Addition: Free e-book from Amazon

Genre: Short stories, chick-lit

Rating: 3 out of 5

Synopsis:

In Six Geese a-Laying, Christmas is approaching, and Ginny is looking forward to the birth of her first baby. It’s a pity her partner Dan is so useless, and she has to keep reminding him where he’s going wrong. Luckily she’s enrolled into the most exclusive antenatal class going – all the highest achieving, smartest mothers-to-be aspire to be taught by the legendary Petal Harmon. Like the other five women in the class, Ginny already knows exactly what she wants, and how she’s going to handle motherhood.But when they turn up for the final class it isn’t quite what they expect. As Ginny discovers what parenthood is really going to be like, she begins to realize the things that really matter…

I do enjoy Sophie Kinsella, and I like Christmas books – so this is a great combination! I’m not a huge fan of short stories, although I do like reading them quickly and adding them to my Read List!

This is an interesting read – a twist on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Ginny is one of a selective few chosen to attend Petal Harmon’s antinatal classes. There are 5 others in the class, and although she claims she doesn’t gloat – she does! There is someone in the group, Grace, who she can’t work out why is in the group as she is young and scared. In their final class they have an extraordinary experience – the Ghost of the Pregnancy Future. The Ghost teaches them a lot about themselves, with great outcomes.

It is hard to judge characters in short stories as the book isn’t long enough for their characters to form, but to be honest the only person I liked was Grace! She didn’t seem full of herself, didn’t have any plans and although scared, probably the wisest person in the room! I found Ginny annoying – she was arrogant about being in that class and always criticising her husband, which I didn’t like.

This is a nice Christmas story. It was a light, very quick, easy read. I liked the outcome of the story and although this is short – I enjoyed reading it!

REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Addition: Review e-book from netGalley

Genre: Female fiction, romance

Rating: 4 out of 5

This is a collection of short stories, written by prolific chick-lit authors Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery and Christina Skye.

Debbie Macomber

Knitting is a way of life: The Twenty-First Wish by Debbie Macomber

Anne Marie Roche and her adopted daughter, ten-year-old Ellen, have each written a list of twenty wishes – on which they included learning to knit. But Ellen has quietly added a twenty-first wish: that her mom will fall in love with Tim, Ellen’s birth father, who’s recently entered their lives…

This short story follows on from the Blossom Street stories. Anne Marie had recently adopted Ellen, a girl who had been bought up by her Grandma until her death. Ellen’s Dad – Tim, who didn’t know until he was a father until Ellen was adopted has been spending a lot of time with both his daughter and Anne Marie. Both adults developed feelings for each other but Tim had a fiancée. When she found out about Ellen, she went back to drinking, and Tim – a recovering alcohol left her. However, Anne Marie felt messed around Tim and decided to have nothing more to do with him. However, Ellen has one wish she has told no one – that Anne Marie and Tim fall in love. Will her wish come true?

I love Debbie Macomber, and I enjoyed this story. Sadly, it was too short! Macomber writes a lovely story about friendship, family and love. My favourite character was Ellen. She was cute and so likeable. She is passionate and just a delight to read. I think Macomber writes really warm, friendly characters and it is so easy to fall in love with them.

The ending was not a surprise – but it was so nice! I was satisfied and happy by the conclusion. The only problem with this story was it was too short. I love the Blossom Street series – the characters, the knitting and the friendship. I really hope Macomber writes another in this series.

Susan Mallery

Knitting is a passion: Coming Unraveled by Susan Mallery

When Robyn Mulligan’s dreams of becoming a Broadway star give way to longing for her childhood home, she returns to Texas, running her grandmother’s knitting store. But the handsome, hot-tempered T.J. Passman isn’t making it easy on her. If he can learn to trust Robyn, and overcome his tragic past, they just might discover a passion like no other. Susan’s story in this anthology is linked to her book ALREADY HOME (April 2011).

