February Wrap Up…

Welcome to my February Wrap Up. I have had a great reading month, finishing 5 books (0 books off my TBR). I was also lucky enough to receive 5 ARC’s this month.

I have reviews up or coming up for these books so as usual this is just going to be a brief run down on each book I read.

Without further ado, let’s get into my February Wrap Up:

Witness by Louise Milligan: This book was absolutely fantastic. It is easily one of the best books I have read in a long time. The subject matter was not an easy topic to read about, but that is exactly why I believe that everyone needs to read this book. I learned so much reading this book and I genuinely believe that everyone can learn from and become better people by reading this book. A must read for everyone!

All We Dream by Pamela Cook: This book was wonderful. I am a fan of Pamela Cook so I went into this book with high expectation. Not only did this book live up to my expectations it well and truly surpassed them. There is nothing about this book that I didn’t love. I especially loved the diary entries that gave the reader a chance to learn more about Esther in a more natural and emotional way. I also loved the fact that I actually recognised some of the settings in this book; every time a place that I knew was mentioned I found myself smiling and nodding my head as it was described. This book is well worth the read.

My Daughter’s Wedding by Gretel Killeen: I didn’t love this book. While I loved the idea of this book and the lay out; telling the story through real time diary entries, something just didn’t click for me. I don’t know if it is my age, the fact that I don’t have kids, or the fact that I just didn’t care enough about the characters., this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. I will admit that I had a few laugh out loud moments while reading this book, but overall I was just underwhelmed by it.

A Week To Remember by Esther Campion: This book was wonderful. I am a massive fan of Esther Campion so I was very excited to get my hands on this book. Reading this book was like coming home. It was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. I loved the story, the characters and as expected I loved the writing. If you are looking for an amazing book that will take you on a journey that you won’t want to end then this is the book for you.

COVID-19 by Dr Michael Mosley: This book was great. It was a quick and easy read that was full of information and easy to follow scientific details. This book also has sketches to accompany the information so that readers are able to understand the information more easily. I am really glad that I picked up this book and I think everyone should read this book as it is a book that everyone could learn something from.

I hope you all had a great reading month. Let me know what you guys read this month in the comments section.

Until my March Wrap Up…

Happy Reading…

~>GEM<~

My Daughter’s Wedding by Gretel Killeen

‘Nora Fawn’s daughter, Hope, disappeared four years ago. Nora has never known why. Refusing to answer her mother’s calls, emails or texts, Hope maintained contact only with her big sister, Joy. Having once considered her mothering to be the greatest achievement of her life, Nora’s spent these Hope-less years searching, aching, mother-guilting, working for a famous yet talentless artist and avoiding her own emotionally repressed mother, Daphne.

But … last night Hope rang out of the blue to say, ‘I’m coming home, I’m getting married, the wedding is in three weeks and it’s your job to organise it.’ Desperate to prove her worth as a mother and regain her daughter’s love, Nora commits to the task – assisted by her own increasingly dementia’d mother and her two best friends, Soula (an amateur bikini-line waxer) and Thilma (whom they found in a cab in the 1980s).’

I didn’t love this book.

I liked the idea of this book and I really enjoyed the layout; having the story told through real time diary entries was both fun and creative. While I had some genuine laugh out loud moments while reading this book, overall it left me underwhelmed.

I don’t know if it is because of my age, or the fact that I don’t have children, but something about this book just didn’t click with me. As this was such a fast paced story, I felt like I didn’t have any time to get to know that characters and that really made it difficult for me to care about them.

I really enjoyed the writing in this book though. It was fast paced, smart and easy to read. I even had moments reading this book when I felt quite emotional. Given that this book is mainly a comedy, I was impressed by the emotional depth of it.

I can easily see that this is going to be a popular book that will bring joy to many readers; unfortunately, I just don’t think I am the right audience for this story.

My Daughter’s Wedding by Gretel Killeen is out now.

The Fellowship Of The Ring Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in The Fellowship Of The Ring Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, lets jump straight in:

Gandalf 

A book that taught you something.

Parkland: Birth of a Movement by Dave Cullen

Frodo 

A book that left a mark on you.

The Happiest Man On Earth by Eddie Jaku.

Legolas 

A book you finished in one sitting.

The Storm Within by Cameron Smith.

Gimli 

A book that features an unlikely friendship.

Code Name Bananas by David Walliams

Merry 

A book that pleasantly surprised you.

The River Home by Hannah Richell

Pippin 

A book that made you laugh.

Senior Moments by Angus Fitzsimons

Boromir 

A book/series that you think ended too soon.

The Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell

Sam 

A book with memorable side characters who stole the show.

A Tale of Witchcraft… by Chris Colfer

Aragorn 

A good book with a bad/average cover.

White Eagles by Elizabeth Wein

Gollum 

A book that had great potential but disappointed you in the end.

The Dark Lady by Akala

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Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

All We Dream by Pamela Cook

‘A forgotten necklace. A family secret. Two women hiding from the truth.

