I picked this as we‘re watching The Last Czars on Netflix. I was fascinated by the fate of the Romanovs when I was at school but I‘ve lost touch with the details. This historical fiction is told by Georgy, the bodyguard of the young Tsarvich Alexei, with a shifting timeline that enables Georgy to reflect on his past as well as his present, which was beautifully done. Yes, at heart it‘s a slightly soppy love story but I loved every bit of it 👇

I couldn‘t resist a picture of this beautiful cover, but I am “pausing” my reading of this. I just can‘t get into it despite recognising it is a well told story. I don‘t think mythology is my thing. But all is not lost as I‘m hoping to read it with my mythology-expert 12 year old at some point... #raisingreaders

When your boy is old enough to have bookish text chats with you whilst you‘re travelling home on the train😍. Then corrects your understanding of said book. I have to say mythology isn‘t really my thing (not long ago my family trapped me on a long car journey with the audiobook of Mythos and I can‘t say I enjoyed it...) I‘m a few chapters into this and really not sure whether to carry on. Would love to hear if you unexpectedly enjoyed Circe!

Anna, living on an isolated Scottish island with her family, is struggling with isolation, sleepless nights and the loss of herself when she finds the skeleton of a baby in the garden. At heart this is about motherhood, a family emerging from the bombshell of new parenthood, with added layers involving family history, inherited wealth and the power it holds, the mystery of the dead baby and lots of history of the island itself. A great read.

Janie grows up amidst unemployment, alcoholism, depression and drugs in Scotland in the ‘80s. A vicious circle with endless hopeful new starts and inevitable bad outcomes. Written from the child Janie‘s point of view this isn‘t self pitying, there is often humour - albeit dark - yet as you‘d expect the story is hard to read at times. That said much of it is oddly entertaining. Overall this sad story is told with tenderness and humour.

Janie grows up amidst unemployment, alcoholism, depression and drugs in Scotland in the ‘80s. A vicious circle with endless hopeful new starts and inevitable bad outcomes. Written from the child Janie‘s point of view this isn‘t self pitying, there is often humour - albeit dark - yet as you‘d expect the story is hard to read at times. That said much of it is oddly entertaining. Overall this sad story is told with tenderness and humour.

I enjoyed how the walk Lillian takes on New Years Eve 1984 is interwoven with the story of her life in advertising in the 1920s, how she forged her way in a man‘s business and how she felt when that ended for motherhood. Lillian is an intriguing character; formidable, intelligent and enquiring yet with a sadness and a hard edge at times. An unusual read that makes you want to walk New York City, drink negronis and wear bright yellow tights!

I read Conversations with Friends and wasn‘t absolutely sure I liked it (and I‘m
still not) and nearly didn‘t read this. How I did actually read it on the train to work without collapsing into an emotional puddle on the floor I have no idea. I loved it. Sally Rooney writes so amazingly clearly about confusing, troubled, intense relationships and flawed, lonely people trying to find their way. I can‘t wait to see what she writes next.

#7days7covers (slightly late to the party 🙈) The illustrations inside are just as gorgeous as the cover. Thanks for the tag @LeeRHarry

Like “A Little Princess” but with a fully grown Count and the Bolsheviks. As the Russian Revolution begins Count Rostov is declared a Former Person and sentenced to house arrest in the Hotel Metropol where he is swiftly shifted from his grand rooms to the attic. I‘ve always loved Russian history and it‘s here in spades, but with such a light touch. The Count is noble, accepting, amusing, and completely broke my heart. I absolutely loved this.

The author tracks down the Jewish girl who joined his family after her parents gave her to a non-Jewish family to shelter her during the war. Her parents never returned and Lien is left at the mercy of those who will take her in, never sure of her own identity or whether she is loved. The author gives a balanced view of his own family‘s history and the qualities and faults of all involved. Emotional, but I felt a disconnect with the writing.

We had a trawl through some secondhand and antique shops today searching for Ercol chairs. I didn‘t find any but I am feeling very pleased with my little book haul - 50p each! The top and bottom books have been on my wish list for ages. Always happy with book bargains 💛

The way this is written takes some getting used to. The book revolves around the disappearance of a 13 year old girl in a rural British village. Each chapter is a year that passes, told by way of the cycle of the seasons, countryside and wildlife. Bubbling away underneath is the mess and mundanity of normal people living life. I can‘t describe how relaxing I found this book to read, but at the same time how drawn into the individual stories I was.

The second in the trilogy, this follows the Gardeners - a group, or cult - trying to survive in the strange world first described in O&C. I didn‘t enjoy this as much as O&C; it was more about the characters, less of the world building. Still, I enjoyed how it runs alongside O&C and how the ending flows on from the ending in the first book, leaving me intrigued as to how the story will play out in the final book, MaddAdam.

