The Kindness Journal - Jaime Thurston @jaimethurston / @52lives @omarabooks @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours

I'm pleased to be on the blog tour for this book today with Love Books Tours.

Description 

Kindness is something we all have to give and we all need, regardless of status or background. The current global effort to protect our communities' most vulnerable shows how kindness spreads and that when we are kind to others it lifts our spirits. In The Kindness Journal, Jaime Thurston, founder of the charity 52 Lives, motivates and inspires readers to practice kindness as much for their own wellbeing as for the wellbeing of others.

The book will help readers cultivate kindness habits, with simple exercises that make a positive impact on others and themselves, and provide a place for readers to acknowledge and remind themselves how being kind to others made them feel. Through prompts suggesting simple actions, inspirational quotes and scientifically supported facts, readers will understand the positive effect kindness has on our physical and mental health.

52 Lives is a registered charity that has been changing a life every week since 2013, with the support of almost 100,000 strangers who work collectively to help a person in need of some kindness. Through the charity, Jaime sees first-hand the impact kindness has, not only on those we are kind to but on us when we are kind.

Review 

The first thing to say is how beautifully made this book is, it's a joy just to hold. I love the rounded corners of the pages and the quality of the paper.

Usually the word "Journal" has me running from a book, but whilst this one does have room for writing, it is not the sole purpose. The illustrations throughout are so pretty and it's a book to be dipped in and out of, something new will always catch your eye.

The message is all about kindness, but not just to others. The biggest take way from this book for me is "kindness to yourself". The book asks "are you kind to yourself, or a bit of a bully?" This struck a chord with me, as I would never behave to someone else the way I do to myself! I'd never thought of it before, but I certainly do have negative internal words with myself that I need to stop.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Love Books Tours for my copy of the book to review.

Author bio

Jaime is the founder of 52 Lives - a charity and global movement that aims to change a life every week and spread kindness.

What started as a simple Facebook page encouraging her friends and family to help people changed overnight after Jaime was featured on ITV's Surprise Surprise. Soon after, 52 Lives became a registered charity and now has almost 100,000 supporters around the world.

Jaime is originally from Australia. She began her career as a journalist, before moving to the UK, where she worked for a Member of the European Parliament, a wildlife charity and an organisation that supported families of prisoners.

She was a Member of the Independent Monitoring Board for a local prison, and a Trustee of a Richmond-based charity that helped isolated groups of people. She now runs 52 Lives and recently launched a School Kindness Project, aiming to empower children to make a difference in the world through kindness.

Jaime was named Clarins Most Dynamisante Woman of the Year in 2016. She also received a Points of Light Award from former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and a Richmond Community Award for her work.

Jaime lives in Berkshire with her partner Greig and her three children, Abbey, Max and Joseph.

Buy Link 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindness-Journal-Little-Activities-Difference/dp/1912785382

Another Life - Owen W Knight

I'm pleased to be on the Book Tour today with Love Books Tours.

Description

Imagine if we could combine dreams and reality in a world where we live forever.
Oliver believes his life to be one of disappointment and failure. Haunted by the memory of a mysterious woman he encountered thirty years ago, and obsessed with finding her, he embarks on a strange journey of grief, hope, myths and legends where dreams and truth merge.

This diligently written novel has been described as 'It's a Wonderful Life for the 21st Century'. Oliver is drawn into diverse worlds, from ancient rural beliefs and traditions to emerging medical science, as he and the reader are led to question the boundaries between dreams, reality and imagination.
"Another Life is a beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on the meaning and purpose of life, seen through the lens of a mystery story steeped in English folklore...The book’s narrative voice and its depiction of details from the natural world are outstanding." British Fantasy Society.

Review

Trigger warnings - Death of a child, suicide.

A writing style and voice which I find to be unique in this day and age and put me in mind of Mark Twain and his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Both for the tone of the writing and the merging of reality with the another world.

I do like a mystery and this book certainly contained one. Oliver visited a village 30 years ago, although he never found it on a map and I doesn't know how to get back there to hopefully meet the woman he fleetingly saw all those years ago. He does know she had an unusual tattoo on her wrist. 

Oliver narrates the story and takes us to and fro through his past and his dreams. We find out that he has suffered losses in his life and he feels his life is meaningless. At times I wasn't sure what was real and what was a dream. My advice is to stick with it, there is a reason behind all of it and your perseverance will be rewarded.  

