Recent Read: Mystical Stitches; Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment by Christi Johnson

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Mystical Stitches; Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment by Christi Johnson is about exactly what it says, adding embroidery to your fabric items to empower yourself.

There is lots of inspiration here, from the patterns to what they’ve been stitched on.  There are templates, lots of clear information, and beautiful photos.

Mystical Stitches; Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment by Christi Johnson was published on 25th May 2021 and is available from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can follow Christi Johnson on Instagram and her website.

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

Recent Reads: Fit for Purpose; Your Guide to Better Health, Wellbeing and Living a Meaningful Life by Richard Pile

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

Fit for Purpose; Your Guide to Better Health, Wellbeing and Living a Meaningful Life by Richard Pile is a mix of getting fit for life, and also a big dollop of Christianity, which was a surprise for me as I was thinking he would be coming from a medical stance only as a GP.

Richard Pile looks at different aspects of health, and things like stress, and relates it to life, and what you eat, and how you move.  He gives you the background for why he’s written this book, and his experiences in life, and why he so needed help, and thought that others might benefit from his learning.

I am sure some people will find the medical Christianity slant a helpful one, but it didn’t do a lot for me.  I thought the things he was suggesting made sense, but I am not running out to buy the book.

Fit for Purpose was published on 25th May 2021 and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

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

Recent Reads: The Dawn Chorus by Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season 3.5)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Dawn Chorus by Samantha Shannon is a novella, setting up the story for book 4 when Paige and Arcturus will be taking on their next challenge, in France.

Paige was tortured in the last book, and had things said to her that have taken root, and she has to come to turns with the results of this, and her feelings for Arturus.

This is very much a book written about mental health, and you can see Paige struggling in many ways.  It is sad and you are moved for Paige.  You are taken on her journey as she tries to move past the way things like water were used in her torture, and her struggles with using water to get clean, for instance.

The Dawn Chorus was published on 9th July 2020 and is available from Amazon.

You can follow Samantha Shannon on Twitter and her blog.

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

The Bone Season (book 1)

The Pale Dreamer (novella 0.5)

The Mime Order (book 2)

The Song Rising (book 3)

Recent Reads: Murder at the Music Factory by Lesley Kelly (The Health of Strangers 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

Murder at the Music Factory by Lesley Kelly (The Health of Strangers 4) is one that you need to have read the books that come before it in the series as I did feel unsure of multiple things.

We’re following the North Edinburgh Health Enforcement team as this series is set in a world where a pandemic has happened (The Virus), and the team is making sure that people go to their monthly health checks.  This series was started in 2017, and so it wasn’t one trying to use current events!

There are ex-wives, former music stars, students and a rogue agent who is threatening to shoot a civil servant every day, so lots of action. There’s a lot of references to previous events in the series, but the characters were good, and I could see that if I had read the series from the beginning then I would enjoy this book.

Murder at the Music Factory was published on 23 April 2020 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Lesley Kelly on Twitter.

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

Recent Reads: Roar by Cecelia Ahern

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Roar by Cecelia Ahern is made up of 30 short stories, and are all stories about different women, one per story, who each have something to discover.  They are enjoyable stories, and feel like fables, as each story has a message. 

I enjoyed the surprise of the moment of revelation in each story, and trying to guess where we were going to be led. These are very much told from the point of view of these women do not value themselves sufficiently but are uplifting.

Roar was published on 1st November 2018 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Cecelia Ahern on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and her website.

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

Recent Reads: The 8th Confession by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Women’s Murder Club 8)

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

8th Confession has someone killing the rich and famous, which means Lindsay, Cindy, Claire and Yuki need to work together to find out who the killer really is.

I mostly enjoy this series except for the below. It’s got multiple story lines that weave together, there’s lots of different behind the scenes, be that at the newspaper or the law courts, and the friendship between the main characters is heart warming.

But, I found I was uncomfortable with the storyline about Doc in this book, .  Spoilers ahead for this as I think it needs to be talked about.  Doc was born with ambiguous genitalia, and so his parents made a choice and raised him as a girl, but Doc identifies as male.  This feels like great representation in a popular series, but they used the word ‘repulsed’ for how Yuki could feel about him, and that feels like such a strong word for not wanting to have sex with someone.

8th Confession was published on 27th April 2009 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow James Patterson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his website.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find any links for Maxine Paetro for you to follow.

Women’s Murder Club books:

1st to Die   – book 1 

2nd Chance – book 2

3rd Degree – book 3

4th of July – book 4

The 5th Horseman – book 5

The 6th Target – book 6

7th Heaven – book 7

Recent Reads: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo is the winner of the Booker Prize in 2019, so you will already have expectations of this book.

It tells the story of 12 Black women, whose lives are interconnected in different ways.  We move around in place and you see the women from their perspective, and then from others.  Some of them experience trauma, and others don’t, and all of them have stories to tell you.

This is an emotional journey as you go through some of the trauma with them and other times, so you see their grief and their joy.  

Girl, Woman, Other was published on 2 May 2019 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Bernardine Evaristo on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

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

Recent Reads: Naturally Tan A Memoir by Tan France

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Naturally Tan; A Memoir by Tan France is the autobiography of Tan France and goes up to the early days of Queer Eye, and shows us Tan’s childhood, his work background, how he met his husband, moved to America and then auditioned for Queer Eye!  And of course the French tuck!

I didn’t know much about Tan France before this book, and really enjoyed learning more and seeing the photos in his book.  I also enjoyed hearing about meeting the other stars of Queer Eye at audition!  If you enjoy Queer Eye, then this is a great book for you!

Naturally Tan was published on 6th June 2019 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Tan France on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok!

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

Recent Reads: Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C Beaton (Agatha Raisin 3)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by M.C Beaton (Agatha Raisin 3) has the village of Carsely opening their gardens to one another, and as James Lacey has taken up with newcomer, Mary Fortune, who is amazing at gardening, this is the thing that Agatha has decided she has to beat her at.

Not that she’s jealous.  Our green-eyed monster of an amateur detective decides that she’s going to cheat, and of course, hi-jinx ensues.  Then Mary Fortune is found murdered in her garden.  Agatha will just have to help find the murderer, and spend some more time with James!

I do enjoy Agatha being forthright, but do find her pining after James Lacey to be a little sad.  But, every person has their flaws, and will love/ lust after people they can’t always have.  I do like these as light, entertaining cosy crimes.

Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener was published in 1994, 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)

Recent Reads: American Sherlock; Murder, forensics, and the birth of crime scene investigation by Kate Winkler Dawson

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson is about Edward Oscar Heinrich, who was one for the first forensic scientists, and so is one of the first to go before a jury to explain how something happened.  This is a really interesting book about how things like blood splatter started to be used, and then how it was shown to a jury.

This is a non fiction book, and explores Heinrich’s life, his family, and his work.  We learn about crimes that happened, and then how Heinrich solved them.  It is very evocative, and well written, and I enjoyed learning more about this time in forensics.

American Sherlock was published on 13th May 2021 and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Kate Winkler Dawson on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

Kate Winkler Dawson also has 2 podcasts – Tenfold More Wicked which looks into true crime stories, and Wicked Words, which interviews journalists and writers about their favourite true crime stories.  

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