Perfect – by Cecelia Ahern

22 04 2017

I told myself I’d wait for this to come out in paperback, I was definitely going to wait. I went into Waterstones, WHSmiths, just to see if it was there, I wasn’t going to buy it, just to look. But then someone told me it was going cheap in Tesco and that she’d read it in one afternoon…. so I went straight there and bought it!

I’ve been waiting for this book since the second I finished Flawed, which was left on such a cliffhanger! I was worried I couldn’t remember a lot of the detail but fortunately she recaps very well so it’s very easy to pick the story back up.

At the end of Flawed, Celestine had gone into hiding from the authorities, and this book follows her as she tries to find somewhere safe, and then works out a plan to help prove that the system itself is Flawed. There are plenty of twists and turns, I’ve been picking up the book whenever I can to see what happens next! I don’t really want to litter this post with spoilers so all I’ll say is if you’ve read Flawed you’ll love this (and probably be desperate to read it anyway!), and if you haven’t, go and read Flawed first! There’s a link to it in the second paragraph up there Ꙟ.

Some of my favourite quotes which give nothing of the plot away are below:

  • “It can take a lifetime to build up a friendship – it can take a second to make an enemy.”
  • “When you’re a teenager, what makes you different can be the worst thing int he world. The older you get, the more you realise that it’s your weapon, your armour, your strength. Your gift.”
  • “Whenever I’m confused, I look at what I know.”
  • “Every person has a space for every person they meet – sometimes the capacity is deep, sometimes it is shallow. […] People who are loved can eventually be hated in equal amounts. […] If the space is there for us, a we have to do is alter the feelings. […] If they hate us this much, they could love us equally.”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Anne of the Island – by L M Montgomery

13 04 2017

After a year’s break it was about time to read number three in this series. Anne is now 18 and heading off to Redmond University on the mainland. The book covers her four years there. She arrives with three from Avonlea – Gilbert, Charlie and Priscilla, and quickly makes friends with a girl called Phil – Stella from Queen’s (I think) also joins them from second year.

We still spend time in Green Gables in the holidays, and as far as the book goes, maybe half of the narrative! So there are still wonderful quotes from Davy, to keep the childish delights from Anne in the first book alive and well.

Through the book Anne gets a few marriage proposals, and one serious boyfriend – but no spoilers here! You’ll have to read it! Phil is a little boy crazy, and this is the first time the books really cover that side of things to this level, she’s quite a lot of fun! We also cover a death too soon in this book, which I guess you’d pick up from the quotes below… again, no spoilers.

Picking up the book after such a long gap was tricky in places because it doesn’t really recap, (I’m still not sure who Mr Harrison is who they keep referring to), it would have been nice to have a couple of reminders occasionally!

As before, here are some of my favourite quotes from the book:

  • “We are all servants of some sort, and if the fact that we are faithful can be truthfully inscribed on our tombstones nothing more need be added.”
  • “Oh, I’m not afraid but that I’ll go to heaven, Anne. I’m a church member.”
  • “Heaven must be very beautiful, of course, the Bible says so – but, Anne, it won’t be what I’ve been used to.“
  • “Do you think we’ll never laugh in heaven?” – Anne
    “Oh – I – I don’t know, it doesn’t seem just right, somehow. You know it’s rather dreadful to laugh in church.” – Diana
    “But heaven won’t be like church – all the time.” – Anne
    “I hope it ain’t, if it is I don’t want to go.” – Davy
  • “All life lessons are not learned at college.”
  • “I love her best when she is asleep and better still when she is awake.”
  • “I could be sorry for it afterwards, couldn’t I?”
  • “Can’t a man laugh and laugh and be a Christian still?”
    “Oh, men – yes. But I was speaking of Ministers, my dear.”
  • “When I was a girl it wasn’t considered ladylike to know anything about mathematics, but times have changed. I don’t know that it’s all for the better.”
  • “Oh, I dare say we all pray for some things that we really don’t want, if we were only honest enough to look into our hearts, I’ve a notion that such prayers don’t rise very far. I used to pray that I might be enabled to forgive a certain person, but I know now I really didn’t want to forgive her. When I finally got that I did want to I forgave her without having to pray about it.”
  • “I love [cats]. They are so nice and selfish. Dogs are too good and unselfish. They make me feel uncomfortable. But cats are gloriously human.”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Lyrebird – by Cecelia Ahern

25 03 2017

If you read this regularly you’ll know I’m a big fan of Cecelia Ahern. The last adult book she wrote wasn’t a favourite of mine but this one is back on form, back to the days of things that are slightly unreal, not fantasy, but not quite normal!

Lyrebird is actually Laura. She’s lived a very sheltered existence to the point that no one knows she exists, she doesn’t even have a birth certificate. When she was 16 her mother died and so she went to live in a run down cottage on the land her father owns. Ten years on she’s discovered by a team making a documentary about her father and his brother and the life they lived on their farm when they visit after her father’s death.

What I haven’t told you is that Laura is a bit unusual. She makes noises. Perfect imitations of any sound she’s ever heard – from her Gaga’s voice to a chainsaw to someone running their hand over their stubble. Obviously the documentary team are intrigued, and with her father gone they try to find a way to support her in her future – they plan to make a documentary about her life and her extraordinary ability.

