This Week in Books is a feature hosted by Lipsy at Lipsyy Lost and Found that allows bloggers to share: What they’ve recently finished reading What they are currently reading What they are planning to read next A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words. It’s been another busy week of reading! I finished Night Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson, which I really enjoyed. In a slight change of plan, I then moved onto The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, and The Fervor by Alma Katsu. A ghost has no substance, but it has power – and presence – and it can a ..read more

Tracy Chevalier’s stunning novel of how one woman’s gift transcends class and gender to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century. A revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship. In the early nineteenth century, a windswept beach along the English coast brims with fossils for those with the eye… From the moment she’s struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Anning is marked for greatness. When she uncovers unknown dinosaur fossils in the cliffs near her home, she sets the scientific world alight, challenging ideas about th ..read more

In the small French village of Lansquenet, nothing much has changed in a hundred years. Then an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, blows in on the changing wind with her young daughter, and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church. Soon the villagers cannot keep away, for Vianne can divine their most hidden desires. But it’s the beginning of Lent, the season of abstinence, and Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock. Perhaps even a witch. If Vianne’s chocolaterie is to survive, it will take kindness, courage and a little bit of magic… Chocolat is a nove ..read more

This Week in Books is a feature hosted by Lipsy at Lipsyy Lost and Found that allows bloggers to share: What they’ve recently finished reading What they are currently reading What they are planning to read next A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words. It’s been a busy week of reading! I finished Chocolat by Joanne Harris which I absolutely loved, and then moved onto Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier and The Mother Code by Carole Stivers. In the small French village of Lansquenet, nothing much has changed in a hundred years. Then an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher ..read more

Spell the month in books is hosted by Jana at https://reviewsfromthestacks.wordpress.com/ who suggests a theme each month. As I just like to look over my bookshelves and pick out titles old and new (I’ve already found so many books that I want to reread through doing this!), I’m doing my own thing and picking those titles that grab my attention each month. As I’ve been absent recently, I’ve combined March and April into a single post. I’ve already planned out the whole year, and it would be a shame to let all that hard work go to waste! My choices for March (with links to my reviews if availa ..read more

Maurice and Maralyn couldn’t be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems an unlikely romance, but it works. Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn has an idea: sell the house, build a boat, leave England and its oil crisis, industrial strikes and inflation – forever. It is hard work, turning dreams into reality, but finally they set sail for New Zealand. Then, halfway there, their beloved boat is struck by a whale and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. On their tiny raft, their love is put to the test. When Maurice beg ..read more

This Week in Books is a feature hosted by Lipsy at Lipsyy Lost and Found that allows bloggers to share: What they’ve recently finished reading What they are currently reading What they are planning to read next A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words. The last book I finished reading was Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst, a brilliant non-fiction book charting the titular couple’s experiences of being adrift in the Pacific Ocean for 118 days! Maurice and Maralyn couldn’t be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems ..read more

Here are a few of the books that I’m particularly looking forward to in the coming weeks and months (you can find my post for Q1 here). As ever, there are lots of wonderful books to look forward to, and these are just a few of the ones that I’m particularly excited about. Publication dates are correct at time of writing. Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz Hawthorne and Horowitz Book 5 (Penguin, 11 April) Richmond Upon Thames is one of the most desirable areas to live in London. And Riverview Close – a quiet, gated community – seems to offer its inhabitants the perfect life. At least it does u ..read more

Hey everyone – remember me?  It’s been a while (this is my first post since 21 February! ) and while I’d love to say that I’ve just been too busy having fun and adventures since then, it’s simply not the case.  I had a bit of a rough time at work – nothing serious, I was just a little overwhelmed – which meant that blogging was the last thing I felt like doing in my spare time.  That passed, as those things do, and since then… well, I have no excuse but utter laziness, and so what was intended to be a brief break to get me through a rough patch became an unintended and extended ..read more

This Week in Books is a feature hosted by Lipsy at Lipsyy Lost and Found that allows bloggers to share: What they’ve recently finished reading What they are currently reading What they are planning to read next A similar meme is run by Taking on a World of Words. Things remain busy, particularly at work, and so my reading pace has slowed down from January. The last book I finished reading was Bitch by Lucy Cooke which I reviewed yesterday. What does it mean to be female? Mother, carer, the weaker sex? Think again. In the last few decades a revolution has been brewing in zoology a ..read more