Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac – Naomi is co-editor of the school’s yearbook, along with her best friend Will Landsman. She plays tennis with Ace, her long-term boyfriend, making them a popular “it” couple at school. Naomi lives happily with her author dad, Grant following her parents divorce 3 years ago. After a huge fall down a flight of stairs while trying to rescue the school’s brand new $4,000 camera, Naomi suffers a head injury causing her to forget the last 4 years of her life. While flickering in and out of consciousness Naomi is greeted by the voice of a handsome teenage boy, (who tu ..read more

Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym for JK Rowling (Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy), I’m aware this confession will get me lynched – I’m not a fan of Harry Potter (books or the films) but I do adore these books. The Strike series has been turned into a highly successful BBC show starring Tom Burke (The Musketeers, War & Peace) as Cormoran Strike and Holliday Grainger (The Borgias, The Capture) as Robin Ellacott. I personally think the casting is near perfect. The Lethal White installment is due to air this Sunday. The Cuckoo’s Calling After having the final argument of his tumultuous re ..read more

Me Before You – Louisa Clark has recently been made redundant from her much loved job in the Butter Bun coffee shop, and after several failed jobs (a night-shift at the local chicken factory). To the surprise of all her family, Lou is employed by Mrs Traynor (a lawyer) to be a companion and caregiver to her son, as she suspects Louisa’s bubbly personality will help ease Will’s depressing life. Along with nurse Nathan, Louisa embarks on trips to the Races, Concerts etc to show Will that his life can still contain joy and happiness. ‘ “How dare you suggest I would do anything to hurt Will’s fe ..read more

All in the mind – London based psychiatrist, Professor Martin Sturrock’s Friday gets off to a ominous start as he receives a phone call informing him that his Aunt Jessica has died. Over the course of an extraordinary weekend we get introduced to a variety of Sturrock’s patients and learn about his unhappy private life, with his discontented wife Stella. ‘It was as though all the different parts of a psychological jigsaw had been hanging in space above…a big piece of the jigsaw was Professor Sturrock and the things he had said to her, which at the time she hadn’t really taken in, or even lis ..read more

The Longest Holiday Having found out that Matthew, her journalist husband of less than a year impregnated someone on his stag do, Laura decides to go on a much needed girl’s holiday, with best friend Marty and travel writer Bridget to Florida’s gorgeous Key West coast. ‘”Yes, Of course,” he replies quietly, but his words feel like a slap around my face. Of course he’s seen his son. Of course he has. But I wasn’t prepared for the pain of hearing this. I stifle a sob and hang up on him, then I turn my phone off. I cry so hard it triples the pain in my head, but it’s a long time before I can st ..read more

Little Fires Everywhere is set in Shaker Heights, a town where everything has a place, everyone has their own box with a label on it, every decision is made based on practicalities, never feelings and everyone is governed by the rules of this ordered society. This all comes to a head when artist Mia Warren and her 16 year-old daughter, Pearl move into the Richardson’s rental home and become intimately entwined in the Richardson’s lives. ‘In all her years of itinerant living, Mia had developed one rule: Don’t get attached. To any place, to any apartment, to anything. To anyone…But this, with ..read more

If I stay – Following a head on collison with a 4-ton truck on a snowy day, a family car crashes causing fatal injuries to Kat and Denny, parents to 7 year-old Teddy and 17 year-old Mia. Highly accomplished cellist Mia is stuck between life and death, forced to watched the valiant efforts of the rescue medical staff who are trying to save her own life and her little brother’s. “‘It’s OK,’ he tells me. ‘If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.’ His voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, a ..read more

The Prison Doctor – I was drawn to Dr Amanda Brown’s account of her journey from village GP to a Dr behind bars, as so often “prison stories” are (quite rightly) dominated by the inmates, so to have a book from the point of view of someone who cares for the inmates/residents is refreshing, as it provides a new perspective. ” ‘It’s like eating Ready Brek.’ ‘Ready Brek? The breakfast cereal?’ I asked. ‘Yeah, you get that glow inside you. Like the advert, when they start glowing when they eat it. The feeling cocoons you, wraps its arms around you and makes everything feel safe. You can face you ..read more

Ruth Hogan is the perfect author to be reading right now, during Covid-19 Lockdown as she shows the core goodness of people (which we are seeing in our key workers and friends), while not hiding from the harsh realities of the world. In Sally Red Shoes, a character called Alice struggles through a cancer diagnosis and treatment which is full of honestly and highlights human resilience. The Keeper of Lost Things is a lovely heartwarming novel perfect for sentimental people like me, who keeps (hoards) lots of little silly things (junk). Anthony Peardew is an author who has spent the majority o ..read more

At the end of April a BBC 3 adaption of the award winning Normal People will be released. It stars Daisy Edgar-smith who has appeared in Cold Feet & Gentleman Jack and Paul Mescal, best known for his theatre work. Normal People – Marianne Sheridan is an independent minded, sensitive young woman, who lives in a cold, stark white mansion where she experiences emotional abuse from her bully of a brother, Alan and her absent, snobbish mother, Denise. Life for Marianne at school isn’t much better, rejected by her peers for being different, clever and thoughtful she exists in social exile whi ..read more