, men and women, haves and have-nots— reverberate to our own time. 

 

 

This novel isn't published by Tinder Press until 30th October and I've been hearing good things about it for a while. Each chapter, narrated by Katie, is almost like a short story in it's own right and they don't follow on from each other. Perhaps this is the reason it took me a while to get into it; there's a lot of characters introduced early on and I struggled to remember who was who. For me the book improved in the second half and there were chapters that I loved. It is beautifully well written and I can see in parts why this author has been compared to Anne Tyler. Sadly though the story and characters haven't stayed with me in the way that Tyler's do. When I finished it I was almost straight onto my next read without giving it too much thought.

 

I don't want to come across as overly negative because as I mentioned previously it is beautifully written and as this is the author's debut it is probably unfair for her to have been compared to Tyler, which increased my expectations. After all the hype I was expecting it to be a 5 star read that would be in my top ten of the year and that isn't the case. A good debut though and I look forward to seeing what the future novels from Judy Chicurel bring.

Thanks to Georgina at Headline for a copy of this book in return for an honest review

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

This Week's Bargains

I took advantage of some excellent bargains for my Kindle this week. The price of The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August by Claire North dropped to only £1.49, I've had this on my wishlist for a while. I also downloaded the following Kindle books for free:

 

The Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke

The Last Telegram by Liz Trenow

Across The Mersey by Annie Groves

Someone To Watch Over Me by Madeleine Reiss 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Beginnings On Fridays (If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go)

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.

 

If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel

 

So she says to me, 'Young man, you got maniacs hanging around your store,' and I tell her, 'You're right, lady, you're a hundred percent right. I got maniacs outside my store, I got them inside my store, I got maniacs on the roof,' I tell her.

 

 

 

Book Description:

 

It is the summer of 1972, and Katie has just turned eighteen. Katie and her town, Elephant Beach, are both on the verge: Katie of adulthood, and Elephant Beach of gentrification. But not yet: Elephant Beach is still gritty, working-class, close-knit. And Katie spends her time smoking and drinking with her friends, dreaming about a boy just back from Vietnam who’s still fighting a battle Katie can’t understand.  Impeccably crafted and hugely affectionate, this novel in stories is a vivid portrait of a place whose conflicts—between mothers and daughters, men and women, haves and have-nots— reverberate to our own time.

 

Published by Tinder Press on 30th October 2014  

 

 

 

 

 

Book Blogger Hop (20th - 26th June)

 

 

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

 

Do you prefer Nook, Kindle, other reader or paper book?

I find it doesn't strain my eyes as much to read on my Kindle compared with a paper book and I also read quicker on it as well. It's much more convenient to take to work or when I go out than a large hardback book for example. Then again if I read more than 2 ebooks in a row I miss holding a paper book and I still borrow a lot of them from the library. I always buy the latest Stephen King in hardback rather than the ebook version as I like to see them on my shelf. Although I think I slightly prefer the Kindle because of the convenience of it I'll never be able to give up on paper books. It's more exciting going into a bookshop for a browse and coming home with something to add to my tbr pile rather than just downloading a digital version. I do love the Kindle daily deals though and you can often get some very good ebooks for only £0.99p.

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 Mr Mercedes by Stephen King, he's a great storyteller and this book yet again proves that. Only thing that made it a 4 star instead of 5 star book for me was the last 60 pages or so. It's the first in what's going to be a trilogy so I'm looking forward to the next one. Over the weekend I started Carve Her Name With Pride, I've seen the film of the same name twice. It's the autobiography of Violette Szabo, she was a British secret agent during WW2. 

 

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

 

This week I received an ARC of If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel.  It's published by Tinder Press in October and I'm really looking forward to reading this as it's been compared to Anne Tyler and I'm hearing nothing but good things about it.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme by The Broke and the Bookish and each week there's a different topic. As always, even if you can't think of 10, do as many as you can. 

  Here's my list (in no particular order) of the top ten books that I've read so far this year

 

Wake by Anna Hope

Wake is set in London during five days in November 1920 when the body of the unknown soldier is being brought home to England from France. It is also about three women who are linked in some way to each other, have all been affected by and are struggling to get over loss following World War I. This is a book you pick up to read just a few more pages only to find an hour later that you haven't managed to put it down.  Parts of the story are heartbreaking and it gets across very well what life must have been like during and after The Great War and what people had to contend with.

