The oldest book on my kindle. This was an intriguing premise - down at luck writer travels with cast and backers of a movie to Cannes for the films debut - on the way learning everyone story. It was beautiful telling of the early 1950s and the glamour of Italy but it was an ensemble book that picked the wrong 2 protagonists - would love to have read the Contessa story more than Stella and Hal‘s

Beautifully written, a light touch that nonetheless brings the pain and fear of Northern Ireland at the peak of the troubles to life. Cushla is not an easy to like protagonist but her challenges, her ambiguous relationship with her religion, her deep care for her student soften off the edges of some of her poorer decisions. Would be a five star read but for the fact I was a bit icked out by the ‘great love story‘ which felt v unhealthy to me

The kind of book I set N alarm to get up early to finish. Twisty and turny FBI murder mystery with a forensic linguist as the main character. It was this detail and the power of words that made this a cut above. Really enjoyed !

At my parents and just unearthed this box of listen along / read along tapes from my childhood! Sad to say we don‘t have a tap player anymore !

This has taken me three weeks - it felt like a real chunkster and at times a real slog. As ever with Penman the research is fabulous and the characters including the often forgotten women jumping the page, alive and vibrant. This is the 4th in her quintet about Henry, Elinor and their children and most is based around Richard‘s crusade and it is a little too battley for me! Did enjoy my last chapters and cocktail though

This is a book about wealthy, entitled girls and all the ways the intensity of female friendship especially as teenagers can be so overwhelming - in this case with tragic consequences. I found the 10 years later plot line frustrating - the mystery wasn‘t all that and I felt like we never really got To know Bess. She is frozen. A low pick mostly for the quality of writing and the feeling it captured.

Gosh. Hardest ‘easy book‘ the protagonist Iris stumbles across (on social media) the woman she thinks responsible for the breakup of her marriage… except now there is no sight of her (ex)husband. What there is however is a growing social media presence.,, 2 kids and a husband who is NOT Iris‘ex. Shenanigans follow. So many feelings about this. Iris is clearly hurting and does something terrible. That being said let‘s thread below 🧵

An, at times, saccharine neighbourhood story about 2 houses that share a garden and 2 generations of its occupants. I was probably more invested in the older Alma and Mayas story but appreciated the echoes of Mayas story in Winston‘s own immigrant experience. A gentle read and the emerging and beautiful garden felt very springlike.

I set myself my own version of my favourite challenge #booked given it is not, for understandable reasons running. My husband and I had fun setting date related challenges and my book of poetry for WH Auden birthday was an enigma. I find poetry super intimidating but was pleased with this choice. The structure of many of the poems are deceptively simple (4 line verses, mostly alternating rhyme) but there were many poems here that will stick ⬇️

I wanted so badly to love this but I just struggled. It may be where I am at the moment but bit I was just caught in what was heartbreakingly sad story of toxic parenting echoing through multiple generations.

Just picked a new book, realised I had not made my list, made my list and then spotted the tag and realised the book I have ok led for this evening is my spin! Serendipity!

Absolutely loved this. Great historical fiction based on a fascinating and complex character who the author does a great job of presenting. I also really appreciated the authors note - Mila is a character who will stick with me and excitingly @Andrew65 it‘s also book 11 that I already owned #readaway2024

My #bookedintime for the Russian revolution tells us little of the revolution but a good deal on the minutiae of the last days & weeks of the Romanov‘s. Clearly a passion project of research this is only a soft pick for me. the research sang louder than plot or character - this may be because the set up of the novel is a man in his 90s recording his memories of something that happened in his teens but the story loosing something in his voice

This was at time difficult but very powerful story of a teenage girl coming to grips with the loss of her favourite uncle to AIDS and her general feelings of loneliness and lack of connection from her family. There‘s too much in here for the length of the novel - a storyline with her sister that is rushingly resolved, a parental backstory or two and the main storyline where she befriends her uncles boyfriend but for all that a good read

#tlt @dabbe plays or dramas
The crucible
The audience
Pygmalion
Bonuses This house & a dolls house 2 of the better things I have seen in the last few years. Oh and if I have to have a Shakespeare is probably a Henry I have a soft spot for the histories)
Top musicals
Hamilton
Anything goes
Blood brothers
mention to Gypsy (Imelda Stauntons performance in the last 20 minutes best thing I have seen. miss Saigon, my first ‘big London show‘

One to sit with for a while. The museum setting was fabulous and the tension and angst running through the hot summer added to the gothic feel. The storyline, tarot cards, divination and more could have been great but for the characters. Ann, the main protagonist is beyond bland and all the relationships and interactions felt forced and 2 dimensional. I ended up not caring as much as I could for either the mystery or the people

This is a thoughtful and compelling story about 2 friends (neither of whom are easy to like) torn apart by the tragic consequences of differing views on vaccines. The author does well to make both sympathetic if not at times infuriating in their positions. The varied anonymous voices in the short italicised chapters also add more voice and colour.

