What I've read recently...

The title of this post is rather misleading as actually, I haven't read a whole lot recently but this is going to cover what I have read over the past few months. I started out reading with earnest in 2013, trying hard to reach my goal of 50 books over the year but I failed miserably. I didn't even reach 20. Shameful and I will try harder in 2014 but I shall do another blog post about that very soon.

I've recently discovered Elizabeth Haynes and Into the Darkest Corner was one of the first books of hers that I downloaded for my Kindle. I was gripped reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though the storyline isn't very pleasant - the prologue starts with a young lady bludgeoned to death lying in a ditch - but it was a good story. I don't normally pick crime as a genre but this book had me hooked. It's also currently 0.99p for your Kindle on Amazon, so a bargain.

Lifesaving for Beginners by Ciara Geraghty was one of those books that I judged by the cover - I bought it because I liked the look of it. Yes I do that. I was glad I did in this instance. It's a story of fate and family and how life can change almost in an instant. It's told very well through two very different voices and was a very moving story.

I've enjoyed Susan Lewis books since I was in my late teens. No Child of Mine is about a social worker Alex who is trying to help a little girl, Ottilie, that she believes is in danger. It's a sensitive subject but handled very well and the storyline kept me gripped until the end.

I barely want to put a link to How To Be a Woman as I disliked it that much. I'd heard so much about this book in magazines, forums, Twitter etc so thought I ought to read it but honestly? I got halfway through and deleted it from my Kindle. A complete load of twaddle. This whole book is one person's opinion trying to be force-fed down our throats in the name of feminism. It doesn't work for me, sorry!

I've already talked about The First Time I Said Goodbye on my blog (you can read that here). It's written by my friend Claire, a super-talented author and generally all-round person of awesomeness. This was a great read and I'm pleased to hear that she plans on bringing these characters back for a sequel. 

My second Elizabeth Haynes book was Human Remains. I think that this one had me even more gripped than the first, though it was pretty vile in places, rather disturbing and did make me feel a little ill. I had to stop reading it at one night in fear I might not go to sleep. It's a creepy story but comes to a good end. 

I loved Boys Don't Cry. It's not a book I'd normally pick up being a bit more of a young adult book but it was a really good story about a young boy on the cusp of receiving his A-Level results who discovers he's become a father and is left, literally, holding the baby. This was a unique and heart-warming story.

Now to start with, I rarely read autobiographies these days. Secondly, I've never been a massive Rod Stewart fan so it was quite strange that I should buy Rod: The Autobiography, however after watching him on a TV interview I felt compelled to read this book and it accompanied me on my jaunt around Italy last summer, leaving me sad I had no Rod Stewart albums on my iPod at that time! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, what a life he has had! It was written with humour and honesty and I couldn't stop myself from reading out excerpts to Mr M.  Came away really rather liking the man!

Another Susan Lewis, No Turning Back is the story of Eva Montgomery who at the peak of her career was attacked by a stalker. What follows is a huge mistake and one that she struggles to get over. Past and present meet sixteen years later and Eva tries hard to put things right. It was an interesting read which I enjoyed as much as other Susan Lewis books in the past.

And I think that's about where I got to. I'm currently reading The House We Grew Up In (another Lisa Jewell, will I ever learn?) and then I have a list as long as my arm of future reads, which I'll share with you very soon!

Have you read any of these books? What have you read recently? I'm always open to suggestions of good reads!