January and February and March 2021

I did lots of reading during January, February and March. My best pics were Shadow Music by Helaine  Mario and Relative Secrets by Helen Stacey.

I had some good family time and fun holidays in February and March.

Loved our holiday at Barney Creek Vineyard Cottages. A perfect place to relax and read.

Body Language by A. K. Turner

Creepy, Death, Funeral Directors, Mystery, Feelings

The Secrets of Safron Hall by Clare Marchant

 Set in Tudor England in the time of Henry 8th and present time. Amber discovers a prayer book from 1541 and tries to solve the mystery of its owner.
This was about secrets, buildings and history.

Playing Nice by J.P.Delaney

Thriller, Secrets, Identity

The Dog Share by Fiona Gibson

This was a nice easy read story set in the present time on a small Scottish Island.

Suzy returns to a small Scottish Island to try and sort out problems with a distillery she is responsible for. One stormy night she rescues a small lost dog but is not able to find the dogs owner, so she keeps the dog and names him Scout.

While searching for the Scout’s owner and walking Scout, Suzy begins to meet other people and starts to establish a new home for herself on the Island.

This was about friendships, families and relationships.

You and Me by Nicola Rayner

Thriller, Stalking, Feelings

A Man of Character by Margaret Locke

Bookstore, Romance, Humour

Relative Secrets by Helen Stancey

Set mostly in 1999 with flashbacks to earlier times. Lucy’s grandmother Mary has dementia and is in a care home. Mary has a secret and often rambles on about earlier times. While sorting in out her grandmother’s belongings Lucy finds a locket with an old photo hidden in a drawer and other items and photographs in Mary’s house. Lucy sets out to discover who the people are in the photographs.

I loved the way Lucy uses the snippets of information she hears from her grandmother and the items and photographs in her grandmother’s house to find out what her grandmother’s secret is.

This was about family relationships and secrets.

Finding Home by Kate Field

Miranda Brown is homeless and living in her car. One night two people ask her for help. Bea and Bill Howard. Their car is broken down and it is urgent that they get home. Miranda offers to drive from Lancashire to Devonshire. On arrival at Bill and Bea’s seaside estate Miranda is given a place to stay in an old caravan on the estate and is welcomed by a large family.

Miranda gradually finds a place she can call home. I loved it. 

Shadow Music by Helaine Mario

Set in the present time, the Cold War Years and World War Two. I loved the way this was written with references to classical music and famous artists. Classical musician Maggie O’Shea is drawn into helping a friend solve a mystery and find a long lost Van Gogh.

Maggie travels to Cornwall searching for answers. Her life is in danger as three Russians are also looking for the lost Van Gogh.

This was fast moving and full of twists and turns.

I loved the descriptive scenes in Cornwall when Maggie visits a site of standing stones and Tintagel Castle.

Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs

Romance, War, Relationships/Families

One Last Dance by Emma Jane Holmes

I loved this memoir. Set in Australia in the present time. Emma Jane Holmes works at two separate jobs. Her main career is working as a Funeral Director working in all aspects of the funeral industry and sometimes assisting as a mortician.

When she was not working night shifts, she worked as a lingerie waitress performing pole dancing and lap dancing.

I loved the way Emma describes her work in the funeral industry. At times, the descriptions were very graphic especially when she described dealing with decomposed bodies.

High Heels in the Highlands by Liz Hurley

Buildings, Fashion Designer, Romance

April May and June 2021

 More holidays in April and May. I Loved our trip to Bald Rock. We had a fun day at Brooms Head and went back to Barney Creek Vineyard Cottages. I was able to read some fantastic books. I really loved Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Calahan, other favorites were Been Searching For You by Nicole Evelina  and The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas 

One of the walks at Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, NSW.

The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas

Feelings, Grief, Romance

Anna is suffering from grief. Her husband died three years ago. In desperation on New Year's Eve she rings her husband's phone to hear his voice, but someone else answers to say "I beg your pardon" and Anna takes that to be a sign because her husband said "I beg your pardon" the first time they met.

I loved this story.

Girl in the Wall by A.J. Gnuse

Feelings - Grief, Thriller, Buildings

A young girl is left an orphan and runs away to the house her family used to live in and hides in the walls and attic.

Two boys living in the house try to set traps to catch her.

Make Yourself At Home by Ciara Geraghty

Lifestyle - Homeless, Buildings, Feelings, Relationships

Marianne finds herself homeless and without a job. With no where else to go Marianne returns to Ancaire her family home and learns to get along with her mother.