When I got near the end of the book and the message of cause and effect became evident I did get a little emotional. This is where the comparison with the film "It's a Wonderful Life" became clear to me. Certainly an interesting and different book which was well researched as showed in the writing.

My thanks to Love Books Tours for a copy of the book to review.

Author Bio

Owen W Knight is a writer of contemporary and speculative fiction. His works include Another Life, described as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life for the 21st Century’ and The Invisible College Trilogy, an apocalyptic dystopian conspiracy tale for young adults, described as ‘1984 Meets the Book of Revelation’.
Owen was born in Southend-on-Sea at a time when children spent their days outdoors, creating imaginary worlds that formed the basis of their adventures and social interaction.
He has used this experience to create a world based on documented myths, with elements of dystopia, mystery and science fiction, highlighting the use and abuse of power and the conflicts associated with maintaining ethical values.
Owen lives in Essex, close to the countryside that inspired his trilogy.

Buy‌ ‌Link‌ ‌ ‌

https://amzn.to/3ozRgQI

My Best Friend's Murder - Polly Phillips

 

I'm thrilled to be part of the Blog tour for this book today.

Description

There are so many ways to kill a friendship . . .

You’re lying, sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, legs bent, arms wide.
And while this could be a tragic accident, if anyone’s got a motive to hurt you, it’s me.

Bec and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. They have been through a lot together – from the death of Bec’s mother to the birth of Izzy’s daughter. But there’s a darker side to their friendship, and once it has been exposed, there is no turning back.
 
So when Izzy’s body is found, Bec knows that if the police decide to look for a killer, she will be the prime suspect. Because those closest to you are the ones who can hurt you the most . . .
 
The Rumour meets The Holiday in this compulsive thriller with a toxic friendship at its heart that keeps you in the dark until the final breathless pages.

Review

The book begins with Bec finding her best friend at the bottom of the stairs and judging by the title of the book although she's still breathing it doesn't look good. Bec says it looks like an accident, but she has a motive to hurt her... you have just got to read on following that!

The story begins on 1 December a couple of months before the opening sequence of Bec finding Izzy her best friend. Having been friends since school it seems Bec just trails along in awe of Izzy. I really began to question why Bec would stay loyal to someone who undermined her and her confidence at every turn. I was literally shouting B*TCH at the antics of Izzy. There is such toxicity from Izzy towards Bec that I began to wonder if they really were best friends in Izzy's eyes, was it case of "Single White Female"?  

A timeline runs through the book of the date and time of each event. I have to say that I didn't pay too much attention to that, as I was just concentrating too much on what was unfolding. On the surface two couples, Izzy and Rich with their daughter Tilly, and Bec and Ed with their respective families go about their day to day lives. But underneath dark undercurrents begin to surface and allegations and back biting abounds between them all. This starts you beginning to suspect anyone of them could be responsible for Izzy eventually lying at the foot of the stairs.

I was surprised by the ending. I think that is because the author diverted my attention in so many directions with clever misdirection that I couldn't decide what to think anymore. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of  5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the blog tour invite and an ARC to review.

The Long Call - Ann Cleeves

 

Description

The Long Call is the captivating first novel in the Two Rivers series from Sunday Times best seller and creator of Vera and Shetland, Ann Cleeves.

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too.

Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.

A body has been found on the beach near to Matthew's new home: a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

Finding the killer is Venn’s only focus and his team’s investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

Review

This is the first Ann Cleeves book I have read/listened to. I know! - where have I been. This was chosen by my book group to read, and I thought I would give it a go. I'm so glad I did. I've read reviews from long time Ann Cleeves fans and they don't seem too happy with it though!

I listened to the audio and for me it was so well narrated with the different voices and dialects (all by one person) that it felt like I was listening to a play. It took me a while to get the characters straight in my head, but once I did I listened to it in two sittings, I just had to know what on earth was going on.

A body is found on the beach and the search is on to find out who he is and why did someone kill him? It turns out that he used to talk to a woman who has Down's syndrome on the bus, and she's realised he's the man who is dead - but is there a connection between them and The Woodyard - the day centre she and others attend? I really liked the three women's voices the author gave to the women with Downs Syndrome, it was really sensitively done too.

There are well written characters in this book and so many sub plots concerning Detective Venn, the village he was brought up in, the Brethen he abandoned and the fact that his partner manages The Woodyard. There is a strong female in Jen a fellow detective who Venn has views about, which we then see are far from the mark when we get to hear her voice.  

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Borrowbox and my local library for the audio to listen to.

