A Bramble House Christmas

Finished March 4

A Bramble House Christmas by C.J. Carmichael

This is the sixth book in the series, Carrigans of the Circle C, but the first I've read. The main female character is Willa Fairchild. As the book opens, she and her six-year-old son Scout are travelling to Marietta, Montana for a much-anticipated winter vacation. The trip is a gift from her most recent client, Mr. Conrad. Willa has worked as a private nurse since Scout's cancer diagnosis, which also marked the end of her marriage. Scout is now cancer-free and looking forward to engaging in normal activities for his age. Conrad learned enough of Willa's story to also include her in his will, something his family is surprised at, and suspicious of. 

Finn Conrad, his son, has given in to pressure from his family to find out more, and has booked into the Bramble House B&B under his professional name, Finn Knightly. He is a successful children's book illustrator. As he spends time with Willa and Scout, he learns more about them, and finds himself drawn to both of them. He also finds himself curious about his father's focus on Marietta, and begins to look more closely at the secrets in his own family history.

I liked both the main characters and found the plot believable. The setting is a real town, and is brought to life here, giving a cosy Christmas vibe. A light and enjoyable read. 

The Man I Never Met

Finished April 8

The Man I Never Met by Elle Cook

This contemporary romance has a fun and intriguing plotline, with some side plots that also provide interest. The main story is told around Hannah, who lives in London and works in marketing. She lives in a two bedroom flat with a garden that she loves, and is friends with her older landlady Joan who lives next door. Her best friend Miranda used to live there with her until she moved in with her boyfriend. Hannah is close to both of them and goes out for dinner regularly with the couple. She has a weekend tradition with Joan where they exchange greetings and coffee over the fence with Joan provided different flavours or Nespresso and then they rate them. 

As the book opens, Hannah gets a phone call from the U.S. that turns out to be a wrong number. The man who called, Davey, is calling for a job interview. After a short conversation, they both express interest in talking again, and soon begin texting and more. He gets the job and they discuss his move to London, and she helps with his questions and such, and it's fun to watch the relationship develop. Until suddenly things don't go so well. Davey doesn't arrive on the flight he said he'd be on, and it takes time for Hannah to find out why. 

There are other things going on in Hannah's life. She has a planned winter vacation to Thailand coming up with a friend, and is also preparing for Miranda's wedding in a few months. And Joan is also dating and sharing her experiences. 

I liked the characters and the vulnerability that many of them had. I liked seeing the different relationships that Hannah has: a close bond with her parents, her close friendship with Miranda and her boyfriend Paul, her friendship with Joan, as well as her friendship with George. 

There are a lot of emotional ups and downs in the book, and plots that keep me wanting to know more. 

I liked seeing Hannah's development in her professional life as well. 

An enjoyable read with some depth to the stories. Reading the note at the back of the book about how this story came to be was an extra element that made it even better. 

The Appeal

Finished January 18

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

This book has an unusual format with the whole story told in emails, documents and chat. Two early career lawyers are asked to look over the gathered conversation from a case to see what conclusions they make about who may be the murderer in the case.

They are given no background information at all, and it seems like the case hasn't come to their attention in any other way, such as through the news, as they appear to have no knowledge of it at all.

The book mostly consists of email between the various players in the small community, people who are linked together through their involvement with a local theatre group and the family that runs it. 

One of the main players is a young nurse, who is a bit of an outsider, tolerated, but not liked, and who comes across as quite needy. The family who runs the theatre group consists of a local couple, their two adult children, the children's spouses, and their very young granddaughter. 

There is also another young couple, both nurses, who have recently come back to England after working for several years in Africa. We don't have access to their emails, but can see some that are sent to them by the others. 

Every so often the two lawyers chat about what they're reading in the case notes, and as the book nears its close, they begin to draw conclusions and make arguments for their reasoning, interacting with the older lawyer who has assigned them this task. 

It is an interesting structure, and an interesting case, and because of the limited glimpse you get into people's lives, you aren't sure how much to trust any of them. 

Crow

Finished October 28

Crow by Amy Spurway

This novel is one that drew me in and had me caring about the various characters. Set in Cape Breton, Stacey (Crow) Fortune has returned home from Toronto to die. She's had a touch time lately, with her engagement broken off and then being diagnosed with inoperable brain tumours. She's starting to have trouble with her vision and has episodes of being very ill. 

She is hopeful to see her two best friends, but is aware that they've had a falling out and Allie no longer speaks to Char. Allie has recently had a loss of her own and is at a loose end, not handling it well. Char has recently returned home after a long absence, and is also having issues.

