I admired more than I loved this one. Beautifully written and intellectually rich, it lives almost entirely inside the mind of Aaliya Saleh, a solitary woman in her seventies whose life has been shaped by books, music, and war-scarred Beirut. Witty, scathing, and quietly feminist, it was not pacy! I‘m glad I read it, even if it did slow down my start to the year. .

This is an intriguing if somewhat hodge podge of a book. A loosely dual timelined novel which follows in the first person Lesley a British woman in penang just after WW1 and the real author Somerset Maugham who visits her and her husband for 2 weeks and whilst there has Lesley share her personal story. There is a lot going on in this one and i did not warm to the characters but the writing is lush and the sense of place compelling.

#auldlangspine @BennettBookworm so pleased this was on your list for this year a great way to round off my reading from your list! This is a series of mails and interviews that you follow along with 2 investigators. For much of the book you don‘t know what the crime that is being investigated is and it really kept me guessing. The end result was something of a letdown but only because the rest of the book was so interesting

And again somewhat belatedly here is my some things about me for #auldlangspine

My #auldlangspine list again shows how awesome @monalyisha is at creating matches. I can;t wiat to get into this great list from @Born.A.Reader I think it's going to be the Kings Jewel first as I have read a few of the same author and really enjoyed but Beatiful Ugly is calling me too! The Judy Blume book also looks right up my street!

Reviewing a memoir is always tough it is after all someone life. This one is a especially so - Tias story is difficult to read and courageously told - the downward trajectory of her early years and marriage as her husband falls deeper into his own issues and pulls the family into greater abuse all ‘justified‘ through the sway of a series of preachers and evangelical churches. She suffered a great deal and is very open about her healing

Thank you @BennettBookworm this wa on this years #aulangsyne list and I just got round to reading. What an absolute joy of a book this was. I loved India and her family and I loved reading a different kind of story about adoption by one who knows. Loved it!!

Light from the inside
Showing tantalising stacks
Doorways to other worlds

Hi @haikuhive it‘s been a while!

@dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Is it a crime thriller? Literary fiction? Historical? In reality a blend of all with some special sauce thrown in. This is a compelling story set on a plantation turned historical site, and the families who have lived there for generations, both the enslaved and the free.

This was a super unsettling novel that I think might have done well with some trigger warnings. Laelia and her family stay in Belize after a family holiday goes wrong. A creepy story where I was never quite sure who was good and who wasn‘t.. Beautifully written I love how the jungle (and the orchids) became part of the tense, tight atmosphere 📸 is actually Costa Rica

Skeletons was an interesting read from an author I enjoyed a good deal when I was younger. As a family story it had a couple of layers, truth, marriage when children leave, the difference between perception and reality. But for that I found Jen the main character super annoying and her husband and his family were creepily perfect. Well written but not for me - nice sunset for the last chapters though !

Well this was weird. Good weird (I think) but very odd. Post war a young artist is hired by Dali to be his muse for a series of paintings of prosperpina (Persephone). They and his small entourage travel to the sacra boso - an overgrown estate full of mythical carvings and odd things happen. Gothic with a side helping of myth and fantasy it kept me hooked. The author is clearly into food and there is a lot of bonkers meals in this one !

Not sure why I had this but anyway… a story of instalove whilst insterrailing gone awry. Ellie and ash vow to meet again but he is a no show. Ellie closes down and throws herself into work until Ash reappears. As ‘why don‘t you just talk to each other‘ plot twists go it‘s a good one but overall felt like it could have been lots of other books or films. Did love the strong sense of place and wales throughout

RNP was for a good time one of my go to authors. I enjoyed his issues based novels with political and legal settings. He returns to this model here. An up and coming liberal politician from Boston finds his past pushing him to Georgia where a young black man out canvassing and helping both poor and black people sign up to vote is arrested for killing a white police officer. It‘s powerfully written and clear the author is passionate ⬇️

This was a 99p kindle buy at some point and I enjoyed this one off fairytale - could have been anyoind adult but still v enjoyable. I am not sure I saw it as a retelling on sleeping beauty but more inspired by. An easy read with intriguing characters

Left my kindle at home so picked this up at the airport and ended up all but finishing same day. I really liked the main character and the premise of the book. I also thought. It shows great writing skill that so much of the novel is ‘tell‘ vs show because Margaret is narrating her family history but it‘s still compelling. Could have done without the forward love story - Margaret and Alice were enough for me

Absolutely back to form. In this outing Kim and her team are on loan to an unwilling Blackpool team trying to solve two abductions that no one is willing to say are in fact two and the main investigating team seem more than a little dirty. Great work by the team pulls together the bigger story in a really satisfying way.

