#BookReview By Lou of #BetweenTheCovers pick – Lessons In Chemistry By Bonnie Garmus @BonnieGarmus @alisonbarrow @TransworldBooks #LessonsInChemistry

Lessons In Chemistry
By Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry By Bonnie Garmus is a successful debut novel. It has made it onto Between the Covers on BBC 2, presented by Sara Cox and is a bestseller and even captured the attention of the New York Times to become on their bestselling list. It is available in hardback. Now, ahead of the paperback launch in March 2023, I have been gifted a hardback copy by Alison Barrow at the publisher- Transworld, in-exchange of an honest review. Travel back to the 1960’s, or just below to discover the blurb and my review.

Blurb

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Review

Be transported back to the 1950’s and 1960’s with chemist – Elizabeth Zott. It’s easy to do. The first page shows how different the world was then, even in day to day things many people possibly take for granted nowadays like seatbelts. The book shows how attitudes and how things are handled these days were better back then, but how women like Elizabeth Zott gives as a good as they get. There’s a strong thread of early feminism throughout in her beliefs, her chosen workplace, her ability to go to university, her kick-ass approach to certain situations in all areas. It’s refreshing to show that feminism is not new and has been around in some form or another for many years, even further back than the time-scale in this book to a certain extent.

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist at The Hastings Research Institute, USA; or rather, she was in the 1950’s, before she was catapulted further into the public consciousness in the 1960’s on a tv show – Supper for Six, where she became a tv cook. She met successful scientist – Calvin Evans, whilst working for the institute, after graduating at Cambridge, England. A guy with a passion for rowing and a very impressive ability to hold grudges, even more than Elizabeth. He also very much wants to love. There is much humour between him and his Cambridge rowing team-mates. There is much humour throughout the book and the reaction Elizabeth and Calvin have for each other as chemistry of the romantic kind of swirls, is even more so. It’s also tender and sweet, especially where Calvin is concerned.

There are the most unexpected twists, one in-particular comes with a hard whack and yet is perfectly done and comes just at the right time to continue this being the unexpected compelling, rather addictive read it is.

Even with the twists, some which are dark, the humour and the pushing of boundaries continues and evolves to her child, Madeline (Mad) and also onto the TV set. Through the anger, some that’s perfectly reasonable, especially the way women are put into boxes (still happens today, but with everyone) and more… but sometimes a bit silly, such as over school assignments… Surprisingly, it has a nice sentimentality, such as over a dog called Thirty Six. Readers will find out why that name during the book.

This is a book I very much recommend. It has something for everyone in what is a strong debut.
Lessons In Chemistry is available in hardback now and in spring this year, it will be published in paperback.

#HappyNewYear #2023. Here are a number of #Fiction and #NonFiction Books in many genres I highly #Recommend from #2022 #BookRecommendations #BookReviews #BookWrap

I have reviewed many books in 2022 and what a privilege it has been too. Here are some that I highly recommend out of the many books I have reviewed in 2022. I also have included links to my full no spoiler reviews where you’ll also find the blurbs. The mix of crime fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, non-fiction, memoirs are in no particular order. Please also feel free to explore my blog for other great book reviews, author interviews and talks and theatre reviews.

The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures By Holly Hepburn – An antique shop, antiques, a mysterious puzzle box, a trip to Egypt, a mention of the Canarvon Family (think the real Downton Abbey), all wrapped up in a wonderful book full of splendid characters.
Holly Hepburn has a new book coming this year that I will also be reviewing.

Check out the blurb and my review in the link: The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures

Suicide Thursday By Will Carver explores this and the darker corners of society. It’s a compulsive read with intriguing characters – Mike, Jackie and Eli. Will Eli leave a hated job and get past writing chapter 1 of a novel? What is written in texts? Find out the answers to these and more in Suicide Thursday.

