This is a book that you really need to have the physical copy to get the full reading experience.

Set out like an IKEA catalogue this is the story of Orsk, a furniture store where customers follow the Bright and Shining path through the showrooms, down onto the Market floor (sound familiar?).

Something weird is going on at Orsk, the opening team are finding poop on the sofas, broken furniture and corporate are becoming concerned.

Was fun!

Am glad I finally picked this up, its been a long time since I read a courtroom drama and this is a very good version of that.

This entire story is told from the perspective of Andy Barber who is the DA's Assistant and whose 14 year old's son is accused of murder.

I thought this was a great concept, seeing the trial play out through the eyes of a prosecutor, the father of the accused was frustrating and unreliable but also compelling.

Book four in the James Bond series.

This is a funny series really, four books in and you think we'd be starting to know Bond a bit better by now however there's no character development here, Bond is as surface level as he was in book one.

It's been said a million times, these books are a product of their time, women and race are handled very badly. That aside there is something very readable about these books.

The death of three year old Chloe turns the world dark for her parents Grace and Tom. Through their journey we feel the desperate lows, the miscommunication and the silence.

The grief representation portrayed in this book is as messy and debilitating as my own experience. It's always great to see grief portrayed in the rawest form and not glossed over or prettied up.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

This is the story of two teens investigating the recent murders during a summer vacation and their obsession that followed.

Told entirely from the perspective of a 13 year old girl who remains nameless throughout we start to see how her mind works as each body is discovered.

When she teams up with Miles, who is also visiting the town for his holiday, their obsession and fascination with murder grows.

This was ok for me.

There did seem to be far less problematic content in this entry compared to the first two books and it was great to see Bond blown out by a woman finally!

These books are a real eye opener for me, I was always under the impression that Bond was a super spy, intelligent, no one could fool Bond. However he comes across very ditzy to me, easily fooled and not particularly clever.

Viv has spent her entire life in the same house. Left with two kids after her husband popped out and never returned, it hasn't been an easy ride.

When she receives a letter from her daughter inviting her to her wedding in New Zealand things get exciting for Viv.

This book was fine. Easy reading for a time of year that's difficult.

At the time of posting this book is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Set in Cairo this book centers around the Amercian School and explores the effect on International Schools on National children.

The subjects tackled here were really thought provoking and this gave me a lot to think about. The identity crisis of young people being educated in an environment that rejects their culture, bias education, the Egyptians who don't speak or understand Arabic, the need to be as Americanised as possible and so much more.

This is a non fiction book about 'the Spanish flu' as it is commonly referred too, from an American perspective.

I learnt a lot here, I hadn't known that this flu and WW1 were at the same time, I learnt about the virus, the reactions, the rules, the deaths, the vaccines.

While covid 2019 isn't mentioned here (this book was published in 2015) it all sounds very familiar. History literally repeated itself.

Four stars.

When I take a look over the series as a whole I really like the over arching plot and what this series is doing but the last two books weren't as strong at the first two.
The characters all had the same voice, i felt they all merged into one person.
I did enjoy the authors notes at the end. I was unaware of the history of the Bookers Prize and how that tied into the Booker Brothers and their sugar plantations in British Guiana (now Guyana).

While there was traces of it in book one, this book has amazing females characters. I've many complaints regarding male authors and their female characters but credit where its due, Crichton nails it. There's no damsels in distress here. I hope teen girls are picking this book up and being inspired by the confident inspirational females in this book.
This duology was a delight. I've no idea why I waited so long to read it.

Alexander takes us from the Jim Crow era to today's war on drugs. I did not know a single drug offense leaves people without the right to vote, access to food, housing and other help. I didn't realise two drug offenses regardless of how small those offences are, can leave you in prison for the rest of your life.

The section on the Obama Presidency was also very interesting for me.

I learnt a lot in this book.

Book three in the Quint Chronicles and I feel rather let down by this one.

