The Princess of Felling - Elaine Cusack

Absolutely delighted to be on the blog tour for this wonderful book today.

Description

The Princess of Felling describes Elaine’s childhood and adolescence growing up on Tyneside in the 1970s and 1980s. The book pays homage to her home town of Felling on Tyne and is an extended, loving letter to her late parents.

This illustrated poetic memoir features a Foreword by Michael Chaplin, photographs of Felling taken in summer 2018 by Rossena Petcova and unique maps by poet and artist Steve Lancaster.

The book contains reminiscences by Felling folk plus guest appearances by Nick Heyward, David Almond, Tracey Thorn, Sir Kingsley Amis, The Reverend Richard Coles, Lady Elsie Robson, U.A. Fanthorpe, Gyles Brandreth and more.

The Princess of Felling by Elaine Cusack resonates with readers of all ages. As actress and Felling lass Jill Halfpenny says in the book, “Reading Elaine’s stories and poetry takes me back to my childhood in Felling and all of the smells, sounds and tastes of that time. Her words allow me to remember things that I didn’t know I’d forgotten.”

Review

I was attracted to this book as as her reminisces are from part of my past too. This book is a brilliant slice of important social history that deserves to be recorded and preserved. Elaine's unique voice adds a a delightful and enchanting nuance to the reading. It echoes of a lost time that is so familiar to me.

Some of things that I fondly remember that she recalls are the Hamlyn Children's Bible, Nick Heyward and Haircut 100 (the first band I ever saw live) and Echo and the Bunnymen who I also saw live. Watching Dave Allen with her Dad which I also did.

At the front of the book Elaine has a picture of her and her Dad in a photobooth, I have several of those exact same posed photos! So many details in the book may not be from your geographical area but there are many you will recall and identify with. Such as trimphones, penpals and the post being delivered twice a day.

I'm not from the North East as Elaine is, but I am from a mining town and a saying she quotes from her Mother took me right back to my childhood. "look at the state of you, you look as if you've been working down the pit". I have not heard that said for so many years and had completely forgotten it until I read it in print.

It was so interesting to read of Elaine's life, I was just a little bit jealous of her claim to fame with TV programme The Tube. I hadn't realised it was filmed in the North East. Also to read about her family and friends, I will admit to shedding a tear as I finished the book which I eeked out over several weeks as I didn't want to devour it one sitting. 

I'm giving this book five out of five stars and my thanks to Elaine for a copy of the book to review. Also to Random Things Tours for the invite.

Elaine Cusack

Find out more about Elaine’s writing and forthcoming gigs by visiting www.dipdoomagazoo.wordpress.com, www.ticketsource.co.uk/cusackmansions and by liking her Elaine Cusack writer page on Facebook.

Buy your copy in person from selected outlets including Hexham’s Cogito Books, Felling Volunteer Library, Newcastle Central Library, Happy Planet Studio and Gallery in Whitley Bay and online from Elaine’s publisher www.limelightclassics.com

The Little Teashop in Tokyo - Julie Caplin

Description

Grab your passport and escape to a land of dazzling skycrapers, steaming bowls of comforting noodles, and a page-turning love story that will make you swoon!

For travel blogger Fiona, Japan has always been top of her bucket list so when she wins an all-expenses paid trip, it looks like her dreams are coming true.

Until she arrives in vibrant, bustling Tokyo and comes face-to-face with the man who broke her heart ten years ago, gorgeous photographer Gabe.

Fiona can’t help but remember the heartache of their last meeting but amidst the temples and clouds of soft pink cherry blossoms, can Fiona and Gabe start to see life – and each other – differently?

Review

I always love these Julie Caplin books as they give you a chance to go somewhere you dream of visiting. Except this time I have been to Tokyo - so was it going to live up to the real thing? I admit to waiting a couple of times to see if there were any rooky mistakes, as Japan is unique and it would be easy to spot something that didn't fit in. I can thankfully say yes it did live up to my experience . All the descriptions of the travel and the Japanese customs were so true to my own trip that I felt like I was there all over again. 

The book follows Fiona who wins a trip to Japan. Whilst there she will be mentored by a famous Japanese photographier. Except that the mentor can't make it and instead someone she embarrassed herself with long ago called Gabe takes over the role. So begins a little bit of a cat and mouse story - with no spoilers from me as to whether the cat catches the mouse.

Some wonderful characters in this book - especially the Japanese ladies who I would love to meet. Hakura elegant and understated in her own unique way together with her lovely daughter and headstrong grand daughter. Julie has captured perfectly the generations in Japan. Also there is Yumi the petulant and spoilt  former muse of her mentor Gabe. I really didn't like this character at all, wanting to tell her she had made her bed and she needed to go lie in it!

