August hasn’t been a happy month as both my cat and I were sick.It was huge shock to me to be off colour, because I’m fortunate enough not to get sick. This time I wasn’t so lucky. Eventually, after some bullying by a friend,I took myself to see my doctor. A week later I was back again,as toughing it out wasn’t an option.I got a steroid inhaler and a reminder that I’d narrowly avoided a lung infection.
I certainly wasn’t social, so like all good book lovers I retreated into the world of books,and occasional TV.
The Astral Library by Kate Quinn,
From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.
Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives…inside their favorite books.
The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
Genre ;Fantasy Fiction. Magic Realism. Audio book. Historical Fiction.
My Review.
I adore the concept of this book; it’s totally a book lovers’ dream. As the story unfolds more of our favourite books and tropes add to the appeal of the story. Alix is an unlikely heroine and all the more realistic for it. A book lovers’ book but more than that, an unpredictable adventure. There is satire and passion and behind the fantasy a serious message our libraries are under threat, our freedom of expression is under threat. How fitting the that the heroine should be a librarian. A book to keep and re read.
The Secrets of Sunshine by Phaedra Patrick
In the heartwarming new novel from the author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper , a chance encounter will lead a single father on an unexpected journey that might just help him find a second chance at love.
Mitchell Fisher hates all things romance. He works on the famous “love lock” bridge where lovers go to fasten padlocks, covering the bridge with their love stories. But to Mitchell, it’s an act of vandalism, and he enjoys his job of cutting off those padlocks. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his grumpy veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother.
Everything changes one fateful day when, working on the bridge, Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls into the river. He’s surprised to feel a connection to her, but the woman disappears before he learns her name. To Mitchell’s shock, a video of the rescue goes viral, hailing him as “The Hero on the Bridge.” He’s soon notified by the mysterious woman’s sister, Liza, that she has been missing for over a year—and the only clue to where the woman could have gone is the engraved padlock she left on the bridge.
Mitchell finds himself swept up in Liza’s quest to find her lost sister. Along the way, with help from a sparkling cast of characters, Mitchell’s heart gradually unlocks, and he discovers that new beginnings can be found in the unlikeliest places…
Fiction,Roamnce.Audiobook.Contemporay. Chick Lit.Mystrey Adult
My Review
I find this quirky book difficult to categorise, as it’s part romance, part mystery. Unusual characters, and a storyline that meanders along. I found it quite readable.It was annoying to realise it had been previously published under the title The Secrets of Love Lock Bridge and I’d already read it.
You Say It First by Susan Mallory.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fool’s Gold romances invites you to visit Happily Inc., a wedding destination founded on a fairy tale
Sculptor Nick Mitchell grew up in a family of artists and learned from his volatile father that passion only leads to pain. As he waits on a new commission, he takes a day job as a humble carpenter at a theme wedding venue. The job has its perks—manly the venue’s captivating owner, Pallas Saunders. Although he won’t let love consume him, for ecstasy with an expiration date, he’s all in.
Pallas adores Weddings in a Box. But if she can’t turn the floundering business around, she’ll have no choice but cave to her domineering mother and trade taffeta for trust funds working at the family’s bank. Then when a desperate bride begs Pallas for something completely out of the box, her irresistible new hire inspires her. Nick knows she doesn’t belong behind a desk, and she knows in her heart that he’s right—where she really belongs is in his arms.
My Review
Initially a slow start and I struggled with the name Pallas for some reason. I disagree with the write up above. At first I got the impression Pallas is half hearted about Wedding in a Box as she considers joining the bank. Her mother’s dream for her. I related to control aspect of the mother- daughter relationship. Sculpted sculptor Nick is the whole package charm, creative talent and good looks. But, he’s only staying temporarily and Pallas doesn’t want her heart broken. I cheered for these two and their passion for making other’s wedding dreams come true
The Cat Who Solved Three Murders by L.T. Shearer.
Conrad the Cat Detective 2
The Cat Who Solved Three Murders by L T Shearer is a charming cosy crime read for fans of Richard Osman and S. J. Bennett.
Retired police detective Lulu Lewis’s life changed forever when she met a street cat named Conrad. There’s something very special about Conrad, but it’s a secret she has to keep to herself.
When Lulu takes her narrowboat to Oxford, she is planning nothing more stressful than attending a friend’s birthday party. And drinking a few glasses of Chardonnay.
But a brutal murder and a daring art theft means her plans are shattered – instead she and Conrad find themselves on the trail of a killer.
