Book Synopsis:

For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned while at his kitchen table, soaked in a fisherman’s hut in Reykjavik, sitting calmly in a moss garden in Japan or sheltering from a blizzard in a Vienna Konditorei.

These are the small moments, events and happenings that gave pleasure before they disappeared. Miso soup for breakfast, packing a suitcase for a trip and watching a butterfly settle on a carpet, hiding in plain sight. He gives short stories of feasts such as a mango eaten in monsoon rain or a dish of restorative macaroni cheese and homes in on the scent of freshly picked sweet peas and the sound of water breathing at night in Japan.

This funny and sharply observed collection of the good bits of life, often things that pass many of us by, is utter joy from beginning to end.

Out 26th September 2024

My Review:

A Thousand Feasts is a fascinating insight into Nigel’s thoughts and experiences during his time as a professional chef.  Through him we visit a range of different countries while he samples a variety of different foods, some of which I hadn’t heard of before reading this book so I enjoyed searching for on the internet.  Some of his descriptions were incredibly vivid and I often found my mouth watering as I read, wanting to go out to purchase them immediately.  I’m not much of a chef but I found myself getting inspired as I read and wanting to try to cook some of the delicious sounding food as well.

The entries vary in length, with some being just a sentence while others are considerably longer taking up a couple of pages.  Each entry gives the reader more of an insight into Nigel’s personality and I often found myself smiling at how much he seems to enjoy the simple pleasure in his life.  His appreciation for everything he experiences really shines from the page and it was nice to gradually learn more about his life throughout the book.

If you are a foodie or just someone who like memoirs I think you would love this book.  It’s cosy, easy to read format will make it perfect for snuggling up with this Autumn.  

Huge thanks to Indie Thinking and 4th Estate Books for my copy of this book.  

About The Author:

Nigel Slater is the author of a collection of best-selling books and presenter of BBC 1’s Eating Together, Simple Cooking and Dish of the Day. He has been food columnist for The Observer for over twenty years. His books include the classics Appetite and The Kitchen Diaries and the critically acclaimed two volume Tender. His award-winning memoir Toast – the Story of a Boy’s Hunger won six major awards and is now a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. His writing has won the National Book Awards, the Glenfiddich Trophy, the André Simon Memorial Prize and the British Biography of the Year. He was the winner of a Guild of Food Writers’ Award for his BBC 1 series Simple Suppers.

Book Synopsis:

THE RETURN OF FIN MACLEOD, PETER MAY’S MUCH-LOVED HERO OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING LEWIS TRILOGY.

A MURDER

The body of eighteen-year-old TV personality Caitlin is found abandoned on a remote beach at the head of An Loch Dubh – the Black Loch – on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. A swimmer and canoeist, it is inconceivable that she could have drowned.

A SECRET

Fin Macleod left the island ten years earlier to escape its memories. When he learns that his married son Fionnlagh had been having a clandestine affair with the dead girl and is suspected of her murder, he and Marsaili return to try and clear his name.

A RECKONING

But nothing is as it seems, and the truth of the murder lies in a past that Fin would rather forget, and a tragedy at the cages of a salmon farm on East Loch Roag, where the tense climax of the story finds its resolution.

The Black Loch takes us on a journey through family ties, hidden relationships and unforgiving landscapes, where suspense, violent revenge and revelation converge in the shadow of the Black Loch.

My Review:

The Black Lock is an intriguing, powerful read that is much more than your normal crime book.

The story is told in two timelines, one following Macleod as he tries to absolve his son of murder and the other flashing back to Macleod’s past where we discover what secrets are lurking there.  Out of the two timelines I definitely preferred the one set in the present as it was more fast paced and I found it very interesting to follow Macleod on his murder investigation.  The past timeline, though important, was slower and I often found myself impatient to get back to the present investigation.  

I thought this book was very clever as it was more than just a murder investigation with the author exploring some quite serious topics throughout the book too.  The author has created some brilliant characters with some quite complex needs and it was interesting to see these developed in the story.  It’s not an easy read at times because of this but I thought these issues were dealt with sensitively by the author.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and was excited to be back with Macleod solving another murder case with him.  I thought the book was quite well paced and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest.  It was interesting to learn more about Macleod’s past and to see how the Island had changed since our last visit.  The author cleverly weaves the two timelines together and I loved seeing how everything was resolved, especially as I hadn’t been able to guess the outcome.  

Huge thanks to Poppy and Sophie from Ransom pr for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.  

