I’m starting to lose count of how many Christina Lauren books I’ve read. The number of books is getting high! I only discovered this writing duo a year ago and they have now become automatic-buy authors to me. For Christmas I asked my hubby to buy me one of their backlist titles – My Favourite Half-Night Stand. And once again, Christina Lauren didn’t disappoint. Continue reading
I finally got around to reading The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I read this soon after my reread of The Handmaid’s Tale so the world of Gilead was still fresh in my mind. The Testaments is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale and unfortunately it doesn’t include much detail about what happened to Offred.
It’s definitely a different kind of story to The Handmaid’s Tale. Much more commercial and action-driven. Gilead is still a big, bad place, but not as scary as when viewed from Offred’s point-of-view. Continue reading
I recently did a reread of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I read this many years ago and had pretty much forgotten everything. But the TV series was fresh in my memory. I wanted to do a reread before moving on to the sequel The Testaments. I was once again blown away by this powerful book. It’s a book with themes that are scary because they are so plausible. Continue reading
Reading Sanditon by Jane Austen sent me off on a week long reading and viewing journey. Firstly, Sanditon is only 12 chapters long (Austen died before finishing this book) which was not long enough for me. I loved what I read and I wanted more!
In 12 chapters a whole host of characters are introduced and already the book sparkled with Austen’s wit. At the heart of the book is Charlotte Heywood – a young woman who lives in a tiny country town with her many brothers and sisters. One day a gentleman and his wife, the Parkers, suffer a carriage mishap and the Heywoods take them in. Continue reading
Twice in a Blue Moon is the latest book from Christina Lauren. Last year I went on a Christina Lauren reading frenzy and read The Unhoneymooners, Roomies, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, Dating You Hating You and Love and Other Words. So, I was excited to get my hands on Twice in a Blue Moon to continue the Christina Lauren lovefest.
Twice in a Blue Moon tells the story of Sam and Tate. They fall for each other as teenagers staying at the same hotel when on holiday in London. Tate is the daughter of one of the world’s biggest movie stars. But she and her mum have been in hiding in a small town for years. She no longer sees her famous dad. On holiday with her grandma in London, Tate opens up to Sam (who is also on holiday with his adoptive grandpa), they fall in love and she reveals her big secret. But then Sam betrays her for reasons that she never finds out and shatters Tate’s heart. Continue reading
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black is the third and final book in a YA fantasy series. I’ve been eagerly waiting to read this and devoured it within 24 hours of buying it. Because it’s the third book in a series, I’m going to do my best to write a non-spoiler review. If you’re keen to try this series for yourself start with The Cruel Prince and then The Wicked King. Continue reading
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman is the sequel to Beartown. I read Beartown a few months ago and had a complicated reading relationship with it. The writing style really annoyed me at first (Backman loves using foreshadowing which I found very distracting as a reader). But by the end of the book I had gotten over this and fell in love with the story. So, I entered into reading Us Against You prepared for it to take a little while to get into the story. Luckily, it didn’t take too long as I was already acquainted with the many characters and their respective story lines. Continue reading
Set in Aspen, Colorado, A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan tells the story of a British family. The White family, consisting of parents Maggie and Nick and big sister Katie, travel to America for the Christmas wedding of younger daughter Rosie. Rosie is getting married after a short, whirlwind relationship and her family is worried about the speed, especially Katie who is very protective of her younger sibling. Continue reading
