MY BOOKISH WEEKLY WRAP UP – 10TH JUNE 2023

Hello! Happy Saturday and it’s a noisy time in the garden here as the baby birds are out in force! Baby blue tits, robins and (noisiest of all!) starlings are demanding food all day long and it’s a lovely sound!! Costing me a fortune in bird food though!!

So I’ve been tuning out in the world of books and had a very good reading week with 5 books finished!! I also managed to avoid Netgalley and treated myself to a couple of books from the lovely folks at FOX LANE BOOKS so go check them out if you need a new book or two!!

Here’s my look back!!

BOOKS FINISHED

HIGH TIME by HANNAH ROTHSCHILD 3.5 STARS

CLYTEMNESTRA by COSTANZA CASATI – 5 STARS

THE LONELY LIFE OF BIDDY WEIR by LESLEY ALLEN – 4 STARS

LEGENDS & LATTES by TRAVIS BALDREE – 4 STARS

THE LOTTERY WIN by ROSIE GREEN – 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

2 Non fiction treats for me!

INHERITANCE by LEO HOLLIS

The reclaimed history of a woman whose tragic life tells a story of madness, forced marriages and how the super-rich came to own London

June 1701, and a young widow wakes in a Paris hotel to find a man in her bed. Within hours they are married. Yet three weeks later, the bride flees to London and swears that she had never agreed to the wedding. So begins one of the most intriguing stories of madness, tragic passion and the curse of inheritance.

Inheritance charts the forgotten life of Mary Davies and the fate of the land that she inherited as a baby – land that would become the squares, wide streets and elegant homes of Mayfair, Belgravia, Kensington and Pimlico. From child brides and mad heiresses to religious controversy and shady dealing, the drama culminated in a court case that determined not just the state of Mary’s legacy but the future of London itself.

NAPOLEON  by RUTH SCURR

Best Books of the Year • Financial Times , The Times (of London), History Today Marking the 200th anniversary of his death, Napoleon is an unprecedented portrait of the emperor told through his engagement with the natural world. “How should one envisage this subject? With a great pomp of words, or with simplicity?” ―Charlotte Brontë, “The Death of Napoleon” The most celebrated general in history, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) has for centuries attracted eminent male writers. Since Thomas Carlyle first christened him “our last Great Man,” regiments of biographers have marched across the same territory, weighing campaigns and conflicts, military tactics and power politics. Yet in all this time, no definitive portrait of Napoleon has endured, and a mere handful of women have written his biography―a fact that surely would have pleased him. With Napoleon , Ruth Scurr, one of our most eloquent and original historians, emphatically rejects the shibboleth of the “Great Man” theory of history, instead following the dramatic trajectory of Napoleon’s life through gardens, parks, and forests. As Scurr reveals, gardening was the first and last love of Napoleon, offering him a retreat from the manifold frustrations of war and politics. Gardens were, at the same time, a mirror image to the battlefields on which he fought, discrete settings in which terrain and weather were as important as they were in combat, but for creative rather than destructive purposes. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary and historical scholarship, and taking us from his early days at the military school in Brienne-le-Château through his canny seizure of power and eventual exile, Napoleon frames the general’s story through the green spaces he cultivated. Amid Corsican olive groves, ornate menageries in Paris, and lone garden plots on the island of Saint Helena, Scurr introduces a diverse cast of scientists, architects, family members, and gardeners, all of whom stood in the shadows of Napoleon’s meteoric rise and fall. Building a cumulative panorama, she offers indelible portraits of Augustin Bon Joseph de Robespierre, the younger brother of Maximilien Robespierre, who used his position to advance Napoleon’s career; Marianne Peusol, the fourteen-year-old girl manipulated into a Christmas-Eve assassination attempt on Napoleon that resulted in her death; and Emmanuel, comte de Las Cases, the atlas maker to whom Napoleon dictated his memoirs. As Scurr contends, Napoleon’s dealings with these people offer unusual and unguarded opportunities to see how he grafted a new empire onto the remnants of the ancien régime and the French Revolution. Epic in scale and novelistic in its detail, Napoleon , with stunning illustrations, is a work of revelatory range and depth, revealing the contours of the general’s personality and power as no conventional biography can. 40 black-and-white illustrations

CURRENTLY READING

MRS OSMOND by JOHN BANVILLE

HAPPY READING!!