Read as a book in translation for my own little challenge of the year. The language in this is at times distractingly over the top - sentences and sentences where a word@or two might have worked but because of dispute this I found this mystery about an aristocratic family dark and compelling. Galicia is at times a character with its unpredictable weather and folklore. Lots of trigger warning lots of deaths!

#wonderouswednesday @Eggs fun one ! 1. It‘s either late 90s pop - think Britney, 5ive etc or the fairly niche Gloria by Laura Brannigan (also my move quickly to try tube station song!) 2. Honestly anywhere with a temperate to warm climate near the coast I am not fussy I just want sunshine for several months a year and the sound of the sea 3. Disconnecting, baths, getting to swim a few times a week, meaningful time with my husband, dog walks

I wanted to love this. WW2, strong female protagonist, books … sounds 100pc up my street and yet unfortunate it was a very soft like for me. I was left with an overwhelming sense that thjs was a book I had already read and books that tackled the difficult topics better. There was almost too much happening here and that might reflect reality of scary, chaotic lives at war there was not enough depth to convince me. Would have preferred a narrower ⬇️

My love of Louisa may Alcott is I think we‘ll publicised here - I have been to orchard House many years ago and today managed to squeeze a spare hour out of a work@trip to go see both of her Boston houses .. this one where she spent her later years is beautiful

This is exceptionally researched and exceptionally well written and all sorts of horrifying. The story of the KKK startling and speedy growth in 1920s heartlands, esp Indiana. At the centre a deeply dislikeable man whose violence and hypocrisy eventually brought him down after a savage (TW described in detail) attack on a young woman. So much to reflect on, and perhaps learn.

My first ever #bookspin - as a mood reader who is also trying to join in some prompts and challenges this year I have been pretty vague but this seems to be what people love about this challenge is it‘s flexibility ! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks

Sneaked in another of @DebinHawaii recommendations for #auldlangspine2024 and I loved it. Heartbreaking story of friendship and family over the course of one summer in a neighbourhood grappling with poverty, gangs and it‘s actual eradication and the buildings are demolished. Powerful and both sad and yet optimistic. Beware numerous trigger warnings

This was a hard read. Hard,dark, upsetting content that I would have given up on but for the fact the plot and storytelling was so compelling. I wanted to know what happened very badly but also feel like I need to steam clean my brain. Read for my own challenge this year as a Nordic noir it was defiantly noir !

Booked was my favourite reading challenge for how random but achievable it was for me. When I realised it wasn‘t running this year I co-opted my husband to help me recreate the same sense of challenge. He picked 18 ‘days of the year‘ and we then found someone who shared the same day as a birthday for 12 of them creating a 24 book challenge. No. 1 - a non fiction on a subject I know nothing about for world education day is proving to be dark.

Bought this in an airport last year but didn‘t get to it until my #auldlangspine recs from @DebinHawaii I LOVED it. June, the narrator tries to justify stealing her dead friends manuscript & passing it off as her own. We see her narcissism, her ‘i‘m not racist but in first person which makes her awfulness also kind of captivating. A satire of sorts about publishing, social media & cancel culture. Compelling

My second of @DebinHawaii recs for #auldlangsspine2024 and it‘s another pick from me too! This is a really lovely, and occasionally laugh out loud romantic comedy following an author turned ghost writer who can see ghosts. I always think the best romance stories are really rich in secondary characters & scene setting and have something else to say; this has that in droves. wonderful underlying tale of familial love, great small town and more

So first up this has been on my kindle for eons and I don‘t know why I ever bought it. Secondly I had hoped it would be my Jan #bookedintime but it‘s 200 years too late and thirdly it‘s one of the most grown up children‘s books I have ever read!! With all that out of the way I absolutely loved this story about a young girl with no family and limited prospects who as second chamber maid joins her widowed lady on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem ⬇️

This is the first of the books off my #Auldlangspine pairing @DebinHawaii and I loved it. A period piece set post WW1 featuring a spunky female lead fighting for her place in a university staff who decides to investigate a poisoning. All the feel of a country house comedy with stoic policemen and an attractive but damaged male love interest this was fun in an enolaholmes sort of a way. I really enjoyed thank you !

Why this has been on my kindle for 7 years I do not know but what a great first read of the year. Part legal thriller, part journalistic. Investigation this fictional novel is ringing with anger about global supply chains and the impact they have in the developing world. Better than I am making it sound this was almost a 5 star read for me

Bit of an odd one this - I have been dipping in and out for a few weeks. On one hand a fascinating loose fiction of war time comings and goings in Lisbon on the other a spraling cast it was@difficult to emotionally connect with

I have continued to play along with #booked23 whilst understanding all the reasons why the team behind it pulled it for the year and I am proud to have finished it with this gift from a Litsy swap from @jhod last year! As ever in essays there are some you like more (Japan) than others (France) but this was a lovely little book of peace to dip in and out of through the Christmas season (it‘s also book 100‘of the year!)

