Tuesday 12 March 2024

Top ten Tuesday: Books I'm Worried I Might Not Love As Much The Second Time Around

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

This is a great list. I only started re-reading a few years ago and I think this was part of the reason so...














Wednesday 6 March 2024

Guest Review: I Remember Paris by Lucy Diamond

Jess Bright, single mum and journalist, feels her life has stalled. So when she's offered a writing job in Paris for the summer, she leaps at the chance to go. Hasn't she always felt that she left a piece of her heart in the city years before?

Her subject is the iconic artist Adelaide Fox, whose personal life has been steeped in scandal and intrigue. Now approaching eighty, she's ready to tell her side of the story - and serve up some scalding-hot revenge in the process.

Amidst a stormy working relationship, Jess and Adelaide must face up to their pasts. As passionate affairs, terrible betrayals and life-changing secrets surface, there may be more surprises in store than either of them dared imagine . . .



I am a great fan of Lucy Diamond’s writing and was looking forward to being taken on a trip to Paris with her latest book. It certainly didn’t disappoint; I was quickly immersed in Parisian life and missed the city when the book was finished. I love the bright yellow cover, which invites the reader into the city with its well known landmark. 


The story features writer and journalist Jess Bright who has recently separated from her cheating husband and is currently trying to relaunch her career while bringing up her teenage daughters single handed. When she is given a chance to travel to Paris for an assignment, she jumps at the chance to return to the city where she lived for a while in her youth. The job involves writing the life story of artist Adelaide Fox, who is now in her 80s and ready to ‘tell all’. It turns out she has had a life peppered with scandal and rumour, and that revenge is one of her main motives for writing her memoirs at this point in her life. Adelaide is not the easiest person to work with and Jess finds herself involved in many confrontations with the artist. Fortunately Adelaide’s nephew, Lucas, is on hand to smooth things over as necessary. As her summer in the city progresses, Jess finds herself being drawn to Lucas and wonders if her feelings are reciprocated. She also thinks back over her time in Paris as a younger woman.


I found this a powerful and well-written story that stayed with me long after I finished the book. It has so many facets to it, from the simple development of the relationship between Jess and Adelaide, to their intriguing and eventful individual stories from the past, and then the possibilities for their futures. Of course, through Lucy Diamond’s excellent descriptive writing, I also enjoyed a tour of the sights of Paris and could almost smell the garlic and taste the wonderful French dishes Jess herself was experiencing. I can definitely recommend this book to any other readers looking for an escape to another world and another time. 


To order your copy now, just click here

Monday 4 March 2024

February 2024 Reading Wrap Up

 Well that book hangover from reading the new CL Taylor novel Every Move You Make certainly stayed with me throughout most of February and so, despite picking up and starting 3 or 4 things, I only managed to read 1 book in the month of Februay. Please tell me it wasn't just me that struggled this month?!

I listened to the audiobook of:



Saturday 2 March 2024

Guest Review: Abyss: The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 By Max Hastings

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous event in history, when mankind faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation.

Max Hastings’s graphic new history tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots and British disarmers. Max Hastings deploys his accustomed blend of eye-witness interviews, archive documents and diaries, White House tape recordings, top-down analysis, first to paint word-portraits of the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev’s Russia and Kennedy’s America; then to describe the nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned.

Hastings began researching this book believing that he was exploring a past event from twentieth century history. He is as shocked as are millions of us around the world, to discover that the rape of Ukraine gives this narrative a hitherto unimaginable twenty-first century immediacy. We may be witnessing the onset of a new Cold War between nuclear-armed superpowers.

To contend with today’s threat, which Hastings fears will prove enduring, it is critical to understand how, sixty years ago, the world survived its last glimpse into the abyss. Only by fearing the worst, he argues, can our leaders hope to secure the survival of the planet.






Review: For 13 days, from 16th October 1962, the world stood on the brink of possible nuclear conflict as the two superpowers of the day, the United States of America and the Soviet Union, faced-off over the deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. This book is the author’s account of the events leading up to, during and after those 13 days, which is usually referred to as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In 1959, a socialist revolution in Cuba led by Fidel Castro overthrew the American-backed government. Castro became the country’s Prime Minister and pursued an agenda of socialist policies. This earned the enmity of America and led to many disaffected Cubans emigrating to America. In April 1961, a group of these Cuban exiles, trained by America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and with the acquiescence of the newly-elected American President John F. Kennedy, attempted an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. The American administration, feeling humiliated, imposed trade embargoes on Cuba and made plans secretly to overthrow Castro. Cuba felt isolated and, fearing another American invasion, turned to the Soviet Union for economic and military support. As well as providing this aid, the Soviet Union’s Premier Nikita Khrushchev also came up with a plan to deploy covertly nuclear missiles, together with supporting technical and military personnel, to Cuba over the summer of 1962. These installations were photographed by American aerial reconnaissance missions in mid-October so that, despite Soviet denials, the Americans were aware of the nuclear deployment 90 miles from their south-east coast, precipitating the crisis. There followed 13 days of tense negotiations, together with an American naval blockade, before President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev drew back from the abyss and reached a compromise by which the Soviet nuclear missiles were withdrawn in return for America undertaking not to invade Cuba.

