Lettice & Victoria

Lettice & Victoria by Susanna Johnston

Published December 15, 2013 Arcadia Books

Lettice & Victoria was an unexpected surprise and a stonking good read. Reminiscent of days of Brideshead and the Mitfords, this book has the most delicious array of characters - I love Victoria with her chain smoking and knitting needles and Harold and Archie are a scream! 

Lettice & Victoria is a novel of family life and circumstance. Sharp and witty it really is a dream.

Thank you Susanna and Arcadia Books, Lettice & Victoria is a welcome addition to my bookshelves. 

My Best Reads of 2014

Hello,

So this is my annual list of (in no particular order) the best books I have read during 2014.

It has been a busy year yet I've still managed to fit in some reading and some of the books have been extraordinary.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year, see you in 2015 x

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood
A Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
Someone Else's Skin by Sarah Hilary
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Lockwood & Co: The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud
That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay
Far From You by Tess Sharp
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech
The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

Scramasax

Scramasax by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Published August 30 2012 Quercus

Scramasax is book 2 in Crossley-Holland's Viking Sagas.

Solveig is now in Constantinople and reunited with her father and the rest of Harold Hardrada's Varangian guard. Empress Zoe demands the guard travel to Sicily and capture land and riches in her name - but at what cost to Solveig and her friends?

As is often the case with 'second' books, I did not find Scramasax as enjoyable as Bracelet of Bones but will persevere for the third book's release (date and title unknown).

Full of adventure, drama and suspense, Scramasax is an enjoyable historical read for young people. Richly descriptive, the book includes a map and useful glossary.

Stormbird

 

Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

Published October 10 2013 Penguin Michael Joseph

 

Having studied the Wars of the Roses for A-Level history and recently watched (and loved) the BBC adaptation of Philippa Gregory's The White Queen, so I was keen to read this book - and was not disappointed! Conn Iggulden is a new author for me and after reading Stormbird I will certainly be on the hunt for more.

 

The novel begins with King Henry VI of England's marriage to Margaret of Anjou. Iggulden mixes original characters like spymaster Derrihew Brewer seamlessly with historical figures such as William de la Pole and Richard Neville to tell the story of the marriage - and its consequences for England; the losses in France, the Kentish Men marching on London and the outbreak of unrest and war. The novel ends with the rise of the Yorks.

 

I studied NONE of this at A-Level (!!!) and so found this book fascinating. The characters, the detail, the descriptions all brought events to life in an uncomplicated and accessible way. Yes, there was some author timescale tweaking but its historical fiction people - and darn good at that! If, like me, you're riveted, you too shall toddle off to your local library and read up on the non-fic accounts too.

 

Stormbird is a gripping full-blooded beginning to Iggulden's new series set during the Wars of the Roses. I can't wait for the second instalment! 

Close to the Wind

 

Close to the Wind by Zana Bell

Published October 15 2013 Choc Lit

 

 

Poor Georgiana da Silva finds out her fiancée is only marrying her to get control of her brother's gold mines in New Zealand. If her brother met with an 'accident', the gold would be hers or more accurately in Victorian England, her husbands. Dastardly isn't it?

 

Never fear! Plucky Georgiana has a plan. She disguises herself as ship's boy George and is soon setting sail for New Zealand to warn her brother. Tally Ho George!

 

George is working under the fiercely swoon-some Captain Harry Trent (think Errol Flynn swashing and buckling about the deck). Its not long before George's game is up and Georgiana is discovered. What will Captain Trent do with her and will she ever save her brother?!

 

I LOVED this romantic action-packed trip on the high seas! Harry is a great male lead, strong yet sensitive; a rough diamond. Georgie is fun, high-spirited and mischievous. The plot twists and turns had my head spinning and as I got near the end (very late at night) I put the book down to savour the ending rather than rushing through when tired - a sure sign I was hooked!

 

Romantic shenanigans on the high seas? Aye aye Captain...anchors aweigh!

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

 

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

Published January 3 1998 Black Swan

 

 

With this book, I felt I came late to the party as it won the Whitbread Book of the Year in 1995. However, I picked it up after reading the blurb on the back:



 

"Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her

father, George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman

in an emerald dress and a d-cup that he wasn't married."

 

I was hooked.

 

This book is nothing short of genius and yet so...ordinary, so accessible. It describes the daily lives of the Lennox family through the eyes of their daughter Ruby. The highs, the lows, births, deaths and marriages. Through war, fire and philandering it is a no-holes barred view of the life of a working-class family in York interspersed with snapshots of life for the Lennox ancestors showing us what had been, what could have been and why - to some degree - the Lennox family are the way they are.

 

Extremely well written, addictive and laugh-out-loud funny with extraordinary characters. It is now one of my favourite books. Read it, you won't be disappointed.  

 

The Baby and Fly Pie

 

The Baby and Fly Pie by Melvin Burgess

Published August 2 2012 Andersen Press

 

First, please take a moment to appreciate the cover of this YA novel. Don't you just love it? Clean, elegant with that shiny electric blue bursting out from it. Gorgeous!

 

Now don't put off by the title. This is not a cannibalistic tale of a pie made of babies and flies.

 

Fly Pie is an orphan, working for Mother Shelley by sorting rubbish in a London of the future. These kids look for food, metal, even precious things like jewellery that ALWAYS get handed in to Mother Shelley.

 

One day, Fly Pie finds something he didn't expect. A baby. A baby worth 17 million pounds! Can Fly Pie and his friends keep the baby safe and claim the reward before the Mothers find out?

 

The Baby and Fly Pie is the first Melvin Burgess novel I have read. While the story engaged me, I didn't feel a connection to the characters and felt let down by the ending. See what you think.