The lovely easy style of the book makes it a great read even if you've never been to Japan. The journeys and sights around Tokyo are so descriptive you will feel like you are there, or make you want to go again.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

A Cat-Shaped Space - Milly Johnson

Description

Once upon a time some mad fool asked author Milly Johnson if she would consider publishing her poetical performance works. She roped in her old mate Stu Gibbins to illustrate iconic pieces such as ’The Trollop of Scunthorpe’ and ‘The Menopause’ and lo and behold, they put together a collection of verse which is by turn touching, humorous and mildly shocking if your sensitivities are easily offended.
But most importantly, the reason this book exists is to raise funds for Yorkshire Cat Rescue, which will receive every single penny of the profit.

Review

I love Milly's books but hadn't really thought about getting this poetry book as I thought it would just be about cats. How wrong I was! Yes, there are cats but there is also a poem about Gin Goggles, one about the menopause and so much more. If you want a good laugh out loud, then this is the book to get. Plus it's for a good cause too. I bought mine as a hard copy from Yorkshire Cat Rescue and it was signed too.

Seven Lies - Elizabeth Kay

Description

It all started with one little lie . . .

Jane and Marnie have been inseparable since they were eleven years old. They have a lot in common. In their early twenties they both fell in love and married handsome young men.

But Jane never liked Marnie's husband. He was always so loud and obnoxious, so much larger than life. Which is rather ironic now, of course.

Because if Jane had been honest - if she hadn't lied - then perhaps her best friend's husband might still be alive . . .

This is Jane's opportunity to tell the truth, the question is:
Do you believe her?

Review

This book is so cleverly written, it puts me in mind of Fleabag with the audacious dialogue, and I did have that character in my head when I read about Jane. 

A very dark tale and yet because of the style and Jane's telling of the lies, it all seemed a little acceptable! You know from the blurb that Marnie's husband is dead - just how that comes to be felt a little drawn out to begin with. But the author is drawing you in a little at a time until bang! You are hooked.

Never knowing whether Jane is telling us the truth or not - she is all about telling us the lies - I didn't like her very much. Then we discover more about Jane and how she came to be where she is in life and it was all so sad.

My thoughts ran from fear to favour throughout the book for Jane and by the end when I got to the seventh lie, my heart was in my mouth. I hardly dare read it, a bit like watching a scary film through your fingers. It really was edge of the seat stuff. With the final twist revealed the scales fell from my eyes - but you need to read it without that advantage so I will say no more.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

My Lies, Your Lies - Susan Lewis

Description

His life was destroyed by a lie.

Her life will be ruined by the truth.

Joely tells other people’s secrets for a living. As a ghost writer, she’s used to scandal – but this just might be her strangest assignment yet.

Freda has never told her story to anyone before. But now she’s ready to set the record straight and to right a wrong that’s haunted her for forty years.

Freda’s memoir begins with a 15-year-old girl falling madly in love with her teacher. It ends in a way Joely could never possibly have imagined.

As the story unravels, Joely is spun deeper into a world of secrets and lies. Delving further into Freda’s past, Joely’s sure she can uncover the truth… But does she want to?

Review

The book begins with a flashback to a 15 year old girl at school, who along with all the girls at her school, has a crush on the music teacher.

The next part of the book introduces Joely who is a ghostwriter. She has just found out her husband is leaving her for her best friend. When a job comes up to write a memoir for Freda based at her home in Devon, it seems like the perfect escape from her unravelling life in London. 

What happens next is we find out the beginning of the book is part of the memoir that Joely has been asked to ghostwrite. Freda is a little strange and has a cook reminiscent of a character from Marnie and the whole thing turns into a page turner with some spooky goings on.

At the centre of this book is the affair between the music teacher and a fifteen year old girl. You may not find that part of the book a comfortable read.  As the book progresses we find out more about the lies different characters in the book have told and the repercussions of those lies.

One of the more light hearted characters in the book is Joely's daughter Holly, who is a breath of fresh air. After trying to second guess where the book was going and work out who told what lies she was a bit of a tonic.

Personally I thought the book could have ended slightly sooner than it did, with the last part of the book wrapping everything up a little too neatly for me; but maybe leaving the possibility of a sequel on the table?

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Pigeonhole for the daily staves and the chance to join the author and comment. 

My Pear-Shaped Life - Carmel Harrington

So pleased to be on the blog tour today for this fabulous book today.

Description 

Meet Greta.

She’s funny.

