Hello dear readers! It’s been ages since I last posted, well … anything. And that’s because my reading has been sporadic at best, but even more so recently with the intrusion of the pandemic and lockdown.
I’ve found it quite challenging to focus on reading and didn’t get into a pattern or back to my stride until the end of June, beginning of July. Even then, I haven’t read as much as usual, but what I have read has been fun, heartwarming, frightening, empowering and awesome! Below are three books that I highly recommend from my July (not quite the end of the month) reading.
FLATSHARE by BETH O’LEARY
Summary (from http://www.goodreads.com):
Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…
SKB’s Review: Absolutely loved it! This is a fun, laugh out loud funny book that deals with some serious issues: toxic relationships, family, the criminal justice system, friendships, and love. I enjoyed the novel concept of a flat share where two total strangers literally shared a bed with and never meet (well, not straight away, anyway). The characters are funny and believable and lovable and I found myself rooting for all of them, especially Tiffy and Leon, but mostly Tiffy because she goes through quite a lot in dealing with her past relationship. The characters are great. The premise is unique. O’leary’s writing is spot on. It’s a must read that’ll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Summary (from http://www.goodreads.com):
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets
After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find – her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.
SKB’S Review: This is what’s called a ‘slow burn’. I have to admit, it took a little while to read this one, a week to be precise, because the style of writing and the story itself would not let me speed through it. Moreno-Garcia is magical in building tension and layering the suspense over and over, especially when it comes to revealing the hidden secrets of High Place and its occupants. I loved everything about this book – the setting, the mystery, the suspense, the secrets, the writing, and the characters; although Noemi took a while for me to ‘like’ only because she’s impetuous and strong willed and doesn’t realise the consequences of her actions for quite a while in the story, which annoyed me, but I that’s just me. Having said that, Noemi is a true heroine – full of sass and will to survive. If you are a fan of Charlotte Bronte, the gothic genre, or mystery in general, this is highly recommended.
THE CITY WE BECAME by N.K. Jemisin
Summary (from http://www.goodreads.com):
Five New Yorkers must come together in order to defend their city in the first book of a stunning new series by Hugo award-winning and NYT bestselling author N. K. Jemisin.
Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths, and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She’s got five.
But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.
SKB’S Review: I fell in love with Jemisin’s writing after reading her fantasy trilogy, The Broken Earth. She is a master world builder in the ranks of Tolkien, Rothfuss and Martin. And this novel is nothing short of that. In this genre bending story, five people are chosen to defend the city of New York. They literally embody the five boroughs of the city: Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens. The people that represent the boroughs are diverse in their ethnicities and age, but their stories are tied to the beliefs of the areas they represent. The book deals with issues of racism, identity, violence, discrimination, poverty, homelessness, justice, friendship, privilege, feminism, gender identity – all issues that New Yorkers deal with. I read this in three days because it is ‘unputdownable’. Strong, well developed characters, some of whom I disliked immediately, but warmed to, while others I can’t reconcile myself to like even now, an utterly unique premise, and beautiful writing (I learned a lot of new vocabulary!), makes this my absolute favourite book of this year, so far. Highly recommended.
SKB'S BOOK NOOK 