Once upon a book club - September review

This month’s subscription contained a historical mystery fiction - The Glass ocean as well as some gifts tied to the plot.

Three females’ stories unravel around the fate of the Cunard Liner the Lusitania. The world’s largest passenger liner in 1915 was travelling from New York to Liverpool. On board in first class was Caroline, and in second class travelled Tess. Caroline is married to industrialist Gilbert who has come into new money. Their marriage is shaky as he spends a lot of time addressing the business concerns. just before departing New York, Caroline meets up with long time friend, :Robert. She feels a spark towards her old friend.  As you read the book, the gifts bring to life the gifts Gilbert bestowed to Caroline.

  

During the story you wonder if  Tess and Caroline will meet? What happens to Caroline and Robert? And what is the mystery regarding  the waltz composition? Who is after the secrets it contains?

Told at the same time in the present timeline is Sarah’s story,  she is uncovering the mystery of the Lusitania after finding a relic of her grandfathers. How does her story link to the other two women? This story is full of intrigue. 

The gifts in the subscription all were beautifully wrapped in designs close to the time period in the story. They were labelled with Caroline’s name which made it. I loved the historical fiction, it is hard to believe it was a collaboration between three authors as it was told seamlessly.

Week 38

This week I pulled a book off my shelf that I’ve had for quite a while, Foreign Fruit by Jojo Moyes. Set in two timelines, 1950s and the present. Lottie is a war evacuee that comes to live in a seaside town. She becomes friends with Celia Holden and together they visit the sea cliff mansion, Arcadia. Bohemian artist have recently moved and caused a scandal in the tiny town. Fast forward to the present, and we are introduced to Daisy who has been hired to renovate the seaside mansion. The story is slow to start, but then a beautiful story unfolds. This was my alliterative title for Erin’s 9.0 reading challenge.

I’ve become hooked to mysteries since starting the Bookies R us challenge, and so another cosy mystery, Killer Transaction was my other title read this week. This was a quick read. Cindy York, a real estate agent just had a listing stolen under by colleague Tiffany. Left feeling angry, Cindy threatens Tiffany in a voicemail. As she comes back to the office later that night, she discovers Tiffany dead and after her threat, she is the prime suspect. This is the first in a series. I actually enjoyed it and would like for the other titles in this series.

7 books read towards the Bookies r us challenge. 57 books in total read for my good reads challenge in 2018. 😊

Once upon a book club - August review.

I’m loving this book club! August’s title was The Space Between by Dete Meserve. Everything inside the box is wrapped exceptionally with an astronomy theme; stars, constellations and a special Christmas gift for the main character.

The gifts add to the book reading experience. As you read you enter the world of the main characters and the gifts take it to the next dimension. In the story Dr Sarah Mayfield just made an important space discovery which she has presented to NASA. Upon her return home, she discovers her husband not home, he doesn’t answer his phone and when she contacts his workplace the next morning, they raise the alarm as a trial he was appearing in was moved forward. We are left wondering what has happened to Ben. The first gift this month was...

Revealed when Sarah went to visit his workplace. On Ben’s desk was a photo taken from the Joshua Tree National Park where Ben proposed. He wanted to remember that time forever. This gift made you feel the same affection Sarah felt when she saw it. 

The second gift was...

The gift Ben had left wrapped under the tree. In the story, Ben gave Sarah a special gem necklace and  on the back written in their special code was the word, “I’m sorry”. Just before Sarah left she had questioned the state of their fifteen year marriage. Whatever happened you know he wanted to be there when Sarah returned home.

Sarah reviews the security footage and she sees something... what does this have to do with Ben’s disappearance? This gift was so cool. Not only is it practical. It’s a USB, but it also has a short clip acting out the security footage. I don’t picture Ben as portrayed on the film. But it definitely made me  question the events, and try and determine what happened with what the author revealed so far.

Towards the end of the story Sarah goes back to the Joshua Tree National Park that was so special to her and Ben. When walking on the path, she drops her drink bottle. The last gift was the drink bottle. The book club have each detail well thought out, if you look carefully in the drink bottle, it is labelled  Sarah’s and it has a quote which suits the moment in the story. This book was amazing, the once upon a book club brings the story alive. I love this book club, and you know what I want for Christmas ...😂

Week 37

Last week I wanted to get some more titles complete for the alphabet challenge. I read The Japanese Lover by Isabelle Allende for J. This historical fiction spanned the decades and was about a girl named Alma who escaped the war in Poland. She traveled to San Francisco, and met a boy named Ishimei. After Pearl Harbour he was imprisoned in a POW camp in Utah. I hadn’t heard a Japanese POW story before. It was years later that these two met back up. Such a beautiful story.

The next story was also for the Alphabet challenge - Under the egg. I bought this years ago to read to my class. The story follows the summer journey of quirky, self sufficient and academic Theodora Tenpenney as she attempts to solve her grandfathers art mystery, while at the same time learning how to make connections and friendships in order to escape her lonely childhood. Adults equally would enjoy this story.

That just leaves V, X,Y and Z left to read to complete this year’s challenge.

This week I read a new genre - cozy mysteries. I read two titles - Crime and Poetry about a magical  bookstore mystery. Grandma Daisy has convinced Violet to return to Cascade Springs. She wants Violet to take over running the Charming bookstore, however she has every intention to go back to Chicago until a dead man is discovered in the front of her Grandma’s house. This was a quick read.

The last book is Catering to Nobody. Goldy Bear is catering the wake of her son’s favourite teacher when her father in law is poisoned. This sees her catering business shut down. Desperate for the return of income, Goldy investigates the crime to clear her name and get her business up running again. 

 This is five books towards the Bookies R Us reading challenge for mysteries. 

Week 35

After Reading The Cuckoo’s calling I wanted to read the original London literary detective -Sherlock Holmes! I have had the book for a while and it was one of my titles for Erin’s 9.0 reading challenge. I didn’t realise The adventures of Sherlock Holmes 🕵️‍♀️ was a collection of short stories. I spent more time reading this book than others as I put it down after reading each short story. The collection is very cleverly written. At times I found the beginnings of the stories drawn out as they start very similarly. There are ten short stories in total, with my favourite being The adventure of the blue carbuncle. Reading the stories I reminisced about my time in London early this year. I wish I had visited the Sherlock Holmes museum now in Baker Street.

Another book towards the Ultimate Reading challenge and Bookies R us.