20BooksOfSummer2023 Book Reviews!!

I’ve got off to a good start on the reading front, with 2 books finished already!! And they were 2 corkers so I’m a happy girl!! I’m now just hoping I can keep this pace up and the rest of them are all as good!

THE LONELY LIFE OF BIDDY WEIR by LESLEY ALLEN – 4 STARS

Book 1 of my 20 Books of Summer 2023.

A beauty of a book! It broke my heart at times, but also filled me with joy as we follow the character of Biddy through her school years and how that then affected her adult years. Just seeing the impact of the behaviour of others can have on someone is beyond heartbreaking, and how it can’t just be shaken off, and you wonder how different life could have been for her had the character of Alison not been around.

During her school years we see the bullying in all its’ horrific glory, and how vicious and cruel children can be to one another, first in junior school and then at senior school – and how Biddy dealt with the bullying was to take herself away and lose herself in drawing, but never believing in her own talent. She was raised by her Dad who was short on compliments or empathy, and it takes a school teacher to reach out and show her the kindness and compassion that gives Biddy a glimpse of how nice some people can be.

And then we see the impact on her as an adult, happier to live a reclusive life until the compassion of others reach out and get to see her real personality and gives her a bit more confidence to see that she deserves so much more.

It’s a book that makes you think and really empathise with the impacts of an unkind word that really can change how someone feels about themselves. Highly recommended.

CLYTEMNESTRA by COSTANZA CASATI – 5 STARS

Book 2 of my 20 Books of Summer 2023.I blooming love retellings of Greek mythology!! And this was another fantastic book that has made me want to learn even more about Clytemnestra!!

The author has told the story of an amazing woman who faced so much, and I was gripped from start to finish!The more I read about her the more I understood her reasons!! From her childhood where she’s taught to fight and be fierce, to her years as a wife where she’s taught to be meek and let the man do what he pleases! You really get to understand the undertones of her rage and her quest for fairness and revenge on those who deserve to be dealt with in a severe manner!

The heartache she faced was astonishing – her first husband and child slaughtered knowing her father was supporting the murderer, and then having to carry on living to follow orders and marry a man she despised shows her strength and determination in playing the long game.

You really get a sense of the posturing and playing games of power that were central to the way of living. And seeing how fiercely protective she was towards her sister just made me love her even more! She knew right from wrong and wasn’t going to stand by and watch those in the wrong get away with things!! Loved it!!

BookReview HIGH TIME by HANNAH ROTHSCHILD

ABOUT THE BOOK

She wants revenge. she just doesn’t know it yet

Ayesha has been married to the ruthless, aspirational Thomlinson Sleet for nearly 10 years: the longest any wife of his has lasted. He bought her family home, the beautiful house in Cornwall that was about to be lost to them, and she’s forever been in his debt.

But now Sleet’s decided it’s time for a new wife, which means Ayesha – and the wider Trelawney clan – may be about to lose their family pile forever. Can they come together to help AyeshaoutsmartSleet, unravel his nefarious plans and get to the bottom of the new cryptocurrency he’s investing huge sums of money in? Or isAyesha about to lose everything she’s worked for?

It’s sink or swim for the Trelawney’s most beautiful illegitimate daughter.

PUBLISHED BY BLOOMSBURY

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

 MY REVIEW

This was a really entertaining and biting read centred around high society in England in 2016. The characters may not be the most likeable in some cases, but it makes for a snippy read seeing how people with money often have no morals and it’s all about social climbing!!

At the centre of the plot is the house of Trelawney – I’ve not read Book 1 in the series but will go back and do so! – and those who want to sell it or save it! So there’s revenge to be had and no care of the consequences which raised a few sniggers as I read!! The world of money is a dark and dirty place and it’s killed or be killed it seems!!

It also shows off how fickle people can be -friends when you have money, nowhere to be seen when times change! It’s a world of grand gestures and empty promises and I did find myself cheering a character on towards the end as the storyline played out to get the victory they so richly deserved!! A good read to lose yourself in!

★★★★

BookReview HENRY VIII:THE HEART AND THE CROWN by ALISON WEIR

ABOUT THE BOOK

A second son, not born to rule, becomes a man, and a king…

In grand royal palaces, Prince Harry grows up dreaming of knights and chivalry – and the golden age of kings that awaits his older brother. But Arthur’s untimely death sees Harry crowned King Henry of England.