To be honest, I didn’t enjoy this story too much. It follows Robyn, a girl who had always dreamt of becoming a Broadway star. She leaves Texas for New York, but her dreams don’t come to anything. She returns to Texas when her Gran needs to go in for an operation. When she walks into the knitting shop she is greeted by an angry stare from a guy she has never met – T.J. After a short, hostile chat with him, she discovers he thinks she is a fraud, lying to her Gran and living off her money. He is wrong, but will she change his mind?

The problem I had with this story was it seemed really sex-driven. Every time T.J. and Robyn look at each other, Mallery seems compelled to describe all emotions and longings. It just made me bored and uncomfortable.

This is another love story with knitting thrown in. Again, the ending was predictable – but who doesn’t like a happy ending?! I thought Robyn’s Gran and her friends were lovely characters. They were funny and so caring. They were really supportive of Robyn, even after her acting career didn’t work out.

This is a nice story, ruined by too much talk about sex, and the longing for it.

Christina Skye

Knitting is a comfort: Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye

After a devastating car accident, Caro McNeal is welcomed by a community of knitters on Oregon’s sleepy Summer Island. She also finds meaning and purpose in the letters she exchanges with a marine serving in Afghanistan. But when life takes another unexpected turn, will Caro pick up the threads of hope, opening her heart to wherever it takes her?

Meet Caro. She loves knitting. When she isn’t working, she knits. That is, until she is hit by a car and her right arm is mashed. She will face a long time in a cast, and then physiotherapy – with no guarantees that she will ever be able to knit again. She leaves Chicago to recover and goes back to the home she grew up in, with her Gran. A chance visit by Gage Greyson changes her mindset and her road to recovery. He is off to Afghanistan – leaving his pets in the care of the local vet. Caro and Gage stay in contact, will it lead to love?

This is a nice love story. It is love not just for another person, but for knitting and animals. It is a story of recovery, patience and art. I thought Caro was a lovely character. She was so gutted by her accident – and so frustrated that she couldn’t knit – or do much in fact. Her mindset is changed by one lovely picnic, and the need to look after Gage’s two animals.

To be honest, this is not a realistic story. It is about love at first sight and long-distance army relationship. Of course this book had a happy ending, I just didn’t think any of this would happen. Gage is involved in a military attack, yet someone Caro’s Gran knows was able to tell her confidential information and get her to the base where Gage was taken after the attack. It was lovely, just unrealistic.

This is a nice collection of stories, based around knitting. The stories and writings are different. It was a nice, quick read – very enjoyable.

Genre: Mystery/crime

Addition: Paperback (own copy)

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis:

This is a series of short stories about a detective Sherlock Holmes, and his assistant, Dr. Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including ‘The Red-Headed League, ‘ ‘The Blue Carbuncle, ‘ and ‘The Speckled Band.’

This is my first Sherlock Holmes book, and it will certainly not be my last. This is a collection of short stories, and I found it a great introduction to Doyle’s writing and the characters of Sherlock and Dr. Watson. Every story is no more than 25 pages long and is fun to read and engaging. The stories do not follow any particular order and one could easily dip in and out of this book or read the stories in their own desired order.

I liked all the stories, but probably The Blue Carbuncle which I did find fairly amusing. A man hid a stolen blue gem in a turkey before Christmas, and when the turkey was given to the wrong person he went a bit crazy! I did find myself laughing. Doyle is a clever, fun writer and Sherlock is intelligent, a bit bizarre and humorous.

I didn’t find this a quick read – I believe this is because of the old-fashioned language and structure. It took me a little while to adjust, however this was not a problem – I find this is the case with classics as well. It is worth pursuing and the stories are fantastic. There is adventure, mystery and humour. I don’t think I worked out any of the mysteries as this is not my usual genre, but I loved reading these stories and have even lent out my copy so others can share this enjoyment. I cannot wait to read more!

Just as an aside, if you are in the UK you definitely should check out the BBC’s Sherlock series:

The film Sherlock Holmes is amazing too:

Waterstones Synopsis:

Maggie is forty-three years old and looking for romance. She loves her husband, but his idea of romance is a couple of drinks at the local and an early night at home. Her children think she’s too old to care, but a chance meeting changes all that.

