New favourite for 2024: HERE ONE MOMENT by Liane Moriarty

 

Title: HERE ONE MOMENT

Author:  Liane Moriarty

Read: September 2024

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: all the stars! 🌠

 

Book Description (Goodreads):

 

If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

My musings:

 

I just finished reading and had to sit quietly for a little while to collect my thoughts on this heartfelt, poignant story. The thing I LOVE about Moriarty’s books is the way she makes me care about her characters, and HERE ONE MOMENT was a prime example. At work, I caught myself wanting to discuss Sue’s terrible predicted fate, and how Paula could possibly protect little Timmy, and that of course Leo would have to give up work immediately. I remembered just in time that these were just fictional characters, even if they felt so very real to me. At this point, I also want to give credit to Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill for their brilliant audio narration!

 

For a book that heavily featured death and dying, it left me feeling warm and optimistic, even if there were many themes I will undoubtedly ponder for a while. Surely everyone has at one stage contemplated their own mortality, and the things that really matter in the big scheme of things. Perhaps it is a sign of growing up or ageing (or becoming a bit wiser and wearier) that we find it easier to focus on the things that are important to us, as the sand in our hourglass is steadily making its way down the tube. I know that this theme is not new, but what would you do if you knew how long you had to live? Would you change anything? How would you want to spend the time you had left?

 

Sometimes having to keep track of a multitude of characters can dilute their emotional significance, but not so here. I just LOVED these people and found myself caring very deeply about their fate. And as in a magic trick, Moriarty takes it one step further, slowly unveiling the identity of the “death lady” and the events that have led to those fateful hours on the delayed flight. As the novel was steadily nearing the end, I found myself fervently wishing to spend more time with these characters who I felt I knew so intimately by now. To be able to elicit such strong feelings for such a large group of people is proof of the skill of Moriarty’s writing. It offers just the right selection of snapshots out of everyone’s lives that let me fill in the rest and make these fictional characters appear real. I certainly felt like I knew everyone quite intimately by the time the story concluded.

 

I’m not sure what else I can say, except that I loved everything about this book. With just the right balance between intrigue and heart, and a multitude of themes relevant to our times (across a wide range of age groups, demographics and genders) it utterly captivated my attention. I feel that my words are inadequate to describe the book’s emotional impact on me and highly recommend it to anyone who has ever contemplated their own mortality. Such a wonderful, deep and touching read, a definite favourite for me!

Book Review: THE FAMILY DOCTOR by Debra Oswald

 

Title: THE FAMILY DOCTOR

Author:  Debra Oswald

Read: June 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

Paula is a dedicated suburban GP, who is devastated by the murder of a friend and her children by their estranged husband and father. Stacey and the children had been staying with her after fleeing his control, and Paula is haunted by the thought that she couldn't protect them when they most needed it. How had she missed the warning signs? How had she failed to keep them safe?

Not long after, a patient with suspicious injuries brings her anxious young son into Paula's surgery. The woman admits that her husband hurts her, but she's terrified to leave for fear of escalating the violence, and defeated by the consistent failures of the law to help her.

Can Paula go against everything she believes to make sure one woman is saved, one child spared? She isn't motivated by revenge. She's desperately trying to prevent a tragedy . . .

 

My musings:

 

Before I begin, let me tell you a little story we were told in an ethics class long ago, which has always stayed in my mind. A train is racing towards a canyon, where the bridge has collapsed. You have the power to stop the train by diverting it onto an unused line, but a family are sitting on the tracks having a picnic and there is no time to warn them. What do you do? Let the train run its current course and know that hundreds of passengers are doomed, or save them by diverting the train but kill a family in the process?