Other People's Houses by Kelli Hawkins

Feelings, Grief, Stalking, Thriller

The Forgotten Gift by Kathleen McGurl

History, Mystery, Secrets

Cassie is searching her family history and discovers that her father's ancestor George had been in prison for a short time before being pardoned. During the search she finds out more than she expected about her family.

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

Authors/Books, Mathematics, Relationships, Families, Feelings

Set mostly in Worcestershire, England in the 1950’s. It is about a young boy George Devonshire who is eight years old. George is sick and spends most of his time reading. His favourite book is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

George wants to know how C.S. Lewis got his ideas to write the book and he wants his sister Megs to find the answers. Megs is studying mathematics at University in Oxford.

George insists that Megs finds a way to meet C.S. Lewis. Megs love for her brother helps her overcome barriers and obstacles to find the answers George needs.

Megs follows C.S. Lewis from the University through the back streets of Oxford to find out where he lives. She then spends time hiding near his home waiting for the chance to accidentally strike up a conversation.

I loved this story. I loved the characters and how they interacted. I also loved the stories were told within stories. It had all my favourite themes, literature, mathematics, stalking and storytelling.

This was about families, family relationships, literature and storytelling. I loved it. I am looking forward to reading more books by Patti Callahan. 

The Riviera House by Natasha Lester

Set in France during the Second World War and in 2015. The story switches between

Eliane Dufort during WW2 and Remy Lang in 2015 both connected to a long lost painting.

Eliane Dufort works in the Louvre and studies art during the day and helps in her family’s brasserie at night. Any extra money she can earn she spends on her four younger sisters to provide food and comfort.

As the war progresses her father and brother join the army and her mother and sisters leave Paris to find a safer place to live. Eliane stays in Paris and helps pack up precious artwork ready to be moved to a safe destination. Eventually Eliane starts working in a different museum helping Madame Valland identify art for the Germans. Secretly Madame Valland and Eliane worked on a secret inventory coding the artwork and identifying where the artwork was to be relocated.

In 2015 Remy Lang has moved to her house on the Mediterranean Coast of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France. Remy is overwhelmed with grief and trying to get over the tragedy of the death of her husband and young child. She has started working again on a new book photographing vintage clothing.

Adam is a photographer staying with his family next door when Remy’s photographer cancels, Adam helps Remy by taking photographs of Remy modelling the vintage clothes.

I loved the way Adam and Remy find a connection to a lost painting from Paris during WW2.

This was about families, grief, art, fashion, photography and France during WW2.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

This was a short quick read 128 pages.

Set mostly in Ireland in a town called New Ross in 1985.

Bill Thurlong is a coal merchant and during winter is very busy delivering coal. Bill never forgot his past. His mother died when he was young and he was cared for by the woman who had employed his mother. Bill never knew who his father was.

Bill has a wife and five daughters. Every day Bill is reminded how lucky he and his family are and often helps others who were not so lucky.

One day when delivering coal to the local convent he meets a young girl polishing the floor and she asks him to help her by taking her away.

Bill gets thinking about his life and family and the fate of the young girls working in the laundry at the convent.

This was about families and family relationships.

This was a quick read and described life in a small town through the eyes of a hard-working coal merchant. I loved the way, Bill thought about his life and how he interacted with his family and the people he met.

Been Searching For You by Nicole Evelina

Romance, Humour, Arts - Books

The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine

Simon Armstrong is writing a book about Offa's Dyke and staying in a small cottage near the border between Wales and England. He keeps hearing a woman calling out and fears the cottage is haunted. Beatrice Dalloway tries to help and soon becomes enthralled by the history of the place and the people who used to live there.

A story about haunted lost princess  from the past searching for her lost lover. Beatrice gets caught up and dreams about the past.

Full of twists and turns between the present day and in the time of AD 700 - Ad 800. 

Hauntings, History, Arts - Writers - XXXXX

The Hidden Melanie Golding

Leonie is left abandoned on the street in a small seaside town. Her mother Constance had disappeared. Ruby is late arriving to collect Leonie.

The police and Social Services arrive before Ruby. Ruby manages to convince Diane from Social Services that she is Constance and Leonie’s mother. Diane has had a busy weekend and is not feeling well so she lets Ruby and Leonie leave.

Meanwhile in a town nearby a man called Gregor is found close to death in a bathtub. He has a head injury. CCTV images show a woman carrying Leonie leaving the building where Gregor was found.

The plot gets more complicated when CCTV images reveal Ruby and Leonie catching a train.