Link to blurb and review –Suicide Thursday

All About Evie By Matson Taylor is a humorous second book to the much talked about The Miseducation of Evie Epworth that was a Radio 2 book club pick. There’s much humour mixed with poignancy and sadness. Find out what happens at a sound check at Broadcasting House, her friend, Caroline and life’s mishaps and incidents. It’s highly engaging. Find the blurb and review in the link: All About Evie

Yes, I Killed Her By Harry Fisher s full of chilling suspense. The question isn’t who, but it is how. How did a murderer commit such a calculated crime. Is it as perfect as he thinks? Here is a link to the blurb and full review. Remember, I’m not going to disclose the answers to those questions. That’s for you to discover yourselves: Yes, I Killed Her

Verity Vanishes By A.B. Morgan is book 3 of The Quirk Files. The books can be read as part of the series or as standalone as the cases each complete by the end of the book. The Quirks are quirky private investigators.

There are secrets to uncover, including who was Verity, why has she vanished and why is a tv station so interested in this particular case? It’s intriguing with wit. See blurb and review in the link –Verity Vanishes

Touching, haunting and a darn good unputdownable read. It takes place between Glasgow and H.M. Polmont Prison in Central Scotland. It’s gripping getting to know about what revelations unfold in Ginger and Wendy’s personalities and what happens to them. It’s a book of obsession and friendship and more in this contemporary fictional book… Find out more in the link to the blurb and my full review: Ginger And Me

The Homes By J.B. Mylet is set in an orphanage village in Scotland. Follow the lives of Lesley, Jonesy and Eadie, all from their points of views. How safe is The Homes? Murder strikes and everything changes in this fast-paced, immersive page-turner. It’s fiction based on a true story. Find out more in the link: The Homes

Remember Me by Charity Norman is gripping and addictive as the layers build up to discover what has happened to Leah, who has disappeared.

The book also follows Felix, who has Alzheimer’s. It’s authentically and sensitively written. Discover the blurb and the rest of my thoughts in the link: Remember Me

Should I Tell You By Jill Mansell is enthralling in both setting and the relationships between all the characters. Meet Lachlan, a chef in high demand and Peggy, a formidable, yet fun woman who puts up a credible argument as to why he should follow her to Cornwall to cook his amazing food. Also meet Amber, Lachlan, Rafaelle and Vee as you step into idyllic scenery. Is all well though? What would you make of the mysterious letter? Find out more in my link about this beautiful, compelling book that perfectly captures the lives of its characters, who are concealing truths. Should I Tell You

White Christmas on Winter Street has all the festive feel-good vibes you can want. Unearth the treasures in Corner House in Middledip. It’s a rather moving book as Heather returns to discover new friends and old. Find out more in the link: White Christmas on Winter Street

The Little Wartime Library By Kate Thompson is about a courageous librarian who took Bethnal Green Library underground during World War 2. It is fascinating and is fiction based on fact. Lots of research was done, including asking librarians, including me, many questions that then formed the basis of the central character. The Little Wartime Library

The Locked Away Life by Drew Davies is about 2 people who are seemingly poles apart. 1 is becoming practically a recluse and increasingly elderly, the other, much younger in need of a job, which is how they meet. Little do they know they need each other more than they thought they would. It’s a heartwarming story. Find out more in the link: The Locked AwayLife

Love Untold by Ruth Jones is uplifting, emotional and endearing, It crosses the generations from a teenager right up to a 90 year old. It’s well observed in all the complexities of life and interactions.
Discover more such as the blurb and my review in the link. Love Untold

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre puts readers on an island. There’s a hen party set on a Scottish island. In some ways it’s a bit like And Then There We’re None by Agatha Christie, but there are also many differences.