 

This is the sort of ethical dilemma Dr Paula Kackzmarek faces in Oswald’s confronting and thought provoking novel THE FAMILY DOCTOR. Paula has always been a rock to her friends and family, even through times of personal tragedy when she lost her young husband to cancer. When her long-time friend Stacey and her two kids had to flee their family home to escape Stacey’s violent husband, Paula didn’t hesitate to take them in. But then the unthinkable happened, and Paula came home from work to find her friend and her two children had been shot by her estranged husband, in a terrible murder-suicide. So when Paula encounters a woman and her child in her clinic, bearing the scars of domestic violence, she is determined to help her. With a system often powerless to stop violence against women and legal processes that see many predators freed due to technicalities, Paula feels helpless. Can she stand back and risk another woman being killed by her violent husband, or should she take matters into her own hands?

 

When I picked up THE FAMILY DOCTOR, I had no idea how deeply this novel would draw me in, and keep me captivated in a state of permanent moral conflict. Initially I stood firmly on my own moral highground, but as the story unfolded, layer after layer, I realised what a complex and ambivalent story this had become. Oswald draws her characters so well that I was quickly emotionally invested and could no longer look away or pretend that this was not troubling me on many levels. Even now, I feel like I need to discuss this book with someone! According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1 in 6 women have experienced violence from a current or previous partner. These terrible numbers don’t lie!

 

Throughout the book, I felt the author’s frustration with a legal system that often sets predators free, only to continue the cycle of violence. By exploring the topic through a variety of characters – a doctor, a journalist covering a murder trial where a man has been accused of killing his girlfriend, a police detective plus several victims of domestic violence – Oswald explores all the ethical and moral nooks and crannies associated with this issue.

 

Summary:

 

THE FAMILY DOCTOR is a well researched, well written novel that really got under my skin! I was in a constant state of anxiety trying to sort out my own thoughts about Paula’s situation, and confronting my own moral highground and preconceived ideas about many issues surrounding the topic of domestic violence in our society today. Being set in Australia made it even more relevant, as it described processes I am familiar with through my work and everyday life. This was a profound if troubling piece of writing, which will stay in my mind for a long time to come. I can’t wait to read more from this author in future!

Book Review: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

 

Title: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

Author:  Matt Haig

Read: May 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

 

Book Description:

 

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

 

My musings:

 

I love the idea of a multiverse, of a “sliding doors” concept that lets us explore how different our lives would have been if we had made different choices. The thought of a library where you could read the book of an alternative life sounded intriguing and compelling. Wouldn’t that be fascinating? It’s a bit like googling and old boyfriend and feeling relieved (or not) that your 17-year-old self had the good sense to break up with him.

 

Nora is in her thirties and feels bogged down with regrets. Her life is stale, she has no partner or children, her cat has just died and her brother is not answering her calls. So she decides to take her life. But instead of dying, she is magically transported into a magic library where she can explore all her regrets and see how her life would have been if she had been more courageous and made “better” decisions. As soon as she opens a different book of her own life, she is magically transported into her alternative life as it would be right now had she made a different decision in her past – to stick with her band, to study glaciology, to continue with her swimming career. The strange thing, I thought, was that Nora was dumped into these other lives without context or knowledge of her past in that particular life, or the people surrounding her. I found this extremely anxiety provoking! But I won’t give anything away here, because I don’t want to spoil your fun exploring this premise for yourself.

 

I wanted to love this book as much as I liked its premise, but strangely didn’t find it as compelling as many other readers. Don’t get me wrong, it was an original and somewhat intriguing read, but didn’t grab me emotionally as much as I thought it would. I also found the ending predictable, though I hoped until the last page that the author would prove me wrong – he didn’t. Maybe my expectations were just too high. And because I can’t discuss the finer points without giving away spoilers I will just leave it at that. Thousands of readers have loved this thought-provoking and magical tale, so it’s best you go and judge for yourself. It certainly made me reflect on those crossroads in my life that may have led me into a totally different direction. An interesting read with some magical realism and food for thought that would make a great bookclub choice.

Book Review: UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver

Title: Unsheltered

Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: Harper
Read: December 2018

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work and dedication but a stack of unpaid bills and an inherited brick home in Vineland, New Jersey, that is literally falling apart. The magazine where she worked has folded, and the college where her husband had tenure has closed. The dilapidated house is also home to her ailing and cantankerous Greek father-in-law and her two grown children: her stubborn, free-spirited daughter, Tig, and her dutiful debt-ridden, ivy educated son, Zeke, who has arrived with his unplanned baby in the wake of a life-shattering development.