A really interesting idea, great mix of characters and a wonderfully told story! Definitely one to read!

Favourite one-liner from the book: “Why can’t people just be really good at something? Why do they have to be the best at something?”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Girl on the Train – by Paula Hawkins

2 03 2017

I didn’t really want to read this book but a friend lent it to me and was about to move away so I thought I should get it done! (In fact, the last three books I’ve read have been once I’ve been lent, next I get to go back to my very long to-read list!)

We first meet Rachel, who regularly watches from the train when it stops at a signal, and follows the lives of a couple who live on her old street. Sadly Rachel has a bit of a bad relationship with alcohol, and after she sees something suspicious from the train one day, followed by a night she doesn’t remember, one half of the couple disappears. Her story is also narrated through the book but starts a year earlier so we have no idea what happened. There’s also a third narrator who is the partner of Rachel’s ex-husband. Sounds very complicated, actually very straight forward!

The book is full of twists and turns, and while I saw the ending coming, I did not see how it was going to get there, it kept me guessing! On Tuesday night I was going to get an early night but I ended up finishing the book instead… woops!

I’m so glad I read it, definitely a lesson in taking book recommendations even when you doubt them!

PS: Couple of great one liners from the book

  • “I can’t help the way I am”, “You can help what you do, though”
  • “I have never understood how people can blithely disregard the damage they do by following their hearts. Who was it said that following your heart is a good thing? It is pure egotism.”

the-girl-on-the-train


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Always with Love – by Giovanna Fletcher

8 02 2017

This is the sequel to Billy and Me which I read about two and a half years ago, and don’t remember that well other than small town girl dates big teen movie star and all very sugar coated.

This book definitely started very sweet again. Billy was perfect, such a huge star but still loved her, never put a toe out of line, nearly enough to want to vomit, but it did pick up. Like with the first book there’s a bit of turbulence in the middle as a hurdle comes up in the blissful relationship. I think the two biggest frustrations for me with the book were a) that he calls her “baby” (just a personal pet peeve of mine) and b) that when they have “the big argument” to resolve everything, it’s just too easy – he understands her point of view, she understands his, he doesn’t care that someone kissed her, just a little bit too fantasy I think.

Ultimately the book was a nice warm cuddle, but I probably wouldn’t read it a second time. It’s not that I didn’t like it, it just… didn’t grip me as much as some I guess.

always-with-love


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Testament – by John Grisham

25 01 2017

Yes, you’re right, this is not my normal genre! My Dad recommended it to me first, and I thought, maybe. Then my Mum did, and we generally have a very similar taste in books, so I said I’d give it a go.

At first sight, this book is about Troy Phelan, an elderly billionaire. But when he jumps out of the window after signing a last minute will, we realise we won’t be spending much time with him. This last will writes out his six debt-ridden children who were all expecting to do rather well out of his death, and instead leaves his fortune to an illegitimate daughter who is a missionary in the depths of Brazil, whom no one has heard of until this point.

The story actually turns out to be about Nate O’Riley, fresh out of rehab, he is sent by Phelan’s lawyer to Brazil to try and find this Rachel, get her to let them act for her, and prevent the awful Phelan children from getting their hands on the fortune and frittering it away. The book is full of drama as they have to travel to find her by boats up rivers, through crazy storms, and there’s even a bout of Dengue fever to deal with…

I think the thing that struck me most about this book is how well the Christian side of it is portrayed. Rachel is a missionary, she talks about her faith in a very real way, not twee, not cliche. Through his time with her, and with a Vicar he meets back in the states, Nate comes to a point where he prays, and wants to know more about God. It’s written in such a respectful way that you don’t hear much of these days. Very impressed.

I was worried it’d be a bit heavy but it was a pretty easy read in the end, definitely gripping. That said, I did see the ending coming – sometimes when you look at how little of the book is left you realise that really it can only go one way.

the-testament


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Christmasaurus – by Tom Fletcher

2 01 2017

Take someone who loves Dinosaurs and Christmas, what else would you expect their debut children’s novel to be about other than a Christmasaurus?!

The author might be familiar to you as a quarter of the band McFly, or for his youtube videos, some of which went a little bit viral, and the husband of author Giovanna – of whose books I’ve read most!

In fact, he initially announced the book through his YouTube channel:

Yes this is a children’s book, yes I’m 28, but my friend got me this for Christmas and it’s entirely magical! I’d hoped to read “A Christmas Carol” this year but by the time I’d finished my last book it was a little late – but I knew I’d have time to fit this in before the return to work!

This is a story about William Trundle, a dinosaur-obsessed wheelchair user, his Dad, who loves Christmas, Brenda, a mean girl at school, and of course, Santa and the Christmasaurus. I have no idea what age “childrens fiction” is aimed at, but at 350 (beautifully illustrated) pages I’m guessing maybe junior school? There’s plenty of humour, a tonne of magic, and a good dose of drama too.

