Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham.
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children.
2018
At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any longer, even if it means breaking a promise she made so long ago…
1936
Fifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.
But Winny’s hopes are dashed when she is separated from her friends and sent to live with a family that has no use for another daughter. Instead, they have paid for an indentured servant to work on their farm. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the belief that she will someday find her friends again.
Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family—the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home.
Title: I Hope You Stay Author: Courtney Peppernell Genre: Poetry Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: March 3, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
In the spirit of her bestselling series, Pillow Thoughts, Courtney Peppernell returns with a new, empowering collection of poetry and prose. From heartbreak to dreaming of and finding a new love to healing the heart to ultimately finding peace, the themes in this book are universal but also uniquely individual to readers.
Just as moving and endearing as Peppernell’s previous books, I Hope You Stay is a reminder of the resilience and hope needed after heartache and pain. The book is divided into five sections, with poems ranging from free verse to short form. These words are a light in the deepest hours of the night: Hold on. The sun is coming.
Review:
I’m not a big fan of poetry, but I really enjoyed Courtney Peppernell’s Pillow Thoughts collection, so I wanted to read this book.
The collection is divided into 5 parts: You will ache, You will dream, You will love, You will heal, and You will rise. These covered many subjects, from falling in love to breaking up with someone. I especially liked the final section, You will rise, which was about feeling empowered.
There was one poem about how women should stick together and support each other, which really resonated with me. Sometimes we judge others, without thinking about how we can help them instead. The example she gave in the poem was whispering to a woman to tell her she has lipstick on her teeth. We should look out for each other, rather than trying to bring each other down.
This is another great poetry collection by Courtney Peppernell.
Thank you Andrews McMeel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Pillow Thoughts III: Mending the Mind by Courtney Peppernell
The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
Have you read I Hope You Stay? What did you think of it?
Title: Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots Author: Stewart Ross, Chris Jevons (illustrator) Genre: Children’s, Picture Book Publisher: Arcturus Publishing Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: February 15, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
When the wicked Star Queen shipwrecks her daughter, Snow White, on a remote forest planet, the plucky princess uses her engineering know-how to rebuild her ruined spacecraft into robot helpers! Can she and her mechanical friends find a way to defeat the Star Queen once and for all?
Review:
This is another great fairy tale with a twist.
This story takes place in space. Snow White has a talent for building robots. The evil queen sends her away, since she has been told by her “space book” screen that Snow White is the best. I liked these space and technology elements of the story.
There was a different twist to the story because the evil queen sends fruit robots to put Snow White to sleep, rather than giving her an apple. The fruit shoots a poison dart at her, and the only way to wake her is to remove it. This is another way a technological element replaced the magic of the original fairytale.
This was a great story!
Thank you Arcturus Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Twisted Fairy Tales: Little Rude Riding Hood by Jo Franklin, Chris Jevons (illustrator)
Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man by Stewart Ross, Chris Jevons (illustrator)
Have you read Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Laurie Reads and Niffler Reads. Every Friday, they post a list of bookish things based on the prompt they provided. The prompts for Feb to May can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Harry Potter Spells. Here’s my list:
Title: Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown Author: Anne Glenconner Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir Publisher: Hachette Books Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: March 24, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
An extraordinary memoir of drama, tragedy, and royal secrets by Anne Glenconner–a close member of the royal circle and lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. As seen on Netflix’s The Crown.Anne Glenconner has been at the center of the royal circle from childhood, when she met and befriended the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, the Princess Margaret. Though the firstborn child of the 5th Earl of Leicester, who controlled one of the largest estates in England, as a daughter she was deemed “the greatest disappointment” and unable to inherit. Since then she has needed all her resilience to survive the vipers of court life with her sense of humor intact.
A unique witness to landmark moments in royal history, Maid of Honor at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and a lady in waiting to Princess Margaret until her death in 2002, Anne’s life has encompassed extraordinary drama and tragedy. In Lady in Waiting, she will share many intimate royal stories from her time as Princess Margaret’s closest confidante as well as her own battle for survival: her broken-off first engagement on the basis of her “mad blood”; her 54-year marriage to the volatile, unfaithful Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, who left his fortune to a former servant; the death in adulthood of two of her sons; a third son she nursed back from a six-month coma following a horrific motorcycle accident. Through it all, Anne has carried on, traveling the world with the royal family, including visiting the White House, and developing the Caribbean island of Mustique as a safe harbor for the rich and famous-hosting Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Raquel Welch, and many other politicians, aristocrats, and celebrities.
Review:
This is a memoir written by one of Princess Margaret’s ladies in waiting.
Anne Glenconner has had a fascinating life. She talked a little about her relationship with Princess Margaret and the royal family, but I found her own biography so interesting. Some of the stories were funny, such as how when they were children, Anne and her sister planned how they would kill Hitler themselves if he invaded England. There were also tragedies, like the deaths of two of her children.
Anne was also connected with many famous people. Her husband developed the Caribbean island Mustique, which is still a popular destination for celebrities and royals.
The stories about Princess Margaret were great. Anne gave an inside look at who she was in private. There was a lot more to the book than just Princess Margaret’s life, but there were some interesting anecdotes about her.
This is a great book for readers who are interested in the royal family.
Thank you Hachette Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Other Windsor Girl: A Novel of Princess Margaret, Royal Rebel by Georgie Black
The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe by Angela Kelly
Have you read Lady in Waiting? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters #1) by Talia Hibbert.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