A political thriller in which a racist, misogynist bully of a US President (you know where this is going right?) comes seconds away from launching the nuclear attack that may very well destroy the world. The President himself isn‘t given a lot of space here, the story is about the actions and decisions of those around him. At times daft and implausible, then alternately bone chillingly close to reality, it grabbed me from the first page.

I really enjoyed Sunburn. It had a film noir feel to it; the beautiful, troubled heroine who may or may not have done terrible things, the private eye hired to find her and expose her secrets, the dead end town they both end up in. It wasn‘t overly dramatic, no crazy cliffhangers. A perfect holiday read. Also, the cover. I always fall for a good cover.

The story of Truman Capote‘s Swans; the glamorous society women he surrounded himself with and then betrayed, this was difficult to get into - everyone has nicknames, I had no idea who anyone was or what was going on. But then the characters start to emerge, the narrative style makes more sense and I was completely immersed in the whole thing. Ended up not being able to put it down and am now fascinated by the complex character of Capote.

I‘ve read a couple of Kate Morton books and found them a bit same-y. This, though, I really enjoyed. There are numerous stories interwoven from the 1800s to 2017, all circling around a beautiful country house and a mysterious death. Kate Morton‘s writing is lovely and there are echoes of some of my favourite authors; I‘m thinking Sarah Waters, Kate Atkinson, Sadie Jones. It took me an age to get into it, but well worth it once I did.

Numerous stories, all interweaving, although sometimes in a way you don‘t notice until you‘re way into the next story. The book spans New York, San Francisco, Africa, Italy, over various timelines. No one‘s story is fully complete, not even punk turned music industry executive Bennie Salazar, whose story is perhaps most clearly told. Relationships, businesses, people come and go as time passes. A great read, if you can just go with the flow.

Excited to have an afternoon with my boy spending the @Waterstones vouchers we got for our birthdays 📚 I‘ve read some good books lately but nothing that I‘ve totally loved and has completely consumed me, that I‘d give 5 ⭐️ or more... I‘m thinking of books I‘ve loved like A Little Life, The Goldfinch, The Passage, Tinman. So, before I‘m let loose in the bookshop I‘d love your 5 ⭐️ recommendations! (📷 The British Library)

I loved the villain, I loved the earnest teenage hero Pete and I loved the literary backdrop but there was something not grabbing me at the same time. Some great bits, some “meh” bits, still a good page-turning story...

In the years after WWII, Nathaniel tries to piece together a sense of his mother‘s life after her death, and why she abandoned him. This is the sort of literary writing I‘ve not enjoyed in the past but I enjoyed this, although it left me feeling sad. The last few books I‘ve read, whilst each very different, have been about motherhood in some form. This was from the child‘s perspective and the teenage Nathaniel nearly broke my heart 💔

I just read a review that said this was dreamlike and I‘m not very good with dreamlike, so now I feel nervous. That‘s why I should never read reviews before I start the book!

I‘ve seen mixed reviews of this but I liked it. A sharply observed look at two marriages in crisis, overwhelmed by life with young children. In many ways this was a really perceptive, if bleak, look at the lives of ordinary people although the story does meander and wanders into a slightly odd supernatural storyline for a short time. I liked the sense of place and time with London being a major part of the story, and music references throughout.

Not the whole stack, just the one on the top! Enjoying it a lot already...

It feels an achievement to have finished the Neopolitan Novels. The friendship of Elena and Lila, against the backdrop of the raw brutalities of life in Naples over decades, makes for a story like none I‘ve ever read. Such a frank and truthful depiction of motherhood as well as the complexities of female relationships. No one in these books is always likeable or consistently sympathetic. The lives portrayed are as intense as the story is to read.

I‘m feeling very lucky with my birthday book haul - the Margaret Atwoods I asked for, the others were chosen for me by my husband and mum. I admit I‘m a book-control-freak and often panic “but that‘s not on my list!” but so often the books that others choose for me end up being ones I love 💫

Finally ready to finish this series.

Set in late 1700s Bristol against the background of the French Revolution, and with the presence of main character Lizzie‘s husband who is always watching her, always there when she turns around, there is an undercurrent of menace that gradually builds throughout this book. It is beautifully written and enjoyable for the well drawn characters and sense of place, albeit overall it is slower and quieter than perhaps it needed to be.

Loving this sunshine cover ☀️

I enjoyed this - it was very well written; told without drama but having moments of great tension. I spent most of it either anxious about what was going to happen or with a lump in my throat trying not to cry. The alternating narrators are at times unsympathetic and unreliable but those complexities felt real and I couldn‘t shake this one off when I wasn‘t reading it, which is always the sign of a good one I think.

Next up!

