The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital - Joanna Nell

 

Description

Three unlikely friends. One chance to save the community. It might just be the perfect blend....

The Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria is at the heart of St Jude's Hospital. Staffed by successive generations of dedicated volunteers, for over fifty years the beloved cafeteria has been serving up a kind word and sympathetic ear along with tea and scones.

Hilary, the stalwart Manageress, has worked her way up through the ranks; Joy, the latest recruit, is driving Hilary mad by arriving late every day; and seventeen-year-old Chloe, the daughter of two successful surgeons, is volunteering in the holidays and bemused by the older women.

But when they discover the cafeteria is under threat of closure, the unlikely trio must put aside their differences. As they realise the secrets and sorrows they have in common, the women grow closer - but can they bring the community together and save the day?

Full of wisdom and warmth, The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital is a gorgeously poignant, hilarious story about unlikely friendships, growing old disgracefully, and coming together to save the things we love...

Review

I just loved it.

When you just want to read a heartwarming story, no complicated plot, just immerse yourself in another world - then this is the book to read.

I really related to so much in this book, despite it being set in Australia (which I forgot about until half way through) so many things resonated with me. The volunteer hospital experience is one I am familiar with and the author got it spot on, including the career volunteers!

We meet Hilary, Joy and Chloe as they are all volunteers for different reasons at the hospital cafe. They all have a different backstory and the relating of these made me care about them all so much more. Each character is so well defined and the differing ages really made this so realistic too. I also applaud the author for making the older women social media savvy too.

Everything is beginning to settle down for Hilary with her new staff when the cafe comes under threat from closure. This is when the three ladies really begin to rally together and form a team to fight everyone that's against them, despite efforts from others to undermine that.

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

The Murder List - Jackie Kabler

 

Description

The brand new psychological thriller from the author of Am I Guilty, The Perfect Couple and The Happy Family

When Mary receives a blank diary as a present, she thinks nothing of it. Until she opens the diary, and sees it’s not blank after all…

1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD
1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM
1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF
1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM

Is this a sick joke? But…it’s the end of January now. And a woman called Lisa was murdered in Oxford on 1st January.

Could there really be a killer out there, planning to commit a new murder each month? And is the Mary due to be killed on 1st April her?

The clock is ticking for Mary to uncover the truth, before she becomes the next victim on the killer’s list…

Review

Fast paced and a twisty ride.

The book is for the most part narrated by Mary Ellis - receiver of the Murder List.  I really liked the voice she had, so easy going and relatable, she could be anyone you know. So when she discovers her name is potentially on a list of planned murders it hits home and feels so real. 

The author was clever in making me think everyone was possibly the murderer, and I ran ahead in my mind with all sorts of theories.  When one of my theories proved right I thought I had this plot all sewn up, but of course I didn't. A few twists I didn't see coming made me turn pages faster and faster. 

It's a really original concept. A Murder List giving the police the date of who is going to be murdered and where - but it's not quite that straightforward, especially with the name David in Cardiff! From the zoom meetings to the stake outs it was gripping stuff wondering if the police would figure it all out before the 1st April.

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

The People on Platform 5 - Clare Pooley

 

Description

Get ready to hop onboard this summer's unmissable book - the perfect feel-good and heart-warming read.

Readers are falling in love with The People on Platform 5:

'Incredible book, full of joy and warmth and love!'
'A great novel with some truly wonderful characters'
'The fantastic cast of eclectic characters will steal your heart & have you rooting for their happy endings'
'A feel-good, once-in-a-lifetime story'
------------------------
Every day at 8:05, Iona Iverson boards the train to go to work with the same group of people who she makes assumptions about, even giving them nicknames. As a seasoned commuter, she knows there are rules that everyone should follow:
· You must have a job to go to
· Don't consume hot food
· Always pack for any eventuality
· You must never speak to strangers on the train

But then, one morning, Smart-but-Sexist-Surbiton chokes on a grape right in front of Iona. Suspiciously-Nice-New Malden steps up to help and saves his life, and this one event sparks a chain reaction.

With nothing in common but their commute, an eclectic group of people learn that their assumptions about each other don't match reality. But when Iona's life begins to fall apart, will her new friends be there when she needs them most?

Review

I loved The Authenticity Project - but I loved this book even more.

What a super read this has been, I loved it from page one. I found myself looking how long was left in the book, not because I was bored, but because I was scared it was going to end too soon.

A host of fabulous characters who all have preconceived ideas about each other on the daily commute. Even when they begin to find out more about each other those ideas persist, until eventually everyone's secrets come out.

My absolute favourite character was Iona - how I am going to miss her and her wonderful stories. She is seen as a dinosaur at work because she doesn't understand what Millennial readers want from her long established magazine therapist column. Soon with the new friends she makes on the train she begins to understand the new ways - including Tik Tok. Afterall she was an original IT girl back in her day.

Each of the characters grows through the book by the connections they make with each other on the train. This comes after years of just seeing each other, observing the rules - no talking to strangers. When they do find each other such marvellous things happen.

If you are looking for a feel good read with so many true to life observations, then this is definitely the book for you.

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

Bullet Train - Kotaro Isaka

 

Description

Five killers on a bullet train from Tokyo are competing for a suitcase full of money. Who will make it to the last station? An original and propulsive thriller from a Japanese bestseller.

*NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE*

Satoshi looks like an innocent schoolboy but he is really a viciously cunning psychopath. Kimura's young son is in a coma thanks to him, and Kimura has tracked him onto the bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard.

Nanao, the self-proclaimed 'unluckiest assassin in the world', and the deadly partnership of Tangerine and Lemon are also travelling to Morioka. A suitcase full of money leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will get off alive at the last station?

