How to Stop Time - Matt Haig

Description

HOW MANY LIFETIMES DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE?

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity he can keep one step ahead of his past - and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love . . .

Review

If you've read my reviews before you will know I love time travel books. Now whilst this isn't strictly time travel, it's someone who has lived for a very long time, so it still felt a little like time travel and I loved it.

I also love social history and this book has it in oodles, as Tom recounts some of his life from years past and then in the present day he points out how things in London have changed since Tudor times. I've read before accounts of the witch hunts and the dunking stool, but this brought it to all too real life for me. Especially when Tom gets tracked down across the sea.

The book flip flops back and forth from present day Tom the history teacher to his life over the many centuries. At times the concept reminded me of the book One Hundred Years of Solitude. In many ways it is a book of one man just retelling his day to day life, if you can count meeting Shakespeare and Charlie Chaplin as normal.

There is also a little romance, a cute dog and a secret organisation - really this book has it all and I was enthralled by it. I really got into the book and and no point questioned how crazy it all was, I just went with it and enjoyed the ride. I loved it so much I read it in one day. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. Thanks to the library for lending me a copy!

No Further Questions - Gillian McAllister

Description

The police say she's guilty.

She insists she's innocent.

She's your sister.

You loved her.

You trusted her.

But they say she killed your child.

Who do you believe?

Review

I was a little torn when I began this book as I hadn't realised the child that had been killed was a baby. I wasn't sure I wanted to read it - but I have read her two previous books and really wanted to see what this book was like. 

Most of the book is a court room scene and I'm not sure if that is why it took me a while to get into it. It also seemed to be an open and shut case and I found it hard to get interested for the first few chapters. Mainly because it was such an emotive read. Two sisters on opposing sides and a dead baby.

As the witnesses were introduced the author also gave a little back story as to how they had seen the evidence from their point of view. This really was great observational writing and gave life to each of the characters, even though some of them only had a few pages in the book. 

Slowly as more and more of the back story was revealed I began to think I knew what had happened, or did I? This was really when the book hooked me in and I had to know, but would we ever know - was the dilemma in my head. Keen to get to the end I took the book onto public transport and that was a bit of a mistake. I managed to hold it together, but some of the writing really got to me and I was holding back a few tears. 

It's a book that in places was not an easy read. That doesn't detract from the author's talent in conveying so many emotions within the pages, whilst taking the reader into a court room they would rather not be in.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks go to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book.

Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata

Description

Keiko has never really fitted in. At school and university people find her odd and her family worries she'll never be normal. To appease them, Keiko takes a job at a newly opened convenience store. Here, she finds peace and purpose in the simple, daily tasks and routine interactions. She is, she comes to understand, happiest as a convenience store worker. But in Keiko's social circle it just won't do for an unmarried woman to spend all her time stacking shelves and re-ordering green tea. As pressure mounts on Keiko to find either a new job, or worse, a husband, she is forced to take desperate action...

A best-seller in Japan, and the winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, Convenience Store Woman marks the English-language debut of a writer who has been hailed as the most exciting voice of her generation

Review

Having visited Japan I am working my way through books by Japanese authors. As soon as I read the words "Irasshaimase!" I was instantly transported back to Japan. This is the greeting that you hear on entering any store - it means "welcome to the store". For foreigners it is easy to want to shout it back, thinking it means hello.

Some of the things in the book may seem strange to you if you have never been to Japan. Such as the attentiveness of those working in convenience or Konbini stores and the fact that the staff bow to you. The book is only 176 pages long so I easily read it in a couple of hours. Don't be put off by the shortness of the book - this is no usual short story. The author has packed so much meaning and nuance into the words that it feels like you've read a full length novel.

The book is set around Keiko - she is what we might think of in the West as on the autistic spectrum. She has never married and to those in Japanese society she is "not normal". Keiko is happy to continue in this world of hers, existing only to serve in the convenience store she has worked in for 18 years. She has stock answers to probing personal questions so that people will leave her alone. Unfortunately the answers are beginning to fail - she needs to find another way for people to let her be. She is perfectly happy - but it seems they are not - why does she not conform!

Beautifully written and a little quirky this is a book that will stay with me. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and Granta Books for a copy of the book for review.

