Taking a Break

Hello Everyone,

I've decided to take a little break and just focus on my little ones for the last week of the school holidays so I will be back blogging on Wednesday 3rd September. Enjoy the sun, if you get some.

Joanne x

Book Review - Dear Thing by Julie Cohen

 

Published: May 2014 (this edition)

Publisher: Black Swan

Pages: 482

Source: Library Copy

Available from Amazon in: Kindle / Hardcover / Paperback

 

“Dear Thing” is a real emotional rollercoaster of a book which tackles the topic of surrogacy; it’s so beautifully absorbing that you will not be able to put it down.

Ben and Claire have an almost perfect life; the only thing missing is a baby. They have been trying to have a baby for years and have gone through numerous tests and cycles of IVF, after their latest failure Claire decides she’s had enough and begins to a contemplate life without children. Ben is heartbroken and seeks comfort with best friend and single mum Romily. Romily in a drunken haze offers to be a surrogate for Ben and Claire, she found pregnancy easy with her daughter Posie  and would do anything to help her friends. Before she really has chance to let this idea sink in she finds she’s pregnant and there is no going back. When reality sinks in Romily’s feelings which she has kept hidden for so long are beginning to surface and could threaten her friendship with Ben and Claire and potentially wreck their marriage. This is the story of an impossible decision when there are two mothers and only one baby.

 

Surrogacy is not a topic which is written about very much but Cohen has done a wonderful job of highlighting the issues that arise and showing us both sides of the story. It really tugs at your heart as right from the first page you feel the heartbreak Ben and Claire are suffering and you can feel the despair as they face yet another setback in their dreams. Cohen has made the reader feel like they are also feeling the emotions of the characters and as the story is told from the perspectives of Claire, Ben and  Romily you feel like you are pulled one way then another.

 

I think Cohen has done a brilliant job in the portrayal of the two contrasting “mothers”. Claire is the perfect motherly type, she’s organised, caring, loves cooking from scratch and you can tell her whole focus will be on making “Thing” completely happy, the only thing she can’t do is conceive and carry her child. Romily is dis-organised, forgetful and more focused on her own life than Posie’s, but she has the perfect body for growing a baby. Both totally different but both want the baby so much.

 

I think my favourite character was Romily’s daughter Mariposa “Posie”, I just love that unique name and thought it suited this very intelligent and insightful seven year old perfectly. I thought Posie brought some light- heartedness to a book which was needed when dealing with such a serious topic.

 

The title “Dear Thing” comes from the letters which Romily begins to write to the unborn baby as a way to work out her feelings that are churning inside her. It’s through these letters that we learn more about Romily and why she makes such a huge gesture to her friends and I think they help us to understand her and the way she is with Posie.

 

This book is truly gripping and I loved that things didn’t always go the way you expected, which kept you just wanting more. This is not just a book about surrogacy and longing for a child, it’s about friendship, about finally letting go of the past and about realising what you thought you wanted is not always what you need. It is a book which will stay with you for a long time and one which I thing anyone who has a child should read.  Truly breath-taking, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Book Review - Spare Brides by Adele Parks

 

Published: February 2014

Publisher: Headline Review

Pages: 400

Source: Library Copy

Available: Kindle/Hardcover/Paperback

 

 

Spare Brides is Adele Parks’ first historical novel and as I have read most of her other novels I was keen to see how this one measured up. It doesn’t disappoint, she has really captured the essence of the 1920s through the eyes of four young ladies in their twenties.  The story follows the women as their lives change in the year of 1921.

Firstly there is Lydia; she has been married to her husband Lord Lawrence Chatfield for eight years. She has wealth, beauty and her husband spent the war safely behind a desk, so to the others she appears to be the lucky one. Lydia feels anything but lucky; she is longing for a baby and has been to countless doctors but has so far no success. She is also trying to come to terms with the guilt she is feeling towards her husband not serving on the battlefield. When she meets Edgar Trent the handsome war hero,  Lydia is instantly drawn to him and time with him helps her to escape her feelings of failure, guilt and resentment.

Sarah has lost her beloved husband Arthur and is coming to terms with her loss and the probability that she will spend the rest of her life as a widow.  Her sister Beatrice is twenty six and has never had a man of her own, she is fairly plain and so finding a man was hard before, almost impossible now that the War has taken most of them. She is longing to find her place in the world. Ava is single and enjoying not being tied to any one man, she spent the war being employed and is now looking for something to fill her time and occupy her mind.

 

Even though we experience the story through the eyes of all four girls I felt that this book was too heavily focused on Lydia’s story, which although I enjoyed I wanted more on how the lives of Ava, Sarah and Beatrice were changing. The changing circumstances for Beatrice interested me the most as I really felt sad for her and would have like to have known she was happy in her new situation.

I loved the way that Adele Parks has managed to write four women who are believable and are struggling with feelings which I’m sure many women at the time had. I think her portrayal of the men in the book was well handled, showing the emotional scaring which the war left behind on even the physically strongest men.

