Bought in prep for my last trip to the continent but actually finished whilst here I really@enjoyed this one. It‘s relatively short so you should not expect in depth history or analysis or even forward thinking. What you will get is rich insights, well researched context and a door opening to filling in even more of the gaps that I know I have as someone who studied history for 14 plus years and was never offered African history

This is predictable but still a lovely holiday read. Ali - the serious one of her family who has nonetheless made a career as a photographer runs away to ‘the lake‘ with her grandmother. One mopping up a broken heart, I dealing with a hip replacement. Shenanigans with the too good to be true Adonis next door follow. I liked the idea that Ali finds her own path with her career and siblings. The rest … good for a sweet tooth

Look it‘s taken a week and a bit of holiday from real life and I am haiku-ing again sorry #haikuhive @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair

A silly holiday read it follows a group of largely wealthy, highly privileged young adults as they leave their prestigious school and head off into the real world which they assume will open its arms for them. Regretfully a missing school‘mate‘ turns into a locked door murder mystery. It was fun more than scary but gosh the characters were largely awful!

Continuing to catch up on my #bookedintime @Cuilin is a complex character, easy to love but also to see her faults and where she is taking herself. A story of love and hope but also arrogance and fear. There is an elpheba- esque way she is creating her later problems and legacy

Continuing to catch up on my #bookedintime @Cuilin is a complex character, easy to love but also to see her faults and where she is taking herself. A story of love and hope but also arrogance and fear. There is an elpheba- esque way she is creating her later problems and legacy

Spotted that I had missed the final book in this series that I used to love and downloaded for my hols. Whilst Carson was as smart as ever this is missing a number of the things that made me enjoy the original books so much. Here 2 nursery catapult Ryder from Florida and away from restarting his partnership and across the country where lots of things happen to people it was hard to care about. I give it a so so maybe out of nostalgia #serieslove

This book which I had read advertised as a sort of sliding doors set of alternative lives based on a child‘s name was very well written (although is full of trauma and difficult domestic abuse scenes) but for me was more about what the act of naming the baby different names did for his mum and ultimately the father who I felt set the outcomes for each of the different flavours more than I would have liked. It felt a bit like him winning

I am making an effort to catch up on missed #bookedintime @Cuilin and thought this middle grade fiction might be the way to do it. talk about a not just for children! 3 siblings a year into the blight take to the road after their mother doesn‘t come back from trying to find their dad after the death of their youngest sibling. Life on the road is incredibly hard and starvation is near, yet they also see food being exported. A shameful truth.

A pairing of sorts with my last book I thought this was, whilst at times sadly predictable a very good read. Lorraine is smart & looking forward to acing her final year at school when a single night with her frankly disappointing boyfriend leaves her pregnant. Her parents send her to a home for unmarried mothers with an expectation she will surrender the baby. A reminder of the consequences of lack of choice and support.

A compassionate, empathetic, love filled book exploring the authors own abortion and life of experience in reproductive health as well as some of the people she has met along her way. It‘s taken me a while to get to this and I thought it was phenomenal - a book of real heart but also a loud wake up call as we see the erosion of options, the removal of choice & the vilification of those who seek abortions. shame it‘s unlikely to be read by all

When I was a teenager and first allowed to come to town on my own I often used to find myself down on the river front on the beautiful memorial to merchant seaman who died during WW2 where I‘d daydream and read (I wasn‘t what you‘d call a cool kid!) . Sneaky day off and home for the weekend I tried today and it‘s much windier and busier than I remember!

Less a retelling and more of an expansion of the story this was incredibly dark and yet compelling. In this reimagining lady Macbeth is a new bride, perhaps witch touched from Brittany arriving in dark Alba and seeing the starkness of the court and the violence and ambition of her new, cruel husband. There was much in this that was not for me but it was really well told and captures the darkness and fear of the original well.

Sorry @dabbe and the whole #haiku gang but life has been a v tough mix of sickness, commitments, work and house renovations and I am not quite holding it together so not been super active and unlikely to be for a while !

