These are my favourite reads from July:

Christina Courtenay - The Runes of Destiny

Second in the author's 'Runes' series, time-slip novels exploring Viking life. A strange accident somehow transports Linnea back in time to ninth-century Sweden. Captured by a Viking nobleman, she's branded a thief, and when she tries to explain the truth, he thinks she's deranged. Luckily she's doing a PhD in the Old Norse language, so she's able to understand her captors. But as she's taken on a journey of hundreds of miles to be sold as a slave, she learns lessons about the time she's in, and bides her time waiting to steal the object that can take her back to her own era, while finding her emotions are torn. Fascinating, clearly researched in detail, this is a beautifully written novel of an era in history which is little-known today. The author demonstrates that it's possible to stretch the reader's belief and create an exciting story which encompasses us completely.

Zara Thorne - Summer at the Ginger Cat Cafe

As a cat lover, I was attracted to this novel because of the title! There is a ginger cat in the book, and the main character, Alyson, is the new owner of the aforenamed cafe with husband Greg. Although she loves her new situation, she's feeling under the weather and worried that she might die young, like her aunt. She bottles up her fears and throws herself into embracing her dream and helping friends and neighbours who attend the cafe. Not least is Horace, in his eighties, and Olive, of a similar age, who both work in the cafe. Both are widowed, but Olive has decided to take Horace under her wing. Despite his grumbling, he can't bring himself to tell her to stop. Also, neighbour Lydia has an unexpected guest in her niece Rachel. Much as she loves Rachel, Lydia worries that she's rushing into marriage far too young. Interesting characters, a beautiful setting, all combine to make a charming light summer read. 

Alexandra Walsh - The Wind Chime

This evocative book pulled me in straight away, as mystery after mystery unfolds, reaching back into the nineteenth century. Amelia in 2019 has lost so many people close to her - her daughter, her father, and most recently her mother. But there's a strange bequest from her mother, along with instructions to investigate the attic after she's gone. Once Amelia has the courage to do so, she discovers a photograph and a diary that send her from Windsor to Cliffside, a big house in Wales. Strangely it's now a health retreat that offers grief counselling, so it seems appropriate. There she meets Edward, and though they rub up the wrong way at first, she feels some connection to him and to the house. Through reading the diary of Osyth, written when she was eighteen in 1883, Amelia begins to unravel the strange and shocking history of Cliffside and its occupants. Gripping, moving and disturbing at times, I couldn't stop turning the pages right to the end.

My favourite reads from June are:

Julianne Maclean - These Tangled Vines

For ten years, Fiona has been carrying the secret that her mother, Lillian told her on her deathbed. Her beloved, disabled dad Freddie is not her biological father. Now she finds herself travelling from America to Italy to attend the funeral of the father she's never met, unbeknownst to Freddie. And when she's there, the shocks keep coming. What is written in Anton Clark's will brings upon Fiona the resentment of her older half siblings, Conor and Sloane. As Fiona comes to terms with the changes in her life and begins to fall in love with the wine-growing region where her parents and Anton met, she gradually discovers the truth of how she came into existence, and faces some difficult decisions about her own future. A beautiful setting, an intriguing story, and an interweaving of past and present stories. An atmospheric exploration of love and loyalty.

Andy Weir - Project Hail Mary

Written by the author of the acclaimed novel (and film) The Martian. Although Ryland Grace achieved his Doctorate degree, he's given up research to teach science to children, which he loves. So when he wakes up alone on a spaceship light years from Earth, with no memory of how of why he got there, it's something of a surprise. As his memory gradually comes back, it turns out that he's actually on a mission to save the planet from a threat from space. There's no return home. Each small piece of back story fills in the gaps in an unexpected route to a one-way mission. Meanwhile he learns how to be an astronaut and knuckles down to deal with the threat he was sent to overcome. Then something amazing happens... Full of flashes of humour, unexpected twists and turns, this intriguing story of interstellar travel with ordinary but brilliant characters caught up in an end-of-world scenario kept me hooked right to the end. A little heavy on science at times, but the overall story is brilliant and engaging.

