This Month I Have Mostly Been Reading-May

This month I got to read so much as I had another month of hospital appointments!

It was a mixed bag regarding books some I loved, some I disliked and one I hated!

I even manged to enjoy reading in the garden when it wasn't raining!

Me Before You-Jojo Moyes
What to say about this book that hasn't already been said? I am a bit slow when it comes to poplar books. I tend not to read something just because everyone else is, if it is a good book and not just hype then it will be still be a good book when the hype has gone.
When a number of my friends recommend this book to me after a few months I decided to give it a go! I actually read this the last few days of April when I was sick with a sinus infection but my review for April had been done and I enjoyed this book so much I had to add it to my May review.
I got into this book more or less straight away. I really like the lead character Lou she is down to earth, normal and likable. I really enjoyed Moyes style of writing straight forward and to the point. I think alot of people know the plot so I will kept my summary short and simple.
Lou loses her job as a waitress at a greasy spoon, she still lives at home with her parents in there over crowded semi, she has a boyfriend of six years and she has idea of what her live will be like, whenever her boyfriend Patrick finally decides to propose she will marry him, go on cheap sun holidays, work at what ever job she can get and live in his flat or with his Mother. That is until she starts to work for Will Traynor who was a well to do workaholic and thrill seeker, until a road accident took away his desire for life it also took away his body. Will is paralysed from mid torso and hates this way of life. Lou works as his career and try to help improve his way of life and his state of mind.
The two form an unlike friendship and go a journey of sorts, they learn so much from each other and open each others minds to different things.
This book was beautiful and I normally don't do soppy books but this was so much more than that. I laughed, I gigged, I shipped, I felt sad, I felt happy,  I read into the early morning hours and I sobbed crazy fat tears with snot and everything (blame the sinus infection on that one!)
I haven't cried like that when reading a book in a long long time, l really can't remember when I cried sad tears but been really happy with the ending of a book at the same time!
The movie version is out next month my Mam and I will go to see it. She read the book after I did and loved it just as much as I did, but I doubt the movie will compare to how the book made us feel.
Time to check out some more of Jojo Moyes at my library!

The Observations-Jane Harris
From a book I loved to one I really disliked! If a book doesn't grab me by the 200 page mark then I am sorry you have lost me! This book is the story of Bessie who starts to work in the Scottish Highlands as a maid for a mistress with a secret in the Victoria times.
Gosh I tried so hard with this book put it down so many times but the writing was good so I picked it back up again. I kept with it hoping that the story would pick up and just as it did, it had the most let down ending!

The Secret Keeper-Kate Morton

I am going to be honest this book was a let down for me and dare I say it I this disliked this book

a first for a Kate Morton book for me. I know Morton's books are normally a slower burn but at page 331 and I still didn't care about any of the characters or plot I knew this book wasn't going to be a favourite.

The plot sounds great in the early 1960's Laurel is dreaming of becoming an actress. She wants to escape her younger sibling's garden party, so goes to day dream about the boy she is seeing and moving to London in the family tree house. There she is witness to her Mother murdering a stranger instead. That Summer stays with Laurel for the rest of her life. In 2011 when her Mother is slowly dying Laurel starts to unravel the mystery of what happened that Summer.

Sounds like everything I like about Morton but it was so hard to get into usually by 100 pages of a book I am somewhat invested in the plot and characters but I wasn't with this book. All of the female characters aren't very likable. There was nothing to make me want to care about them and I found them very one dimensional. Laurel was any okay character but she all of sudden had an interest in her family and family home when it seemed for a good 30 years and more hadn't really cared about them in the slightest! Her sisters again quite unlikeable and in a book that is over 600 pages long didn't feature in the book much. Dolly seemed a bit of a fruit and nut! Making up stories and lies that never happened! By the time Vivien is given a voice in the book I had given up caring about the plot which was a shame as Vivien was the best character in the book and the most likable.

After spending what felt like forever for the story to pick up I was let down when it did. The twist and turns where good but it did feel like too little too late. I was disappointed as I know Kate Morton can be brilliant at times but for me this book was 200 pages too long with a plot that took too long to get started.   

The Bucket List To Mend A Broken Heart-Anna Bell

This is just the type of book I like to read while in and out of hospital appointments

a light chick lit to get me through the endless waiting rooms!

Like so many chick lit it's the story of a broken relationship! Abi is heart broken when love of her life Joseph dumps her stating there just too different. Abi finds Joseph's list of things to do before 40 in her box of belongings and decides to do the list herself to try win him back.

Problem is there all things Abi hates, cycling, rock climbing, mountaineering, camping, and wind surfing, but Abi surprises herself and meets lots of new friends.

The book is a good chick lit well written and funny. Abi is a bit desperate but she is a likable character just a bit too in getting her ex back. Her ex seems a bit of an arse to be honest and the longer then are broken up, the more she throws herself into the bucket list. There is funny moments and of course there is her bike instructor Ben with his help her confidence grows.

It's fairly straight forward who Abi is going to end up with and the book has a lovely feel good ending. Just the the thing to read with a coffee in hand passing the time in a hospital waiting room!

The Second Duchess-Eizabeth Loupas

After reading Loupas last month and really enjoying her book I follow this month with

The Second Duchess another book I devoured in two days!

Set in Renaissance Italy at the court of Ferrara, Barbara Duchess of Austria comes to Italy to become wife to the Duke and Duchess of Ferrara. Barbara is the older second wife of The Duke the first wife who was beautiful and young died under mysterious circumstances. Despite The Duke's command not to ask questions about his first wife or her death, Barbara cannot let the matter drop especially after a few close calls on her own life. Soon herself and The Duke are investigating into the last few days of the first Duchess life. Someone isn't happy about the questions Barbara has been asking and wishes to see the Second Duchess dead.

I really enjoyed Barbara's point of view she is a strong, witty character. The book is mostly her point of view, but Loupas also gives the first Duchess a voice too she is very different to Barbra so it was a nice contrast when reading the two women's thoughts. 

The Second Duchess was great page turner that kept me guessing until the end. Loupas is a great story teller and I look forward to reading more from her.

Appleby Farm-Cathy Bramley

This beautiful cover drew me to this book. It was just what I needed to read while

sitting in the hospital and doctor waiting rooms! This is a well written chick lit about Freya who has been flitting from one job to another and can't seem to settle in one place. She was raised by her Aunt and Uncle as her parents where very career based and moved alot with her Father's job. When her elderly Uncle is took ill Freya goes back to help at her childhood home Appleby Farm. While she is there she discovers how ill her Uncle is and how much her Aunt wants to retire but there the farm is in a huge amount of debt and the cattle have TB so need to be put down. How can Freya help keep the farm in the family and save it from being put up for sale? Plus there is the boy next door who has grown alot since Freya last saw him does Freya have time for love as well as everything else?

This is a charming read set in the beautiful British Lake District, perfect light Summer read.

What Oisìn has been reading this month:

When You Where Born-Benji Bennett

I have mentioned Adam's Cloud here before but this was the first book of the collection we bought Oisìn it was actually one of the first book we bought him when he was around eight months old.

This book really gets me every time I read it to him. After trying to conceive for so long been told it was going to be a long journey due to my PCOS and Endonetriosis to then finally having our baby boy this book just spoke to me. It is about how the baby on a journey picks it's parents from heaven. How if they picked baby fluff number five it would be a bee in a beehive, if it picked seven it would be a dolphin delivered from heaven etc 

It's the last couple of pages that are so special and sweet it's a book that we treasure and one we will be reading for many years to come.

What have you been reading this month?