There are frictions amongst the guests and things take a sinister turn. It’s a well-observed book in the way relationships are between the characters and what happens when people are on a remote island. Everyone has a secret and no one is safe. Find out more in the blurb and the rest of my thoughts in the review: The Cliff House

Cat Lady By Dawn O’Porter is very humorous but also very poignant and thought provoking. Within the book, wrapped in the cuteness of a cat, there is a great human story too and both together makes this quite different and compelling. There are 5 parts to Cat Lady – Mother, Career Woman, Animal, Wife, Cat Lady. Follow Mia and Tristan through the ups and downs of life. Mia is especially more than you would perhaps assume she is… Here is the link to the blurb and full review: Cat Lady

Thrown is a debut novel by Sara Cox. It’s heartwarming and uplifting at a pottery class. It’s about community pulling together and friendships forming. There are elements that may well tug at your heartstrings. Here is the link to the blurb and review: Thrown

The Cruise by Catherine Cooper takes place on the most luxurious cruise-liner. The type that would be a holiday of a lifetime. Something mysterious happens and it is compelling to travel around to try to fit together all the pieces to discover how they all fit together and some truths. Here is the link to the blurb and full review. The Cruise

Keeping A Christmas Promise By Jo Thomas is about 4 friends who have known each other for 25 years. Tragedy happens to one of them, meaning it is up to 3 of them to keep their bucketlist promise- to see the northern lights at Christmas. With themes of friendship, mortality and strength to carry on in the face of adversity and community, it’s an entertaining, heartwarming book. Here is the link to the blurb and full review. Keeping A Christmas Promise

The Echoes of Love By Jenny Ashcroft transports readers to the 1930’s to the 1940’s and then to 1970’s. It takes readers into the depths of love and war and how it reverberates years later. The book is set between Portsmouth in the UK and Crete. It is a story of war and love. A story unfolding at the BBC Broadcasting House. It is fascinating, poignant and beautifully written. Here is the link to my original review and the blurb. The Echoes of Love

Cooking the Book by various authors published by Hobeck Books also raised money for the Trussell Trust. It’s various short stories, each taking on a different sub-genres of crime fiction. Each also has a recipe you can create by each author. Here is the link to all the details Cooking The Books

The Language of Food is fiction based on fact. It takes reader into the life of a little known woman, by many, called Eliza Acton. She changed the course of cookery forever and when today’s cooks come across her, they are inspired by her story and style and have been influenced greatly by her. Annabel Abbs now opens up her life in this very interesting book. Here is the link to discover more: The Language of Food

Create Your Own Indoor Green by Joe Swift who is also an expert gardener on Gardeners World and various other programmes. The book is an easy step by step guide to indoor plants. It quite literally has everything you need to know, whether you’re getting started or already have indoor plants as there’s always more knowledge to be gained. There are handy hints and tips as well as growing and caring for them. I actually bought this for a friend after reviewing it and she is delighted. Find out the blurb and review in the link: Joe’s Create Your Own Indoor Green

Women Like Us By Amanda Prowse, is a memoir where she sheds light and insight into her life, which many women will be able to relate to or understand, perhaps more than they may first expect. It’s a highly interesting read.
Women Like Us

One Night on The Island introduces readers to Cleo. She works for the magazine – Women Today and has an unusual assignment to do. Directed by her boss, Ali, the assignment is to marry herself (or self-coupling or sologamy) on a remote island. She has a few reservations to say the least. It’s an entertaining story with lots of heart and warmth. One Night On the Island

Mothers and Daughters By Erica James is a compelling story of family life and revelations. Families can be more complex than what they may first appear to be in this sweeping family drama. Mothers and Daughters

Marion Crawford, a bright, ambitious young teacher, is ready to make her mark on the world. Until a twist of fate changes the course of her life forever…
This mixes fact and fiction with Marion and the UK Royal Family in a fascinating way, about a woman not everyone knows much about. The Good Servant

Wolf Pack By Will Dean is a Scandi-Noir.