About The Author:

“Peter May is a writer I’d follow to the ends of the earth” New York Times

Peter May is the multi award-winning author of:

– the Lewis Trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland;

– the China Thrillers, featuring Beijing detective Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell;

– the Enzo Files, featuring Scottish forensic scientist Enzo MacLeod, which is set in France. The sixth and final Enzo book is Cast Iron (January 2017, Riverrun).

He has also written several standalone books:

– I’ll Keep You Safe (January 2018, Riverrun)

– Entry Island (January 2014, Quercus UK)

– Runaway (January 2015, Quercus UK)

– Coffin Road (January 2016, Riverrun)

May had a successful career as a television writer, creator, and producer.

One of Scotland’s most prolific television dramatists, he garnered more than 1000 credits in 15 years as scriptwriter and script editor on prime-time British television drama. He is the creator of three major television drama series and presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland before quitting television to concentrate on his first love, writing novels.

Born and raised in Scotland he lives in France.

His breakthrough as a best-selling author came with The Lewis Trilogy. After being turned down by all the major UK publishers, the first of the The Lewis Trilogy – The Blackhouse – was published in France as L’Ile des Chasseurs d’Oiseaux where it was hailed as “a masterpiece” by the French national newspaper L’Humanité. His novels have a large following in France. The trilogy has won several French literature awards, including one of the world’s largest adjudicated readers awards, the Prix Cezam.

The Blackhouse was published in English by the award-winning Quercus (a relatively young publishing house which did not exist when the book was first presented to British publishers). It went on to become an international best seller, and was shortlisted for both Barry Award and Macavity Award when it was published in the USA.

The Blackhouse won the US Barry Award for Best Mystery Novel at Bouchercon in Albany NY, in 2013.

Good morning everyone and happy Friday. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of The Usual Desire To Kill by Camilla Barnes this week.

It sounds just my sort of book as I love books about families and the secrets they might be hinting so I’m very excited to read it soon.

Huge thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending this to me.

The Usual Desire To Kill is out on the 10th April 2025 and you can find out more about the book below.

Book Synopsis:

An often hilarious, surprisingly moving portrait of a long-married couple, seen through the eyes of their wickedly observant daughter—for fans of A Man Called Ove and The Royal Tenenbaums.

Miranda’s parents live in a dilapidated house in rural France that they share with two llamas, eight ducks, five chickens, two cats, and a freezer full of food dating back to 1983.

Miranda’s father is a retired professor of philosophy who never loses an argument. Her mother likes to bring conversation back to the War, although she was born after it ended. Married for fifty years, they are uncommonly set in their ways. Miranda plays the role of translator when she visits, communicating the desires or complaints of one parent to the other and then venting her frustration to her sister and her daughter. At the end of a visit, she reports “the usual desire to kill.”

A wry, propulsive, exquisitely observed story of a singularly eccentric family and the sibling rivalry, generational divides, and long-buried secrets that shape them. This is an extraordinary debut novel from a seasoned playwright with a flare for dialogue and, in the end, immense empathy.

About The Author:

Camilla Barnes was born and brought up in England but moved to France in her twenties. She lives in Paris and works in theatre, doing every job possible there except act. She writes for the stage in both English and French. The Usual Desire to Kill is her first novel.

Book Synopsis:

1966:In London, Jackie Collins’s racy The World is Full of Married Men hits bookshops and launches her career. In New York, Jacqueline Susann’s debut novel Valley of the Dolls is published, and she’s desperate for it to be a bestseller. But both are about to discover the price they will pay for being women who dare to write about sex.

Meanwhile, college graduate Nancy White is excited to take up her dream job at a Manhattan publishing house. But Nancy could never be prepared for the rampant sexism she is about to encounter.

When Nancy introduces the two Jackies, she fears they will become rivals in their race to top the charts. As she strives to achieve her ambition of becoming an editor, can all three women succeed despite the men determined to hold them back?

My Review:

Scandalous Women is a gripping, fascinating read from one of my favourite historical fiction authors.

The story is told from the point of view of three characters, real life authors Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins as well as a book editor called Nancy. I had heard of Jackie Collins as I’m a huge fan of her books but I don’t think I’d heard of Jacqueline before. I really enjoyed learning more about their lives and how they started off as authors. The author does a great job of describing the publishing industry in the 1960’s so I felt that I was actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. The 60’s were a period of newly found freedom where a lot of women were able to join the workforce and gain independence. However it was also quite a sexist time and I soon found myself getting very upset as I discovered more about what women had to put up with.