In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood.

A science teacher with a lifelong passion for honest investigation, Thatcher finds himself under siege in his community for telling the truth: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting new theory recently published by Charles Darwin. Thatcher’s friendships with a brilliant woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor draw him into a vendetta with the town’s most powerful men. At home, his new wife and status-conscious mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his financial worries and the news that their elegant house is structurally unsound. 

My musings:

I adore Kingsolver’s writing and some of her books feature on my all-time-favourite-books list, so I was very excited to receive an ARC of her latest novel from Edelweiss (thank you!). The premise of two people from different times in history being linked through the house they live in sounded intriguing, especially in the context of real historical events. Having read Kingsolver’s books in the past, I knew that she would not shy away from difficult subjects and would include thought-provoking and well-written observations in her story.

I am not going to beat around the bush though, and will admit straight up that I initially really struggled with this book. It took me a long time to engage with the characters, and I may even have DNF’d it if I hadn’t been invited at that very moment to read it as a buddy read with The Traveling Friends group hosted by Brenda on IG. Ultimately, whilst it may not go into the history books as one of my favourites, I am glad that I persevered because Kingsolver raised some interesting points that made for a great discussion and made me reflect on the meaning of shelter in the context of recent political events.

Unsheltered plays out in two separate timelines, with fifty-something journalist Willa Knox leading the narrative set in the present and teacher Thatcher Greenwood featuring in the events taking part in the 1870’s. Both timelines are loosely tethered by the house Willa’s family have recently moved into, a dilapidated old mansion in Vineland, New Jersey, that also provided shelter for Thatcher at one stage. Another interesting side character is botanist Mary Treat, a real historical figure who was in correspondence with Charles Darwin at the time and was a great supporter of his theories. After struggling with the first third of the book, I gradually became more and more intrigued with each of the characters and their struggles, even though I thought that their connection remained somewhat intangible and read like two completely separate narratives. 

An interesting concept that runs through both timelines and features several times in the book is that of “shelter”, with many different meanings attached to it. Firstly, there is the physical shelter in the form of the old house, which is crumbling around Willa’s family and threatening the comfortable retirement they have envisaged after a life of moving around the country whilst raising their children to adulthood. On the other hand, shelter also refers to the comforts our society has come to expect, which are being threatened by current political events and the environmental disaster waiting just around the corner for us. In the course of our discussion, I realised how sheltered my life has been to date, as we still enjoy a lot of the concepts that are being threatened for Willa’s family in the book – like free healthcare, housing and living in a country that has still remained relatively untouched from environmental disaster (or prefers to ignore it). I especially enjoyed exploring the topic through the eyes of Tig, Willa’s somewhat prickly but resilient daughter, who is the generation of my own children and will have to live with the fallout from decisions made by previous generations. As usual, Kingsolver’s social observations and the drawing of her characters are spot-on, which gradually pulled me into the story and made me think about for a long time after finishing the books, which I guess achieved the very thing she intended it to!

I admit I felt a lot less invested in Thatcher’s timeline, although being very intrigued by the whole science vs religion debates, which made for fascinating reading. I think that Thatcher and Mary would have been better served had a separate book been dedicated solely to their story, as there was so much that was left unexplored here. 

Summary:

I could go on and on about the different topics discussed here, which brings me to the conclusion that Unsheltered would make the perfect book for a bookclub choice or a buddy read. For me, the buddy read was a saving grace, especially being able to discuss the issues with readers from various different countries and backgrounds, who brought so much more to the table than my own very limited views on the matter. Kingsolver writes with an honesty not often found in other novels, and her social commentary is spot-on and very thought provoking. If you are looking for a book that will open your mind and make for many great discussion points, then this should definitely be on your radar!

