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My favourite books of 2024
At the start of each year, I enjoy reflecting on the books I read in the previous year. In 2024, I managed to read 42 books, including 12 for my book club. I also found myself diving into more non-fiction than usual, thanks to the convenience of audiobooks! Below is a roundup of my favourite books of 2024—have you read any of these? In Memoriam by Alice Winn In Memoriam is probably my favourite 5 star read of the year. It follows the journey of two young men, Gaunt and Ellwood, from an idyllic English boarding school to the trenches of World War One and features some beautiful prose. Read my review…
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Harry Potter filming locations at Gloucester Cathedral
The Harry Potter series continues to captivate fans worldwide, with Gloucester Cathedral holding a special significance due to its use as a filming location for iconic scenes. Visitors are free to explore the filming locations within the cathedral, including the lavatorium, cloisters, and corridors.
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Christmas Book Haul
Happy New Year! Proof that my family know me so well. I’m really excited to get started on some of these delights- I’m already halfway through Fourth Wing! What books are you starting 2024 with?
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Hidden book highlights of 2023
It’s been an interesting year of reading. I have managed to read 31 books (although 2023 isn’t over yet, so there is still time to squeeze a few more in!) I have mainly kept up to date on sharing what I have read on here, however I realise there has been a few book highlights that I haven’t mentioned yet. So read on for a few little gems that I enjoyed this year…. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne “Long before we discovered that he had fathered two children by two different women, one in Drimoleague and one in Clonakilty, Father James Monroe stood on the altar of the…
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Book Review: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
I read this book as I am a big fan of Agatha Christie’s work and was interested in her life. It was a fascinating look at not just the events surrounding Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance, but also how women were viewed at the time. There’s some great plot twists later on in the novel too. In 1926 Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned to leave her. In 1926, Agatha Christie went missing for eleven days. Her mother had recently died and her husband was having an affair with another woman and planned…
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Christmassy Reading
Happy new year! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a pleasant start to 2023. I have been quiet on here over the past few weeks, as I’ve been cosying up with a few books over the Christmas period. One of the things I love about this time of year is the opportunity to spend time lost in a good book. I also tend to get given books as gifts for Christmas. Here are some of my picks of what I have been reading: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. The definitive murder mystery tale, ten strangers are summoned to an island and find out that someone…
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November Book Roundup
So we say farewell to November and start to look towards December and some Christmassy offerings. Before we go full-pelt into the Christmas season, here is my monthly book roundup. How was your November? Did you manage to read everything you wanted to? This month I read ‘Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking’ by Matthew Syed. I also read ‘The Christie Affair’ by Nina de Gramont (review coming soon) and finished ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ by Suzanne Collins. I am a massive fan of The Hunger Games series, so absolutely loved the prequel. It was a bit of a whopper, but after the first 100 pages or…
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Book Review: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Secret Life of Bees follows the journey of Lily Owens, a young girl who is struggling to understand the world around her. The story takes place in 1964 in South Carolina, where Lily’s life has been shaped by her mother’s death when she was only three years old. Living on a peach farm with her harsh and unforgiving father, she has only one friend: Rosaleen, the black servant who raised her after the death of her mother. When racial tensions erupt one day and Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, Lily chooses to flee with her. As they make their way across the country, they come across a trio of…
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Book Review
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one of those books that I knew I would love within a few pages of starting to read it. I hadn’t even considered reading it before, in the belief that it wouldn’t be my thing. But seeing as it was my work book club choice, I thought I’d give the book a whirl. The story follow Monique Grant, a reporter for Vivant magazine, who has been selected to interview Evelyn Hugo, a reclusive former star. Evelyn is auctioning some of her famous gowns to raise money for a breast cancer charity. Monique doesn’t understand why Evelyn has chosen her, but nonetheless goes to Evelyn’s apartment to meet…
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Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon is a substantial novel, weighing in at over 500 pages. It’s so vast that it seems desultory to attempt to describe it in a review, yet that is exactly what I am going to do here. Hidden deep within the old city in Barcelona is a library of obscure and forgotten titles- the “cemetery of lost books”. His father brings ten- year- old Daniel there one chilly morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book and pulls out The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Over the next few decades, he realises several people are interested in his…