I thought the book had a great pace to it and there was always something happening to keep me reading. Even in the quieter moments I was just happy hanging out with the fabulous characters as they tried to negotiating the publishing world. I love reading about strong female characters so I enjoyed watching following these three women as they make their way to the top.

I think I’ve read every book Gill has written and in my opinion she keeps getting better and better.

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Avon for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Gill Paul is the international bestselling author of thirteen novels, many of them reevaluating extraordinary twentieth-century women whom she believes have been marginalized or misjudged. Her novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Toronto Globe & Mail charts, and have been translated into twenty-three languages.

Her latest novel, SCANDALOUS WOMEN (2024), is about trailblazing authors Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann battling their way to the top in the misogynous boys’ club of 1960s publishing. A BEAUTIFUL RIVAL (2023) is about the infamous feud between beauty tycoons Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein. JACKIE AND MARIA (2020) was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. THE COLLECTOR”S DAUGHTER (2021) was named a Times ‘historical novel of the month’ and THE MANHATTAN GIRLS (2022), was reviewed in The Sun as a “sweeping, evocative tale” and in The Book List as “Witty, emotional and intelligent”.

Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN FIFTY OBJECTS and a series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes ROYAL LOVE STORIES, WORLD WAR I LOVE STORIES and TITANIC LOVE STORIES.

Gill lives in London where she swims year round in a wild pond, and speaks at libraries and literary festivals on topics ranging from Tutankhamun to the Romanovs.

Book Synopsis:

It’s 1945, and Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home.

But ‘home’ is Dimperley, built in the 1500s, vast and dilapidated, up to its eaves in debt and half-full of fly-blown taxidermy and dependent relatives, the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever.

And worst of all – following the death of his heroic older brother – Valentine is now Sir Valentine, and is responsible for the whole bloody place. To Valentine, it’s a millstone; to Zena Baxter, who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter, it’s a place of wonder and sentiment, somewhere that she can’t bear to leave.

But Zena has been living with a secret, and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her own…

Funny, sharp and touching, Small Bomb at Dimperley is both a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal.

My Review:

Small Bomb At Dimperley is an absorbing read about life in Britain after the Second World War and a country on the brink of change.

I’ve been a huge fan of Lissa’s previous books so I was very excited to read this one. The story centres around Dimperley manor a crumbling mansion with an long, proud history. I enjoyed finding out more about the house and exploring it’s various parts alongside the characters. It was interesting to see what the house had been used for in the past as well as the difference between life there in the past and after the war.

The family living in the house were a fantastic mix or eccentric characters that I loved following throughout the book. Each one brought a different element to the story and helped the reader understand a different part of the story better. I grew fond of all of them but my favourites were definitely the two daughters as I liked their attitude and I felt sorry for them trying to negotiate life in Britain after spending the war in America.

I thought this book had a good pace to it and I soon found myself absorbed into the story. The story has some very emotional moments to it but also some hilarious one which made me laugh out loud – especially the origins of one of the dogs names that was very memorable.

If you are a fan of historical fiction then I highly recommend this book!

Huge thanks to Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Lissa Evans has written books for both adults and children, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half, longlisted for the Orange Prize, Small Change for Stuart, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Book Awards amongst others, and Crooked Heart, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Book Synopsis:

For fans of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES, THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS and SHE AND HER CAT, discover the award-winning bestselling Japanese novel that has become an international sensation in this utterly charming celebration of the healing power of cats.

A cat a day keeps the doctor away …

On the top floor of an old building at the end of a cobbled alley in Kyoto lies the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Only a select few – those who feel genuine emotional pain – can find it.

The mysterious centre offers a unique treatment for its troubled patients: it prescribes cats as medication.

Get ready to fall in love:
– Bee, an eight-year-old female, mixed breed helps a disheartened businessman as he finds unexpected joy in physical labour;
– Margot, muscly like a lightweight boxer, helps a middle-aged callcentre worker stay relevant;
– Koyuki, an exquisite white cat brings closure to a mother troubled by the memory of the rescue kitten she was forced to abandon;
– Tank and Tangerine bring peace to a hardened fashion designer, as she learns to be kinder to herself;
– Mimita, the Scottish Fold kitten helps a broken-hearted Geisha to stop blaming herself for the cat she once lost.

Brimming with feline comfort and warmth, we see how the company of a wise and satisfied cat never lets us down when we need it most in this irresistible celebration of our furry friends.

My Review:

We’ll Prescribe You A Cat is a cute, heartwarming book that is a must read for all cat lovers.

