Well 2021 was a year wasn't it? It was so much busier for me than 2020 and I think my reading suggested that. I also moved countries/continents and ticked off the final states I hadn't seen before leaving the US! 2021 was also a return to in person book events which was super exciting! See if you can see the trend in my reading as the year went on...
Friday 31 December 2021
My Reading Year 2021
Tuesday 28 December 2021
Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2021 28/12/21
Sunday 26 December 2021
Thursday 23 December 2021
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Santa Brings
Apologies that this is going up on Thursday instead of Tuesday!
Wednesday 22 December 2021
Guest Review: The 12 Days of Christmas by Poppy Alexander
The most magical time of the year...
Review: This is the first book from this author that I have read. I am always looking out for new titles and writers when it comes to Christmas books, and when this one was recommended to me, I was pleased to add it to my list. I purchased the audiobook, which kept me entertained on a long car journey this December. It proved to be a compelling story, that helped make the miles pass in no time.
The main female character in the story is Freya, who finds herself back in her home village of Middlemass for the first time in many years. She has been living in Paris, where she is a sous chef in the kitchen of a world-renowned but demanding Michelin-star chef. Time off at Christmas is strictly forbidden, but this year, it is imperative that Freya makes her way home for the most tragic of reasons - to see her dying mother one last time. Feeling completely desolate after her mother’s death on Christmas Eve, Freya bumps into old schoolfriend Finn, who offers her somewhere to stay. To give her something to occupy her mind, he suggests that she could apply her cooking skills to making a dish each day that follows the gifts in the 12 days of Christmas song. Day after day, she produces amazing food along the lines of the song, culminating in a large gathering for old friends on 12th night. As the days pass, there is a growing attraction between Freya and Finn, but she’s not sure if this could become a lasting relationship.
This is a wonderfully uplifting and heartwarming festive story, beautifully told. The characters are all well-developed and they and the situations are completely believable. We meet Freya at one of the worst moments in her life, but she is lucky enough to meet up with Finn who is so gentle and wholly understanding of her needs. I found the whole story very moving and so much more than a simple Christmas romance. The concept of cooking dishes connected with the words of the song was brilliant, and a clever way of distracting Freya from her feelings of guilt over staying away so long as well as her grief. Of course, the descriptions of those wonderful dishes had my mouth watering all the way through the book, and how kind of the author to add the recipes at the end. I can definitely recommend this book; I shall be on the lookout for more from its author.