Book after Book

Having previously loved reading TheLife-Changing Magic of Tidying , I just had to pick up the follow-up to the book:  Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo , translated by Cathy Hirano. There is so much that sparked joy for me in this book: the adorable illustrations, the thorough index, the useful tips, the references to Japanese culture and the pervasive sense of respect for the things that serve us purpose, or that don’t. With bookshelves still laden with tomes, even after my attempt at letting go of some, my attention was drawn once again to the topic of books: When you’ve finished tidying your books, step back and take a good look at your bookshelves. What kinds of words leap out at you from the titles on their spines? […]  The energy of book titles and the words inside them are very powerful. In Japan, we say that ‘words make our reality’. The words we see and with which we come into contact tend to bring about even...

Today I am very pleased to congratulate author J.I. Davenport on the publication of his debut novel, Mercutio , and to welcome you all to my stop on the blog tour. First of all, what is the book about? Return to the sensuous world of Romeo and Juliet to discover the story of Mercutio, Verona’s most flamboyant citizen! Prancing on the sidelines of the bitter feud between the House of Montecchi and Capuleti, Mercutio harbours his own secret conflict: he is hopelessly in love with his best friend, Romeo Montecchi. When he spies true love blossoming between Romeo and a young Capuleti girl one fateful summer’s eve, Mercutio fears he has finally lost the man he loves, forever. Turning to drink, drugs and ever wilder escapades in an effort to ease his aching heart, Mercutio starts to come off the rails, hurtling towards his own spectacular fate… As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew I had to have this book. I mean, I am from Verona after all: loving all things Romeo and Juliet is ...

By Victoria Hislop Published by Headline Review Synopsis: Athens 1941. After decades of political uncertainty, Greece is polarised between Right- and Left-wing views when the Germans invade. Fifteen-year-old Themis comes from a family divided by these political differences. The Nazi occupation deepens the fault-lines between those she loves just as it reduces Greece to destitution. She watches friends die in the ensuing famine and is moved to commit acts of resistance. In the civil war that follows the end of the occupation, Themis joins the Communist army, where she experiences the extremes of love and hatred and the paradoxes presented by a war in which Greek fights Greek. Eventually imprisoned on the infamous islands of exile, Makronisos and then Trikeri, Themis encounters another prisoner whose life will entwine with her own in ways neither can foresee. And finds she must weigh her principles against her desire to escape and live. As she looks back on her life, Themis...

Welcome to the blog tour for On The Up by Alice O’Keeffe , published on November 14 th by Coronet and bound to be one of my favourite books this month! Today I am extremely pleased to be able to share with you a Q&A with the author: Hi Alice! First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the publication of On The Up ! Can you please briefly tell us what it is about? A: On The Up is about a young mum, Sylvia, who has not quite achieved the vision that she always had of family life. She and her husband Obe are living with their two children on a council estate, and she dreams of a terraced house on a leafy street. But when the estate is earmarked for redevelopment, Sylvia is forced to reconsider her priorities. The book is about family, relationships, and community, and figuring out what is worth fighting for. Did you have the plot entirely figured out when you started writing the book or did it take an unexpected turn as the characters grew on the page? A: I had...

I don’t normally do this but today I am going to write about two books instead of one. The reason for them sharing the spotlight is double. First of all, they both are books that I wouldn’t normally be drawn to. Lastly, they both touched me in an incredibly profound way and, when this happens, my words dry up and feelings take over, making the process of writing a review slightly awkward. First up, purely based on the fact that I read it before the other, is Becoming by Michelle Obama . This is one of the few memoirs I've read and I chose it because I had heard a lot of positive feedback. I became curious and I am so happy I did. I am not what you might call a ‘political person’ so I wasn’t biased one way or the other. As I said, I don’t know how to convey what this book gave me so, please, go and read it. Or even better, listen to the audiobook because hearing it first-hand from Michelle Obama herself is a wonderfully human and humbling experience. The second book I’d li...

By Karin Slaughter Published by HarperCollins Synopsis: It begins with an abduction.  The routine of a family shopping trip is shattered when Michelle Spivey is snatched as she leaves the mall with her young daughter. The police search for her, her partner pleads for her release, but in the end… they find nothing. It’s as if she disappeared into thin air. A month later, on a sleepy Sunday afternoon,  medical examiner Sara Linton is at lunch with her boyfriend Will Trent, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. But the serenity of the summer’s day is broken by the wail of sirens. Sara and Will are trained to help in an emergency.  Their jobs – their vocations – mean that they run  towards  a crisis, not away from it. But on this one terrible day that instinct betrays them both. Within hours the situation has spiralled out of control; Sara is taken prisoner; Will is forced undercover. And the fallout will lead them into the Appalachi...

By Alice Feeney Published by HQ   Synopsis: Aimee Sinclair: the actress everyone thinks they know but can’t remember where from. But I know exactly who you are. I know what you’ve done. And I am watching you. When Aimee comes home and discovers her husband is missing, she doesn’t seem to know what to do or how to act. The police think she’s hiding something and they’re right, she is – but perhaps not what they thought. Aimee has a secret she’s never shared, and yet, she suspects that someone knows. As she struggles to keep her career and sanity intact, her past comes back to haunt her in ways more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. How did this book end up in my hands? I read a 10-part serialisation of the book via The Pigeonhole ahead of publication. Was it a page-turner? Yes, I am sure that had I had the physical copy of the book in my hands, I would have finished reading it in a couple of days. Did the book meet my expectations? It did in...