Astley, appearing last month at Cheltenham Literature Festival, admits that he has had a great life and is very privileged, and such a life doesn‘t make for a great autobiography. Nevertheless, his upbringing, his relationship with his parents, and the experiences leading up to his “retirement” from the music industry at the age of 27 make for interesting reading.

Oh my goodness, this book ❤️. The writing is so beautiful. I loved the storytelling, I loved the characters. Book of the year for me

A nice, feel-good novel. Originally published as a series of 4 novellas, it‘s a bit lengthy as a single book, but enjoyable nevertheless, with likeable characters.

Photo is of an actual boat café at Gloucester Docks, one end of the Gloucester to Sharpness Canal.

This puzzle book has proven to be popular

#GamePuzzle
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I did enjoy the film version of the book.

#Princess
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Strictly speaking, this is about fellwalking rather than #Hiking, but they‘re two sides of the same coin!

#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#GoodGrief
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

When I started this book, I wasn‘t expecting it to (appear to) be some kind of therapy writing, but that‘s what I felt like I got. I‘m very much not this book‘s demographic, so that probably will affect my appreciation, but I found the privileged pretentious student vibe annoying, the story moves horrendously slowly, and two main characters are too wrapped up in themselves to be able to truly understand the others‘s feelings and needs.

I really enjoyed this satirical look at a rural community at a time when social mores were changing significantly.

I wanted to like this one, because Coles is pretty much a British National Treasure now, but it fell a bit flat for me. It‘s promoted as cosy crime but the first murder happens more than 80 pages in, and the main character don‘t really do any sleuthing, he seems to have “divine inspiration”. Good for a synopsis of a rural community in the 1980s, though.

This one seems to have been a popular read in the UK since in the past year or so.

#DaysDevotedTo
#Kindness
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

A book I didn‘t know existed until I was looking for ideas for today‘s prompt!

#Science4Peace
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

When I visited the National Gallery, many years ago, this painting by Joseph Wright of Derby stopped me in my tracks. I‘ve never forgotten it. It‘s disturbing but fascinating at the same time.

#ArtMuseum
#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I adore this series

#Coffee_Tea
#DaysDevotedTp
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

1. Sunday afternoon, the weather‘s dull, dark, rainy, but I‘m indoors with the fire on, a cup of tea on the go, and a good book in my hand ☺️

2. I‘ve just started reading the tagged book, which I‘ve been looking forward to diving into since I saw Elif taking about it at Cheltenham Literature Festival last month.

#WondrousWednesday
@Eggs

This is the best book I‘ve ever read connected to achieving a #HealthyLifestyle.

#DaysDevotedTo
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Published by Choc Lit, so was expecting a light romance - and that‘s where this seemed to be heading. But then the female MC has a major wobble, and the male MCs response shocked me.

It should have had a trigger warning. There are red flags throughout this book. We should not be teaching young women that the male MC‘s behaviour is acceptable.

This seems appropriate for National Redhead Day - the history of the Redhead!

#DaysDevotedTo
#Redheads
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Not strictly book related, but the word “candy” always makes me think of the song “I Want Candy”, and this was the version that I most remember as it was released when I was a teenager.

#DaysDevotedTo
#Candy
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I‘ve not been paying as much attention to Litsy lately as I ought, so I‘m diving into #DaysDevotedTo to be pulled back in.

This one has been on my TBR for far too long, I must read it soon!

#Sandwich
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I wanted a quick and easy read and found this lurking on my Kindle. Not sure how it came to be on my Kindle, but I wish it hadn‘t been. The main characters are caricatures with no character development, the story is implausible and the book is overly long.

Ah well, at least I can take it off my Kindle now.

I enjoyed the first few chapters of this collection of short stories loosely linked by the character of the book‘s title. From about halfway, the book feels like it‘s lost its way a bit - which in a way reflects the loss of a way of life due to “progress”, but always makes for a less interesting read.

Meanwhile, the feminist in me is grateful she doesn‘t live in a culture that doesn‘t treat women as chattels.

I absolutely adore Bettany Hughes. Her TV shows and in-person talks are fascinating and engaging.

But I have to say, I found this a bit of a slog to get through at times :-(. Lots of good info but not as engaging as the author herself.

There were parts of this book that I liked, but mostly it just felt to me like rambling. I can understand why some people like it, and why it‘s been Booker shortlisted, but it‘s not my cup of tea. I feel it can be summed up by a quote from the book itself: “It‘s just imaginings and projections, and they could all be wrong.”

A very soft pick for me, which I feel sad about because I wanted to love it. Set in the 1979/80, year when I was approaching my teenage years like the main character, the drawing of life at that time was good, and it touches on a number of serious subjects, but it also feels like it‘s plucked straight from Joanna Cannon‘s The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, plus I‘m uncomfortable with the hook on which the story has been hung

I feel like I‘ve been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride with this book. At times, the level of detail was infuriating, I found the behaviour of the main character, Rika, difficult to understand, and I was expecting to give it a low score, but by the end, I felt a connection with Rika. I loved the book, and I‘ve got lots of ideas for simple food involving butter that I can make when I get home from work!

I feel this is a Marmite book, people will either love it or hate it.

I‘m definitely in the “love” category.

After reading in fits and starts around work and other commitments during the week, I devoured the last 200 pages this afternoon. The writing style won‘t be too everyone‘s taste, but I loved the slightly old-fashioned vibe to it. I loved the characters, I felt their pain, their loss, their happiness.

