Daisy Jones & the Six

11 08 2023

Anyone who read this book seemed to rave about it, so I wanted to give it a try, and they weren’t wrong!

It’s written in a really unusual style – the book is about the [fictional] rise and fall of the band The Six, and the singer Daisy Jones, but is written as interviews with everyone looking back on that time. It reads like one of those documentaries with a load of talking heads that tell the story with a very occasional narrator, really clever.

Because the interviews with the author are done separately, you sometimes get little bits of the story that contradict from person to person, which makes it more realistic really when they’re remembering that far back.

The story they tell itself is gripping, the life of rock stars in the 1970s, with all you would expect to come with that – I flew through the book.

The only slight downside for me (and slight spoiler warning here) was a little twist at the end that was somewhat reminiscent of How I Met Your Mother, which I had never really liked. But I’d only knock off maybe a quarter of a star off for that, as the rest was so good.


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The Bullet That Missed – by Richard Osman

31 07 2023

The Thursday Murder Club are back for book three!

This time they’re looking into a cold case of a young local news presenter who’d been killed a decade previously – and while they’re looking into this, Elizabeth starts receiving anonymous threatening messages…

It’s so weird how a murder mystery can be such a cosy read, but the characters are so warm and real (special mention for Joyce and her dog, Alan), and you can just feel Osman’s sense of humour and enjoyment of British idiosyncrasies throughout.

As with previous books, there’s not a lot I can say without giving spoilers, but I was up rather late last night as I read the last 50 pages or so, absolutely hooked!

My copy from Waterstones had a little bonus bit of content at the back, a little insight into Joyce’s side project in this book, which was a good bit of fun.

Some spoiler-free quotes from the book:

  • “The Thursday Murder Club? Sounds made up.” “Everything is made up, when you really think about it.”
  • “I just think that you can be very talented and have lovely hair. Perhaps I’m shallow, but both of those things are important to me. Claudia Winkleman is a good example.”
  • “Everyone wants to feel special but nobody wants to feel different.”
  • “If life ever seems too complicated, if you think no one can help, sometimes the right person to turn to is an eight-year-old.”

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Three Sisters, Three Queens – by Philippa Gregory

16 07 2023

When I started this series I came in partway through the suggested reading order, so while this is the third I’ve read, it’s actually the eighth…. I’ll go back to the beginning once I get to the end!

It seems to overlap a fair amount timeline-wise with The Constant Princess and The King’s Curse, but takes you to mostly a completely different set of events. It’s narrated by Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII, and the three sisters/queens referred to in the title are herself, as she marries the king of Scotland, her younger sister Mary who marries the king of France, and Katharine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, so sister-in-law, and queen of England. The focus is on Margaret’s story, but with written correspondence with her two sisters in London to include theirs.

Margaret is sent to Scotland as a teenager to marry their King James, over the many many years covered, she ended up having three marriages (died, divorced (and very off and on until the divorce was final), survived), and five children, only two of whom survived infancy.

Obviously there is a fictional element to the book, but the author puts a note in the end to discuss the historical elements, which was interesting (and I’ve had a go through some Wikipedia pages too to find out a bit more!). I found this paragraph from the author’s note particularly interesting to show why she told the story in the way she did:

“[…] I was struck by how their histories intertwined and reflected each other. They all three experienced arranged marriages, were widowed, and remarried the men of their choice. They all three lost children in infancy. They all three depended on the goodwill of Henry VIII, they all three fell from his favour, all three were threatened by the rise of Anne Boleyn. They were all born princesses, but experienced debt and even poverty.”

At some points it felt a bit repetitive, in and out of relationships, and so many lost pregnancies and children between the three women. Much as these are obviously really sad things, in a novel I guess it can just get a bit “oh that again” when it happens so often, but sadly a reality of that time.


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The Switch – by Beth O’Leary

18 05 2023

I’ve really enjoyed Beth O’Leary’s books so far, and this was no exception!

Leena is forced to take a two month break from work after a bad presentation, after which it’s noted that she hasn’t taken annual leave in forever.

Her grandmother, Eileen, recently split from her unfaithful husband, and doesn’t want that to be it.

They decide to swap places for the two months, Leena heading up to Eileen’s little village in Yorkshire and keeping up with Eileen’s social responsibilities there – and Eileen heading down to Leena’s flat share in London, hitting the dating apps, and revamping the communal area of the building to create a space for those who are lonely. And because it’s chick-lit, of course there are romantic storylines for both of them. There were some very sad parts too – throughout is the background that Leena’s sister died a year or two ago, and how Leena’s relationship with her mum has suffered since then.

You could see where some threads were going from pretty early on, but I don’t think that’s always a bad thing, and some still kept you guessing.

Overall it was a fun read, uplifting, and very sweet, I particularly enjoyed the neighbourhood watch gang up in Yorkshire.

A couple of silly quotes that made me fold page corners down from those people:

“And she’s vegan. Which is really annoying.”
“Oh yes, my friend Kathleen has that.”
“Has what, sorry?”
“Veganism.”

“She loves detective stories.”
“Most nosy people do, it’s good validation.”


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Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All – by Jonas Jonasson

10 03 2023

I’ve enjoyed everything of Jonasson’s that I’ve read so far, so it was a no-brainer to read another!

Our main characters are a hitman, recently out of prison and staying in a cheap hotel, a hotel receptionist called Per Persson (at which, the author points out the name isn’t that weird, given his own!), and an athiest former priest who only went into the business ‘cos her father made her.

The receptionist and the priest (as the author mostly refers to them) hatch a plan to earn money, hiring him out to commit more minor crimes (broken bones, etc), but eventually this escalates and they end up on the run with millions of Kroner in a couple of suitcases.