She’s flawed.

She’s hiding so much behind her big smile she’s forgotten who she is.

But Greta is about to discover that the key to being happy is…being you.

Greta Gale has played the part of the funny fat one her entire life, hiding her insecurities behind a big smile. But size doesn’t matter when you can laugh at yourself, right?
Until Greta realises she’s the only one not laughing. And deep down, she’s not sure if she’ll ever laugh again.

But with her world feeling like it’s falling down around her, Greta is about to discover she’s stronger than she feels. And that sometimes the best moments in life come when it’s all gone a bit pear-shaped…

Review

I was expecting a light hearted read but I got so much more. Having read one of the author's books before I should have known there would be a lot more to the book than the strap lines.

I don't think I am giving too much away to say that within the first few pages of the book Greta finds herself in rehab - I wasn't expecting this and began to re-evaluate just what the title of the book actually referred to.

Once Greta was in rehab I thought the book was going to be a little dour, but I began to love Greta and really routing for her to succeed. What followed in the rest of the book was surprise after surprise, really I didn't know where this book was going, and I doubt you could even second guess it. I got lost in the book and couldn't put it down. 

Revelations were flowing from all the characters in the book and each was such a unique story, enriching the book so much.  Towards the end of the book Greta fights a really big internal demon of hers and I was willing her to succeed so much. 

I'm not sure the ending was the one I was expecting but I was ok with it. Lets just say for once the cynics won't be able to say it's predictable chic lit!

I'm giving this book five out of five stars. My thanks to Random Things Tours for the blog tour invite and to Netgalley for the ARC.

The F*ck It List - John Niven

Delighted to be on the blog tour for this book today.

Description

You are dying. Who do you kill?

Set in a near-future America, an America that has borne two terms of Trump Presidency and is now in the first term of Donald’s daughter as president, Frank Brill, a retired small-town newspaper editor, lives in a world where the populist policies Trump is currently so keen to pursue have been a reality for some years and are getting even more extreme – an erosion of abortion rights, less and less gun control, xenophobic immigration policies.

Frank, a good man, has just been given a terminal diagnosis. Rather than compile a bucket list of all the things he’s ever wanted to do in his life, he instead has at the ready his ‘fuck-it list’. Because Frank has had to endure more than his fair share of personal misfortune. And he has the names of those who are to blame for the tragedies that have befallen him.

But eventually, as he becomes more accustomed to dishing out cold revenge and the stakes get higher and higher, and with a rogue county sheriff on his tail, there only remains one name left at the bottom of his fuck-it list.

Review

The book is set in 2026 in an imagined future that doesn't seem that far away. Ivanka Trump is now President of the USA and there are new laws. The Extreme Patriot Act gives the police wide ranging powers including detaining and using "illegals" as slave labour. 

Against this backdrop the main character of the book Frank Brill discovers he has a terminal cancer. He decides its time to settle some scores, and he already has a list of who they will be. Frank has had a hard life with his 3rd wife and son dying, which leads to him being reunited with his estranged daughter from his second marriage, only for her to die also.

 As Frank travels around America working his way through his list, rather than be appalled I actually was willing him on. Like a row of dominoes you started to see how each one affected the next. Frank has based his list on what he reflects as computations. Like the fork in the road, which one you take has a cause and an effect.

The book reminded me of the Michael Douglas film, Falling Down. I reference this not to detract from the book but to give an idea of the man Frank becomes. Although rather than being on the edge, Frank goes all the way over it. There is also a Cop, like in the film, that puts 2+2 together and is soon trailing Frank.

Towards the end of the book you suddenly realise where Frank is heading - who the last name on his list is. At this point the book becomes almost a farce with misconstrued actions and no one quite knowing what the hell is happening anymore.

I absolutely loved this book. I read it in two sittings, it would have been one but I started late at night and I couldn't keep my eyes open!

I just want to add that the book covers some subjects that people who are easily offended may rather not read. There is a lot of gun violence, a mass shooting description, child abuse and a graphic sex worker scene. There are homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic remarks made by the characters. At times it's very gritty and not in the least sanitised. None of this is gratuitous, but a part of life that goes on, even if we don't like it. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. The writing is just brilliant and makes me want to read everything else John Niven has written.

My thanks to random book tours for the blog tour invite and Netgalley for the ARC to review.

John Niven was born in Irvine, Ayrshire. He is the author of the novella Music from the Big Pink and the novels Kill Your Friends, The Amateurs, The Second Coming, Cold Hands, Straight White Male, The Sunshine Cruise Company, No Good Deed and Kill ‘Em All.