Goodreads: 3 books I should have read... but haven't!

Goodreads: 3 books I should have read... but haven't!

Sunday, 7 August 2016

Read post

I’ve read a lot of books in my life. Some of them I’ve loved and gone back to time and time again. Some of them I wouldn’t read again if you paid me. There are, however, a fair few books on my reading list that have been there for a long, long time, and I’m quite disappointed in myself for never having taken the time to pick them up and actually read them! In this little mini book series, I’m going to have a look at three books that I probably should have read by now, but just haven’t got around to yet!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I bought this book donkeys ago and people have been telling me to read it since my first year of A Level study. We did a module on Dystopian fiction and this was one of the possible texts that we could have used for a comparative essay. Needless to say, I didn’t choose it (I chose Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, if anyone cares) but it’s been on my list ever since. 2016 is the year when I finally get through and hopefully love this book!

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This is another text that made it onto the Dystopian fiction suggested reading list but never made it out the other end! It’s was also suggested background reading for a French feminist literature module I took a few years ago. My excuses as to why I’ve not bothered with this one are pretty poor, so I’m just going to buy it and see what the fuss is all about.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

This one’s a bit of a funny one as it’s not actually all that popular, unless I’m much mistaken, but the storyline really stands out as being one that I’d be really interested in. I’m hoping to get this one bought at the end of the month when I’ve been paid so it should be up for a little September summary review!

Have you read any of these? What else should I be giving a whirl? Let me know!

Book Review: Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas

Book Review: Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas

Thursday, 4 August 2016

Read post

A few months back, I read and reviewed The Sisters by Claire Douglas. I loved the book and I loved Claire Douglas and her style of writing. When another of her books popped up on Netgalley, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy and get my hands on a copy I did. As it’s a psychological thriller (aka, my favourite genre of books) I had high hopes and high expectations for the novel and I’m pleased to report that this one satisfied and ticked all the right boxes.

The story flips between the present day and 1997, the year when Sophie Collier, local girl to Oldcliff-on-Sea, goes missing without a trace. We’re introduced to Frankie and follow her perspective and her version of events – Frankie was Sophie’s best friend at the time of her disappearance. She’s made it big as an hotelier and lives in London, away from the claustrophobic environment that Oldcliff-on-Sea presented to her when she was younger. She receives a phone call from Daniel, Sophie’s brother, informing her that new evidence in the form of human remains have washed up on the beach. He believes the remains to be Sophie’s and wants Frankie to come back to the village to help him work out what really happened to his sister.

The story was definitely one that I’d recommend to other people in a heartbeat. I loved the characterisation throughout and I honestly felt like I got to know all of the characters as I was reading. I felt sympathy towards Frankie (although I’m not sure I was supposed to) and it made me sad reading about her insecurities involving friendships and relationships. I enjoyed the flip in perspectives- the scenes involving Sophie and the months leading up to her death were particularly interesting and added an extra scope to the novel. I think without this little bit of extra storytelling there would have been something lacking in the story so this was definitely a wise move from Douglas. The two characters are definitely contrasting in personality and this is presented well in their respective chapters. As the novel progressed, there were a couple of characters who were (purposely, I assume!) presented as being sleazy and unlikeable, one in particular springs to mind, although I won’t discuss this any further for fear of ruining vital plot lines!

I’m going to say something incredibly shocking here: I didn’t guess the twist this time! The story was so well crafted and mysterious that there were no glaringly obvious clues out there and I found myself turning the pages desperate for answers right until the very end. I love how all the loose ends regarding the twist were tied up well and truly in the epilogue as I absolutely HATE when there are things left unanswered. I will definitely be passing this one on to people as a recommendation when it’s released on August 10^th, as it’s exactly what I look for in and love about psychological thrillers!

4/5

SaveSave

Goodreads: August to Read!

Goodreads: August to Read!

Monday, 1 August 2016

Read post

Another month, another to-read list! I’m sticking exclusively to review copies of books that I’ve been sent this month, principally because the amount I have stacking up is getting ever so slightly unmanageable but also because moving into a new (unfurnished) flat is blooming expensive so I can no longer justify spending £50 a month on books! That said, the books I’ve been sent recently look amazing so I’m very excited to get stuck into reading them! I’ve already shared a few of the books on Instagram ‘cause I’m an absolute keeno but I haven’t properly got started on any of them yet!

The first of the lovely review books comes from John Murray Originals: Marlow’s Landing by Toby Vieira. This book sounds like nothing I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading before and presumably involves smugglers and secrets galore. The cover is absolutely incredible and that definitely would draw me to it in a bookstore, in spite of the age-old warning about judging a book by its cover! I’m hoping to get this one finished over the next few days which I think is easily done as it’s quite a short one and sounds like something you can easily get yourself hooked on!

I also posted a picture on Instagram of the BEAUTIFUL cover that is After Alice by Gregory Maguire. If you aren’t aware, Gregory Maguire is the guy who wrote the original story behind Wicked, before it went and made itself humungous as a musical! I’ve heard mixed reviews regarding this one, particularly concerning the style of writing; I’m not too far through it myself, around 40 pages in so far, and I’ve found it a little bit trickier than the average book to get into. Obviously, I’ll give it a good go and I really do hope it’s as beautiful as its cover suggests. Thanks to Headline for my copy, I’ll be sure to take good care of it!

As I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned recently, for me summer is a time where you whack out an easy going book and spend any free time lounging in the sun without a care in the world. Unfortunately for me, I live in Liverpool where the sun very rarely exists. Fortunately for me, I have a really comfortable sofa where I can lounge with a book in hand so I can still get away with reading that much-needed chick-read. I have two on my to-read pile this month. Firstly, The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans. I’ve had this one on my shelves for a little while now so thought it was about time I gave it a go. I’m not too sure on the premise of the story but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it all the same. I also have The Perfect Gift by Emma Hannigan which just SCREAMS “read me, it’s the summer hols!” Both of these were sent to me by Headline Review, so thanks to everyone there for the fab additions to my summer reading repertoire!

The last two books on my August to-read list are ones which make me SO excited to have hold of. The first is one of the prettiest looking books I’ve seen in a while, sent to me by Tinder Press. In A Land of Paper Gods is set in war-time China and, if I’m not mistaken, addresses the conflicts between the Chinese and the Japanese armies in 1941, in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War. I took a module at university this scholastic year about conflict and terror in Europe, Latin America and China and one of the topics we addressed was the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre. I found it incredibly interesting, particularly as a Westerner, because we had never been taught anything about WW2 outside of European conflicts before. I’m pretty excited to read a little more about an unknown culture and see what this lovely looking book has to offer me.

Finally, I received an uncorrected proof of The Countenance Divine by Michael Hughes. This book is spectacular to look at and I honestly have not seen a more interesting cover than this one in a long, long time. Again, I’m not sure what the story is about but I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of time lapse involved which sounds pretty cool to me. I’m trying not to read up on the books too much, so as not to spoil the surprise, but it’s proving difficult because I really, really want to know more!

What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments, I always welcome your suggestions!