The start of the year lends itself to lots of nights curled up in front of the fire reading a good novel.
I’ve made a good start on my Good Reads target of 35 books in 2017 and here’s a few I’ve enjoyed over the month of January:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I knew from the reviews it was a weepie and had made a massive impact on the YA (Young Adult) book market. The book told the story of 17 year old Hazel, who is slowly dying of lung cancer. Gulp…yes definitely a weepie. She meets a funny, good looking guy called Augustus at a kids cancer support group. The two fall in love-sharing a passion for a book called ? tracking down the author in Amsterdam. As with a lot of YA books the teens seem wise beyond their age and speak like they are straight out of Dawson’s Creek. Why use one word when ten will do? The book for all its heart break is well written and you are drawn into the lives of the character and the unfairness of the world.
The Teacher (DS Imogen Grey 1) by Katerina Diamond
This was a good old fashioned crime drama with DS Imogen Grey paired with with DS Adrian MIles to solve 5 mysterious satanic ritual type murders. All of the murder victims are linked to a private boys school which Adrian’s son attends. The description of the torturous murders was pretty gory in places so not one for the faint hearted. Running parallel to the murders is the story of Abbey a museum curator and her assistant. Both are wounded souls and fall in love over the cataloging of stuffed animals in the archives. Nought says romance like a stuffed mouse? There is a link between the two stories and I did guess it quite quickly but still the story was well paced and I’d definitely read more of Katerina Diamond’s books.
The Light Between the Oceans By M. L. Stedman
Another book that was recently made into a film starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander (a couple in real life). The story begins with a guy called Tom Sherbourne returned recently to Australia from the trenches of WW1 a war hero and Victoria cross recipient. He gets a job as the Lighthouse keeper on a remote island off the coast and sets about working in solitude, meticulous logging the ships that pass and fixing up the Lighthouse. On a period of shore leave he meets the very confident and sassy Isabel. The two are married and set about making Janus island a home to raise future children. Sadly it’s not to be and Isabel has numerous still births and miscarriages. One day a boat is marooned on their island with a baby inside and a dead man. Their decisions on that will affect their futures and others. A little slow to get into, but the descriptions will break your heart.
A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke
One of these easy reading books with a mystery which makes it a page turner. I stayed up late finishing this one! Eva is widowed at the age of 29 when her Australian husband Jackson is swept out to sea on a fishing trip. To feel closer to jackson and meet his family she travels to Tasmania where he grew up. His Dad and Brother are both pretty aloof to her and she soon finds out his marine biology degree is fictional. Just who was the man she was married to? This books keeps you gripped to the end!
We’ll look back at more books in March. If you’ve read these books or have any good recommendations, I’d love to hear about them.
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