My Expanding Bookshelf

Title: I Was Here Author: Gayle Forman Published: January 2015 Pages: 270 Source: Giveaway (I think) Format: ARC Rating: 4/5 Cody and Meg were inspearable. Two peas in a pod. Until... they weren't anymore. When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything - so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg's college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there's a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg's heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can't open - until she does. and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend's death gets thrown into question. I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a ta...

                Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books that are on my autumn TBR.

Title: What I Saw and How I Lied Author: Judy Blundell Published: 6th July 2009, Scholastic Children's Books Pages: 265 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 3/5 Murder mystery with a dash of romance, a strongly written coming-of-age novel set in the aftermath of the Second World War which won the 2008 National Book Award in the USA. It's 1947 and 15-year-old Evie is desperate to grow up, go on dates and look glamorous like her mother. But then a handsome and mysterious ex-GI turns up. Peter served with Evie's stepfather during the war and seems to have a strange control over him; slowly, Evie realises she's falling for Peter, despite his dark secrets.

                    The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

              Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books with a number in the title.

                  The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: Behind the Veil Author: E J Dawson Published: 1st October 2021, Literary Wanderlust Pages: 252 Source: Book Sirens Format: Kindle Rating: 3/5 Can she keep the secrets of her past to rescue a girl tormented by a ghost? In 1920s Los Angeles, Letitia Hawing reads the veil between life and death. A scrying bowl allows her to experience the final moments of the deceased. She brings closure to grief-stricken ward widows and mourning families. For Letitia, it is a penance. She knows no peace. For Alasdair Driscoll, it may be the only way to save his niece, Finola, from her growing night terrors. But when Letitia sees a shadowy figure attached to the household, it rouses old fears of her unspeakable past in England. When a man comes to her about his missing daughter, the third girl to go missing in as many months, Letitia can't help him when she can't see who's taken them. As darkness haunts Letitia's vision, she may not be given a choice in helping the determin...

            Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books guaranteed to put a smile on your face. A bot of a mixed bag this week with some romance, childrens and biographies included

Title: Orphans of the Storm Author: Celia Imrie Published: 19th August 2021, Bloomsbury Pages: 416 Source: Netgalley Format: Kindle Rating: 3/5 Nice, France, 1911. After three years of marriage, young seamstress Marcela Caretto has finally had enough. Her husband, Michael, an ambitious tailor, has become cruel and controlling and she determines to get a divorce. But while awaiting the judges' decisions on the custody of their two small boys, Michael receives news that changes everything. Meanwhile fun-loving New York socialite Margaret Hays is touring Europe with some friends. Restless, she resolves to head home aboard the most celebrated steamer in the world - RMS Titanic. As the ship sets sail for America, carrying two infants bearing false names, the paths of Marcela, Michael and Margaret cross - and nothing will ever be the same again.  From the Sunday Times bestselling author, Celia Imrie, Orphans of the Storm dives into the waters of the past to unearth a sweeping, e...

                The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted every Friday by  Rose City Reader  where you share the first sentence (or couple of sentences) from your current read. The Friday 56 is also hosted every Friday by  Frida's Voice  where you share a sentence or two from page 56 or 56% into your current read.

Title: The Editor's Wife Author: Clare Chambers Published: 2nd September 2021, Cornerstone Pages: 404 Source: Netgalley Format: Kindle Rating: 4/5 When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder's mate), his family is sceptical. But when he is taken up by London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher's life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors. However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgment which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity. Twenty years on a young academic researching into Ow...