Chocolat - Joanne Harris

Vianne Rocher and her six year old daughter, Anouk, arrive in the small French village, Lansquenet, on the day of the Shrove Tuesday Carnival. The local villagers are busy with the festivities but the strangers do not go unnoticed in their brightly coloured and fashionable clothes which sets them apart immediately.

Vianne has a talent for making delicious chocolate and has a special gift for knowing everybody’s favourite flavour. When she opens a chocolate boutique opposite the church in the village square not only does she raise a few eyebrows but she sets herself up against the local priest, Francis Reynaud, who takes exception to her offering this kind of temptation to the villagers, especially during Lent.

The villagers flock to Vianne’s little shop and in spite of Monsieur le Cure’s preaching against frequenting such a place, the Chocolatiere goes from strength to strength. Vianne makes many friends, and is soon very much a part of the community. She befriends Armande Voizin, an elderly local who is also somewhat of an outcast from the church and it’s worshippers, one of whom happens to be Armande’s estranged daughter.

When Vianne decides to hold an Easter Chocolate Festival on Easter Sunday she drives a wedge between her and the church and suddenly the conflict escalates into “Church not Chocolate” battle.

Chocolat is the first of three books in the series about the life of Vianne Rocher. It is such an adorable book, I didn’t want to go to bed until I had finished reading it and that does not happen to me very often at all. I love the mystery of Vianne’s character and the way in which she charms herself into the lives of the villagers of Lansquenet. She is exotic and beautiful and has a way about her that makes people feel stronger and better about themselves. Armande Voizin is another strong character in the story too. I loved her irreverence and bullishness.

Joanne Harris writes with such clarity, humour and style that I was transported to small town rural France from the first page. The conflict between Reynaud and Vianne is so well described that it is palpable and disturbing. I cannot wait to read the other books in the series; The Lollipop Shoes and Peaches for Monsieur le Cure.

So enamoured was I by the book that I dug around for the film version which starred Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. In spite of outstanding performances from Ms’s Binoche and Dench the film version disappointed me slightly. I don’t know why I do this, I am always less than impressed with movies of books. However, when I think about it now, had I not read the book before watching the movie I would not have been disappointed but had I watched the film first I would not have picked up the book! What a terrible shame that would have been.

9.9/10

A Fistful of Collars - Spencer Quinn (a Chet and Bernie Mystery)

Chet the dog and his private investigator companion, Bernie Little, set out on case number 5 in this New York Times Bestseller series, Chet and Bernie Mysteries.

The mayor of the valley decides to bring some extra revenue to town by luring a Hollywood studio to shoot a big budget movie there starring movie idol, Thad Perry. Chet and Bernie are approached to keep an eye on the movie star who is known to have been a bit wild and unreliable in the past and is now under contract with the studio to deliver on time or be fired. The mayor wants the studio folks to be happy so they will come back again and he offers Chet and Bernie big money to keep Thad in line. Tempted by the lucrative paycheque, Chet and Bernie take the job and it isn’t too long before a mystery begins to unfold which connects Thad Perry to the valley and to an unsolved crime a couple of decades before.

This is the first book of the series I have read and from the start, I loved it. This story is written from an unusual perspective as the narrator is Chet the dog! Spencer Quinn does a good job of giving Chet a credible voice and he describes the relationship between dogs and their companions very well. It is clear that both Chet and Bernie adore each other and Chet’s unconditional love of Bernie is heart warming and funny at times. It wasn’t long before I was cheering them along too. The plot of the mystery is well written and there are a couple of twists and turns which are surprising. That I had not read the previous books in the series did not detract from my enjoyment of this story.

I will definitely be reading more Chet and Bernie Mysteries and would encourage you to do so too.

9.8/10

All Roads Lead to Austen - Amy Elizabeth Smith

When I first looked at the cover of this book I thought it was a work of fiction and was unaware it was Amy Smith’s autobiographical account of the journey she made within Latin America during a sabbatical year from teaching. Imagine my surprise when upon closer inspection I realised not only was this the story of a woman’s literary and cultural journey with her companion, Jane Austen, but, it was also a travel log of that year.

Three of my most enjoyable reading pursuits are tagging along on well observed and culturally sensitive travel adventures, listening to authentic autobiographical tales and delving into classical literature. As I turned the front cover of All Roads Lead to Austen, my excitement grew and during the rest of the time I rummaged inside those pages, I was not disappointed.

Amy Smith sets off across Latin America to find out if the works of Jane Austen’s will successfully cross borders, cultures, language and time and have any relevance in today’s world. She visits six countries offering Spanish translations of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma to various reading groups and soon she discovers the answer. Some things surprise her and some do not, but always, the conversations and discussions she has with members of those groups are handled with sensitivity and a willingness to listen rather than teach. By reading the works of local authors at each port of call, she learns about the varied history and perspectives of people living in the countries she visits, which all adds to her understanding of the culture she finds herself with.