I really enjoyed the first two books, enjoyed the characters and the premise, this book however felt a messy ramble.

We have three main characters and each chapter is from one of their perspectives. For me each character had the same voice, I couldn't tell who was who, there was nothing different about them.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

From page one there is a quiet horror that seeps out of the pages, the build up is slow which only adds to the dread, the gloom is a real as the mist over the island.

Then all of a sudden everything happens at once and I spent 60% of the book in a state of anxiety. There is no let up, no recovery time, no time to sit back in your seat, its full on up until the last page.

This is an incredibly bingeable book.

Fantastic.

Genesis is a Black 13 years old girl. At school she's called Charcoal or Blackie, it's not much easier at home as her Dad wishes she was lighter skinned like her mum. And let's not get started on grandma and her brown paper bag test.

Genesis has tried multiple ways of lightning her skin.

Written in a age appropriate format and style for Middle Grade this is the story of Genesis beginning again.

Outstanding.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

This is Lewis's journal observing his grief for his wife and while everyone's grief is unique to them, there's always stands you can pull out that relate to you and I definitely found strands of my own grief for my sister in these pages.

I'm not here to rate anyone's grief, it's a five star from me.

Received a few years back for Christmas. A fun recipe book that encourages you to open that bottle of wine.

A decent novelty book.

This is a really cute pocket book with various quotes from Queer icons.

My favourite is Oscar Wilde "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars".

Clemency is a Black woman who was adopted, her adopted parents are white. From an early age Clemancy has been aware that her parents don't look like her, that people are visually shocked when she introduces her mum and dad.
By a massive coincidence Clemency meets her birth family.
This is such a good read. So many lies, secrets, generational trauma, a ton of complicated love and conversations on race and unconscious bias.

I learnt a lot here. My biggest take aways will be understanding my own body clock more, understanding how society treats night owls and early birds very differently and why our sleep schedules are different.

However as always with these kind of books there's a undertone of scaremongering.

I read this in conjunction with the podcast Maintenance Phase who did an episode on this book which helped me keep a balanced view on some of the claims made.

This is such a cute read.

Written for children during the covid years this is a fantastic little picture book giving children ideas on how to keep close to loved ones while they can't hug.

The hope and feel good factor in this little book is through the roof. Extremely cute.

While written during covid I'd argue this little book is great for any children out there separated from their loved ones for a magnitude of reasons.

Five stars.

Book one in The Quint Chronicles series which at time of posting is available on Kindle Unlimited.

A family saga spanning three generations tackling the role of women, racism and of course love.

Set between Guyana and London this book is split into 3 timelines. Dorothea in the 30's, Rika is the 60's and Inky in the 00's. The story of 3 women coming of age in complicated worlds.

"They are all innocent until proven guilty. But not me, I am a lair until I am proven honest"

This is a very graphic story of 18 year old Emma. It's explicit, straight to the point and yet it's tackling a lot nuances around the 'she asked for it' culture that face victims of sexual assault.

The author's note at the end of the book should also be read.

This is a five star book for me.

Bond is sent over to the States to tackle some secret business in New York and then in Jamaica. The language around Black people in this book is horrendous so you need to be aware at that.
I found myself laughing my head off at a comment about a receptionist being too pretty, a reception area needs someone with less looks and more brains! Ugh these books are something.
There's a lot to overlook in these books in terms of race and gender.

Beatrix Potter is a fascinating woman and this book gave me further insight into her character, her ambitions and her true love of the natural world. In a lot of ways it feels like she was the David Attenborough of her time.

I knew she gave a lot of land to the National Trust but I didn't realise the full extent of her donation.

At the time of posting this book is available on Kindle Unlimited.

This is was relatable and traumatic for me to read, while at the same time fully engaging me on how as a society we deal with death, the dying and grief. The horror was there, but not in the magical way it was when reading this as a teen, but in a very horrific raw way.

Louis will stay with me for a long time, I can't help feeling I'd act the same way given the opportunity.

