Book Reviews 2016
Thornwood House by Anna Romer
Australian set in Queensland.
A woman and her daughter. The woman inherits an old house. When they move in they gradually discover the history of the house and long lost relatives.
Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly
This book was about two sisters whose mother disappeared when they were small children. Cassie and Coco have a lot of issues with relationships that they need to sort out.
I Came To Say Goodbye by Caroline Overington
A book about families, child abuse, relationships, grandparents and foster care.
An Australian setting. Message - you can not win with DOCS When they want to take a child the family lose all the time.
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
About an accidental death of two children. A mother's revenge and tne mysterious disappearances of small children.
I love reading the twists in the plot by Sharon Bolton.
Deadlight Hall by Sarah Rayne
A creepy ghost story. A haunted house. Mysterious deaths, disappearance of children and a furnace that keeps burning - waiting too capture anyone who strays too close.
Mad About You by Sinead Moriarty
An Irish family move to London. Emma get
s a job and finds a baby sitter, while her husband works long hours as a coach.
Things start going wrong, when Emma's husband starts getting text messages.
Precious Things by Kelly Doust
A woman finds a beaded coronet and traces it's history. All previous owners had tragic lives.
The Ties That Bind by Jayne Krentz
A nice romance. Shannon Is a silk screen artist making items to sell to local businesses. She lives by the seaside on the Pacific Ocean in the US, her neighbor changes her peaceful existence.
The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith
A nice historical and present time novel. The novel is about an artist from 1631 and her life and family and her paintings. In the 1950s a struggling artist agrees to paint a forgery of one of Sara De Vos's paintings - at the edge of the wood. Fifty years later both paintings turn for an exhibition being curated by Ellie Shipley.
Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
A war time romance. Jess is homeless and hiding from her boyfriend. She breaks into an abandoned house to take refuge. A letter is delivered addresses to Stella. The letter is from Dan Rosinski who has been looking for Stella for seventy years. Will Holt is trying to find the owner of the abandoned house. This book jumps between the 1940's and 2011. It is about lost love and romance.
The Light Behind The Window by Lucinda Riley. A novel about war time romance, loss, secrets and an old notebook. Emilee dela Martinieres inherits her families chateau and house in Paris. She finds a notebook and poems that her curious about her family history. The novel is set in the present time 2011 and switches back to the 1940's.
The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine
Hetty inherits an old mansion in Scotland. Tne mansion had fallen into disrepair and is beyond saving. Hetty discovers long lost secrets through old letters that belong to an artist who was her great grandmother's brother.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
More Books I Enjoyed in 2015
The Cavendon Women by Barbara Taylor Bradford. About a family of aristocrats and their large family home and a group of women who worked together to keep their family home intake.
Thin, Rich, Pretty by Beth Harbison. I have always enjoyed Beth's books. This one was a bit slow at the start. It was about 3 women and jumps back in time to when they first met at camp. 20 years later the 3 girls still have problems they need to work through.
The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman. I liked the book it was about a woman losing her memory at an early age and how her family helped. Different family members share information about her life in a memory book.
Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham. A book about murder and suspense.
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. About a woman with dementia and missing people. Maud keeps forgetting things but she knows Elizabeth is missing and is determined to find her also she keeps looking for her sister who went missing 70 years earlier.
The Last Goodbye by Tasmina Perry.It was about a journalists, explorers, archivists, KGB and spies. A good book, Romance, adventure and life in the sixties.
Driving with the Top Down by Beth Harbison. A book about 3 women who want to change their lives. They each need to come to terms and sort out issues and misunderstandings to get the life they want. They set out on a road trip and meet an old friend on the way.
What a Girl Wants by Lindsey Kelk. A romance. Tess Brooks who has been working in advertising has been offered a job in photography, she gets to travel and live a different life. But she has to make choices in love.
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarity. Sophie inherits a house on Scribbly Island and gets involved with the family living on the Island and eventually learns the secret of the unsolved Munro baby mystery.
A Time for Renewal by Anna Jacobs. A story set in the UK after the second World War. A group of families clear out an old house getting ready to rebuild and convert it into flats. Each family has its problems.
Thin, Rich, Pretty by Beth Harbison. I have always enjoyed Beth's books. This one was a bit slow at the start. It was about 3 women and jumps back in time to when they first met at camp. 20 years later the 3 girls still have problems they need to work through.
The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman. I liked the book it was about a woman losing her memory at an early age and how her family helped. Different family members share information about her life in a memory book.
Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham. A book about murder and suspense.
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. About a woman with dementia and missing people. Maud keeps forgetting things but she knows Elizabeth is missing and is determined to find her also she keeps looking for her sister who went missing 70 years earlier.
The Last Goodbye by Tasmina Perry.It was about a journalists, explorers, archivists, KGB and spies. A good book, Romance, adventure and life in the sixties.
Driving with the Top Down by Beth Harbison. A book about 3 women who want to change their lives. They each need to come to terms and sort out issues and misunderstandings to get the life they want. They set out on a road trip and meet an old friend on the way.
What a Girl Wants by Lindsey Kelk. A romance. Tess Brooks who has been working in advertising has been offered a job in photography, she gets to travel and live a different life. But she has to make choices in love.
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarity. Sophie inherits a house on Scribbly Island and gets involved with the family living on the Island and eventually learns the secret of the unsolved Munro baby mystery.
A Time for Renewal by Anna Jacobs. A story set in the UK after the second World War. A group of families clear out an old house getting ready to rebuild and convert it into flats. Each family has its problems.