Richard Osman - The Man Who Died Twice

The second of the Thursday Murder Club mysteries. I thought this was even better than book one. When retiree Elizabeth gets a message from a man who is supposedly already dead, she knows that this is going to be a serious business. Her fellow elderly hobbyist sleuths are roped in to solve a mystery involving spies, drug barons, missing diamonds, and people who are not what they seem. Written with Richard Osman's characteristic humour and flair for characterisation. He explores the frailties of growing older with compassion and humour, and gives his characters the dignity they deserve. The twists and turns of the plot came as a complete surprise to me. Expertly devised and written. A delight.

The best of my reads from May are:

Kelley McNeil - A Day Like This

I was intrigued by the blurb for this book. Annie wakes from a car accident to find that her life is not the one she remembers. Everyone tells her that her daughter, Hannah, does not exist. Her relationships with her husband and her sister have changed too. She even lives somewhere different. Or does she? But strangely, this life isn't totally unfamiliar to her. What is going on? It's a tale woven with many layers, exploring what can cause someone to remember a completely different existence. The reader gets caught up in Annie's story, feeling all her despair and bewilderment in her new situation. I love the sort of book with strands of the unknown, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I shall look out for more from this author.

Dinah Jefferies - The Sapphire Widow

This is an author I have previously enjoyed, and it's good to delve into a book that you know will deliver a satisfying experience. In 1930s Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Louisa is still recovering from losing her baby. She's devoted herself to being the wife of charming Elliott, who works for her father's sapphire business. However, she has a talent for architecture and is beginning to take an interest in restoring an old building into a store to showcase local jewellery and art. When Elliott dies suddenly in a motoring accident, she's flung instead into a nightmare when she discovers the secrets he's been keeping from her. Her life may even be in danger. There's also a connection to Elliott's enigmatic associate, Leo, who she finds herself drawn to. Grief, danger, betrayal, love, all mixed with an exotic location which is portrayed in a way that brings it all to vivid life.

My reading choices from April are:

Barbara Davis - When Never Comes

Christine thinks she has put her early life behind her and is secure living in Maine as the wife of a successful crime writer. But when her husband, Stephen, dies in a car accident, her life begins to unravel. An unknown woman died in the car with him, which sparks a torrent of media interest. Christine flees, hiding out in a motel in a small town in Virginia. She reverts to her former name, Christy-Lynn, and tentatively makes friends with Missy, who runs the motel as a single mother. She starts a new life and a new career. But when she discovers the identity of the woman who died with her husband, she has to face the demons from her own past, as well as sorting out the problems of the present. Then there's Wade, her husband's former college room-mate, who fell out with him years earlier, but who now is reaching out to her. A thoroughly good read, with sympathetic characters and twists of mystery throughout.

Faith Hogan - The Place We Call Home

Miranda is head of the Corrigan Mills in the Irish village of Ballycove. Now in her seventies, her health is deteriorating, but she finds it hard to find someone to take over from her. Her quiet and methodical daughter Ada runs the mills' finances, but lacks the creative flair of her younger sister, Callie, who's a top textile designer in London.Their brother Simon lives a flamboyant lifestyle without the substance of the income he needs, and goes from one bad business deal to another. But as the centenary of the mills approaches, Callie and Simon return to Ballycove, each nursing their own secret problem, while Ada longs to be recognised and have the fulfilment in her life that always seems to have escaped her. The appearance of David Blair, the youngest member of the family who once owned the mills, stirs up long-buried emotions and secrets.All members of Miranda's family have to face their pasts and make decisions for the future. A warm family novel, its plot woven with many colours and strands like the fabric produced in the family's woollen mills.

These are my choices from March - only two stand out among all those that I've read.

April Taylor - Distant Shadows

Helen's time serving her country in France during World War 2 has left her fearing for her life. She's convinced that it was one of the operators in Britain that betrayed many of her fellow agents, sending them to their deaths. So after the War, she disappears and reinvents herself as Peggy, with a new job, to protect herself. But she can't prevent her agile brain identifying suspicious patterns in public matters. In sending an anonymous letter pointing out a possible fraud that is draining the country's resources, she suddenly finds that her cover is blown, and she has two of her former colleagues on her tail. Can she trust either of them? A novel full of exciting moments, emotional tension, hide and seek. I'm not an expert in the era, or in the special operations of World War 2, but the settings and the events felt very authentic. A great read. 