As his power and influence extends, so commences a lifelong battle between head and heart, love and duty. Henry rules by divine right, yet his prayers for a son go unanswered.

The great future of the Tudor dynasty depends on an heir. And the crown weighs heavy on a king with all but his one true desire.

HENRY VIII. HIS STORY.

Alison Weir’s most ambitious Tudor novel yet reveals the captivating story of a man who was by turns brilliant, romantic, and ruthless: the king who changed England forever.

PUBLISHED BY REVIEW

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

MY REVIEW

A beast of a book page wise – over 700 – but when you’re telling the story of someone like Henry VIII then that amount of pages are needed!! And what a story it is!! I’ve loved her series from the point of view from his wives, so it’s been fascinating to now have her give him the main feature and tell things from his side!

From a young age we get to see the events that shaped him and how certain pivotal moments in his life may have shifted his personality to the character we all know so much about. She starts telling his story at the age of 11 when his mother dies and the drama continues then throughout his life.

You really get the sense with him that events that occurred during his lifetime were never his fault and he’d take that frustration and anger out on those around him – you have nothing but sympathy for the women in his life for having to put up with his ‘moods’!

I loved the moments in history playing out and there’s so much to explore with Henry that the action never stops, so to speak! His determination at all costs to have a male heir, to have things his way – his story never lets up and I think the author has captured his persona perfectly and I loved every page!

★★★★★

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 3rd June 2023

Hello! Happy Saturday and happy June too!!  Let’s see what this month brings our way!  And the start of 20 Books of Summer too so hopefully lots of time for reading for us all!  

On the book front it’s been an ok end to May, with 4 books finished for me last week!  And just a few new additions to my bookshelves!

Here’s my look back!!

BOOKS FINISHED

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX by HOLLY SMALE – 4 STARS

VITA AND THE BIRDS by POLLY CROSBY – 4 STARS

CASTLES OF THE WORLD by PHYLLIS G JESTICE – 5 STARS

SNAKES by JULIANNA PHOTOPOULOS – 4 STARS

BOOKHAUL

This months’ special edition from Goldsboro Books

SPARROW by JAMES HYNES

For readers who have been moved and overwhelmed by Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, Emma Donoghue’s Room and Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, Sparrow tells the story of Jacob, son of no one, last survivor of an abandoned British Roman town. Raised in a brothel on the Spanish coast in the waning years of the Roman Empire, a boy of no known origin creates his own identity. He is Sparrow, who sings without reason and can fly from trouble. His world is a kitchen, the herb-scented garden, then the loud and dangerous tavern, and finally the mysterious upstairs where the ‘wolves’ – prostitutes of every ethnic background from the far reaches of the empire – do their mysterious business. When not being told stories by his beloved ‘mother’ Euterpe, he runs errands for her lover the cook, while trying to avoid the blows of their brutal overseer or the machinations of the chief wolf, Melpomene. A hard fate awaits Sparrow, one that involves suffering, murder, mayhem, and the scattering of the little community that has been his whole world.

Through meticulous research and bold imagination, Hynes brings the entirety of the Roman city of Carthago Nova – its markets, temples, taverns of the lowly and mansions of the rich – to vivid life. You will feel you have been to this place, and understand how a slave class – conquered people of every age, walk of life, or skin colour – made the brutal empire function.

Sparrow recreates a lost world of the last of old pagan Rome as its codes and morals give way before the new religion of Christianity, and introduces readers to one of the most powerfully affecting and memorable characters of recent fiction.

And then there was a local charity booksale, so I had to treat myself, of course….

EXCELLENT WOMEN by BARBARA PYM

Mildred Lathbury is one of those ‘excellent women’ who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, ‘capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life – birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather’. As such, she often gets herself embroiled in other people’s lives – especially those of her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, whose marriage seems to be on the rocks. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially as Mildred, teetering on the edge of spinsterhood, has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier. This is Barbara Pym’s world at its funniest and most touching.

THE NEAR WITCH by V.E. SCHWAB

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

CURRENTLY READING

HIGH TIME by HANNAH ROTHSCHILD

HAPPY READING!!!

My Bookish Weekly Wrap Up – 27th May 2023

Hello! Happy Saturday!! And another month is drawing to an end…..how?!!  And another Bank Holiday for us to enjoy in the UK too so yay for that! I’m thinking it’s good reading time and just hope that happens before I get distracted by other things!

