Books I’ve enjoyed 008

Posted on April 29, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

Helloooo all. How are you? It’s been a while hasn’t it…

I’ve gathered some more of my favourite reads for you. Some I’ve read fairly recently and others were advance reader copies, read quite some time ago before publication. What I haven’t done this time is link the titles to GoodReads since I figure you probably have your own favourite book-site. Let me know if you miss the links.

The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

The story of three sisters: Rachel, Imogen, Sasha and their mother Margo, their relationships, secrets and glimpses into their past after they were abandoned by Richard their father, Margo’s husband.

The seaside setting in the large family house on The Isle of Wight was perfect, and the characters so real that I feel genuinely sad to leave them.

The writing is so good, the story just flows off the page; this is the first book that I have read into the early hours in ages, far beyond when I should have gone to sleep. I’ve loved it. The Garnett Girls is one of my reads of the year. I predict it’s going to be a huge hit and wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s adapted into a film, and rightly so!

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case. When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie’s true identity. Robin decides that the agency can’t help with this-and thinks nothing more of it until a few days later, when she reads the shocking news that Edie has been tasered and then murdered in Highgate Cemetery, the location of The Ink Black Heart. From GoodReads.

Wow! I finally finished it – having paused at just over halfway through to pick up Landlines by Raynor Winn. I was enjoying this, but not enthralled. It’s hard to feel sympathy for the victim and a compulsion to find out whodunnit when you’ve met the murdered character in only one or two pages. However, things really start mounting up after that and then I was completely in it for the long haul.

It was so cleverly done, lots of red herrings and diversions. I’m pretty good at picking the criminal, as I read a fair bit of detective fiction, but this time not at all! Even as they entered the building, in my mind it still could have been one of two others. I got it totally wrong! And it’s there fairly early on…

So, so, so glad I read this on my Kindle. I couldn’t have held that brick of the hardback and due to the extremely large cast I found the search function invaluable to check who is who and where they fit in. I gave it 4/5 stars because it was unnecessarily long. The editor could take a stronger stance!

Obviously a lot of the author’s personal experience of the internet, Fandom, Twitter etc has gone into the writing of this book. There is much more swearing in it, not offended by it, but I noticed the increase.

I bet Strike’s meeting with Prudence will lead into the next instalment…

Landlines by Raynor Winn

Some people live to walk. Raynor and Moth walk to live . . . Raynor Winn knows that her husband Moth’s health is declining, getting worse by the day. She knows of only one cure. It worked once before. But will he – can he? – set out with her on another healing walk? The Cape Wrath Trail is over two hundred miles of gruelling terrain through Scotland’s remotest mountains and lochs. But the lure of the wilderness and the beguiling beauty of the awaiting glens draw them northwards. Being one with nature saved them in their darkest hour and their hope is that it can work its magic again. As they set out on their incredible thousand-mile journey back to the familiar shores of the South-west Coast Path, Raynor and Moth map the landscape of an island nation facing an uncertain path ahead. In Landlines, she records in luminous prose the strangers and friends, wilderness and wildlife they encounter on the way – it’s a journey that begins in fear but can only end in hope.

Loved it! Alternated it in two halves with the mega long Ink Black Heart.

I recommend you read The Salt Path, and then read this! The afterword is bone tingling and I hope really helps to spur on further research.

Go as a River by Shelley Read

A chance meeting on the street between a teenager and a young drifter starts this story, which is set in rural Colorado. Beginning in the 1940s, we leave them three decades later in the 1970s. It’s hauntingly written, lyrical and really rather beautiful. This is a book about family, about love and about loss. But it’s also about resilience and strength. Victoria the main character is a force to be reckoned with, she is the definition of a strong woman and yet you also see her vulnerabilities and feel her pain. You follow her growing up from a young teenager in charge of the household, on her family’s peach farm, into an independent woman with a place of her own, dealing with loss and grief in her own way.

All the characters are sympathetic, even the troubled Seth, his uncle and father to an extent. This is a tough life, the family has experienced tragedy and huge losses, they do the best they can, but often fall short. Victoria is holding it all together, at least in a practical sense. Other members of the local community are believable and well drawn; the trouble making vinegar-tongued woman who runs the flop house, the jolly large woman who is friendly to customers and excels at selling the Nash family peaches at the roadside stall, the odd neighbour who is one of the most touchingly written. I could picture them all clearly, the writing is crystal clear.

I gather that there really was the damming and flooding of the Gunnison river to make the huge Blue Mesa Dam. I am interested to find out more about the communities who had to move and the houses and farms that were lost in Colorado.

