The Year In Books March 2015

Well here we are again at the end of yet another month of glorious reading. By the time I did my post The Year in Books -  Spring Collection  on the 11th March I had already read my way through  Precious Thing & A Mother's Story from my book shelf  and The Legacy of a Cornish Spring and We Bought a Zoo from my kindle and was partway through Rosemary Penfold's A Field Full of Butterflies.

I have to say that the second half of the month continued at the same pace as the first starting with  Diane Chamberlain's  The Midwife's Confession the story begins with the death of Noelle. When her two closest friends Tara and Emerson start to sort through Noelle's things they discover a letter containing a secret about there friend. The letter reveals a secret that challenges everything they thought they knew about her.  Noelle had been a Midwife for many years, she was the women her two friends trusted the most to deliver their babies. Her suicide has shocked them both but what  they are about to uncover will shock them the most and sets them on a journey that could change their lives forever.  

I had never read a Diane Chamberlain novel before, this one was given to me as a Christmas gift. When I first read the back cover I wasn't quite sure whether this was going to be my kind of read but I couldn't have been more wrong and I really enjoyed every page and found I just could not put it down.  I have since purchased another novel by the same author to join the many others that are in residence on the bookshelf.

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe -  is the second of the stories written by  CS Lewis  and was my March return to my childhood read.  I have at some stage read all the Chronicles of Narnia books but this one has always been my absolute favourite and it is most likely the reason for my love of myth and magic. 

PUSH by Sapphire is the story of Clarice Precious Jones a 16 year old girl who has never been outside of Harlem.  She has become pregnant for the second time by her father and has been kicked out of school. She is placed in a teaching programme where she will learn to read and write. Sapphires novel went on to be made into a film called Precious. I have never seen the film but the book certainly is very emotive and at times hard to follow as it has been written in the language used by the kids slang.  It is very graphic in places around the abuse that Precious endures and I'm not sure that it would be everyone's kind of read.   I had purchased The Kid by Sapphire sometime ago only to discover that this was the sequel to PUSH . I therefore decided I would have purchase and read PUSH first.  The Kid is on my list of Spring reads but I'm not sure that I am ready to tackle another emotive novel such as this just yet as I am sure it will be just as explicit in it's content as PUSH. 

The Oyster Catcher - Jo Thomas is set within the Oyster farming community of Galway in a little place called Dooleybridge.  Fiona Clutterbuck finds herself stranded in this little community. when her husband has barely let the ink dry on the Marriage Certificate he announces that he cannot live a lie and runs off with the best man. The only thing Fiona is left with is her sequinned shoes and a crashed campervan.   When the opportunity arises of a job working for Sean Thornton local Oyster Farmer she jumps at the chance hoping this will give her the spring board to a new life and a chance to forget her extremely short lived marriage.   I found this a light relief after PUSH it was a little slow in places but overall it was a good read and would may be have suited someone of lesser years than myself. But would still recommend it especially as a holiday read you could definitely pick up where you had left off with this one. 

Goodbye Dearest Holly - Kevin Wells. I feel sure that everyone within the UK and possibly even beyond will remember the horrific murder of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells. These two ten year old girls left Holly's home on the 4th August 2002 never to return alive.  This is Kevin Wells account of what happened in the days following the girls disappearance, the discovery of their bodies and the fight to get justice for the girls making sure that Ian Huntley received the sentence he deserved. 

As always I like to pick a book of the month and this month I have to say I have struggled to make that decision as I have read so many good books this month. 

I still think the one that stands out for me this month is

                                                   

                                                A Mother's Story by Amanda Prowse. 

Don't forget, if haven't done so already,  you can still take part in Laura's Year in Books Project by clicking the link below

The Year in Books Project 2015

That's it for now and I look forward to seeing what everyone is reading in April. 

Happy Easter one & all.

Mx