A bestseller in Japan, Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller which fizzes with an incredible energy as its complex net of double-crosses and twists unwinds to the last station.

Review

A complex read.

I wanted to read this book long before it was a movie, as it's set in Japan and on a Shinkansen (bullet train) both of which I've experienced. I think without that background I may have stopped reading the book early on.

It took until 50% into this book before I really started to enjoy it. Not that many characters in the book, but the way the action takes place, with it going backwards and forwards between everyone on the train, it was hard to keep track. Then some of the action gets played back again from another character's perspective. 

There's a little respite from the train journey with some back story flashbacks of the characters lives before the train journey. It has to be said that it is indeed a clever psychological thriller but for me most of the time it felt like I was listening to a therapist describe why someone acts they way they do. Whole pages of inner dialogue did not make for light reading.

I can totally understand this book as a film as there's no need for the recaps of who saw what and heard what, that can all be achieved in a moment on film. Reading it is a very different matter and you need to invest serious time in this book to get through 452 pages - it actually felt a lot longer. 

My favourite part of the book occurs towards the end. I can't reveal it as it would totally spoil it for you, but it was one of the times I actually enjoyed, rather than endured the book.

I think this book has a limited audience in the UK, however, now we have the film.

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

Scoops - Sam McAlister

 

Description

She is the woman who clinched the 2019 interview with Prince Andrew, described as ‘a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion’. She is many things beside: the first in her family to go to university; a trained barrister; a single mum; a master of persuasion. In her former BBC colleagues’ words, she was the ‘booker extraordinaire’, responsible for many of Newsnight’s exclusives over the past decade, including Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Höss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange.

After 12 years producing content for Newsnight, McAlister reflects with candour on her experience, sharing not just the secrets of how the best news gets made, but also the changes to the BBC, the future of ‘mainstream media’ in the age of clickbait and the role of power and privilege in shaping our media landscape.

This is a backstage pass to the most unforgettable journalism of our times.

Review

Absolutely brilliant.

I saw the author talking on TV about her book and she was so engaging that I thought I would look to review her book. Luckily for me the audio was available and I listened to it in two sittings.

Sam McAlister narrates the book herself and it really made me feel like she was just telling her tales  directly to me. She's got all the right tone in her voice and although it is fast paced that really suits the subject. There is no boring details it's just like a work experience day with her. She must have kept some very good diaries because the detail is amazing. I could have listened to her forever. 

I am not really that interested in politics or the news but the fact that the author was previously a barrister drew me in. It's a career she fell into and the early part of the book covers her life growing up and going to Uni, where she literally fell into law. Deciding the stress was not for her she then ventured into radio and then Newsnight. Her skill set turned out to be the perfect match for these roles and listening to how she prepared for interviews was fascinating. I never really knew what a producer did, but I do now.

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

Counterfeit - Kirstin Chen

 

Description

HUSTLERS meets BIG LITTLE LIES in the heist of the summer coming June 2022…

Meet Ava: rule-abiding lawyer who has ticked all of life’s boxes. She’s married to a successful surgeon and has just taken an indefinite career break to raise her adorable toddler. A picture-perfect life.
 
Meet Winnie: Ava’s old college roommate. Once awkward, quiet and apparently academically challenged, she left Stanford in a shroud of scandal. But now, she is charismatic, wealthy and has returned to town dripping in designer accessories. An actual perfect life.
 
When the two women bump into one another at a local coffee shop, it seems like fate has intervened: Winnie’s new-found success is courtesy of a shady business and she needs a favour; Ava is realising she is not built for the stay-at-home life. But what starts as one favour turns into two, then three, and soon Ava is in far deeper than she ever imagined. 
 
Now Ava has to make the ultimate decision: cut and run, or risk it all?

Review

An entertaining read.

One thing I didn't care for about this book was the style. It's written as the story being told to someone, we find out who soon enough and wonder what that means. The writing wasn't that engaging but once the descriptions of the luxury bags started to flow I was hooked.

I didn't feel invested in either of the main characters of Ava or Winnie. I wondered about their business model and how it was really going to turn out. I think that was the wrong thing to do, basically just turn off and read and enjoy.

Eventually there was a little twist and that really piqued my attention and got me to the end of the book. It's certainly an intriguing tale but I just wished it had been told a little faster and some of the scenes didn't really add to the storyline.

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

The Frequency of Us - Keith Stuart

 

Description

*** A BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK ***
*** BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME ***

In Second World War Bath, young, naïve wireless engineer Will meets Austrian refugee Elsa Klein: she is sophisticated, witty and worldly, and at last his life seems to make sense . . . until, soon after, the newly married couple's home is bombed, and Will awakes from the wreckage to find himself alone.

No one has heard of Elsa Klein. They say he was never married.

Seventy years later, social worker Laura is battling her way out of depression and off medication. Her new case is a strange, isolated old man whose house hasn't changed since the war. A man who insists his wife vanished many, many years before. Everyone thinks he's suffering dementia. But Laura begins to suspect otherwise . . .

Review

I loved A Boy Made of Blocks, but this is not really in the same league.

I took some time to get into this one. The story begins with Will having rejected any help from Social Services and their suspicions that he has dementia. Until Laura arrives and he invites her in. We then flash back and forth from 2008 to the war years and the life he remembers but no one else can verify. The dual time line was well laid out but I just didn't feel any connection with the two main characters of Will and Laura. Having said that I was so intrigued that I did read to the end.

Laura has her own demons and the description of her emotions and feelings was so well written and sensitive. Yet, I could not connect with her. 

I had a hunch of what was happening in the book and it did play out the way I thought it would, until the very end. I found it strange that a totally new character is introduced and the storyline takes a swerve that was not in my opinion necessary.

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