All Roads Lead to Austen provides the reader with clear, colourful and an insightful perspective of life, love, friendship and self discovery, enabled through the love of travel and reading. It is likely to be particularly appealing to lovers of Austen and can stand alone as an excellent travel journal. It is easy to recommend this book for all of the above reasons and most of all because Amy Smith managed to use this opportunity to live and learn and has the talent to tell the story well.

This book will be published on June 1st by Sourcebooks.

9.7/10

Just Say Yes - Phillipa Ashley

We first meet Lucy Gibson as she is trying to duck past the mob of paparazzi lying in wait for her outside her front door. In the last few days she has become public enemy number one after she turned down her boyfriend Nick’s marriage proposal on live TV. Lucy needs to find some peace, especially as one of the articles mentions the name of the law firm where she works as a marketing assistant. After seeing the firm’s name in the press, one of the partners at Able & Lawson suggests Lucy take a month off work, until things die down a little. Things only seem to be getting worse, however. When Lucy sees a close up photo of her bum without a visible panty-line, on the middle-page spread of one rag, brandishing the headline “NICKERLESS” across the page, she decides she cannot take any more.

Her best friend, Fiona, has the idea that they should leave London and escape to her hideaway cottage in the Cornish countryside where she often goes to write her crime novels. So they head off with Fiona’s “kitchen-sized” dog, Hengist, to the sleepy surfer town of Tresco Creek.

Not long after they arrive at Creekside Cottage, Lucy encounters Josh Standring, the owner of Tresco Farm and the other three cottages next to Fiona’s, which he runs as holiday lets. Mistaking him for paparazzi they don’t get off to the friendliest start, but, over the time Lucy is there, she and Josh get to know each other better – or so Josh thinks!

This is the first Phillipa Ashley novel I have read and I quite enjoyed it. The ending is predictable and most of the characters a little shallow for my reading taste, but overall, the story flows easily and it is a quick read. Even though there is some retrospective story-telling at first, it is not confusing at all and provides an important perspective to the story. I liked the Lucy at the end of the book much better than the Lucy at the beginning when she first met Nick. As she grew from being a ditsy girl who needed a man to define her, into a more independent woman she became more realistic to me and I found myself empathising with her much more.

This book is entertaining, light hearted and would make a good summer read.

8.5/10

Nadia Knows Best - Jill Mansell

We first meet Nadia Kinsella when she is steering her car as it is sliding out of control on packed ice. Eventually the car comes to a stop as it ploughs into a ditch and Nadia is happy to be alive and unhurt. Not knowing where she is and realising the battery on her phone is dead, she decides to sit out the snowstorm in the car and take a chance someone will pass by and stop to help her. That’s where she first meets Jay Tiernan. He invites Nadia to walk with him to the nearest village as it is not far away, according to his map. When they get there they find a local pub and negotiate with the drunken landlord to spend the night in his one spare room as the storm looks set to continue overnight. The attraction between them is undeniable but Nadia already has a boyfriend and is not the cheating type, so, even though they end up sharing the same bed at the pub, nothing more than familiar chatter and banter happens between them. Soon after she makes it home safely, Nadia is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend!

A year and a half later, by chance, she bumps into Jay again, but this time she is single and it is he who has responsibilities. Jay has moved into Nadia’s home town and is renovating a property there. Soon their lives become a tangled mix of working together, longing for each other and indecision. To make matters even more complicated, Nadia’s boyfriend has moved back home having given up his life in Hollywood. He wants Nadia back and is determined to get her. Eventually, Nadia realises she has some difficult choices to make.

The thing I enjoy most about Jill Mansell’s books is the way all of her characters play such a big role in the story she is telling. They are not peripheral to the plot, they are an integral part of it and at times one could be forgiven for wondering who the main character is. Nadia has two sisters, Claire the selfish artist and Tilly the sensible teenager, an eccentric, irresponsible mother who abandoned all of her daughters when they were babies and who changes lovers almost annually, an understanding, kind father who is shy and steadfast, an irrepressible grandmother who brought the girls up and who has been hiding a dark secret for over half a century, a supermodel boyfriend who gained fame and fortune after Nadia entered him into a modelling competition and Jay, the handsome, successful business man who ends up becoming Nadia’s boss. There are other characters at the centre of this story, too. Even though they are not main characters, they are so well drawn they could well be.

Nadia Knows Best is a delightful read and Jill Mansell does not disappoint with the writing, the plot or the ending. I particularly loved the last scene in the book which made me laugh out loud.

This book is definitely a keeper for me!

9.6/10

Thank you to the folks at Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of Nadia Knows Best to review.

