must reads

Books I’ve Read Lately Part 2

- Vicki Leave a comment

I am quite behind on updating you with all the books I have been reading, so I will be doing a few posts over the next couple of months with all the wonderful books I have managed to read over the past 18 months! I have read a nice mix of genres and found some real gems (and a few not so great reads amongst them too), so today I will be sharing the first 7 books. Reading for me is such a wonderful way to relax and stop working. I’m self employed, and it is often hard to step away from working or just scrolling through social media all the time. Reading gives my mind a chance to shut off and just enjoy the moment. I am pretty pleased with the amount I have been able to read over the past few months, and it has helped to keep my stress levels down too.

Top Books To Read 2021

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

This YA book isn’t usually my go-to genre, but I had heard so many good things about it & I am a sucker for a good teen romance, this did not disappoint. It is set in a hospital and the story follows two teens who have Cystic Fibrosis and despite the Nurses doing all they can to keep them apart they still fall madly in love. Its a sweet story that tugs at your heart strings (cheesy in parts) but I enjoyed the reminder of how intense and all consuming young love can be & feel.

This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps

LOVED this autobiography from Busy Philipps, she is honest, funny and not afraid to fall on her backside (she always gets back up though). I read this so fast, and although I don’t read too many celebrity memoirs (I thought Lily Allen’s was AWFUL), Busy has lived quite a crazy life, had a lot of downs but managed to find the strength to be quite the straight talking, no BS kind of lady I like. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about her crazy and often heartbreaking life, and I don’t think many people in the public eye are quite so open about their mistakes and lessons they have learned along the way. Busy is pretty ace.

Great Books of 2021

Three Daughters by Consuelo Saah Baehr

This was a very odd read, it felt like it was disjointed, and the story was missing depth and a clear plot. Parts of the story were interesting, and had me gripped, but I was left underwhelmed overall. The story follows three generations of Palestinian Christian women, you are witness to their traditions, their turbulent love stories, betrayal and a yearning for a more modern way of life. In parts this book is beautifully descriptive of life in historical Jerusalem, the sights, sounds and smells. You feel like you are there, but the book looses something special when the story takes you to America and essentially becomes a generic love story.

Mr Doubler Begins Again by Seni Glaister

What a very unusual but sweet story of friendship, affection and respect. Mr Doubler is a potato farmer who has lived alone for years, although he keeps himself very busy (on his farm) and doesn’t have much time for socialising, he doesn’t realise how isolated and lonely he has come. His only contact with the real world is Mrs Millwood, his housekeeper who comes every day, and they have lunch together whilst chit chatting. His world is turned upside down when she is taken ill, and he misses her company more than he ever thought. They speak daily on the phone, and Mrs Millwood ensures Mr Doubler finds purpose away from the farm. She not only opens his heart, but she helps him find friendship, people that need him and a new lease of life. It is a slow starter and in the beginning you do wonder where the story is heading but hang in there because is is quite wonderful, and you will find a place in your heart for Mr Doubler and the lovely Mrs Millwood.

Books You Must Read

Diary Of a Drag Queen by Crystal Rasmussen

This is a year in the life of Crystal Rasmussen a larger than life Drag Queen who takes you on a no holds barred, utterly unfiltered, shocking, at times heartbreaking but quite often laugh out loud glimpse into the world of the LGBTQ community. The KFC story almost killed me! This book has a lot of sex, and sexual references, so if you’re a little prudish, this is not (absolutely not) for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down, It is well worth a read, and is an eye opener for sure!

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

There has been a flurry of these real life accounts of life inside the Concentration camps during the Holocaust. This story follows a young girl who risks her life to keep the 8 books the camp has safe from the Nazi’s. Keeping them safe is not an undertaking usually taken on by a 14-year-old, this responsibility comes with the constant threat of execution. But Dita Kraus sees the importance of books, and their ability to capture the imagination of the children (and adults) of Block 31 (The Children’s Block). The accounts from inside the concentration camps of WW2 are always utterly harrowing and never stop being unimaginable, but the tales of the people imprisoned there who manage to find strength, spirit and courage to not only survive but do so much good.