The hitman has discovered Christianity, but not the most accurate form of it – his involves significantly larger portion sizes of communion wine for one thing – and the receptionist and the priest see a way to earn more cash, in having him preach generosity to a gently sozzled congregation.

I’m really not sure what genre I’d assign to this – comedic crime?! Whatever it is, it’s very engaging.

Favourite quote: “Sometimes the line between manliness and sheer stupidity can be razor-thin.”

The book is complete chaos and I loved it.


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Persuasion – by Jane Austen

3 02 2023

I didn’t manage to fit a Jane Austen into my reading last year, so made sure I got one in early this year!

The 1995 adaptation of Persuasion is my mum’s favourite, but not one I was ever that familiar with. I ended up watching both the ’95 (Amanda Room & Ciaran Hinds) and ’07 (Sally Hawkins & Rupert Penry-Jones) versions last year though, ready to try out Netflix’s version, so I was all warmed up and ready to give the book a go!

Anne Elliot was in love at 19, but persuaded to refuse an engagement proposal due to his being a naval officer. We meet her now age 27 (shockingly old to still be single!) as their paths cross again; he’s now a captain. Anne finds she still has feelings for him, but it seems his interest lies in her sister Mary’s sister-in-law.

Mary is probably the character who provides the most humour in the story; she is one of the main things I remembered from the ’95 adaptation because she is played so wonderfully by Sophie Thompson – “I am so ill!”. The problem with adaptations from the pre-internet era is that I cannot find you a clip of her in this role on YouTube, but it’s worth watching for her alone, I promise. (When looking for a trailer I could only find one for the ’07 version even then!)

There’s a relatively well known part of the story where some of them go to visit Lyme [Regis], and walk along The Cobb. The Cobb is one of the places where I had one of my worse reactions to heights, we were going to walk along it, but my legs went to jelly and I had to get down pretty quick and walk along the bottom while everyone else went along the top. I don’t understand how they still let people up there with no health and safety given the regulations applied to so many other things! Hah! (If you’re not familiar with The Cobb, do Google it or go on Google street view).

Of Austen’s six completed novels, I’ve now only got Mansfield Park to go! But have still got Sanditon etc to try after that.


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A Boy Called Christmas – by Matt Haig

24 12 2022

Last Christmas my parents got me the trilogy of Matt Haig’s children’s Christmas books. This is the first (although I believe they’re separate stories anyway), so once December came around it seemed a sensible time to read it!

It’s a Father Christmas origin story; Nikolas lives in Finland with his father, who is sent off on a mission to find the elves in the north. When he doesn’t return, Nikolas decides to see if he can go and find him, and the adventure begins from there. He meets a reindeer who he names Blitzen, who helps him on his way, he has his father old red and white hat – you can see the hints of where it’s going the whole way through.

It’s message is “an impossibility is just a possibility you don’t understand”, which isn’t really my way of thinking, but for a story about Father Christmas, of course it’s lovely.

And then the film version of it is on TV this afternoon, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they did with it!


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Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, The Original Screenplay – by J.K. Rowling

5 12 2022

I picked this up in a charity shop last month. I haven’t yet seen the film, but have been considering a Harry Potter re-read at some point having not read them in years, this seemed like a fun way to head in that direction!

It’s certainly a quick read, not a lot of text on each page so you fly through. There are plenty of stage directions, but not a lot of description which is what often slows me down!

This is set in New York City, so it’s fun to hear a bit about the American equivalents of Hogwarts, and the Ministry of Magic – didn’t really think about that side of things before!

I did struggle to keep track of who some of the characters were, and what some of the beasts were, I wonder if this is because there aren’t introductions in the same way, because they’d rely on you seeing their faces on screen really.

There were good characters, fun moments, and plenty of drama and suspense too.

I hadn’t really been keen to see the film before as I couldn’t be bothered to learn a whole new set of characters, but I think I’d like to give it a go now!


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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – by Taylor Jenkins Reid

28 11 2022

People seem to RAVE about Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books, this one particularly, so I picked it up to give it a try.

Evelyn was a Hollywood icon from the 1950s to 1980s and now, approaching 80 years old, is ready to tell all. Out of the blue Monique, a random magazine reporter with no apparent connection to Evelyn, receives a request from her to write her memoir.

The majority of the book is Evelyn narrating her life story to Monique, of her films, her scandals, and of course, her many marriages. Monique asks her early on who the love of her life was, and that will be revealed in time. But while taking down her story, Monique doesn’t quite understand why she’s been chosen to do the job.

A book that needs to fit in seven marriages, I was concerned it might just read as a sort of list – seven shorter stories tenuously tied together maybe. But it flowed seamlessly and was such an addictive read!


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The ABC Murders – by Agatha Christie

8 11 2022

I watched an adaptation of this on TV years ago, and yet couldn’t remember what happened, so I was able to go into this completely free of spoilers!

Poirot received a letter from “ABC” telling him a murder is going to be committed in Andover on a specific date, it happens, and the victims name begins with A. So when he receives a follow-up letter threatening a murder in Bexhill, it’s taken as more than a hoax! You can see the pattern forming for yourself…

Thought to be the work of a maniac, Poirot is still keen to find reason, he insists that even a maniac will have a perceived logic behind what he or she is doing. So even when an arrest is eventually made, for Poirot the mystery was not solved until he had discovered why.

Obviously it’s a mystery, so I’m not going to tell you much more. I was worried it was going to be a bit sedate when something was revealed relatively early on, but not to worry, it’s as clever as any of her others that I’ve read so far!


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