#tlt not a resolution sort of person BUT right now on my mind are,
1️⃣get work & life a better balance 2️⃣ be more active - open to what that looks like 3️⃣ read more intentionally. I always loved #booked for forcing me to try new things & have done versions of #mounttbr. This year my own challenge in the vein of booked which I want to meet https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/0f914e97-3b02-4b25-a51b-32dc722...

Despite my best efforts reading this whilst cooking Christmas dinner was not a success but did take me a lovely hour yesterday when everyone else went on a dog walk

I am in awe of @monalyisha ability to watch up folks for #auldlangspine. This year I have been paired with @DebinHawaii and I am so excited about the list. We overlapped on one and I have four of her selections already sitting in either a pile or on the kindle! But in true fashion I have picked the tagged to be my first read with a quick download getting me ready for Jan!

Thank you @AbigailJaneBlog for my fabulous #Jólabókaflod gift and thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for organising. I love it although am worried about the covetous eye my dad is passing to the chocs!

My #jolabokaflodswap2023 arrives this morning thank you so much A.Steer can‘t wait to open ! @MaleficentBookDragon

#tlt this is fun - I think I‘d want something winters and snowy va typical Uk grey and damp Christmas! So I‘ll say 1. Canada 2. Finland 3. Austria

Winging this way to the Netherlands and without the card I wrote and left at home! Sorry will@post tomorrow ! @MaleficentBookDragon #jolabokafooswap

So excited to have caught the sign ups for this year thanks for all you do on this one @monalyisha and also thanks for your very funny explanation of how you make it through winter on the sign up sheet!

Had this on the kindle for ages but avoided as I didn‘t like the third book in the series but this one was a return to form. We learn more about the dragons and their culture as well as the wonder of the librarians language. I had picked this as my gaslight fantasy novel but it‘s a bit of a cheat as most happens in a different world to Irene‘s - one that is US jazz age all the way!

With thanks to @ju.ca.no who gifted me this which took me one step closer to #readingtheamericas23 it‘s a short story collection and as ever some are stronger than others. All are dark, some exceedingly so and the writing is sparse and kind of beautiful even when subject matter is macabre@and deeply disturbing . Not something I would have bought myself but a pick

Reluctantly picked this for love triangle for my ongoing effort to stick with booked23 even though it‘s finished and I don‘t like love triangles. And yet here I am, crying a tad at what is really 2 love stories - one of 2 people finding their way to each other and their forever but also a great exploration of a female friendship - highs and lows and all. Or it‘s the 2 glasses of wine I had, because it‘s been one heck of a week !

Picked this from my kindle backlog for a #booked23 entry and I was both confused and blown away and really would love to read it as a book club! Theee is no real plot just wonderfully drawn people and places until the town is the lead. Which is just as well as The main character is not introduced until a fir way in and then we lose her for 20 years of her life and what we see of her is not all that pleasant!

#womderouswedneaday @Eggs sliding in late with this but … 1) we decorate inside tree and nativity 2) we try and buy a decoration when we visit somewhere new so our tree is the story of our lives together - my favourite is probably a star we bought in a German market 20 years ago this year 3) I love Christmas music my absolute favourite will be niche and is the Christmas alphabet sung by dickie valentine!

There was much here that I thought I would love. The scene setting in the cold, isolated alps is excellent and the build up to a closed house mystery is good and it‘s a great closed house / hotel.. but then it gets messy! Overly complicated back story of the lead feels distracting and the actual who dun it didn‘t really capture my attention. #pantone2023 and will be my mountains #booked2023 which i want to finish regardless

If ever there was a niche post! I don‘t think I have ever felt so seen in actual published words. I have spent the last 10 plus years feeling like I have to justify where I came from, ‘cos someone thinks I didn‘t sound like it. Lot of ‘I am actually, yes I know it doesn‘t sound like it‘ etc etc (until I have a drink, am tired, or spend a weekend with the family!) all jokes aside though ⬇️

Uggh what a confusing book. Half way in I thought Keys had managed to write a book full of well fleshed out but awful people m, two thirds of the way in I thought I might dnf but my curiosity as to what happened to them all won through. Then before I know it I have almost finished and am cheering them on. All of which h to say it‘s a rich, detailed book full of well written people you probably wouldn‘t want to be friends with !

Written in poetry this is a beautiful, haunting story of the wars fought in Cuba to gain independence from Spain. The main character is Rosa a slave turned nurse who hides in the countryside helping all who cross her path regardless of allegiance. At the moment though it was Silvia a young girl escaped from the (first) ‘re concentration ‘ camps after all her family died of starvation or disease who might stay with me longest