#bookedintime25 catch up. A fascinating part of history that I knew nothing about, this dual timeline follows modern day Paloma as she digs into her father‘s past, -at the same time we see him and some of the choices he made. At times story telling was very tell and flat but I pushed through given topic and story. A timely reminder that war and terror echoes through the generations

This was fun and also clever. Our narrator is the art critic at a paper, up in Edinburgh sharing a flat for the fringe with her outspoken and opinionated male theatre critic colleague. We see the consequences of his harsh rating and somewhat misogynistic ways as he becomes the cancelled, yet topic of the performers revised show. Cancel culture, pop culture, critiquing all under the microscope. An almost perfect rea

catch up for #bookedintime. I recommend all note the TW. the racism and violence is almost relentless. Secondlyit‘s quite slow and overly hung up on descriptions of place (and I usually like that!). We follow William Thornhill from a life of nothing in London through some successes to when he loses it all again and is shipped to Australia. What then follows is he and his wife finding their way inc. the horrific interactions with the native ⬇️

Bought in prep for my last trip to the continent but actually finished whilst here I really@enjoyed this one. It‘s relatively short so you should not expect in depth history or analysis or even forward thinking. What you will get is rich insights, well researched context and a door opening to filling in even more of the gaps that I know I have as someone who studied history for 14 plus years and was never offered African history

This is predictable but still a lovely holiday read. Ali - the serious one of her family who has nonetheless made a career as a photographer runs away to ‘the lake‘ with her grandmother. One mopping up a broken heart, I dealing with a hip replacement. Shenanigans with the too good to be true Adonis next door follow. I liked the idea that Ali finds her own path with her career and siblings. The rest … good for a sweet tooth

Look it‘s taken a week and a bit of holiday from real life and I am haiku-ing again sorry #haikuhive @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair

A silly holiday read it follows a group of largely wealthy, highly privileged young adults as they leave their prestigious school and head off into the real world which they assume will open its arms for them. Regretfully a missing school‘mate‘ turns into a locked door murder mystery. It was fun more than scary but gosh the characters were largely awful!

Continuing to catch up on my #bookedintime @Cuilin is a complex character, easy to love but also to see her faults and where she is taking herself. A story of love and hope but also arrogance and fear. There is an elpheba- esque way she is creating her later problems and legacy

Continuing to catch up on my #bookedintime @Cuilin is a complex character, easy to love but also to see her faults and where she is taking herself. A story of love and hope but also arrogance and fear. There is an elpheba- esque way she is creating her later problems and legacy

Spotted that I had missed the final book in this series that I used to love and downloaded for my hols. Whilst Carson was as smart as ever this is missing a number of the things that made me enjoy the original books so much. Here 2 nursery catapult Ryder from Florida and away from restarting his partnership and across the country where lots of things happen to people it was hard to care about. I give it a so so maybe out of nostalgia #serieslove

This book which I had read advertised as a sort of sliding doors set of alternative lives based on a child‘s name was very well written (although is full of trauma and difficult domestic abuse scenes) but for me was more about what the act of naming the baby different names did for his mum and ultimately the father who I felt set the outcomes for each of the different flavours more than I would have liked. It felt a bit like him winning

I am making an effort to catch up on missed #bookedintime @Cuilin and thought this middle grade fiction might be the way to do it. talk about a not just for children! 3 siblings a year into the blight take to the road after their mother doesn‘t come back from trying to find their dad after the death of their youngest sibling. Life on the road is incredibly hard and starvation is near, yet they also see food being exported. A shameful truth.

A pairing of sorts with my last book I thought this was, whilst at times sadly predictable a very good read. Lorraine is smart & looking forward to acing her final year at school when a single night with her frankly disappointing boyfriend leaves her pregnant. Her parents send her to a home for unmarried mothers with an expectation she will surrender the baby. A reminder of the consequences of lack of choice and support.