How Hard Can It Be? - Allison Pearon

Description

Kate Reddy is back! The follow-up to the international bestseller I Don’t Know How She Does It, the novel that defined modern life for women everywhere. This time she’s juggling teenagers, ageing parents and getting back into the workplace, and every page will have you laughing and thinking: It’s not just me.

Mail on Sunday’s Books of the Year

Kate Reddy is counting down the days until she is fifty, but not in a good way. Fifty, in Kate’s mind, equals invisibility. And with hormones that have her in shackles, teenage children who need her there but won’t talk to her and ailing parents who aren’t coping, Kate is in the middle of a sandwich that she isn’t even allowed to eat because of the calories.

She’s back at work after a big break at home, because somebody has to bring home the bacon now that her husband Rich has dropped out of the rat race to master the art of mindfulness. But just as Kate is finding a few tricks to get by in her new workplace, her old client and flame Jack reappears – complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.

This is a coming of age story for turning fifty. It’s about so much more than a balancing act; it’s about finding out who you are and what you need to feel alive when you’ve got used to being your own last priority. And every page will leave you feeling that there’s a bit of Kate Reddy in all of us.

Review

I haven't read the novel that comes before this one, but I found this book stood on its own and their was no need to know any previous back story.

Kate the main character narrates the book and it is so funny - however, for me it was just a little too full on. Imagine being in someones head and hearing their every though at break neck speed. Don't get me wrong - it's laugh out loud funny and brilliantly observed writing, I just couldn't take too much of it at once. It's a little like going to see a stand up comedian - they are so funny you ache with laughter, but after an hour or so you really could do with a break. It's not them - it's you!

The story itself centres around Kate and her return to work after 7 years aged 49 and fast approaching 50. Except she can't admit to that age as she's found it puts her out of the job market. So instead she becomes 42 with hilarious inner turmoil, such as remembering her children must be younger than they are, who was in the charts when she was young and so on.

The parts of the book set in the office were brilliantly written and for me true to life in so many respects.Aalthough disheartening to read at times with the role of women still harder to earn in business than that of men. 

Just in case you think it sounds like Kate has no fun - she actually has a few great scenes where she gets even (I was cheering in one of them) and has time for a little romance too. That's when she's not deciphering what her teenage children are up to and trying to understand the world of #belfies! Also she has Roy - the librarian of her mind. Can he recall that name, place, event before she embarrasses herself even more?

I think you need to be of "an age" to enjoy this book. If you are, there are so many things you will totally relate to - perhaps a little bit too close to home for comfort sometimes.

I'm giving this book four out of five stars. My thanks go to Netgalley for a copy of the book for review.

Ivy and Abe - Elizabeth Enfield

Description

Ivy is always destined to meet Abe.

But when is the RIGHT time?

At school, as a free spirit in her twenties or when she is married . . . to someone else?

Perhaps they meet when she is a widow in her sixties? Or maybe he remains a stranger, glimpsed only fleetingly.

Ivy and Abe are soulmates. But what if they meet at the WRONG time, and fate and circumstance stand in Ivy's way?

Told over Ivy's lifetime, across a series of alternate realities, Ivy & Abe is a story for anyone who has ever wondered 'what if?'

Review

I was really looking forward to reading this book but unfortunately felt a little disappointed. It's a great concept and could have been a really good story line. Unlike "Sliding Doors" each time Ivy and Abe meet it is in a different year - things in their lives are at a different point, sometimes one of them is married, sometimes one of them or both of them are widowed. 

I'm not sure how many times the story gets told of Ivy and Abe, but I began to get bored. I started to get the stories mixed up - what was it they were doing in this one? I didn't care much for either character and so found it hard to buy into the book. In fact I liked the first story the most and maybe after that I just felt the other ones didn't matter to me.

If you can manage to read it one go then maybe you would enjoy it more and not get so mixed up as I did!

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC for review.

The Map of Us - Jules Preston

Description

A story of love, line graphs and lost directions

Violet North is wonderfully inconvenient. Abandoned by her family and lost in an imagined world of moors and adventure, her life changes in the space of just 37 words exchanged with a stranger at her front door.

Decades later, Daniel Bearing has inherited his father's multi-million pound business, and is utterly lost. He has no idea who he is or where his life is headed.