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Butbooksarebetter2 Instagram 1st Anniversary Giveaway

Happy birthday to my Bookstagram account! 1 year old today. Around this time last year I first heard the word "bookstagram" and thought to myself "what is that?" with the sort of vague look reserved for things I think I should know, but don't know, and feel I can't ask about for fear of appearing stupid. And what do we do in this situation? ...


That's right! GOOGLE it! 

So that was the way I stumbled into the magical world that is bookstagram, and the great bookish community there. Half of my TBR list comes from the people who so generously share their book recommendation with the world - yes, I blame YOU for the Alpine mountain range that is my TBR pile!

This milestone made me reflect on my love for reading, and how books have always been a big part of my life. Some of these faithful companions have been with me through many moves and life changes and hold special memories. They have helped me through my tumultuous teens and then seen my babies being born and growing up. They have been stowaways in my suitcase on overseas holidays and have been lent to good friends with the words: "you have to read this!" I still turn to them like an old friend in times of a crisis or when I need a shoulder to lean on.

5 comfort reads that hold special memories for me:

 The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley: I first read this brilliantly written retelling of the King Arthur legend whilst staying with my grandparents one hot sultry summer in my teens. I remember the magical world it transported me into, and how I rambled among some old Celtic burial sites in the countryside, dreamily imagining Morgaine's world. I have read it many times since, and passed it on to my daughter to read, who loved it just as much as I did.

 Blackberry Wine, by Joanne Harris: I first read this bitter-sweet coming-of-age story when travelling around Australia in a caravan with two small children, and Jay's friendship with Jackapple Joe brought back a lot of childhood memories of spending time in my grand-aunt's magical garden and her cellar, where she brewed wine from various fruit growing in her orchard. Cheers to you, Auntie Mitzi, and the magical memories you left me with! The book has one of the most unusual narrators I have ever encountered - a bottle of wine!

 The Bronze Horseman, by Paullina Simons: we had only just moved into our house when I first red this classic story of love and war, which is one of the most touching and harrowing stories of WW2 I have ever read. Based on the life story of the author's grandparents, it tells of the great love between young and pretty Tatiana Metanov to Alexander Belov, a soldier in the Red Army, during the siege of Leningrad. My grandfather, who had been a prisoner of war during WW2 in Russia, told some frightening tales of the Russian winter and the slaughter he miraculously survived, so this book touched a special nerve for me.

 Shadow of the Moon, by M. M. Kaye: I remember travelling around Europe one hot summer and lying in the bunk of a caravan trying to get my baby to sleep with the sound of crickets and roosters crowing in the fields outside. This tumultuous tale set in India during a time of revolt against the British Raj, including the bloody massacre at Meerut,provided some vivid armchair and time travel!


 The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck: I first came across this book on my Dad's bookshelf when I was about ten years old. At the time, my mother was in hospital and couldn't take us to the library, and being a fast reader even then I had long run out of books. I desperately needed something to read, so I smuggled it into my bedroom and sat up long into the night, secretly reading under the covers with my torch. Steinbeck's vivid descriptions of hardship and hunger in 1930's America gave me nightmares for weeks!


To celebrate the anniversary of my Bookstagram account and my life-long love story with book, I want to make wishes come true. I am giving away a book of your choice (up to the value of A$30).

This competition is open internationally, as long as Book Depository or Amazon deliver to your country and the book is available at the time. Just head over to my IG account (link) and tell me which book you would choose, and tell me of a book that holds special memories for you.

Monthly Musings: MARCH IN REVIEW

I’ve got a lot of wonderful and exciting stuff going on in my life right now, which has been slightly interfering with my reading time. Not that I am complaining!

But in typical bookaholic fashion, I’ve tried to balance out my non-reading with accumulating more books – go figure! I have gone absolutely crazy on Netgalley with requests, which means that there are now 11 books pending in the next couple of months! Plus, I have received more books in the mail, generously sent to me by publishers, which are now staring balefully at me from my bookshelf. Not to mention my bookclub read, which is due next week. Is there ever such a thing as too many books????

Deep breath – ommmmmh!

