Two reviews of two amazing books | 28.01.2024
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2024! This week I've got two book reviews for you!
👋 Hello
Happy Sunday all! I hope you’re all having/have had a lovely day. I’d love to know what you’re all reading a the moment. SO feel free to respond back to this and let me know!
This week I’ve been quite ill and have stayed at home/in bed for a bit and so managed to get some reading done in bed (I’m not a very good rester). This takes me to nine books finished this month which, considering I’ve not had a week of my usual audiobook listening is quite a book month for me I feel. How many books have you read this month?
👨🏻💻 Latest on the website
This week I managed to post to articles. They were both reviews and they were both absolute bangers that have made January a fantastic first month of the year for reading!
The first was a review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - a heartwarming story of a woman who struggles socially but finds a man who gives her the confidence to do more with her life and open up to people. Alongside this, she begins to learn more about her dark past that has arguably made her the way she is.
The second book I posted a review of was River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure - a book you may not know so much about. But it’s a fantastic historical novel about two Chinese residents, one a girl in 2007 and the other a young man in the 80s. It’s one of those books where there isn’t a vast amount of action but the characters are well written and what’s covered is so interesting, I found myself utterly engrossed!
Find these below as well as what I’m currently reading and some book deals of course.
✍️ What I’ve posted this week
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
I absolutely adored Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, it was funny, lighthearted and heartwarming but also deeply sad, moving and sometimes quite dark. Eleanor is brilliant, Raymond is brilliant and Eleanor’s mother is the worst person in the world. I’ll always rate any book that can make me feel more than one emotion highly and I think Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine had me feeling quite a few. Yes, I may be a few years behind the hype, but I’m so glad I finally caught up.
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure book review
I adored River East, River West. The characters were so utterly believable and going through such difficult situations that I couldn’t pull my eyes away most of the time. Rarely does a book have me so engrossed anymore that I’m excited to keep picking it up. Alva and Lu Fang have two fascinating stories that happen during different times in Chinese history that feel so genuinely real too. All of this makes for a book that I think will break your heart multiple times over and yet you’ll still find yourself loving.
📖 What I’ve been reading this week
When Your Family Says No by Laya Martinez
This is my current main physical read. It was sent to me in return for a video review (so keep an eye out for that!). Essentially it’s a memoir of a woman brought up in an Orthodox family and community who has been forced into a certain way of life by the way her family lives and her controlling father.
She then falls in love with a non-Jewish man and everything is turned upside down. it feels like fiction but is fascinating to know it’s actually a real story!
Of Darkness and Light by Ryan Cahill
This has been my audiobook listen of the week. I’m about a quarter of the way through so far, but due to not having my usual routine, I’ve not listened a lot this week so I’m hoping to make a much larger dent in it next week.
So far it’s been OK. It feels like it’s trying to fill out a lot more than the previous book which felt like a book full of action. There is plenty going on in here though so I’m sure it will pick up over the next few hundred pages.
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure
As I wrote above, this was the book I finished this week. it’s such a beautiful book that will break your heart multiple times and have you absolutely obsessed with the characters involved. It may not blow up to be the book of the year but if you’re looking for something a bit different, I’d definitely recommend picking it up.
📚 Book deal
Have you heard of Books2Door? It’s a website that offers some incredibly cheap series of books. You can pick up a whole series of books for about £15!
Yes, sometimes, they’ll come all just wrapped in cellophane in a box rather than in a nice bespoke box of their own, but you can’t really argue when you’re saving up to 80% off the price of buying each of the books separately.
I’ve picked out some of the best series on the website I could find but if you an think of a series (even if it’s not completed) you’ll likely find it on there.
House of Dragon series by George R.R. Martin (£55.99 - 38% off)
The Witcher complete series by Andrzej Sapkowski (£52.99 - 33% off)
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