A compassionate, empathetic, love filled book exploring the authors own abortion and life of experience in reproductive health as well as some of the people she has met along her way. It‘s taken me a while to get to this and I thought it was phenomenal - a book of real heart but also a loud wake up call as we see the erosion of options, the removal of choice & the vilification of those who seek abortions. shame it‘s unlikely to be read by all

When I was a teenager and first allowed to come to town on my own I often used to find myself down on the river front on the beautiful memorial to merchant seaman who died during WW2 where I‘d daydream and read (I wasn‘t what you‘d call a cool kid!) . Sneaky day off and home for the weekend I tried today and it‘s much windier and busier than I remember!

Less a retelling and more of an expansion of the story this was incredibly dark and yet compelling. In this reimagining lady Macbeth is a new bride, perhaps witch touched from Brittany arriving in dark Alba and seeing the starkness of the court and the violence and ambition of her new, cruel husband. There was much in this that was not for me but it was really well told and captures the darkness and fear of the original well.

Sorry @dabbe and the whole #haiku gang but life has been a v tough mix of sickness, commitments, work and house renovations and I am not quite holding it together so not been super active and unlikely to be for a while !

I thought I was going to love this initially - softly written but embedded in quiet thoughtful characterisation and an incredibly strong sense of place but in the end this little story of faith and what it means to believe and to ‘see‘ a vision felt a little flat. A low pick

I have been a huge fan of a poet on instagram called Lucas Jones for ages - he writes and performs powerfully and is a powerful and passionate voice for women‘s safety and rights, holds his mirror up to toxic masculinity & mental health issues. I just treated myself to a book of his poems from his own website and am trying not to gobble (not an isbn in sight!) this is one of my favourites - so many layers .

Not my favourite of hers. Great ensemble but missing trigger warnings all over the place and a little too trite and predictable. also I have apparently read this before and I remember it not even a tiny bit! I did however appreciate some of the great food descriptions in this one

Lovely afternoon at the. National theatre seeing michael sheen in Nye. Excellent stuff. @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

There is a customary style from Jodi Taylor here, a confidence that whatever slightly odd thing is happening on the page it‘s well thought through and going to be fine and as such it was an engaging read. Missing for me however was a real strong MC Elizabeth Cage I despite her interesting skills seems bland and not all that easy torture for. That said I am sure i will keep reading !

Popping back up with my sporadic additions! #haikuhive @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Whilst I didn‘t always love Lauren and Ryan I did find this story of when marriage gets hard really interesting. When they decided to split up for 12 months as an easier option than counselling I could have screamed but did end up enjoying some of the realisations that come with how marriages can become stale and hard. I also loved Lauren‘s family and would love to hear about how they get on

Last week I took myself off on an photography course to try intentional camera movement. It was so fun to run away from real life and try something new and for the simple pleasure of trying new things I wrote this one . And share this photo from my day … @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

I had Friday off work so it‘s quite greedy to want Monday off … and yet ! We don‘t get many nights where you can still be outside at 10 pm so I am taking this one @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

Other than a slightly rushed ending this was a phenomenal read and I feel a bit silly it‘s been sitting on the shelf for so long. I loved Sashi, a complex min character growing up as her future is radically changed by the beginning of the Sri Lankan civil war as she walks the complex line in an ever changing set of circumstances . A story about family, loyalty, truth I loved this one

I have had a lot of train revel in the last 24 hours and my hopes for peaceful reading time did not go quite as planned! @dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

another great turn out for Stone and her team which for this outing includes Frost the annoying yet principled journalist. A really interesting case that really gives room for everyone to do their best work, puzzles, data, intuition and more. A great return to form

I have always considered myself well read and connected and with my history degree aware of the politics of what is reported and what is not. For all of that I find in this time of connectedness it seems harder to find the things that matter @dabbe @Susanita
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal

@dabbe
@DebinHawaii
@Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal
How was your morning?! #haikuaday #haikuhive

This was interesting. British Colonel and his wife in post WW2 Hamburg. Lewis - strongly of the view that reconstitution is going to need kindness more than strong arms agreed to share his requisitioned home with its owners a widower and his angry 15 year old daughter. The set up was fascinating and I appreciated the colour of both Hamburg and the period but found the characters quite flat. There were other perspectives I would have liked to see

What‘s the collective noun for haikus - bashed these off today reflecting on the longest day of the year with thanks to @eggs for the prompt! @Mimi28
@TheBookHippie
@JenlovesJT47
@Reggie
@vivastory
@Eggs
@jdiehr
@TheSpineView
@CBee
@lil1inblue
@julieclair
@AnnCrystal