Reading this week.

Reading this week has been a bit problematic lately. I have a policy of never giving negative reviews because book taste is subjective and, as a writer myself, I am fully aware of how much work goes into producing even quite a short novel. You may have gathered that the posts should really be titled read last week because I never put up a book unless I know what it's like thus, a negative review is avoided. Since my last reading post I have read five novels and a novella. One Judith Cutler mystery from the Lina Townend series. This was a re-read so I knew I'd enjoy it even though I never quite know what's going on. This was followed by two chick-lit/contemporary romance novels which were frankly awful and so won't get a mention here. The first was the fifth novel from a popular indie author and was utterly flat. I read her first novel and had exactly the same criticisms of that novel but she sells well so what do I know? The second was published by Carina Press and although the premise was interesting the author used the same two words so many times I had a touch of the screaming habdabs before I finished it. I went on to read a Victorian set novel which sounded promising but was actually so boring I almost feel asleep over it. The novella was by the same author and although it was better that's the only good thing I have to say about it.

Finally,a book I can mention: Cooking up a Storm by Sue Welfare. I had been looking at this book for ages before I finally downloaded it and this one lived up to its promise. It's a fun read about Sarah, a young woman whose life suddenly collapses around her so she moves to the country with her two little boys. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion and although at first I thought I knew who the hero would be, for long periods of the novel I really wasn't sure. Highly recommended if you're looking for something light and feel good.

Reading this week.

Yes, we're still in Trishaworld and it's another re-read; the third read to be precise. I'm in the mood for Christmas but my husband's birthday is at the end of November so I usually wait until that's over before I start with Christmas preparations. This book is a nice fill-in. Holly Brown is expecting to have a very quiet Christmas sitting a house and dog while its owner is away but ends up running a house party for eleven people who get snowed in. I will say no more so as not to spoil it but I will tell you that it satisfies everything you might want in a story that runs from just before Christmas until just after Twelfth Night.
Amazingly, it actually snowed here today after a frosty start so the weather is clearly co-operating.
What are you reading this week?

Reading this week

Or more accurately, re-reading. I like Trisha Ashley's Mosses and Sticklepond novels and I was in the mood for something comforting. Her books fall into the romantic novel category but actually there really isn't much romance in them. A relationship develops between characters and there is a happy ending but we don't get much of the detail. What we do get is a blend of cooking, dogs, village life and friendship-all the things that make a happy life, at least for me!