Saved by Cake by Marian Keyes
Marian’s latest is a very successful departure from her usual novels. This book is at once an honest account of her struggles with depression and a fabulous collection of baking recipes.
The courage to talk so starkly about her mental health is commendable and the recipes are delivered in a fine witty voice which sounds exactly like her brilliant novels.
A great book with mouth-watering photos and fantastic recipes. I think the ‘Blokey Snickers Cheesecake Loaf’ has to go on my must-bake list.
Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
The cover had a quote saying “If Dan Brown wrote a vampire thriller, this would be it” which made this essential holiday reading! Not for me, those brightly coloured books with watercolour illustrations of skinny wistful girls with shiny handbags. No, I prefer something with more guts and more teeth. This had both in copious supply and I devoured it in an afternoon by the pool.
The moody, tormented vampire is bound to the President of America by a blood oath that has lasted centuries. He is sworn to protect the President and the country from any supernatural threat, in this instance including terrifying zombies built by an evil Nazi doctor.
A wonderful book, I hope it’s the first in a series.
Alicia.
Like this:
Life! Death! Prizes! by Stephen May
After the death of their mother in a mugging gone wrong, nineteen-year-old Billy Smith struggles to look after his six-year-old brother while coping with his own grief and teenage problems. Finding himself haunted – literally – by his mother’s killer doesn’t help, and the only sense he can make of his world is through the sort of cheap magazines that deal in true-life stories and prize competitions.
Touching and unexpectedly amusing, this book is an entertaining read with a believable narrator in Billy.
Sally
Like this:
The drowning by Camilla Lackberg
The latest in the series of crime novels from Lackberg, staring Erica Falk and Detective Patrick Helstrom. A first time novelist finds fame but then it is revealed that he is receiving anonymous threats. One of his closest friends goes missing, and it’s discovered he too was receiving anonymous letters. What connects these men, and what are they trying to hide. Helstrom investigates, and heavily pregnant Falk does her own snooping. Slow paced, chilling and with an ending that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Highly recommended.
Alison
Book of fires by Jane Borodale
A book which negotiates clichés and pitfalls with surprising dexterity. The heroine of the book lives with her family in 18th Century Sussex and falls pregnant. Reluctant to bring shame on her family, she finds an opportunity to run away to London, where she is taken on as an apprentice to a firework maker.
Dreading being found out as her pregnancy progresses, she makes increasingly desperate plans to redeem herself, but each fails one by one. Gripped by the story, I couldn’t see any way out for her- and I was utterly surprised by the ending. Well worth a read if you enjoy historical fiction, and this début novel makes this an author to look out for.
Amore and Amaretti by Victoria Cosford
I couldn’t make my mind up about this book.
A memoir of an Australian woman now in her fifties revisiting her time spent living and working in Italy and the relationships she found there, I found the book in turns fascinating and infuriating.
A talented cook and enthusiastic at all she attempts, the author does irritate as she falls haplessly in and out (but mostly in) of love with wildly unsuitable men who feed her insecurity. I spent much of the book wanting to give her a good shake.
Happily, by the time she turns fifty, she seems to have developed a bit of self-esteem, found a man who is not a complete tool and got a job which doesn’t leave her crying along into her chianti at the end of the day. Thank heavens for that.
The third in a thought-provoking series, this book asks leading scientists (some household names, others I’ve never before heard of) the question “What are you optimistic about?”
The answers span biology, ethics, physics, health, technology and politics, offering a facsinating glimpse of a possible future.
A really intriguing read which provides a launch platform for much further inquiry. It taught me a new favourite word too: Skeuomorphism.
Like this:
Scapegallows by Carol Birch
After reading the haunting Jamrach’s Menagerie, when I saw this book on the shelf in Tuckswood library I had to borrow it. This is a very different book from Jamrach, mostly differentiated by the tone of the narrator.
Scapegallows is based on the true life of Margaret Catchpole, a Suffolk woman of character and determination, who twice escaped the gallows in the 18th century, before being transported to Australia. Being one of few literate convicts, Margaret was able to leave behind letters and diaries, which the author has used to create this tale.
Carol Birch is an extremely fine writer and the descriptions of 18th century Suffolk are extremely evocative. Margaret’s relationships with her family, employers and friends are beautifully nuanced, but the starring role goes to her long-term relationship with Will, a smuggler. A brilliant book, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Ambition by Immodesty Blaize
After reading the shockingly bad Tease I couldn’t resist the sequel. I’m not sure if I was pleased or disappointed to discover it’s a better book than the first- probably disappointed to be honest as it’s not actually good and neither is it amusingly bad.
Very slightly morally nuanced, it almost touches on the politics of the sex industry and its impact on women and even mentions contraception and sexual assault. Immodesty Blaize must be maturing as a writer …
Our tragic universe by Scarlett Thomas
I find it hard not to feel short-changed when reading a book whose main character is a writer who is trying to work out what to write about. Especially so when that character then decides that a way around her dilemma would be to write a book whose main character is a a writer who can’t work out what to write about.
I’d wanted to read something by this author for a while, mostly because the covers of her books are so different. I think I picked the wrong one! I’d happily read another of her books, because there were real moments of brilliance in this one- it was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me.
I’d love to hear from someone who liked it, because I think it had some real strengths. I also have a sneaking feeling it was a very clever book playing with metafiction and I just didn’t get it…