The Detective Sergeant in charge of investigating the crime against Gregor knows who Ruby is and she tries to find Ruby before the police.

This was full of twists and turns, stalking, stolen identities, folktales and family relationships. I loved the description of characters and the way they interacted. Especially descriptions of Ruby’s life. Ruby was lonely and separated from her family. She loved music and shared her love of music with her friend Sam.

The Forever House by Sue Watson

This is a psychological thriller. Set in Cornwell. Carly and Mark Anderson appear to have everything they want. After 25 years of marriage, they have a beautiful house looking over the ocean, 2 grownup children and a successful TV presence. Suddenly all their hopes and dreams crumble. Carly finds herself in a position of not knowing who she can trust and fearful of losing her beloved family home.

This was about best friends, family relationships and TV personalities. It is full of twists and turns and leaves you wondering what will happen next.

A Gingerbread House by Catriona McPherson

Tash Dodd works in her family business and lives in her family home in a town called Grangemouth between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Tash was a worker happy driving a van, a forklift and all aspects of the family business. One day when her father was sick and most of the staff were off work sick, Tash was in the office looking for some important paperwork when she accidentally intercepted a phone call on a secret phone meant for her parents.

Tash discovers her family are involved in dealings that could bring down the family business so Tash sets to work gathering evidence and finding a way to hide it until she can use the evidence against her family to gain control of the business before her family ruins the business.

Meanwhile not far away there is an evil creepy crime in progress and Tash is close to discovering what is really going on in the quaint little house next door.

This was an evil creepy thriller about missing people, families and lonely people.

Love Objects by Emily Maguire

Lifestyle, Hoarding, Feelings, Relationships/Families

When Light Breaks by Pati Callahan Henry

Romance, Identity, Dementia, History

 

 

July August September 2021

Spent a lot of time reading, restrictions to prevent spread of Covid kept us home. Did lots of long walks close to home, enjoyed our garden and cleaning and sorting cupboards to get rid of clutter. I started crocheting some shoulder bags using up old wool in my cupboards.

Found a lot of butter containers in kitchen cupboards.

Started using up all the old shampoos and conditioner I had collected while on holidays.

 The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

Thriller, Building, History - XXX

Thriller set in the present time in Swiss Alps with flash backs to earlier times. Elin is on holiday with her partner Will and her brother Isac and Isac's fiance Laure. There is a big snow storm and an avalanche. The resort is isolated and people begin to go missing.

Lily's House by Cassandra Parkin

Feelings, Grief, Relationships/Families, Secrets

Jen and her daughter Marianne travel to Lily's house after Jen's grandmother Lily dies. Jen's husband Daniel is not happy for Jen and Marianne to be away for more than a few days.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyersor

Bookshop, books, clues, identity, mystery,feelings

Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan

Writers/Literature, feelings, grief, romance, love story

Set in New York, Oxford and London mostly between 1946 and 1960. Joy Davidman is an author, she is in troubled marriage and has two sons. For many years Joy was corresponding with C. S. Lewis and eventually met him

The Split by Sharon Bolton 

Thriller, Stalking

Felicity works on Antarctica studying glaciers. She is trying to escape her troubled past, but the voices keep following her. Joe is a psychologist trying to help Felicity. Jo also helps homeless people. problems start when three homeless people go missing.

A psychological thriller about relationships, psychologists, mental health, homeless people and Antarctica.

The Art of Persuasion by Susan Midalia

Reading/Books/Literature, Romance, Humour

Set in Australia. Hazel had trained to be a teacher but working as a teacher was not as good as she thought it would be so she left her job and was volunteering to help door knock for a political party.

Hazel loves reading and is especially interested in classical books. By chance Hazel meets Adam who is also doing volunteer work for a political party.

I loved the way books and authors featured in this story. It was about families, relationships and literature.

The department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk

Books/Libraries, Mystery, Secrets

A mystery set in the present time with flash backs to earlier years. Liesl is a Librarian working as Assistant Director for Christopher Wolfe at a University. Liesl is getting ready to retire and takes time off to work on a book she is writing. She is called back to work and take control of Special Collections and Rare Books when Christopher Wolfe has a stroke and is unable to work.

Everything in the Department is in a mess, only the Director knows the password for the safe and he is unable to provide the password. A rare book is missing. It was due to be displayed at a meeting of very important people who regularly donated money to the University Library to purchase rare books.

Liesl is expected to locate the rare book. While doing her investigations she discovers more missing books.

I loved this book. It was full of descriptions about rare books and manuscripts and the workings of a Special Collections Library. I loved the descriptions of the people working in the library and their backgrounds.

Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass

Creepy/Fantasy/Witchcraft, Romance, Humour

This was a fun romantic fantasy about a family of witches that have been banned from practicing witchcraft.

Gwen has her own business Abracadabra Odd Jobs Service where she mostly helps people by cleaning out their garages and attics. She lives in a small town called Zenobia with her new boyfriend Daniel.

Gwen is surrounded by family members, her parents, adopted sister, two cousins and her Aunt. Gwen gets on well with her two cousins but Gwen’s adopted sister Tannith, is always causing trouble.

Tannith sends a letter to Gwen and her two cousins implying that she has left town with one of their partners. This sets off a chain of events that Gwen tries to solve with the help of her eccentric Aunt Esme. 

Missing Words by Loree Weston

Relationships/Families/Working Conditions/Unions, Mystery, Feelings

Set in the UK in 1984. Jenny spends her days sorting mail. Continually being watched for any mistake. She is the only woman in the mail sorting room and her friend Roger is soon to retire. Jenny is unhappy at work and with her family.

One day a postcard ends up on her sorting table, it does not have enough information to deliver it. The post card has the persons name and the name of a cottage on the Isle of Wight.

Jenny decides that she could deliver the postcard quicker than the lost letter department. Jenny takes the postcard and starts on her quest to find the person named on the postcard.

This was a short story about family relationships and working conditions for woman in the 1980’s.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousins

Romance, Humour, Relationships/Friendships

Set in London mostly in 2020 with flashbacks to earlier years.

Minnie Cooper has a fear that nothing good can happen on New Years Eve or New Years Day because something always goes wrong. All her life her classmates joked about her name Minnie Cooper. She was meant to be named Quinn Cooper but a woman sharing the labour ward with Minnie’s mother named her baby boy Quinn.

On New Years Eve 2019 Minnie meets Quinn and blames him for all the bad luck she has experienced.

This is a romantic comedy about families, friendships and missed opportunities. I loved the way the friendship between Minnie and her best friend Leila developed over the years and the situations they found themselves in.

I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads

Whisper Cottage by Anne Wyn Clark

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

Creepy, Secrets, Relationships/Family

A very creepy story set in 2012 in a small village of Avoncote. Jack and Stina move into a small cottage in Avoncote. Jack has a job as a vet and Stina is pregnant. The cottage they live in is Wisteria Cottage. Another cottage attached to theirs is Rose Cottage.

Mrs Barley lives in Rose Cottage. Everything at Rose Cottage was perfect, a well kept garden and a lovely summer house. Mrs Barley is very friendly (sometimes too friendly) and always helpful.

One day Stina sees a man walking through the garden at Mrs Barley’s. Jack and Mrs Barley did not see him and suggested that Stina might have thought she saw someone.  At night when Jack is sleeping Stina hears a man talking to Mrs Barley through the wall, another night Stina hears someone moving things around in the shared attic. Stina is starting to think she is losing her mind.

As time goes on Stina hears whispers from other people in the village that Mrs Barley is dangerous and has strange ways and likes to dabble in strange customs.

This was a very creepy story. Jack has secrets, Stina has secrets and Mrs Barley has secrets. It was about families, village life and secrets.

The Idea Of Love by Patti Callahan Henry

Romance, Writers, Feelings

And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

Romance, Secrets, Identity

The Angel Tree by Lucinda Riley

Relationships/Family, Identity, Buildings

A family saga over three generations, Greta is a dancer in the 1940's, just after the second World War. She meets an Officer and gets pregnant. Greta is jobless and homeless her friend David lets Greta move into his cottage in Scotland until after she has the baby. The cottage is located on an estate owned by David's uncle. This is about the people living at Marchmont Hall.

The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

History, War, Art/Paintings

Emily inherits an old Chateau and vineyard in France when her mother dies. Sebastion helps Emily get valuations for the works of art and the books in the library. 

Emily falls in love with Sebastion. While visiting the manager of the vineyard Emily is told the story of her Father and Aunt and their difficulties during World War Two.

This was about art, Families,,World War Two, resistance and spies. Set in the 1990's and 1940's in France and Scotland.  

The Lost Secret of Ireland by Susanne O'Leary

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

Writers/Artists, Secrets, Family

This is a second book in the Starlight Cottage Series.

Ella is an artist and lives alone in a small cottage at Sandy Cove near Killarney in Ireland. Ella had a fall from a ladder and has been in bed for two months after breaking her pelvis. Ella’s neighbours have been caring for her. Ella’s friend Lucille coms to visit to help Ella recover.