Admittedly I preferred the first half of the book. I was not so keen on the diary extracts, but it was a clever device to move the story forward and to explain what happened in the interim, between the two main events of Victoria’s adult life. I did find that I really missed reading about the trees and the peaches though!

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Homecoming has a dual timeline which switches back and forth 60 years, between 1958 and 2018. There is an historic murder investigation, a missing baby, fractured mother daughter relationships and three women who reflect on their lives and place where they feel most at home. The characters are distinctly drawn and sympathetic for the most part. The author is clever at giving the reader an insight into what has shaped them and their relationships (or lack of) with each other.

This is a long book at over 500 pages, it’s a slow telling of a period in time when a tragic event occurs which rocks a community, changing the lives of everyone connected to the Turner family. The backstory loops around and around revealing more through a variety of devices. The chapters from the true crime book were an effective way to provide background. However, it took until around halfway through the book for me to become gripped, it’s rather turgid in places, but by then it really hooked me and got me guessing. Even when I was confident I could easily explain exactly what had happened, I was wrong!

The descriptions of the countryside, big skies, houses and rural life were well described. I used to be familiar with most of the locations mentioned as I lived in the hills of Adelaide, travelling down to ‘the flats’ via the Greenhill road daily for work, before the expressway was built, so this greatly added to my enjoyment of the book as it brought back many memories.

The Roasting Tin by Rukmini Lyer

Pop your ingredients in a tin and let the oven do the work. The Roasting Tin has recipes for 75 delicious one dish dinners ranging from chicken traybakes to supergrains. The concept is simple: fresh, easy ingredients, a few minutes prep, and let the oven do the work. Each chapter also includes a helpful infographic for how to build your own roasting tin dinner using whatever is in your fridge tonight. These quick, clever and delicious recipes are for anvone who wants to eat nutritious food made from scratch that fits around their busy lives. (And for anyone who doesn’t like washing up). GoodReads

Such a good book. I’ve made a few recipes, so far, and the one that’s already been cooked several times is the Crispy olive & pine nut* crusted cod with roasted red onions and cheery tomatoes. I made the tapenade with reduced salt green olives, using the recipe HERE

* Actually I forgot to buy the pine nuts, equal quantities of grated grana padano (or parmesan) works well instead. I stuck with that combo instead, as it tasted so good.

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Have you read any goodies lately? I’m currently reading an advance reader copy of Pip Williams next book, which runs parallel, time wise, with The Dictionary of Lost Words. It’s an interesting read, so far. And I started a new audiobook the other day, but I’m not altogether sure about it. I’ll have to listen to a bit more, before making up my mind whether to continue. (Quite gory.)

If you read any of the books I’ve featured, today or in the other posts, let me know what you thought of them? I’d love to know if we share some of the same tastes.

Books I’ve enjoyed 005

Posted on October 1, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Oh, I’ve got some good reads for you today! Here’s another six books which you can snuggle down with and hopefully enjoy too.

One Moonlit Night by Rachel Hore

Rachel Gore’s latest is historical fiction, set during WW2. It is the story of a family and secrets that have been concealed for decades.

It is a nice read, a simple linear story which reveals what happens to Maddie and her two children after they leave London and wait to discover the fate of Philip, their husband and father.

I really like stories set in large ancestral homes in a rural setting. They are always appealing; I find the descriptions of nature restful, there are plenty of secrets hidden within and scope for strained relations and mysteries at the heart of the household.

The Lido by Libby Page

The story of Kate, a 26-year-old local newspaper reporter and Rosemary, an 86 year old lifelong daily swimmer. Kate goes to interview her and find out about the potential closure of the Lido in Brixton, London. This is the start of a blossoming friendship, an unexpectedly good thing for both for different reasons.

As you’d expect The Lido is a story about community, relationships, and the importance of fighting for what you believe is important. It also describes a very touching love story.

This is a light and rather lovely read. It would be a perfect holiday read if you’re off to find some sun. (Just don’t tell me about it. I’ll be envious.)

The Romantic by William Boyd

*Will be published on 6th October (UK)*

A fictional auto-biography which incorporates most of the 1800s as we follow events and relationships in the long life of Cashel Ross. It is the study of a life fully lived, and lived during an extraordinary period of history, filled with innovation and change.

This is truly escapist fiction. It made me really want to travel again, particularly after a few years grounded with the pandemic.

I particularly enjoyed the depiction of the long friendship between Cashel and Ignatz. You find yourself cheering Cashel on as he gets into all sorts of scrapes and commits misdemeanours.

