April Reads


April has come and gone and I've had another month of  great reads. This month I've got trough 4 books and two magazines. Luckily most of what I've read this month I've really enjoyed.

So what have I read in March:


The woman who stole my life by Marian Keyes 

This was my first book that I read in April and one that I found to be a disappointment. I usual love Marian Keyes books so to find one that I didn't enjoy as much as I hoped was certainly a disappointing start to my month of reads. 

"Stella Sweeney is back in Dublin. After living the dream in New York for a year - touring her self-help book, appearing on talk shows all over the USA and living it up in her 10-room duplex on the Upper West Side - she's back to normality with a bang. And she's got writer's block.

Stella wants a clean break as she didn't exactly leave New York on a high. Why is she back in Ireland so soon? Who is it who keeps calling? Stella wants to get back to being the woman she used to be. But can she? And should she?"


I just couldn't get on with any of the characters and I found the storyline to be poor I'm surprised I continued and finished the book in all fairness.

If you have read this book I'd love to know your thoughts on it and if it's just me who couldn't get on with it.






In the moment magazine

I've decided to stop purchasing this magazine as I definitely prefer breathe. I've found that having read two issues of in the moment magazine I'm not enjoying the content as much, where i feel breathe has more articles that I can relate too. However from this copy of In the moment I enjoyed the article on finding yourself in a good book along with some pod cast reccomendations. There are also a cute happy notes book which came with it which i love.

Breathe Magazine 

There are some many fab articles in this issue including how to say yes, the power of anger, conscious eating, living with clastrophobia and more.  I even loved just flipping through and looking at the gorgeous artwork. 



A Gathering light by Jennifer Donnelly 

Based on a real murder at the turn of the century this a moving novel. Although not like the type of thrillers/crime stories I love to read I did enjoy this book.  I found it to be an easy read and finished it within a day.  It's a YA historical novel and I must admit a genre I actually do enjoy reading about. 

When Mattie is given letters by a guest at the hotel where she has a summer job, she thinks the guest is simply upset. But when the woman is found drowned next day, Mattie must decide whether she will read them, or burn them as requested. A touching funny surprising novel set in 1906 and based on a true story.


The characters of Grace Brown and Chester Gillette, as well as the facts of Grace's murder in the Adirondacks and the fishing out of her body from the waters of the Big Moose Lake, are actually real people and events although the character Mattie is fictional.



Close to home by Cara Hunter

This book has to be my favourite from this month's reads. Close to Home is part of the Richard and Judy book club and I can see why they chose it. Close to Home features many twists and turns along the way and is a gripping novel. 

Eight year old Daisy Mason goes missing at a family party, no one saw anything- well that's what they are saying. DI Adam Fawley tries to keep an open mind but knows 9 times out of 10 it's someone the victim knew. That means someone is lying.

I was gripped throughout the book and hardly dared put the book down as I just wanted to keep reading til the very end. This is a fantastic debut by Cara Hunter and I can't wait for more of her books and read more of the DI Adam Fawley series.


In a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

It's an enjoyable thriller definitely not as good as Close to home or some of the others I have read. This is the only book I've read by Ruth Ware and I'm definitely interested in what her other novels are like.

Nora hasn't seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind.

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.
 


The spooky setting really helps make the tension in the book between some of the characters. There are a few twists and turns and I did find myself guessing a few of the things that would happen correctly. 

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