Crow has known all her life that her father was Alec Spenser, the only son of a wealthy family. Alec disappeared before she was born, presumed drowned in a boating accident. His family wants nothing to do with her, but Crow's mother Effie Fortune made a point of taking her to the family home at one point and makes no secret of her parentage. Crow had a bit of a wild time in her teens, having multiple short romances, and always returning to a secret lover, Willy, who was also a bit of an outcast. 

Besides her mother, she has numerous family members in the area, including her aunt Peggy and her uncle Mossy. 

As Crow finds purpose beyond her own impending demise, she becomes closer to the community she fled after high school, finding new friendships, and new connections with her family. She learns more about where she comes from, and the legacies that come to various family members. She reconnects with old friends and finds new depths to those friendships. 

This is a novel of coming home, of the importance of community, compassion, and connection, and of the nature of love. 

A fantastic read. 

Meet Me in Paradise

Finished July 27

Meet Me in Paradise by Libby Hubscher

This is a story two sisters, sisters who were raised by a loving single mom who was also a journalist. Their mom died while on a story assignment when the oldest, Marin was in high school. Ever since then, Marin has played it safe and made their home a welcoming place for her sister Sadie to return to as she followed in her mom's footsteps by becoming a photojournalist. Marin had intended to become a journalist herself, and had applied to Columbia, but in the end she went to a local university and now works for an advertising company writing for their campaigns. 

As the book opens, Sadie is just returning back from another trip, and she convinces Marin to take a sisters trip with her to a tropical island resort in Saba. This is a big step for Marin as she hasn't left her home state of Tennessee in years. Things go wrong from the getgo when Sadie doesn't make the flight, urging Marin to continue and saying she'll take the next flight. As Marin adjusts to the situation, she faces weather issues, as well as her developed fear of dangerous situations.

But a helpful stranger, new friends, a beautiful place, and the challenge of the dares that arise. Sadie also has her taking pictures of her adventures to prove she is trying new things. 

As we gradually learn what has brought each of the two women to where they are in their lives, the supporting characters, from the helpful stranger to local Saba people get filled out as well. 

This is a story with both hope and sadness, with love and loss, with humour and tearful moments. 

I enjoyed the read, the characters, and the way the plot developed, including the use of letters. I also learned a lot, through Marin's adventures, about an island I'd only heard of before.

My Summer of Magic Moments

Finished September 8
My Summer of Magic Moments by Caroline Roberts

This is a feel good romance novel. Claire Maxwell, a newspaper reporter and columnist, has recently finished her treatments for breast cancer and been given the all clear. Then her husband announced that he's found someone else. Now divorced and back to work, she's decided to take most of her annual vacation and go back to the seacoast she spent many a childhood vacation to spend some time alone and reflect. She still has to prepare her newspaper column for the week she returns and that is on her mind, as well as the upcoming sale of the marital home.
The cottage she rented is a bit more dilapidated than she expected and her journey to get there wasn't smooth, but the views are spectacular and she enjoys the sea and the challenge of the walk to the nearest small seaside town, where she can buy supplies. The magic moments idea in the book's title comes to her here, those small moments in life that can lift one's spirits, assuage the soul, and provide comfort through memory. She tries to gather these moments from those around her, and those she meets.
She makes a new friend in the small town as she begins a new hobby, baking bread, and starts to reengage with life through her mom and her sister and sister's family. She is also intrigued by the man who is staying at the cottage nearest hers, who she sees first at a distance, and then later when she needs some help with something that goes wrong at her cottage.
As she prepares to move house, and create a new home for herself, she is also looking forward to life again, realizing that life is precious and we don't know how long we have, so she is savouring it and taking hold of those moments as they arise, however unexpected.
A great read, especially for the times that we find ourselves in. The author reached out to the public for the magic moments in their lives as part of her writing of this novel, trying to include as many as she could within the confines of the story.

The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind

Finished July 19
The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind: My Tale of Madness and Recovery by Barbara K. Lipska with Elaine McArdle

