Top Five Tuesday – Books where something went right

It’s Top Five Tuesday which is hosted by Meeghan reads, each week Meeghan gives us a promt and we have to come up with five books that fit. This week it’s books where something went right, I found this a bit difficult to think of at first, maybe I don’t read enough cheerful books!

1. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

Star is struggling with her purpose in life after the death of her father, for her whole childhood and young adult life she lived in the shadow of her sister CeCe but by chance she comes across an old book shop that needs staff and stumbles upon her true ancestry.

2. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Lily runs away from her home with her nanny Rosaleen, thankfully they find shelter and a new home with the Boatwright sisters, they’re bee keepers and they teach Lily how to look after the bees. Their quirkiness and kindness helps to heal Lily and Rosaleen.

3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Harry had spent most summer at the Dursley’s house, when he accidentally ruined their dinner party they locked him in his room and put bars on the windows. Harry couldn’t receive of send any letters. But one night Fred, George and Ron took it upon themselves to visit Harry and save him from his horrible relatives. Although they got in trouble with their mother, it still ended up with Harry spending the last few weeks of summer blissfully.

4. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

For eternity there have been parallel Earths, some are uninhabitable but others have animals living on them. One day an internet phenomenon where children create ‘steppers’ and all disappear together, they have stepped into a parallel world. Humanity was saved, we had used up our planet and destroyed most of it, it was dying, now we have as much space as we could imagine.

5. The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans

This book is so good, it’s a nice mix of historical and present time. Juliet’s life is thrown upside down at the beginning of the book when she is fired from her job at an art museum and then discovers that her husband is having an affair. But a few days later she receives the deeds to her grandmother’s old house and the keys. Juliet takes the opportunity and moves to the countryside with her children. Juliet struggles at first but she loves the house her children grow to love it too.

Top Five Tuesday – Cute Romances

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week’s topic is cute romances, I don’t ready many romantic books so the bulk of this list is classic novels!

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I love this book and I adore Elizabeth and Mr Darcy’s relationship. They meet at a neighbour’s ball and instantly dislike each other. Elizabeth thinks Darcy is rude and arrogant and Darcy dismisses Elizabeth because her family isn’t wealthy. But as the story goes on things change, Darcy realises how rude he was and tries to improve his behaviour. I think that’s pretty romantic in itself, not that he needed to change, but he realised he was becoming a bad person and didn’t like that, Elizabeth helped him see that but she didn’t make him change. There is also the romace of Elizabeth’s sister Jane and Mr Bingley which was also adorable.

2. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

In this story Margaret has to leave her home in Hampshire (which is where I live!) with her family, her father has had a crisis of conscience and left the church. They move north to Milton, an industrial town. Margaret becomes aware of the poverty of the mill workers and their families and tries to help them however she can. She comes across the mil-owner John Thornton and fiercely opposes him over the treatment of his employees. However their heated arguments and debates hide an attraction between them. Another enemies to lovers tale, I love the angst!

3. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

This story has a lot of layers to it but the romace in it is really cute! Star has always been in the shadow of her overbearing sister CeCe but she has finally managed to find her own path. Star finds a job in an old book shop in London, the owner is eccentric but incredibly kind. She gets drawn in to his family life, his stand-offish brother and their cousin who looks after her deaf nephew. Star is not sure about her boss’s brother nicknamed Mouse but eventually she discovers why he is so cold and quiet. They make a really adorable couple in the end.

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuasion’s love story is all about missed opportunities, eight years ago Anne was engaged to Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer, but suddenly broke off the engagement because her friend convinced her the match was ‘unworthy’. But now Anne’s family are on the brink of financial ruin and Frederick has returned as a wealthy captain. There is a fair amount of angst with these two as well, but it’s a great story.

5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Possibly a slightly odd choice for a romance but I was stuck! Lets face it everyone in this book is mad and it’s primarily a gothic novel but Cathy and Heathcliff have a creepy romance that lasts for years. Heathcliff was an orphan until Cathy father took him in to work in the kitchens. He didn’t forsee the connection that the two would form. As children they were unseperable and that addiction to each other carried on into adulthood.

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley Review

This series is so well written. This is the third book and we get to know Star, the quietest of her sisters and the most introverted. She’s spent most of her life overshadowed by her slightly younger sister CeCe. The pair have been inseparable even into adulthood, but when their father dies and leaves them both clues as to where he adopted them, Star starts to think about having a life to herself.

Star’s roots lie in England. We go back in time to the early 1900s where we meet Flora MacNichol a young girl with a secret that everyone knows but her. She’s about to make her debut into society through her mother’s friend but she has one last summer at home in the Lake District. Flora loves flowers and animals, she has her own menagerie of rescued animals. But when a childhood nemesis comes to make amends for the past and get to know her, they both find themselves falling in love. Flora is such a lovely person, her life is chaotic due to her mother keeping secrets from her.

I connected with both women, like Star I’m can be quiet around new people or those I distrust and like Flora I would love to remove myself from society and live in a little cottage with lots of animals! This is probably my favourite book in the series so far, next it’s CeCe’s turn to discover her ancestors but I’m not sure we’ll get on bery well. We shall see….

Autumn TBR List

It’s autumn! Time for jumpers, scarves and beautiful autumn colours. I love autumn, it’s not yet freezing, the sun still makes an appearance but it’s still cozy blanket weather. I read a lot all year around but it feels right to be curled up under a blanket reading all afternoon while it’s raining outside. Anyway here are the books I hope to read over the next three months.

