Tag: books

20 Books Of Summer 2023 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up #20booksofsummer23

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20-books-of-summerThis annual challenge run by my namesake Cathy at 746 Books has finished for another year. And, for another year, I failed to read all twenty of the books I put on my list, a result of a combination of over-enthusiasm and a stubborn (masochistic?) refusal to take advantage of the accommodating rules allowing you to swap books in and out of your list or reduce your goal.

In the end, I managed to read eight books from my original list of twenty. Disappointed? A little, but on the other hand pleased that I finally got around to reading some books that had been in my TBR pile for up to five years. And, during the period of the challenge – from Thursday 1st June to Friday 1st September 2023 – I actually read twenty-four other books. If I’d wanted an easy life, I’d have put some of those on my list….

I’m going to try to read the remaining books on my challenge list between now and the end of the year. I do not want them to have to appear on next year’s list!

20 Books of Summer 2023 Wrap-UpBooks on my original list I read (links from each title will take you to my review)

  1. Treason by James Jackson
  2. The Painter of Souls by Philip Kazan
  3. China Blue by Madalyn Morgan
  4. Chasing Ghosts by Madalyn Morgan
  5. Wrecker by Noel O’Reilly – review to follow
  6. Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt
  7. A Stranger in my Grave by Margaret Millar
  8. The Night Raids by Jim Kelly

Books on my original list still waiting to be read (links from each title will take you to Goodreads)

  1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (waiting since October 2017)
  2. Transcription by Kate Atkinson (waiting since January 2018)
  3. The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner (waiting since March 2018)
  4. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark (waiting since March 2018)
  5. Appetite by Philip Kazan (waiting since April 2018)
  6. Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir (waiting since June 2018)
  7. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (waiting since March 2019)
  8. Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts (waiting since March 2019)
  9. In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins (waiting since March 2019)
  10. The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy (waiting since May 2019)
  11. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn (waiting since February 2020)
  12. To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (waiting since February 2020)

Books I read not on my list (links from each title will take you to my review)

  1. Ancestry by Simon Mawer
  2. Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas
  3. The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor
  4. The Geometer Lobachevsky by Adrian Duncan
  5. The Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy
  6. The Voluble Topsy by A. P. Herbert
  7. Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry
  8. The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
  9. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
  10. The Blood of Others by Graham Hurley
  11. Before the Swallows Come Back by Fiona Curnow
  12. In Defence of the Act by Effie Black
  13. The Soldier’s Child by Tetyana Denford
  14. Para Bellum by Simon Turney
  15. The Unheard by Anne Worthington
  16. Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman
  17. Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang
  18. The Black Crescent by Jane Johnson
  19. The Hollow Throne by Tim Leach
  20. The Well of Saint Nobody by Neil Jordan
  21. A Fenland Garden by Francis Pryor
  22. The Seventh Son by Seabastian Faulks – review to follow
  23. The Postcard by Carly Schabowski
  24. The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse – review to follow

If you took part in the challenge, how did you get on?

#BlogTour #BookReview The Postcard by Carly Schabowski @bookouture

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Welcome to the penultimate day of the blog tour for The Postcard by Carly Schabowski, published on 29th August by Bookouture. My thanks to Jess at Bookouture for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Kristin at Kristin’s Novel Cafe and over on Instagram, Christine and Ellen.

About the Book

When her beloved grandmother, Ilse, is taken into hospital, Mia drops everything to travel to Germany and care for the woman who raised her. But when her grandmother briefly wakes up and asks for a man called Szymon , Mia is confused. Who is he? And why does her grandmother need to see him so desperately?

Later that night, Mia returns to her grandmother’s apartment to search for clues. She soon discovers a small parcel hidden inside one of Ilse’s suitcases. When she removes the wrapping, she finds a stack of faded postcards neatly bound together, signed with a name that makes her heart stop in her Szymon .

Desperate to find Szymon before it is too late, Mia unearths a story her grandmother never told of childhood friendship and heartbreaking young love on the eve of the Second World War, and of a plan to rescue a young man imprisoned by the Nazis. Mia can’t quite believe her grandmother was so brave, and risked so much to save this man’s life… But did she succeed?

As the final pieces of the past come together, Mia realizes that she is about to find out what really happened to her grandmother during the war. But she doesn’t expect to uncover a secret that will change everything…

Format: ebook (368 pages) Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: 29th August 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Postcard on Goodreads

Purchase links 
Amazon | Kobo
Link provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

As the author reveals in her letter to readers at the end of the book, The Postcard is inspired by a chance find in a Polish flea market and a true story of wartime sacrifice.

The standout parts of the book for me were the sections describing the experiences of cousins Szymon and Tadeusz during the Second World War. Chilling and often disturbing, these scenes had a real feeling of authenticity. I think we are probably all aware of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, not just on Jewish people but on citizens of other occupied countries, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read about. I couldn’t help but think about the current situation in Ukraine as I was reading the scenes of the young cousins serving as soldiers on the front line.

I’ll confess I found the young Ilse difficult to warm to because of her self-absorption and her inability to recognise – perhaps even blithe indifference to – the events unfolding around her. Of course, she wasn’t alone in that. ‘Everyone seemed happy with the Fuhrer and their new Germany, so if no one else seemed to care, it seemed pointless that she should worry about it too.’ Even when she does realise what’s going on – and the evidence is there under her nose – her motivation is partly the prospect of adventure. With the older Ilse it was a different matter. Her guilt and regret at the actions of her younger self was heartbreaking to witness, as was her determination to put things right.

My favourite character was Marlena who proves a steadfast friend to Ilse, a loyal confidante and a resolute individualist. I loved the way she supported Mia as she struggles to come to terms with the prospect of losing her grandmother, the woman who has brought her up since her parents’ death. Attempting to discover the truth about her grandmother’s early life provides a sort of distraction for Mia from her own troubles. It’s a journey the reader joins her on as the story moves back and forth in time until all the pieces of the jigsaw finally come together.

The Postcard is an emotional story about love, friendship and the choices that can change lives forever.

In three words: Emotional, dramatic, powerful

Try something similar: The Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr

About the Author

Carly Schabowski worked as a journalist in both North Cyprus and Australia before returning to Oxford, where she studied for an MA and then a PhD in creative writing at Oxford Brookes University. Carly now teaches at Oxford Brookes University as an associate lecturer in Creative Writing for first and second-year English literature students.

Connect with Carly
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