This memoir is a fascinating look at one experience with aggressive brain cancer that beat the odds. Lipska is the director of the Human Brain Collection Core at the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States, and spent her career studying mental illness from a neuroscience perspective. She had already survived breast cancer and melanoma, when her melanoma returned, this time in her brain. The symptoms she exhibited as she went through diagnosis and treatment were similar to those of people with dementia and schizophrenia.
Due to her career, connections, and family, she was able to call on experts and become aware of new treatments early in the process. Her husband Mirek is a computer engineer. Her daughter Kasia is an endocrinologist at the Yale School of Medicine. Her son Witek is a neuroscientist in the Brain Modulation Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Her sister Maria is a physicist and chief of therapy in the radiation oncolology department at Brighton and Women's Hospital in Boston. The symptom that led to the discovery of her tumours was a loss of vision in one part of her visual field. She knew to get to a doctor and received an MRI the next day, which showed the tumours. Her entire family started doing the research of treatments, and she was able to get accepted into a experimental treatment program that included immunotherapy.
She was able to recover memories from her worst times with the tumours after she recovered and put those together with the observations of her family to create this book, detailing her own viewpoint as well as what others saw, giving a unique insight into the entire experience.
Some of the experiences were extremely frightening to read, including the independence she was still insistent on when she was highly impaired.
A fascinating read.

The Pretend Wife

Finished July 13
The Pretend Wife by Bridget Asher

This is a light romance novel, with a little bit of a twist. Gwen Merchant is out on a summer day standing in line for ice cream for herself and her husband, Peter, when she is surprised by the appearance of a college boyfriend, Elliot Hull, in line behind her. She finds herself both annoyed by his presence, as they parted after an incident that is described later in the book, and happy to see him because she genuinely likes him. He asks her out, and she lets him know that she is married, and then he gets himself invited to a party that she is going to later.
At the party, something happens to indebt her to him, and she finds herself agreeing to pretend to be his wife in order to help him with a lie that he's told his mother who is very ill from cancer and expected to not last much longer. Peter is the one that initially pushes for this, although he does have second thoughts. Gwen is intrigued to see more of Elliot's family and remembers meeting his mother briefly years ago at a college event after they'd broken up.
Gwen's backstory is important here. Her mother died in a single vehicle accident when she was very young, and Gwen was in the car at the time. Her father, a scientist, was a loving but distant man, very involved in his research into fish sounds. He still lives in the house that she grew up in. He hasn't discussed her mother with her much, avoiding the subject where possible, and she has a lot of unanswered questions.
As we see Gwen relate to Elliot, his sister and niece, and his mother, we also see her reach out to her father to finally learn more about her mother including the circumstances of her death. I found this book quite captivating with its flawed characters and enjoyed the read.

Let's Take the Long Way Home

Finished November 25
Let's Take the Long Way Home: a Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell

This memoir is about the friendship between Gail and fellow writer Caroline Knapp. The two women shared many things: a love of writing and books, struggles with alcohol, difficult relationships with men, and the love they had for their dogs.
They bonded quickly, and Carolyn taught Gail how to row in exchange for swimming lessons. In this way, they shared sports as well. They took long walks with their dogs, talking about many things, they encouraged each other professionally. They sometimes took vacations together, and were completely comfortable in each other's presence. They found a friendship that was close and special. And then Carolyn was diagnosed with cancer, And their relationship only grew deeper.
As Gail struggled with the decline of her friend, the loss, and the life beyond, she grew as a person and found a way forward.
This is a story of friendship, intimacy, and growth, that is inspiring.

Pack Up the Moon

Finished December 27
Pack Up the Moon by Rachael Herron

The title for this novel was taken from the poem "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden. The main story takes place within a short time period in the late spring of 2014, but there are flashbacks to earlier times. Kate Monroe is a painter, and the book begins with a showing of her work, the first since her son's death 3 years earlier. Kate's son Robin was dying from cancer, but he died from carbon monoxide poisoning, in her car, in their garage, with his father Nolan at the wheel.
Nolan went to jail for that, and has been slowly rebuilding his life.
Kate has another secret, she had another child. When her daughter Pree shows up at Kate's art show she is stunned, and doesn't know how to react. What should she tell Pree, What should she tell Nolan. What should she tell herself. As the voice of the novel rotates between Kate, Nolan, and Pree, we find out their stories,
This is a story of love, a story of loss, and a story of family. Nolan always thought that Kate was the most honest person he knew, but she has secrets she hasn't even told herself. Each character has issues that they are struggling with, and the reader walks with them through those issues.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Finished March 6
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce

This novel is a follow-up of a sort to the earlier book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. In that novel, Harold undertook a journey to Queenie. This book reveals Queenie's story, her feelings for Harold, her relationship with him and how it developed over time. It also reveals her interactions with David, Harold's son, and her underlying feelings of guilt for hiding this relationship from Harold and how she felt she failed David.
Queenie is living in a hospice, dying from cancer, and we learn her story gradually, how she first came to Kingsbridge and worked at the brewery and met Harold, how she left there and where she went, how she came to live by the sea, and how she came to where she is now.
We meet the other patients at the hospice, Mr. Henderson, Barbara, The Pearly King, and Finty are particularly memorable. We meet the staff, mostly nuns who look after the patients there, seeing to their needs and making their final days more comfortable and helping them find small joys.
It is one of these nuns that Queenie meets and that spends time with her, urging her to tell her story in a letter to Harold. Queenie can't speak properly due to her cancer, and struggles to write with a pencil her story. Sister Mary Inconnue then transcribes it with her typewriter. She also seems to connect with Queenie more intimately than the other nuns, understanding her needs and helping her find the joy and comfort in her surroundings, taking notice of people and objects beyond her to ease her own pain, sadness, and discomfort.
This is a book reflecting on life, love, the connections between us all, and beauty in the world around us. The love song of Queenie isn't only for Harold, it is for herself, and for the world she experienced and imagined.

Eloise

Finished December 8
Eloise by Judy Finnigan

This first novel is written by a woman with a passion for books, Judy of the famous Richard & Judy. Taking place in the vacation destination of Talland Bay in Cornwall, the main character here, Cathy, has watched her close friend lose Eloise lose her struggle against cancer, and now feels that Eloise is trying to send her a message tasking her with protecting Eloise's two young daughters. But Cathy's psychiatrist husband Chris worries that she is relapsing into another breakdown, and even Cathy isn't sure that she isn't imagining some of what she is feeling. Eloise's widowed husband seems more focused on the money side of Eloise's death than the emotional side, but is that just the path his grief is taking. Eloise's mother supports Cathy's concerns one minute and accuses her of besmirching Eloise's memory the next. This is a tale of intuition, friendship, and hidden sorrows. I found the plot idea interesting, but found the characters interactions too forced, with sudden about turns particularly from Cathy's husband Chris who was loving one minute and nasty the next. I found the book didn't flow, with the writing repetitive in spots and stilted in others.

The Guts

Finished September 15
The Guts by Roddy Doyle

This novel continues the story begun with his book The Commitments and continued in The Snapper and The Van which all featured the Rabbitte family. These books are commonly referred to as The Barrytown Trilogy. So now there are four. Jimmy Rabbitte was a main character in the first book and he is the focus of this novel. Now 47, Jimmy and his wife created a music company focused on older music, and then sold a large chunk of it to a partner Noeleen. As the book begins, Jimmy is meeting his dad, also Jimmy, in a pub for a drink, a common occurrence, except that this time Jimmy is breaking the news to his dad that he has bowel cancer. His dad is the first person Jimmy has told this news to.
This novel takes us through Jimmy's cancer journey, through his surgery and chemotherapy, but also through his relationships along the way. From his reconnection with two members of The Commitments, Outspan and Imelda, to his reconnection with his long-lost brother Les, we see Jimmy reach back to his past. We also see his interactions with his wife and kids, and his business partner. Music is a focus here too, with Jimmy's love of music, music the focus of his business, and a large outdoor multi-day music concert the venue for the final part of the story bringing everything together in an amazing way.
This book has a lot of humour as one expects from Doyle but also a wonderfully human story about a man dealing with the situation of facing his own vulnerability.
I've read a few books by Doyle, but not the entire Barrytown series, so must add those to my list now too.

Suddenly

Finished April 4
Suddenly by Bonnie Burnard
Sandra, Colleen, and Jude are women friends with a long history. Sandra and Colleen have been friends since Sandra's brother Richard began dating Colleen. Jude joined the group when Sandra's kids were young. Their partners Jack, Richard, and Gus also get along, and the couples have spent a lot of time together over the years. They've come through a lot of difficult times and helped each other through relationship woes and troubles with children and parents.
Now Sandra faces the ultimate crisis and the friends find themselves coming together in support not only of each other but of their families as well.
This book is a combination of present and past, with the past brought to the fore through sharing stories, and prompts from Sandra's longtime journals. We see things from each of the women's viewpoints as well as from Sandra's husband Jack's. This is a story of friendship over many years and how sustaining that kind of friendship can be.
I really enjoyed this book, could barely put it down and highly recommend it.

Memoir

Finished January 26
Nothing Was the Same: a memoir by Kay Redfield Jamison
This memoir is a very intimate look at Jamison's life with her late husband Richard. She talks of her own struggles with bipolar disorder and how her husband helped find a way for the two of them to cope with it by applying his scientific mind and methods to it.
She talks frankly about their relationship, how it began and how it progressed, and how much they shared with each other.
She also talks about their struggles with Richard's battles against cancer, how they coped and how their friends helped them in finding assistance and investigating new treatments.
She also talks about how she has coped with Richard's death, about the differences between depression and grief and how her disorder prepared her in some ways to cope with the grief. She talks about how poetry and then music helped. And she talks about how she lives now.
A very frank intimate memoir, this book is well-written and inspiring.