I thought I was going to love this initially - softly written but embedded in quiet thoughtful characterisation and an incredibly strong sense of place but in the end this little story of faith and what it means to believe and to ‘see‘ a vision felt a little flat. A low pick

I have been a huge fan of a poet on instagram called Lucas Jones for ages - he writes and performs powerfully and is a powerful and passionate voice for women‘s safety and rights, holds his mirror up to toxic masculinity & mental health issues. I just treated myself to a book of his poems from his own website and am trying not to gobble (not an isbn in sight!) this is one of my favourites - so many layers .

Not my favourite of hers. Great ensemble but missing trigger warnings all over the place and a little too trite and predictable. also I have apparently read this before and I remember it not even a tiny bit! I did however appreciate some of the great food descriptions in this one

Lovely afternoon at the. National theatre seeing michael sheen in Nye. Excellent stuff. @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

There is a customary style from Jodi Taylor here, a confidence that whatever slightly odd thing is happening on the page it‘s well thought through and going to be fine and as such it was an engaging read. Missing for me however was a real strong MC Elizabeth Cage I despite her interesting skills seems bland and not all that easy torture for. That said I am sure i will keep reading !

Popping back up with my sporadic additions! #haikuhive @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Whilst I didn‘t always love Lauren and Ryan I did find this story of when marriage gets hard really interesting. When they decided to split up for 12 months as an easier option than counselling I could have screamed but did end up enjoying some of the realisations that come with how marriages can become stale and hard. I also loved Lauren‘s family and would love to hear about how they get on

Last week I took myself off on an photography course to try intentional camera movement. It was so fun to run away from real life and try something new and for the simple pleasure of trying new things I wrote this one . And share this photo from my day … @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

I had Friday off work so it‘s quite greedy to want Monday off … and yet ! We don‘t get many nights where you can still be outside at 10 pm so I am taking this one @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Other than a slightly rushed ending this was a phenomenal read and I feel a bit silly it‘s been sitting on the shelf for so long. I loved Sashi, a complex min character growing up as her future is radically changed by the beginning of the Sri Lankan civil war as she walks the complex line in an ever changing set of circumstances . A story about family, loyalty, truth I loved this one

I have had a lot of train revel in the last 24 hours and my hopes for peaceful reading time did not go quite as planned! @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

another great turn out for Stone and her team which for this outing includes Frost the annoying yet principled journalist. A really interesting case that really gives room for everyone to do their best work, puzzles, data, intuition and more. A great return to form

I have always considered myself well read and connected and with my history degree aware of the politics of what is reported and what is not. For all of that I find in this time of connectedness it seems harder to find the things that matter @dabbe @Susanita
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

@dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal
How was your morning?! #haikuaday #haikuhive

This was interesting. British Colonel and his wife in post WW2 Hamburg. Lewis - strongly of the view that reconstitution is going to need kindness more than strong arms agreed to share his requisitioned home with its owners a widower and his angry 15 year old daughter. The set up was fascinating and I appreciated the colour of both Hamburg and the period but found the characters quite flat. There were other perspectives I would have liked to see

What‘s the collective noun for haikus - bashed these off today reflecting on the longest day of the year with thanks to @eggs for the prompt! @Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

This was an interesting read on a couple of layers. One, it‘s a satisfying twisty novel about a wealthy woman in her later 40s meeting a younger widower and being swept off her feet. But secondly it‘s also quite interesting on being childless in your 40s and what that alongside being single does to how the world, even your closest friends see you and how easy it can be to be manipulated.

@dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

@dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47 I think I might have needed some punctuation here!
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

A #oldlangsspine from @BennettBookworm I really liked this. Yea there is an actual plane load of characters but all were different and well written. A fascinating story about a lady who predicts age and reason for death for her fellow travellers it was a great exploration of fate and human responses to fear. I loved the main character but all the others and the sense of interconnect was also great

Have probably read this kind of story begore - I‘ve certainly seen the film but it‘s still well done. Ex teen tv star trying to make it as a producer teams up with her meet cute turned work enemy to try and get a film green lighted. To do so requires retuning to his home town, hanging out with his family and learning the truth of true love. Main character is both self aware and oblivious but that aside it was a fun pool side summer read

And the book I picked off the kindle! This was a pleasing closure to this trilogy about a FBI forensic linguist and her complex and unusual sisters. I would have liked a bit more of her linguist speciality which was such an interesting part of the earlier books but it was still a speedy and satisfying twisty read

I am away for a few days for a@family@members destination wedding !