After the Party by Cressida Connolly – September

I’ve just started this one, it’s set in 1938 in England. Phyillis Forrester has lived abroad with her husband and children for years and they’ve finally come back to England. She wanted to live close to her sisters and she soon finds herself mixing with their middle class friends. But war is brewing and the hatred that spurs on the Nazi’s isn’t exclusive to them. I’m not that far into the book so everything seems innocent enough at the moment, but all the meetings that the sisters go to and speakers that preach to them has the potential to become hateful. It’s pretty scary.

Eric by Terry Pratchett – September

Another book with our favourite failing wizard Rincewind. A funny take on the Faust legend, Eric makes a deal with the devil but instead of getting immortality and riches he gets stuck with Rincewind and the Luggage.

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley – September/October

This is the third book in the series and I’m really looking forward to finding out more about Star and her roots. These books are so well written, they really take you on the sisters journeys with them. I have pushed this book back a few times, I had books that my Mum had leant me so I wanted to read those first but I will definitely keep it’s place this time.

Sunday Morning Coming Down by Nicci French – October/November

The seventh Frieda Klein novel this leads straight from the end of Saturday Requiem which ended dramatically with Frieda finding the dead body of a policeman under her floorboards. Frieda is sure her stalker Dean Reeve is behind it but he’s been (supposedly) dead for seven years.

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett – November

A twist on Cinderella, a servant girl’s fairy godmother dies but her wishes have already set in motion a terrible plan that could destroy the kingdom. It’s up to Granny Weatherwax, Magrat Garlick and Nanny Ogg to save the kingdom of Genua and stop the Prince from making a huge mistake.

Nightflyers by George R.R Martin – November

I saw this book in a shop a little while ago and I didn’t know George had written any space books, I’m so excited to read it.

I’m also re-reading ASOIAF at home, the books are so huge, I don’t bother taking them to work! What are some of your autumn reads this year?

Top Ten Tuesday – Summer TBR

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic by thatartsyreadergirl is the top books on my Summer TBR list. It’s the summer! Although it really doesn’t feel like it at the moment, the weather is rubbish!

1. Transcription by Kate Atkinson

I’m reading it at the moment and absolutely loving it! We follow Juliet’s story through WWII when she joins MI5 and then through the Cold War.

2. Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

A dragon has taken over Ankh-Morpork, and is burning or eating everything in sight. The City Watch are in disarray and even the Wizards haven’t got a clue what to do. I’m really looking forward to this one, the City Watch are my favourites also dragons!

3. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Kate Morton’s books are always great summer reads. This book is set in the summer of 1862 in London, a group of artists spend the summer in a beautiful manor on the Thames. But by the end of their time there one woman has been shot dead and a family heirloom is missing. In the present day, a young archivist finds drawings of the manor with a photograph of a beautiful woman, will she be able to uncover the truth?

4. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

5. The House At Riverton by Kate Morton

This will be a re-read and a wonderful pick for the summer. This is Kate Morton’s first book it’s set in the 1920s/30s and it’s been a while since I read it so I’ve forgotten what happ, it’ll be nice to fall back in love with the book.

6. Sunday Morning Coming Down by Nicci French

7. Nightflyers by George R.R Martin

I saw this book in a shop a little while ago and I didn’t know George had written any space books, I’m so excited to read it.

8. The Virgin’s Spy by Laura Andersen

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and meeting some of the knew characters. The Tudors are so fascinating, Elizabeth I is on the throne and her daughter has finally been allowed to join the court in London.

9. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Another re-read, I’ve started reading the Jackson Brodie series again and this is the second book. Jackson is a private investigator and former police officer. This time he’s in Edinburgh and witnesses a brutal attack on a man stuck in a traffic jam.

10. The Day of the Dead by Nicci French

I think this is the last Frieda Klein novel which makes me sad! I didn’t want to read the blurb because it might have spoilers from the seventh book! But I know however they decide to end it it’ll be a brilliant read.

So there are my Summer TBRs, I don’t think I’ll make it through all of them but we’ll see!

Top Five Tuesday – Top five sequels I need to get to

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. Sometimes I’m really good at reading sequels fairly close together, other times not so much. Here are my top five that I know I have to read asap!

1. Saturday Requiem by Nicci French

I’ve waited way too long to read this, it’s the sixth book in the Frieda Klein series and it’s next on my TBR list! This series is always so interesting and gripping. This time Frieda agrees to do a psychological assessment on a young woman who was convicted of murder when she was eighteen.

2. The Virgin’s Spy by Laura Andersen

This is the second book in the Tudor Legacy series, the first was excellent. The characters were really compelling and I love alternate histories.

3. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

This is the third book in The Seven Sisters series. I only just finished the second book but I’m already looking forward to this one. In this book we find out more about Star and go with her on her journey to discover her roots.

4. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I didn’t know this book existed until the Top Five Tuesday Space week! It’s the sequel to Children in Time, it’s set in space still but thousands of years after the original book, the humans and spiders are living together harmoniously and have made a spaceship of their own.

5. No Tomorrow by Luke Jennings

This is the sequel to Killing Eve, I wish the first book had been longer so I’m excited to read more about what Villanelle gets up to.

What sequels are you eager to get to? Or have you read any of the ones on my list? Let me know what you think!