Category: Recent Reads

Recent Reads: The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Book Share by Phaedra Patrick was such a good book!  It gave me all the feels, and kept me turning the pages!

I was gripped by the story of Liv, who cleans for a couple of clients, including her favourite author, Essie.

One day, unexpectedly, Essie dies, and one of her last wishes is for Liv to finish book 20 in her famous Georgie Rory series.  Liv is pushed out of her comfort zone, and by learning more about Essie, she learn more about herself.

The story of a 42 year old, married for 20 years with 2 children, learning she wants more out of life.  This has made me laugh out loud and cry in public!

The Book Share was published on 31st March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Phaedra Patrick on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Recent Reads: Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Sutanto

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Sutanto is the second book in the series, and you really need to have read the first one in order to properly enjoy this one!

This is a book that made me cringe and laugh.  Meddy is getting married to Nathan! In Oxford! And her mother and aunts are ready to get into the swing of England!

There is a slight issue on the wedding day, which involves Meddy, her mother and aunts acting like they’re from a comedy of errors.

I really enjoyed this book from it’s culture clash between both sets of parents, to the outfits Meddy’s family wears,a nd of course the wedding day itself!

This is written with humour, and as the author says herself at the beginning, out of first hand experience, which just adds to the feel of it!

It’s a comedy crime book, and I’ll be happy if there’s more in the series!

Four Aunties and a Wedding was published on 29th March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read the start of the story in Dial A for Aunties.

You can follow Jess Sutanto on Facebook, Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HQ.

Recent Reads: Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi asks the question of what if gingerbread was more than just a delicious thing to eat?

Harriet and her daughter Perdita have a knack with gingerbread that seems to make people do what they want.  

This is a mix of fantasy and fairytales, along with some family drama.

I liked the mix with fantasy and personal discovery, with the jump between the past and present.

Gingerbread was published on 5th March 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for you to follow Helen Oyeyemi!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan.

Recent Reads: This is the Night They Come For You by Robert Goddard

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is the Night They Come For You by Robert Goddard is set in Algeria, France and England.

Algerian police are starting to look into a crime that takes the police involved back to a troubled time, and looking for a former agent of the Algerian secret service.

This is a story that looks at the politics and issues between Algeria and France, whilst also being a thriller.  It has flashbacks to 1960s and also current times.  It was an enjoyable read, and one that kept me guessing.

This is the Night They Come For You was published on 24th March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for you to follow Robert Goddard!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Random House.

Recent Reads: A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 4) has a lot of change in it, after all, in the last book, Max and Leon argued yet again, split up, and then he died.  But it’s ok, because the Muse of History has moved a dying Max into another universe where she’s no longer dying.  And Leon is alive!  Now she just needs to explain what’s happened, and learn what’s going on in this universe!

This is a lot of change, with this Leon having lost his Max, and Max having lost her Leon, and her friends.  I felt the changing of universe was a little out there, but I’m enjoying this series, and therefore I’m willing to overlook some of these oddities!

A Trail Through Time was published on 24th July 2014, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

A Second Chance – book 3

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: Shadowlands; A Journey Through Lost Britain by Matthew Green

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Shadowlands; A Journey Through Lost Britain by Matthew Green looks at places in the UK that are deserted or abandoned, and puts them in the context of their history.

This is an interesting book with the author visiting each site, so you get to know what they look like today.

I found this to be a good book, and liked the mix of setting it in it’s historical place, and what it’s like today.

Shadowlands; A Journey Through Lost Britain was published on 17th March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Matthew Green on Twitter and Instagram.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Faber and Faber.

Recent Reads: A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall is a book that you’d like if you enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club books by Richard Osman, or other mysteries where retired people use their wits and knowledge to solve murders.

3 retired schoolteachers meet every Thursday for coffee, and one day they see an old colleague who has gone downhill, and mentions something disturbing to one of them in the toilets.  Shortly after that, she’s found dead, and without meaning to, they start investigating.

Enjoyable cosy crime set in Yorkshire with characters that you believe.  There are a couple of threads of storyline, that all worked out in the end!

A Spoonful of Murder was published on 17th March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for you to follow J.M. Hall!

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books.

Recent Reads: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is set in a world like our own, that has had the covid-19 pandemic, Jamie Gray is fired from her well paid job, and becomes a food delivery driver.  One day, she delivers food to an old acquaintance, and he makes her an offer that changes her life!

He works for an ‘animal rights organisation’, and he needs a grunt to move heavy things.  Jamie is thrilled, and so she joins the Kaiju Preservation Society!

I really have loved every book that I’ve read by John Scalzi, and this one lived up to my expectations and more!  It has some surprises, is very cinematic, and an easy read! Another great Scalzi book!

The Kaiju Preservation Society was published on 17th March 2022, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow John Scalzi on his website, Facebook and Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan.

Recent Reads: A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 3)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor (The Chronicles of St Mary’s book 3) continues, with Max needing to work out what to do with an entire department of blue people!

Max and Leon had a big falling out in the last book, but they made it up when they realised it was the doctor at the institution they were relaxing in who was trying to separate them.  It was all a bit weird!

Anyway, they’ve solved that and saved the day.  But now there’s more trouble at St Mary’s, so it’s time to sort things out!

I’ve really enjoyed these romps through time!

A Second Chance was published on 11th February 2014 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can read my reviews of the other books in the series below:

Just One Damned Thing After Another – book 1

A Symphony of Echoes – book 2

You can follow Jodi Taylor on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her website.

Recent Reads: Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate by M. C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin book 13)

Posted on by Pam

My review:🌟🌟🌟🌟

Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate has the local vicar with a new curate, who is stirring things up in the parish!  He’s good looking and attentive, so what could be the problem?

When he’s found murdered, the vicar, Alf Bloxley, is a suspect, and so Mrs Bloxley calls on her dear friend, Agatha, to help!  The fact that Alf hasn’t ever been able to stand Agatha doesn’t matter as Mrs Bloxley is the one that Agatha does it for!

Another very enjoyable book, with trips to London, Agatha having the reputation of being Roy’s mistress, and guilt for Agatha about a meal she accepts, all in all, a good mystery!

Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate was published in 2003, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

My review of the previous book in the Agatha Raisin series are below:

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (book 1)

Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet (book 2)

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener (book 3)

Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley (book 4)

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage (book 5)

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist (book 6)

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death (book 7)

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (book 8)

Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (book 9)

Agatha Raisin and the fairies of Fryfam (book 10)

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell (book 11)

Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (book 12)