The Romantic is a book where not everything is neatly wrapped up. The loose ends where you wonder what happened to so and so, are just like real life. In particular I was left with a lingering sense of wanting to know what would happen to Frannie…

By the way, if you’ve never read Any Human Heart by William Boyd then I recommend searching out a copy. It’s a 5 star read.

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

‘Few aristocratic English families of the twentieth century enjoyed the glamorous notoriety of the infamous Mitford sisters. Nancy Mitford’s most famous novel, The Pursuit of Love satirizes British aristocracy in the twenties and thirties through the amorous adventures of the Radletts, an exuberantly unconventional family closely modelled on Mitford’s own.

The Radletts of Alconleigh occupy the heights of genteel eccentricity, from terrifying Lord Alconleigh (who, like Mitford’s father, used to hunt his children with bloodhounds when foxes were not available), to his gentle wife, Sadie, their wayward daughter Linda, and the other six lively Radlett children. Mitford’s wickedly funny prose follows these characters through misguided marriages and dramatic love affairs, as the shadow of World War II begins to close in on their rapidly vanishing world.’ From Goodreads

I’ve just reread The Pursuit of Love for probably the third time. The best parts are when the girls are at Alconleigh and especially when they’re altogether again near the end. (I LOVE the Bolter! I remember after I first read this years ago, I got a book about Idina Sackville who was almost certainly the person the character was based upon: The Bolter by Frances Osborne.)

I bought the complete Nancy Mitford collection for a little sum when it was a recent Kindle Daily Deal. I’m planning to read the other two books in the trilogy at some point too.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

I’ve been waiting for publication day to come around since I read this in July, so I could tell you about it. It’s a five star read. I adore Kate Atkinson’s books and this is one of her best.

An absorbing read, with a multitude of characters. This is London in the hedonistic 1920s, post-war, fizzing with energy, opportunity, money and lots and lots of crime. Nellie Croker is the Queen of the Soho Clubs, she wants to advance the futures of her six children, but her empire is facing multiple threats.

Kate Atkinson’s writing is so gripping, I enjoy it so much that I read slowly, every single word and sentence is savoured, so as to make the book last.
I loved the structure of the book; it basically loops around introducing an event or character and then revisits it, or them, more fully, often from another point of view.

It was a relief that I could read this on my Kindle. There are many characters fleetingly mentioned, when they reappear I feel compelled to look up where they first came into the story. If I was continually flicking back and forth through a paperback it would have taken me weeks to finish!

There’s a little mystery at the end, a will they-won’t-they and a generally satisfying rounding up.

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

I read this in May and have waited a long time to write about this too! It’s just been published. 2022 really is my year of reading Ann Cleeves books. I started another last night, well actually it was the ungodly hour of four o’clock this morning. I might need to start it again, things were hazy after a gin cocktail and red wine, plural.

The Rising Tide is book number ten in the series and this time we find Vera Stanhope investigating a murder on Holy Island off the Northumberland coast. 50 years ago a group of teenagers went there on a camping trip, every five years they get together again for a reunion weekend. This time one of them is found hanged.

It’s an engrossing read which I really didn’t want to put down. I loved the concept of the school friends meeting up for a reunion. It gave so much scope for backstories to explore tensions and past relationships between the group.

I really didn’t know who the murderer was, until Vera worked it out. That’s the mark of an extremely well plotted and executed (!) murder mystery.

I’ll be interested to see if this one gets made into an episode of the TV series.

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There is nothing like snuggling up with a good book on chilly autumn nights. I like to read all year round, but there is definitely something so cosy about going to bed early with a book at this time of year. I find I keep looking at my watch to see if you can go to bed yet. The other night I went up at nine thirty to read. Bliss!

What are you reading at the moment? Any books you’d like to recommend?

Books I’ve enjoyed 004

Posted on August 28, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Lyer

My current favourite recipe book which I’m using to bring some fresh meat-free meals to the table. Last week I made the courgettes roasted with olives, feta and tomato bake. It was delicious both hot and cold, though perhaps not for someone who is advised to use eat a low-salt diet. You could maybe miss out the olives and cut it down that way, but it wouldn’t be quite the same. Tomorrow when I’m doing my groceries order I’ll choose another recipe to make this week.

The Diet Myth by Tim Spector

Tim trained in medicine and rose to the position of consultant rheumatologist before turning to genetic epidemiology, the study of genetic factors in health and disease. Now he is professor of genetic epidemiology and director of the TwinsUK registry at Kings College London. He is a specialist in twin study, genetics, epigenetics and microbiome, and diet. (Wikipedia) You may also recognise his name and his face from the Zoe website. He’s very active on Instagram and Twitter too.

