Category Archives: Book Club Kits

January Five Star Reads

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Well! 2025 has began with a bang! A bang of ‘Great Reads’.

Out of the 10 books I read in January these are my ‘Top 5’ five star reads. In no particular order.

Every Last Suspect by Nicola Moriarty

Manipulative, irresistible, monstrous.

Love or hate her, Harriet Osman is impossible to turn down. But someone in her life has finally snapped, leaving her face-down in a pool of her own blood. Harriet isn’t one to die quietly though, and she is determined to reveal her killer before she goes.

Was it her devoted husband, Malek, with a violent past? Her best friend and lover, Victoria, with a deadly secret only Harriet knew? Or the new woman in her life, fellow school mum Karen? The one with an impeccable reputation … or so she says.

Bullying, friendships and games (in and out of the bedroom) combine with envy, lust and revenge, creating a darkly twisted tale of drama and suspense where the question isn’t who killed Harriet, but why did it take them so long to do it?

Nicola Moriarty’s books just keep getting better, and better!

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer.

Now, he’s been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed.

Duchess Radley, Star’s thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin – and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town.

Murder, revenge, retribution.

This one stayed with me longer after I finished reading it.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder… where nothing is as it seems.

Beautiful! Had me hooked from the very first page. I am officially a Evie Woods fan!

One Dark Night by Hannah Richell

He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress …

Everyone in the small town of Thorncombe knows the tales of the haunted woods where the birds don’t sing and a girl in a white dress roams, luring people to their deaths. But when a girl in white is found dead the morning after Halloween, her body carefully arranged at the bottom of an old stone folly, the community is thrown into turmoil.

With a teenage daughter of his own, police detective Ben Chase knows how high the stakes are. Was the girl the victim of a party prank gone wrong, or does her death represent something more sinister and ritualistic?

As the investigation unfolds and the noose tightens around Chase’s own family, the only thing anyone can be sure of is that no one is safe until this violent killer is caught.

How far can we run from the past, when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

Hannah Richell never falls to write amazing stories.

The Ledge by Christian White

When human remains are discovered in a forest, police are baffled, the locals are shocked and one group of old friends starts to panic. Their long-held secret is about to be uncovered.

It all began in 1999 when sixteen-year-old Aaron ran away from home, drawing his friends into an unforeseeable chain of events that no one escaped from unscathed.

In The Ledge, past and present run breathlessly parallel, leading to a climax that will change everything you thought you knew. This is a mind-bending new novel from the master of the unexpected.

Another gripping thriller from Christian White.

I hope you find another great read to add to your TBR pile.

Happy Reading.

Jody

Book Review French Braid

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French Braid by Anne Tyler

When Mercy Garrett moves herself out of the family home, everyone determines not to notice.

All she wants is space and silence. No clutter. Not even their cat, Desmond.

But it turns out family life is impossible to escape – particularly when it’s in your past. For Mercy it all begins in 1959, with a holiday to a cabin by a lake. It’s the only one the Garretts will ever take, but its effects will ripple through the generations

Comments

This book was described by a number of readers as a very “ordinary” and slow moving story.

A polarising book, it was either enjoyed or disliked by our readers.

Many readers felt there were very few “stand out” likable characters in this novel, a novel that is all about family relationships and family secrets.

The story line seemed to go nowhere and was very frustrating for many readers who described a narration that just went on and on building to nowhere.

A few readers did enjoy this low key story of an average family making their way through life although they did also state they were half through the book and were asking “is this story going anywhere?” It is only at this lengthy point in the story that the enjoyment kicked in.

The story is a narration of various family member viewpoints about their lives and their relationships within their family. 

Robin and Mercy are the parents of three children. The early years are told as a family unit but moves on as the children mature to each of their lives being told individually. 

Some are likable and relateable, some are found wanting in character by our readers. 