Seeing that there is nothing to review at the moment, let’s just reflect on last month’s reading and what exciting books are waiting for me in April, my birthday month:

Books I have read in March: click on covers for more info

       

  These two will be reviewed as part of the blog tour on 24 & 25 April

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Favourites for March:

 The Italian Party, by Christina Lynch

A delicious and sharply funny page-turner about "innocent" Americans abroad in 1950s Siena, Italy. Newly married, Scottie and Michael are seduced by Tuscany's famous beauty. But the secrets they are keeping from each other force them beneath the splendid surface to a more complex view of ltaly, America and each other.

When Scottie's Italian teacher--a teenager with secrets of his own--disappears, her search for him leads her to discover other, darker truths about herself, her husband and her country. Michael's dedication to saving the world from communism crumbles as he begins to see that he is a pawn in a much different game. Driven apart by lies, Michael and Scottie must find their way through a maze of history, memory, hate and love to a new kind of complicated truth.

Half glamorous fun, half an examination of America's role in the world, and filled with sun-dappled pasta lunches, prosecco, charming spies and horse racing, The Italian Party is a smart pleasure.

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 Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver

January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely, and desperate to change his life, so when he's offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, but the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice: stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return--when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark...

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 Our House, by Louis Candlish

On a bright January morning in the London suburbs, a family moves into the house they’ve just bought in Trinity Avenue.
Nothing strange about that. Except it is your house. And you didn’t sell it.


When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

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What I'm currently reading:

 The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James (Audible)

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. . . .

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 The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, by Holly Ringland

After her family suffers a tragedy when she is nine years old, Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her estranged grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak. But Alice also learns that there are secrets within secrets about her past. Under the watchful eye of June and The Flowers, women who run the farm, Alice grows up. But an unexpected betrayal sends her reeling, and she flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. Alice thinks she has found solace, until she falls in love with Dylan, a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a story about stories: those we inherit, those we select to define us, and those we decide to hide. It is a novel about the secrets we keep and how they haunt us, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. Spanning twenty years, set between the lush sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, Alice must go on a journey to discover that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.

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My reading list for April:

 The Lace Weaver, by Lauren Chater

 The Lido, by Libby Page

 Two Nights, by Kathy Reichs

 The Neighbor, by Joseph Souza

 Birthright, by Fiona Lowe

 Making Peace, by Fiona McCallum

Most anticipated coming soon in 2018:

            

Happy reading!

Cure the reading slump: MOST ANTICIPATED NEW RELEASES IN 2018 - the first 5

READING SLUMP
That period of time when you when you don't feel motivated to read anything and you're so disgusted with yourself.

Blame it on the nightshift blues, but for the last week I have been experiencing the most awful reading slump. I started and abandoned several books, finding myself unable to engage with the characters or concentrate on the action. And since reading is usual my cure-all for everything, this has been a truly terrible situation! I have even resorted to vacuuming my car and contemplating window cleaning to fill my reserved-for-reading time, which surely is a sign of madness. Luckily the urge passed as soon as I filled the bucket with warm soapy water, but it was a close call!

So, what to do about this frightening malaise? I thought I might reflect on some of my most anticipated new releases coming to us in 2018 to get myself back into the reading mood. Expect your TBR pile to get a lot bigger, as there are some fantastic books on the cards for this year!

5 of my most anticipated new releases in 2018:

 The Craftsman, by Sharon J. Bolton: 5th April 2018

Sharon Bolton is one of my all-time favourite authors, who always delivers a suspenseful, multi-layered mystery that sucks you in immediately and grips you to the very end. If you haven't discovered her yet, then you are really missing out!

Blurb: 

August, 1999 

On the hottest day of the year, Assistant Commissioner Florence Lovelady attends the funeral of Larry Glassbrook, the convicted murderer she arrested thirty years earlier. A master carpenter and funeral director, Larry imprisoned his victims, alive, in the caskets he made himself. Clay effigies found entombed with their bodies suggested a motive beyond the worst human depravity.