Five stars.

This is everything I love in a family saga that only Vincenzi can pull together. The era of the 60's & 70's, the socialites, the designer labels, the Vidal Sassoon 5 point bob. The era of women finding their voices, their strengths, the internal struggles of their pasts, societies expectations and their ambitions.

I adore all female characters Vincenzi writes, they are complex, have a well of depth and come alive on the page.

Five glam stars.

Full disclosure, I have only been to HK for a long weekend so I know that I didn't fully understand or have any deep insight into the stories as I felt many of these relied on the reader to understand the history, myths and legends of the country.

Standout entries for me where:
- Interview with the old guy
- Taxi for Madam Cheong
- Location, Location, Location
- Single in the city
- Hong Kong Pond

Three stars.

I lost my 30 year old sister in January 2022. My most loved human. A full decade younger than me.
Finding this book which is solely focused on out of order deaths has helped. It hasn't made things easier, my grief is still the heavy immovable object it was before, but I feel seen, understood.
Megan spoke my language and I know I will reread chapters again over the course of my life. Grief is love and love lasts forever.
It's OK that I'm not OK.

I didn't like this storyline or the characters (although I do get the feeling that they were meant to be unlikeable), I didn't feel invested in this in any way.

I'm also not entirely sure I understood the ending, I'm left feeling confused but hey ho, plenty more books on the shelves.

This is part of the Hush collection.

At the time of posting this collection is available on Kindle Unlimited.

I kind of wish it was a full length novel because there's a really good premise here which didn't work for me in 30 pages but I think it would in 300.

When a celebrity couple's daughter goes missing, the world goes into a spin.

I like the characters a lot, I think I just needed more from this as I'm left unsatisfied.

This is part of the Hush collection.

At the time of posting this collection is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Liz and Phil have been married for a long time, perhaps too long in Phil's opinion.

This isn't the first time Liz has checked Phil's phone and this isn't the first time Phils been caught out.

But whose deceiving who here?

This is part of the Hush collection.

At the time of posting this collection is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Fitz has been a journalist for a very long time, when news was facts and not opinions. He pounds the pavement day after day, checking his facts multiple times and always makes the 7pm deadline for the printed paper. Pounding the digital pavement and posting about cats in pj's as news has no appeal to Fitz.

This is probably the best 93 page short story I've ever read. It has everything and is paced perfectly.

I loved the 600 Hours of Edward trilogy by this author and was so looking forward to trying his other works but sadly I didn't care for the characters or the plot of this one.

I also found it super confusing having two characters with the same name and one of them testing out a new name. I don't feel this was a great choice by the author.

At the time of posting this book is available on Kindle Unlimited.

We meet Caroline as a young child and stay with her right the way through to her life as a grandmother. We are there when she loses her virginity, her first pregnancy, her first love, her first loss.

Split between Suffolk UK and Hollywood this is a book of two sides told within the unpublished The Tinsel Underneath manuscript.

Easy five stars.

Set I'm Nigeria, Treasure is obsessed with her Instagram account. The goal is 5,000 followers, getting that blue tick and becoming an influencer.

It just takes one post to pose a threat to the whole dream, just one tiny mistake on one single post and the cards can come tumbling down.

As long as you delete it fast, its going to be OK. Right?

At the time of posting this collection is available on Kindle Unlimited.

This 30 odd page short story is told from the perspective of Leah. Leah lives on an island with her siblings and Father as there is war on the mainland. They need to build a wall, and fast, war is getting ever closer.

And that's all you need to know.

This is part of the Hush collection. At time of posting this collection is available on Kindle Unlimited.

This is a such an interesting subject. Are police outdated, is there a better system? This book definitely gets you thinking.

While other countries are mentioned this primarily focuses on America however there's a lot here that translates to UK and other countries in my opinion.

Four stars. A great topic however this is non fiction in its driest form which isn't a favourite of mine.

