Book review: The Memory Box by Sarah Webb

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 12 September 2013 by Pan Macmillan, 299 pages.

Description: Pandora Schuster is about to turn thirty but that's the least of her worries. She has just been tested for a hereditary family illness and, expecting the worst, she's desperate for her ex-boyfriend and father of nine-year-old Iris to be a part of her daughter's life. But there are two major problems: Olivier Huppert lives in Paris and he has no idea that Iris even exists.

So Pandora secretly tries to find Olivier during her Parisian birthday weekend, but the trip doesn't exactly go to plan. Back in Dublin, as the agonizing weeks until her test results crawl by, Pandora manages to find some distraction with her kind and sensible boyfriend, Declan, and with her fellow Shoestring Club members as they time-share a fabulous new designer dress.

But matters of the heart are not easily forgotten and Pandora is forced to make some serious decisions. She is determined for Iris to know who her father is and creates a memory box filled with photos, letters and mementoes. Pandora's box conjures up magical memories of the time she spent with Olivier in Paris until the past and the present look set to collide she finds herself having to choose between her head and her heart...

Rating:

Sunday post #9

Sunday is when I sit back with a lovely cup of tea and write about all the wonderful new books I've received and purchased in the past week. This post participates in fab memes Showcase Sunday and Stacking the Shelves.


• A Friend of the Family by Lisa Jewell (bought)
• Always You by Erin Kaye (review copy)
• Beautiful People by Wendy Holden (gift)
• Coco's Secret by Niamh Greene (review copy)
• Conditional Love (ebook) by Cathy Bramley (review copy)
• Getting Rooted in New Zealand (ebook) by Jamie Baywood (review copy)
• How to Love by Katie Cotugno (review copy)
• Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell (gift)
• Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes (gift)
• Thursdays in the Park by Hilary Boyd (bought)


  Always You and Coco's Secret are two new books I've received to review for handbag.com and as I selected them myself from a list of available titles you can imagine I'm very much looking forward to reading both. I received Conditional Love as I'm reviewing it for the blog tour in November, so fingers crossed I will have no issues with the file (I generally review physical copies only because my ereader is a bit rubbish). How to Love was an unsolicited review copy from Quercus and with its striking cover and eye-catching title it too is a novel I'm keen to pick up as soon as time allows.

A colleague of mine is sorting out her books, making me the very lucky recipient of some new titles as well with possibly more to follow! I'm especially ecstatic to now have a copy of Silver Bay as Jojo Moyes has rapidly made her way to the top of my favourite authors list and this is one of the (many) books from her back catalogue I have not yet read.

Hope you all got some lovely new reads this week as well!

Show your support for your local bookshop on 14th September!

Booklovers across the UK and Ireland are being encouraged to join nationwide campaign Books Are My Bag on September 14th, which celebrates high street & campus bookshops. It is a collaboration between publishers, bookshops, authors and agents to champion the passion for books and bookshops and celebrate their cultural importance on the high street.

For many people bookshops conjure fond images of book readings, in-store cafes and delight at the discovery of a new author. In fact, 56 per cent of all book buying decisions are made by consumers in a bookshop and high street bookshops (both chains and independents) still account for almost 40 per cent of books bought by consumers Yet, many high street bookshops are under threat from punitive rates and rents, as well as pressure from the internet book retailers.

In fact, despite being a vital part of our culture, community and our High Street, a third of bookshops have gone out of business since 2005. Books Are My Bag aims to reverse this process by reigniting the nation's love of bookshops, calling on book lovers to show their support by visiting and purchasing a book from their favourite bookshop on Saturday 14th September.

Also very exciting is that if you purchase a book in any of the participating book shops on the day of the campaign you'll receive a lovely Books Are My Bag tote (as long as supplies last, of course), which is a brilliant way to show your support every time you use it (ie. always).

So please everyone, blog, Tweet, Facebook and talk about this brilliant campaign to help spread the word about it and purchase a new read from your favourite book store next Saturday!

A full list of the events can be found on the campaign website:

www.booksaremybag.com

Dinner at Galeto

The vibrant Galeto, a restaurant specialising in chicken dishes and Brazilian street food, is the latest addition to the wealth of dining establishments in London's eclectic Soho neighbourhood.

The interior is a mix match of reclaimed furniture in colour-popping greens, yellows and reds, mirroring the spirit of the carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The equally vibrant mural throughout adds to the chaotic atmosphere and rustic South American charm of the eatery. It's a very informal experience for a restaurant, but the welcoming and attentive staff more than make up for that.


To start off the meal we tried camarao (pan fried tiger prawns with brioche) and frango a passarinho (marinated spicy whole chicken wings with crème fraîche), both of which were a success in taste and size. The chicken portion in particular was very large and with four big wings smothered in the piquant sauce it can easily be shared by two people. Just be warned that they are not kidding when they say the sauce is spicy. This is not a bad thing but I was very happy to have a glass of the extremely sweet acai, a berry juice from the Brazilian rainforest, to sip on after finishing off the plate of wings.