The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

LOVED this book, it is an unusual but totally believable account of two people who share not only a flat, but a bed. It is set in London, where we all know rent is extortionate. Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time. It is an interesting & crazy concept and I loved the way Leon & Tiff get to know each other, without meeting, using letters, notes and seeing each other’s belongings. It’s a fun modern-day love story. If you are looking for an easy but great read, then this book is a real page turner. A fab beach read option this Summer!

As always, if you have any book recommendations or have read any of the books below, let me know how you enjoyed them.

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Books I’ve Read Lately 2018 Part 2

- Vicki Leave a comment

This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

I kept seeing this book in Waterstones & heard so many people saying how good it was so I knew I had to read it too. It did not disappoint & lived up to every good review I’d read. I loved it and was completely gripped from beginning to end. This book is the diary entries from an NHS Junior Doctor from 2004 until 2010, I laughed (a lot), cried and quite often gasped out loud at almost every page. This is an eye-opening, honest and quite often shocking account of working on the front line in the NHS from a Junior Doctors perspective. I loved the way is written and I won’t give anything away but I cried and laughed in equal measures. It is heartbreaking to think our NHS staff are working almost 100 hour weeks at the expense of their mental and physical well-being. I urge you to add this book to your reading list, I think it should be a mandatory read for everyone.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Another true story and an account of a middle-aged couple who find themselves in a situation beyond their control and completely out of their depth. This book gave me the sobering realisation that we are all only ever one step from losing everything, I found this humbling and inspiring. I felt like I was walking with Ray & her husband Moth every step of their journey. This story will lift your spirits, inspire you to embrace the unexpected and reminds you to be a little kinder to people you meet along the way. I found this book to be a quick read and I recommended it to my Mum who also really enjoyed it too.

Stalins Daughter

Stalin’s Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan 

I am completely fascinated by Russia and always gravitate towards books about its rich history and culture. It’s a country that has been through so many changes and it’s people have so often triumphed over adversity. I couldn’t wait to read this book when I heard about it.

Stalin’s Daughter by Rosemary Sullivan is an in-depth account of the little princess of the Kremlin who never escapes her father’s legacy. Svetlana endures so many tragedies in her early life, most at the hands of her brutal father Josef Stalin but after his death, she learns more about the extent of his reign of terror and makes the decision to defect from Russia.
Then begins a life of emotional turmoil and her constant search for peace that sadly never came. This is an emotional account of Russia’s most important defector. I found it heartbreaking that she wasn’t able to become her true self. The world just wouldn’t allow her to be anything other than Stalin’s Daughter and that was such a heavy burden to bear.

Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E Frankl

This book by Viktor E Frankl who is a Holocaust survivor and a leading psychiatrist explores what keeps people from giving up & what gives a life meaning and purpose. He talks about his time in Auswitch and how the people who managed to survive the longest were the ones who refused to succumb to depression or a broken heart but instead had an attitude of hope which gave their life meaning and purpose. They were the ones that helped people at any cost even if they made the smallest difference, they were the ones that refused to give away their inner fight for survival. You learn a lot about the strength of the human spirit.  It is a very interesting book and one that makes me realise your attitude can have such a positive impact upon everything you do. If like me you feel like you’re stuck in a rut or having a low time of it, this book might help you focus and make some positive changes to the way you think and your ability to focus on the good.

The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana

This is a book about solving a crime that happened years before, about understanding family lies and secrets that stop the truth from surfacing. It all centres around what happened to Gabriella 30 years ago and her sister Anna returning to the family home to finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I thought it was a little hard to follow in places but I couldn’t put it down and loved the twists and turns. If you like crime/mystery novels this is one to add to your reading list for 2018.

The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This is so out of my comfort zone and not the usual genre I go for, it is what I would call a crime/fantasy/thriller. Most people describe it as a gothic novel and I would agree. Set against the backdrop of post World War II Barcelona and centres around the enchanting Cemetery of Lost Books and what one boy discovers there. The Shadow of the Wind’ becomes a hunger to discover what really happened to its author Julian Carax to save those left behind. There is no quiet moment in this book, my heart was always in my mouth and I couldn’t put it down. It is enchanting, harrowing and the plot is so dark in places that I was scared to read it at night (what a wimp, I know). I enjoyed it from start to finish and want to read more books from Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Bring Me Back by B A Paris

Bring Me Back by B A Paris

Now, this was a book I really did not enjoy, it was disjointed and odd. It is about the disappearance of a young woman 12 years ago & the odd things that start happening that question what really happened to her all those years ago. If she is dead or alive. I found the whole book far-fetched and not very well written. Not a book I would recommend at all!

