Cramlington Book Club

"Tara Westover and her family grew up preparing for the End of Days but, according to the government, she didn’t exist. She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a classroom, and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in hospitals. As she grew older, her father became more radical and her brother more violent. At sixteen, Tara knew she had to leave home. In doing so she discovered both the transformative power of education, and the price she had to pay for it.” I loved the books opening chapter, describing the Indian Princess, the mountain upon which  Tara  grew up beside and the fields surrounding it: “the wheat field is a corps de ballet, each stem following all the rest in bursts of movement, a million ballerinas bending, one after the other, as great gales dent their golden heads. The shape of that dent lasts only a moment, and is as close as anyone gets to seeing the wind ” In this peri

Did you know the Cramlington Book Club blog is nine years old? It is, and in blog terms that's pretty old. It started out as a way of recording the books the book club had read during the year. It's hard to remember how many stars you gave April's book of the month when in December! Liking the blogging malarkey I started to include reviews of every book I read. I hooked up with social-media and started to participate in Blog Tours. Without me realising it the Cramlington Book Club blog wasn't about Cramlington Book Club anymore. It wasn't their books or their thoughts. Off the back of this realisation (and with the help of web designer hubby) Book-Social has been born. A website for all things book. There will be reviews, blog tours, articles, features and give-aways. Book Clubs, actual books, independent Book Shops and publishers will be heavily featured as that's what important to me. Cramlington Book Club still exists, it is still going strong. Th

"13 October 2008. Welcome to the worst day of Chef Charlie Sheridan's life, the day he's about to lose his two great loves: his childhood sweetheart, Lulu, and the legendary Brighton hotel his grandfather, Franco Sheridan, opened in 1973. This is the story of the Belle Hotel, one that spans the course of four decades – from the training of a young chef in the 1970s and 80s, through the hedonistic 90s, up to the credit crunch of the noughties – and leads us right back to Charlie's present-day suffering. In this bittersweet and salty tale, our two Michelin star-crossed lovers navigate their seaside hangout for actors, artists and rock stars; the lure of the great restaurants of London; and the devastating effects of three generations of family secrets." Let's start with a moment to appreciate that cracking little cover. Designed by David Shrigley. It's bold, very eye catching and sums up main character Charlie perfectly. It's not the lobste

I had to stop reading The Soldier's Home I was sat reading it in a trampoline park and feared I would cry in public. I finished it in the privacy of my own home. I didn't cry, but only just and I think only because of the trampoline break in between chapters. "The war is over and his home was built … but a home is just a set of empty rooms without people and love. After surviving the devastation, secrets, lies and tragedies of a community under German occupation, can people now rekindle their lives, and rediscover their reasons for surviving? As the soldier waits for the return of his love, the world keeps moving, threatening to leave his hopes and dreams behind. History, secrets and painful truths collide in this astonishingly human, warm and emotive sequel from writer George Costigan." I was very kindly given a copy of this book by  Urbane Publications  in exchange for an honest review. I had never heard of its predecessor,  The Single Soldier  although I had

"When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is  blaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock … for murder? Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously … and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. As events from the past play tag with the present, he’s forced to question everything he thought he  knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect? It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust. But can we trust him?" Based on the previously published YA thriller, 'Killerinstink

OK I confess I am disappointed. Not about The Lost Man or Jane Harper 's writing, oh no, but because when reading the brilliant The Dry and it's follow on Force of Nature I always knew I had another Harper book in the bag awaiting me. Now however I am all caught up and find myself slightly bereft that there is no longer a sub waiting on the bench. "He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him, and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron's mind when he was alive, he didn’t look peaceful in death. Two brothers meet at the border of their vast cattle properties under the unrelenting sun of Outback Queensland. They are at the Stockman’s Grave, a landmark so old, no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron. The Bright family’s quiet existence is thrown into grief and anguish. Something had been troubling Cameron. Did he lose hope and wa

What would you do if you met a talking fish? And not just any fish, a talking mackerel? This is what swimming fanatic Billy discovers when swimming in the ocean. Bullied at school and facing problems at home, Billy relates everything to David Attenborough type wildlife scenarios. Is it any wonder then that he comes face to face with a fish (Bob) who not only talks (in Hungarian) but who also wants to whisk Billy off into the safe world of 'Us'. But what if the safe world of 'Us' means disappearing from the real world, and never returning? This was the first book chosen for my Children's Book Club. At 300 or so pages it was easily managed within the four week allotted time frame, it had so many talking points and I think we are all just a little bit wiser about wildlife, David Attenborough and the Bermuda Triangle. I loved best friend Patrick, the wannabe magician who stuck by Billy despite his insistence that fish could talk. Throwing stinky socks at each othe

How do you top the Book Club's highest scoring book in 2018? The Dry , Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk's first outing took that very title when we reviewed it back in April. I personally really enjoyed it for its fresh take on the crime genre. So how does Harper improve on Falk's second outing - Force of Nature? Initially I was surprised Raco, the local cop who so brilliantly partnered Falk in The Dry, was not present however it did make sense. Falk had returned home from Kiewarra and it was very much back to normal, chasing the money with new partner Carmen. The previous book was referenced however, as was Falk's injuries and I liked the authenticity this added. You could read Force of Nature as a stand alone but when The Dry was so good, why would you want to? I found the start really gripping. A team building weekend away in the bush goes horribly wrong when one of the team does not return. Is Alice still alive? Has she succumbed to the elements or has she been