My top read of ‘24 so far.

“It was the restless period between summer and autumn, when it was never possible to guess the weather, or dress correctly for it.”

Describing Britain right now!!

There‘s some interesting things in here about racism in the publishing industry, but for me, the main character is too unlikeable, and the message of the book thrust too much in the reader‘s face, for me to enjoy the novel. I prefer something a little more subtle.

Haven‘t been on Litsy for a while, work got manic and I‘ve had lots of summer weekends away. So not much reading has been done in the last few weeks 😞.

I finished this one over a month ago! I know a lot of readers haven‘t liked the main character. To be fair, she‘s not likeable, but I felt drawn to her and didn‘t feel put off by the book. There‘s some humour to it, and I don‘t think it‘s meant@to be taken as seriously as some have taken it.

I always think when I don‘t “get” a book, it‘s my lack of literary intelligence, so I‘m sure I‘ve missed some deep and meaningful observations of relationships or some such, but for me this was a bit bland and superficial.

I didn‘t feel any connection with any of the characters; the book seemed more to be a series of anecdotes about situations and events, rather than the characters.

I wanted more from the book.

I don‘t understand the hype surrounding this book. It‘s simply a repackaging of already well-studied areas, with added political bias and unsubstantiated and/or highly subjective statistics, and figures quoted with no context (because the context wouldn‘t fit the narrative).

There are potentially some important questions within this book, but it‘s buried in too much subjectivity and the author‘s own self-importance. ⬇️

The second in a series featuring DI Caius Beauchamp. I‘ve enjoyed both in those series, Beauchamp is a bit different from the usual troubled detective. The ending sets us up nicely for a third book, which o will look forward to reading.

This one had been on my TBR and, having finally read it, I‘m berating myself for not having read it sooner. A beautifully written story of a woman emerging from a poor background and the expectations placed on her, and becoming her own woman.

A memoir of sorts, in part telling the story of the origins and growth of Diwan, a chain of bookshops in Egypt founded by three women. The story of the bookstore, and the backdrop of Egyptian politics and revolution, but Wassef comes across (intentionally?) as a very hard-to-like person, and the writing style isn‘t to my taste.

I couldn‘t really get excited about this book. It‘s long, wordy, repetitive in some places, and though it‘s easy to read, I always had a reluctance to pick it up. There are moments that show some brilliant writing - a soldier‘s diary written on the frontline for example, but it felt at times very twee, and the characters are mostly stereotypes. It makes some good observations on love and war, but it‘s a chore to get through

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about two sprightly octogenarian sisters whose trip to Paris to be awarded the Legion D‘honneur brings back memories for both is a lighthearted romp with some depth to it. Recommended.

Another book where I can see that the writing is beautiful, but where I came away feeling like I wanted something more. It‘s not even 200 pages long, but I realised halfway through that it was taking me a while to read because I was bored.

My planned reads for April:

Online book club: Being Mortal
IRL book club: The Cloisters
Kindle TBR: Lullaby
Physical TBR: The Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller
New: The Excitements

This is what happens when you see the Waterstones “new releases” post just before to go into town to visit the shop‘s café!

March wrap-up: 6 books finished. The best read was You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce, worst by far was the Osman book

#MarchWrapUp
#ReadAway2024
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

I finished this a few days ago, and have been trying to process it since. It‘s another where I don‘t really know what I feel about it. The writing is beautiful, and the way the author creates a that feeling of an undercurrent of tension an Irish town affected by recession is very well done. I recognise that it‘s an excellent book, so it‘s getting a pick. But it‘s not really my “thing” - whatever my “thing” is!🤣

I heard about this book when the author appeared at an event at last year‘s Cheltenham Literature Festival, and I had high hopes, but it wasn‘t what I expected and I‘m not entirely sure how I feel about it! The novel takes us inside the head of a 40-year-old neurotic mother who is obsessed with her husband. It‘s a rollercoaster ride through one week of a relationship that‘s perfect from the outside, but deeply flawed within

I really wanted to like this one, and as a piece of historical fiction, based on the meeting of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, it‘s interesting - I had no knowledge of either men or of Sufism. But the parallel story set in modern era America is a bit mundane. If feels maybe it was added to make the novel palatable for Western tastes?

A competent novel from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It‘s set in a flying club in the 1930s, and as a pilot myself, it‘s interesting to see how much has changed over in the world of flying, and at the same time how little has changed.

Unpopular opinion:
For me, this one is between a so-so and a pan. Giving it a so-so because there was the hint of a decent story, but Osman drags everything out far too much? Are editors scared to tell celebrity authors that their books are too long? I was close to bailing several times on this one because of its verbosity.

The 1995 BBC TV adaption by Andrew Davies of Pride and Prejudice, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

#SundayFunday
@BookmarkTavern

First finish for March is this story of Cassandra Tipp - is she a victim of trauma-induced psychosis who killed her husband, father and brother, or is her tale of faeries true?
This superbly written novel is my favourite read of this year so far.

CW: implied child abuse/rape

#17 for #ReadAway2024
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

Plan for March:

Kindle TBR: Death of an Airman
Physical TBR: My Husband
Online book club: The Forty Rules of Love
IRL book club: The Spinning Heart
New (to me!): You Let Me In

#February #WrapUp

Kindle TBR: Underground Overground ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Physical TBR: There Was a Time ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Online book club: The Dutch House ⭐️⭐️
IRL book club: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
New book: One of the Good Guys ⭐️⭐️