Tuva Moodyson has a case on her hands to solve with Thord and Chief Björn.
Elsa Nyberg is reported as being missing and chillingly, Rose Farm has quite the history of deadly things happening there, involving a family. It’s a gripping page-turner. Here is the link to the full review and blurb. Wolf Pack

The Empire By Michael Ball is exquisitely theatrical, after all, that is his background. It takes readers back in time to the glitz and glamour of 1922, where you’ll meet Jack Tredwell and a whole host of other cast. There are secrets and the future of the theatre itself is in jeopardy. It’s a page turner! Here’s my link to the blurb and rest of the review The Empire

#Review By Lou of Keeping A Christmas Promise By Jo Thomas @Jo_Thomas01 @TransWorldBooks #Christmas #RomanticFiction #ContemporaryFiction @alisonbarrow #KirstyDunseath

Keeping A Christmas Promise
By Jo Thomas

Keeping A Christmas Promise is the latest festive offering by Jo Thomas to whisk readers off on an adventure of a lifetime with lifelong friends to keep a very important promise. This is one of the best books I’ve read by Jo Thomas yet! Discover the blurb and my review below, thanks to Alison Barrow and Kirsty Dunseath at Transworld Books.

Blurb

A Christmas to remember for a friend they’ll never forget

Four friends
Twenty-five years ago, Freya and her three best friends created a bucket list. The future seemed bright, full of hope and most importantly guaranteed . . .

One promise
Now they are travelling to Iceland in memory of the friend they’ve lost, determined to fulfil her dream of seeing the Northern Lights at Christmas.

A life-changing adventure
They didn’t count on an avalanche leaving them stranded! Handsome local, Pétur, comes to the rescue, showing them how the community survives the hard winter. With Christmas approaching, Freya and her friends throw themselves into the festivities, decorating and cooking for the villagers using delicious local ingredients.

But will the Northern Lights appear so they can honour their friend’s wish? And can Freya’s own dreams come true, this Christmas?

‘A deliciously festive treat bursting with Icelandic flavour, adventure and romance’ RUTH JONES

‘Sparkling, romantic, magical – and delicious’ MILLY JOHNSON

‘Heart-warming, moving and romantic, with a beautiful setting – what could be better?’ KATIE FFORDE

Review

Bucketlists, they make us think of our mortality, what’s important to us and what new experiences we should try in our lives. They make us get out there and instead of only existing, they can turn life into a rich tapestry of adventure that also brings excitement and an air of optimism.

4 friends created a bucket list 25 years ago. Their friendship stood the test of time and they still have that zest for adventure. There’s poignancy, which really comes across as one of the friends has died, so they are now living out her wish – to see the Northern Lights in Iceland at Christmas time. I loved that real care and loyalty to their now dead friend, to carry out her wish in her memory. It oozes warmth amongst heartbreak and the genuine determination they have to do this.

There is a lot of Christmas fun to be had with spreading a bit of joy and mucking in with an Icelandic community to ensure this, after some rather serious danger due to an avalanche, putting everyone and everything at risk.

It’s a very endearing book that will warm anyone’s heart and soul and show the way of true and everlasting friendship and some romance along the way.

#Review By Lou of – Love Untold By Ruth Jones @TransworldBooks @alisonbarrow #rosieainsworth

Love Untold
By Ruth Jones

Love Untold is beautifully written multi-generational story with heartfelt poignancy and great characters. Discover my blurb and full review below.
Thanks firstly to Transworld Publishers for inviting me to review gifting me an e-copy copy of Love Untold by Ruth Jones to review.

Blurb

Grace is about to turn ninety. She doesn’t want parties or presents or fuss. She just wants to heal the family rift that’s been breaking her heart for decades.

But to do that she must find her daughter Alys – the only person who can help to put things right.

And when she finds her – if she does – she risks betraying granddaughter Elin. Who is far less forgiving of the past, with its hurts and secrets and lies. Meanwhile Grace’s great-grand-daughter Beca is oblivious to all these worries, too busy navigating the highs and lows of teenage life and keeping secrets of her own.

All families have their problems. And most of them get resolved. But Grace’s problem is thirty years old. And she doesn’t have time on her side.

So is it too late for her to make peace? Or is reconciliation still within reach?

Love Untold is about mothers and daughters and the complex bond between them. It’s about the heartache that comes from leaving things unsaid and the power of true forgiveness. It is a joy-filled, life-affirming, sob-inducing novel – with characters you’ll come to know and love – from no.1 bestselling author Ruth Jones.