@Kristy_K
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal @dabbe

A book about books and an authors memoirs in one. So to know Susan Hill is very set in her views (doesn‘t like to travel, doesn‘t get Australian novels!) and this can be frustrating. So too is some of the quite chronic name dropping of the good and great of late 20th century literature. BUT she has a wonderful turn of phrase and clearly loves deep and round reading. I wrote down multiple recommendations and respected her perspective for that !

#haikuhive #haikuaday is a really interesting way to think about what‘s going on and how I am feeling

@Kristy_K
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Sometimes knowing what decision to make is hard #haikuhive

@kristy_k
@debinhawaii
@mimi28
@thebookhippie
@jenlovesjt47
@reggie
@vivastory
@eggs
@jdiehr
@thespineview
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

#haikuhive

@kristy_k
@debinhawaii
@mimi28
@thebookhippie
@jenlovesjt47
@reggie
@vivastory
@eggs
@jdiehr
@thespineview
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

#haikuhive #haikuaday gosh I made it to three days in a row. #@dabbe @Kristy_K @DebinHawaii @Mimi28 @TheBookHippie @JenlovesJT47 @Reggie @vivastory @Eggs @jdiehr @TheSpineView @CBee @lil1inblue @julieclair @AnnCrystal @bellabella @BooksandCoffee4Me @Jari-chan

#haikuadag #haikuhive trying to post every day - at least for this week. What I can say feeling poorly on your birthday really does bring feelings ! Apologies I think I tagged everyone. Joining this party late so not sure of all the rules !

Oh wow, I am almost glad to be poorly as it‘s let me curl up and mere myself in this. A murder mystery tols@over many many years it‘s really more of a character study and it‘s just wonderful.

I am not sure the rules of the #haikuhjve but I have been enjoying them and today feeling sorry for myself and well dosed on cold medicine I have one of my own to add !

The kind of horror I can cope with! This was at times just a bit bonkers but I actually really enjoyed the story of the adult siblings regrouping to sell their parents house and unearthing generational trauma along the way. A blame it on Litsy from when it was first published I finally picked up on my indie bookshop crawl at the end of last year

Gosh his would be a great, divide the crowd book club book. Framed as a story of a missing girl as told by a chorus of her near peers and written as ‘we‘ alternating with stories from their future it‘s a haunting kind of a book. I loved the muggy Florida backdrop, the deeply intense early teen years portrayed with all their raw energy. I liked less the deeply disheartening future stories and the vague horror type vibe and the abrupt ending

This is a format I like - 4 stand alone stories all touching on the life of Jesus, his mother, a friend, the Cheif Priest and Barabas. All were excellently written and imminently quotable but I am not quite sure what the author was trying to say. Part of the message is the power of story and the line between truth and fiction but at times it felt like the aim was to simply be provocative. An interesting read

Not played in ages @Eggs but joining in today 1. I quite like my own name as both a long and short version Joanne and Jo as an androgynous shortened version. and therefore would tend towards the same like Alex or Sam or Charlotte / Charley 2. As a child I had rabbits with very descriptive names twitch, cheeky, grey boy etc. imagination not a core strength! 3. I don‘t know about favourite but Verica Salt is to me one of the best accurate names!

DNF - I rarely do this but it‘s taken me three weeks to get to page 240 and picking it up gives me a moment of dread. It‘s beautifully written I just haven‘t a clue as to what is going on and frankly everyone seems really awful. I think a good example of a probably great book but not for me. Not right now. Off to find something I do fancy for this bank holiday Monday