Season's Greetings everyone!
We can hardly believe another year has passed! It was a year that saw our reading and reviewing slow with other focuses in our lives (Kathryn's new baby and Lydia's writing and return to work and school). It has also seen us add two new lovely ladies to our review roster and we're looking forward to the New Year and all their reviews!
As we did last year, here are our top reads of the year for both Kathryn and Lydia. They're listed below in no particular order...
We hope you all have a fabulous Holiday Season and wish you all the best in the New Year!
Happy Reading!
Lydia and Kathryn
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
Lydia and Kathryn
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover? Well, The
Violets of March has one of the most magnificent covers I have ever laid
eyes on. It’s simple, the dash of purple amidst the muted tones is
stunning and the weathered and layered feel is fitting for the novel. I
had high hopes when I cracked the cover based on the gorgeousness of it
and I wasn’t disappointed.
Firstly, still on the cover, I will try not
to complain about my copy being defaced in an accident involving a
cottage and vodka. In my defence…the book was so lovely that it
remained on the coffee table to sneak peaks at during spare moments! The
Violets of March is a delightful, effortless read with an astounding
setting that made me want to pick up and move somewhere with a beach
immediately. The intrigue surrounding the 1940’s journal was as easy to
be drawn into as Emily’s present day story and I had no difficulty
moving back and forth between the two...
READ MORE...Lydia and Kathryn
I finally got around to reading the The Help. I thought I
would be disappointed after all the hype which is usually what happens when I
don’t jump on a ‘great’ book I keep hearing about, but that was far from the
case with this one.
I dragged this novel along to a temp job where I was
reception relief and my only responsibility was transferring incoming calls.
‘The computer is solely for your enjoyement’ I quote my trainer as she waved to
the solitaire game she was playing when I arrived. So, after I got bored of solitaire and
Facebook, I presumed reading would be OK and dug The Help out of my bag,
worrying about how I would become immersed in a book amidst multiple
interruptions. I worried needlessly. The
fact that I had to tear my eyes away from the pages numerous times and it still
didn’t prevent me from becoming immediately absorbed in this story is evidence
of what an easy read The Help is as well as how captivating and entertaining it
is right from the first page. I enjoyed it so much I grew aggravated when the
phone rang and my dialing skills improved with each call so I could get back to
reading. I read over 150 pages that afternoon....Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen
Lydia
I
loved everything about this novel from the unique story line, to the
dynamics between Julia and Michael and the supporting cast. Skipping a
Beat explores love, marriage, family, ambition and success, and its
unique and intimate voice delivers an intensely compelling and
satisfying read.
Reading
Skipping a Beat felt like curling up in front of a fireplace with a
glass of wine and new friend while she unveiled her life story. It was
that intimate. It was that real. It carried that much depth of
emotion. The way the story unfolds felt exactly like someone would tell
it in confidence to a new friend who wasn’t aware of her situation or
history. I found this fascinating and am certain I've never read another
novel that had quite the same feel or drew me in as casually and
intimately as Skipping a Beat... READ MORE....
Kathryn
I
picked this book up in the sale section at the bookstore and honestly
had no idea what it was about but kind of liked the title and the cover. I actually do (frequently in fact) get sucked in by a cover- it’s true.
I
didn’t know that the novel was English and for me this just added to
the charm of the characters. The realities of living in a village with
the ins and outs of everyone knowing everyone else’s business, from
marital affairs to how many loaves of bread your family gets through in a
week, were perfectly delivered... READ MORE...
Arranged by Catherine McKenzieLydia
I loved Catherine McKenzie's debut novel, Spin - which made it to my top 5 reads of 2010,
and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of Arranged and I was not
disappointed. McKenzie's latest novel explores the premise of a western
woman seeking an arranged marriage, one based on friendship rather than
love, and I thought the comparisons and insights throughout the novel
were interesting and they definitely had me stopping to think at times.
Arranged was fast paced, had an intriguing premise and I was drawn
immediately into Anne’s world. Catherine McKenzie definitely has another
winner on her hands!
I
loved the Anne of Green Gables thread throughout. Having been a huge
fan of the books and movies since I was a child, I giggled frequently
and loved how Anne kept tying her romantic nature back to the story as
well as the fun she poked at herself for being named after such an
infamous character... READ MORE...
Kathryn:
My first impression of Neill’s novel was that it was not what
I was expecting- I think I was expecting something like The Nanny Diaries
(McLaughlin & Kraus) but What the Nanny Saw turned out to be quite different in both the voice
and the focus of the story.The story revolves around a young family- the parents are at the height of their careers in London and making absurd amounts of money- they hire Ali, impoverished student, as their nanny because she’s studying English literature, she’s intelligent and organised enough to cope with their chaotic schedules. They are typically over-parenting via the nanny (demanding details of each child’s progress daily in writing while rarely actually eating dinner with their children themselves) and yet I found myself really liking both parents and getting a sense that there was a relationship building between them and their kids, despite the physical distance. Towards the end though, as more and more things start to be exposed, you can see how the image projected at the start is perhaps just that, a picture of what they wanted life to be like... READ MORE...
No comments:
Post a Comment