This voiceover is an audio version of my Book Lovers Chat below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!
Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a gentle community for YOU. We find pockets of time for slow & gentle living, books, writing, journaling & life affirming work. You are so welcome here in our cosy space, grab a cuppa & stay a while... 🐢🙏📚☕💌
This month, we are celebrating being summer readers! I share my top ten reasons I love summer reading, as well as my summer reading vision board. Then read on for this month’s book reviews (including 2 five star reads!!) and some book-stack recommendations!
What have you been reading and enjoying this month?
Please do drop a comment at the bottom of this post to share what you are currently reading, I know myself and others get so many brilliant recommendations here from you!
I hope you are sitting comfortably, grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s settle down for a read together…
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Reading outside is pure joy
Reflecting all the summer vibes (take me on holiday or to the beach through the pages of my book!)
The longer daylight gives me more reading hours
Reflecting the season in my reading (you know I love seasonal reading!)
Reading more nature memoirs and nature inspired books (just feels right when the natural world is thriving)
Summer reading feels wonderfully nostalgic (reminds me of school reading lists and reading challenges over the summer holidays)
It helps me slow down in the heat
I love a cool down in bookstores and the library (anywhere with air con is my friend on hot days)
Getting endless book recommendations (every one seems to be reading this summer and I LOVE it!)
Reading a variety of genres, and even the odd romance!
How about you? What do you love about reading during the summertime?
(all my summaries and reviews will be spoiler free)
🌟 5 STARS 🌟
The Barnes family are in trouble.
Until recently they ran the biggest business in town, now they’re teetering on the brink of bankruptcy – and that’s just the start of their problems. Dickie and Imelda’s marriage is hanging by a thread; straight-A student Cass is careening off the rails; PJ is hopelessly in debt to the school bully.
Meanwhile the ghosts of old mistakes are rising out of the past to meet them, but everyone’s too wrapped up in the present to see the danger looming . . .
At 638 pages, this is a fairly chunky book, but once I started, I flew through it. In fact, after I finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which led to my 4.5-star rating inflating to a full 5 stars!
Paul Murray’s writing is brilliant. I love a family drama, and I love deeply engrossing character work, and this book delivers both. The story moves between each member of the family- the children, Cass and PJ, and their parents, Dickie and Imelda. It is a gritty, tragic, yet ultimately heartwarming story about one family navigating the repercussions of the recession, the decline of the family business, and the impact those struggles have on each of them.
I’ve seen this book described as a comedy, and while I didn’t find it particularly funny, the way the story unfolds and comes together in the final pages is so impressive making it hugely enjoyable. Paul Murray has a unique style - the Imelda chapters, written almost entirely without punctuation, will temporarily rewire your brain and the ending will certainly divide opinions, but there is so much packed into this novel. I absolutely loved it.
3 STARS
You wake on a beautiful, remote island. Sparkling blue seas, golden sunsets, barely a footprint in the sand. Yet this is no ordinary escape. Next to the wreck of a plane, a stranger paces. Another sharpens a knife, scoring a list of the dead onto a palm tree. Others watch from the shadows of a campfire – all with untold stories, and closely-guarded secrets…
Sisters Lori and Erin are inseparable until they have a huge fight in Fiji the night before they are due to fly to a remote island. Lori gets on the plane. Erin doesn’t. Then the plane disappears.
The story alternates between Erin, two years later, still desperately searching for her sister, and Lori, in the weeks after the plane crashes on a deserted island, fighting for survival. It’s a compelling premise that starts with great energy but quickly runs out of steam. It’s rare for a book to begin with its strongest section, but that was the case here. The opening was gripping, but it soon became predictable. I also found the relationship between the sisters a little too intense to feel believable, and the ending wasn’t my favourite.
There was still enough here that I wouldn’t be put off trying another book by Lucy Clarke. If you’ve read any of hers, I’d love to know which one you’d recommend!
(short story)
4 STARS
Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering her husband. She had an alibi and no known motive, yet Talia’s unwavering protestations of innocence have always been ignored. Then one day in the visiting area, she sees a recognisable stranger she’s certain is her husband. It turns out the man she’s been convicted of killing may not be dead after all. But as the days tick away toward Talia’s execution, what will it take for her to be believed?
