Month: May 2022

Book Review: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Posted on by Libby Price

I’ve really enjoyed Emily Henry‘s previous books – so when I saw she had a new one coming out, I requested a copy from Net Galley. Here’s the blurb:

“Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books.
Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he’s Nora’s work nemesis.
Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she’s the one men date before finding their happy-ever-after. To prevent another dating dud, Nora’s sister has persuaded her to swap her city desk for a month’s holiday in Sunshine Falls.
It’s a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into…Charlie.
She’s no heroine. He’s no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?
Brimming with witty banter, characters you can’t help but fall for and off-the-charts chemistry, BOOK LOVERS is Emily Henry’s best novel yet.”

Yet again I really enjoyed this Emily Henry book.

Nora’s sister – who is called Libby (not many Libby’s in literature – so I was quite chuffed to have a namesake!) – takes Nora away for a month before Libby’s third baby is born. Nora loves romance novels (I was vicariously proud when one of my other favourite authors Mhairi McFarlane was name checked in the book!) and the sisters have a checklist of standard old school romance fodder to complete whilst on their month away together in the countryside.

As with previous books the main characters are based in the book industry – although this time as an agent and an editor rather than as authors – and I liked this variation on a theme. Also as with Beach Read you have to suspend belief a bit at the total coincidence that Nora would bump into her work nemesis, Charlie, whilst miles and miles way from Manhattan.

Sunshine Falls has a large group of ‘supporting cast’ who feature in the book – with some typical caricatures of ‘country life’ in there – but as Nora surmises, the tropes have to come from somewhere!

After their Mum’s death a decade before, the sisters are incredibly close – despite Libby now being married with an ever expanding family – and Nora is clearly still very much governed by her role as eldest sister.

Nora and Charlie’s relationship develops throughout the book – and the banter between them in texts and emails is brilliantly written. Cutting, witty, emotional – and entertaining.

I don’t really want to give too much away of the storyline, as you need to live it with the characters – but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it – and it’s available NOW!

A big thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my ARC.

Book Review: The Saturday Night Sauvignon Sisterhood by Gill Sims

Posted on by Libby Price

I’ve adored Gill Sims ‘Why Mummy….’ series, so when I saw she had a new standalone book out, I asked NetGalley for a copy – but there was tumbleweed silence from them. I thought I’d missed the boat – but then on publication date (12 May 2022) they suddenly approved a copy for me – and I’ve devoured it since! Here’s the blurb:

“‘Oh, for f*ck’s sake’ muttered Claire under her breath, as she opened the fridge to see what she could find for a no effort dinner. The children continued to fight behind her. They regarded any form of fish not encased in breadcrumbs as toxic, and were resistant enough to the delicious homemade fishfingers Claire had made for them, insisting they much preferred Captain Birdseye’s version. White wine was starting to look like quite an appealing dinner actually.  Maybe just a small glass.
‘Are you having wine, Mum?  You know you’re not supposed to have wine every night.  We did about alcohol units at school.  That’s quite a big glass of wine, how many units do you think are in it?’
’Bet the bastards didn’t tell you that wine is remarkably good at cancelling out whining though, did they?’ muttered Claire.
Claire’s family has gone nuclear. Her precious moppets keep calling Childline when she feeds them broccoli, she’s utterly Ottolenghied out at weekends, and her darling husband is having an affair with her best friend.
The question isn’t whether she needs a glass of wine, but is there one big enough?
Enter the Sauvignon Sisterhood, a new set of friends brought together by a shared love of liquid therapy. Together they might just be able to convince Claire that, like a good bottle of red, life really can get better with age. Or at least there’s more to it than the joy of an M&S non-iron school uniform.”

Yet again – I loved a Gill Sims book! Not least because of the many excellent characterisation of a real family life. Claire’s kids are in Year 4 and 6 – and with my youngest two in Years 5 and 7, I could totally relate. I loved the fact her kids threatened to call Childline (0800 double 1 double 1 – surely every child of the 80s / 90s can remember that?!) because she tried to feed them broccoli – one of mine once threatened the same when I’d left the lid off the tzatziki so it had a crust on the top #firstworldproblems

The book follows the implosion of Claire’s marriage – and her relationship with her best mate – as the ‘best mate’ and Claire’s husband have an affair. It then looks at Claire putting her life back together again, and gaining a new circle of friends – who are christened, right at the end of the book, The Saturday Night Sauvignon Sisterhood. As well as the new female friends – there are a couple of new love interests – one male and one canine.

As usual with a Gill Sims book the characterisations are great – and the true to life experiences of parenthood are spot on. It does feel like it ‘borrows’ from the ‘Why Mummy’ series in places – for example the ladies go to watch a poet perform, who could very easily have been Ellen’s sister in law from the previous series of books – but, I guess if a formula works, stick with it. (I’m now wondering if it is a cross over – now that would be cool!)

The school camping trip was horrific – but you could TOTALLY recognise the different groups of parents from your own playground experiences!!