As the galeto in the restaurant's namesake and speciality that was of course one of the dishes we tried for our mains, as well as picanha (steak with farofa and salsa). While galeto means little chicken, don't be fooled into thinking that the portion will be on the small side. On contrary, the meal comprised of half a young chicken which generously filled the plate and ended up being too much for one person to finish. Despite having been marinated for 24 hours the chicken didn't have the distinct flavour of its seasoning and the barbecue sauce lacked the expected kick and smokiness. However, the meat was plenty and juicy and fell right off the bone.

The steak was cooked medium rare, as ordered, and went well with the small offer of salsa on the plate as well as the farofa, which is a toasted manioc flour mixture I hadn't had a pleasure to try before. Both main dishes came with a side of fries which sounded interesting, as they still had the skin on, but unfortunately were too greasy to be enjoyed properly. The restaurant does offer additional sides, including black beans and cassava chips, but as we were already getting quite full at this stage we decided against ordering them.


We were however easily persuaded by the desserts menu and the excellent recommendations from our waitress. She suggested we try pavê de limão and mousse de maracuja, and we happily obliged. The pavê comprised of a smooth mousse layered with crumbling cookies and tasted like a rich miniature cheese cake with a zesty finish. This option would make for a wonderfully sweet albeit very filling finish to the meal. The mousse de maracuja was the lighter choice as it was exceptionally creamy and had a lovely thick layer of tangy passionfruit on top, which was very refreshing after the otherwise heavy meal.

We recommend visiting Galeto for one of the delicious desserts alone, which for this reviewer were the irrefutable highlights of an already pleasant evening. And if you're in the neighbourhood, after having seen a play or musical at one of the nearby theatres, the long opening hours provide the perfect opportunity to wind down before heading home.

Galeto, 33 Dean St, London W1D 4PW

Book review: Sense & Sensbility by Joanna Trollope

My edition: Paperback (uncorrected proof), to be published on 29 October 2013 by Harper Collins, 368 pages.

Description: Elinor Dashwood, an architecture student, values patience and reliability. Her impulsive sister, Marianne, takes after their mother, Belle, and is fiery and creative, filling the house with her dramas and guitar playing while dreaming of going to art school.

But when their father, Henry Dashwood, dies suddenly, his whole family finds itself forced out of Norland Park, their beloved home for twenty years. Without the comfort of status, they discover that their values are severely put to the test.

Can Elinor remain stoic and restrained knowing that the man she really likes has already been ensnared by another girl? Will Marianne's faith in a one-and-only lifetime love be shaken by meeting the hottest boy in the county, John Willoughby? And in a world where social media and its opinions are the controlling forces at play, can love ever triumph over conventions and disapproval?

Rating:

Book review: The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating by Carole Radziwill

My edition: Paperback, published on 29 August 2013 by Heron, 352 pages.

Description: Claire's husband is a philandering 'sexologist' who believes love and sex can't co-exist. But it breaks her heart when he dies and leaves her a young widow.

As she braces herself for her new life alone, Claire can't help but wonder if her late-lamented was right all along. After getting through the pain of his passing, she's returning to the battlefield of bad dates.

So when she's asked to write the biography of lothario movie star Jack Huxley, she's surprised when he doesn't live up to his sleazy reputation. Not only is he more than meets the eye, but he's got his eye on her. Claire's determined to banish her husband's ghosts and prove him wrong. But having found her first Mr Right, does she deserve a second?

Rating:

Sunday post #8

Sunday is when I sit back with a lovely cup of tea and write about all the wonderful new books I've received and purchased in the past week. This post participates in fab memes Showcase Sunday and Stacking the Shelves.



• Amelia Grey's Fireside Dream by Abby Clements (review book)
• Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach (review book)
• How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern (review book)
• Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell (competition win)
• Life Swap by Jane Green (competition win/review book)
• Mutton by India Knight (competition win)
• Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope (review book)
• Step back in Time by Ali McNamara (review book)
• The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman (competition win)
• The Memory Box by Sarah Webb (review book)
• The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson (competition win)
• Through It All by Kristyn Lewis (review book)



I am so, so excited about all my fabulous new reads (even though I've now had to pile them next to my desk as my bookshelves are full...). Because I was away for the Bank Holiday last weekend this is the accumulation of two weeks of post, but even so it's an amazing haul and every day I came home to more delightful packages it made me very happy :)

From the ones listed above I've already read Heartbreak Hotel (review here), which is a very charming new read from the author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Sense and Sensibility which is a modern day adaptation of the Jane Austen classic (review up soon). I'm currently reading The Memory Box because that is the next review I want to have up but I also cannot wait to pick up the new books by Abby Clements and Cecelia Ahern as they're two of my absolute favourite authors, as well as The Life List (how stunning is that cover by the way?) and Through it All as they both sound like poignant novels.