Max Hastings has used eyewitness interviews, archive documents and diaries in order to research this book. In addition, President Kennedy had installed tape recorders in the White House so transcripts of the meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council during the crisis are available. As the author himself acknowledges, no such records of the deliberations in the Kremlin in Moscow are available, so there is some imbalance in the historical archives. Nevertheless, I found this a well-researched and very comprehensive account of a dramatic period during the 20th century. As well as accounts of the leaders Castro, Kennedy and Khrushchev and other politicians and top military personnel involved, the book provides an insight into the reactions of ordinary servicemen and civilians during this period. As well as detailing the actions of America and the Soviet Union, the book also has accounts from the perspective of the Cubans and America’s NATO allies. Throughout the book, the author does not shrink from giving his sometimes forthright views about the individuals involved. I found it to be a detailed and very interesting account of a dramatic period that should appeal to all enthusiasts of modern history.

To order your copy now, just click here!

Friday 1 March 2024

March 2024 TBR: New Book Releases and Nonfiction I Want to Read

 Ok, we will take a moment to recognise the fact that I did not read very much in the month of February but it's a short month so I am definitely forgiven for that! There will be a lot of holdovers from last month but there are also a few new things I want to read this month!

March Releases (I've read but want to highlight!)




February Releases





Nonfiction



Book vs Movie





Alice Oseman






Thursday 29 February 2024

Guest Review: A Villa with a View by Julie Caplin

Lia Bathurst had always dreamed of escaping to the white sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas of the Amalfi coast – but that dream hadn’t included meeting her real father. A father she had never even known about until a few weeks ago! Yet here she was, standing outside the gates of a gorgeous pink villa being refused entry by the insufferable – and insufferably handsome – Raphael Knight, her father’s business manager.

When an old black and white photo proves Lia’s claim to be true, Raph is determined to make sure this stranger, with her long caramel waves and infectious smile, doesn’t have an ulterior motive. Even if that means not letting her out of his sight.

As temperatures rise, and not just from the heat of the Mediterranean sun, could Lia and Raph’s forced proximity lead to something more like… amore?



Review: This book is part of Julie Caplin’s very enjoyable Romantic Escapes series, the stories in which are set in a range of different countries, with a cast of characters who often crop up in more than one story. In this book, the author transported me to the Amalfi coast of Italy, with its rugged countryside and picturesque fishing villages, as illustrated on the book’s bright cover. 


The story centres on textile artist Lia Bathurst, who is spending the summer in the beautiful village of Positano. As well as looking for inspiration for a project she is working on, Lia is hoping to meet the man she has recently discovered is her biological father. It has come as a shock to her that her mother has kept his identity secret all these years. Unfortunately, her father, Ernesto, is a famous film star and Raph, his stepson and business manager, will not allow her to contact him. When it emerges that Ernesto may well be Lia’s father, Raph is still suspicious of her motives. Afraid that Lia might be a fortune hunter, Raph keeps close to her, but can he ignore the obvious attraction that develops between them?


I loved this well-written, will-they won’t-they romance, and expect other readers will also. The story is brimming with strong, interesting and mainly likeable characters and full of scenes evoking familiar tastes and vistas of Italy. I liked Lia, a very determined, inspiring heroine searching for her true origins. I also admired Raph for his loyalty to his stepfather, but found it hard to like him for the first portion of the book when he appeared arrogant and judgemental. His fun-loving brother, Leo, injected quite a bit of humour into the book, making him a likeable character, but there was an underlying seriousness to his personality. Someone I really liked was Raph’s mother, who ably ran a large household and cooked the most delicious-sounding meals with very little effort. This was an entertaining addition to this series; I’m already looking forward hopefully to a next book.


To order your copy now, just click here!

Wednesday 14 February 2024

Guest Review: The Library on Love Heart Lane by Christie Barlow

Growing up in foster care, Elle Cooper always felt a piece of herself was missing. Now, as her thirtieth birthday approaches, she’s ready to find it. But when instigating the search for her birth mother leads to a whole host of unexpected events, this librarian’s quiet life suddenly gets very loud!

With new friends, old flames and surprising influences keeping Elle busy, she soon starts to see that there’s more to life than where you came from – and that where you are right now, and who you have in your corner, is what might just matter most of all…



Review: This is the 13th book in the Love Heart Lane series from this author. It was published previously as Evie’s Year of Taking Chances, and has been adapted to fit into the present series. The stories in this series feature inhabitants of the small highland village of Heartcross and the nearby town of Glensheil, each one introducing one or more new character as well as reuniting the reader with well-loved faces from previous books. All the books, including this one, can be read as a standalone story. As usual, this book contains a helpful map showing locations within Love Heart Lane that feature in the stories.

The central character in this book is librarian Elle Cooper. She loves her job in the Love Heart Lane library, where she works alongside friend Pippa, and new member of staff Aiden. Elle has had a troubled past, having been moved as a child from one foster family to another until she was finally placed in her teens with Irene, who has been like a mother to her ever since. Now, with her 30th birthday round the corner, Elle wants to try and find her birth mother, and perhaps even her father. However, Elle’s search results in a series of shocks for her that just keep on coming, and her quiet existence is suddenly transformed in more ways than one.

I have enjoyed all of the books in this series so far, but, for me, this is probably the most emotional read so far. Elle was a lovely person, and as her story emerged with each page, her amazing, strong personality was revealed. The story of her early years was quite heartbreaking to read. As you might expect from a librarian, Elle had a great love of books and a favourite author who she longed to meet, but she was unsure if she had it in her to write a book of her own. The story underlined the importance in all our lives of true friends. Elle was lucky in having so many people who cared for her, including a caring and supportive foster mother. I loved her best friend Pippa, different in so many ways from Elle, but always there ready to help out and add some humour to any situation. As with previous books in the series, the wonderful community spirit present in Love Heart Lane shone out and in addition the storyline contained a satisfying dose of romance for more than just Elle.

To order your copy now, just click here!