Rosie Hendry - Love on a Scottish Island

I'm a sucker for books about Scottish islands, so the title of this novel immediately appealed to me. Laura returns to her home in the Orkney Islands while waiting to hear about a job as a children's illustrator, something she's always wanted to do. But she must face Matt, the young man she let down years ago when she wanted to travel the world. She's staying with her widowed grandmother, Ishbel, who is turning seventy. After the birthday party, Ishbel has ideas of her own, wanting to spread her wings and find someone from her past. As Laura begins a tentative friendship with Matt, her father and sister also have big changes in their lives that they need to face. A gentle novel of revisiting past relationships, and finding the courage to follow your dreams. Lovely setting, too. 

Only two books this month in my blog, as I've read one or two others that are part of a series, so it would become a little repetitive to add them. These are my choices from February:

Louise Douglas - The Room in the Attic

This modern Gothic novel is chilling and gripping. The story weaves between three different timelines - opening with architect Lewis in 2021 as he faces the prospect of assessing the Victorian building of All Hallows for conversion into luxury modern accommodation for clients of his firm. The body of the novel is concerned with the building's two former incarnations - firstly a thread in 1903 when it was a lunatic asylum, and secondly Lewis's own memories of his time there when it was a tough boarding school in 1993. Misfit, sensitive teenager Lewis is sent there after losing his mother, when his father remarries. He's assigned to share a room with moody Isak, just below the attic. Strange noises, mysterious smells, nightmares and fears trouble the boys. They form a tentative bond as they begin to investigate the story of nurse Emma Everdeen from 1903. The novel reveals the inhumanity of the former lunatic asylums, and the harshness of some boarding schools.There are edge-of-seat ghostly visitations and interweaving of timelines as the boys strive to put right an old injustice. I'm not usually into Gothic novels, but this one gripped me right to the end.

Jackie Kabler - The Perfect Couple

...Or the Perfect Lie? I found this psychological thriller absolutely enthralling. I couldn't stop turning the pages. Gemma returns home to Bristol after a weekend away for work, to find her house empty. Her husband of less than a year, Danny, is not there. Full of misgivings, she waits anxiously for a few days before going to contact the police. What follows is a journey of extreme twists and turns, which becomes even more of a nightmare for Gemma. But is her own account reality or a lie? What truly happened to Danny? - and is there a connection to other murders in the area? Told from the point of view of Gemma, and of the police officers involved in the investigation, the author weaves a plot that is totally unexpected, brilliantly done. I shall look out for more from her. 

Barbara Davis - The Keeper of Happy Endings

This was a delightful book to start the New Year. Many threads of stories, all woven into one satisfying novel. Two different eras collide in this narrative. In 1985 Boston, Rory (Aurora) has a difficult relationship with her mother, while grieving for her doctor fiance Hux who has been kidnapped while volunteering in South Sudan. She still has no idea, months later, if he's even alive. But one day she comes across an empty shop which seems to be ideal for the art gallery she had dreamed of with Hux. It seems to be a message that life has to go on. It brings her into contact with Soline, a French woman who emigrated to the US after World War II. Soline also has a burdensome past, a lost love, grief and pain. Somehow the two women from different generations and continents form a tentative bond, little knowing how their relationship will begin to unfold. A novel full of emotion, history, and even a touch of magic. 

Jeff Wheeler - The Buried World (The Grave Kingdom Book II)

This is the second book in a trilogy by this writer of fantasy books for young adults. I find his imagination fascinating, the stories he weaves drawing me in. His previous series have been set in Medieval style worlds, including characters with and without magic powers. This series is different, founded on a history inspired by ancient China. The main character, Bingmei, is a teenage girl who has unusual pale skin and white hair, which turned to a fiery red colour at the end of book 1 in the trilogy. She also has a secret power - she can smell people's emotions, and so knows when they are genuine or lying. She's now the leader of a small band of warriors, all skilled in martial arts. Unwittingly she released a powerful dictator of monstrous evil on the world, but she is too fearful to go beyond the Death Wall (which is imagined on Great Wall of China) and give up her life to save the world. But in this book, Bingmei continues to fight evil magic, dragons, and the killing fog, and begins to see that her heart must lead her to places she previously feared. I enjoyed this volume much more than the first in the series, The Killing Fog​, and found it very exciting. I'm looking forward to reading book III.

