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I have got a little behind in posting my book reviews recently – that Summer 2 8 week term is a killer for sure!
So I don’t overwhelm both myself or you guys, I have decided to split the book reviews I owe you into two parts. While being busy, I have still managed to get some reading done.
Firstly I will show you the books me and my mum read in April and May towards our book challenge (in bold).
The Prompts
- A book with a pink/yellow cover Q by Christine Dalcher (Natalie) Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes
- AutobiographyThe Wheel of Fortune – Edith Piaf (Mum)
- Number in the title No.23 Burlington Square (Mum)
- Made me laugh Anxious People by Fredrick Backman (Natalie) Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims (Mum)
- Re-read
- A book by one of your favourite authors The Pelican Brief by John Grisham (Mum) Violet’s are Blue by Miranda Rijks (Natalie)
- Book has a dog/cat in A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen (Mum) Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Natalie)
- Dystopian 1984 by George Orwell (Mum) Vox by Christina Dalcher (Natalie) Femlandia by Christine Dalcher (Natalie)
- Family drama Message Deleted by K.L. Slater (Natalie) The Last Days of Joy by Anne Tiernan (Mum)
- Debut novel Tuesdays with Morris by Mitch Albom (Mum)
- YA Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher (Mum)
- Serial killer None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney (Mum)
- Non-fiction
- A book in a series The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley (Mum)
- Recommended by Happy Place Book Club Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne (Mum) So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne (Natalie)
- Recommended by Reese Witherspoon The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo (Natalie) Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Mum)
- TikTok made me read it Verity by Colleen Hoover (Natalie) Know My Name by Chanel Miller (Mum)
- Historical FictionThe Marriage Season by Jane Dunn (Mum) The Hidden Girl by Lucinda Riley (Natalie)
- Has a character called the same name as a family member Mavis and Dot by Angela Petch (Mum) Other People’s Houses by Claire Mackintosh (Natalie)
- Christmas
- Classic
- From/about a different culture Born a Crime:Tales from a South-African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Mum)
- Fantasy Filthy Rich Vampire by Geneva Lee (Mum)
- A book recommended to us
- From GoodReads The 144 Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge
- A book with a name in the title Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid (Natalie)
- Self help or improvement book
- A book written by a celebrity (fiction) Baby Does A Runner by Anita Rani (Mum) The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer (Natalie)
- A book that was turned into a film
- Love story or romance Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Natalie)
And so first to my Mum’s star rafting for her reads.
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom – 4*
Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes – 4*
No.23 Burlington Square by – 4.5*
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney – 4.5*
Baby Does A Runner by Anita Rani – 4*
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Hnery – 4.5*
Born A Crime: Tales From A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah – 4.5*
Filthy Rich Vampires by Geneva Lee – 3*
And now onto what I thought of my reads in April and May…
Violets Are Blue*
by Miranda Rijks
The Blurb
Her perfect home. Her perfect man. How wrong can she be?
After a bitter divorce, criminal solicitor Laila moves to idyllic Violet Lane where she quickly falls for Max—her charming, piano-playing neighbor. They begin a wildly passionate affair and Laila feels she is really starting to live again.
But the tranquility of this close-knit community is shattered when Jackie, a young mother from across the street, goes missing. Her husband is the chief suspect and Laila agrees to act as his lawyer.
As she investigates Jackie’s disappearance, Laila discovers that this quiet street hides deadly secrets, and someone is watching her every move. Anonymous threats pull her ever deeper into a twisted web of deception.
Meanwhile, her intense relationship with Max is starting to feel like a runaway train. And Laila begins to wonder if her gorgeous new man may have a hidden dark side.
She desperately needs to uncover the truth. And when she does, Laila realises that she’s put herself in terrible danger, that she may lose everything – including her life.
Violets Are Blue – the dark and steamy psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and Make Her Pay.
What I Thought
I am going to keep my reviews a little short and sweet as I have a few to get through this month!
Another Miranda Rijks book and another hit! I really do love her stories, they keep me turning page after page (even when I should be going to sleep) and they are full of twists and turns. This one I felt was almost a little predictable, but there were still some HUGE plot twists that took me by surprise, so that did not spoil it at all!
A slight bit of more spice than previous books! If you are looking for a page-turning psychological thriller you cannot go wrong with a Miranda Rijks book!
Where to Buy
Femlandia
by Christine Dalcher
The Blurb
Miranda Reynolds has lost her home, her job and her husband – all thanks to an economic collapse that has brought America to its knees.
The shops are empty; the streets no longer safe. Miranda and her daughter Emma have nowhere left to turn.
There is one final hope, a self-sufficient haven for women who want to live a life free from men. Femlandia.
For Miranda, the secluded Femlandia is a last resort. Life outside the gates is fraught with danger, but there’s something just as sinister going on within.
Welcome to Femlandia… It’s no place like home.
What I Thought
I love a dystopian book and this year I have discovered the amazing Christine Dalcher – read my review of Q here and Vox here.
While this was probably my least favourite of the books I have read, it was still a solid 4 star read! I found this one a little slower, it took a while longer to get into, but the premise was still really interesting. I felt like the characters could be a little more fleshed out, especially Emma.
The idea of a haven for females in the face of a world crisis is not new, but I love how this one turns out to not be quite what you expect!
Where To Buy
So Thrilled For You
by Holly Bourne
The Blurb
Is being a mother the most defining role a woman can have?
Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends since university. Now in their thirties, life is pulling them in different directions, and motherhood is at the forefront of their minds. But when Charlotte organises a baby shower for Nicki on a swelteringly hot summer’s day, it changes their friendship group forever.
In the aftermath, each woman has a different view on what happened that day – but the truth will shock everyone. Even you.
What I Thought
I absolutely loved this one! So glad I found it on the Happy Place book club and probably not more of a perfect place for it to be!
The friendships were made in university but as they are entering different stages of their lives, the four women struggle to keep those close bonds they once had. I couldn’t imagine a better and more realistic mirror on female friendships and the struggles before and during pregnancy and in those first few months (maybe years) of parenting, especially when you are the first of your friends to do it.
Fantastically written, both beautiful and brutal – I will be checking out more from this author!
Where To Buy
The Most Fun We Ever Had
by Claire Lombardo
The Blurb
What IMEET THE SORENSON FAMILY.
MARILYN has somehow fallen into motherhood and spent four decades married to
DAVID, who’s pretty certain he loves her more than anyone has ever loved another person.
WENDY, their eldest, a cause for concern, soothes herself with drink after being widowed young,
while VIOLET, lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mother, is disturbed by the reappearance of a son placed for adoption fifteen years earlier.
LIZA, a professor, is pregnant with a baby she’s not sure she wants by a man she’s not sure she loves
and GRACE, their dawdling youngest daughter, lives a lie that no one in her family suspects.
What I Thought
I nearly put this book down – I really struggled to get into it at first but I am so glad I persevered!
I think I struggled to categorise the book – I am still not sure of how to describe it except you are like a fly on the wall, through his family’s whole life, seeing all the twists and turns and ups and downs.
You can’t help becoming emotionally involved in this family and what they all go through and it is an investment t that pays off – as I said, while at first I didn’t think I would finish it, I was sad to finish it in the end!
Where To Buy
Daisy Jones and the Six
by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
The Blurb
Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.
Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They sold out arenas from coast to coast.
Then, on 12 July 1979, Daisy Jones walked barefoot onto the stage at Chicago Stadium. And it all came crashing down.
Everyone was there.
Everyone remembers it differently.
Nobody knew why they split. Until now . . .
What I Thought
I think if I had read this book, I might have given up on it just because there was so many characters, right from the start and I felt it would be hard to keep up.
However, I listened to this one on Audible and highly recommend it in this format! The production was brilliant and the different voices for different characters definitely made them all easier to keep track of.
Taylor Jenkins-Reid seems to be a love her or hate her author – and I can say so far I love the books of hers I have read! You can check out my review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo here.
As I have said – I am not sure I would have kept up if I had this in book form but the story really grabbed me! Loosely based on or inspired by Fleetwood Mac, I loved learning about these complex, sometimes unlikable characters and hearing their stories. The reality of a group of people remembering the same events slightly differently is well portrayed.
Another intriguing and different story from TJR – she is fast rising up the ranks of my favourite authors for sure! I would definitely recommend the Audible version of this but I am sure people enjoy the read too. I will add – I tried to watch the TV series after finishing the book and just couldn’t stick with it. It didn’t have the same emotions and ‘the song’ has been bought to life, but it wasn’t how I imagined it at all!
Where To Buy
The Hotel Avocado
by Bob Mortimer
The Blurb
WARNING – this book includes: heavy crimes, car journeys, dreadfulness, large fruits, romance, planning applications, and a lot of pie.
Gary Thorn is struggling with a big decision. Should he stay in London, wallowing in the safety of his legal job in Peckham and eating pies with his next door neighbour, Grace and her dog Lassoo, or should he move to Brighton, where his girlfriend Emily is about to open The Hotel Avocado? Either way, he’d be letting someone down.
But sinister forces are gathering in a cloud of launderette scented-vape smoke, and the arrival of the mysterious Mr Sequence puts Gary in an even worse predicament: soon he might be dead.
All Gary wants is a happy life. But he also wants to be alive to enjoy it…
THE HILARIOUS AND GRIPPING NEW NOVEL BY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR BOB MORTIMER
What I Thought
This kept being recommended to me on Audible and I probably wouldn’t have picked it up had it not been for the reading challenge and it fitting one of the categories I hadn’t yet completed.
I love Bob Mortimer and it is great to see his sense of humour shining through in his writing too. I didn’t realise it was a sequel but as I hadn’t read the first, you can clearly read this as a standalone. However, I think you will probably be even more invested in the characters if you had read that first!
It is funny, emotional, completely off-the-wall and I can imagine Bob himself in the main role. A different read for me but one I enjoyed all the same!
Where To Buy
Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Hnery
The Blurb
Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of an heiress with more than a few plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.
When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication.
The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing.
The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story.
The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.
What I Thought
I loved the premise of this book – the fact someone may be playing these two writers off against each other – but why?!
However, the book falls more into the love story than anything else and I am really not mad about it! Yes, it is a little bit predictable but I think the underlying story of Margaret, keeps the book ticking along nicely and gives a good twist or two!
This is a perfect read for the Summer!
Where To Buy
So not only have we now read the same book (albeit we put it in different categories), we have also started doubling up on categories – I think if there is something you want to read, you just have to though!
Hope this gives you some Summer reading inspo! Take care and keep reading,
The Spoonie Mummy 
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