Elinor’s Bookshelf

When I recently published my original "shortlist" of books for this year's big book summer challenge hosted by Sue at BookByBook , I hadn't expected so many responses.  Thank you all so much for your thoughts and feedback on Blogger, Twitter and Instagram!  I've compiled a short er list for this year's Big Book Summer challenge:  ❶ The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett ❷ The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ❸ The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne ❹ The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón ❺ Me Before You by Jojo Moyes ❻ The Testaments by Margaret Atwood ❼ The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes ❽ Scythe by Neal Shusterman This is going to be really tough with only 13 weeks of challenge ahead.  I’ve crunched the numbers, and I need to increase my reading by about 20% - so wish me luck, and I'll be keeping you posted on my progress!

My rating: ★★★★☆ The ambassador of Norway in Bangkok has just been found dead in a Motel, with a knife sticking out of his back. The government wants to keep the story under wraps. Harry Hole, who’s given up on staying dry, hasn’t been up to much since his last investigation in Australia ( The Bat by Jo Nesbø). But they’ve decided they want him and no other, perhaps because they’d rather the case were not cracked wide open. This was excellent - Harry Hole and some of the other characters are nicely fleshed out. Bangkok is vivid. You’re there, you can hear the relentless traffic, the noise, the music, see the prostitutes, and the mafia but also the beauty of it all, the smell of the place and its food. View all my reviews

Well, I've been MIA here for a while and have recently caught up on posting my latest reviews. Time does fly and it's already that time of year again - Sue from https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/ is hosting her #BigBookSummer challenge again this year and I can't wait to get started.  Check out the link below if you would like to join too - it's a really laid-back challenge so don't sweat it!   But before I do, here are the books on my shelf that qualify for this year's challenge - 19 altogether (and that's my shortlist!).  There is no way I can read all of those this year, so I'd love thoughts to help me choose! Here are the books I'm considering for this year's challenge. The English and their History by Robert Tombs At a whopping 1012 pages this history book definitely qualifies for the challenge.  It's been on my shelf for a while - I guess I am daunted by its page count and the fact it's non-fiction.  This one is in my grey zone at t

My rating: ★★★☆☆ First and foremost this was a truly unexpected plot mixing fantasy, history, geography, and fiction. I'm not sure whether it's me or the writing but I did get distracted whilst reading the first half in particular and, at the same time, I felt drawn to the historical and geographical parts of the book - the author must have done a lot of fact-checking to get all of this to fit together properly. Overall this made for a good read even if some of the plot was a little difficult to understand on a human level (most notably PC Grant's apparent numbness to his friend's plight in the last two chapters). I did think the personification of the rivers was clever and managed to get the hang of this slightly different world after a bit. I shall be giving the second instalment a go. View all my reviews

My rating: ★★★★★ This is something else. Enter a world of sapphic love and desire featuring Nancy (loosely inspired by Zola’s Nana), Kitty the “masher”, Diana the huntress, a gently blossoming Florence, and a flurry of lesser yet equally entertaining characters. The tantalising story of Nancy Astley unfolds from her youth as an oyster-girl in Whitstable to her discovery of lesbian love, lust, and pleasure in late 19th century London. The capricious and frivolous nature of Nancy belies the importance of her journey. She fumbles and falls trying to define herself, running from the past at break-neck speed, while at the same time hiding her present like a precious jewel never to be spoiled. But the present inevitably passes, and the past never truly is passed. Sometimes lubricious, always brave, and often risqué, the style, with slang in all the right places, and queers and gays and toms, has an almost poetic ring to it. It conjures up people and whole scenes in vivid colours, or browns

My rating: ★★★★☆ Wow! Will hasn’t seen his brother Ken since Ken was framed for a murder close to home, over a decade ago. Ken and his family believe he’s dead until Ken’s mother, on her deathbed, tells Will that Ken is still alive. Will decides to find him, and on that journey back in time, what will he unearth? This was very good - I had previously read The Stranger which left me (sorry fans I know you’ll not like me for this) nonplussed. This, on the other hand, I believe to be in true Harlan Coben style: suspenseful, intriguing, and with a twist. And a twist. And a twist. This was right up my alley, quite dark and with that taste of the underworld that makes a thriller truly, well, thrilling. View all my reviews

My rating: ★★★★☆ When I started this, my immediate thought was 'another good book about race!'. BUT the scope of the book shifted early on to differences and minorities in general, and the theme of "passing as something that you are not" was brought in. These were clever moves by Brit Bennett, because the book stands out and covers the broader theme of identity (racial, sexual, ...). I liked the timelines, and the different perspectives - twin sisters, one living as a coloured person, the other passing as white and living a life of privilege and secrecy, and the effects on their offspring. This made for an interesting, worthwile read. View all my reviews I read this book as part of the UNO-2021 Challenge on GoodReads (team Mystic Pizza).

My rating: ★★★☆☆ Imagine a wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. The guests have made the crossing in choppy waters and the weather is getting worse, further isolating the island from the mainland. As night falls, you could easily get lost or trapped in the dark especially if you’ve had that extra glass of fizz. As the party gets into full sway, a body is found – whose is it and what exactly happened? This books has everything of a great mystery : the seclusion and eeriness of the settings, the growing number of motives as the past unravels page by page, good pacing, and lots of intrigue. BUT (I know you knew this was coming), the ending is a complete let-down on a brilliant promise. Such a shame really as it was doing so well - the way all the loose ends are tied up is just too unrealistic for me, too coincidental. I *will* be giving The Hunting Party a shot! View all my reviews I read this book as part of the UNO-2021 Challenge on GoodReads (team Mystic Pizza).

My rating: ★★★★☆ “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” This story is about a teenage girl, her family, all wrapped up in their childhood traumas, unable to talk about them, unable to think outside of them. As the book unfolds we discover Lydia’s parents’ hopes for her to live the lives they couldn’t, or decided they wouldn’t. We discover siblings, always set aside, and the weight of parents’ expectations. It reminded me of those sores and scratches inevitably etched in my mind by my own parents, and their parents before them, and their own. All these unseen broken things inside are delicately and beautifully told in the book - not violent as such, yet deeply mournful. Despite the sadness, I was impressed by Celeste Ng’s style and keen observation, and the detail with which human nature, grief, love, and denial are portrayed in this work. View all my reviews 7 I read this book as part of the UNO-2021 Challenge on GoodReads (team Mystic Pizza).

My rating: ★★★★☆ This was “freaking cool”! An easy, fun YA read covering some of the most important and exciting times of teenage years. At first this felt like a modernised version “The perks of being a wallflower” except... Simon isn’t a Wallflower, he is in fact one of the cool dudes at school with good looks and lots of friends. The story starts with Simon getting blackmailed over email messages from a mysterious gay boy going under the alias of “Blue”. This made for an engaging read - I did so want to know for sure who Blue would turn out to be! View all my reviews I read this book as part of the UNO-2021 Challenge on GoodReads (team Mystic Pizza).