Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish delights. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown.
~ On the blog ~
On Tuesday, it was a real pleasure to share my review for When Stars Will Shine collated by Emma Mitchell. This is a wonderful collection of short stories with all proceeds from sales going to the Help the Heroes charity. With stories that will touch your heart, some Christmas crime, and love stories, there is something for everyone.
~ On social media ~
For #ThrowbackThursday, I looked back on my review of The Returning Tide by Liz Fenwick.
For this week’s #ThrowbackThursday I’ve chosen THE RETURNING TIDE by @liz_fenwick@orionbooks. The depth of feeling in the writing made me a blubbering mess. One of my favourite lines from literature is in this book 😊 Find out more in my review 👇https://t.co/8SEa1uLj8W
— Sarah Swan ~ Sarah’s Vignettes 📚😊 (@Sarah_Swan2) December 12, 2019
~ On my bookshelf ~
I added 1 signed book to my bookshelf this week.
Whilst out and about in London this Friday, I popped into Gallery Different on Percy Street to have a look around the Charley Mackesy Exhibition. They were showing artworks and drawings from his beautiful book: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse . I was very lucky to meet Charley and he signed a copy of my book and included a couple of doodles!
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
A book of hope for uncertain times.
Enter the world of Charlie’s four unlikely friends, discover their story and their most important life lessons.
The conversations of the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse have been shared thousands of times online, recreated in school art classes, hung on hospital walls and turned into tattoos. In Charlie’s first book, you will find his most-loved illustrations and some new ones too.
~ On my bedside table ~
I’m reading Followers by Megan Angelo. It’s set between 2015 and 2051 and, as the title suggests, it revolves around social media and followings. It is a good read and interesting to see what the 2051 digital world might have in store for us!
What books have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a reply in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish delights. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown.
~ On the blog ~
On Monday, it was my stop on the blog tour for The Child on Platform One by Gill Thompson. Sadly, I didn’t have time to read and review the book for the tour but I was able to share a powerful extract from it.
~ On social media ~
For #ThrowbackThursday, I looked back on my review of A Greek Affair by Linn B. Halton.
— Sarah Swan ~ Sarah’s Vignettes 📚😊 (@Sarah_Swan2) December 5, 2019
On Friday, I took part in R3COMM3ND3D2019, a brilliant feature run by fellow book blogger Emma Welton. Emma has invited book bloggers, authors and publishers to choose and talk about three must-read books published in 2019.
This was a tough choice as I have read and shouted about many great books this year but these 3 are high up on my list:
— Sarah Swan ~ Sarah’s Vignettes 📚😊 (@Sarah_Swan2) December 6, 2019
~ On my calendar ~
On Wednesday night, I went to John Julius Norwich’s Ultimate Christmas Cracker in London and it was a real treat. Here’s a bit about it from the event web page:
In 1969, John Julius Norwich, the legendary popular historian, gathered together the favourite things he’d come across in the last 365 days into one short charming pamphlet. Initially just a treat for his friends, it rapidly turned into a huge word-of-mouth success.
This Christmas, How To Academy brings together an all-star cast including – Julian Fellowes, Joanna Lumley, Antony Beevor, and John Julius’s children Artemis and Jason Cooper – to celebrate this institution of English Christmas, honour the memory of John Julius Norwich, and read the finest Crackers from their illustrious 50 year history.
It was such fun listening to Joanne Lumley and Julian Fellowes read and act out these Christmas Crackers. They truly are national treasures.
Before I went to the event, it hadn’t occurred to me that the cast might be signing copies of their books. I am a huge fan of Joanna Lumley’s work, particularly her documentaries. So, when I had the chance to meet her, I was completely starstruck! There aren’t many times where I am lost for words but this was one of those moments.
~ On my bookshelf ~
I added 2 books to my bookshelf this week. One signed memoir and one proof copy of a fiction book, due out in January 2020.
Absolutely by Joanna Lumley
The absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley opens her private albums for this illustrated memoir. The real-life scrapbook of the woman known as AbFab’s Patsy Stone, this is an intimate memoir of one of Britain’s undisputed national treasures. A former model and Bond girl, her distinctive voice has been supplied for animated characters, film narration, and AOL’s “You’ve got mail” notification in the UK. She discusses speaking out as a human rights activist for Survival International and the recent Gurkha Justice Campaign for which she is now considered a “national treasure” of Nepal because of her support. She has won two BAFTA awards, but it is the sheer diversity of her life that makes her story so compelling; early years in Kashmir and Malaya, growing up in Kent, then a photographic model before becoming an actress, appearing in a huge range of roles.
Followers by Megan Angelo
When everyone is watching you can run, but you can’t hide…
2051. Marlow and her mother, Floss, have been handpicked to live their lives on camera, inclosed community of Constellation.
