Wondrous Words

When Lexi's sport-mad boyfriend Will skips her friend's wedding to watch football - after pretending to have food poisoning - it might just be the final whistle for their relationship. But fed up of just getting mad, Lexi decides to even the score. And, when a couple of lost tickets and an 'accidentally' broken television lead to them spending extra time together, she's delighted to realise that revenge might be the best thing that's happened to their relationship. And if her clever acts of sabotage prove to be a popular subject for her blog, what harm can that do? It's not as if he'll ever find out... Hilarious. The main reason i chose this story was the element of the blog writing as i've recently started my own and sort of hoped it would nudge me to stop overthinking and just do it.  Anyway, back to the plot. Lexi, a long term sufferer of a sports mad boyfriend who lies about being unable to attend her best friend's we...

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life. I finally picked this book up after one of my friend's adored it and basically told me i had to read it. The story focuses on a retired gentleman who is bored with life and whose marriage is a routine with each of them sleeping in separate rooms and lack conversation. One morning he goes to post a letter and just keeps on walking and walking and walking.  His journey was delicately written and his character drew me in straight away as i just envisioned a little old man with glasses who has pottered through life. I wasn't expecting the twist towards the end (i won't spoil it) but that is what made the story for me. Until the twist, i was a littl...

She'll need a triple-barrelled name for the castle one. She'll need a gallon of glitter for the woodland one. She'll need a lobster-shaped hat for the Shoreditch one. Laura Lake longs to be a journalist. Instead she's an unpaid intern at a glossy magazine – sleeping in the fashion cupboard and living on canapés. But she's just got her first big break: infiltrate three society weddings and write a juicy exposé.  Security will be tighter than a bodycon dress, but how hard can it be? Cue disappearing brides, demanding socialites – and a jealous office enemy who will do anything to bring her down... I've read books by Wendy Holden in the past and she is really is an author who delivers on her blurbs; an easy read, large sum of bitchiness, office gossip, dash of romance and of course, a central protagonist you can feel for and align your allegiances with. Laura Lake was no different. The original title was what drew my attention to this simply from the men...

Abi's barely left her bed since Joseph, the love of her life, dumped her, saying they were incompatible. When Joseph leaves a box of her possessions on her doorstep, she finds a bucket list of ten things she never knew he wanted to do. Will completing the action-packed list - no easy challenge for the naturally timid Abi - be the way to win back her man? Or might Abi just have a surprise in store…? This tale was exactly what I was looking for as a Summer read; a broken-hearted girl with a kick-arse attitude and ultimately becomes a new version of herself. Women power? Yes. Laugh out loud tales? Absolutely. After being abruptly dumped, Abi, you’re normal relatable girl, stumbles across his bucket list and obviously thinks it’s a great idea to complete all of these challenges to win the loser back. Of course, what follows? A hot man. New hobbies. Bitchy work drama. Everything which could get in her way. I have to admit that at first I wasn’t feeling the book as she was qui...

For two couples in Paris, over a century apart, marriage is only the beginning of their love stories... For Sophie, a provincial girl at heart, it is easy to be swept up in the glamour of belle époque Paris. But she quickly discovers that loving a feted artist like Édouard Lefèvre brings undreamt of complications. Over a hundred years later, Liv is looking forward to her Parisian honeymoon with her husband, David, following their whirlwind romance. But arriving in the city, it quickly turns out not to be the romantic getaway she had been hoping for… So I've read a couple of books by Jojo Moyes, notably 'Me Before You' and the unbelievably terrific 'The Last Letter from your Lover' so i kinda jumped at the thought of reading a short intro into a new set of characters before descending upon the big picture.   The tale introduced 2 couples each revolving around a slightly ignored wife and a more work-obsessed husband. In all honesty this has not lead ...

After being an avid and generally nerdy reader, I finally went to my first literature festival in the form of Wimbledon Bookfest . The festival took place from 29th September - 9th October in the beautiful setting of Wimbledon which was such a perfect setting for a literature festival - with quaint and independent shops situated upon curved paths. Of course it was a typical English weather day with lashings of rain as soon as I stepped off the train, forcing me to buy a Cath Kidston umbrella for it to then stop 10 minutes later! Anyway I had booked tickets to see Ella Woodward (of Deliciously Ella fame) but arrived early and managed to wangle tickets for Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads . Wow. What a talk. I have to admit I hadn’t purchased the book as it was on my Christmas list but it’s just made me want Christmas to arrive even earlier. The insight and passion for which he spoke about the history of the World in realms that i wasn’t even taught about at school, to h...

I’m a big fan of Jenny Colgan’s work. I find her stories the perfect chill-out book to curl up on the sofa with. All of those i’ve read have transported me to the lives of the likeable characters and instantly has me rooting for them and this was no different. The storyline called to me straight away involving a passionate (and slightly nerdy) librarian kicked out of her library and forced to create a whole new career. The central protagonist, Nina, throws off her fears and inhibitions and completely begins her life in a rural area of Scotland after purchasing a van which she aims to fill with books! Jenny Colgan’s blurb on the back cover was truly fantastic for all of us book boffins: “Sometimes i think being a reader is kind of like being in a special club…there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book in front of the fire or on a sun-lounger or under a tree but sometimes i feel maybe we’re the only people who know that reading is different (and better than) all the c...