Monday 10 September 2012

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Hello, world!


I had a win with two awesome books this week, both recommended from friends found at a Book Journey. Thanks Sheila for this awesome meme!

I read both these books on my iphone, swapping between the two all week. They went well together!


After reading the brilliant A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern last week, Thanks for the Memories, was not quite as amazing, but still had an intriguing story line. A woman who falls down the stairs, losing her unborn baby, has a blood transfusion, and, magically begins to take on some of the knowledge, thoughts, characteristics and memories of the man whose blood was given to her.  A cat and mouse game throughout London and Ireland ensues, in which they try to find each other, amidst much confusion. The relationship between the main female character and her dad is highlighted, along with the devastation of her baby's death and subsequent marriage break-up. There is quite a clash between the heavy content and the humour, which was a little too much I thought, making the characters less believable. 
But, made for a fun, rather than dark read.


The Homecoming of Samuel Lake was a darker story, with child, domestic and animal abuse playing a large part in the story. However the delightful children, especially Swan (yes, Swan Lake!), made this an endearing book. The writing is beautifully poetic and the characters were quirky yet realistically portrayed. Brilliant writing, reminding me somewhat of Little Women, due to the lessons taught through the story,
and To Kill a Mockingbird, given the creepy neighbour, and the strong willed young girl.
A must-read!

This week I'm going to begin 


about a little girl made of snow in Alaska, and 


 the follow-up to the brilliant Wolfskin which I read last year some time. 
Looking forward to really getting into this!

Dropping in to see my bookish friends at Book Journey:


Have a great reading week everyone!

xx

16 comments:

  1. .....just my very inspiring mixed media mags and some likewise blogs! :)
    Your reading matter sounds a lot heavier and with more substance Wendy!! I don't have a lot of time to read books I'm afraid. If I start a good book it doesn't usually get put down until it's finished! One of my major downfalls, so it's avoided these days unfortunately. x

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    1. Sometimes I go through stages where all I can manage is to fit in a magazine here and there, but I just love where books can take me! xx

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  2. I liked Samuel Lake a lot. A very sad tale.

    Here's my It's Monday! What Are You Reading? I hope you will stop by!

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  3. Samuel Lake sounds amazing..and my tbr pile is growing like crazy this week, lol. I've seen The Snow Child floating around the blogosphere lately. I'll look forward to hearing what you think of it.

    Happy Reading!
    The Relentless Reader

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    1. So far, Snow Child has a similar style of writing as Samuel Lake - so that's promising! :)

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  4. Ooh, love the look of your books. The Ahern is one I want to read. Enjoy!

    Here's MY MONDAY MEMES POST

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    1. I aim to read all her books now - they are quite moving. :)

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  5. I've been looking forward to reading the Cecelia Ahern book, need to get my hands on that one!

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    1. I love Ahern's ideas. She explores a lot of what ifs. :)

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  6. I saw the Snow Child a couple of times now - am looking forward to your notes on it. Might be a winter read for me.

    Have a lovely reading week :) here are my reads: http://virtual-notes.blogspot.de/search/label/bookshelf

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  7. Great Books Wendy! I am currently reading Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant it's a great book and I have 3 x copies to giveaway shortly on my blog - i think you would love it

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    1. Ooh,that sounds exciting! I've been wondering what that was all about since I saw the movie posters. :)

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  8. I have all the books you mentioned on my massive TBR Pile I hope you enjoy them all! I've heard great things about all of them.
    Happy Reading!
    Check out my It's Monday! post :)

    -Kimberly @ Turning The Pages

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  9. So glad you loved The Homecoming of Samuel Lake, it's a 2012 favourite! I've heard good things about The Snow Child, it's on my TBR mountain and I really enjoyed Foxmask. Happy reading :)

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