This is a Quick Read Book and is less than 100 pages long. It is chick-lit and enjoyable, but in my opinion it is too short. The story follows Maggie who is getting fed up with life, and soon she snaps.

To be honest, this is OK but it is not long enough so it was hard to connect with the characters. I felt sorry for Maggie but I didn’t get to know her very well and I didn’t get to know her family. The Quick Reads are a good idea for someone to dip into reading but as someone who loves to read I was left wanting more.

I like O’Flanagan as an author. She is engaging and fun, and she is a great chick-lit author. Other books of hers that I have read I really enjoyed. If this was made into a full length novel it would be a good read.

If you want a short book to read, a nice girly book this will do, but it not amazing.

Synopsis from Waterstones:

A short but perfectly formed complete Discworld novel, fully illustrated in lavish colour throughout, THE LAST HERO is an essential part of any Discworld collection. It stars the legendary Cohen the Barbarian, a legend in his own lifetime. Cohen can remember when a hero didn’t have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation, and when people didn’t tell you off for killing dragons. But he can’t always remember, these days, where he put his teeth …So now, with his ancient sword and his new walking stick and his old friends — and they’re very old friends — Cohen the Barbarian is going on one final quest. He’s going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. The last hero in the world is going to return what the first hero stole. With a vengeance. That’ll mean the end of the world, if no one stops him in time.

This is number 27 in the Discworld series and shorter than most because it is an illustrated novel. There is worry all around Ankh-Morpork’s senior leaders: the heroes are going to challenge the gods. This could be the end of life as they know it. So the solution? Team up Rincewind the wizard and Captain Carrot of the City Watch and send them off in a flying contraption to save the day.

I have one word for this story: genius! The idea of Rincewind and Carrot together is awesome. Both make me laugh and both I enjoy reading about. Rincewind because of his ability to get himself in trouble and Carrot because he is so nice he can manipulate others into doing what he wants. This story also featured the wizards. And I love Ridcully. I love how he is the Arch-Chancellor yet knows nothing useful.

Like with all Pratchett’s other novels, this is full of adventure and excitement; and of course Pratchett’s dry humour. I love his writing style – how he draws you in and keeps you gripped right to the end. He thinks up wonderful storylines that compel you to read them. He is descriptive and has a wild imagination that he is willing to share, and I love stepping into the Discworld.

I think from this book there is one image I will take away with me: the sight of the elephants holding up the Discworld as Rincewind and Carrot fly past. That to me is just awesome.

As always, this was not a let down. I am truely addicted to this series and recommend them all to everyone.

4/5

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

The second of Dickens’ Christmas Books, The Chimes recounts the tale of a poor day laborer, Toby Veck. Like Scrooge, Toby is guided by a specter through the scenes that refocus his views of Victorian London with all its “stern realities.”

This is not as well known as A Christmas Carol, and not as popular either back when Dickens was writing. I can see why, and actually I preferred A Christmas Carol too – however, that is not to say this is a bad book. It is not by far. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It is another short story, one which I read in a day. In this story we meet Toby Veck. For the first half of the book he is looking for work and listening to those in wealth speak and seeing just a glimpse of their life. In the second half, he sleep walks up to the Great Bells, where their chiming guides him through a life where is dead and has left his daughter Meg to struggle through.

This book would act as a good historical source because Dickens is not scared to write London as the poor see it. He is explicit in the hardships he portrays – things such as death, drunkenness and of course, poverty. It was heart wrenching to read of these horrendous lifestyles, but that was how it was in Victorian London if you were on the lower end of the wealth spectrum.

Dickens writes in a magnificent way. He is descriptive and captivating. The words flew off the page at me and I was sucked in to what he was writing. I was gripped. I did think that Dickens spent too long on the introduction of Toby’s life however.

