Book after Book

Welcome to the blog tour for The Silence In Between by Josie Ferguson! More about the book… The Silence in Between  is a historical novel based in Berlin in 1961 and during the Second World War. Lisette lives in East Berlin but brings her new-born baby to a hospital in West Berlin. Under doctor's orders, she goes home to rest, leaving the baby in the care of the hospital. But overnight the border between East and West closes, slicing the city - and the world - in two. With a city in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross, her situation is desperate. Lisette's teenage daughter, Elly, has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. Both live for music but while Elly hears notes surrounding every person she meets, for her mother - once a talented pianist - the world has gone silent. Perhaps Elly can do something t...

By Jessica J. Lee Published by Virago Press Synopsis: At the age of twenty-eight, Jessica Lee, who grew up in Canada and lived in London, finds herself in Berlin. Alone. Lonely, with lowered spirits thanks to some family history and a broken heart, she is there, ostensibly, to write a thesis. And though that is what she does daily, what increasingly occupies her is swimming. So she makes a decision that she believes will win her back her confidence and independence: she will swim fifty-two of the lakes around Berlin, no matter what the weather or season. She is aware that this particular landscape is not without its own ghosts and history. This is the story of a beautiful obsession: of the thrill of a still, turquoise lake, of cracking the ice before submerging, of floating under blue skies, of tangled weeds and murkiness, of cool, fresh, spring swimming - of facing past fears of near drowning and of breaking free. When she completes her year of swimming Jessica finds she has...

I love bookshops! Yes, no surprise there, I imagine... Anyway, this is the lovely Berliner Büchertisch in Berlin!

Am I too late to write a post about my top 5 books in 2017?  Yes? No? I can't hear you so I'll just go ahead! Without further ado, here are the books I loved last year: 1) The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga Very simplistically, it could be described as a rag to riches story with the Indian caste system thrown in. Absolutely fascinating. I couldn't put it down.  2) Big Brother by Lionel Shriver This should really be in joint first place. Adoring sister helps obese brother get back on the right track. I drank every word of this book only to find myself chocking at the end. Only McEwan's Atonement has had this effect on me so far and that's another book I love! 3) Gloria by Kerry Young This was a book group read and I spent the first 50 pages wondering how on earth I would be able to read the Jamaican dialect it was written in. I just wanted to correct grammar and spelling - and I'm not even an English native speaker. And then it happened: Glo...