Unlike her mother, who adores the spotlight, Marlow hates having her every move judged by a national audience.
But she isn’t brave enough to escape until she discovers a shattering secret about her birth.
Now she must unravel the truth around her own history in a terrifying race against time…
An explosive and unsettling novel set in the near-future, perfect for fans of Station Eleven, Black Mirror, The Circle and Friend Request.
~ On my bedside table ~
I finished reading The Christmas Party by Karen Swan last night. It is a brilliant read and I’ll be sharing my review here soon.
What books have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a reply in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish delights. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown.
~ On the blog ~
On Wednesday, I took part in a meme run by fellow book blogger Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies called Shelf Control. The idea is to choose a book on your bookshelf that you haven’t read yet and talk about when you got it and why you want to read it.
This week, I chose a book from my digital bookshelf: The Island Escape by Kerry Fisher. How inviting is the cover!
~ On social media ~
On Friday, I shared my top 3 reads from 2018 as part of the R3COMM3ND3D2018 feature at demppebbles.com. This was a difficult choice as I read many good books last year but these 3 really stood out for me:
On Thursday, I went to a Proof Party for The Foundling by Stacey Halls. Hosted by Zaffre Books at the beautiful Brunswick House, the event was for bloggers, press, booksellers to celebrate Stacey’s second novel that comes out in February 2020 and to pick up a review (proof) copy of the book.
The Foundling is set in Georgian times so the venue was perfect – Brunswick House is a Georgian mansion – and there was a silhouette artist, cutting out our profiles. Silhouettes were given to loved ones back in that period as a momento. There was also a beautifully decorated table with it’s own light, ideal for our instagram worthy photos from the night.
The Shadow Cutter
Photo courtesy of Evdokia at Velvet Reads Books
Stacey Halls gave a lovely speech, telling us about how The Foundling came to be and she read from the first chapter – it’s going to be good!! There was also a quick introduction from The Foundling Museum, where the book is set – the museum is well worth a visit.
The Foundling by Stacey Halls
London, 1754.
Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst – that Clara has died in care – the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed – by her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why. Less than a mile from Bess’ lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.
From the bestselling author of The Familiars, and set against the vibrant backdrop of Georgian London, The Foundling explores families, secrets, class, equality, power and the meaning of motherhood.
I treated myself to a copy of When All is Said by Anne Griffin this weekend. I’ve heard lots of good things about this story and it sounds like my kind of read.
When All is Said by Anne Griffin
‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’
At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.
Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories – of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice – the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.
Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.
~ On my bedside table ~
I finished The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell – excellent read. I’m now back to The Familiars by Stacey Halls and I cannot put it down!
What have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a reply in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish delights. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown.
~ On the blog ~
On Wednesday, I took part in a meme run by fellow book blogger Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies called Shelf Control. The idea is to choose a book on your bookshelf that you haven’t read yet and talk about when you got it and why you want to read it.
It’s been a quiet week for adding books to my bookshelf but I did add 1 to my digital bookshelf.
When I came across the complete writings of Virginia Woolf on Apple Books for 99p, I couldn’t resist downloading them. I much prefer reading a physical copy of a book but this is perfect for dipping in and out of.
Last year, I visited Monk’s House, Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s 16th-century country retreat in East Sussex. The house and gardens are fascinating but I adored Virginia Woolf’s writing lodge in the garden. It overlooks the South Downs and I can see why she chose to wrote most of her great works there.
Virginia Woolf: The Complete Collection by Virginia Woolf
This volume collects the complete writings of Virginia Woolf: 8 novels, 3 ‘biographies,’ 46 short stories, 606 essays, 1 play, her diary and some letters.
Contents:
THE NOVELS The Voyage Out Night and Day Jacob’s Room Mrs. Dalloway To the Lighthouse The Waves The Years Between the Acts
THE ‘BIOGRAPHIES’ Orlando: a biography Flush: a biography Roger Fry: a biography
THE STORIES Monday or Tuesday A Haunted House, and other short stories Mrs Dalloway’s Party The Complete Shorter Fiction
THE ESSAYS The Common Reader I A Room of One’s Own On Being Ill The London Scene The Common Reader II Three Guineas The Death of the Moth, and other essays The Moment, and other essays The Captain’s Death Bed, and other essays Granite and Rainbow Books and Portraits Women And Writing 383 Essays from newspapers and magazines
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING A Writer’s Diary Moments of Being The Diary Vols. 1–5 The Letters Vols. 1–6 The Letters of V.W. and Lytton Strachey A Passionate Apprentice. The Early Journals 1887-1909
THE PLAY Freshwater: A Comedy (both versions)
~ On my bedside table ~
Since last week’s lowdown, I have read Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks. Crikey, it kept me on my toes right from Page 1 until the very end. It’s a super read and I will pop a review on here once my thoughts are in a coherent order. It’s left me with such a book hangover that I haven’t started reading anything else yet.