He writes lovely characters too. I loved Toby. He was an old man struggling for work, and when he saw the hardships Meg had to endure his heart broke – and I really felt his anguish. And I loved Meg. She was bubbly and caring – and their relationship was very loving.

Although not as famous as A Christmas Carol, this is a very enjoyable Dickens novel. It is short, fast-paced and gripping.

8/10

Waterstone’s Synopsis:

Two eavesdropping train passengers learn more than they bargained for about their own love lives; an office-party fling has unforeseen consequences for a young woman and for a marriage; a suburban housewife is forced to face her past when her estranged mother, famous and exotic, makes contact after many years; an office worker who imagines herself an undercover agent finds her commute to work livened up by the daily sightings of a handsome stranger…whose life she decides to investigate; an adopted woman journeys to meet the woman who gave her up all those years ago, and finds that all is not what she imagined!

This is a book full of short stories. Each story focuses on a passenger of the Dart. Some stories involved people from other stories, others were stand-alone stories. None were very long but I found them all readable, making this a quick read.

I have never read Sheila O’Flanagan and I will read her work again. I found the book enjoyable and easy to read. All the stories were gripping but I did find that some of them were not finished to my liking. There was one story about domestic violence and I thought that the resolution was too predictable and that the issue was not really looked into. There were other stories I would like to read as long stories too.

This is chick-lit and was enjoyable. I would have liked more depth in some of the stories but this was a quick book to read and I liked how O’Flanagan wrote. The stories are generally full of love and friendship and they were nice reads. If you want a quick, chick-lit book to read, this is for you.

8/10

Synopsis from Amazon:

A QUICK READ – part of the WORLD BOOK DAY 2009 literacy initiative for emergent readers. March 1928. Freddie Smith is on a motoring holiday in the mountains of south west France. He is caught in a violent storm and his car crashes. He is forced to seek shelter in a boarding house in the nearby village of Axat. There he meets another guest in the tiny hotel, a pale and beautiful young woman called Marie. As the storm rages outside, she explains how the region was ripped apart by wars of religion in the 14th century. She tells how, one terrible night in March 1328, all the inhabitants of Axat were forced to flee from the soldiers into the mountains. The villagers took refuge in a cave, but when the fighting was over, no one came back. Their bodies were never found. Axat itself became a ghost town. When Freddie wakes the following morning, Marie has gone. Worse still, his car will take several days to repair and he has to stay at the boarding house for a few days more. To pass the time, he explores the mountains. Then he realises it is almost 600 years to the day since the villagers disappeared. He decides to go and look for the cave himself. Perhaps, he thinks, he might even find Marie? It is a decision he will live to regret.

This is a Quick Read book and only 97 pages. It is typical Mosse though, with secrets hidden in caves, disaster striking to keep Frank in this ghost town and someone from the past communicating to him so he finds the caves.

I found this book fairly predictable. When Frank met Marie you knew it was her ghost from the fourteenth century. And of course you knew he was going to head up the mountain to find the cave. There were a couple of surprises but it is such a short book that not a lot can happen in it.

Being so short, the characters didn’t have time to develop so I didn’t feel anything for them. It was an OK read but in hindsight it was nothing special. It was just so short and predictable. I enjoy Kate Mosse books and feel a bit let down by this book. It has left me unsatisfied really.

5/10

Synopsis from www.harpercollins.com:

On the verge of giving up—anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives—Van Booy’s characters walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them.

This book contains five short stories. In all of them the protagonist is lost and looking for love. They all find it, but the journey each take are individual and life-changing. The characters are all likeable, and you find yourself wanting the best for them. The outcomes are not always as you expect, but that just adds to the joy of this book.

This is a beautiful book. Everything from the cover design to the stories is just gorgeous. Van Booy explores the power of children, growing up and the power music can have. The sentences are short but the stories just flow from the pages. It is a quick read, gripping and thrilling. This is a real page-turner. As I sit writing this I can’t think of a bad thing to say about this book. I was hooked right from the beginning. All five stories are different but with one theme: love. This is an uplifting book, and I highly recommend it.

10/10