The book is divided into sections, named for each cat that the character’s are being prescribed.  The stories all centre around a mysterious, magical ‘clinic for the soul’ that only appears when the person needs it or wants to find it.  In each story we learn more about a different character and their different reasons for wanting to find the clinic.  I loved following each character on their journey as we discover more about their lives and seeing how each cat helps them with their problems.  I thought all the stories were very different with some of them being heartwarming, some making me cry and some making me laugh out loud as I read about how having a cat impacted on their lives.  

I thought that the book had a great pace to it, and I soon found myself absorbed into the stories.  Each story gives an insight into Japanese culture which I found fascinating to discover more about particularly how the treat cats there and what their working environment is like.  My only slight quibble was that I felt that some of the stories ended a bit abruptly as I would have loved to have followed the characters for longer and find out what happens next for them.  

Overall, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel when it come out next year.  I think that being prescribed a cat sounds like a wonderful idea and I wish that it was something I could access in real life.  If you are a fan of the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series or like books with magical realism then I think you’ll love this book.

Huge thanks to Doubleday for providing me with an ALC via Libro fm.  

About The Author:

Born in 1975 in Kyoto,award-winningauthor Syou Ishida has always adored her cats. She began writing fiction while working at a telecommunications company. We’ll Prescribe You a Cat has been a runaway bestseller in Japan, and is due to be translated into over thirty languages. Its sequel, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, Again will be published worldwide next year.

Book Synopsis:

The Lost Bookshop meets The Keeper of Stories in this utterly heart-warming story about friendship, hope and a mystery hidden in the language of flowers…

The smallest treasures can hold the biggest mysteries…

One year after her husband’s death Emma has become a wallflower, hiding among the brighter blooms in the florist where she works.

But when a colleague invites her to a talk on the Titanic, she begins a quest to uncover who arranged the flowers on board.

As Emma discovers the lost story of the girl and the great ship, she realises that flowers may unlock long buried secrets in her own life…

Will she be able to unlock the mystery of the Titanic and heal her heart too?

My Review:

The Secret Of Flowers is an gentle, absorbing dual time line read that I really enjoyed.

The Story follows Emma as she tries to deal with the loss of her husband while trying to get her life back together and a young stewardess that worked on the Titanic.  Out of the two timelines I did prefer Emma’s story as the Titanic has always fascinated me so I enjoyed finding out more about what life on board was like.  I found it fascinating to learn more about their role on the ship and to discover more about what might have contributed to the sinking of the titanic.  I hadn’t heard the Titanic being described as ‘a ship full of flowers’ before so I enjoyed learning more about the different ways flowers were used on board.  The Stewardess life seemed like a hard one and it made my blood boil to see how she was treated by some of the people on board.  

It took me a while to warm to Emma as I couldn’t understand why she was acting how she was at the beginning.  This did change as I learnt more about her history and I actually ended up feeling very sorry for her in the end as her grief is very raw.  It was lovely to see Emma grow more confident in herself and watch her friendships with the lovely Len, Betty and Tamas grow.  

I thought this book had a slower pace to it but I didn’t mind as I was just enjoying hanging out with the fabulous characters.  The author has clearly done her research and I enjoyed learning more about a stewardess’s life on board ships at that time as well as exploring Cambridge alongside Emma.  The two timelines slowly come together and I loved following Emma as she solves the mystery of the florist on the Titanic.  

Huge thanks to Indie Thinking and Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this book.

About The Author:

After studying history at university, Sally moved to London to work in advertising. However, in her spare time she studied floristry at night school and eventually opened her own flower shop. She soon came to appreciate that flower shops offer a unique window into people’s stories and eventually she began to photograph and write about this floral life in a series of non-fiction books. Later, she continued her interest in writing when she founded her fountain pen company, Plooms.

In her debut novel, The Keeper of Stories, Sally combines her love of history and writing with her abiding interest in the stories people have to tell. The novel sold over half a million copies in the UK and was translated into 29 languages, making Sally a Sunday Times Bestseller. It was also shortlisted for British Book of the Year.

Sally’s second novel, The Book of Beginnings, was launched in September 2023. It is a story about the power of friendship – and reflects her love of fountain pens and stationery. Sally is currently editing Book 3 due out in August 2024.

Sally lives in Dorset. Her eldest daughter, Alex, is studying to be a doctor and her youngest daughter is the author, Libby Page.

Book Synopsis:

 REASON TO LIVE.
Still grieving the death of her best friend, Erin knows she needs to start living – but has no idea how. Then she loses her favourite book, a heavily annotated and containing her friend’s final words to her.


