Tag Archive | Rachels Random Resources

Notebook Number Nine by Jackie Carreira

Aug27

One Smile At A Time

Notebook Number Nine by Jackie Carreira is the most beautiful contemporary novel that sank into my heart and soul. I never wanted it to end.

The tale is one of self-discovery. It begins in the year 2000 and ends in 2024. Bekki wants to discover the meaning of life, and the meaning of her life, in particular. She makes drastic changes. Notebooks are bought and written in over the years. “A journey of self-development doesn’t take you to a place on a map. It takes you to a place inside yourself.”

We learn that changes don’t happen overnight. For change to be consistent, we need to implement small changes regularly over time. We will always have the choice to do the right thing.

Along the way, Bekki meets people who will change her life with their care, kindness and compassion. There are those who look out for others – Ruth and Alf run a café and they have a heart to feed and help the homeless. There are some huge hearts within the book.

We ‘hear’ Bekki’s thoughts on religion, politics and war – the latter is particularly poignant, as we read:

“The only people that ever benefit from war are arms dealers and undertakers.”

We learn the value of a smile. To change someone’s world, all it may take is a smile. Practice kindness. “If you can make one person’s life a little better every day, then you’ve changed the world.”

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The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin

Aug18

The Meddling Mothers

The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin is a most delightful contemporary novel that entertained me from the start.

The book has a wonderful light-hearted and fun tone as we drop in on an eclectic bunch of characters who are avid readers.

The Little Porto Book Club draws people from different walks of life who are united by their love of reading. As the book progresses, we glimpse the individual’s lives. Each one is battling something that no-one knows anything about.

Along the way there are misunderstandings which means the amateur super sleuths start investigating – always making two plus two equal five!

We meet meddling mothers who try to give romance a helping hand.

Grief is a major theme. “Grief is like a shadow, just behind you, but always there.” Grief is the price we pay for love. “This pain is my love for you, a love that has nowhere to go, it’s directionless, because you’re not there.” Sometimes grief is complicated when you suddenly find secrets coming to life.

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The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O’Brien

Aug6

Entertaining

The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O’Brien is a historical novel that entertains from the start. It is the second book in Threads Of Resistance series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The reader is treated to the landscape of occupied France, mainly Paris, as we join characters trying to disrupt the Nazi war effort and learn their secrets.

There are personal secrets to be unravelled too. A young woman has returned to France as part of the resistance, and also to search for her twin daughters who were taken from her eighteen years earlier – and what she discovers, is shocking.

We witness ugly events as a character is consumed by jealousy. There are no lengths to which she will not stoop.

Within families, members are on opposite sides of the war.

The walls of a house that nuns have provided in the past, continues to be a safe haven.

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House Of Thieves by Rachel Walkley

Aug5

Echoes Down The Centuries

House Of Thieves by Rachel Walkley is an enthralling dual timeline that entertained me from the start.

The action is set in 1812 and present day in a large old house with artefacts looked after by a trust.

As we read, the story unfolds in both periods by the same, single voice – alive in 1812 but walking the corridors, unable to rest, in present day, waiting for her story to be told.

In present day, a character searches for a diary, longing to hear the tale of her family long gone.

A gruesome discovery in the gardens throws up even more questions.

We see that the family’s old money was built up on the abomination that is slavery. They owned a plantation in Barbados.

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