A Busy Weekend and More Reviews

Well with Paddy’s Day and Mother’s Day following on from each other, last weekend was pretty full on and was topped off yesterday with a trip to Liverpool to renew my son’s passport.

It turns out that although on the website it says that Check and Send takes two weeks, apparently this is not guaranteed.  The lady in the post office also said that I only had twelve working days, so not quite two weeks.  Does this mean the passport office works on a different time zone to the rest of us? I wonder.

It was an hour and a half round trip (which could have been a lot worse!) but the application process took a maximum of two minutes, oh, and I had to pay double.  I’m determined to be a lot more organised about renewal dates in future!

Anyway, on to some more bookreviews.  The next on the list is

Christmas At Tiffany’s by Karen Swan

 This was another Christmas present but not one I had anticipated and it was an unexpected delight. This was chick lit for grown ups, and very Jilly Cooper esq; but not her latest stuff, more in the good old days of RCB. It’s set in the fashion world and is the story of a woman whose marriage comes to a sudden end.  In the course of a year she goes to live with friends in New York, Paris and London.  The descriptions, especially of Paris, made me want to take off and start afresh in a city I've never lived in before.  Not sure husband and kids would approve though.  The narrative was page turning and engrossing and I can’t wait to get my mits on more of her books.

We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

I had debated whether or not to read this book for a long time but when it came up as a choice in the book club I am part of, the decision was made for me.  It’s not a book I thought I would enjoy and I was right about that. If it wasn’t for the book club I don’t think I would have persevered with it. I’m glad that I did though because it did get better towards the end and at least I can say I’ve read it.

I found it a hard book to read.  None of the characters were particularly likeable and the narrator, I felt, tended to wallow in self-indulgent waffle.  In saying that though, it sparked a lengthy debate at the book club which was unusual (we normally spend 10 minutes discussing the book and the rest gossiping and drinking wine). 

The next three books I read were much lighter (thankfully)

They were:

Summer Loving by Allie Spencer, One Minute to Midnight by Amy Silver & Monday to Friday Man by Alice Peterson

 

These were all books which were sent to me to review as nominees for the Melissa Nathan romantic comedy award.

I don’t want to say too much about these except to say, that although they were three very different books, I enjoyed them all and I wish the authors all the best for the award. 

It was the first time I’ve done anything like this and I felt honoured to be part of it. Now we’ll just have to wait and see.

The last book in this round up is

A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore

 

This is the story of Jude who is trying to come to terms with the death of her husband. She is asked to value a collection of scientific instruments and manuscripts belonging to Anthony Wickham who was an 18th century astronomer, and who lived near to where she grew up and still has family.   As Jude unravels the secrets of the past, she finds a startling connection to her own family.

I really enjoyed this story, I loved the description and was quickly drawn into the atmosphere and Jude’s character.  I really do like these types of stories where someone from the present uncovers a family secret from the past, but for me there were a few too many coincidences to make it truly pleasurable.  It hasn’t put me off reading the author though, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book I have of hers which is A Gathering Storm

Well, that's all for now, but I've a few more up my sleeve which I'll blog about soon.

Take care

Linda