The Diet Myth is an exploration and explanation of why most diets fail, why despite, the multi million pound diet industry, and so much advice about what to eat, and what to avoid, people are still gaining weight and populations are becoming fatter every decade. This is a fascinating read.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

Published a hundred years ago, in 1922, this story is about a couple of women who are unsatisfied in their marriages and leading pretty dreary lives. They decide to rent a small castle on the Italian Riviera and gather two others to help pay for it during a summer holiday, without their husbands. It’s a lovely read, with some very touching and humorous lines. Apparently at the time it did wonders to advertise and bring tourism to the area. This paperback was a surprise sent by a friend when I was unwell, along with Midnight Chicken which I wrote about in my last books post. Friends who post books they think you’ll enjoy and cheer you up are treasures!

Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves

The second in the Vera series. This time she’s investigating a crime which happened ten years before. New evidence has come to light, which throws doubt on the original verdict. I found this absolutely masterful; the characterisation, setting and plotting. It could be any one of the community, it’s impossible to guess the ending.

The Woman on the Island by Ann Cleeves

If you have any interest in reading the Vera series then you MUST go to Amazon next and select this because it’s currently FREE! (Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can get the free Kindle app on your phone or tablet and read the short story.) We learn the motivation for Vera becoming a detective during this short backstory. As she goes on a day trip to Holy Island with her father Hector. There’s an excerpt at the end for the new Vera book (number ten) The Rising Tide, which is set on the same island. This should whet your appetite for when it comes out on 1st September (sorry, I’m not sure of international publication dates) next week. I read of a proof copy, back in May, and it’s a 5 star read.

The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

I’ve been looking forward to telling you about this one. The Night Ship is structured with a dual time period, which tells the stories of two nine year old children Mayken and Gil more than 300 years apart. The author weaves fiction around fact to tell the story of Mayken, who is a newly motherless child en route to the care of her father. She is travelling with her nursemaid Imke on an East India Company ship The Batavia. The ship is undertaking the long and hazardous sea voyage from Holland to Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies as it was (Jakarta in Indonesia as it is now called.) It is carrying goods and 200 passengers. Gil is also newly motherless and has been sent to his Grandfather Joss to spend the fishing season on a remote island off the west coast of Australia. Their story and developing relationship is rather touching as both adjust to each other and become closer.

Mayken is a fabulous character, she and Imke definitely have all the best lines. Mayken’s story made me both laugh and cry. She is a character who will stay with me.

Jess Kidd paces this atmospheric story perfectly, as usual in her writing there is folklore and supernatural elements. The tension gradually ramps up until the denouement for both children. I enjoyed the parallels between the two and found myself thinking a lot about cultural norms and what is thought of as endearing, or alternatively as weird; particularly from a gendered point of view.

From now on I shall be keeping witch’s stones / hagstones that I find on the beach and trying to see what has already been and what is to come! This is another 5 star read. If any of you have not yet read any of Jess Kidd’s books I urge you to find them. She’s such a talented and entertaining writer. I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

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There are some absolutely cracking books coming out in the autumn, I’ve read a fair few advance reader copies this year and I’m looking forward to writing about them, when I get the publishing dates.

We’ve had a good summer here, albeit far too dry, but now I’m looking forward to autumn. This is usual for me at this point in the holidays. I’m beginning to anticipate apple picking, soup making, cooking stews, walking through crunchy leaves and having cosy evenings crafting (crossed fingers) with lots more good books to curl up with on the sofa.

Want to share what you’re currently reading? Any book recommendations for us?

Books I’ve enjoyed 002

Posted on May 27, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Linda is on the face of it not a very interesting character; she is living the kind of life that millions of people live day by day. Going to work, plodding along, cooking uninspired dinners and pushing the hoover around the house. There is no real communication, or any sense of a spark of connection between Linda and Terry, her husband.

There is plenty of black humour and characters who are all too familiar in this book. From Linda’s mother to nose-in-everything neighbour Malcolm. What happens after the girls on the estate go missing and turn up one by one is very well plotted. I don’t want to say anything more about it all, as I’d hate to spoil it for other readers.

Fantastic!

Twisty turny, with a slow-building atmosphere of menace. I had so many questions and thoughts about what might happen when I was not reading, always a good sign of a compelling story.

This novel is deftly plotted, with leaps back and forth in time and to completely different settings. 1989 was interesting, the references took me straight back to my teens. Researching (or just remembering?) that period must have been fun.