Love and Other Consolation Prizes

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford

I loved Jamie Ford’s debut novel ‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet‘ which was a lovely read and I so wanted this book to be as good but although I enjoyed it and loved the main character Ernest Young, I just felt the story wasn’t as gripping. It is set in Seattle and much of the plot centres around the fate of a young Chinese orphan who finds himself in an adult world and all that comes with that life. The story flits between Ernst as a young boy & as an older man and I quite like the way this is done. Although I wouldn’t say this is a must read I would say it is a nice, easy read.

The Fourteenth Letter by Claire Evans

This was the second book in this roundup which I wasn’t blown away by. It was quite boring in parts and often I felt the story was rushed. This is a story that will leave you with more questions than answers and I struggled to connect with any of the main characters. This is a book to avoid!

If you have any book recommendations please leave them in the comments, I’d love to hear them.

Books I’ve Read Lately 2018

- Vicki 1 Comment
Books I've Read Recently

Books I've Read Recently

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

This is based on the life of Lale Sokolov and I think the fact it is an account of real events makes it even more gripping. Books about this time in history are always harrowing and quite difficult to wrap your mind around but what I found different about this account of Auschwitz was the beautiful glimmers of courage, hope and ultimately love that can blossom even in the darkest moments. I read this book in a couple of days, I wanted to know what was to happen to Lale so couldn’t put it down. If you need a quick but thought-provoking read then I highly recommend adding this to your reading list.

A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea

I haven’t finished this, I often have a few books that I leave and come back to, for many reasons but the fact I haven’t been able to get to the end of this particular book is because it is just so heartbreaking. This is how Amazon summarise it, ‘The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes’

It really is harrowing, the humiliation, suffering and loss that this man endures during his life in North Korea are unimaginable at times. I found it was so dark and sad in parts that it was hard to read. I feel guilty that I am unable to finish it and can put it down because this is someone’s account of real-life events and they had to live them. I almost feel I have to finish it because Masaji Ishikawa was brave enough not only to survive this ordeal but commit his story to paper.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Yes, yes. I know everyone (literally everyone) is reading this at the moment and I jumped on the bandwagon. It is a slow burner, in the beginning, I was worried that maybe I just wasn’t going to get the hype but about a quarter of the way in the story steps up and you get to know Eleanor a little more and start to will her character on. It is an easy, quick read but the story and characters are endearing, kind and it makes you want to be more friendly and compassionate. If you’re on the fence about reading this, I say buy it & read it. I guarantee you will enjoy it.

BOOKS I'VE READ LATELY 2018

The House at Bishopsgate

The funny thing about this book is I read it without realising that it is, in fact, the last book in a trilogy. Looking back now I have finished this book I think it is important that you read the first two books because they introduce the characters and you’re invested in the story and its history. I am tempted to go back and read them just so I can add some background to the story. Amazon summarises this as ‘Vividly evoking Jacobean society, The House at Bishopsgate is a sumptuous, richly woven story of marital secrets and sexual jealousy, from a master of historical fiction’.

I liked the story but didn’t connect with the main character, I found her a little annoying and meek. I wanted her to act more like the lady of the house. That being said I did like how descriptive it was about the house and London, I often felt like I could hear the comings and goings of the maids and the busy London street. I wouldn’t say this is a page turner, more of a slow read, the final few chapters were a little more lively. Let me know if you have read this trilogy and if I should read the first two.

The Lightkeeper’s Daughters

I have literally just finished this book, I found myself racing through it just so I could find out what happens. It is a page-turner and the story reminded me of the Light Between The Oceans. I think it’s because both books are set at a lighthouse on quite a remote Island. This book has so many twists that keep you guessing right up until the very last page. I was completely gripped. I don’t want to give anything away but it is set at a lighthouse station on the Ontario side of Lake Superior and you follow the life of the family who controls the light. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming, a real rollercoaster of life and emotion. I loved it and thought there was something quite magical about the remoteness of the lighthouse and how isolated they were out there.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret 

I saw the film over Christmas and was blown away by the story and the way it was filmed, I didn’t even know it was based on a book, or how beautiful the book was. This is a lovely story but the book has these incredibly detailed drawings & illustrations that bring the characters to life. It is like a graphic novel and it made the book even more special. The book is about an Orphan clock keeper and thief, twelve-year-old Hugo who lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. I urge you to read the book and watch the film, both are fantastic in their own way. Thank you Hayley (hayleyfromhome) for lending this to me, I may have to buy my own copy just to look at the pictures all over again. 