Next Christmas they’re actually doing a stage show/musical of the book, (apparently the Christmasaurus song was written before the book was) so I spent a lot of my reading time wondering how on earth they’re going to do all this on a stage! (That’s me, too logistical for my own good…), but I imagine it’ll be amazing. They’ve also announced that they’ll be making a film of it, so if you like the book, there’s plenty more to come.

christmasaurus


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Too busy not to pray – by Bill Hybels

28 12 2016

One 190 page book for two months? Must be non-fiction!

I was looking for a fairly practical book on prayer and given I’d heard of Hybels and this book for years – plus the fact it was celebrating a 20th anniversary and still worth a reprint, all whilst acknowledging the busy-ness of modern life in the title, this seemed worth a try.

It was a little less practical and a little more theory-based than I had hoped for, (though I appreciate that that is important!), but it had a couple of chapters that were more practical so that was good, and I still turned down many many page corners to go back to!

Most of the sections talk about why we should pray and the fact that God wants us to pray. There’s a strong focus on supplication, although, again, there are sections looking at worship, confession, etc.

Hybels does cover ideas like writing your prayers down, keeping a prayer journal, finding a specific place, and gives one suggested structure for your prayer time. I was hoping for more ideas, but what was there was definitely useful.

too-busy-not-to-pray


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Divergent – by Veronica Roth

28 10 2016

Having loved the Hunger Games trilogy, I wasn’t sure about trying another YA attempt at utopia which begins to fall apart, but my friends raved about it, so I thought I should give it a try.

This time we have a society split into five “factions”

  • Erudite – values intelligence
  • Candor – values honesty
  • Amity – values peace
  • Dauntless – values bravery
  • Abnegation – values selflessness

On one day every year, all the 16 year olds are assessed to see which faction they are, and then they choose where they will live out the rest of their days. This might be the faction they grew up in, or they may transfer. And they don’t have to choose the one they get in their test results.

It turns out though, that some people just don’t fit into any given faction, their test results are inconclusive, these people are “divergent”. Society doesn’t really acknowledge this and so the best thing to do is pretend you’re not.

For those who fail initiation in their new factions, they are deemed “factionless” and have to go and live outside of society, a little like being homeless I imagined it. But this is at least accepted, better that than being known to be divergent.

It’s not hard to guess that our lead character doesn’t have a smooth ride of it as we join her on the day of assessment and choosing her faction, and from there, follow her through her initiation.

As I alluded to before, of course this system is not perfect. Problems are arising between some of the factions, all is not as it seems on the outside… I think I’ll leave it there for you to discover yourself.

So is it as good as Hunger Games? No I don’t think so, but it’s a good book in itself. I will read the other two, but I spent so long on this one due to things like moving house and going on holiday and changing hours at work…. I think I’ll read something else before getting started on the sequel.

divergent


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Flawed – by Cecelia Ahern

3 10 2016

Cecelia Ahern published another book, so of course I had to read it!

The difference this time is that this is her first “Young Adult” novel. This is a concept I’m struggling to get my head around – Wikipedia defines “Young Adult” as age 12-18, but as someone in my 20s, I’d like to think that makes me an adult who is young?! Anyway, I loved hunger games and that’s technically young adult, so I wasn’t going to avoid it just because I’m “old”.

As all of these books seem to be set in a dystopian society. As well as a criminal system, they also have the concept of people who are “flawed”. These are people who have made done something immoral. If someone is flawed, they are branded as such, and wear a red armband to show who they are. I’ll let the book explain further:


“For bad decisions, it’s their temple.
For lying, it’s their tongue.
For stealing from society, it’s their right palm.
For disloyalty to the Guild, it’s their chest, over their heart.
For stepping out of line with society, it’s the sole of their right foot.”

“They are not imprisoned; they haven’t done anything illegal, but they have carried out acts that are seen as damaging to society.”

They live a life of reduced quality. They live by a curfew, they can only eat plain food, they have to sit on certain seats on the bus, and they can only ever have 2 of them together in one place, any more and there must be a “perfect” person. Even sat in a row, you couldn’t have more than two sat together.

We meet Celestine, who is dating the son of the head of the Guild and totally believes in the system. And yet, she has a moment where she helps a Flawed, which itself is a crime, and she is taken away to be tried. I don’t want to go much further because it would give away some of the major twists, but just to say that I couldn’t put it down as it progressed.

I cannot *wait* for the sequel!

Some of my favourite quotes below:

  • “The trouble with being punctual is that there’s nobody there to see it.”
  • “I’ve learned that to be courageous is to feel fear within, every step of the way. Courage does not take over; it fights and struggles through every word you say and every step you take. […] It takes courage to overcome, but it takes extreme fear to be courageous.”
  • “Piano always seemed to stress me out. I played it for other people. I played it for Angelina in class, I played it for my parents when I practised. […] I never played for myself.”
  • “If you make a mistake, you learn from it. If you never made a mistake, you’re never the wiser.”
  • “I had enough friends so that I wasn’t a weirdo, but not too many so that I was popular. I was average. I worked so hard to be average.”
  • “If you can’t solve a problem, there is an easier problem you can solve: find it.”

flawed


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

« Previous Entries Next Entries »