What have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a reply in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish delights. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown. Lots of things happened this week!!
~ On the blog ~
On Friday, I took part in a meme run by fellow book blogger Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies called Shelf Control. The idea is to choose a book on your bookshelf that you haven’t read yet and talk about when you got it and why you want to read it.
For #ThrowbackThursday, I shared the link to my review for The American Girl by Rachael English. I don’t know what it is about the works of Irish writers but there is something so comfortable and familiar about their writing that make them natural storytellers, and Rachael English is one of them.
— Sarah Swan ~ Sarah’s Vignettes 📚😊 (@Sarah_Swan2) September 6, 2019
~ On my bookshelf ~
I added 5 books to my shelf this week.
On Wednesday, I received a copy of The Secret Life of Books by Tom Mole from the fab team at Elliott & Thompson, due to be published on 19th September. I enjoy reading any non-fiction books on the subjects of language, linguistics and books so I think this one will be right up my street!
The Secret Life of Books by Tom Mole
We love books. We take them to bed with us. They weigh down our suitcases when we go on holiday. We display them on our bookshelves or store them in our attics. We give them as gifts. We write our names in them. We take them for granted. And all the time, our books are leading a double life.
The Secret Life of Books is about everything that isn’t just the words. It’s about how books transform us as individuals. It’s about how books – and readers – have evolved over time. And it’s about why, even with the arrival of other media, books still have the power to change our lives.
In this illuminating account, Tom Mole looks at everything from binding innovations to binding errors, to books defaced by lovers, to those imprisoning professors in their offices, to books in art, to burned books, to the books that create nations, to those we’ll leave behind.
It will change how you think about books.
On Thursday night, I went to an author event at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road. Mary Beth Keane and Anna Hope were talking about their latest books Ask Again, Yes and Expectation with Alison Barrow from Penguin Random House.
I love hearing the stories behind the story – how the book came to be what it is. I read and reviewed Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane for the blog tour so I was intrigued to find out more about it. Expectation by Anna Hope sounds brilliant and I made the good mistake of reading the first page on the train home – wow, the writing. I was drawn in from the first sentence!!
I bumped into Nina Pottell, Books Editor from PRIMA magazine and Leilah Skelton from Little Tiger whilst I was there.
From left to right: Alison Barrow, Mary Beth Keane, Anna Hope
Me with Nina Pottell
Expectation by Anna Hope
A contemporary feminist take on the pursuit of happiness: three women think they can have it all. Until they realise that even having some of it can be a challenge.
Love, children, career – modern women are expected to have all three. But what must they sacrifice to win any of them, and how much heartache must be endured? Three life-long friends are about to find out.
Can Hannah, a successful career woman with a caring husband have the baby she longs for?
Will Cate, a thoughtful, loving wife and mother ever recover her intellectual life and independence?
Lissa is charismatic, beautiful and unconventional. She chose a life of fulfilment in the theatre over settled domesticity – but will it ever really materialise?
Anna Hope’s fierce and compelling novel of friendship and the pressure to succeed as a woman takes three lives and asks, what does it really take to make us happy?
When I was 15, I borrowed a copy of Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman from my school library. I devoured it and was blown away by it. It was so ahead of it’s time. 17 years later, Crossfire , the sequel to Noughts & Crosses , is out and I found a signed copy of it in Waterstones Guildford yesterday.
Crossfire by Malorie Blackman
Thirty-four years have passed since Sephy Hadley – a Cross – first met Callum McGregor – a nought. Their love was forbidden, powerful – and deadly.
Life is seemingly very different now for noughts and Crosses – including for Sephy and Callum’s families. But old wounds from the past are hard to heal, and when you’re playing a game as dangerous as they are, it won’t be long before someone gets caught in the crossfire.
Me with Adele Parks
Whilst I was waiting in the queue to pay for Crossfire , I bumped into Adele Parks! She had popped into the shop to sign copies of her latest novel Lies, Lies, Lies , which was published on Thursday.
Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks
Daisy and Simon’s marriage is great, isn’t it? After years together, the arrival of longed-for daughter Millie sealed everything in place. A happy little family of three. And so what if Simon drinks a bit too much sometimes – Daisy’s used to it, she knows he’s letting off steam. Until one night at a party things spiral horribly out of control. And that happy little family of three will never be the same again.
In Lies Lies Lies, Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks explores the darkest corners of a relationship in freefall in a mesmerising tale of marriage and secrets.
