Good morning everyone! My August reading subscription came whilst I was away and it sounds so good. I don’t think I’ve read anything by this author before either which is always exciting.
I managed to buy the little rainbow in the picture whilst on holiday and thought it was perfect for my blog. My seven year old daughter also loves it so I fear it might go missing soon. If this is the only picture it’s in then you’ll know that’s what happened 😂.
Huge thanks to my lovely friend @bringmerocks for gifting this to me. I always enjoy seeing what books I’ll get and I’ll miss it when it ends.
What are your weekend plans?
Book Synopsis:
The Earls of Trelawney have inhabited the same castle for 800 years – but recent generations have been better at spending than making money. Now living in isolated penury, unable to communicate with each other or the rest of the world, the family are running out of options. Three unexpected events will hasten their demise: the sudden appearance of a new relation, an illegitimate, headstrong, beautiful girl; an unscrupulous American hedge fund manager determined to exact revenge; and the crash of 2008.
Deliciously escapist and gloriously funny, House of Trelawney is a novel about family and forgiveness, chaos and crisis – and finding yourself in the most unexpected ways.
About The Author:
Hannah is an author who lives in London. She can’t walk past a bookshop or museum (or bakery) without going in. Most of the time, she tries to act normally most of the time.
Her first book, ‘The Baroness’ was about her great aunt, Nica who supported a generation of jazz musicians and loved one above all others: the late great Thelonious Monk.
Her first novel ‘The Improbability of Love’, a caper set in the art world featuring a talking painting and won the Everyman Bollinger PG Wodehouse prize for best comic novel in 2015 and was runner up to the Bailley’s Women Prize.
She followed this with ‘House of Trelawney’ the story of an aristocratic Cornish family fallen on hard times who get embroiled in the 2008 crash with disastrous consequences.
Her most recent book (published in June 2023 in the UK and July in the US is called ‘HIgh Time’ and follows a beautiful young woman who has lost everything- how low will she go to get even?
Her writing style has been compared to Evelyn Waugh, Nancy Mitford and Joanna Trollope.
Good morning everyone and happy Friday! Here are six thrillers I want to read soon:
❤️Twelve Secrets by Robert Gold 💛 Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson 💚 A Killer In The Family by Gytha Lodge 💙 Fearless by M W Craven 💜 Zero Days by Ruth Ware 🩷 A Game Of Lies by Clare Mackintosh
This didn’t start out as a green and orange stack but ended up being one after I realised the first four books were those colours 🤣
In other news we’re heading home today after a lovely week in the mumbles. I’ll miss our lovely view and the beach but I’m excited to sleep in my own bed tonight.
The hen party from hell descends into darkness, perfect for fans of Nikki May, Dawn O’Porter and Zakiya Dalila Harris
Some friends have your back. Some friends stab you in the back.
Ayesha is just about finding her feet on the London stand-up scene, but when her response to a sexist heckler goes viral, she finds herself drawn into an exclusive group of activists: a sacred circle of change makers, each woman with a specific gift to contribute to the cause.
The circle draws in her friend Yaz too and they are both invited to an intimate hen do, except it’s not a hen do – it’s a Goddess Retreat. While Ayesha, longing to find her tribe, tries desperately to fit herself into a shape that the women will accept, Yaz treats the entire ‘itinerary’ with open disdain. But the Goddess Retreat is no laughing matter. As the weekend descends into chaos, they’ll need to stick together if they want to get out alive.
Goddesses is a bitingly brilliant novel that explores the power dynamics of sisterhood and activism, the dark side of white feminism and the importance of making your voice heard.
My Review:
Goddesses is a dark, thrilling and unique book that’s unlike anything I’ve read before.
The book follows two main characters Ayesha and Yaz who both seemed very real and I enjoyed following them throughout the book. It was fun to learn more about them and their interests, especially Ayesha’s experiences as a female comedian as I don’t think I’ve read a book featuring one of those before.
The story is split into two timelines one following the months before the hen do and one focussing on the night of said hen do. It was interesting to see the darker side of activist groups and learn a little more about what might go on behind the scenes. It was heartbreaking to see how easily some people are brain washed or manipulated into thinking certain things though. I was especially sad to think that the leaders didn’t understand the different backgrounds the woman came from or that not everyone would have had the same life experiences which didn’t lead to a very connected group in my opinion.