There are a lot of twists and turns – one of them in particular quite shocking – which I felt really added to the book. Some pretty serious subjects subsequently get discussed.

Overall another fabulous book from Gill Sims which I would thoroughly recommend. And it’s available right now!

P.S. I have tried to edit out exclamation marks from this review as I do tend to use them with abandon – but it sounds like Gill has someone who does that from her own book drafts – so I’m clearly in good company with excessive punctuation usage!!

Book Review: Thrown by Sara Cox

Posted on by Libby Price

I love Sara Cox and feel like we’ve grown up together – from drinking pints to keep up with the lads in the 90s, through multiple kids in the 2000s – and now settling down with good books. I really enjoyed her autobiography, and when I saw she had her first fiction book out, I asked Net Galley for a copy and was lucky enough to receive one. Here’s the blurb:

“The wise and gloriously big-hearted debut novel from the much-loved broadcaster, Sara Cox
Becky: a single mum who prides herself on her independence. She knows from painful experience that men are trouble.
Louise: a loving husband, gorgeous kids. She ought to feel more grateful.
Jameela: all she’s ever done is work hard, and try her best. Why won’t life give her the one thing she really wants?
Sheila: the nest is empty, she dreams of escaping to the sun, but her husband seems so distracted.
The inhabitants of the Inventor’s Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly ‘Hellos’ when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number 7’s wheelie bin, but it’s not exactly Ramsay Street.
The dilapidated community centre is no longer the beating heart of the estate that Becky remembers from her childhood. So the new pottery class she’s helped set up feels like a fresh start. And not just for her.
The assorted neighbours come together to try out a new skill, under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher, Sasha. And as the soft unremarkable lumps of clay are hesitantly, lovingly moulded into delicate vases and majestic pots, so too are the lives of four women. Concealed passions and heartaches are uncovered, relationships shattered and formed, and the possibility for transformation is revealed.”

This feels like a soap opera or a TV drama straight away. Four different women who live near each other but don’t really know each other – and how their lives intertwine, primarily around a new pottery class at their local community centre.

Each of the main characters has issues going on behind closed doors – and you get involved in all of their lives. I liked them all in their own ways – although Becky was my favourite.

I’ve never watched ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’ – but it would appear Sara has learnt lots about potting from presenting it – and that threads through the book.

There are some gentle twists and turns – but I have to say I guessed some of the ‘shocks’ – and there were no OMG moments for me. It was a lovely, gentle, comfortable read and I did enjoy it. But I do wonder if it would have been published if it didn’t have a celebrity author?

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my ARC – and it’s out now if you fancy some pottery based escapism.

Book Review: London, With Love by Sarra Manning

Posted on by Libby Price

I have often taken book reading advice from Sarra Manning from her column in Red Magazine – and enjoy following her on Twitter – so when I saw she had another book out, and having enjoyed one of her previous novels, I asked NetGalley for a copy – and was granted my wish.

Here’s the blurb:

“London. Nine million people. Two hundred and seventy tube stations. Every day, thousands of chance encounters, first dates, goodbyes and happy ever afters.
And for twenty years it’s been where one man and one woman can never get their timing right.
Jennifer and Nick meet as teenagers and over the next two decades, they fall in and out of love with each other. Sometimes they start kissing. Sometimes they’re just friends. Sometimes they stop speaking, but they always find their way back to each other.
But after all this time, are they destined to be together or have they finally reached the end of the line?”

Hands up – I ADORED this book! Some of this I’m sure is because I am very similar in age to Jenny and Nick – they were 2 years older than me (I was going to add at the start of the book – but TBH they stayed 2 years older than me throughout the entire book!) The book starts with their paths crossing at 6th form college in the late 1980s – and then spans the decades through to now, meeting them at various points across the 30 years. Generally a TFL station (although occasionally a New York station) features as the backdrop to that chapter.

I know Sarra Manning loves London (if you follow her on Twitter you can be pointed in the direction of some fabulous Rightmove finds in North London that she would purchase if she won the lottery!) and London is most definitely an extra character in the book – which Jenny loves with a similar intensity.

Lots of ‘major events’ in my lifetime are used as the back drop to new chapters – I blogged about a couple back in the day myself – and other times like GCSE results day and the new Millenium which I also remember really clearly. Weirdly something else I’ve blogged about – remembering your friend’s childhood phone number, and how parents answer the phone, also features! I told you I loved this book because I could empathise so much.

The story of Jenny and Nick twists and turns, with supporting characters appearing and disappearing throughout – just as happens in real life, and I don’t want to give too much away – as you need to go on their journey (see what I did there?!) with them.

I have to say that the final chapter – set in the present day – made me WEEP. I don’t think, as yet, many books have addressed the pandemic and what we’ve all been through in the last 2 years, and this was done brilliantly and felt very ‘real’.

I would highly recommend ‘London, With Love’ to everyone – and it’s out later this week on 5 May 2022.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher – and Sarra Manning – for such a fantastic book.