June, 1969
13-year- old Patsy Wood has been missing for two days, the third teenager to disappear in as many months. New to the Lancashire police force and struggling to fit in, WPC Lovelady is sent to investigate an unlikely report from school children claiming to have heard a voice calling for help. A voice from deep within a recent grave.

August, 1999
As she tries to lay her ghosts to rest, Florence is drawn back to the Glassbrooks' old house, in the shadow of Pendle Hill, where she once lodged with the family. She is chilled by the discovery of another effigy - one bearing a remarkable resemblance to herself. Is the killer still at large? Is Florence once again in terrible danger? Or, this time, could the fate in store be worse than even her darkest imaginings?

 Day of the Dead, by Nicci French: 24th July 2018

The Frieda Klein series is one of my all-time favourite mystery series by the great author duo who call themselves Nicci French, and the final book is due to being released this year. Finally, we may find out if Frieda is able to free herself of her stalker Dean Reeve. If you haven't discovered this great series yet, there is still time to read the previous seven books in the series before this one comes out in July!

Blurb: 

A decade ago, psychologist Frieda Klein was sucked into the orbit of Dean Reeve -- a killer able to impersonate almost anyone, a man who can disappear without a trace, a psychopath obsessed with Frieda herself.

In the years since, Frieda has worked with -- and sometimes against -- the London police in solving their most baffling cases. But now she's in hiding, driven to isolation by Reeve. When a series of murders announces his return, Frieda must emerge from the shadows to confront her nemesis. And it's a showdown she might not survive.

This gripping cat-and-mouse thriller pits one of the most fascinating characters in contemporary fiction against an enemy like none other. Smart, sophisticated, and spellbinding, it's a novel to leave you breathless.

 Us Against You, by Fredrik Backman: 5th June 2018

Beartown was one of my favourite books of 2017 - I laughed, I cried, and it stayed with me for a long time afterwards. If you haven't picked up this little gem already, then you are really missing out. Imagine my happy dance to hear that there will be a sequel this year!

Blurb: 

After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. Amidst the mounting tension between the two rivals, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to be Beartown’s new hockey coach.

Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.

  Watching You, by Lisa Jewell: 15 June 2018

Everything by Lisa Jewell is automatically on my must-read list - I simply love her books! Every one of them features some complicated family relationships, and they make for compulsive reading. Lately, Jewell has been delving more and more into the dark corners of the human psyche, and I love it!

Blurb: 

Joey Mullen is thirty-six and living in her twin brother's attic in Bristol’s exclusive Melville Heights with her much younger boyfriend. She's just returned to the UK after ten years partying hard abroad, and now she's having something of a mid-life crisis.

Then one day she sees Tom Fitzwilliam - a handsome older man who lives two doors down and she’s surprised to feel a sharp attraction for him. As the weeks pass, this grows until an innocent crush has developed into a dangerous infatuation that begins to threaten her sanity.

Six months later Tom's wife is found strangled to death in a school playing field, and Tom’s teenage son Freddie points the finger straight at Joey. Because while Joey's been watching Tom, Freddie has been watching Joey and he knows exactly what she's been up to.

But Nicola’s death is not what it seems, and it soon transpires that there are some even darker secrets hiding behind the closed doors of Melville Heights.

 Let Me Lie, by Clare Mackintosh: 13 March 2018

With her background as a police officer, Clare Mackintosh has insider knowledge to use in her compulsive psychological thrillers, and she is the queen of the killer twist! I have been impatiently waiting for her to write another novel, and did a happy dance when I heard that her latest book will be out in March. If you love a good psychological thriller and a great twist and haven't discovered this author yet, then I urge you to rush out and pick up I Let You Go and I See You ASAP.

Blurb: 

The police say it was suicide.
Anna says it was murder.
They're both wrong.


One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since.

Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to question her parents’ deaths. But by digging up their past, she’ll put her future in danger. Sometimes it’s safer to let things lie…

It is working! I can feel my excitement grow as I share these upcoming titles with you all. Happy reading!