Memoir

Finished September 19
The Doctor Will Not See You Now: The Autobiography of a Blind Physician by Jane Poulson
This is the memoir of a woman who overcame obstacles in her life and used her experiences to improve the lives of others.
A Toronto native, Jane was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes as an adolescent. She studied hard at her favourite subject science and continued those studies at university. Persisting in her quest for an interesting and useful life, she applied to medical school and was accepted into McGill. She lost her vision in her last year of medical school at the age of 27, and with the support of friends and colleagues, did her internship despite her lack of sight. She found a niche in palliative medicine and soon became sought out for her insights into the field.
She moved back to Toronto to spend more time with her family and in her 40s was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She also developed heart disease. While not actively practising following these health setbacks, she still did research and wrote, adding her own experience as a patient to the information she shared with her colleagues. Jane died at the age of 49.
This memoir shows her personal struggles, the friends and faith that helped her find her way, and the information she added to the knowledge in her field. An inspiring story.

Reflective Novel

Finished January 26
Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe
This is a feel-good novel although the main character, Mia Landon, starts off facing some things she'd rather not. Mia is a breast cancer survivor and her sister has given her the gift of a retreat with other survivors at a fly fishing resort. She is inspired and uplifted by the experience and wanting to share it with her husband, rushes home, only to discover him with another woman.
Devastated, she runs back to the retreat, where the owner, Belle Carson, takes her in, offering her a cabin to stay in for a season while she gets herself together and figures out where she wants her life to go next.
Mia finds herself intrigued by the last occupant and owner of the cabin, Kate Watkins, Belle's grandmother and becomes interested in her and her life. Against Belle's wishes, she digs into Kate's story and, in doing so, finds her own story as well. She also gets to know the people of Watkins Mill, the nearest town, and finds friends.
Fly fishing provides a thread through the book and connects the various characters through time. This is a good story with an interesting theme.

Thriller by Canadian

Finished December 31
Invisible Armies by Jon Evans
This book was recommended to me over a year ago and I finally got around to reading it. It was a great read, and despite being long (almost 500 pages) I easily finished it in one day. Despite being written by a Canadian, none of the action takes place here. Ranging from India, to Paris, to London, to the United States, the action keeps this book moving.
Danielle Leaf is the main character and has spent her life trying to figure out who she wants to be. Most recently, she has been in India, first working for a tech firm and then working towards a certificate as a yoga instructor. Doing a favor for a friend, by bringing a passport to a young Indian woman in a remote part of the country, she gets caught up in something huge. Waylayed by official looking men, she has her passport and other possessions taken from her and is locked up in a small building. As she escapes, with the help of another prisoner, she begins to work with others to figure out what is behind the intrigue.
Never quite sure who to trust, or who to believe, Danielle is also not sure whether she wants to continue down this path. Reunited with the friend she did the favor for, she enters the world of computer hackers and discovers new possibilities. Action-packed, working toward a higher purpose, the book is a good read and kept me entertained.

British Mystery

Finished August 6
The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill
This is the latest in the series featuring Simon Serrailler. The series deals a lot with Simon's personal life as well as his police duties. Simon is the odd man out in a family of doctors.
In this book, his sister has just returned from a year in Australia with her family and Simon is thrilled to have them back. However a tragedy befalls the family and Simon must be supportive during this time, a role he doesn't normally play.
Also, a shooter is targeting young woman in Lafferton, although the police struggle to find any pattern to the shootings.
Simon is a quiet sort of man, a good police officer recently promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent. He is also with the Serious Incident Flying Taskforce. He is an ethical and sensitive man, who is an artist in his spare time. The novels in this series are very character-driven and yet there is also a lot going on.

For Older Teens

Finished March 8
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Tessa is sixteen years old and dying of leukemia. But there are so many things she hasn't experienced and together with her friend, Zoey, she aims to do some of them while she can.
Tessa lives with her Dad, and her little brother, Cal, with her mother living in an apartment nearby. She feels frustrated and angry with her situation and sometimes takes out those feelings on her family who struggle to understand.
Tessa starts with a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies, the first of which is sex. Zoey helps her achieve some of these experiences, and for others she turns to her family and the young man next door who has his own issues, and learns that sometimes getting what you want isn't as good as you thought it might be. She also finds out that some things are more important than she thought. As we travel with Tessa down her final few months of life, we are touched by her strength, her frailty, and her too short life.
I was weeping by the end of this one.