A REASON TO LOVE.
When James finds Erin’s note-filled book in his local community library, it sparks a life-changing conversation. He writes his own message back, and soon they are locked in an anonymous book exchange, with no idea who the other person in the margins might be.


A REASON TO FORGIVE?
But Erin and James have a shared history that neither of them realise. How will Erin react when she discovers the other writer isn’t a stranger at all – but the person she once swore she’d never forgive?


A story of second chances and new beginnings, this is a love letter to books – and a love letter to love.

My Review:

The Book is a thought provoking, romantic read that manages to be both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

The story is told from the point of view of Erin who is still grieving her best friend and James an avid reader with a fondness for classics. I enjoyed following the two of them as the exchanged messages and slowly grow closer. I thought it was a very cute way to fall in love and although I was twitching slightly about the idea if people writing in books, I’ve always wanted to find a hidden note a book.

I was expecting this book to be a light romance but there are actually some quite serious topics such as grief and mental health mentioned which surprised me. I thought these were dealt with on a very sensitive and in a way that seemed realistic rather than just thrown in as an easy plot twist.

This book does start off a little slowly as the author sets the scene but I soon felt invested in the story and the characters budding relationship. There were a few twists that surprised me and, although I felt it was a bit sudden, I did like the ending. I do wish there had been an epilogue as I would have loved to find out what happened next – though maybe there is a sequel planned.

Huge thanks to Alainna from Hodder for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Tessa Bickers has always been fascinated by people. What makes them different and what makes them the same. Those universal experiences from grief and loneliness, to heartbreak and love. She’s always told stories, either through songs or the books she’s been writing since her teens. All those years of her brother telling her she was nosy, when he didn’t understand it was purely for research purposes!

Tessa lives in Brixton with her partner, their young but very loud daughter and their one-eyed ginger cat, Rocky, with his mean left hook.

Her debut novel, The Book Swap, will be published in 2024 by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK and Graydon House in the US.

Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books from the fabulous Four Winds series by Alexandria Warwick.

I absolutely loved The North Wind (review coming soon) so I was very excited to receive a copy of the next book in the series The West Wind. I can’t wait to read it and find out what will happen next.

Huge thanks to the lovely Rhys from @simonschusteruk for sending me this to me.

The West Wind is out on the 7th November 2024. Find out more about the book below ⬇️

What’s your favourite fantasy book/ series?

The West Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Brielle of Thornbrook has dedicated her life to the abbey. She spends her days forging iron and her evenings studying the Text, all in preparation of becoming an acolyte. Twenty-one years on this earth and she has never touched a man. And she never will.

But when she finds an injured stranger in the forest, Brielle can’t resist the urge to help him. The encounter leads her to the realm of Under, where the air breathes rot, and the fair folk dance and whisper. Where she discovers that the man she helped is actually a god: Zephyrus, the West Wind, Bringer of Spring.

There are few Brielle can trust in Under, least of all Zephyrus. He is charming, dangerously so, and never has a man so thoroughly ensnared her. As she embarks on a journey through the eerie banks and caves of Under, Brielle finds herself in a perilous situation. For here is where faith and heart collide – and where she risks not only her future… but her life.

Beloved by readers on TikTok, The West Wind is a standalone fantasy romance sprinkled with Greek lore, the second in the Four Winds series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair and Raven Kennedy.

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

An absolute MUST-READ for romantasy fans who love the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas! The North Wind is an addictive, sexy and enchanting enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance inspired by Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone. 
 
Wren of Edgewood is no stranger to suffering. With her parents gone, it’s Wren’s responsibility to ensure she and her sister survive the harsh and endless winter, but if the legends are to be believed, their home may not be safe for much longer.
 
For three hundred years, the land surrounding Edgewood has been encased in ice as the Shade, a magical barrier that protects the townsfolk from the Deadlands beyond, weakens. Only one thing can stop the Shade’s fall: the blood of a mortal woman bound in wedlock to the North Wind, a dangerous immortal whose heart is said to be as frigid as the land he rules. And the time has come to choose his bride.
 
When the North Wind sets his eyes on Wren’s sister, Wren will do anything to save her – even if it means sacrificing herself in the process. But mortal or not, Wren won’t go down without a fight . . .
 
Beloved by readers on TikTok, discover your next fantasy romance obsession with the Four Winds series, inspired by fairytales and sprinkled with Greek mythology. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Raven Kennedy and Scarlett St. Clair.

About The Author:

Alexandria Warwick is the author of the Four Winds series and the North series. A classically trained violinist, she spends much of her time performing in orchestras. She lives in Florida.