Review

Relationships between humans can be complicated and yet there is love and sometimes that is untold and Ruth Jones choice of words to show this are, at times, sublime to demonstrate this. The characters she creates are well observed and it is easy to be hooked in and stay with them, through to the end, even through their complex lives of lies, betrayal and she has the art of making you, as a reader want to hold out to see how things can end. She also has the skill to endear, which she does through Grace and her friends as well as taking readers through a gambit of emotions and leave satisfied in the end, but also with a layer of thought, shrouding you as you dwell on the unexpected, but very good end.

Love Untold unwraps itself through alternating chapters – Grace, Beca and Elin. The sea envelops, capturing the reader in its waves with a sense of serenity, well, until the reality hits of being 2 months off of being 90 for Grace, then it becomes, momentarily sobering. She lives in a residential home, Cadwallder House, which sounds exquisite from the outside and views, save all the utilitarian essentials, which then ensures that you know it’s for the elderly to be taken care of. Grace has friends here and is quite endearing on the whole, in nature and the conversations are great and the characterisation is wonderful.

Elin is Grace’s 51 grandaughter, who tries to persuade her that she needs to have a celebration, as a reader you can only hope it isn’t in vain, as she throws herself into wanting to plan it all, with a hotel at Dylan’s Quay, with such exuberance.

Beca is 16 with definite teenage attitude to match her age. She has exams and her thoughts of having to sit them, when a previous year couldn’t more than frustrates her, frustrates is putting it mildly. The light in which Beca is portrayed in is just fabulous and the temperament is spot on, readers will definitely know she’s a teen. From the grumbling of subjects to the way she is yelled at to get ready and down the stairs will be relatable to every parent with teens or be a reminder of their own teenage years.

There is also Alys who is a bit wayward and complicated, who later joins the fray and readers can see life from her path too.

The book portrays that life isn’t always easy or linear and has joy as well as sadness, but, certain events can happen as they do in this book, there can be warmth and poignancy, which she writes in a way that may give readers time to also reflect on life.

Ruth Jones is showing that she is conquering the book world as she did, the tv world with her wonderful creativity and observations of so much of human life and getting it down on the page in a way that is so compelling. I now look forward to seeing if she writes another soon.

Her books so far are: Never Greener, Us Three and Untold Love, each one stand alone and are excellent reads.

#Review By Lou of After The Rain By Lucy Dillon @lucy_dillon @TransworldBooks @RandomTTours #BookTwitter #ContemporaryFiction #Fiction #BookRecommendation #AfterTheRain #BlogTour

After The Rain
By Lucy Dillon

Today I am excited to reveal my review of After The Rain By Lucy Dillon.
After The Rain is Out Now!
There’s more than meets the eye after the storm and the drama that ensues as it is more than just the weather that can be stormy.

Find out more in the blurb and my thoughts in my review and a bit about the author below…

Thanks, firstly to Random Things Tours and Transworld Books/Penguin for inviting me to review as part of the blog tour.

Blurb

After the storm it’s time for a fresh start . . .
First, the clouds…
Tara Hunter is a therapist on a mission to restore Longhampton’s community spirit after catastrophic flooding. But with her boyfriend AWOL, her family fragmented, and only a cat for company, Tara’s own life is crumbling.
Then the storm…
On top of everything, Tara’s father – last seen as he walked out on her when she was ten years old – is suddenly back, with a surprising offer that could change everything.
And after the rain…
Dr David Dalloway is Longhampton Wellness Centre’s new star counsellor. He’s charming, caring and has a knack for reading people’s minds – which is the last thing Tara needs right now. Will having David and her dad around make for a bigger storm on the horizon? Or is this Tara’s chance for a fresh start?

Review

After the Rain is insightful and leads readers into a therapist’s office, where readers meet Tara, and later, newcomer – David. The storm had an impact on the residents of Longhampton, but after the rain, there are surprises for them, especially Tara.

NLP and Hypnotherapy are some of the therapies that are what on offer by some of the therapists. I found this striking as NLP and Hypnotherapy have become more known about over the years, especially with the rise in fame of the likes of Paul McKenna and now seems to be, as is people going to any sort of therapy, within books in a way it perhaps hasn’t before. What makes this one so interesting, is you get to know more about a therapist’s office and the lives of therapists that patients/clients won’t normally be privy to know.