Murder on the Menu - Fiona Leitch

 

Description

The first book in a NEW cosy mystery series!

Still spinning from the hustle and bustle of city life, Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is glad to be back in the Cornish village she calls home. Having quit the Met Police in search of something less dangerous, the change of pace means she can finally start her dream catering company and raise her daughter, Daisy, somewhere safer.

But there’s nothing like having your first job back at home to be catering an ex-boyfriend’s wedding to remind you of just how small your village is. And when the bride, Cheryl, vanishes Jodie is drawn into the investigation, realising that life in the countryside might not be as quaint as she remembers…

With a missing bride on their hands, there is murder and mayhem around every corner but surely saving the day will be a piece of cake for this not-so-amateur sleuth?

The first book in the Murder on the Menu cosy mystery series. Can be read as a standalone. A humorous cosy mystery with a British female sleuth in a small village. Includes one of Jodie's Tried and Tested Recipes! Written in British English. Mild profanity and peril.

Review

The use of the word "cozy" and the cover had me thinking this was an American book, but it's set in Cornwall, England. If you like a "cozy" mystery then this is the book for you, it's exactly what is says it is. 

Jodie left the Met Police as her daughter was getting anxious about the work she was involved in. Her new life is with her daughter back in her old home village being a caterer. Her first job is for an old school friend who is getting married, except before they can marry the bride disappears and a body is found!

Meeting the local DCI and introducing herself as ex-Met puts her on the wrong foot as he points out she's now a caterer and has no business involving herself with the case. The DCI also happens to be very dishy and maybe Jodie also has a little crush on him. 

I liked the character Jodie and the way she went about digging for the truth in this story. I also loved the descriptions of Cornwall. What I didn't like was that to me it felt a little long winded and drawn out. As I said at the beginning if you like "cozy" then this is perfect for you. There is a mystery and I was clueless until the end about what had happened, but for me, it just took too long to get there.

I'm giving this book 4 out of  5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

The Art of Creativity - Susie Pearl

So pleased to be on the Blog Tour today.

Description

Discover the daily habits of highly creative people.

What do most highly creative people have in common? What are the habits they cultivate? What is 'the flow' and how do you get into it?

THE ART OF CREATIVITY is a practical guide to help you unlock your creative potential and find fulfilment and happiness in the process.

After 20 years working with some of the most creative people on the planet, writer and business coach Susie Pearl has unearthed the habits of highly creative people and takes you on a journey to unlock your own inner stream of creativity.

Over the course of this easy-to-follow guide, you will learn to take risks with your inner artist, ignore critics, release blocks and get into daily creative habits in order to build better projects, ideas and artistic collaborations, and unearth creative solutions and innovations.

Containing practical tools and exercises, and a step-by-step to help you along the way, THE ART OF CREATIVITY will reveal a more fulfilled, passionate and creative you.

Review

I consider myself to be fairly creative but I am always looking to improve and find out how to carry on when you lose your mojo. Whether you are in a similar position or looking to actually begin to be creative you will find a lot of helpful advice in this book.

The book is divided into chapters covering seven habits. If like me you have read self help books in the past this might sound familiar, but they only have in common the words "seven" and "habits" this is a totally different take on the wording. Covering amongst other subjects Fears and Blocks, Journaling and even your breathing and taking a nap. There's even a mention of Coronavirus bringing this work right up to date. 

I learnt quite a few things that I haven't found in my reading in this area before. Such as the brain has five different brainwave states. Whilst you might not need to know the science behind it, Susie then takes us through how this affects our thinking at different times of the day. She also goes on to how to boost those brainwaves to achieve a higher state of creativity.

This is definitely a book to dip back into and remind yourself of the tips and techniques and all round good advice. There's also useful blank pages to jot down thoughts and ideas to put into practice the exercises in the book. Whilst this book isn't going to make you into the next Da Vinci it's certainly food for thought, and has many ways to look at not only creativity but your life differently too.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for a copy of the book to review.

Author

Susie Pearl is a writer, podcaster and a host of workshops on creative
writing, visioning and meditation. She is a mentor and holistic coach for
companies such as MTV, Huffington Post, Google and Sony. She is the
author of Instructions for Happiness and Success (2012) and has been
involved in writing and collaborating on international bestselling titles
including The Art of Eating Well with Hemsley & Hemsley and contributed to research for Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Rich. She is the founder of a
celebrity PR agency in London, and lives between London and Ibiza. She
hosts the Conversations with Susie Pearl podcast and is a cancer survivor.