Faith Hogan - The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club

A novel about three women who come together at a time of great change for each of them. Joy lives in a small Irish coastal village, where she takes comfort in her night time swims in the sea. Her friend Elizabeth has jut lost her husband, who was the local GP. She's burdened with worries about what the future will hold for her, alone in a large, run-down house. She's beginning to discover unpleasant secrets that her husband had been concealing from her, which will affect her future. Joy's daughter Lucy has undergone a painful divorce, and comes to stay for a while, along with her teenage son, Niall, who's having trouble finding himself. When both Lucy and Elizabeth join Joy in her nocturnal swimming, the three women bond over past problems and find courage to face up to those that wait for them. Revelations abound in this tender and beautifully written novel. Riveting. 

A Happy New Year!
Here are the books that I've enjoyed reading most during December.

Jane Bailey – What was Rescued

Four children, Arthur and his young brother Philip, young Welsh girl Dora, and Pippa who is from a privileged background, meet on board a ship carrying British children across the Atlantic to America during World War II. But they fall foul of enemy submarines, and the ship is torpedoed. Some of the passengers survive, and stay in touch during the following years. As the children grow up, they meet and form new relationships, but much of their lives bears the burden of the shipwreck. Love, loss, painful secrets and betrayal are all part of their future experiences. An intriguing exploration of ‘survivor guilt’, with very different characters sharing a tumultuous experience and how it changes everything in their developing lives. 

Rachel Burton - A Bookshop Christmas

I like reading a seasonal romance at Christmas, and this one hit the spot nicely. Young widow Megan has returned to help her mother run the family bookshop in the historic city of York. In an attempt to boost the profits of the struggling business, she's come up with several ideas - she's rearranged the furniture, refreshed the stock, and formed a book club. Maybe the most audacious idea is to host a book launch for popular literary author, Xander Stone. Unfortunately the handsome author seems to be a most unpleasant man, unwilling to engage with his devoted fans and derogatory about provincial bookshops and romance novels. Megan and her friends in the book club vow to alter his views. As Christmas approaches there are surprises unfolding in Megan's life, not the least that Xander Stone seems to be reluctant to return to London, and she's going to find out more than she bargained for about what lies beneath his crusty exterior. Full of festive atmosphere, Christmas lights and all things about novels, this romance hits all the right buttons for a festive read..

T. M. Logan - The Catch

Abbie's new boyfriend, Ryan, looks to be perfect - handsome, polite, successful, charity volunteer and caring of his girlfriend. In fact, she's glowing. But her father, Ed, can't take to him. When Ryan and Abbie become engaged, he feels as if his worst nightmare is coming true. But because he loves his daughter, and his wife and mother-in-law both think he's imagining things, he keeps his suspicions to himself. However, the relationship begins to escalate at a rate much faster than he expected, motivating Ed to begin investigating Ryan secretly. It's not all above board, but he's desperate to find out some proof to convince his family that he's right. A novel that keeps us guessing throughout - is Ed imagining it, or are his suspicions true? This psychological thriller is well-written and compelling, with unforseen twists and turns.

My best reads from November are:

Louise Douglas – The Scarlet Dress

When Alice disappeared from the holiday camp, all that was found was her scarlet dress on the beach. The verdict was that she had drowned herself in the sea. But almost twenty five years later, when the camp is being redeveloped, her remains are found buried beneath it. Marnie was only a child when it happened, but losing Alice, her idol, so soon after the death of her mother, left her traumatised and unable to speak. She thinks she may know secrets that could lead to the identity of the killer. Will, Alice’s boyfriend at the time, has returned, and he’s determined to uncover the truth about her death now. He believes that Guy, the son of the camp owners, has something to do with it. But Will is hiding secrets of his own. So many people have been frozen in time by Alice’s disappearance, and old wounds need to be uncovered and healed before anyone can move on. A touching and gripping mystery.

