Saturday 7 June 2014

One month and six books makes one happy reader!

Hello, lovely blog readers, how are you today? As we are now in June it's time to have a moment discussing the books I've read over the last month - that's six for June, go me! I've loved every single one of the books I've read this month - I don't know when I was last able to say that! I hope you've had just as good a month for books, why not tell me all about them?

First up was The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman. This book got me back into my reading mojo in May as I'd previously been struggling. It's a really fascinating premise for a book: if you died how would you feel watching your family (namely your husband and young daughter) as they started to move on? And how do they even begin to move on? The tale was a moving and beautifully written insight into what people experience far too often and it really made me think about how I would handle such a difficult think or what I would want. I urge everyone to have a read of this book, it's brilliant.



Lost and Found by Tom Winter was a book I'd forgotten I had and therefore I had no expectations whatsoever when I started it. It turns out this is an interesting look at what it is to be lonely and what people will do to feel a connection to another person. Interesting but maybe not one that I'd reread.

Next up was The Son-in-Law by Charity Norman and I LOVED this book, it's soooo good! It reminds me of Jodi Picoult, as Charity Norman tackles complicated family issues and questions how forgiving people can be. All the characters were well written and it's testament to how brilliant an author Charity Norman is that you could empathise with all the characters in the novel, even the ones that were meant to be 'bad'. I loved how this story showed that accidents happen and maybe not everything is black or white.


Another month and another unread Roald Dahl book ticked off my to be read list, May's Dahl book was Rhyme Stew which had me laughing out loud. The rhymes were genuinely funny and it makes me wonder why more people don't adapt well known rhymes and poems. Some if them are damn near genius!

Sometimes when I hear a lot of hype about a book it worries me that I won't get the hype, as a result I wait ages before reading it. That was the case with Maggot Moon, it's one of those books that children's publishing people wax lyrical about and I didn't want to be the only one that didn't 'get' it. Thankfully I adored Maggot Moon and I was hooked by Sally Gardner's tale. Standish's fight to reveal the truth about what happened to his friend and to overcome his oppressors is beautifully written and you can't help but be moved by this story of friendship. I implore you to all read it - it's wonderful.


If I admit that I enjoyed this Longbourn by Jo Baker more than Pride and Prejudice people will probably think I'm crazy won't they? But the truth is I did, for me Pride and Prejudice just didn't live up to the hype - sorry! Longbourn on the other hand did, it was really interesting to learn about the servants in this era - I can't believe I've never even thought about these members of the Bennett household before. They were well written and realistic characters and I found them far easier to empathise with them than I ever have with the Bennetts. It was really fascinating when the stories overlapped and I was thoroughly gripped by the unfolding story of Sarah and James. Plus I loved James, he was just so sweet and I wanted him to end up happy!

So, tell me about your reading month - what do I need to add to my future to be read list?


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