Readers are privy to see therapist’s lives behind the scenes as it were, especially through Tara as she navigates her own career at the Wellness Centre, and her own issues, as despite her job, finds it easier to help her patients, than herself and she is better at giving advice, than following her own or receiving it, in Longhampton. It really shows this can be part of the human condition.

New counsellor David is easy to be charmed by and it’s interesting to see how he and Tara get along. He is excellent at his work, really cares and is intuitive, even when it comes to colleagues, so he knows all isn’t always well with Tara and he wants her to open up, which she finds infuriatingly annoying, or rather that he can read her so well.
The interactions within the Wellness Centre between staff themselves and between them and their patients brings the book alive.

Keith, Tara’s father returns out of the blue to try to reconnect, after he left Tara and her brother, Toby and to help the town rebuild after the storm. The drama throughout is enthralling, within the family, as well as within the Wellness Centre.

With intertwining threads of family and patient/counsellor relationships intertwining as a community tries to piece itself back together physically and mentally, there is much poignancy as you see whether new starts can begin or not.
There’s care and compassion and a bit of humour and intrigue along the way.

Ther e are a couple of parts with animals, I wasn’t sure about, but all in all my verdict is:
This is a book I very much recommend!

At the end of my copy is an extract of Unexpected Lesson’s In Love. There’s romance in New York and characters in the prologue you will want to know more about and where there lives go to after an event… Would I want to know more? Yes, absolutely!

About the Author

Sunday Times bestselling author Lucy Dillon grew up in Cumbria and read English at
Cambridge, then read a lot of magazines as a press assistant in London, then read
other people’s manuscripts as a junior fiction editor. She now lives in a village outside
Hereford with a Border terrier, an otterhound and her husband.
Lucy won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Contemporary
Romantic Novel prize in 2015 for A HUNDRED PIECES OF ME, and
the Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2010 for LOST DOGS AND
LONELY HEARTS. You can find her on Twitter (@lucy_dillon) and
Instagram (@lucydillonbooks).

#BookReview of The Call of the Penguins By Hazel Prior @HazelPriorBooks @TransworldBooks #Christmasread #CallOfThePenguins #Fiction #Wildlife #UpliftingFiction #ContemporaryFiction #GeneralFiction

The Call of the Penguins
By Hazel Prior

The Call of the Penguins will have you wanting to whisk yourself to them in a heartbeat!
Thanks to publisher – Transworld Books for gifting me a copy to review. Find out more in the blurb and my full review below.

A delightfully feel-good new novel from the No. 1 bestselling author of Away With the Penguins – sure to become a firm favourite with readers!

At eighty-seven, Veronica McCreedy thinks her days of travelling the world are behind her. But when she’s invited to take part in a TV nature documentary that will take her across the globe filming her beloved penguins, she leaps at the prospect of a new adventure . . .

Review

Set, initially in Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, The Call of the Penguins has charm and warmth and that call for a new adventure for Veronica McCreedy. The book is warm but tackles worldly issues within its cosyness of the penguins. There’s a new colony of penguins being introduced as well as updates on the penguins in the Antarctic. This brings a fresh and brings a new slant to human and animal stories.

The chapters are split between Veronica, Patrick and Terry. Readers get to know their trials and tribulations of life, such as family, health, relationship issues and more… It makes for an interesting read as they take you into the heart of the animal or at least penguin kingdom, as well as their own lives that have their ups and downs as do the penguins. In saying that, it does have a feel-good factor that will give you a cuddly warming feel, without being sappy as it deals with some of what can be found in hard-hitting headlines about the environment and conservation. Veronica McCreedy, although is trying to do something good in conserving penguins, isn’t without attracting her own headlines of controversy to a point.

This is a rather enjoyable book with all the adventures you’ll go on and the characters you’ll meet along the way as you cosy up from the cold winter days.