Unfortunately the mother, Mercy, was found to be very unlikable by most readers. This was quite off putting to some readers who found her character to be self absorbed and selfish. This aspect strongly affected how they felt about the book.

Anne Tyler does write in a unique style and some of our readers have read her books and enjoyed them.

This one was felt to be not one of her best.

Read by MJ Readers Book Club

Book Review Storm Child

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Storm Child by Michael Robotham

About the book

The most painful of Evie Cormac’s memories have been locked away ever since she was held prisoner as a child – a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines.

Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven‘s mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a British beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing.

Suddenly, Evie’s nightmares come roaring back. Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm.

Comments

This fourth book in the Cyrus Haven series did not disappoint our group.

The characterisations are believable and engaging and the plot has twists and turns which keep the reader guessing. Set in Scotland and involving ‘people in high places’, it is a story of abuse, people smuggling and greed. Evie’s repressed memories from her past abuse begin to resurface in this story and as Cyrus continues to help Evie resolve her past, he gains resolution of his own.

A thoroughly gripping and enjoyable read.

Read by Dundas Readers 8/10

Click here to discover more books by Michael Robotham

Book Review Darling Girls

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Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

About the book

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. Rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother on an idyllic farming estate, they were given an elusive second chance of a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. And when a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

Comments

This book was read and finished by our readers but most described the book as compelling,  

not great. This was not a “read again” book for us.

Each reader did want to find out how the story developed and ended but no one  found it to be a “great read.”  

One reader described it as only three stars, most agreed with this although some readers suggested lower.

Many found the main characters quite unlikable at times and there were way too many cliches. 

The story, to many, felt like a minority “tick chart” that concentrated hard to include diversity in characters that was unnecessary and this substituted for deeper personal character development.

 The child abuse theme in this story did make this stort difficult to read for some. The lifelong bond, however, developed between foster sisters in this shared abuse foster “family” situation was one of the more warming aspects of the story. The three main characters did believably care for each other and protect each other through their life after they had left their dysfunctional ” wicked foster mother” family situation.

For most of our readers this was the redeemable aspect of the story.

Read by MJ Readers Book Club

Book Review Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

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Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

About the book

In 15th century China two women are born under the same sign, the Metal Snake. But life will take the friends on very different paths.

According to Confucius, ‘an educated woman is a worthless woman’, but Tan Yunxian – born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separation and loneliness – is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. She begins her training in medicine with her grandmother and, as she navigates the male world of medicine, requiring tact and diplomacy, she struggles against the confining world of her class.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose – despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it – and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of tradition, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.

Comments

All members at our meeting enjoyed this story.

Historically we found the story fascinating. Chinese history in the mid 14th century, the Ming Dynasty. Although the story is a fictional account the historical detail throughout is enthralling.

The level of research of 15th century China is admirable. 

The story is centred around the real life of a female doctor, Tan Yunxian.

At the age of fifty she published a book about her medical cases, all of which were female. This book remains in print to this day thanks to her male descendants from the 17th century.

There is little to nothing known about the real Tan Yunxians life so the story revolves around the fictitious life story of a girl, born into a family of privilege in the Confucian period in China. 

The story beautifully details the lifestyle of females in her aristocratic family. Fortunately for Tan her family highly respects education and learning. 

Foot binding, social and class restrictions along with the educational requirements for young women to make them good daughters, good wives and then good mothers is engagingly well written throughout Tan’s life.

Our group also loved the detail of research by Lisa See into the medical cures that Lady Tan used and the descriptions of her diagnostic methodology with each of her patients. The novel also details the lack of appropriate medical diagnosis offered to women during this time.

There is an engaging story that runs through the novel with each character giving inciteful detail into the lives of the people of that class and sex during the time period, particularly midwives.

Tan Yunxian, through Lisa See, has been given her place in history with recognition of her medical brilliance, her ongoing self education and learning, and her care for her fellow females, no matter their class or social standing during this incredibly repressive time for so many in human history.

Read by MJ Readers Book Club