Lucille has a family home in Tipperary but wants to sell it and move into a cottage in the village close to Ella. Lucille does not want her sons to know she is planning to sell her family home.

Lucille gets caught up in village life and is researching her family history but is keeping secrets from Ella,

Gradually under Lucille’s supervision Ella starts to recover and gets to know her next door neighbour and his young daughter.

Ella starts a new project illustrating a children’s picture book but is distracted by Lucile’s secretiveness and the interruptions by visits from Lucille’s son.

This was about families, friendships and secrets.

Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley

Romance, Humour, Lifestyle

Set in the UK in 2021. Alice Dixon lives in a share house and is constantly interrupted by her housemates. Alice feels she has no space that is totally her own. Her housemates borrow her things and take her food from the fridge, her younger sister Soph is always borrowing her clothes and her ex-boyfriend used to think he was being helpful by decluttering her room and removing her nick knacks.

For a short time, Alice had to work from home during a Covid-19 shut down and she was looking forward to returning to work where she had her own desk and space that was totally hers. Alice loves her private space and loves to keep precious objects on her desk, knowing that they are safe. Disaster strikes and Alice is forced to share her desk with Jamie Lowe.

This was a fun romantic story about secrets, family relationships and friendships. I loved the way the characters were developed and interacted.

Freckles by Cecelia Ahern

Identity, Lifestyle, Secrets

I always enjoy reading books by Cecelia Ahern. Freckles was set in Ireland. Allegra Bird was given the name Freckles the first week she started boarding at a girl’s boarding school when she was 13. Allegra had trouble fitting in and dreamed of joining the Garda of the Irish Police Force. When she failed to be accepted in the Police Force. Allegra took a job as a parking warden in a suburban village close to Dublin.

Allegra loved her job. Everyday was the same routine, coffee at her favourite coffee shop, and a short walk to work where everyday she saw the same people. Allegra rented a small studio flat from a family on condition that she was available to babysit regularly. Once a week Allegra poses nude for an art class.

Everything in Allegra’s life is planned out carefully as Allegra works towards her goal, the reason she has left the Island where her father lives and her friends.

Allegra has a plan. She needs to be living and working in Fingal County Council in the village of Malahide to fulfil her plan. She just needs courage and the right time to put her plans in action. One day she has an incident with an irate man who she has given a parking infringement. They get involved in a nasty discussion and he tells her she is a loser and that she is “… average of five people you spend the most time with…” page 53.

Allegra is upset and her daily routines get mixed up as she tries to discover who are the five people in her life that influence who she is.

This was about friendship and family relationships.

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

Relationships/Families, Mystery, Secrets

This is set in Sydney mostly in 2020 with flash backs to late 2019. Joy Delaney is married to Stan Delaney and has four adult children. Joy becomes a missing person in February 2020 leaving her family struggling to work out what happened to her.

Detectives investigating Joy’s disappearance collect information from Joy’s family and neighbours as they try to discover what happened to Joy. Gradually it is revealed that Joy and her family have secrets.

I loved the way everything connected and came together in the investigation of Joy’s disappearance. This was about tennis players, family relationships and secrets.

A Universe of Sufficient Size by Miriam Sved

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

Mathematicians, War, Identity

A fiction about mathematicians, set mostly in Sydney in 2007 and Budapest in 1938. Illy's father has just died and Illy's mother Eszter is trying to get Illy to read a journal written by Eszter.

This was about five friends who were mathematicians living in Budapest in 1938, who are trying to find a way to leave their country for a better life where they can study maths without persecution 

The Book Binder's Daughter by Jessica Thorne

I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads

Books/Literature, Creepy/Haunting's, Buildings

loved this book. Sophie is a bookbinder and works with rare books, she is still bereaved over the death of her father and plagued by dreams of her childhood where she had happy memories when her parents worked at Ayredale Library as bookbinders with the rare book collection. Sophie’s uncle offers her a job at Ayredale Library working with the rare books.

 It was about special libraries, magic and fantasy with a sprinkle of romance and family secrets. I loved the interactions between the characters. The descriptions of some of the rare books were captivating.

This was fast paced and full of action.

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz

I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads

Thriller, Haunting's, Stalking

Set in New York, Ruby and Alice go to New York they both arrive the same day and are getting over a failed a failed relationship.

This was a murder mystery told by a young girl who was murdered, It was about families, relationships and friendships.

I loved the way the story developed and the interaction between characters.