Everything comes to a head at the hen do which I loved having a fly on the wall glimpse of whilst being very glad I wasn’t actually invited to it. All the toxicity that had been building up came out here with everyone showing their true colours. The ending was weird and wonderful, with the reader never quite sure what was going to happen next which I always love. It didn’t end completely as I hoped but maybe that wouldn’t have been realistic. This is the author’s debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Nina is an author, playwright and screenwriter whose debut novel Goddesses will be published in July 2023 by Simon & Schuster and has been optioned for TV by Roughcut TV. Her play Service won the ETPEP Playwriting Award and she has written the BBC Sounds series Mortem as well as her first play Delete and a Dr Who International Women’s Day audio special, Turn Of The Tides.
Good morning everyone I saw this on the lovely @nic_thebookworm ‘s page and knew I had to join in as I love a book challenge.
These are the books I found: ❤️Gwen And Art Are Not In LOVE 💛 Unladylike Lessons In LOVE 💚 LOVE light Farm 💙 The Enemy Of LOVE 💜The LOVE Of My Life 🩷 LOVE Untold
This challenge was trickier than I thought as it was hard to find books with just Love in the title, rather than Lover or Loving but I had fun looking through my books to try to find appropriate titles.
I’ve tagged a few people who might want to join in but, as always, no pressure.
Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two books by the lovely Lorna Cook.
One of my favourite genres is historical fiction, especially when it includes a dual timeline and Lorna’s books are some of my favourites. They are easy to read, absorbing books where I always learn something new. Her book The Forgotten Village, about a whole village emptied out for the army to live in while defending Britain, was one of my favourites and led me to visiting the village on holiday when I was near it.
Highly recommended by me!
Have you ever visited somewhere because you read about it in a book?
The Hidden Letters by Lorna Cook
On the eve of a world war, a forbidden love will blossom in the garden of a stately home, where one young woman will make a choice that will change her life forever…
‘An emotional story of love and strength’ – LIZ FENWICK
‘Beautiful … Had me utterly captivated’ – JENNY ASHCROFT
As the storm clouds of war gather, Cordelia seeks refuge in the grounds of her family estate.
Handsome landscaper Isaac has recently arrived to tend to the gardens, and the connection between him and Cordelia is as immediate as it is forbidden.
Isaac begins to secretly teach her how to cultivate the gardens, so when he and all the young men are called away to war, Cordelia takes over.
From the battlefields of Europe, Isaac sends her letters, that give her hope for their future in peacetime.
But when these messages abruptly cease, Cordelia must face up to the worst and take her future – and the fate of the garden they both loved – into her own hands…
An epic, sweeping tale of love, war and the strength of the human spirit. Fans of Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton will be absolutely gripped by this historical page-turner.
The Dressmaker’s Secret by Lorna Cook
1941, Nazi-occupied Paris: In the glamorous Ritz hotel there is a woman with a dangerous secret…
As Coco Chanel’s assistant, Adèle lives side by side with German officers in the splendour of The Ritz hotel. But Adèle has a secret. She is working for the resistance, right under the Germans’ noses.
As occupied Paris becomes more and more dangerous, Adèle will have to decide if she can risk everything to save innocent lives and protect the man she loves…
Present day: Chloé’s grandmother has never spoken about the war and avoids questions about the legendary designer she once worked for.
Now Chloé has come to Paris, to uncover the truth about Adèle’s life.But is she prepared for what she will find? And for the power of her grandmother’s secrets to change her family forever…
An absolutely gripping and heartbreaking wartime story of the enduring power of love, for fans of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Nightingale.
About The Author:
Lorna Cook is the author of the The Girl From the Island, The Forbidden Promise and the Kindle Number 1 Bestseller ‘The Forgotten Village’, which was her debut novel, staying in the Kindle Top 100 for four months. It has sold over 150,000 copies, has eleven overseas/foreign language editions, won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the RNA Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers.
Good morning everyone. This is my latest Locked Library Subscription and I have to say it’s a beaut. I love the beautiful spredges and the gold foil underneath the dust jacket is just perfect.
I love the sound of this book too as I’m always intrigued by books featuring another country’s mythology. This is sadly my last Locked Library Subscription as I can’t justify the expense anymore as working in a bookshop means I get tempted by a lot of books anyway.
What was the last book you bought?
Book Synopsis:
A crown princess. A monster the gods fear. A destiny no one can outrun.
Mirae was meant to save her queendom, but the ceremony before her coronation ends in terror and death, unlocking a strange new power within her and foretelling the return of a monster even the gods fear. Amid the chaos, Mirae’s beloved older brother is taken―threatening the peninsula’s already tenuous truce.
