I’m a newcomer to the work of Josephine Moon. I googled her after reading her latest book, The Beekeeper’s Secret and found her website. And I loved (LOVED) that her site byline is ‘Living the dream’.
I was smitten with that positivity and her acknowledgement she’s doing what she loves. (As I am far from that kind of person and envy those who are!)
I’ve long been a fan of Woogsworld – a blog named after its author… Mrs Woog. Which isn’t really her name, rather a moniker adopted in the hope of maintaining some anonymity while the Aussie mum quips about her kids and daily life. It’s a hugely popular blog here in Australia and she has garnered a devoted following of those who appreciate what she describes as ‘making the most out of the mundane’.
I don’t have kids – or a husband – so can’t always relate, but I almost always find her posts unflinchingly honest and hilariously funny.
It came as little surprise then, that Mrs Woog was approached by Allen & Unwin to put her often-unique take of the world, in print.
I don’t read many young adult (YA) novels but it’s kinda interesting that both I’ve read in the past month have centred around friendships. I’m not sure if I’ve been drawn to that topic (leading me to request them) or whether it’s a common theme in the YA genre.
Interestingly, this book – like Beautiful Broken Things – discusses the challenges of a three-way friendship.
I know I’ve mentioned this before… but I’m a huge fan of US author Alafair Burke.
I love her Ellie Hatcher and Samantha Kincaid series’ and adored her standalone novels and enjoyed her recent collaborations with Mary Higgins Clark.
I’ve struggled with the superlatives I need to describe this novel… one, I must confess, I went into without great enthusiasm. But almost immediately I was drawn into the eccentric world of reclusive author Mimi, her son Frank and their interloper, Alice.
As it happens, the promo material says it all: captivating, infectious and irresistible. So the only word I can think to add (and one which most certainly comes to mind when considering this novel) is ‘delightful’.
I was a latecomer to the work of Adrian McKinty, only reading his early 2015 novel Gun Street Girl a few months ago. It was a book I very much enjoyed and in that book review I mentioned the series featuring Detective Sean Duffy—a Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) and set in Belfast in the 1980s—was a reminder of a time in history I’m embarrassed to say I’d almost forgotten.
Religious and ethnic wars have moved on since then but McKinty’s series brings back a lot of memories for me (as a teenager in the 80s), and he’s continuing Duffy’s escapades in his latest novel (the fifth in the series), Rain Dogs.
Flawed narrators or lead characters are becoming a bit of a thing. It’s risky as there’s a fine line to balance between a character having the odd foible or two and being thoroughly unlikable and turning readers away.
Fortunately Holly Seddon’s hard-drinking Alex in Try Not to Breathe falls into the former. She’s brutally honest about her shortcomings and because we’re very much inside her head we get to know her intimately and it’s difficult not to like her.