For a short story, Death Row certainly packs a punch. We meet Talia as she waits on death row after being convicted of murdering her husband. As time ticks away, Talia desperately tries to prove her innocence before her execution date.
The story is told through alternating chapters between the present day and the past, revealing the events that led her there. A super-quick read, each chapter keeps your attention, with the intrigue building and building towards a brilliant climax. An engaging, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable read.
🌟 5 STARS 🌟
PROVENCE, 1920
Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle’s artistic genius possible.
Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he’ll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe.
But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers.
Over this sweltering summer, everyone’s true colours will be revealed.
Because Ettie is ready to be seen.
Even if it means setting her world on fire.
Honestly, a contender for my book of the year. I always know I’ve come across something special when I finish a book and immediately want to reread it.
The story centres on three central characters - the revered, fierce and reclusive painter Tata (Tartuffe). Joseph, a writer hoping to understand the genius behind the art he has always loved. And Ettie, Tata’s niece, almost invisible assistant, and constant and only companion. Though, soon we learn there is more to Ettie than meets the eye. Once you start to really see her…
As the sweltering summer unfolds, Ettie and Joseph grow closer, Tata becomes increasingly impatient and unkind, and dark secrets begin searching for the light.
The writing is beautifully atmospheric, immersing the reader in a world and mystery that you become completely invested in within the first few pages. I read this book in a single day because I simply couldn’t pull myself away. There is so much to love about this novel, it is a truly stunning debut.
4 STARS
Leyla Kazim spends lots of time on adventures into different foods, locations, and cultures. But she’s always returned to London. That is all about to change.
What happens when the only place you’ve called home is unable to support the kind of life you dream of? In this personal and passionate debut, Leyla reveals why she has decided to uproot everything and permanently relocate to a three-acre plot with a ruin in Portugal. And the tough choices she has made to get to this point.
This book was pure escapism, and the perfect book to help you think about your own life, place in the modern world, and your hopes and dreams. Leyla takes us through her thought processes, epiphanies, life philosophies and considerations as she embarks on a huge change - leaving her life in London for a piece of land in Portugal, where her and her Husband intend to build a home and live off the land in the most self sufficient way possible. I was hoping for more of the book to be set in Portugal, to hear more about this dream becoming a reality - but actually Leyla does something even more generous and helps the reader think about, question and map out their own potential pathways to a new destination and a new adventure. A wonderful little book.
You can find Leyla Kazim here on Substack A Day Well Spent Leyla Kazim
2.5 STARS
Mary has raised a family in this house. She's watched her daughters play and laugh and bicker in its rooms. And now, on a late summer's day, she's getting married here . . . and has summoned her fractured family to celebrate. In the place that's been a sanctuary for some and a battleground for others, the long-awaited reunion unfolds. But as each guest's memories, secrets and tensions rise to the surface, can the festivities help mend broken bonds and heal bruised hearts, or are some things impossible to forgive - even when it's family?
I usually love a family saga (see The Bee Sting above!), but this just didn’t quite do it for me. I loved the premise, estranged daughters return to their family home for their Mother’s wedding day. The story unfolds by moving back and forth through the timeline, and circling around multiple pows and so at times it was a little confusing (a name and date at the beginning of each chapter would have helped enormously). Though I tried, I did lose focus as I progressed through the book. After the first quarter, I almost DNF’d it but I wanted to persevere, though I am not sure the ending was enough of a pay off for me to recommend this one.
I hope you are enjoying this cosy bookish letter 📚💌 if you are, you can support my work by buying me a coffee ☕️ . I’m so grateful for your company and support. Thank you 🙏
From My Reading Life is my monthly reflection on any books, characters, quotes, ideas or poems that have resonated with during the month. Each month, this section may take a slightly different form. This might be a line that resonated with me, an extract from something I have read and enjoyed, an inspirational quote, a poem, a character study, a book recommendation, or a quiet reading moment that I wanted to share…
This month a poem…
I opened a book and in I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.
I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.
I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.
I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.
I hope you have enjoyed this month’s Book Lovers Chat! This is my favourite post to write - I just love putting it together and thinking and talking about books and reading!
As always, I’d love to know if you have read any of the books we have discussed here, what you are reading now, or if you have enjoyed any books recently you want to shout about! I’ll see you in the comments!
Happy Reading!
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