Happy to report the reading bug is back here so I’ve managed to finish 3 books this week and added 0 to both my physical and netgalley shelves!! I’ve even shocked myself!!

Here’s my look back!

BOOKS FINISHED

THE ILLUSIONS by LIZ HYDER – 4 STARS

ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON by EMILY CRITCHLEY – 5 STARS

HOMECOMING by KATE MORTON – 5 STARS

BOOKHAUL

zero!!! for one week only I bet….

CURRENTLY READING

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX by HOLLY SMALE

HAPPY READING!!

BookReview THE LAST DANCE by MARK BILLINGHAM

ABOUT THE BOOK

THE FIRST NEW SERIES FROM #1 BESTSELLER MARK BILLINGHAM IN 20 YEARS.

Meet Detective Miller: unique, unconventional, and criminally underestimated…

A double murder in a seaside hotel sees grieving Detective Miller return to work to solve what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Will this eccentric, offbeat sleuth find answers where more traditional police have found only a puzzle?

PUBLISHED BY SPHERE

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

 MY REVIEW

This was a cracking crime thriller! I’m ashamed to say I’ve not read anything by Mark Billingham before, but am now looking forward to going back over his previous work as I loved how well this flowed and the characters he introduced us to. It’s his first new series for 20 years and it’s a blast!

Det Miller is the star of the show and he’s got that dark sense of humour that I love! And you sense that dark humour helps him get through the darker parts of his life, having recently lost his wife and dealing with grief hasn’t set well with him and he wants to get back to work. A double murder in a seaside hotel is his first case back on the ‘beat’ and he’s got a new partner, Xiu, to work with. You sense they’re both a bit wary of one another – he’s seen it all before whereas she’s new and keen to impress.

This is a real ‘who and why’ dunnit – it all points to a gang feud but everything isn’t sitting well with that theory and there’s a lot for this new duo to explore as they try and track down the links between the victims and work out what happened.

The story is told from a number of POV’s which keep the interest high, and also features flashbacks to his life with his wife and their ballroom dancing antics which seem a world away from his current demeanour. It really builds up the tension well throughout and that injection of his ‘snarky’ humour throughout just kept things ticking along nicely and has me eagerly awaiting the follow up in 2024!!

★★★★★

BookReview ONE PUZZLING AFTERNOON by EMILY CRITCHLEY

ABOUT THE BOOK

A mystery she can’t remember. A friend she can’t forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I’ve kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother – who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community – she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There’s a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

PUBLISHED BY ZAFFRE

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

 MY REVIEW

For a debut adult novel this was wonderful! I was totally smitten with the character of Edie as you watch over her in 2 time periods in her life – the current timeline where she’s struggling with memory issues and keeps returning to a period in her life where she was at school and her friend Lucy disappeared…. what is it that she’s supposed to remember, and why has it been locked away in her head for so long?

This really approaches the subject of memory loss/dementia sensitively and compassionately. You really sense the frustration of Edie as she struggles with day to day tasks, and the exasperation of her son who puts things in place to help her but it’s not quite that easy for her to accept. Her mind keeps taking her back to her troubled childhood and playing over her home life and school life and it was fascinating to see both timelines be so absorbing.

At school Edie was seen as a bit of an oddball, even by her own mother, so when Lucy wanted to be her friend she was ecstatic. And that led to her keeping secrets and being drawn in to a darker world of loyalty and deception.

With the help of her granddaughter, Edie won’t settle until she can try to put to rest the niggling doubts in her head as to what did really happen to her friend all those years ago.

I really couldn’t put this book down once I’d started reading it as you become really emotionally involved and I can highly recommend to everyone that this is a book well worth reading – I’m thankful for the reviews I read to make me pick this one up!!

★★★★★

BookReview HOMECOMING by KATE MORTON

ABOUT THE BOOK

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on the grounds of the grand and mysterious mansion, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.

Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora’s housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small.

At loose ends in Nora’s house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora’s bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find…

An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth. Above all, it is a beguiling and immensely satisfying novel from one of the finest writers working today.

PUBLISHED BY MANTLE 

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

 MY REVIEW

I don’t know how Kate Morton does it, but she’s weaved her writing magic yet again in this wonderful story that had me totally absorbed from beginning to end! And even though it’s a beast of a book – 560 pages – the time just flies by when you’re reading and I never wanted it to end!

