Not so many read in September as I was catching up on work from our holidays and then September was very, very busy with work and swimming and well everything else too.  So not much reading was done.

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Do you remember what I said yesterday about books being recommended?  Well this is one of them AGAIN!!!!!  This was my pick for Jayne and I’s Book Club and I thought the premise was good.

Natalie has become an Influencer all thanks to the life she and her husband have made on their farm which was a gamble when they bought it, but are now making a lot of money from her shows.  Everyone wants to live a more simple, traditional life instead of their fast paced ones, running from one thing to another and Natalie gives them that from her huge farmhouse kitchen with children and dogs running around.  What the people don’t know is all the nannies, producers and modern appliances behind the scenes helping her to give the impression of an old fashioned life!  One morning, however, Natalie wakes up in what appears to be a different reality.  Her husband and children are the same, sort of, but everything feels off and her world which was so perfect before is now horrible and she does not know if she has been sent to another reality TV show or if it is real at all.  One thing is for sure she must get back to her life, her very indulgent, expensive “simple” life.

The book is described as being darkly funny, it is not!  I hated it.  Jayne quite liked it!  Which is great as it shows that the books we choose we are not both always going to like.  However I digress.  By the time you get to the end of this book it is not the ending you thought it would be and quite frankly the way the book has been marketed I do think that it should have a trigger warning rather than oh it is just a fun little story.

Now my other concern about “Yesteryear” is this one ↑.  Do you remember it?  Very similar to Yesteryear about a woman on the internet giving the impression that being a “Trad” (traditional) Wife is what we should all be aiming for.  Not quite the barefoot and pregnant vibe but similar.  These two books run along the same track, merging occasionally.  I was not impressed by this book nor Yesteryear.  I won’t say any more in case you have Yesteryear to read but it was not for me.

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Four friends from school find themselves going to the Big City, Rio, for college, all doing something different.  Computer studies, business degree, medicine and chef.  As they have been friends for years they decide to get an apartment together Dante, is in charge of finding somewhere for him, Piglet, Miguel and Hugo to live.  However the costs are so high until he finds the most perfect of places with four bedrooms, a living dining area, kitchen, bathroom with a laundry in the basement.  The cost is lower than expected and he jumps at the chance.  However the four of them need jobs also to pay their way without asking for help from parents.  Four years later Dante has his business degree but is still working his job at the Book store despite trying to get a better job.  Piglet dropped out of computer studies but makes a living on the internet doing they know not what.  Miguel is still in medical school and Hugo is a chef but not earning much money.  

They learn that Piglet has not been paying their rent and they now owe a lot of money but they come up with a great idea to clear their debt in one night with a secret dinner for only the wealthiest people to attend and they would serve them something very special, Seagull meat!  If you know you know.  They do the dinner and it is a success and they pay off their back rent but then Piglet wants to continue but the other three say no.  Before they know it they are embroiled with someone who was at the first dinner who also wants to continue and if they don’t they will find themselves in danger.  Thus begins a nightmare and who will be left in the end alive?

It is quirky, a one off book I would probably never have picked up but it was good.  Don’t read it if you are squeamish though!  Good ending too.

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“The first rule of Murder Club?  Don’t trust the other wives!”  Is the tag line for this book.  It is about a Book Club what is not to like?  Well if you don’t want to get murdered!!!!  Marta and the true crime Book Club escape to a secluded island for their book club retreat.  You know the sort of place; no phone signal, only a boat to get you there, doggy electricity all the usual horror/serial killer movies in one island!  Of course it is not long before one of them turns up dead on the shore seemingly overnight and murdered.  They need to call the Police but then all the other secrets the remaining three are holding on to would come to light including the missing husband of Marta.  The remaining three decide to make it look like an accident, hey they know enough to get away with it after all the books they have read.  When they get back to the mainland it is taken as a tragic accident.  However Marta starts to realise that real life is not like their books or the Podcasts they all listen to and one of the three is willing to kill and will it be her next?

It was really good, the twists and turns that came with it and at the end you sort of see where it is going but then you don’t.  Really enjoyed it.

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Meghan Michaels is a nurse in the ICU unit of her local hospital.  Recently divorced and looking after their teenage daughter.  At work she sees a new patient being wheeled into ICU by the name of Caitlan who is in a coma having survived  a plunge on to the overhead tracks in Chicago. Then a witness comes forward that Caitlan did not jump but was pushed by someone, they could not see who.  Who wanted to murder Caitlan and would they try again?  There has been incidents of other women being attacked is it the same man.  Meghan always tries to keep a dignified distance between her patients and their families but this time she gets involved with Caitlan’s family and this could result in her and her daughter being the next victims.

The story was okay but all the way through Meghan came across as dense!  All the things that were happening and she seemed to be ignoring it.  At the end it was a bit flat and it could have done with being rounded up a little better. 

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So only four books in September two good, two not so much!  October I think will be a better round up as I have read some good books so far.  Happy Reading. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

 

Oh boy I cannot believe I have not sorted out Book Club books since July!!  Where do the weeks go to.  Anyway here is August’s list:

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This is another book I have seen wildly recommended about Bookstgram and by a lot of people I follow who loved it.  Hmm!

Kit arrives at Hope’s End, a house which stands on top of the cliff in their town.  She is to be the carer for Leonora, a girl now woman who survived the murder of her whole family.  Leonora had been accused of the murders but there was not enough evidence found to charge her.  Since then she has been a recluse in the house on the hill and needs twenty four hour care.  Kit arrives and settles in to the room next door to Leonora’s but things don’t feel right, especially after her previous carer, a nurse, left in the middle of the night with no one knowing she had left or why.

