We Have Books

Sal by Mick Kitson My review Firstly, I loved reading this book, secondly I am aware that it could be a bit of a marmite book - for the survival purists it is a big leap of faith to accept the premise of the story which is that a 13 year old schoolgirl and her little sister can survive in the wild armed only with some bear grylls outdoor equipment and knowledge gleaned from youtube videos! It's about not just survival in the outdoors but surviving abuse and ill treatment too. But as a Bear Grylls fanatic and would-be wild camper myself, I put aside any preconceptions and just rolled with it and found myself enchanted by the voice of Sal and entranced by the characters she meets especially the wonderful Ingrid. Sal wants to escape the clutches of her alcoholic Mums abusive boyfriend Robert before he turns his attentions to her beloved little sister Pepper. So it follows that she needs to plan this very carefully using any means at her disposal which are mainly a thirst for knowledge...

Blog Tour and Review – The Man in the Needlecord jacket – Linda MacDonald My thanks go to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for this new novel. Here are my thoughts after reading it… All the lead characters in this book are the same side of 50 as me, making it hold great appeal. They are all also putting behind them failed relationships and trying to build new ones and galloping towards old age with dread and disbelief (well I know how that feels!). The eponymous Man in the Needlecord jacket is Coll, an artist, self-centred and in my eyes a dislikeable arrogant absolute prat. We view him through the eyes of 2 of the women in his life. Sarah, who was widowed young and has been developing a long term relationship with Coll over quite a few years. It’s rapidly apparent that her self-esteem is low and no wonder, she is involved with this revolting man who sneakily manipulates and undermines her, so she is barely aware he is doing it. She loves this d...

Blog Tour - The Watcher Today I'm pleased to take part in the blog tour for the new book by Monika Jephcott Thomas entitled - The Watcher The Blurb: It’s 1949 when Netta’s father Max is released from a Siberian POW camp and returns to his home in occupied Germany. But he is not the man the little girl is expecting – the brave, handsome doctor her mother Erika told her stories of.  Erika too struggles to reconcile this withdrawn, volatile figure with the husband she knew and loved before, and, as she strives to break through the wall Max has built around himself. Netta is both frightened and jealous of this interloper in the previously cosy household she shared with her mother and doting grandparents.  Now, if family life isn't tough enough, it is about to get even tougher, when a murder sparks a police investigation, which begins to unearth dark secrets they all hoped had been forgotten. Amazon UK About the author: Monika Jephcott Thomas grew up in Dortmund Mengede, north-west...

To celebrate the paperback launch of Louise Jensens wonderful novel The Sister, tomorrow 24th August 2017 here's a reminder of just how much I loved it. Just click on the book cover to read my review (then buy a copy)

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine - Gail Honeyman My thoughts This is one of those books which is pretty hard to categorize. It turned out to be not quite what I was expecting - but in a good way. I read a description which called it a laugh out loud comedy and this very nearly put me off! Yes it has some hilarious moments but mainly it is deeply emotional, with some quite dark moments and I was unable to completely put aside the fact that Eleanor is the way she is, as a survivor of something quite dreadful which is a very dark layer to the book. Eleanor is a wonderful quirky character, she never quite fits in, she won't conform, she sees the world differently to most people and behaves in unusual ways, reacting to everyday occurrences with bewilderment and inappropriate attitudes, she is lonely and isolated and in some ways is like an elderly woman in others like a newborn, very innocent and childlike. Her social graces aren't just lacking they are practically non existent. ...

My Review Everything but the truth is about relationships and secrets a taut Domestic Noir thriller/ romance. Rachel and Jack are like any young couple, they are very much of the Social media generation, they haven't been together long enough to really deeply know each other inside out, but what they do know is they are in love, they are in it for the long haul, which is just as well as Rachel is expecting Jacks baby. Perhaps they should have waited a while, but Things are what they are and they both very much want this baby, after all they have the rest of their lives to get to know the little quirks of each others lives. But although Rachel is certain that Jacks the man for her to spend the rest of her life with, a judder of deja vu runs through her when, following a glimpse of an email he tries to conceal, she suddenly begins to suspect he may be hiding something from her, after all this has happened to her recently in a previous relationship which crashed when she had cause to ...