Set in Australia, this story spans a dual timeline – 1959 and 2018 – and covers more family drama and secrets that are shocking and tragic, and lead to revelations that unsettle those involved who were kept in the dark.

In 2018 we follow Jess, who has moved to London from Australia, and is loving life until she’s rocked by a call from back in Oz where her grandmother, Nora, has fallen and she needs to go home to help take care of her. Nora has always been there for her, since her mother left her, so she shares a special bond with her. While Nora is in hospital, Jess discovers papers that lead her on a trail to the past that Nora had kept hidden…

And in 1959 we see the story of Nora and her family play out for us, that leads to the shocking stories that affected a whole town. These events also led to a book being written about the family so we also get extracts from that and the way the stories all blend in is just magnificent! You become so totally involved in the revelations and how that impacts the different generations alongside exploring the complex relationships between families.

I just adored this story It was beautifully written, the characters were all so detailed and you felt like you really knew them!! Definitely going to be on my favourite books of 2023!!

★★★★★

PublicationDay JUST FRIENDS FOR NOW by LUCY KEELING @ChocLituk

Thank you so much for joining me today to help spread the joy on publication day for JUST FRIENDS BY NOW by LUCY KEELING!!

So here’s a little more about the book to get you in the mood for when you grab your copy!!

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 Just Friends for Now by Lucy Keeling

It’s publication day for Lucy Keeling’s Just Friends for Now by Lucy Keeling!

In the book, the two main characters, Paige and Melanie, are both super smart women running their own businesses (a bar and a VERY Instagrammable brunch spot!) but Melanie is definitely the more organised of the two – and to-do lists are more her forte than Paige’s! So, when Paige decides to make a leaf out of Melanie’s book and write her own to-do list, it’s slightly out of character – but her list isn’t just to do with the day-to-day running of her bar, as you’ll see.

Will she tick all of the these points off her list by the end of the book? You’ll have to read Just Friend for Now to find out!

Paige’s to-do list

1. Write up a to-do list – tick

2. Share it with Melanie – tick

3. Tell Melanie I’m in love with her

4. Tell Melanie that I’ve always been in love with her, that all of it was because I fell for her from the first moment. The grumpy nods, the not knowing how to behave. It was all because Melanie had spun my whole world around

5. Tell Melanie that I was never broken, but that my mojo had disappeared so that I could find her. So that I wouldn’t get in my own way, which I still managed to do

6. Figure out a way of getting Melanie to fall in love with me

7. Figure out a way of getting Melanie to forgive me

8. Figure out a way of opening up more, hopefully this list will help – tick

9. Tell Melanie I love her – I know this is on here already but it feels the most important so I’ve put it on twice

10. Ask Melanie to help me with my to-do list

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About the Author:

Lucy Keeling is an author writing fun, sexy, stories with all of the

happily-ever-afters. When she’s not typing at the kitchen table, she’s

finally seeing her friends for the occasional spot of day drinking. Lucy

has just written the fourth and final book in a romantic comedy series, the

first of which was Runner-Up in Choc Lit’s ‘Search for a Star’ competition.

This story has become her romantic comedy debut Just a Boy Friend. The

second book in the series Just Friends has been described as

“unputdownable” and “A fabulous will they won’t they love story with

moments of hilarity sprinkled throughout” and the third, Just Friends in

Vegas finally reveals what Mya does for a living. The final friend to have

their story told is Paige, and you can read her happily ever after in Just

Friends for Now.

Social media links:

Instagram: lucy_k_author

                                         Facebook: www.facebook.com/lucykeelingbooks

About the Book:

Just friends for now … but how about later?

Bar owner Paige can’t deny that there’s just something about Melanie and her prim and proper librarian look that messes with her mojo. But Melanie is no librarian; she owns Lulu, the new super Instagrammable brunch spot in town, boasting bottomless mimosas and prime selfie opportun0ities. If anything, Melanie and Paige should be rivals, probably not friends – and definitely not anything else.

But when they both team up to work on a community project, and then Melanie finds Lulu the subject of a malicious online review campaign, they might find that staying just friends is going to be a little trickier than either of them could have imagined …

Buying link: https://bit.ly/42FtA20

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