This is the second Riley Sager book I have read and I am not sure I like his writing.  The story was okay but I did end up skipping a lot of pages as he kept telling you the same information over and over again.  I did work out the twist before the end but it came as almost an afterthought.  The ending was also a little bit of a let down.  I was not very impressed by it.

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Kurt Austin & Joe Zavala are tasked with tracking down the World’s most advanced aircraft which has disappeared somewhere over the South Pacific.  Russia and China are also looking for it and may have had a hand in its disappearance in the first place.  Kurt and Joe have to make everyone believe that they are not looking for the thing, although they have already fended off two attacks by different groups, one definitely Chinese, in the race to get to the aircraft first.  Can they do it and in time too?

You all know I love Clive Cussler, although this book was a little slower than his previous ones but still good.  They are my go to books when I am in a bit of a reading slump.

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James Rollins is another favourite Author whose books I have read for a while now, along the same lines as Clive Cussler.  His first book which introduced us to his heroes of Sigma Force in “Sandstorm”, a group of highly trained military personnel but who have technical skills in weapons, electrical engineering, medicine and so many more.  Their team is sent out covertly to help situations that other more “normal” teams cannot do or be where they need to be.

Arkangel is the eighteenth book in the series and yes I have read them all.  This one does not disappoint.  It begins with a Vatican archivist murdered near the Kremlin and when they look into it, it is possibly linked to an old treasure from the Tsars.  It hints to a Golden Library but the more they investigate the more trouble seems to find them, with attacks coming from all sides and the threat of a global war ensues.  Can their Commander, Gray Pierce,  navigate the politics as well as ancient mysteries to find the answers they need and come out of it as a group whole?

They are excellent reads but to get the full view of the books and Sigma Force you would probably need to read them in order, as the story builds in each book. 

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When Mel reconnects with an old College friend who needs help, she invites her to stay with Mel, her husband and their three children at their home.  Abi is getting a divorce from the man she met in College whom she followed to the US to marry.  Mel owes a lot to Abi as she supported her when Mel found out she was expecting just a year into her degree.  Everyone else said Mel should get rid of the baby and concentrate on her studies but Abi supported her and they were friends until the move to the US and life took over.  Now Mel feels that she can repay Abi now she is in need.  Abi moves in and there is no sign of her ever moving out.  Mel’s husband is not happy, the children are not happy.  Her son, the College baby, is just about to take his A;Levels and is preparing for Uni and Abi is camping in their home and as the weeks go by everything starts to change for the worst.

This is I think the second book of Adele Parks I have read and I did enjoy it.  It has a few surprises here and there and I think our main character, Mel, manages to handle things very well and the twist at the end will have your cheering Mel on.  Half way through I thought it was going to end badly but it doesn’t so if you do read it, stick with it.  It is well written and the story moved on well through the book.  Well worth the four stars.

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Again I think this is the second or third book of B.A. Paris I have read.  Cass is driving home from the end of school dinner (she is a teacher) and decides to take the shortcut to her and her husbands home.  He does not like her driving that way as it is dark, through a small copse and there is no signal for phones.  However Cass is tired and wants to get back quickly.  On the way she passes a car pulled over to the side, it has begun to rain heavily and Cass sees the woman sitting in her car.  She wonders whether she should stop and see if the woman is okay but she is tired and as she drives past everything looks okay.  The next morning on the news it is announced that a woman has been found dead on that very road and in fact was murdered.  Cass starts to spiral and then begins to forget things, just like her Mum who has dementia.  Could Cass have early on-set dementia, what is happening to her?

A great story although it was a little slow whilst it was building it, especially with the constant situations happening to Cass.  At one point I did get a little frustrated with Cass who appeared to be a little thick not to notice some of the things happening but then I suppose that was meant to throw you off the story a bit.  It was a very good ending which is what matters and I did work out some of it but it did not detract from the story.  

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It was going to be a great break for the four women, this year they had decided to bring their husbands and children along.  The women had all attended Uni together and normally once a year they would get together for a weekend but this year as the children were all now older they decided it should be a week long trip with husbands and children.  They all head to France to spend the week in a villa provided by their one friend who runs the business.  Kate, however, is not happy she thinks she has discovered that her husband is having an affair and what is worse it is with one of the other three of her friends.  She is determined to find out who this week but she unearths more lies and truths she is not prepared for, then the death of one of them during the holiday shakes them all up.

I do like TM Logan’s books except for the one I read last month.  This one started well and the twists and turns of Kate trying to find out who the lover is, is good but then you don’t expect some of the things which happen.  Do four women who knew each other in College really know each other now?

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This was Jayne’s and my Book Club Book for August.  Jayne chose it and we always like to go with something summery for our August pick.  It did not disappoint.

Kate is divorced and determined that she is going to prove to everyone that she does not need a man in her life.  She decides to throw all her energy into helping her son pull off the best proposal ever to his girlfriend in sunny Corfu.  However in her drive to do everything perfectly things start to go spectacularly wrong. Enter Pericles who is helping her with the plans.  As the days go by Kate wonders if instead of helping her son she should be concentrating on herself for once and could Pericles be the one to help her find love again on her terms this time?

It was light, it was fun and a good read for the holidays.  

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Two weeks of August was our holidays so I managed to do most of the reading then but it was a good month, especially as I had not had a good month previously with the books I had chosen. One book I did try to read, which I got for Christmas, and was very long indeed was this one:

This was another one I had seen recommended by EVERYONE as being so good!  Nope did not like it at all and again did not get too far into it before it became a DNF.  I am really going to have to stop buying books from Bookstgram and just choose them myself.  I think I have learned my lesson now!  It was so big I left it at the cottage for anyone else who wanted to try and read it!

I will try and get September done tomorrow for you and October at the weekend!!!  Have a lovely reading day. 

Hugs & Love Susie & Coco xx