It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Hello bookish friends!

I have been reading some great books, including this one:

I won this book via a comp at Sweet Little Pretties blog.
Lisa often has giveaways of books and DVDs so go visit when you get a chance!
This is actually the sequel to a book called Bella, in which the main character had a horrendous time!
Not that I've read it, but The Promise lets you know about what happened to Bella in the first book.
At the beginning of The Promise , Bella is now a milliner with her own hat store. Things begin to change when the war starts. Her husband becomes a soldier in France, and she closes shop to become an ambulance driver in France too. This is fabulous reading, and taught me so much about the war.
It also highlights the building of friendships.

The second part of the story goes on to describe life after the war, which is quite harrowing, as many of the soldiers come home crippled physically and emotionally, and the way of life for many families changes dramatically. There is a love story throughout this book which is very engaging too, as Bella is torn between being loyal to her husband, and rekindling the relationship with a past unrequited love.

I was also inspired, by a giveaway at Sweet Little Pretties, to read Playing Beatie Bow. 

I love a good time travel story, and this one was about a teenage girl living in the Rocks in Sydney, in the 1980s, who follows a mysterious child into a portal leading to 1873. I especially loved the ending of this book, where links are made between the families of the past and the present, however, I felt that overall the story was a bit rushed, and the characters just didn't get a chance to become well-developed, as they would have if it had been a book written for adults. I like the idea of a haughty teenager being thrust into a harsh existence in the past, making her realise how good life was in her own time. There are a lot of teenagers who could do with an experience like that! Worth a read on the basis that the idea is great,
even if the execution is not perfect.

Now here is a book where the execution of the ideas is perfection:

This odd-sounding story is odd, but it is such an interesting read! I love that it starts with a child of the seventies, and follows her life through to an adult. Having lived through the same eras and events, reading about the characters' lives at such times as Princess Diana's death, and September 11 was close to home.

The story is about a sister and her gay brother, and their love for their best friends, right throughout their lives. There are unexpected twists and turns from beginning to end, and an amazing array of characters that are not your standard crew! The writing is poetic and engaging, and I am tempted to say it is my favourite read of 2012! It's got to be at least in my top 5 with Bryce Courtenay's Jessica, Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, Stephen King's 11/22/63 and John Boyle's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

My first reads of this year are Life of Pi and Peaches for Monsieur le Cure, which are both brilliant so far!

I'm off now to visit Sheila at Book Journey, to find out what everyone else is reading in the New Year!

Love to you!
xxx