Reading - September 2016

Four is definitely the average number of books I read each month, it's four again for September.

Dumb Witness was my Agatha Christie book this month. When an elderly spinster tripped over her dog's ball on the stairs it looked like an accident but the more she thought about it, the more Emily was convinced that one of her family were trying to kill her. By the time Hercule Poirot became involved, she was dead. Another enjoyable read with twists and turns throughout the book.

My favourite read last year was I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. It was her first book so I was looking forward to seeing what she brought out next. I very rarely buy a book as soon as it's released, preferring to wait until it comes out in paperback or I can pick it up at a charity shop or from the library, but knowing how much I was looking forward to the release of Clare Mackintosh's second book, I See You, Mick bought me the hardback version for my birthday. I think it was a very interesting storyline and I did enjoy the book, however, I don't think it was a patch on I Let You Go. I'm afraid that's the problem with having such a good debut novel, the second one rarely lives up to it.

I picked up Walking Ollie by Stephen Foster from the charity shop. When I saw that cute little lurcher on the front cover, I just couldn't resist. It's basically about the author's experience of adopting a dog from the National Canine Defence League, now known as Dogs Trust. Ollie came with quite a few problems and though the author tried his best, Ollie just couldn't overcome them. I think the author was trying for a fun read but I actually found it quite sad, it was obvious that Ollie was very unhappy and some specialist intervention from a dog behaviourist was needed. It's not really a book I would recommend.

After reading The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin earlier in the year, I didn't hesitate to pick up Somewhere Inside Of Happy by the same author when I saw it in the charity shop. I'm glad I did as I really enjoyed this book. It's the story of sixteen year old Jeremy Bean who goes missing and the days which follow until the terrible conclusion a few days later. Other stories run concurrently with Jeremy's story and the book deals with a number of issues. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it, just make sure you have some tissues handy if you decide to give it a go.

Don't forget about the swap I'm running. The Twelve Days Of Christmas Swap 2016 Sign Up is still open if you fancy joining in, just leave a comment on that post and I'll add you to the list. It proved to be a very popular swap last year and it would be lovely to have more people joining in. It's a worldwide swap so it doesn't matter where you live, it's a great way to make new friends too.