What I read in April

April has been a good reading month for me, managing 6 books throughout the month taking my total up to 22 so far this year, and if I'm honest I'm pretty pleased with that. In April I read a variety of different genres, some joyful romps some a bit on the sad side, so let's get on with......

What I read in April

It felt like a kiss - Sarra Manning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ellie is living a pretty dreamy life, she lives with her best mates, has a great job in a swish London art gallery, and is super close to her family, especially her mum. The only downside is the rock star father who doesn't acknowledge her existence and a string of crap boyfriends, but nobody's perfect......

I adored this book, Ellie is a likeable character whom you care about from the beginning, I simply fell in love with Sarra's writing, you can read a full review here, if you fancy it.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone - JK Rowling ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm not going to write a lot about the Philosopher's stone as I'm sure you all know the story, but what I will say is it's different from the movie in a lot of ways, with far more details, with regards to characters and events. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

The Mitford Murders - Jessica Fellows ⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you like to escape into Sunday night period mystery dramas, like Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot, then I think the Mitford murders will be right up your street. The story is written from the viewpoint of Louisa Cannon, who is fleeing London in 1919 to escape her abusive uncle. She takes a job at Asthal Manor as a nursery maid to the Mitford sisters and grows especially close with Nancy who's only a few years her junior. But then a nurse is killed on a train, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the mystery of who killed Florence Nightingale Shore.

 

Everything I never told you - Celeste Ng ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee, living in small town Ohio in the 1970's. Her parents are determined she will fulfil the dreams they never did. But when Lydia's body is found in a local lake, the delicate balancing act that kept the Lee family together is broken, and the family tumbles into chaos and despair.

This story is beautifully written, and describes the pressures on Chinese Americans in the 70's, and unravels the circumstances that led to Lydia's death, and how the family came to find themselves in such an awful turn of events.

Nobody's Girl - Sarra Manning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I told you I fell in love with Sarra Manning's writing, Nobody's Girl is one one of those books you can just romp through in 2 days flat. 

Bea thinks she is plain, frumpy and worst of all dull. So when the cool girls in Ruby's gang what to hang out with her, she thinks its a joke. But an invitation to a girls holiday in Spain seems the real deal, and the perfect opportunity to get away from her strict and annoying mum. Inevitably it all goes wrong, and Bea spontaneously gets on a train heading to Paris to find the father she never new, Bea doesn't do things like this normally but she just needs to get away. On her journey she meets Toph an American student backpacking around Europe who offers to help in her search, but instead of finding her father, Bea finds herself and becomes her own girl, all in the backdrop of Paris the most romantic city in the world.

Beautiful broken things - Sara Barnard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Now I won't lie, this book made my sob, it tackles the tough subject of abuse and its aftermath.

Caddy and Rosie have always been inseparable that is until Suzanne moves to the area and befriends Rosie and then Caddy, soon the two become a three. Except Suzanne is beautiful yet broken, reckless and is always in trouble, and Caddy is the private school girl, quiet and well behaved. The story covers the emerging friendships and how Suzanne copes with the fall out of leaving home and her abusive father. The story takes us on an emotional journey and looks into how Caddy goes along for the ride, with Suzanne and her sometimes dangerous behaviour, trying to break out of her good girl mould. And how Suzanne appears to not care about anything, while Rosie is worried Suzanne is dragging her best friend away. 

What have you been reading lately? recommendations welcome.

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