When successful Sydney lawyer Miranda McIntyre searches for something old to go with her wedding dress, she remembers an antique necklace from her childhood. Her mother’s denial of its existence only deepens Miranda’s curiosity but the discovery of a faded wedding photo and an old newspaper clipping reveal long-buried family secrets.

Who is the woman in the photo? And why are these keepsakes hidden in her mother’s closet?

Miranda’s quest for the truth takes her on a road trip south to the idyllic seaside village of Pelican Point where she stumbles upon a secluded cliff-top cottage and the reclusive Esther Wilson. As Miranda begins to unravel the mystery, a tale of daring rescue, forbidden love and shocking betrayal unfolds.
Meeting enigmatic horse trainer Vincent Kennedy forces Miranda to question the life she has worked so hard to create, throwing into turmoil everything she thought she knew about the past and about herself.’

I loved this book.

I am a fan of Pamela Cook so I went into this book with high hopes. Not only did it live up to my high expectations, it well and truly surpassed them.

I loved the plot of this book. It was really interesting to watch this story unfold; it was also very emotional. Getting to follow Miranda and Esther, as well as a great group of supporting characters was like riding a roller coaster. There were high and lows, twists and turns, and truly relatable situations and dialog.

Speaking of Miranda and Esther; they were amazing characters to follow. Honestly there were so many great characters in this book whose personalities radiated off the pages. I loved watching thee characters develop and grow both independently and together.

Pamela Cook has done a wonderful job with this book. It was beautiful, compelling and utterly moving. Pamela Cook’s writing really agrees with me and after finishing this novel I cannot wait to pick up and fall in love with another of her fantastic stories.

All We Dream by Pamela Cook will take you on a journey that you wont want to end.

Pointless Facts 12!

So I have decided to make my Pointless Facts post a series. I really enjoyed compiling Pointless Facts, so I think I will make a new list every month. So I hope you all enjoy this months installment of Pointless Facts. Let’s jump in, shall we?

Chickens can travel up to 15 km per hour.

Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown further if it is thrown West.

The left lung is smaller than the right, allowing room for your heart.

The honeybee kills more people worldwide than all the poisonous snakes combined.

If the stomach did not store food, people would have to eat every 20 minutes.

Brontology is the study of thunder.

Swans are the only birds with penises.

A mysophobic person has an intense fear of infection.

Tuna suffocate if they stop swimming.

Kilogram for kilogram, humans produce more heat than the sun.

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I hope you all enjoyed today’s pointless facts. Let me know in the comments if these pointless facts were new to you or if you had already come across them.

~>GEM<~

Witness by Louise Milligan

‘A masterful and deeply troubling expose, Witness is the culmination of almost five years’ work for award-winning investigative journalist Louise Milligan. Charting the experiences of those who have the courage to come forward and face their abusers in high-profile child abuse and sexual assault cases, Milligan was profoundly shocked by what she found.

During this time, the #MeToo movement changed the zeitgeist, but time and again during her investigations Milligan watched how witnesses were treated in the courtroom and listened to them afterwards as they relived the associated trauma. Then she was a witness herself in the trial of the decade, R v George Pell.

She interviews high-profile members of the legal profession, including judges and prosecutors. And she speaks to the defence lawyers who have worked in these cases, discovering what they really think about victims and the process, and the impact that this has on their own lives. Milligan also reveals never-before-published court transcripts, laying bare the flaws that are ignored, and a court system that can be sexist, unfeeling and weighted towards the rich and powerful.

Witness is a call for change. Milligan exposes the devastating reality of the Australian legal system where truth is never guaranteed and, for victims, justice is often elusive. And even when they get justice.’

This book was absolutely fantastic.

This is honestly one of the best books I have read in a while. I will start of by saying it was by no means an easy read. The subject matter was dark, heartbreaking and at times truly depressing. I had to put this book down quite a few times in order to compose myself and to just have a break from the horrific situations that this book contains.

In saying that, this is a book that I whole heartedly believe that every single person should read. This book opened my eyes to things that are happening around me everyday that I have never before thought about. There is so much for a reader to learn from this book and I honestly believe that if everyone was to read this book society as a whole would be better for it.

Louise Milligan has done a fantastic job with this extraordinary book. I cant image the work that went into this book as well as the emotional toll researching and writing this book must have taken from her. All I can say is that I am so glad that Louise Milligan wrote this book and I am so glad that I have now read this book.

Witness by Louise Milligan is a must read for absolutely everyone.

Who Am I? Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Who Am I? Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, let’s jump straight in:

If your life was a book genre, what would it be?

Contemporary. Although given my family some may believe it is Fantasy.

What villain from a book do you most identify with?

I am going to go a bit off centre with this one and say the beast from Beauty and the Beast, the Queen of Hearts from Alice In Wonderland and The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Now I will explain.

The Beast wasn’t really a villain as he was cursed and that is why he did what he did. That one is easy.