You can follow Susie at: 

Twitter: @susie_pearl 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/susiepearlwriter

Instagram: www.instagram.com/susiepearlx 

susiepearl.com / conversationswithsusiepearl.com

The Dark Room - Sam Blake

Delighted to be on the blog tour today.

Description

A pacey and thrilling tale from the author of the number one Irish Times bestseller, Keep Your Eyes on Me. 

 

Hare's Landing, West Cork. A house full of mystery... 

Rachel Lambert leaves London afraid for her personal safety and determined to uncover the truth behind the sudden death of a homeless man with links to a country house hotel called Hare's Landing. 

New York-based crime reporter Caroline Kelly's career is threatened by a lawsuit and she needs some thinking space away from her job. But almost as soon as she arrives, Hare's Landing begins to reveal its own stories - a 30-year-old missing person's case and the mysterious death of the hotel's former owner. 

As Rachel and Caroline join forces, it becomes clear that their investigations are intertwined - and that there is nothing more dangerous than the truth... 

Review

This is a bit of a slow burner, but once it takes off it's a real page turner.

There are two strong women characters in this book, who end up staying at the same country house hotel in Ireland - Hare's Landing. Both are originally from Ireland but Rachel visits from England and Caroline from New York. Both have separate reasons for being in Ireland, one for safety and one as an escape from a work lawsuit. 

There were a few threads to this book and some combined whilst another was really the back story of why Caroline was in Ireland. That was just as intriguing in its own way. I mentioned that the book was a slow burner at first, but I was enjoying the descriptions of the places, and once they were at Hare's Landing the hidden treasures they saw and discovered. 

Rachel brings with her from England, Jasper a German Shepherd ex police dog, and for me the star of the book. I just loved how he protected the two women and had his own agenda also.

An extra dimension to the plot was the eerie music that only Caroline kept hearing, and where this fitted in once the action began. It was a little unnerving and whilst I feared for the two women, I was also trying to be a sleuth and figure out what was real and what was ghostly!

I really liked that both women had a background that lent itself to them becoming sleuths. I had several theories myself, which were mostly wrong! - but it was certainly an enjoyable and atmospheric read. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Random Things Tours for a proof of the book to review.

Sam Blake is a pseudonym for Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin, the founder of The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy and the hugely popular national writing resources website Writing.ie. She is Ireland's leading literary scout and has assisted many award-winning and bestselling authors to publication. As Sam Blake, she has written four previous novels and has topped the Irish bestseller chart. 

The Coffinmaker's Garden - Stuart MacBride

Description

A village on the edge…
As a massive storm batters the Scottish coast, Gordon Smith’s home is falling into the North Sea. But the crumbling headland has revealed what he’s got buried in his garden: human remains.

A house full of secrets…
With the storm still raging, it’s too dangerous to retrieve the bodies and waves are devouring the evidence. Which means no one knows how many people Smith’s already killed and how many more he’ll kill if he can’t be found and stopped.

An investigator with nothing to lose…
The media are baying for blood, the top brass are after a scapegoat, and ex-Detective Inspector Ash Henderson is done playing nice. He’s got a killer to catch, and God help anyone who gets in his way.

Review

I'm going to start with a bit of a disclaimer as this is not something I would normally read, but I thought as it was on Pigeonhole I would give it a go. It really wasn't to my personal taste.

I found it hard going as there were references to events from previous books I had not read. Luckily other readers were able to shed light on this for me. Ash Henderson is an ex-DI and now works for a consultancy firm supporting Police Scotland. This obviously gives him a little more room to "do his own thing" than if he worked for the Police, but towards the end of the book it became a little too far fetched for me.

There were some wonderful Scottish words which I had to look up, but they certainly brought a colour to the story. I also liked the humour Ash brought to the book. It was that which balanced out the gruesome violence and kept me going through the book. It wasn't as bad as some books with violence which I have attempted to read had to stop before finishing. I did make it to the end of this book.

It was certainly a unique plot with the house where the murderer had buried his victims falling into the sea and so his crimes were revealed after a 56 year stretch. At the same time Ash and his colleague are investigating a child murder who is on the loose. I rather liked the actual police work, it was the descriptions of the crimes that I wasn't comfortable with reading about. 

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Pigeonhole for the staves to read.

Victoria Park - Gemma Reeves

 

So pleased to be on the Blog Tour for this book today. 

Description 

A playful, lyrical novel about otherness, change, and the gap between generations in a London community. 