I also bought a copy of The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. Lisa is one of the speakers at Guildford Book Festival’s Readers’ Day next month and I wanted to try to read it before the event.
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.
In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.
They’ve been dead for several days.
Who has been looking after the baby?
And where did they go?
Two entangled families. A house with the darkest of secrets. A compulsive new thriller from Lisa Jewell.
~ On my bedside table ~
I’m reading The Familiars by Stacey Halls at the moment. The story is set in the 1600s, which is not a period in history I usually read or know much about. It’s an intriguing story!
What have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a reply in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Welcome to this week’s round-up of what’s been going on here at Sarah’s Vignettes, on social media, the books I’ve been adding to my shelves and other bookish things. Keep scrolling to get the lowdown.
~ On the blog ~
On Wednesday, I took part in a meme run by fellow book blogger Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies called Shelf Control. The idea is to choose a book on your bookshelf that you haven’t read yet and talk about when you got it and why you want to read it. This week, I chose Ruby by Cynthia Bond.
~ On social media ~
Last Friday, you may remember I supported author Louise Jensen with a little teaser for her new book The Family . On Tuesday, I took part in the cover reveal. What a fab cover it is!!
We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for The Family, the brilliant, creepy new novel by Louise Jensen (@Fab_fiction).
— Sarah Swan ~ Sarah’s Vignettes 📚😊 (@Sarah_Swan2) August 20, 2019
For #ThrowbackThursday, I shared the link to my review for The Last Day by Claire Dyer. This book was one of my reading highlights in 2018. It is beautiful.
I added 2 books to my bookshelf this week and 1 to my mum’s cookery book shelf.
I bought my mum a copy of Nadiya Hussain’s new recipe book:Time to Eat. Have you been watching the tv series? I love it! I’m looking forward to trying out some of Nadiya’s recipes.
Time to Eat by Nadiya Hussain
Feeding a large family and juggling a busy career can be anxiety-inducing so Nadiya has crafted over 100 recipes to take the stress out of cooking and put the joy back in to every meal.
There are recipes for rushed weekday evenings and those relaxed Sunday afternoons, as well as kitchen hacks and time-saving tricks to make every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a little simpler.
I popped into WHSmith to buy a copy of FRANCE magazine and came out with said magazine and two books from the Penguin Modern Classics collection. They were in a ‘Buy One Get One Half Price’ offer…what’s a bookworm supposed to do!
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
The discreet advertisement in The Times, addressed ‘To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine’, offers a small medieval castle for rent, above a bay on the Italian Riviera. Four very different women – the dishevelled and downtrodden Mrs Wilkins, the sad, sweet-faced Mrs Arbuthnot, the formidable widow Mrs Fisher and the ravishing socialite Lady Caroline Dester – are drawn to the shores of the Mediterranean that April. As each, in turn, blossoms in the warmth of the Italian spring and finds their spirits stirring, quite unexpected changes occur.
The Enchanted April, published in 1922, is a witty and delightful depiction of what it is like to rediscover joy.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Between the First World War and the Wall Street Crash the French Riviera was the stylish place for wealthy Americans to visit. Among the most fashionable are the Divers, Dick and Nicole who hold court at their villa. Into their circle comes Rosemary Hoyt, a film star, who is instantly attracted to them, but understands little of the dark secrets and hidden corruption that hold them together. As Dick draws closer to Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure of his marriage and sets both Nicole and himself on to a dangerous path where only the strongest can survive.
In this exquisite, lyrical novel, Fitzgerald has poured much of the essence of his own life; he has also depicted the age of materialism, shattered idealism and broken dreams.
~ On my bedside table ~
I finished reading The Stationmaster’s Daughter by Kathleen McGurl. Watch out for my review tomorrow.
Last night, I started reading The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Although I’m only 7 pages in, I like what I’ve already read. The premise of this book is great: right at the beginning we know there has been a murder (not a spoiler) but we will only find out who the victim is and the murderer at the end. I can’t wait to see how this plays out!! I shall report back.
What have you been reading and buying this week? Let me know by leaving a comment in the box below.
Until next week, happy reading!
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
Over the last 2 years, I have been regularly sharing my top reads from this blog over at The Riviera Woman.
The Riviera Woman, run by Anna Fill, helps women living or working on the Riviera live life to the full with it’s inspirational people and interesting articles. In 2019, Anna set up Yorkshire Woman on the same concept for women living or working in Yorkshire.
I am thrilled that Anna has asked if she can share my reviews at Yorkshire Woman too.
The first of my recommended reads on both sites is The Path to the Sea by Liz Fenwick. You can read my review on either site by clicking on the logos below.
If you enjoyed this, please feel free to share the book love:
