Book Review: All The Things You Are by Clemency Burton-Hill
All The Things You Are by Clemency Burton Hill.
Headline Review, April 2014.
When New York journalist Natasha Bernstein loses her job and discovers her fiance has been keeping a dark secret, her world collapses. Turning to her family, she takes inspiration from her formidable grandmother Esther, who runs a community centre in downtown Manhattan. As she starts to rebuild her life, Natasha’s friendship with Rafi – the enigmatic architect working on Esther’s centre – restores her sense of wonder at the world and her faith in who she is. But when Rafi and Natasha take a trip to Jerusalem, they are plunged into a story far deeper than their own. Here, questions of family and loyalty mean more than life itself, and they must ask themselves what they are ultimately prepared to fight for. In a divided world, is it history or love that makes us who we are?
Natasha is a successful journalist but her life quickly seems to fall apart when she loses her job after taking a risk on a story. Around the same time, she finds out that her fiancé has been keeping a secret from her. In her time of crisis, she turns to her family, especially her inspirational grandmother, Esther who runs a community centre in downtown Manhattan.
Natasha tries to rebuild her life and so she begins to collaborate with her grandmother by agreeing to write her memoirs. Esther is a survivor of the holocaust. She is a strong and formidable character and I warmed to her straight away – I think because of how she was portrayed. It reminded me a bit of my own Nan and I liked that (although the two women don’t share the same history.) As a result of this, she was probably one of my favourite characters.
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Quick Spotlight: Dream Journal by Knock Knock
Intrigued by sleep time stories? This dream journal is a guided place to record and reflect. Sigmund Freud described dreams as “the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious.” Dream logging leads to improved dreaming and self-understanding – and it couldn’t be easier in this concise, fill-in-the-blank, fully explained and historicised, place-by-your-bedside format. This book includes fascinating yet digestible “dreaming 101” and a section of helpful tips on how to sleep better, dream well and make sense of the things you see at night.
I love it when I can remember dreams (except when they are nightmares.) For me, dreams are a huge source of inspiration for story ideas so I’m very happy when I can remember them long enough to find a piece of paper and write it down. As a result of this, I’ve ended up with ideas scribbled on scrap pieces of paper (usually old receipts.)
I really adore this journal. Published by Knock Knock (August 2013) and sent to me by Chronicle Books, it has a gorgeous, colourful cover. It allows me to make a note of all the strange and bizarre things I dream about at night (which is a regular occurrence at the moment.) I find dreams fascinating and being able to have one place where I can write them down has been fantastic.
In the book, each section per dream is spread over two pages so there is plenty of room. My writing is quite big and I’ve not had a problem fitting all the information in. In this you can also make a note of the date of the dream, as well as a chance to record your emotions, reflect/give your interpretation on it and you can even give it a title.
by My Favourites: August Stationary Haul
I am obsessed with stationary. I used to work in one of the big office stores so you can imagine how much of my monthly wage I actually ended up keeping hold of. You can never have too many pens, notebooks, pencils and colouring pencils. I don’t care how old I get, I will always love this time of year as its an excuse to browse all the new stationary. Why should it only be the kids and teenagers going back to school having all the fun in buying stationary? Exactly!
I wanted to share some of the stationary that um, cough, fell into my basket or more accurately, made a flying leap. I love things that help keep me organised (I need all the help I can get,) and seriously, I have so many pens but that still hasn’t stopped me buying more so my haul is a mixture of various things. Where I can, I have put a link to things in case you want to check it out (I have not been paid to feature any of these products – they are things I have brought and just wanted to share.)
Firstly, it’s The Weekly Times from Fox & Star. £11.95 + postage and packing.
I’ve previously mentioned this on social media. I saw this in a haul I watched on You Tube and absolutely loved the look of it. There are fifty sheets in total and what I love about it is that it includes Saturday and Sunday too. A couple of desk planners I have brought in the past only cover Monday to Friday and for what I want to use it for, which is blog planning, this is ideal. It’s also not dated so it’s flexible in where in the year I decide to use it. I love the fact that it has a protective plastic cover and it’s so smart in appearance. I adore this desk planner and it is going to become a permanent item in my stationary pile.
The second item in my haul are these Harry Potter themed notebooks from The Literary Emporium (£4 each.)
If you’ve not guessed by previous posts, I love Harry Potter and get excited when I find Harry Potter themed things. I adore these three notebooks from The Literary Emporium. They are A5 in size and have 80 recycled pages so they are perfect for slipping into my handbag. I have been using the ‘Advanced Spells’ book for my to-do lists and it’s great for that too. The quality of the paper is lovely and the covers are quite sturdy (mine has survived a few trips in my bag which is a little like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag.) You can buy just one book at £4 or all three for £10. Bargain I reckon and a must for Potter fans who also love to write.
by Book Review: Magic Sometimes Happens by Margaret James
Book 5 in the Charton Minster Series, London-based PR and promotions consultant Rosie Denham has just spent a year in Paris where she’s tried but failed to fall in love. She’s also made a big mistake and can’t forgive herself.
American IT professor Patrick Riley ‘s wife has left him for a Mr. Wonderful with a cute British accent and a house with a real yard. So Patrick’s not exactly thrilled to meet another Brit who’s visiting Minnesota, even if she’s hot.
Pat and Rosie couldn’t be more different. She’s had a privileged English upbringing. He was raised in poverty in Missouri. Pat has two kids, a job that means the world to him and a wife who might decide she wants her husband back.
So when Pat and Rosie fall in love, the prospects don’t seem bright for them.
But magic sometimes happens – right?
Who doesn’t like a story with an opening scene that grips you and won’t let go!
This is my second Margaret James novel (the wonderful ‘The Wedding Diary’ was my first) and being a dedicated Choc-Lit follower I had a pretty good idea of what to expect and was certainly not disappointed, being up to the exacting standards set by the first novel I read by this lady.
Moving swiftly along from one viewpoint to the next, the pace of the story never gives up. With the added bonus of revisiting past members of the Dehham family, this is like curling up on the sofa with familiar friends and enjoying a cost night in.
by Blog Tour: Higher Ed by Tessa McWatt
I am pleased to be welcoming author, Tessa McWatt to the blog today and her blog tour for her new novel, Higher Ed (published on 27th August 2015 by Scribe.)
Hi Tessa, thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us a little about your new book, Higher Ed and what inspired the novel?
The novel was inspired by teaching in higher education and by current issues of austerity and funding cuts in the public sector. I wanted to examine how in difficult financial times people cope and how these issues affect relationships. I also wanted to see if I could write a novel the way a filmmaker makes a film, by editing elements together that exist separately, outside of the ‘frame’ of one another. So I wrote each character’s story separately and then interwove them in the editing process.
How much planning did you do before beginning Higher Ed? What elements needed to be in place before you started?
I planned to write 4 different strands of the story and then weave them together. I added the fifth strand because it seemed like the right balance, the right number of voices. I saw the whole thing as a hand, with the five fingers contributing to the whole picture of how we work together.
Your book features five people who live in London. What challenges did you face writing from five peoples point of view?
I loved the challenge of writing from five points of view. In each one I had a special relationship with character and voice. The challenge was to make them sound distinct.
by Book Club