Liz Talley - Adulting: A Novel

Chase London hasn't had a normal childhood - she's been working as an actress since her early years, with her mother managing her life and her career. Now she's a mess, constantly in rehab, but falling off the wagon readily. She's not fit to take on any new role - but her mother Lorna has other ideas. She hires Olivia Han, who has a reputation for pulling wayward young women into shape. Her 'Adulting' programme is different from other methods, and soon Chase finds herself in a remote cabin belonging to her new therapist, learning how to deal with normal life. But Olivia has plenty of baggage of her own from her past, including a difficult relationship with her sister Neve. When Neve turns up at the cabin, Chase begins to see the cracks in her therapist's cool facade. As she learns her life skills, the three women all begin to work through darkness from their early lives. Old and new love relationships cause added complications. I was drawn into the stories of the women, intrigued at how they work out a way to go forward. A satisfying read.

Jamie Beck - If You Must Know

This family-based novel explores two very different sisters reacting to tumultuous change in their lives. Amanda is the elder of the two, and has always felt closest to her mother. She resented that her younger sister, Erin, was always their father's favourite. But the family was recently devastated by their father's sudden death. Their mother is trying to cope with adjusting to widowhood. Amanda takes comfort in her seemingly perfect marriage to Lyle, and her approaching motherhood. But her own bubble is about to burst. Her husband suddenly abandons her, and it turns out he's been dishonest with the whole family. Erin also has ended her latest relationship, and the two young women are becoming worried about their mother's health. As the three women are forced into closer contact, they begin to realise that maybe they're not as different as they thought. A hunt for Lyle draws them unexpectedly together. The story is an interesting exploration of character and extreme circumstances, and kept me turning the pages.

These are my choices from my October reading:

Keith Stuart - The Frequency of Us

This is a split-time novel with a difference. Will is almost ninety, living in Bath in 2007. But the life he's living is not the one he believes is his. He has memories from World War II when he and his wife Elsa were in a bomb blast. But after it she's gone forever from his life, and everyone thinks he's imagined their relationship. Into his run-down home comes Laura, a young woman whose own life is held together by a thread. Her last chance to make something of her job as a carer is to decide whether Will can cope in his own home, or whether he has dementia and needs residential care. Somehow the two make a tentative connection, through Will's obsession with the radios he used to design. Laura feels a strange atmosphere in the house - but is it just that she's suffering withdrawal symptoms from her antidepressant meds? Science and fantasy, real problems and the poignancy of love, loss and despair combine to make an intriguing read.

Heidi Eljarbo – Hidden Masterpiece

The third in the Soli Hansen mysteries, set in World War II Norway. Yet again young art historian Soli is involved in a mission to outwit the Nazi force occupying her country, and save a painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt from their clutches. Wonderful atmosphere, filled with edge-of-the-seat moments as Soli and her friend Heddy make a dangerous journey across a snowy Norwegian landscape. Although dedicated to her mission, her heart is sore because Nikolai, the man she loves, is missing, and she has heard that a precious artifact entrusted to her care has fallen into the hands of Nazi sympathisers. A thoroughly enjoyable book, enhanced for me by memories of three wonderful Norwegian holidays.

Brad Parks – Interference
​
An intriguing thriller with a scientific background. Although it's set in the world of quantum physics, there’s no need to feel put off by the subject. The principal narrator is Brigid, wife of Matt Bronik, a physics professor at the U.S. Dartmouth College. Matt begins to have mysterious seizures, which is particularly stressful for Brigid, also mother to their ten-year-old son, as she has considerable hearing loss. When her husband is kidnapped, local police detective Emmett Webster is called in to investigate. Recently widowed, he needs something to focus his attention, and despite the disapproval of his superiors, he keeps on working the case doggedly. Throw into the mix a multi-billionaire who may have an ulterior motive for kidnapping the scientist, and Matt’s doctoral student, Sheena, who seems to have developed miraculous powers related to his experiments - not to mention his colleague David who could be trying to hide his own misdemeanours - it all combines into a fascinating read. I was hooked until the end.