Games and Rituals - Katherine Heiny

 

Description

The beloved author of Standard Deviation and Early Morning Riser brings us eleven glittering stories of love – friendships formed at the airport bar, ex-husbands with benefits, mothers of suspiciously sweet teenagers, ill-advised trysts – in all its forms, both ridiculous and sublime.

The games and rituals performed by Katherine Heiny’s characters range from mischievous to tender. In ‘Bridesmaid, Revisited,’ Marilee, suffering from a laundry and life crisis, wears a massive bridesmaid’s dress to work. In ‘Twist and Shout,’ Ericka’s elderly father mistakes his four-thousand-dollar hearing aid for a cashew and eats it. In ‘Turn Back, Turn Back,’ a bedtime story coupled with a receipt for a Starbucks babyccino reveal a struggling actor’s deception. And in ‘561,’ Charlene pays the true price of infidelity and is forced to help her husband’s ex-wife move out of the family home.

Katherine Heiny, our bard of waking up in the wrong bed, wearing the wrong shoes, running late for the wrong job, but loved by the right people, has delivered a work of glorious humour and immense kindness.

Review

Not the biggest fan of short stories - but these hit the mark every time.

Having absolutely loved the author's two previous books I felt sure her short stories wouldn't let me down - and they didn't. Just as witty, funny and observant as her previous writing these stories might be short but they pack a lot in and don't leave you hanging.

One of my favourite stories is one where the wife begins to reorganise using the Marie Kondo book and her husbands reactions are sublime. It was just genius, as all the stories are. So many smart one liners that I wish I could remember, but I am sure I will be re reading this book.

Each of the stories are totally different, but written with the fantastic observant prose I've come to expect from this author. I'm just disappointed there are none left to read!

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

The Lost Wife - Georgina Lees

 

I've really enjoyed the readalong with @onemorechapter for this book.

Description

The brand new edge-of-your-seat thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl Upstairs

You always underestimated me and I always overestimated you.
Maybe that was our problem.

A woman and a child arrive at a cottage in the Peak District in the dead of night.

Alone. Desperate. Hunted.

She knows they’re coming for her. It’s only a matter of time.

Because her husband kept a secret from her. Until he was ready to destroy her.

Now, it’s her turn.

Review

This soon became a real page turner.

She's on the run from the bad people - what is going to happen if they catch up with her?  The book is told in the past and present. We learn in the past that Lea is getting married, but with each flashback to episodes before the wedding, it seems that the relationship she has with Harry is not the right one for marriage.

One of the tasks that the @onemorechapter readalong set, was to predict the ending. I was way off on this! I did figure out part of a clue as to what was happening, but I mis-read into it. 

I wasn't too keen on the character Lea, she seemed a little insipid. So many things were happening to her and she just seemed to go along with it all despite having friends and family to fall back on. Later on I thought I saw a very different side to her. 

Such clever writing with so many red herrings, twists and turns that it really did have me turning the pages faster and faster. I have mixed views once I reached the ending, but one to remember it certainly will be. I kept replaying the events of the book over in my mind to come to terms with it all.

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