Although I don’t think this is her best novel it is still a brilliant read and I would recommend to anyone who wants a good novel set in the 1920s or something which examines friendship through changing circumstances. I hope that this is not the last historical novel which Adele Parks writes as I think the book was well researched and showed a true life representation of what these women went through. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

"Waiting On" Wednesday - Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella

 

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where booklovers showcase which book they are eagerly awaiting for publication. This week my pick is:

 

 



 

 

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: Black Swan

Release Date: 25th September

Format: Kindle and Hardcover

Pre-Order from Amazon here.

 

Taken From Goodreads:

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is in Hollywood! It's as if all her life has been leading to this moment. She's hanging out with the stars . or at least she will be, when she finally gets to meet movie superstar Sage Seymour, whom husband Luke is now managing.

There's so much to see and do! And getting Minnie through the hurdles for her A-list Hollywood pre-school will require some.er.help.
Becky sets her heart on a new career - she's going to be a celebrity stylist. Red carpet, here she comes! But Becky soon finds it's tough in Tinseltown. Luckily her best friend Suze comes over to keep her company, and together they embark on the Hollywood insider trail. But somehow...things aren't quite working out as they'd hoped.
Then Becky's big chance comes, and it's an opportunity that money can't buy. But will it cost her too much?

 

Cannot wait for Becky's story to continue and this book looks just as good if not better than the rest of the series. What is your pick for this week? Take a look at everyone else's list here.

Showcase Sunday #6

 

Showcase Sunday is a weekly event hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea where bloggers share which books they have received or bought throughout the week. This week was a week of firsts for me. Firstly I have been sent my first book to review from a publisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So thank you to Georgina @ Headline for sending me a copy to review. If you want a taster of this book you can download one of the stories Uriah's War on Amazon for just 99p here.

 

 

Secondly I was accepted for my first Netgalley arc which was Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley from Harper Impulse which is available from Amazon from September 4th on Kindle, pre-order here.

 

What have you added to your collection this week? Take a look at everyone else's list here.

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday - Saving Grace by Jane Green

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where book bloggers share which books their eagerly awaiting for publication.




Release Date: 25th September 2014
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
Pre-Order from Amazon here.

Taken from Goodreads:

Grace Chapman has the perfect life, living comfortably with her husband, bestselling author Ted, in a picture-perfect farmhouse on the Hudson River in New York State. Then Ted advertises for a new assistant, and Beth walks into their lives. Organized, passionate and eager to learn, Beth quickly makes herself indispensable to Ted and his family. But Grace soon begins to feel side-lined in her home - and her marriage - by this glamorous, ambitious younger woman.
Grace becomes increasingly distressed, as nobody around her believes that Beth could mean any threat. Is Grace just paranoid, as her husband tells her, or is there more to Beth than first thought? Then an unexpected email from Beth's former employer changes everything. What is Beth really capable of? Can Grace get her life back? And what if she realizes it's no longer the life she wants?

 

I love Jane Green novels and this looks like another brilliant one, definitely on my must read list. Have a look what everyone is "Waiting On" this week here.

 

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read For Various Reasons

 

So this week this list at The Broke and the Bookish is books your not sure you want to read, this was really hard for me as I tend to focus on the books I do want to read and 90% of what is in my to be read pile is books I can't wait to read, but here goes:

 

 

1. The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Don't all throw things at me! I never wanted to pick them up when they first came out and now I'm still not sure. I don't actually know anyone whose read them and disliked but magic and fantasy stories are not my thing. I'm sure if I had a copy I'd probably picked it up and be hooked but for now I'm still not convinced.

 

 

2. The Lunar Chronicles by Melissa Meyer

I like the idea of fairy-tale retellings but I'm not huge on the idea of them being set in the future and featuring androids and cyborgs, they again seem very popular so maybe one day.

 

3. Anything else by John Green which is not The Fault in Our Stars

I read TFIOS in June and loved it, it was such a moving book. That was my first John Green book and now I'm scared to pick up another in case its not as good. I have An Abundance of Katherine's in my TBR pile,  do you think should I read it?

 

4. Destined to Feel and Destined to Fly by Indigo Bloome

 I read the first book in the Avalon trilogy during the #SexMeUpReadathon back in July and it has left me with very mixed feelings, the plot line went way over my head and I'm not sure I want to carry on with this trilogy. Has anyone read it? Does it get better or is it still a little far fetched?

 

5.  The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

This was part of the Richard and Judy book club back in Spring 2012, its sat on my shelf ever since and I've never read it. It does sound like something I'd enjoy as do like books set in the 1920s but something is holding me back. Is it worth picking up?

 

6. One for My Baby by Tony Parsons

This is another one which my friend lent to me years ago and it just sat on my shelf, I finally gave it back to her but should I give it another go?

7. The Understudy by David Nicholls

I think I've been put off reading this because I wasn't keen on One Day, I wanted to love it but didn't and think this may disappoint me also.

8. Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

I think the idea of writing to dead people is slightly creepy but I'm also curious about the story of Laurel, it seems to have mixed reviews so I'm just not sure.

9. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I'm curious about this one, but it again has mixed reviews so I'm not sure. Is it worth it?

10. The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

I'm not really a fan of fantasy books with demons, shadow hunters and vampires but as its so popular there is something inside me saying maybe give it a go.

 

So there is my rather eclectic list, which are worth reading and which are not I'd love to know. To see everyone else's list click here.