Book six in the Objects of Attraction series which at time of posting is available on Kindle Unlimited.

It's Nell's first day at topiary, she's attempting to sculpt a penguin out of a bush when she catches the attention of Harry and from there her career takes an interesting turn.

I've enjoyed this series. All the books have a been decent three star reads. They are fun, short and perfect between heavier books.

This story is told backwards. We meet Robbie and Emily in their eighties, the first chapter is Robbie's last day, following on from that each section of the book takes us back a decade or two. It's not until the very last chapter that we can see how their lives have played out, how the domino effect really started.

I enjoyed this a lot, it felt like watching a film in reverse. Great concept, I'd pick up more titles from this author.

Book five in the Objects of Attraction series which at time of posting is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Voilet takes on the job of Marketer for famous author Peter who eventually finds out the secret she's been hiding from him.

There was a few plot holes in this one that grated a bit but its less than 200 pages and the whole series is just a bit of fun so no big deal.

Three stars.

The final book in the First Law trilogy and I'm giving myself a massive pat on the back for completing this.

This was my first ever dip into the grim dark fantasy genre. I'm always game to try anything but I'm not sure I'd rush back to read anything more from this sub genre as its not really for me.

There was a handful of characters in these books that I had an interest in and I'm glad I saw their stories through to the end.

Book four in the Objects of Attraction series which at time of posting is available on Kindle Unlimited.

In the communal postal area in her apartment block, Lilith find a package in her hole that doesn't belong to her. The package belongs to Liam, the guy across the corridor. It would seem that her package has incorrectly been assigned to Liams hole. Lilith is annoyed.

Another fun easy reading installment in this series.

Three stars.

Ren died at 17, not quite making her 18th birthday and her Father gets a memorial bench in her name.

The whole book is from Ren's view as a bench. The same scenery, the same memorial benches beside her, the passing dog walkers, joggers, drunks.

As Ren begins to look back at her life, we start to understand what happened the day of her death and as her family and friends visit her bench, we get snippets of what's happened since.

Available on KU

Book two in the First Law trilogy and I was definitely into this more than I was book one but I can't say I love it, I'm interested enough to know how it all wraps.

Logan Ninefingers is still the character I'm the most into and I really liked his relationship with Ferro, I think their initial intimate scene was the most realistic I'd ever read!

I did feel a bit more interested in Glokta than I was previously.

This is book three in the Objects of Attraction.

Emily is an artist who Ryan engages in his corporate Halloween event and from there romance blossoms.

I really like this series, its never going to win any awards but the books are fun, very easy reading and perfect reads between heavier books.

At the time of posting this series is available on Kindle Unlimited.

I love a Martina Cole book and think she has a really unique voice in her genre but this book is far to repetitive.

Cole however is great at bringing her characters to life on the page and the O'Hara family were no different. I love how she pulls together her female characters especially, while some are in traditional family roles, they are hard as nails with such strong voices and they aren't doormats which is great and really refreshing.

Well this was a nice surprise, a solid thriller with older characters is always appreciated.

Flinton On Sea (which is definitely Frinton for those from that part of the UK) has a secret. Rumor has it that there is a child killer amongst the population who has been housed there by the protection services and as the rumour takes hold, everyone is under suspicion.

I'm so glad this is the end of the duology because I don't think I could take another sentence.

Loved the TV show! Book one was disappointing in comparison. Book two should never have existed.

There's no plot or point, rhyme or reason here.

This is two hundred pages of Sugar being outrageous, she has a view on everything and it's all vile.

One star.

Set in Thailand, this is a really thought provoking look at the sex industry in Bangkok.
This is fiction but has a feel of non fiction about it. The author has written for the Daily Mail and this is extremely easy to binge your way through.
This is the story of Pete and Joy. Pete is a British expat living his best life in Bangkok while writing up a travel book. Joy is a dancer in a local bar reliant on sex tourism to support her family.
4 stars