84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff

♥♥♥♥ Those who know me well, know that I love letters, and was introduced to the magic that is books published telling stories through letters.  This charming classic love story, first published in 1970, brings together twenty years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, at the time, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road. Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a winsome, sentimental friendship based on their common love for books. Their relationship, captured so acutely in these letters, is one that has touched the hearts of thousands of readers around the world This does not disappoint, you get to know the people through their correspondence with each other. It started off as a woman, Helene Hanff, buying books from a bookshop in London, gradually you get to know all the people who work in the shop and she tells more about her life as a writer in New York. This is a great compilation of letters and I’m glad I also got the audiobook. That was narrated by Juliet Stevenson and John Nettles. The two narrators brought a different dimension to these letters, they blew life back into them

Bridge to Haven - Francine Rivers

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What can you say, it’s a Francine Rivers book. As expected the characters go through hell, to come together in perfect unison. Rivers has a way of describing situations that pull you in and make you fall in love with the characters. 

To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody. To Pastor Ezekiel Freeman, Abra will always be the little girl who stole his heart the night he found her, a wailing newborn abandoned under a bridge on the outskirts of Haven.

The characters are well written, with personal growth throughout the book. Abra and Joshua are some of those characters that crawl into your heart and stays with you long after you have closed the book.

I even love it when an author can write the “bad guy” in such a way that when he is a part of the story it makes your hackles rise.

The cover design is also gorgeous and I bought it before I even looked at the summary at the back

In perfect Francine Rivers style, knows how to take a Bible story and turn it into this perfectly recreated scenario that both makes you look at it in a different light and also teaches you a valuable lesson. 

Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty

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It’s been a while since a book has knocked me out of the field. What a remarkable book.

I read this book with friends, and let me tell you I wish I read it sooner. We were enthralled from the first page right through to the end, speculating late into the night, coming up with theories, getting frustrated but enjoying every single minute of it.

It does read a little like Australian desperate housewives but do you know what, I loved it. The characters crept into my heart, I wanted to fight for Celeste, I wanted to shake Jane out of her funk, and Madeline was probably my favourite, although I think that in real life she would’ve irritated me.

The plot had me guessing until the big reveal, it was frustrating but at the same time, I couldn’t put the book down, and that is what a great book is to me, I want to be so engrossed in a book that I forget about my life and what I have to actually be doing otherwise. Personally, I appreciate the way the author handled the big issues in this book, tackling domestic abuse, divorce and it’s aftermath and many more.

When an author can write characters like this, that crawls into your life you can’t help falling in love. I can’t wait to read more by Liane Moriarty.

Suddenly Royal - Nichole Chase

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This book is definitely for people who loved the Princess Diaries, but of course with the little twist of being for grownups – YES that’s right, get ready for some steamy scenes.

Samantha Rousseau is used to getting her hands dirty. Working toward a master’s degree in wildlife biology while helping take care of her sick father, she has no time for celebrity gossip, designer clothes or lazy vacations. So when a duchess from the small country of Lilaria invites her to dinner, Samantha assumes it’s to discuss a donation to the program. The truth will change the course of her life in ways she never dreamed.

The writing is beautiful and draws you in from the opening sentence. The characters also had a way of crawling into my heart and making me want to get to know them better. It made me laugh and cry and that to me is the signs of a good book. Can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.  

It was a very enjoyable read/listen, I had the audiobook that I got on Audible and when I couldn’t listen I read the ebook. The narrator did different voices and accents for the characters that added to the experience.

Sticky Fingers - J.T. Lawrence (AUDIOBOOK)

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When Janita announced that she was releasing an audiobook of this one, I knew I had to get a copy. Luckilly I had some credits saved on Audible and could get it as soon as it was released. 

The Bianca Flanders is an asset to this book, I enjoyed her voice and it definitely brought out the best in each of the stories. 

I already reviewed the book, it can be found here

The book contains the following stories with a short review of each:

Escape follows as suicidal baby, the determination was palpable, and the ending, what a twist.

She did it, a battered woman is found in a pool of her dead husband’s blood, with a detective that didn’t quite trust his gut feeling.

Bridge Gate a series of letters between a young girl and her estranged father. I love these kinds of stories that is written in the form of letters. This one is one that I would love a full novel.

The Itch an itch that just won’t go away, such an intense story that drew me in.

The unsuspecting gold digger a woman finds herself engaged to an extremely wealthy man, this one knocked me out of the park, another one I wouldn’t mind reading more, and that end, what a shock!

Something Borrowed The broken hearted bride. This story had me grabbing tissues.

Pigeon Pair Pigeon’s so many pigeon’s, such a cute start and then the end, damn pigeons.

Grey Magic if you would like a story about a modern witch, and you like this short story, there is a full novel now available, with a second one on its way.

The Little Pink Book A midwife with a twist, couldn’t help but picture Call the Midwife in my head, but the end was definitely not what I expected. This one will stay with me for a while.

Travelling slacks a holiday review gone bad, giggle inducing. Such a wonderful story, in the form of reviews on a website.

Sticky Fingers A kleptomaniac telling her story, how she got started, you will laugh, gasp, and shake your head in disbelieve.

Off the Hinge Such a sad story and definitely a great way to end this wonderful collection. 

Without Merit - Colleen Hoover

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There is no doubt about it, Colleen Hoover is one of my favourite authors. She is a brilliant writer and can get a message across in a way that most authors can’t. This book’s cover had me hooked from the reveal, I knew I had to get a copy ASAP and then once I did for some reason I put off reading it.

The book centres around the Voss family, they are definitely not your average American family. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.

Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep.

It was definitely a page-turner, with all the secrets that were revealed and then, of course, Merit’s own revelation. This wasn’t your average Colleen Hoover book that revolved around the romantic relationship aspect, but more about the family dynamic and how families work through their own issues.

The characters where interesting, each one getting their moment to shine, my only complaint would be that the book ended so abruptly with a lot of the story not being done (if this is the first book in the series, I will change this part of the review). I would really like to know how the story ends for them.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.

Turtles All The Way Down - John Green

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Here we are at the end of the most anticipated book of the year for me.

I adored The fault in our stars, it’s still one of my favourite books, and to be honest the rest of John Green’s books weren’t top of my lists. When I heard what the book would be about, I thought, this was a character I could relate to.

Which I did, I could see some of her actions in myself, I could relate to the way her mind would go into a downward spiral about one little thing, maybe it hit a little too close to home in some ways.

Aza has OCD and anxiety. From the outside, she looks like she has everything. We meet her best friend Daisy who is a brilliant fanfiction writer. There is Davis her sort-of-not-really-almost boyfriend. And don’t forget the Tuatara lizard. As always Green has a very eclectic band of friends, each with their own very distinct personality, and he writes all of them beautifully.  

I did struggle a bit with the book, but in the end, I flew through it. I loved that Green points a big spotlight on some very difficult issues regarding mental health, but the rest of the stories almost felt forced. Each character worked on their own, but once you paired them off, then it didn’t really work for me. Especially Aza and Davis relationship, it felt very forced at some stages.

Overall, it was a good read. Will I read it again? Probably not.