Category: Five Favourite

My Five Favourite May Reads

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My5FavouriteMayReads

Rather surprising myself, I managed to read fifteen books in May. You can find details of my five favourite of the books I read last month below.  Click on the book title to view the book description on Goodreads.

You can keep up to date with all my reading in 2019 here with links to my reviews.  If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

First up is memoir Where the Hornbeam Grows by Beth Lynch.  Subtitled A Journey in Search of a Garden, the book describes the author’s move to Switzerland and her struggles to make a life – and a garden – in a new country.

Next up it’s historical fiction in the form of Storm of Steel by Matthew Harffy.  The book is the sixth in his ‘Bernicia Chronicles’ series set in 7th century Anglo-Saxon Britain.  I described it as ‘action-packed, dramatic and realistic: historical fiction at its best’ but you can read my full review here.

Staying with historical fiction but with more of a romantic feel, my next pick is Stealing Roses by Heather Cooper.  Set in 1862, in the seaside town of Cowes on the Isle of Wight, its heroine is Eveline Stanhope whom I described as ‘independent-minded, intelligent, bookish and with a little bit of a rebellious streak’.  Eveline rebels against the social expectations that seem to limit her life finding romance and a ‘different sort of freedom’ along the way.  Read my full review here.

Past and present combine in my next pick, The Lost Shrine by Nicola Ford, the second in the author’s ‘Hills & Barbrook’ series. With its mixture of archaeology and crime mystery, I playfully described it as the intriguing love child of TV’s Midsomer Murders and Time Team. Read my full review to find out why.

Finally, and perhaps fittingly on the day we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, there’s The Long Take by Robin Robertson.  One of the books shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019, it tells the story of Walker, a young Canadian recently demobilised after active service, including at the Normandy landings. A novel in verse, it’s haunting and atmospheric (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it scooped the prize).

What were some of your favourite books you read in May?  Have you read any of my picks?

My 5 Favourite April Reads

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My 5 Favourite April Reads

I read fifteen books in April including a couple of five-star reads and several that came close.  You can find details of my five favourite books below.  Click on the book title to view the book description on Goodreads.

You can keep up to date with all the books I’ve read so far in 2019 here with links to my reviews.  If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

The Conviction of Cora BurnsFirst up is historical novel, The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby. Set in 1880s Birmingham, it tells the story of a young woman born in a prison to a convicted criminal she never knew. Like others, I thought it was an impressive debut and described it as ‘an intensely satisfying read’.  You can read my full review here.

sunwiseStaying with historical fiction, Sunwise by Helen Steadman is the follow-up to the author’s debut novel, Widdershins.  It continues the stories of herbalist, Jane Chandler, and witch-finder, John Sharpe.  The latter is a quite terrifying figure and I found the book as compelling and powerful as its predecessor.  You can read my full review here.

The_Storyteller_CoverMy next choice is The Storyteller by Pierre Jarawan (translated by Rachel McNicholl and  Sinead Crowe). Moving between Lebanon and Germany over a period of more than thirty years, it tells of Samir’s search for his father, Brahim, who disappeared suddenly one night. I found it to be ‘a fascinating, intriguing and beautifully written book’.  You can read my full review here to find out why.

Beyond the Thirty-Nine StepsStaying with the subject of storytelling, my next choice is a biography of arguably a master of the art – Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan by Ursula Buchan. The author, who is also Buchan’s granddaughter, sets out to demonstrate – successfully, to my mind – that there was much more to him than just the author of the classic spy thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps.  You can read my full review here.

PilgrimMy final choice is Pilgrim by Louise Hall.  It follows the journey of father and daughter, Jen and Charlie, to Medjugorje, a small village in Yugoslavia, where six children have experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary.  Like the other characters the reader encounters, they are struggling to cope with tragedy in their lives.  I praised its message of hope and the possibility of starting over again. You can read my full review here.

What were some of your favourite books you read in April?  Have you read any of my picks?