February Books

I'm still on track with the #52bookclub challenge with a book a week although I think I need to start reading shorter books if I'm going to keep on track! February's reads haven't been as strong as January, but I would still recommend them all I think. 

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell // Based on vaguely true facts about William Shakespeare, this is about his son Hamnet, who apparently inspired him to write Hamlet after his death. The story centres a lot around his wife, who I really liked as a character so I got really into this. I rated it 3.5 stars because although I liked it I couldn't rate such a sad book any more than that!

The Book of Fire by Christy Lefteri // Set both during and after a fire that tears through a village in Greece I found this quite different from the other books by Christy Lefteri. It was a really good read, but there was something about the vibe that I couldn't quite get to grips with, perhaps because fire is something that makes me uncomfortable! I rated it four stars because it was so well written and I love a book set across two different times, but I usually rate her novels a five!

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson // The fourth book in the Jackson Brodie series, which isn't a series I've loved, but oddly I really quite enjoyed this one. Set on the Yorkshire coast it delves into a trafficking ring and brings lots of characters together. Obviously not a very nice subject so I'm not sure why I enjoyed this more than the previous ones, but maybe because the characters are familiar now so it felt like quite an easy read. I rated it 3.5 stars.

The Perfume Garden by Kate Lord Brown // After her mother's death Emma relocates to Valencia to a house her mother left her, but she doesn't know anything about. She sets about renovating the house, building up a new perfume business from scratch and discovering secrets. Set in both 2001 and 1937 the novel follows Emma and her grandmother Freya, who found herself at the same house during the Spanish civil war. I absolutely loved reading this book and thought I would end up rating it higher, but the ending was a bit of a let down to me as it felt like the plot just got a bit silly. In the end I rated it 3.5 stars. 

Amy x