HUGO

HUGO Book

HUGO

If you have read any of the books I’ve mentioned let me know if you enjoyed them & also if you have any book recommendations I would love to hear them.

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Books Waiting to be Read

- Vicki 3 Comments
Books to read in 2018

Books to read in 2018

For me, books make the perfect gifts. I love buying my favourite books for people & the thought that someone else might get as much joy as I did from reading a certain book is such a nice feeling. I also really like discussing my favourite books with people and listening to their take on it. Receiving books is so nice too, adding a book to your collection that you may never have picked yourself but it ends up becoming a favourite read is exciting to me. It is safe to say the book fairies were very kind to me this Christmas and I received quite a few new books to kick off my reading list for 2018.

St Petersburg by Jonathan Miles 

I have always been fascinated with in Russia because I feel like it’s quite a dark, unknown place with a very interesting, rich history. It’s so different from anything I have ever known and I love learning all about its past. This book spans three centuries from Peter The Great right up to Putin. It is a hefty book but I started it on Christmas Day and I’m flying through it at some speed. I’ve read about 150 pages and so far it’s very interesting and quite shocking in parts. It’s described as ‘An epic tale of murder, massacre and madness played out against squalor and splendour. It is a remarkable portrait of a city and it’s people.’ What country sparks your interests?

The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking

I’ve read the first book in this Scandi series, Little Book of Hygge & I have to tell you I’m 100% onboard with the whole lighting candles, drinking hot drinks and snuggling under a warm blanket (even when it’s not Winter). I also read The Year of Living Danishly which is a similar book but it takes a more in-depth look at the reasons people in Denmark are inherently happy. It was fantastic, a real eye-opener to learn what almost simple pleasures and small changes in your life can bring you that sense of happiness. This Lykke book seems to be in a similar vein so I’m excited to read it to learn just what happiness means to the people of Denmark and see if I can adopt some new behaviours to increase my own happiness.

Lagom by Linnea Dunne

This is another Scandi inspired book and although written by a different author to the Lykke and Hygge books is it similar in that is discusses the art of balanced living and just how important that is to our relationships and happiness. It is not about the Danes this time but focuses on the Swedes, who also rank very highly on the happiness scale. It looks like a refreshing take on how to find a healthy balance in life to ensure you have time to relax, be sociable and not let work become your entire life. It sounds very interesting and something I think we all strive to achieve a healthy work-life balance is the dream and Sweden appears to have it all worked out. I really like the simple illustrations in these books, they make so nice to flick through even after you’ve read them.

Berlin Style Guide by Ellen & Petra

I adore Berlin and have visited 5 times over a 30 year period and it is safe to say I have seen Berlin go through some major changes and some more subtle changes. It is a mysterious City and one that nurtures creativity. At face value, it feels very quiet, stark and utterly freezing in the Winter but if you get to know it and take time to seek out its beauty it is a city that welcomes you in and gives your soul doses of creativity and inspiration. I love exploring its city streets and each district is very different. This Berlin Style Guide takes you through 8 of Berlins suburbs and in each you get so many recommendations of delicious places to eat, stylish, quirky places to shop, beautiful places to get coffee and many hidden gems that will get your creative juices flowing. It has been so well curated so that you feel like you’re an honorary Berliner (for a few days at least). I love flicking through this guide and bookmarking places I have to visit on my next trip.

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood 

I don’t know much about this book, it was a gift from my friend Hayley (who has excellent taste in books). What I do know is it written by the same author that gave us A Handmade Tale so I am expecting great things.

Orwell on Truth

This was bought for my husband but I will be reading it after he has finished. ‘This selection of George Orwell’s writing, from both his novels and non-fiction, gathers together his thoughts on the subject of truth. It ranges from the discussion of personal honesty and morality to freedom of speech and political propaganda. Orwell’s unique clarity of thought and illuminating scepticism provide the perfect defence against our post-truth world of fake news and confusion.’

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