A killer who may well strike again.
Mystery Fiction.Crime Cats. Audiobook.Cozy Mystery.Murder Mystery
315 pages, Kindle Edition First published October 25, 2023
My Review.
I had hoped to start the series at book one, but my local library for some reason didn’t have book one only two and three. I decided to give it a go anyway as I enjoy both cosy mysteries and books with cat characters .Some cat character communicate with their person telepathically, but Conrad actually talks. He’s a smart ex -street cat and chose Lulu and her narrow boat for his new person and home. Lula is a retired detective staying with friends for a swish party when murder enters the plot. Conrad is essential in pointing out a clue.
Bonus at the end of the book you get a prequel to Book one ( seems a bit weird) but I leant how Lulu and Conrad met
The Marriage Trap By Victoria Purman.
From the bestselling author of The Radio Hour comes this charming but pointed look at the tumultuous extraordinary decade of the 1960s, and the effects of the pill, rebellion and new ideas on ordinary Australian women as alongside shorter skirts and the Beatles, they embrace freedom…
1960s The Langley family – Olive, Len and their two daughters, twenty-year-old Cathy and ten-year-old Evelyn – live a peaceful suburban life, although Grandma Langley turns up each Sunday lunch like a bad fairy to castigate them for their dubious morals.
Cathy, training to be a teacher, thinks women have it tough. No sex until marriage, then no work, child after child and the sacrifice of their desires to church, husband and family. Cathy is determined not to marry right away. Once married, it’s all over. A life no longer her own.
Young Evelyn wants to be a fairy princess … until she sees for herself the price women pay for such dreams.
When the new contraceptive pill arrives women can suddenly sense freedom. But powerful forces are aligned against women’s reproductive choice and a fight begins. A fight that takes on their own doctors, the might of the Catholic church, and the outdated morality of previous generations.
Historical Ficton.Fiction Historical. Audiobook.Family
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2026
My Review.
An enjoyable read illuminating the lives of so many women and girls of the era. Ambition stifled before it began, a few limited female roles which had to be given up once the girl married. The fight for control of the female body with particularly religious and medical men having the primary opinions. And moral qualms. But no one asked overworked and overburdened mothers and wives. The pill was subjected to a luxury tax so ordinary people weren’t able to have it. Sadly,I felt shortchanged by the abrupt ending of the story.
Entitled by Andrew Lowrie
The first joint biography of the Duke and Duchess of York and the first full biography of either of them, by renowned royal biographer and literary agent, Andrew Lownie.
Drawing on four years of research, numerous FOI requests and interviews with over a hundred people who have never spoken before, the book traces the lives of the late Queen’s second son and his ex-wife through their childhoods, courtship, marriage, divorce, careers, and royal and charitable activities.
Still living in the same house, they claim to be “the happiest divorced couple in the world”. The book investigates the reality of their relationship and their love lives. It charts Andrew’s record in the Falklands, his business activities and reveals details of how the couple have been able financially to sustain their extravagant lifestyles. It also recounts the full story of the Yorks’ links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Chronicling their lives in parallel, the picture that emerges is of a spoilt prince unable to connect and a duchess pushed by her insecurities into a desperate need to maintain the attention her ‘royal’ status brought. Rigorously researched and packed full of revelations, this is eye-watering biography at its best.
‘This isn’t just a royal biography. It’s a study in reputational collapse and the danger of unchecked power inside Britain’s most protected institution’ THE STANDARD
Andrew Lownie’s book ‘Entitled’ was a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2025-08-18.
Genres Non Fiction.Biography.Audiobook,History. History Royalty.Politics.Biography.Memoir
481 pages, Kindle Edition First published August 14, 2025
My Review.
This book made me angry, and I felt soiled after reading it.
Andrew Windsor has-been a disaster in plain sight for a long time and the establishment went along with it, protected him. He and his wife are both reprehensible and rapacious people with no concept of honour, duty or anything noble at all. They created waste on an industrial scale and actually worked against the interests of the people of the Uk. They deserve nothing but contempt.Interesting that no legal challenge has been mounted against the book.
Aptly, I’ve also been enjoying the Uk TV series The Traitors, the ordinary people one with the fabulous Claudia Winkelman. Its quite addictive!
That little kitten at the back of the photograph is Alexei. In front Annabelle, who I lost last year.
He has been with me since he was 8 weeks old.
Sonia Bellhouse- Author. 