Desperate to save her brother and defeat this ancient enemy before the queendom is beset by war, Mirae sets out on a journey with an unlikely group of companions while her unpredictable magic gives her terrifying visions of a future she must stop at any cost.
About The Author:
Lena Jeong wrote her first novel in the fifth grade—complete with a dude in distress, a heroine named Macaroni Pizza, and a dragon that is allergic to men. When she’s not working on her Korean-inspired novels, Lena is doing everything in her power to remain the “Favorite Auntie” amongst her adorable nieces and nephews. You can also find her endlessly experimenting on new ways to make the perfect matcha latte. Lena has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. And Break the Pretty Kings is her debut.
Good morning everyone. Thanks for all your help picking my holiday books. These are the three books I want to read next:
❤️The Quiet Tennant by Clémence Michallon 💛 Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 💚Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen
I’m currently reading The Quiet Tennant which I’m really enjoying and I’m then going to read Hello Beautiful which I’m excited about. I actually read a bit at the shop before I bought it and it was very good.
That’s not to say these are the only books I’ve bought – I’ve actually managed to bring 8 books plus my kindle just in case 😂. I’ve surprisingly had quite a bit of time to read so far and have been enjoying sitting in this chair watching the sea while I read.
Good morning everyone and happy Saturday. I’m taking part in the #librarysummersix challenge this summer started by the lovely @the.running.bookworm.
The idea follows the library challenge for children, you’ve probably seen being advertised, but for adults! We have all chosen six books from the library to read this summer. Here are my choices!
Have you read any of these? Which one would you read first?
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Guntur
‘Inventive, heartbreaking and acutely funny’ Observer
Vacca Vale, Indiana: recently voted number 1 on Newsweek‘s list of dying American cities. According to the developers, however, it’s a city with a whole history of reinvention, one that ‘buzzes with the American spirit.’
Not everyone agrees though – certainly not the residents of the Rabbit Hutch, a low-cost housing complex in the once bustling industrial centre, populated by a cast of unforgettable, disenfranchised characters. There’s an online obituary writer, a woman waging a solo campaign against rodents and, most notably, eighteen-year-old Blandine, recently released from foster care and determined to stop the developers whatever the cost.
Set over one sweltering week in July, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America. Bold, experimental and brilliantly written, it will live in the memory long after the final page.
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable, but their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is breathtaking, but it has a dark past: in 1974 it was rented by a notorious rockstar, who was joined by up-and-coming musician Pierce Sheldon and his girlfriend, Mari. By the end of the holiday Pierce is dead, and Mari goes on to write one of the greatest horror novels of all time.
As Emily digs into the villa’s history, she begins to think that Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but something more sinister – and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge – and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
An enthralling tale of gothic suspense that will keep you reading late into the night, The Villa is perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley, with the rock-and-roll glamour of Daisy Jones and the Six.
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
SARAJEVO. SPRING 1992.
Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, the residents – whether Muslim, Croat or Serb – push the makeshift barriers aside.
When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege. As the assault deepens and everything they love is laid to waste, black ashes floating over the rooftops, Zora and her friends are forced to rebuild themselves, over and over. Theirs is a breathtaking story of disintegration, resilience and hope.
The Secret Of Villa Alba by Louise Douglas
1968, Sicily. Just months after a terrible earthquake has destroyed the mountain town of Gibellina, Enzo and his wife Irene Borgata are making their way back to the family home, Villa Alba, on roads overlooked by the eerie backdrop of the flattened ghost town. When their car breaks down, Enzo leaves his young wife to go and get help, but when he returns there is no trace of Irene. No body, no sign of a struggle, nothing.
2003. TV showman and true crime aficionado Milo Conti is Italy’s darling, uncovering and solving historic crimes for his legion of fans. When he turns his attention to the story of the missing Irene Borgata, accusing her husband of her murder, Enzo’s daughter Maddi asks her childhood friend, retired detective April Cobain, for help to prove her father’s innocence. But the tale April discovers is murky: mafia meetings, infidelity, mistaken identity, grief and unshakable love. As the world slowly closes in on the claustrophobic Villa Alba, and the house begins to reveal its secrets, will the Borgata family wish they’d never asked April to investigate? And what did happen to Enzo’s missing wife Irene?
Bestselling author Louise Douglas returns with an irresistibly compelling, intriguing and captivating tale of betrayal, love, jealousy and the secrets buried in every family history.
Girl Crush by Florence Given
GIRLCRUSH is a dark feminist retelling of Jekyll & Hyde by bestselling author Florence Given.
In Given’s debut novel, we follow Eartha on a wild, weird and seductive modern-day exploration as she commences life as an openly bisexual woman whilst also becoming a viral sensation on Wonderland, a social media app where people project their dream selves online.
The distance between her online and offline self grows further and further apart until something dark happens that leads her into total self-destruction, forcing Eartha to make a choice; which version of herself should she kill off?
Warning this book does include storylines that some readers may find triggering.
Good morning everyone and happy Friday. Here are some of the beautiful special editions I’ve received as part of my Locked Library Subscription.
❤️The Thorns Remain by JJA Hardwood 💛The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield 💚The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence 💙All The Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley 💜 The Library Of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson
They’re all beautiful and I have the facing edges out on my bookshelves so I can admire them more. These are all tbr for me still but I’m excited to read them soon.
We’re off on holiday at lunch time today! I’m still hoping to post while I’m away but it might end up being at different times so please look out for the posts! Fingers crossed the weather improves so we can get to the beach.
Do you like special editions? What’s your favourite thing about them? Spredges? Gold foil? Hidden pictures under the dust cover?
Eliza Acton, despite never having boiled an egg, became one of the world’s most successful food writers, revolutionizing cooking and cookbooks around the world. Her story is fascinating, joyful and truly inspiring.
The award-winning author of The Joyce Girl seamlessly intertwines recipes and meticulously researched history, serving up the most thought-provoking and page-turning historical novel you’ll read this year. Explore the enduring struggle for women’s freedom, the exhilarating power of friendship, and the creative joy of cooking, through the life of Eliza Acton – finally out of the archives and into the public eye.
England, 1835. Eliza Acton dreams of becoming a poet, but when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady’. Instead, he demands a cookery book.
Eliza is hesitant but when her bankrupt father is forced to flee the country, she has no choice but to comply.
Although she has never cooked before, she is determined to learn and to bring her skills as a poet to the craft of recipe writing. She hires young, impoverished Ann Kirby as her assistant and, before long, the two women develop a radical friendship crossing the divides of age and class. Together, Eliza and Ann break the mould of traditional cookbooks, changing the course of food writing forever. But in the process of doing so, their friendship is pushed to its very limits.
My Review:
The Language Of Food is an absorbing, heartwarming book which is best to read on a full stomach otherwise you might find yourself getting very hungry indeed.
Firstly I absolutely loved the main characters and really enjoyed following them throughout the book. It was an absolute joy getting to know Eliza and discover her unique way of thinking which always made me smile. Eliza and Ann gradually grow closer and it was great to see how the friendship helped them- especially Ann who really seemed to find herself under Eliza’s care.
This book has lots of fascinated history details which really helped bring the period to life. It was fascinating to learn more about Eliza and how she developed her now legendary cookbook which helped set the precedent for the modern cookbook. It was especially interesting to see the type of food the rich ate at the time and how it was prepared. I think the eel scene in particular will stay with me for a long time, definitely not something I’d like to do! It was heartbreaking to see the stark differences between how the rich and the poor lived when Eliza goes to visit Ann. It broke my heart how people had to live like that and it was considered normal. The horrific descriptions of the ‘care’ Eliza’s mother receives was also heartbreaking to read about and made me very glad things had chance in this area.
The book started off a bit slow as the author sets the scene but I soon found myself absorbed into the story. I quickly warmed to Eliza and Ann, wanting to keep reading so I could spend some more time with them in that wonderful kitchen. This isn’t particularly a fast paced book but I didn’t care as I was soon caught up in the wonderful descriptions of the food and the lovely friendship that developed between the main characters.
If you are a fan of historical fiction then I highly recommend this book. I read it with the historical fiction book club I’m part of so would also recommend it as a book club read as there was lots to discuss.
About The Author:
Annabel Abbs is the multi-award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, Frieda, Windswept, The Language of Food (Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen in the US) and 52 Ways to Walk. Her next book, Sleepless, comes out in 2024.
Abbs is also the co-writer of The Age-Well Project (written under Annabel Streets), a non-fiction work which explores the latest science of longevity and has been serialised in the Guardian and The Daily Mail.
Her journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Irish Times, Tatler, The Author, Sydney Morning Herald, The Weekend Australian Review, Psychologies and Elle Magazine.
Abbs has a BA in English Literature from the University of East Anglia, where she now sponsors a post-graduate scholarship in creative writing, and an MA from Kingston. She was born in Bristol, and now lives in London and East Sussex. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @annabelabbs, or visit her website, http://www.annabelabbs.com.
Over The Rainbow Blog 