Hope you all got some lovely new books in the last two weeks as well!

Book review: Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach

My edition: Paperback, published on 29 August 2013 by Vintage, 387 pages.

Description: When retired actor Buffy decides to up sticks from London and move to rural Wales, he has no idea what he is letting himself in for.

In possession of a run-down B&B that leans more towards the shabby than the chic and is miles from nowhere, he realises he needs to fill the beds - and fast.

Enter a motley collection of guests: Harold, whose wife has run off with a younger woman; Amy, who's been unexpectedly dumped by her (not-so) weedy boyfriend and Andy, the hypochondriac postman whose girlfriend is much too much for him to handle.

But under Buffy's watchful eye, this disparate group of strangers find they have more in common than perhaps they first thought...

Rating:

Author cover quotes: Love them or loathe them?

There are many innovative ways for book publishers to promote a newly released title and one I'm seeing more and more of nowadays is the author cover quote. But does it really achieve what it sets out to do, i.e. persuade potential readers to buy a book?

For me personally, it has not had the desired effect. I've never bought a book based on the cover quote and on a few occasions I've even put a prospective buy back on the shelf because the addition of the quote put me off. Most of the time though, I hardly notice them when I'm browsing books in the shops (as I'm much more focussed on the title, author and cover image) and only realise they are there when I already own a copy of the novel and am in the middle of reading it.

Some issues I have with the inclusion of quotes, particularly on the front cover:

• I dislike the quoted author. While cover quotes are supposed to make people excited for the novel in their hands, on several occasions the exact opposite has happened to me. There are a few authors whose books and writing I am not a fan of but they are extremely popular and a top pick amongst their genres for providing quotes to fellow authors. However, since I don't think very highly of them, their positive opinion will actively put me off trying a prospective new author because I assume (probably wrongfully so) that the book I'm considering picking up will be similar to the ones from the author-I-really-do-not-like.

• It's aesthetically displeasing. I like clean covers but the addition of quotes makes them unnecessarily cluttered and oftentimes even gives them a unprofessional look. I think a front cover should focus on the title and author, and possibly an image to reflect the story. Any additional text, other than perhaps a brief line about the author such as "Sunday Times bestselling author" or "From the author of [include most popular title here]", only distracts from the more important features.

• Writers are overused. Even not paying any particular attention to cover quotes I can't help but notice them when I'm reading a novel and since I tend to read the same few genres it's become clear to me that the same authors within these genres pop up again and again to provide a cover quote. This not only becomes tiresome but it also takes away from the credibility, as it seems they'll just about provide anyone with a quote.

• Incorrect or misleading use. Because there is so little space to spare on a front cover the quote has to be incredibly short and to the point, which means it's often taken out of context and sometimes even slightly altered to fit this small area. This can give an incorrect perception of the quoted person's opinion of the novel. To add to that, on several occasions I've noticed the same quote pop up on different books by the same author (often a series). The quote was initially included on the first book published and was consequently repeated without making it clear that it is actually referring to an old title, which is a very misleading way of promoting a book.

So while I'm sure it's encouraging and exciting for (newly published) authors to know that a fellow (perhaps more established) author has read the book and is willing to attach their name to it with a positive comment and recommendation, I'm not so certain it is quite as important or effective from a reader's point of view.

I have nothing against author quotes in principle and they can be perfectly suited on the back cover (if the blurb is short enough, so it doesn't look overcrowded) or on a dedicated page in the front of the book. They can also be a great tool in other marketing campaigns, such as magazine ads and railway posters, but I personally wish they wouldn't clutter up so many otherwise gorgeous front covers.

What do you guys think? Have you ever read a (memorable) cover quote that persuaded you to purchase a book? Or perhaps has it had the opposite effect and did you quickly put a book back on the shelf because an author you don't like recommended it? It'd be great to read your input, positive or negative!

This is my first discussion post so I'd love it if you'd leave your thoughts below and perhaps share this post/RT it. And please be nice, whatever your opinion :)

Book review: Another Way to Fall by Amanda Brooke

My edition: Paperback, to be published on 22 August 2013 by Harper, 416 pages.

Description: After battling a brain tumour twenty-nine year old Emma thinks she is in the clear, but her world comes crashing down around her when she is told her fight was in vain, and there is nothing more the doctors can do.

Realising that she won’t now have time to achieve the things she dreamed of, Emma decides to write her perfect life in a story. She imagines all the things she would have done, the places she would have seen, the husband she would have shared her life with and the family they would have raised. And, mysteriously, as she writes her story, she starts to notice that some of her dreams seem to be coming true.

Now with a real love in her life, and her fading hope burning brighter, reality and fiction start to become blurred. As she writes their life-long love story Emma dares to believe that anything is possible, but can she really change her fate?

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