After reading Heartless by Marissa Meyer I see the Queen of Hearts differently; so I identify with her if we are taking her from Heartless.

As for the Wicked Witch of the West; I identify with the version of her from Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (and Wicked the Musical), so I am taking that version of her.

What protagonist are you most similar to?

Molly Peskin-Suso from The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli.

What book did you connect with in the past that you no longer do?

The Journals of Rachel Scott: A Journey of Faith at Columbine High by Beth Nimmo, Debra Klingsporn, and Dana Scott.

What recent book read would you love to be a character in?

A Tale Of Magic by Chris Colfer.

How do your reading habits show off your personality?

I like a bit of everything.

I’m not afraid to delve into difficult topics.

I’m a night owl.

I will make up my own mind about something.

I march to the beat of my own drum.

What book taught you something about yourself?

The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods by Julian Baggini

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Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

‘WELCOME TO MANHATTAN, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. Everyone there wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

LEDA COLE’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

ERIS DODD-RADSON’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

RYLIN MYERS’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will this new life cost Rylin her old one?

WATT BAKRADI is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy for an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is AVERY FULLER, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Amid breathtaking advancement and high-tech luxury, five teenagers struggle to find their place at the top of the world. But when you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down….’

I really enjoyed this book.

I am not a massive fans on books told from multiple perspectives so it took me a while to get into this book. I will also admit that there were certain characters that I wanted to stick with instead of jumping to a different character and I had to stop myself from skipping to the chapters about the characters I was more interested in.

In saying that, I really enjoyed the story that was being told. I genuinely didn’t know what was going to happen at the end of the story; which made for a compelling read. The twit and turns that this story took me on were really interesting which made for a pretty quick read as I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Katharine McGee did a great job with the writing of this book. The descriptions were wonderful, as was the conversations and character development. The story flowed really well and the setting and plot of this book were truly interesting. Now that I have finished this book I am excited to get my hands on the sequel.

The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee is the perfect book to kick off a new series for me to sink my teeth into.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s the day of love people! Well it is the day of love in Australia when this post goes up.

I have no plans for this romantic day. In saying that, I have plans but they are not with anyone and don’t involve doing anything outside of my house.

My plan for this Valentine’s Day is to curl up with a teeth achingly sweet book and I am also hoping to end the night by watching a chick flick. For me, that is a perfect Valentine’s Day.

I will hopefully be receiving my usual Valentine’s Day gift from my mum; she gets my sisters and I a card and gift every year. I am hoping for chocolate or lollies that I can get stuck into whilst I am watching my movie.

I haven’t yet decided what movie I am going to watch but I am leaning towards To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’ P.S. I Love You or All The Bright Places. Both of this movies have been on my Netflix watch list for such a long time and I am thinking that Valentine’s Day may be the day to finally watch one or maybe even both of them.

Even though I have plans to watch one of the two above movies on Netflix I would not be surprised if I ended up watching a movie that I have seen many times before; Dirty Dancing is sounding pretty good right now. Given that these are my plans, they are mine to change as I see fit.

With the craziness that is COVID-19 still affecting the world I am guessing that Valentine’s Day is going to be pretty different for many people. I just hope that everyone feels loved this Valentine’s Day and that no-one feel alone.

Well that’s it from me.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

~>GEM<~

How to Write a Love Story by Katy Cannon

‘Tilly Frost has grown up reading her grandmother’s bestselling romance novels – so when the one and only Beatrix Frost is taken ill, Tilly finishes writing her latest work. Then Tilly agrees to start the next book. But what is her gran hiding from her? And how can Tilly write a heart-pounding romance when she’s never been in love? Can she turn her school crush into something more? One thing Tilly should know is that the course of true love never did run smooth…’

This was a wonderfully sweet book.

I read this book whilst I was on holidays and it was the perfect holiday read. It was fun, sweet and completely entertaining.

This was one of those books that I picked up on a whim, and boy am I happy that I did. The story itself wasn’t anything new but it was easy to get lost in and I wasn’t once bored while I was reading it. I will admit that I did see some of the plot points coming but there were others that genuinely surprised me which I really enjoyed.

As for the characters in this book; they were wonderful. I loved Tilly and her crazy family and I really enjoyed her conversations with her friends. I found myself genuinely excited when scenes with Tilly and her friends came up. I also loved getting to hear Tilly’s inner dialog.

Another thing I loved about this book was the writing aspect. I loved they there were bits and pieces of Tilly’s writing as well as glimpses of other novels; albeit fictitious ones, scattered throughout the story. Given that this story was about writing a novel, having the various scatted sections of other novels in this book really added to the story that was being told.

Katy Cannon has done a wonderful job with this book. It is everything I wanted it to be and more. This is the first of Katy Cannon’s books that I have read, but now that I have read one of her books I am excited to get my hands on some more of her works.

How to Write a Love Story by Katy Cannon is a great little read that is worth checking out.