Book List From 2015
Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. A young adult Gothic love story set in Barcelona in present time but is haunted by past events and a mysterious woman dressed in black. Evil lurks on every page.
A Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse. Set in 1912 -1913 in a small village in UK, Fishbourne near Chichester (Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine also set in Chichester) Connie struggles to remember incidents from her early years before she had a head injury. The book is about identity, murder, revenge. A good fast flowing story.
The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece by Robin Bowles. A Cornelia Finnigan mystery. Set in Australia Cornelia is a private investigator, also preoccupied with her clothes and shoes, especially shoes and boots.
Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham. This was a well written book that kept me guessing all the way through.
Three Story House by Courtney Miller Santo. Three cousins help to restore Lizzie's grandmother's house all the while trying to uncover the secrets of the house and who is really Lizzie's father.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It was about a girl who travels on a train every day.As the train slows down in the same place everyday passing the house she used to live in, she notices things about the people who live in the house and what their habits are. She also notices that something is not right in a house further along the street. This book is about stalking.
The Whispering by Sarah Rayne. A good ghost story about a house - Fosse House, a secret room and a walled garden.
The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan. Two women at different times in history are drawn to and haunted by a house and the events that happened.
How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahearn. Christine Rosi stops Adam Basil from jumping off a bridge.
One Wish by Maria Duffey. Becky Greene is a single mother, her daughter Lilly starts asking about her father. Becky starts looking for him.
The Year I met You by Cecelia Ahearn.
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid. Young Adult Fiction. About book festivals, an old Abbey, vampires and romance.
In August 2015 I went to the Byron Bay Writers' Festival. I attended 2 sessions where Michael Robotham was on the panel.
A Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse. Set in 1912 -1913 in a small village in UK, Fishbourne near Chichester (Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine also set in Chichester) Connie struggles to remember incidents from her early years before she had a head injury. The book is about identity, murder, revenge. A good fast flowing story.
The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece by Robin Bowles. A Cornelia Finnigan mystery. Set in Australia Cornelia is a private investigator, also preoccupied with her clothes and shoes, especially shoes and boots.
Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham. This was a well written book that kept me guessing all the way through.
Three Story House by Courtney Miller Santo. Three cousins help to restore Lizzie's grandmother's house all the while trying to uncover the secrets of the house and who is really Lizzie's father.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It was about a girl who travels on a train every day.As the train slows down in the same place everyday passing the house she used to live in, she notices things about the people who live in the house and what their habits are. She also notices that something is not right in a house further along the street. This book is about stalking.
The Whispering by Sarah Rayne. A good ghost story about a house - Fosse House, a secret room and a walled garden.
The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan. Two women at different times in history are drawn to and haunted by a house and the events that happened.
How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahearn. Christine Rosi stops Adam Basil from jumping off a bridge.
One Wish by Maria Duffey. Becky Greene is a single mother, her daughter Lilly starts asking about her father. Becky starts looking for him.
The Year I met You by Cecelia Ahearn.
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid. Young Adult Fiction. About book festivals, an old Abbey, vampires and romance.
In August 2015 I went to the Byron Bay Writers' Festival. I attended 2 sessions where Michael Robotham was on the panel.
Books to Read
I love reading and working in a public library gives me a chance to help library patrons find books that they will love to read.
Some books I have enjoyed. I really enjoyed Watching You by Michael Robotham. A library patron returned one of his books and told me about his books.
The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar
Hannah and Will move to the country - Suffolk to Tornley Hall - they start repainting ready for a visit from a social worker.
Things start going wrong. People want them gone.
Who is hiding in their house?
Can Hannah save her marriage and find the hidden girl?
Watching You by Michael Robotham
An excellent thriller about stalking, set in London.
The Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine
As usual a good read, (I always like Barbara Erskine.) Set in present time and in the 1940's. Includes 3 ghosts.
Evie is an artist during the Second World War in Sussex. She paints war scenes, farm life and airmen at a local air base.
Evie has a friend Eddie who is her agent selling her paintings - Eddie is very demanding and trys to control Evie's life and has a hold over Evie's father.
The plot thickens, when Evie falls in love with Tony. Eddie prevents Evie and Tony seeing each other.
In the present time, Lucy is trying to write a biography on Evie. Lucy is faced with distrust and suspicion and needs to gain the trust of family members who were close to Evie.
Gradually Evie's life unfolds but there is evil in the shadows trying to prevent Lucy uncovering secrets.
Some books I have enjoyed. I really enjoyed Watching You by Michael Robotham. A library patron returned one of his books and told me about his books.
The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar
Hannah and Will move to the country - Suffolk to Tornley Hall - they start repainting ready for a visit from a social worker.
Things start going wrong. People want them gone.
Who is hiding in their house?
Can Hannah save her marriage and find the hidden girl?
Watching You by Michael Robotham
An excellent thriller about stalking, set in London.
The Darkest Hour by Barbara Erskine
As usual a good read, (I always like Barbara Erskine.) Set in present time and in the 1940's. Includes 3 ghosts.
Evie is an artist during the Second World War in Sussex. She paints war scenes, farm life and airmen at a local air base.
Evie has a friend Eddie who is her agent selling her paintings - Eddie is very demanding and trys to control Evie's life and has a hold over Evie's father.
The plot thickens, when Evie falls in love with Tony. Eddie prevents Evie and Tony seeing each other.
In the present time, Lucy is trying to write a biography on Evie. Lucy is faced with distrust and suspicion and needs to gain the trust of family members who were close to Evie.
Gradually Evie's life unfolds but there is evil in the shadows trying to prevent Lucy uncovering secrets.
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