Last year I shared with you 7 books that I had read and loved, and it seems that people love a book recommendation just like me. I’ve since read another 7 books and I thought I would share them again with you.
Its taken me six months to read these books, is reading just over 1 book a month good or bad? I wish it was more to be honest, but I mainly read at night and I’m so tired that I don’t read for long.
Anyway, here are the next 7 books that I’ve read and loved.
The Holiday by T.M Logan
I brought this book at the airport on our way to Crete, I normally read on my kindle because I read it at night without needing a light on and disturbing Andy. But I was hoping that I might get to read it by the pool, which I did manage a few times. The Holiday is a Times best seller and I can see why. It is based on three families, one holiday, seven days and one killer amongst them. But who is it?
The holiday centres around four best friends, who bring everyone together to celebrate them turning 40. It was meant to be the perfect holiday, in the perfect location, but trouble quickly arrives. With Kate suspecting her husband is having an affair, and suspects one of her best friends. But which one? It takes you on a story, as Kate gets closer to the truth, a truth that she wasn’t expecting and a lot worse than she could ever imagine. It was a page turner and intrigued me the whole way through.
A Better Me by Gary Barlow
I used to read a lot of autobiographies and over the year read some rubbish. Now I’m more selective over which autobiographies I read, but I still love to read them. I also find it nice to mix up the type of books I read. I’ve loved Take That since the beginning and whilst Gary wasn’t my original favourite, if I was to pick a favourite now it would be him. He is a lovely man, not bad to look at either! His book tells you about how he hit rock bottom, he was out of work, overweight and depressed. He couldn’t see a way out. In a extremely honest way he tells you about how he went from this to one of the UKs favourites with a successful singing and TV career. Along with being fitter, healthier and happier than ever before. How he got the balance personally and professional and a real raw emotional read.
One Day In December by Josie Silver
I read this book a year ago, when everyone was talking about it and saying how brilliant it was. Were they right? Yes! I loved it from start to finish. Its a love story and captured the hearts of millions. Its a story about love, heartbreak, friendship and most importantly fate. It was a book that made me laugh, cry and shout at the characters. It had me staying up late just to read a bit more and I didn’t want it to end. A book about those female friends we can’t live without and men that we fall for instantly. It all starts with a look through a bus window, at a man who meets her eyes, who she instantly knows is the one, a moment shared between them, then the bus drives away!
The Surrogate by Josie Silver
This book surprised me. The title gives the impression of a sweet heart warming book, but its not. It turned out to be very dark, twisted tale and full of lies, buried secrets and betrayal. Nick and Kat appear to have the perfect life, except they can’t have children and are at the point of giving up. Then a chance meeting with Kat’s childhood best friend changes that and she gives them one chance of having their dream. It all appears to be a normal arrangement, but it was anything but. With twists and turns, new characters popping up all the time, it was a page turner. A psychological thriller that gave you the OMG surprise element that you didn’t see coming. I loved it!
How To Be Happy by Eva Woods
I loved this book! It opens my eyes and got me to see the world differently. It starts with Annie who has hit rock bottom, a mum with dementia, her marriage is over, she hates her job, she lives in a depressing flat and has to share it with someone she doesn’t even know to afford the rent. Life couldn’t get much worse, or could it? Polly then burst into her life. Polly is one of those annoyingly always happy people, who will never take no for an answer. She was determined to make Annie happy and Annie had no say in this. Polly looks like she has the perfect life, everyone loves her, everyone knows her, her parents adore her. But she has terminal cancer with three months to live. As Polly makes it her mission to make Annie, who she has just met, happy before she dies. Of course no one life is that happy, and you soon discover a sadness in Polly’s life. Happiness isn’t just about eating cake or not going to work if you don’t feel like it. Its also about helping other people. This is a real uplifting book, Polly is a character that you want to hug and hope that the card she has been dealt is wrong.
Our House by Louise Candlish
This book is brilliant and everyone should read it. Imagine a bright sunny morning in London, a family are moving into their new house they’ve just brought. But its your house, and you didn’t sell it. I know, I told you it was good! This is exactly what happened to Fi when she arrived home to find strangers moving into her home. She had owned the house with her husband for years and were never going to sell it. She can’t understand why these people think its their house and her husband has disappeared just when she needs him. Bram has made a catastrophic mistake and now he is paying for it. The last line in the book will make you shout out loud with shock!
Still Me by JoJo Moyes
Still Me is the conclusion of the brilliant books Me Before You and After You. I couldn’t wait to read it, as I adore Me Before You. I love the character Lou Clarke and I think everyone who reads these books falls in love with her. Lou is miles away from her boyfriend Sam in New York, her employer is a good man, but she knows his wife is keeping a secret. What Lou doesn’t know is she is about to meet someone that turns her life upside down. Because Josh reminds her of someone that she used to love and she finds that hard. JoJo Moyes has given us a brilliant conclusion to this series and I have loved following Lou Clarkes life. It captured the hearts of us all.
I love a book recommendation and I hope that there is a book in this list that catches your eye to go on and read. I will have another 7 books to share with you shortly, as I actually read these books a while ago and have been really bad at getting this post written. Better late than never!