The Secret Dreams of Sarah Jane Quinn (Harper and Lyttle Series no. 2) - Sharon Gerlach

Sarah Jane Quinn works at Harper and Lyttle in an office full of work cubes. She has lots of dreams and longs, one day, to own the bed and breakfast inn she stayed in as a child. She also yearns to catch the attention of her work-mate, Collie Tate, who she has an enormous crush on. Collie, however, has other priorities. As a single dad his life is dominated by a custody battle for his child which consumes his thoughts and attention. Sarah finds herself way down on his list of concerns. She has a fraught relationship with her family and her sister is always number one in her mother’s eyes. Sarah realises she is only useful at family gatherings to help with the food preparation and the washing up.

It seems, that all her life she has been well down everybody’s list of priorities and one of her biggest dreams is to one day be someone’s number one concern. So, when Gus Haldermann shows a great interest in Sarah, she is flattered and bemused at his attention. She cannot help but find the handsome and charismatic director of Human Resources rather irresistible.

Then one day, Sarah is brutally assaulted at work by a violent stalker. She barely survives the attack and it takes her a long time to recover. During this time she realises she must choose between the two men in her life and re-evaluate her priorities, especially if she is to one day be top of anyone’s list.

All I can say is; I loved, loved, loved, this book! Not only was the story interesting but the characters were so well drawn, by the end of the story I felt as if I worked at Harper & Lyttle with them all myself. The dialogue was spot on, too. If Sharon Gerlach has not had some experience working in an office with cubes, I would be really surprised. She captured the humour, wit and politics of office life so succinctly that it was like listening in over the wall. At times the repartee was laugh out loud funny and I was completely enthralled. I also loved the ending of the story and it did not disappoint.

I found this book on Amazon for free. It is the best free download I have ever had from Amazon and I will definitely look out, and pay for, other books in the Harper & Lyttle series and by Sharon Gerlach

9.9/10

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank

Having recently decided to sort through my bookshelves and weed out books to add to a re-read pile and those bound for the second hand book shop, it became apparent that there were an enormous number of good and great books which had found their way to those shelves over the past few years. After the agony of selecting items for the book shop and the re-read pile, my dilemma became in which reading order to put the keepers. It was proving to be even more of a stressful challenge than the initial selection, so calling upon the services of my constant companion and often attacker of any moving body parts, Nobbs (aka Gabe at the vets surgery), I charged him with the task of making the choice for me.

Nobbs selection only confirmed what great taste he has when he chose Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank.




Jane Rosenal is searching for love, a fulfilling career and herself. She is feisty, witty and often in need of approval from the men in her life, her boss and her family. She goes from being self assured to losing her confidence completely and back to finding her inner strength again. It is a life journey of self discovery and often bitterly painful experiences.

Melissa Bank writes with a certain economy of words and razor sharp dialogue which join together to paint a complete picture of Jane and her experiences. There are many references to the characters following rules and playing games in this story and at the same time the reader is made aware, by the selection of story topics, that the real game being played out here is life itself. In, My Old Man, we find teenage Jane out on the balcony of her aunt’s apartment sipping brandy and curious to know about the neighbours below who are out on their balcony, arguing. In the next section, Best Possible Light, we are introduced to the Solomon family and it isn’t until close to the end of this story we are told they are the neighbours living below Jane’s aunt, referred to in the previous story. Clearly Melissa Bank wanted to see if the reader was paying attention and playing along with her little game too.

Using humour in the face of despair, Jane never fails to take lessons from those around her. Her searching curiosity and questioning nature lead her to move on from relationships when she understands their true meaning. All these experiences help her to finally realise that she will not settle for anything she doesn’t instinctively know to be right, for her.

There are parts of the book which are hard to read without feeling terribly sad or despondent for Jane and there are parts which are laugh out loud funny.

Teenage Jane:

Meeting her brother’s girlfriend for the first time:
‘Julia chose words carefully and used ones I’d never heard spoken – she sounded to me like she was trying out for a job as a dictionary.
My mother eyed me: Do not smirk.’

Trying to plan what to do during the summer break from school:
‘ “I need new experiences, Mom.”
“What about an internship,” she suggested, “in something you are interested in”
I reminded her that I don’t have any interests.
You like to draw, “ she said.
I told them I was thinking of being a waitress.
My dad said, “Practice by clearing the table” ‘

Adult Jane:

On meeting her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend:
‘Bella takes both my hands in hers, as though she has been waiting a long time to meet me. She says “Janie,” my childhood nickname, and I am so thrown off by her warmth that I say “Belly.” ‘

Speaking at her best friend’s wedding:
‘ “Then,” I say, “there was our sea-horse period, when we were told that we didn’t need mates; we were supposed to make ourselves happy just bobbing around in our careers.”

Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing is a superb book, excellently written. On the re-read I felt the characters and their experiences far more intensely than on the first one. This is definitely a keeper for me.

9.8/10