After a slow start when I nearly gave up this suddenly grabbed me hard. I love Jo Nesbo and this didn‘t disappoint; it reads like a speeded up, crazy Harry Hole story. I admit I haven‘t read Macbeth so I came at it purely as a Jo Nesbo fan. I can‘t say whether it worked as a modern retelling of Shakespeare but I can say it worked as the brutal, nasty, gritty crime thriller with so many of the flawed characters that Jo Nesbo does best. A great read

I really enjoyed this coming of age story of Greer who feels her path is set out ahead of her but then meets powerful feminist Faith Frank at which point her life takes a different route. Spanning several decades the book mainly follows Greer but also her best friend, her boyfriend and Faith Frank herself. I was fully absorbed in each character and the exploration of feminism and power but mainly this was just a very readable, well written story.

This was a strange one; it was compulsively readable, so much so I read it In nearly one sitting, but I felt I was missing something. I realise now that much of the central love story may be an allegory, but it was so lightly done that I didn‘t feel the main character‘s change of heart about America was fully explained or explored. I wanted more from this than it gave and was left feeling unsettled and unsatisfied.

I admit I bought this book based entirely on the cover. I‘m not a huge fan of psychological thrillers and the unreliable female narrator theme, but this was lifted above the routine for me in that the atmosphere of Tangier in the late 1950‘s was as much a character as the fragile Alice and her sinister, mysterious roommate Lucy. In fact, I think it‘s the setting that makes this book. Not fantastic, but a good, quick holiday read.

Jane Harper is so good; I enjoyed The Dry, loved Force of Nature and this was unputdownable; I read it in 24 hours. She writes such gripping page turners with a real sense of place. Despite typical wet/cold UK Bank Holiday weather, I could have been in the relentless heat of the Australian outback, her writing is so good. She got me with this one too; I genuinely didn‘t see the twist that was coming.

I was brave and tackled #authorswhoscareme and #booksthatwinprizes (or are nominated...) with this and I‘m glad I did; I enjoyed the writing and to an extent the story. I liked the flashbacks, and how the events that led to the dystopian future we find Snowman in are explored, but I‘m not sure this stands out over other dystopian fiction I‘ve read. That said it was just getting going when it ended. So am I invested enough to read the next two?!

I‘m totally scared of Margaret Atwood but I‘m being very brave and giving this a go...

Thank you Littens you were not wrong in recommending this! I really enjoyed it, but I‘ll admit I didn‘t expect to as I didn‘t think fantasy writing was my thing. I love a book where the writing is so good there‘s nothing that niggles at you, or annoys you or makes you question what‘s being said. I just enjoyed being thoroughly immersed in the story, despite it starting very slowly. I‘ll definitely read the rest of the trilogy 💛

Book haul with the gift card that‘s been burning a hole in my pocket since January! It was so nice to spend an hour or so in Waterstones, on my own, to buy whatever I fancied, a real treat 💕

I‘ve not read Robin Hobb before; this is a complete #thankstolitsy pick...

I found this difficult to read as I often do with classics and I can‘t say I particularly enjoyed it but I read it with Bella and she enjoyed it very much - she‘s a sucker for a fiesty girl and a love story it would seem, no matter how it‘s packaged! I‘m proud of her for getting to the end of this one as the language and style was much trickier than The Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables which we‘ve read and loved #raisingreaders

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, it was intriguing, infuriating and terrifying. Running through the story is the message that not engaging or participating in what is going on around us, and in our politics, can have devastating results. But then after such an interesting start it lost me as I felt it turned into a thriller, and a bit of a daft one at that. Still a page turner, but this didn‘t live up to it‘s initial promise for me.

I‘ve seen mixed reviews of this one and I must admit I‘ve been avoiding it for some reason... Anyway I recently read a good review so am giving it a go...

This was a good, quick read; I‘d recommend it as a holiday read. I didn‘t love it though and found some parts irritating and a little contrived. Not sure I‘ll read more Beatriz Williams.

I‘ve seen lots of #litsylove for Beatriz Williams so I‘m giving this one a go...

Whilst I felt I never fully understood Coco Chanel or some of her motives, I thoroughly enjoyed what is a moving story of childhood poverty, sheer determination and, of course, real style. I loved the part Paris played in the story along with a whole host of other glamorous friends and elegant locations. I was also intrigued by her entanglement with the Nazis during WWII which I knew little about. Overall a great, intriguing read.

My sister is in Paris and I‘m incredibly jealous, so I‘m going to read about it instead 🤷‍♀️

I enjoy Kate Atkinson‘s writing and this was no exception. The story follows Juliet, a transcriptionist recruited as a spy in WWII. The cast of characters is great and albeit after a slow start, it nearly reached “unputdownable.” I love Kate Atkinson‘s very British drollness and witticism. It‘s deceptively lighthearted - getting to the end and reading the author‘s note made me want to reread it as I suspect there was a lot I missed entirely!