The View On The Way Down by Rebecca Wait

Emma used to have two older brothers, but Kit died five years ago and after his funeral Jamie left home and she hasn't seen him since. This is a beautifully written debut novel that deals with the difficult subjects of depression and bereavement exceptionally well. It's emotional but I never found it heavy going.

 

Famous by Blake Crouch 

Lance looks just like actor James Jansen. He's saved lots of money while living at home with his parents and after losing his job decides to go to New York to impersonate the famous Hollywood star.

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. Set during the depression and told from the point of view of five different women.

Jam by Jake Wallis Simons

A novel set during a traffic jam on the M25 may not sound very interesting but it had me gripped all the way through. As time passes and there's no sign of the traffic moving, or even confirmation of what has caused the hold up people are getting more and more stressed.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Lighthouse keeper Tom lives with his wife Isabel on the isolated Island called Janus Rock.  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. 

 

Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly

Natty and Sean Wainwright are married; as far as she's concerned happily, and work together running their successful hotel in the Lake District. They've been together since they were teenagers and have two daughters. When friend Eve stays to help after one of their daughters falls ill abroad she turns Natty's world upside down. An excellent psychological thriller.

No Harm Can Come To A Good Man by James Smythe

ClearVista is used by everyone and can predict anything. It's a daily lifesaver, predicting weather to traffic to who you should befriend. Laurence Walker wants to be the next President of the United States. ClearVista will predict his chances. It will predict whether he's the right man for the job. It will predict that his son can only survive for 102 seconds underwater. It will predict that Laurence's life is about to collapse in the most unimaginable way. Love all this author's books and think this is his best yet.

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

The story of a family unravelling in the aftermath of tragedy: Edward Cartwright, struggling to escape the legacy of a violent past; Emily, his wife, cloistered in her room with yet another new baby, increasingly unaware of events outside the bedroom door; Tom, their eldest son, twenty-five years old but home again, unable to come to terms with the death of a friend; and capable, formidable Megan, the sole daughter in a household of eight sons, who for years held the family together but has finally broken free and gone to England, to try to make a life of her own.    

The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer

‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’  This novel is about Matthew and his battle with mental illness.

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

This week I received a copy of The Book Of You by Claire Kendal which I won in the Goodreads first reads giveaway. Also Mr Mercedes by Stephen King arrived on Friday, I started reading it last night.

 

 

 

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 Straight To You by David Moody, it was one of his early books and was okay but he's certainly written better. I finished Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge yesterday evening which I thoroughly enjoyed. Next up is the new Stephen King, Mr Mercedes.

 

 

Book Beginnings On Fridays (Eeny Meeny)

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.

 

Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

 

Sam is asleep. I could kill him now. His face is turned from me - it wouldn't be hard. Would he stir if I moved? Try and stop me? Or would he just be glad that this nightmare was over?

 

  

 

Book Description:

 

The girl emerged from the woods, barely alive. Her story was beyond belief. But it was true. Every dreadful word of it.

 

Days later, another desperate escapee is found - and a pattern is emerging. Pairs of victims are being abducted, imprisoned then faced with a terrible choice: kill or be killed.

Would you rather lose your life or lose your mind?

Detective Inspector Helen Grace has faced down her own demons on her rise to the top. As she leads the investigation to hunt down this unseen monster, she learns that it may be the survivors - living calling cards - who hold the key to the case.

And unless she succeeds, more innocents will die . . .

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've read two very good books, the review for the first, No Harm Can Come To A Good Man by James Smythe is here. The review for the second, Mother Island by Bethan Roberts, is scheduled to appear on 3rd July but I rated it at 4 out of 5.

 

I'm now reading Straight To You, an end of the world novel by David Moody. Next up will probably be Mr Mercedes by my all time favourite author Stephen King. It's published on Tuesday and hopefully my  pre-ordered copy will arrive by the end of the week.

 

 

Mailbox Monday

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

It was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books but now has a permanent home here

 

This week I received an ARC of Quarter Past Two On A Wednesday Afternoon from Transworld Publishers, it's the first book Linda Newbery has written for adults.

I also downloaded the ebook of The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker.