Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. Today for Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two of the new books I bought last week.
⭐ Chain Gang All-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei- Brenyah ⭐ The Book Of The Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran
I hadn’t heard of Chain Gang All-stars until they came into the bookshop and my boss recommended it. It sounds brilliant, I love dystopian fiction and thought the premise of this sounded very intriguing. The Book Of The Most Precious Substance is a book I saw a book friend posting about and it sounded so good that I had to get myself a copy.
I actually thought I’d done well in not buying too many books and then got to work to see all my pre-orders started to come in and I’ve actually got more than these which I’ll share later this week.
What book have you bought recently? Have you read either of these?
Chain Gang All-stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
She felt their eyes, all those executioners…
Enter a world where, watched by millions, prisoners fight like gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America’s private prison system. In packed arenas, live-streamed by millions, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara ‘Hurricane Staxxx’ Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme’s corporate owners stack the odds against her – will the price be simply too high?
The Book Of The Precious Substance by Sara Gran
Rare book dealer Lily Albrecht has been given a tip-off about The Book of the Most Precious Substance, rumoured to be the most powerful occult book ever written. With some of the world’s wealthiest people willing to pay a fortune for it, she embarks on a journey from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris, knowing that it could also help erase the greatest tragedy of her life.
But does the book really exist at all, or will Lily lose everything in search of a ghost?
As the bombs began to fall, the book club kept their hopes alive…
London, 1938. Bookseller Gertie Bingham is facing difficult times, having just lost her beloved husband, Harry, and with a lingering sadness at never having been able to have a child of her own. Struggling to face running the bookshop she and Harry opened together, Gertie is preparing to sell up and move away when she is asked if she would be willing to take in a young Jewish refugee from Germany. Gertie is unsure and when sullen teenager Hedy Fischer arrives, Gertie fears she has nothing left to give the troubled girl.
But when the German bombers come and the lights go out over London, Gertie and Hedy realise that joining forces will make them stronger, and that books have the power to bring young and old together and unite a community in need in its darkest hour…
My Review:
The Air Raid Book Club is a beautiful, emotional and heartwarming read from a new author for me.
Firstly I absolutely loved the characters the author has created and really enjoyed following them throughout the book. They were such fun to be around and I soon found myself growing very fond of them as I read. I found myself wishing that I could be part of their bookclub as it seemed like such a lovely group that I’d love to be friends with. Gertie was a fantastic main character and I loved watching her slowly heal as the book goes on. It was great to see her go from strength to strength and blossom as she cares for Hedy.
As a book lover myself I really liked the message in this book I about the power that books can have. This was evident through the book club which helped to provide a wonderful community for people at a difficult time but also in the packages the red cross were sending to prisoners of war to help boost their spirits. I thought it was really nice that this happened and it made me hope that they did help in some small way.
I found it interesting to learn more about how Britain helped some of the Jewish population of Europe escape from Nazi persecution as I didn’t realise how much was known about this in Britain. It was very poignant to witness Hedy wondering about the family she left behind when we know through history what might have happened to them. It made me want to jump into the book and give her a huge hug. Hedy and Gertie’s developing relationship was wonderful to read about and I liked how they were both able to help each other when they both needed it the most.
This book had a great pace to it and I was soon absorbed into the story. I found the book hard to put down as I was so enjoying the descriptions of the fabulous community created by the book club but also because I really cared about the characters so I wanted to keep reading to check they were ok. The ending was beautiful and I closed the book happy to have read such a fantastic story but sad to leave the characters behind.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book. If you are a fan of historical fiction then you’ll need to read this book.
About The Author:
After a career in bookselling and publishing, Annie Lyons became an author. When not working on her novels, she teaches creative writing. She lives in south-east London with her husband and two children and puppy, Nelson.
Good morning everyone I’m Jo and I’m a little bit of a bookaholic and …. I’m not sorry about it 🤣
Books have always brought me joy since I was a kid and have continued to provide an escape from the world in adult life. They help me to relax after a long day and there is nothing like having a new book to enjoy – a fact that’s often mentioned by customers that visit Rossiters .
Yes my shelves are a bit chaotic at the moment,a cause of continuous moaning from my husband, but I can honestly say I’m looking forward to every book on these shelves!
Thanks to all the publishers who send me books and all the book friends who pass books on to me I really appreciate it!
Are your bookshelves neat or chaotic like mine? Do you see any books I should bump up my list?
Good morning everyone and happy Saturday. Here are some of the books I’m reading for book clubs this month!
⭐ Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden ⭐ A Fortune Woman by Polly Morland ⭐ The Language Of Food by Annabel Abbs
Black Narcissus is for the #vmcbookclub , Language Of Food is for the #HFBookClub and I’m really looking forward to reading it as I’ve been wanting to read it for ages. A Fortune Woman is the book club read for @rossiter_books in Malvern and I’m very intrigued by this one as I’ve heard great things about it.
Do you belong to any bookclubs? What are you reading this month?
Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
High in the Himalayas, the mountaintop palace shines like a jewel. Built for the General’s harem, laughter and music once floated out over the gorge. Now it sits abandoned, windswept and haunting.
The palace is bestowed to the Sisters of Mary, and what was once known as ‘the House of Women’ becomes the Convent of St Faith. Close to the heavens, the nuns feel inspired, working fervently to establish their school and hospital. But as the isolation and emptiness of the mountain become increasingly unsettling, passions long repressed emerge with tragic consequences . . .
A Fortunate Woman by Polly Morland
When Polly Morland is clearing out her mother’s house she finds a book that will lead her to a remarkable figure living on her own doorstep: the country doctor who works in the same remote, wooded valley she has lived in for many years. This doctor is a rarity in contemporary medicine – she knows her patients inside out, and their stories are deeply entwined with her own.
In A Fortunate Woman, with its beautiful photographs by Richard Baker, Polly Morland has written a profoundly moving love letter to a landscape, a community and, above all, to what it means to be a good doctor.
The Language Of Food by Annabel Abbs
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.
Good morning everyone I was so excited to get a copy of this fabulous sounding book. I love books that are inspired by folklore from another country and I’ve been seeing this book get a lot of good reviews on here so I’m very excited to read it soon.
Huge thanks to Jamie-Lee Nardone for my copy of this book.
What’s your favourite folk lore inspired book? (Not me sneakily looking for recommendations 🤣)
Book Synopsis:
Enter a lush world inspired by the history and mythology of South America, where twisted family politics deceive, dark magics thrive, and fantastical creatures roam.
Reina is desperate.
Stuck on the edges of society, Reina’s only hope lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never met. But the journey to her is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.
Attacked by creatures that stalk the mountains, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn―and keep―her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.
Eva Kesaré is unwanted.
Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries to be the perfect daughter, but Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.
Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet it’s hard to ignore power when it has always been denied you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.
About The Author:
Born and raised in Venezuela, GABRIELA ROMERO LACRUZ now lives two thousand miles from home, in the land of bayous and astronauts. She graduated with a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Houston and, after a stint in Oil and Gas, decided to dedicate herself to the arts. She writes young adult and adult fantasy stories set in places that remind her of home, so in her mind, she’s never too far from the beaches and mountains of Venezuela. She also scratches that ChemE itch with a science fiction story or two. She illustrates as The Moonborn.
A stunning and unexpected portrait of Lucy Maud Montgomery, creator of one of literature’s most prized heroines, whose personal demons were at odds with her most enduring legacy—the irrepressible Anne of Green Gables.
“Dear old world,” she murmured, “you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” —L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, 1908
As a young woman, Maud had dreams bigger than the whole of Prince Edward Island. Her exuberant spirit had always drawn frowns from her grandmother and their neighbors, but she knew she was meant to create, to capture and share the way she saw the world. And the young girl in Maud’s mind became more and more persistent: Here is my story, she said. Here is how my name should be spelled—Anne with an “e.”
But the day Maud writes the first lines of Anne of Green Gables, she gets a visit from the handsome new minister in town, and soon faces a decision: forge her own path as a spinster authoress, or live as a rural minister’s wife, an existence she once called “a synonym for respectable slavery.” The choice she makes alters the course of her life.
With a husband whose religious mania threatens their health and happiness at every turn, the secret darkness that Maud herself holds inside threatens to break through the persona she shows to the world, driving an ever-widening wedge between her public face and private self, and putting her on a path towards a heartbreaking end.
Beautiful and moving, After Anne reveals Maud’s hidden personal challenges while celebrating what was timeless about her life and art—the importance of tenacity and the peaceful refuge found in imagination
My Review:
After Anne is a beautifully written, absorbing book about the life of one of my favourite childhood authors.
Firstly the author has done a great job at bring Maud to life and I loved getting to know her throughout the book. She’s a wonderful character full of charisma, especially at the beginning and I really enjoyed being able to see the world through her point of view. Her imagination is amazing and it made me smile how she referred to the two parts of her as animals in her mind.
Anne of Green Gables and was one of my favourite childhood books so I loved all the details about the real life places in the book. I hadn’t realised they were real places until I read this book and I’ve added going to Prince Edward’s Island to my bucket list. It was great to follow Maud as she wrote the book and I loved the author’s imagination in the bits where she describes how Maud might have got the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables.
This book starts after Maud’s death and then flashes back covering significant parts of her life. The author’s writing quickly drew me into the book and I soon found it hard to put the book down as I was so enjoying this fabulous story. It made me so cross to see people’s attitudes toward Maud and her writing. It was upsetting to think about how many women were forced to give up stuff that they loved as it didn’t fit into societal expectations at that time.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I absolutely loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone. It was very sad to see Maud change throughout the book due to the challenges she faces and it did make me wonder what she might have done or achieved if things had been different.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book. If you are a Anne of Green Gables fan or just a historical fiction fan then you need to read this book.
About The Author:
Logan is a lawyer by day and a writer by baby bedtime. Her writing explores motherhood and the creative life.
Logan’s debut novel AFTER ANNE will be released on May 30, 2023 by HarperCollins. For fans of Anne of Green Gables and fans of complex, creative women, the novel tells the life story of the author Lucy Maud Montgomery. See Logan’s website for more information: https://logansteiner.com/.
After graduating from Pomona College and Harvard Law School, Logan clerked for three federal judges, spent six years in Big Law, and served for three years as an Assistant United States Attorney. She now specializes in brief writing at a boutique law firm. Logan lives in Denver with her husband, daughter, and the cranky old man of the house, a Russian Blue cat named Taggart.
Good morning everyone. Here are 6 historical fiction books that I’m looking forward to reading soon:
⭐ The Other Side Of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker ⭐ The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer ⭐ Joan by Katherine J Chen ⭐ I, Mona Lisa by Natasha Solomons ⭐ The Beasts Of Paris by Stef Penney ⭐ The Illusions by Liz Hyder
Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres but I feel I’ve been neglecting it a bit recently. I’ve recently given up doing so many blog tours so I’ll have a chance to read more of the books on my tbr.
Have you read any of these? Any of these on your radar?
The Other Side Of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker
Mrs Wood is London’s most celebrated medium. She’s managed to survive decades in the competitive world of contacting the Other Side, has avoided the dreaded slips that revealed others as frauds and is still hosting packed-out séances for Victorian high society.
Yet, some of her patrons have recently cancelled their appointments. There are reports of American mediums nearly materialising full spirits and audiences are no longer satisfied with the knocking on tables and candle theatrics of years gone by. And then, at one of Mrs Wood’s routine gatherings, she hears something terrifying – faint, but unmistakable: a yawn.
Mrs Wood needs to spice up her brand. She decides to take on Emmie, a young protégé, to join her show. But is Emmie Finch the naïve ingenue she seems to be? Or does she pose more of a threat to Mrs Wood’s reign and, more horrifyingly, her reputation than Mrs Wood could ever have imagined?
The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer
East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant, has lived for more than four decades in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater. Everyone knows Martha, but no one has ever heard her speak.
One Autumn morning, the peaceful atmosphere of Cleftwater is shattered by a sinister arrival and Martha becomes a silent witness to a witch-hunt. As a trusted member of the community, she is enlisted to search the bodies of the accused women. But whilst Martha wants to help her friends, she also harbours a dark secret that could cost her own freedom. In desperation, she revives a wax witching doll that she inherited from her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll’s true powers are unknowable, the tide is turning, and time is running out . . .
An immersive and deeply moving novel inspired by true events, The Witching Tide breathes new life into history whilst holding up a mirror to the world we live in now. A story of loyalty and betrayal, fear and obsession, the impact of misogyny and the power of resistance, it is a magnificent debut from a striking new literary voice.
Joan by Katherine J Chen
Girl. Warrior. Heretic. Saint?
France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is in hiding. Yet out of the chaos, an unlikely heroine emerges.
Reckless, steel-willed and brilliant, Joan has survived a childhood steeped in both joy and violence to claim an extraordinary – and fragile – position at the head of the French army. The battlefield and the royal court are full of dangers and Joan finds herself under suspicion from all sides – as well as under threat from her own ambition.
With unforgettably vivid characters and propulsive storytelling, Joan is a thrilling epic, a triumph of historical fiction, and a feminist celebration of one remarkable – and remarkably real – woman who left an indelible mark on history.
I, Mona Lisa by Natasha Solomons
The Mona Lisa has hung in the Louvre for over two-hundred years. She has watched alone in silence as millions of people have admired her behind the glass.
Now, she is finally ready to tell her own story.
Over five centuries, from da Vinci’s bustling Florentine studio to the opulent French court, Mona will be desired, stolen, heartbroken, curious, furious, and above all, she will be heard.
The Beasts Of Paris by Stef Penney
Anne is a former patient from a women’s asylum trying to carve out a new life for herself in a world that doesn’t understand her. Newcomer Lawrence is desperate to develop his talent as a photographer and escape the restrictions of his puritanical upbringing. Ellis, an army surgeon, has lived through the trauma of one civil war and will do anything to avoid another bloodbath.
Each keeps company with the restless beasts of Paris’ Menagerie, where they meet, fight their demons, lose their hearts, and rebel in a city under siege.
A dazzling historical epic of love andsurvival, Stef Penney carries the reader captivated through war-torn Paris.
The Illusions by Liz Hyder
Bristol, 1896. Used to scraping a living as the young assistant to an ageing con artist, Cecily Marsden’s life is turned upside down when her master suddenly dies. Believing herself to blame, could young Cec somehow have powers she little understands?
Meanwhile Eadie Carleton, a pioneering early film-maker, struggles for her talent to be taken seriously in a male-dominated world, and a brilliant young magician, George Perris, begins to see the potential in moving pictures. George believes that if he can harness this new technology, it will revolutionise the world of magic forever – but in order to achieve his dreams, he must first win over Miss Carleton . . .
As a group of illusionists prepare for a grand spectacle, Cec, Eadie and George’s worlds collide. But Cec soon finds herself facing the fight of her life to save the performance from sabotage – and harness the element of real magic held deep within her . . .
The Unheard is a novel about memory, and what happens to the experiences that are too much for us but we are unable to leave behind.
My Review:
The Unheard is a beautifully written, poignant read that will stay with me for a long time.
The story is told from the point of view of Tom, May and Maggie. I really enjoyed getting to know them throughout the book and learn more about their past. They’ve definitely had interesting lives, living through many defining moments in history. It was especially interesting to hear read about the miner strikes from the miners’ point of view as it helped me to understand how things were for them.
I really enjoyed the way the author writes the characters so that I often felt like I was in their head experiencing everything as if I was them. It was very poignant to see this effects of Alzheimer’s on Tom’s mind but also to see the effect it had on those closest to him. My heart broke for both Tom and May as I read as it was hard to see May trying to deal with Tom’s Alzheimer’s and how much it had changed him.
Overall this is a interesting book that must have had more of an impact on me then I initially thought as I’ve continued to think about it long after reading. The author’s words just got in my head and I loved the beautiful way she describes things so I could understand more about Tom’s illness.
Huge thanks to Helen for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Blackpool-born Anne Worthington has spent decades producing a body of photographic work that highlighted the conditions of housing, and the effects of social and economic change that began during the 1980s, with particular focus on her adopted home of Manchester.
Good morning everyone today on Two For Tuesday I’m featuring two of the beautiful new special editions I’ve bought recently.
⭐ The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse ⭐ The Square Of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
I’m a huge fan of both these authors who are both auto buys for me whenever they release new books. I did have proof copies of these but couldn’t resist these beautiful special editions as I love books with spredges! Square Of Sevens is my next read and I’m so looking forward to reading it.
These are both indie Bookshop editions and available Rossiter Books or your local indie Bookshop.
Do you have a favourite special edition that you own?
The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
Piracy. Romance. Revenge. Across the seas of the seventeenth century, two seafarers are forced to fight for their love and their lives. The sequel to The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship is the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles from bestselling author Kate Mosse.
The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months, its captain – Louise Reydon-Joubert – and her courageous crew has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved during the course of their merciless raids.
But now the Ghost Ship is under attack – its hull splintered, its sails tattered and burnt, and the crew at risk of capture. But the bravest among them are not who they seem. Louise is fleeing a miscarriage of justice; her lover, Gilles Barenton, is at risk of being exposed – she is forced to masquerade as her brother. The stakes could not be higher: if arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?
A sweeping and epic queer love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the High Seas. Most of all, it is a tale of defiant women in a man’s world.
The Square Of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
‘My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn’t afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well . . .’
A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.
Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society. But she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?
The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholomew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red’s quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . .
In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him, always has been.
When Gaunt’s mother asks him to enlist in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him into the horrors of trenches. Though Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, their friends are dying in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.
An epic tale of the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, InMemoriam is a breathtaking debut.
My Review:
In Memoriam is a gripping, emotional read that is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The story follows Gaunt and Ellwood from their idyllic time as public school boys to the horror of the trenches in World War 1.
Firstly this author has clearly done her research as I often felt that I was experiencing the horror and fear of the trenches alongside the characters. The author definitely doesn’t hold back in her vivid descriptions of trench life which were quite hard to read at times. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that lays bare the full horror of what the soldiers must have experienced. It broke my heart to realise that most of the soldiers were ordinary men with no military experience thrown into this nightmare situation.
This book is a truly emotional read, not just because of the conditions of the trenches and what was experienced there but also because of the beautiful relationship between the two characters. It was lovely to be able to watch it grow and change through the different places, though heartbreaking too at times. I found that I had quickly grown closer to them and was fully invested in their relationship, hoping that they would have a happy ending. When I say this book was emotional, however, I don’t just mean it was sad as I also felt a lot of anger whist reading. Anger at the continuation of going over the top when it obviously wasn’t working, anger at seeing the effect the fighting was having on the men, anger at the stupid class system still mattering whist in the trenches and that you could pull rank to help settle childhood squabbles. I honestly can’t believe this was allowed to happen and felt numb with disbelief as I read.
I found this book very gripping and I soon found the book hard to put down as I was so invested in the characters. I had to keep reading to find out if Gaunt, Ellwood and their friends were ok. The tension in the book was cleverly increased at times by events during the fighting or by the mention of a place where I knew a battle had taken place. There were lots of unexpected twists in this book as you can probably guess in a book about a war, which seemed to happen naturally and often made me cry when I realised what they meant. The inclusion of the In Memoriam pages was also a clever inclusion and I had a lump in my throat as I scanned the pages, hoping that none of the friends had been hurt.
The ending was brilliantly done and while I had hoped it would end slightly differently maybe that wouldn’t have been realistic. It was definitely a hopeful ending and I closed the book sad to leave all the characters behind.
If you are a fan of historical fiction then you need to read this book. It is just brilliant and I have continued to think about it long after reading.
About The Author:
Alice Winn is the author of In Memoriam. She grew up in Paris and was educated in the UK. She has a degree in English literature from Oxford University. She lives in Brooklyn.
Over The Rainbow Blog 