Holy Island by LJ Ross

 

Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby Priory.

When former local girl Dr Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface making her confront her difficult past. She and Ryan struggle to work together to hunt a killer who hides in plain sight, while pagan ritual and small-town politics muddy the waters of their investigation.

Murder and mystery are peppered with a sprinkling of romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set on the spectacular Northumbrian island of Lindisfarne, cut off from the English mainland by a tidal causeway.

I’ve always fancied these books by LJ Ross, I’ve heard brilliant things about them and love that they’re all set around my neck of the woods. I spotted Holy Island in a local Charity shop so had to grab it. So ok, first off I love DCI Ryan, and I’m really looking forward to reading more about him, I want to know a bit more about his background. The book starts off with a gruesome discovery of a body, always a good start in my opinion, and goes on to keep you guessing whats happening. The background story of the cult and paganism was different, but played a good part in the story.

I love holy Island, I’ve only been once, and it was a bit of a rainy day, but this was about 16 years ago. I’d love to go again.

I really enjoyed this, and I’m looking forward to buddy reading the second book in 2024 with my friend. 

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

 

The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice-her truth-was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey-and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears's groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love-and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.

The day this book was released I shot my chance at seeing if my library had it, they did! And it was only on hold for 2 weeks, but actually came back a week early. So I was so happy and lucky to be able to read this for free pretty quick from release day. 

I’ve been a fan of Britney and her music forever, I was a teenager when ‘Baby One More Time’ came out. She is a huge part of the soundtrack to my life. I was shocked and quite devastated throughout reading this book, I knew there had been a lot of stuff happen in her life, but I didn’t know the extent her father had gone to with the conservatorship. Her life was ruled by others from the get go. And not just her father, her exs, her management team, and more.

She put up with so much crap, I’m so glad she has things back the way she wants now, I hope she lives a very happy life.

This is a must read, brilliantly written, absolutely shocking behaviour throughout. Michelle Williams does a great job at narrating it, I sometimes forgot it wasn’t Britney talking!

 

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett

 

One dead Santa. A town full of suspects. Will you discover the truth?

Christmas in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to raise money for the church roof appeal. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking amongst the amateur dramatics enthusiasts. Sarah-Jane is fending off threats to her new position as Chair, the fibreglass beanstalk might be full of asbestos, and a someone is intent on ruining the panto even before the curtain goes up.

Of course there's also the matter of the dead body. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they read the round robins, examine the emails and pore over the police transcripts. Will the show go on?

The Appeal is one of my favourite books, so when I heard the sequel was coming out I had to pre order it. This is such a fun book, just like the first one. The book is again filled with emails and text messages, and it was quite fun to try to work out what was going on. I say try because I figured out nothing haha. The characters are ones we know from the first book, with a few newbies thrown in too.

I love Janice Halletts books, I now want The Appeal 2 to happen (This is book 1.5).

Heartstopper 5 by Alice Osman

 

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fifth volume of the Heartstopper series.

Nick and Charlie are very much in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house ... But with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

I Love Heartstopper and devoured this in one sitting. The story carries on from book 4 and we see the boys growing up a lot more in this one. There is a lot more sexual content in this one too, but it fits in so well with the storyline we’ve read so far, all starting in book 1. I love Nick and Charlie,I love how much they care about each other, the obviously love each other very much. We see bits and pieces from supporting characters, and Tao is one of my favourites.  

If you enjoy the Hearstopper books you’ll love this one too!

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

 

In Heaven, a fourteen-year-old boy is tormented for having a lazy eye.

Instead of resisting, he chooses to suffer in silence.

The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate, Kojima, who experiences similar treatment at the hands of her bullies.

Providing each other with immeasurable consolation at a time in their lives when they need it most, the two young friends grow closer than ever.

But what, ultimately, is the nature of a friendship when your shared bond is terror?

I read this as a buddy read with my pal Kath, it’s been on my shelf for a little while now so I was happy to dive in. 

What a powerful and sad book. This is a story of some really nasty brutal bullying of the main character (whos real name is never said) ‘Eyes’, and Kojima (who they nickname Hazmat), by a bunch of 14 year olds at school. Reading those parts was awful, the torture the 2 kids endured throughout was horrific, and the ending was so bad. I had to make myself read through the ‘football’ part, to me was worse than the last part. 

There was some very touching parts too, I really loved the scene with ‘the hair’, the friendship between ‘Eyes’ and Kojima was such a love thing.

I’ll definitely read more of Kawakami’s work.