Mona and Wolfie have lived on Victoria Park for over fifty years. Now, on the eve of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary, they must decide how to navigate Mona's declining health. Bookended by the touching exploration of their love, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year.  

Told from their multiple perspectives in episodes which capture feelings of alienation and connection, the lingering memory of an acid attack in the park sends ripples of unease through the community. By the end of the novel, their carefully interwoven tales create a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss. 
 
With sharply observed insight into contemporary urban life, and characters we take to our hearts, Gemma Reeves has written a moving, uplifting debut which reflects those universal experiences that connect us all. 

Review

This book drew me in with the writing, which is almost poetic at times. It's not a chick lit view of the world, you need to take time to read and savour what goes on.

This is a book about diverse lives - nothing out of the ordinary happens - except everyday life. It's the way it's written that is special. It documents a life before the pandemic, a masterpiece of observation of life that goes on everyday somewhere. It's a social commentary that needs to be preserved and read again from time to time.

The book goes through each month of the year and begins with the lives of Wolfie and Mona. It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Mona has dementia, unfortunately she isn't with Wolfie, she's out and about oblivious to the modern day world. 

Each month of the book we meet new people and some of the people we've met before reappear in the story. Overlaps and connections are made by the reader as we realise how everyone in the book fits together. 

The end of the book was bittersweet for me. This story is a powerful one and you need to be prepared for some realistic writing about acid attacks, comas, dementia and life.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Tour Things for a copy of the book to review.

Gemma Reeves is a writer and teacher who lives and works in London. 

Art and Soul - Claire Huston

 

Description

There’s no problem Becky Watson can’t fix. Except her own love life…

Struggling single mother Becky Watson longs to revive her career as a life-fixer, working miracles to solve her clients’ problems, no matter how big or small. Since the birth of her two-year-old son she has been stuck preventing wedding fiascos for the richest and rudest residents of the Comptons, a charming, leafy area of southern England known for its artistic heritage.

So when semi-reclusive local artist Charlie Handren reluctantly hires Becky to fix his six-year creative slump, she’s delighted to set him up with a come-back exhibition and Rachel Stone, the woman of his dreams.

Though they get off to a rocky start, Becky and Charlie soon become close. But as the beautiful Rachel becomes Charlie’s muse, Becky is forced to wonder: will giving Charlie everything he wants mean giving up her own happily ever after?

Review

I'm not going to lie - the mention of a slice of cake was the hook to get me to read this book. However, what I enjoyed so much more were the art references!

We meet Becky just as she's been asked to intervene and fix the life of a semi-reclusive artist. You can imagine how that goes at first - basically he tells her to just get lost. However, Becky wins him round and gets the job as his life coach and a promise to hook him up with the woman of his dreams, Rachel Stone, the owner of a local gallery. I had a picture of a young Grace Kelly in my mind when Rachel was described, she sounds perfect (well to look at at least!).

Becky is a really realistic and down to earth character and that was true for the whole book. I felt like I had taken a peek into a real life situation. Whilst Charlie the artist, hankers after Rachel. It soon becomes apparent that Becky likes Charlie, especially as he seems to get on so well with her young son. But he's made it clear he likes Rachel and now he's got an exhibition at her gallery so they are spending a lot of time together.

I could really see this being made into a film. The plot wouldn't be amiss in a Jane Austen novel, with suitors and misunderstandings, all with a side of cake served by the wonderful best friend Ronnie. Let's not forget the art though. The author obviously knows a lot about art and described to perfection a few paintings I have seen in real life. I loved the scene where Becky got one of Charlie's paintings into The National Gallery - if only very temporarily, before a Klimt took its place.

I think this book has something for everyone and it was all for me down to a T, I loved it.
I can't believe this is a first novel. The writing has a richness of words that wrap around you and make you feel so cosy. The plot had depth with well developed characters. I was sorry when it ended.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Claire for an electronic copy of the book
for review.

You can get your own copy of Art and Soul here: https://getbook.at/ClaireHustonAandS

It’s also free to download if you have Kindle Unlimited.

About the Author

Claire Huston lives in Warwickshire, UK, with her husband and two children. Art and Soul is her first novel.

A keen amateur baker, she enjoys making cakes, biscuits and brownies almost as much as eating them. You can find recipes for all the cakes mentioned in Art and Soul at clairehuston.co.uk along with over 100 other recipes. This is also where she talks about and reviews books.

Social Media Links

You can also find Claire on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads and Pinterest:

https://linktr.ee/clairehuston_author