Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay is an exciting contemporary thriller that had me guessing from the start.
It has an intricately constructed plotline that has the reader and the characters questioning what really did happen six years earlier? There is a search for the truth.
I tried to guess the perpetrator – I guessed twice – and was wrong on both accounts – again! I really am no good at solving crimes!
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Sweet Little Cub by K. S. D’arcy is a most beautiful book for the under-fives. It is written in rhyme with just four lines to each verse. There is a wonderful sing-song rhythm to each verse that bounces along, even when I read it in my head.
Each verse presents the reader with a choice – do you want to do this? Or that? This provides talking points with our children as they learn that life can be a series of choices.
The whole book is most beautifully illustrated by Zenja Gammer. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul – the little tiger cub certainly draws you in with his big, expressive eyes.
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Louisa by Jacqueline Carpenter is a comprehensive historical tale that covers the World War II period. It is mainly set in London with a short foray to Kent.
This is a work of fiction that seamlessly blends with facts to cover key dates and happenings.
Londoners are a stoic breed, even after nightly raids, they just keep calm and carry on.
It is the women who keep the home fires burning. They step into the roles vacated by men. Pockets of friendships form as women help and support each other.
The bulldog spirit is very much alive as we witness the grit and determination to carry on.
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A New Dawn Over Mulberry Lane by Rosie Clarke is a marvellous historical novel set in 1958. It is the eighth book in the Mulberry Lane series but can be read as a stand-alone. This was my first trip to Mulberry Lane and I loved it. The background to all the characters was given.
There are two main families, and as with all families at that time, they had both been touched by losses in World War II.
The off-spring are beginning to find their feet as we witness the hopes and dreams of the young adults.
There are hearts that are philanthropic as they want to make a difference. Position and wealth are not their motivating factors, the need that they identify is. Kind hearts see the poor and the marginalised, treating them with kindness and compassion, without thought of personal safety.
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