When Violet’s granddaughter’s marriage falls apart, Tilly, always adept with numbers, compiles a detailed statistical report to pinpoint why. But the Compatibility Index Tilly creates has unforeseen consequences for everyone in her world.

Tilly and Daniel share a secret too. 10.37am, April 22nd.
Soon, a complex web of secrets and lies is exposed and an adventure begins with a blue typewriter…

Review

It was probably the mention of and a picture of a typewriter that drew me to this book - but I am so glad it did. Such a quirky and unexpected gem of a read which I enjoyed immensely. I feel the world would be missing something without this book!

I read the whole thing in one day. There aren't chapters as such and some are only a page long. So when you tell yourself - one more chapter......... I just could not put it down, it made me laugh out loud and also in places a tiny bit sad, but not for long.

Violet is unable to travel anywhere, even outside her own house so she begins  to write imaginary travel books. Only problem is the typewriter she has borrowed -  the "e" sticks, so she avoids words like nose, eyes, and kissed. But still she writes.

Years later Violet's granddaughter Tilly writes a detailed statistical report on her failed marriage. Her mother sends her letters about the latest washing machine, there have been over 70 of them as her father is a sand sculpturer and as you can imagine it plays havoc with the machines. Tilly's brother Jack is the world authority on the colour blue.

This may sound pretty random - and it is but in a really, really good way.  So many of the office scenes with Tilly's co-workers rang true with me. "She was the bridesmaid at Trish's wedding, so it was moved." Just one line, but it says so much. Such fantastic eloquent writing that makes the words just float past you in a way you don't want to end. I can't wait to read more from Jules Preston.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book which is out on 12 July. 

Blog Tour! What Kitty Did Next - Carrie Kablean #LoveBooksGroupTours

I'm so pleased to be a part of the Blog Tour today for this wonderful book

Description

If you loved Pride and Prejudice, you will love What Kitty Did Next
England, 1813 Nineteen-year-old Catherine Bennet lives in the shadow of her two eldest sisters, Elizabeth and Jane, who have both made excellent marriages. No one expects Kitty to amount to anything. Left at home in rural Hertfordshire with her neurotic and nagging mother, and a father who derides her as silly and ignorant, Kitty is lonely, diffident and at a loss as to how to improve her situation. When her world unexpectedly expands to London and the Darcys' magnificent country estate in Derbyshire, she is overjoyed. Keen to impress this new society, and to change her family's prejudice, Kitty does everything she can to improve her mind and manners and for the first time feels liked and respected. However, one fateful night at Pemberley, a series of events and misunderstandings conspire to ruin Kitty's reputation. But Kitty has learnt from her new experiences and what she does next does next will not only surprise herself, but everyone else too.

Based on Jane Austen's much-loved characters, this is the story of one young woman's struggle to overcome the obstacles of her time and place and truly find herself.

Review

I began to read this book with a little trepidation - would it live up to Jane Austen? I have read other books which are a follow on to great works and been disappointed - but not this time - I LOVED it.

I cannot imagine how you go about writing a novel where the speech and nuances of the characters have to transport you to 19th Centrury England, but this book did just that. So faithfully did it recreate the characters of Pride and Prejudice that I began to forget it wasn't written by Austen herself.

I loved catching up with Lizzie and Jane to see what happened to them after their respective marriages and of course the dashing Darcy. Never once did I think "that would never have happened" but rather I had a train of thought of "so, that's what happened next" lol!

We catch up too with Georgiana, Darcy's sister. When Georgiana takes Kitty into her confidence and reveals what went on between Lydia and Wickham and her brother's part in it, I was at first confused. Because I forgot of course, that I as the reader knew what had happened, but not everyone in the book did! When Kitty gets invited to Pemberley a terrible misunderstanding occurs. So true to Austen was this tale, that I felt the author really must have found an unpublished manuscript by Austen.

The social history aspect of the book was wonderful. So many well written details that brought the book to life. I loved the character of Felicia and her announcement to Kitty that one day she will dare not to ride side saddle!!!

As I neared the end of the book I was delighted in the outcome for Kitty - I had a little tear in my eye. The very ending made me smile so very much. I don't do spoilers so you will need to read it for yourself - really! if you have been wondering what happened when Pride and Prejudice ended this is the book for you.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars - Carrie Kablean is a very worthy successor to Jane Austen.

My thanks to Love Books Group for an advance copy of the book for review.

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