The characterisation is solid; because despite a large cast I was never confused about who was who.

It also has to be said (because I bet I’m not the only one) that any book which is set within a large country house and grounds gets my vote too. Woodland, a pool and a view of the sea too? Tick, tick, tick!

My heart was beating so hard by the end. Loved it. This is a book I’ve already recommended to many friends. 5 *****

An engrossing read as we find out exactly what has driven Meredith to stay in her house for over three years, and what happened to cause her to become alienated from her family. Along the way she makes two new friends who have some issues of their own.

Meredith, Alone is in the same genre as Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and A Man Called Ove. All are linear stories following characters who have deeply personal issues to resolve, as they form new relationships along the way and change through the course of the story.

Meredith is a really sympathetic character, so proactive in her self-care and very likeable, while supportive of others. I imagine the dishes Meredith makes and the items she bakes will inspire. It certainly makes for a cosy read. The food, the cups of tea and the cat. Perfect.

There is one aspect of the story that could have been much darker, which could have changed the path of the story as it moved forward in the present time, but the author chose not to go there.

What a fabulous book! It’s warm hearted, honest and incredibly positive. You feel there is nothing the family won’t overcome, because there’s no such thing as giving up. There’s a problem, then there’s research, teamwork and problem solving. Breadsong is a very uplifting read. Yes, I found myself welling up at times, but then I was laughing out loud and I’m pretty sure there were a few shouted “Hurrays!” And, of course, there is bread. A lot of bread.

I’ve been making bread every week since 2014 when I read The Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan, a warm and cosy novel which really inspired me to make my own. After all I’d grown up eating homemade bread, I knew how much better it was than shop bought. My Mum would come home on a Friday night after working hard all week and make a batch of loaves. I’d wait the minimum amount of time allowed to cut a slice or two. I always spread the crust with butter and honey. For the last 4 years I’ve been baking sourdough, also inspired by some of the bakers Kitty mentions. (Happy 4th Birthday Marve the Marvellous starter!) So, I completely and utterly understand the appeal of dough and baking. It is therapeutic and apart from ending with something hugely tasty to eat, you feel a huge sense of achievement.

I can’t wait to try some of the recipes, in Breadsong. I didn’t realise that there would be so many! HURRAY!

Also I should go and visit the bakery sometime soon. Who can resist a visit after seeing all the beautiful photographs in the book? (And on their wonderful Instagram account.)

Part memoir, part cookbook, this is a very engaging read. I found the descriptions of Ed Ball’s years working in government very interesting. I also loved snippets about Ed’s family life both then and now. Ed always seems likeable on TV and radio appearances and comes across favourably in this well-written book.

I’ve saved some of the recipes to try: including the baked chocolate mousse, the custard (I’ve never actually made custard from scratch, so when it comes around to apple picking time I might make a crumble and serve it with homemade custard, instead of my usual extra thick double cream. My husband will be pleased) the soups and Cajun beans, which I plan to cook this week.

I noted how the finer details of recipes were sometimes lacking, for instance: how big a shoulder of pork for the bbq recipe? Around how many bananas might be required for the stated 425g? Smaller shops do not have scales to weigh produce and it is useful to know in advance. Do you remove the garlic from their skins and eat in the chicken soup, or discard when serving? When making the Yorkshire puddings the instructions state to divide the batter equally, but it does not say around how many portions the roast beef and puddings serves, so it would be rather a guessing game the first time. We tend to take specifics for granted when reading the cookbooks of experienced food writers. None of these are insurmountable problems, but some recipes could be tweaked a little.

Ed’s observations of the Sundays of his youth with the rituals and the patterns of roast lunch, football, the BBC serial and teatime were interesting as he states it was a true day of rest. I’m certain that his Mum didn’t get much rest! However I enjoyed the nostalgia of reading his recalling those quieter, far less commercial Sundays.

I quite often look up unfamiliar words when reading, my favourite in this book was policy wonk! I didn’t think it for a minute it would be in any dictionary. I thought it was probably political slang. Wrong!

I hope there are more books from Ed as I genuinely enjoyed reading his stories and would definitely read another of his books, if it was in a similar vein.

Heartwrenching, hopeful, a testament to love, family and loyalty. There is also humour, a lot of it bleak, but it lightens the reading of what is a devastating story.

Very best wishes to Abi, Jacob and their families.

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And there you go, there’s a booklist for your holiday reading, or for lounging about on sunny afternoons (or for cosy winter nights if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere.)

What about you, have you read any corkers lately?