Goodbye 2022. My Standout Reads of 2022. ❤️

December 31, 2022December 31, 2022 bookclubbetweenthepages1 Comment

Hi everyone. As we say goodbye to 2022, it’s been a year of high and lows for myself, but I got the best present being baby #3 in April. I managed to read 138 books, which isn’t bad with a baby. I would like to thank you all for your views, likes & support. Blogging & books keep me sane. I’d like to wish you all the best for 2023, and there are more books & reviews to come. Without further a do, here are my standout 5 star reads of 2022… Let me know if you’ve read any, also let me know your top reads I may have not read them. Have a good and safe night everyone. Gemma BTPBOOKCLUB. X

1) Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

2) What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

3) The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

4) Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson & Dolly Parton

5) Finley Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

6) Verity by Colleen Hoover

7) Five Survive by Holly Jackson

8) Elodie’s Library of Second Chances by Rebecca Raisin

9) H.A.W.K.S by M.A. Bennett

10) Fairytale by Stephen King

11) The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson

12) The School For Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

13) The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Books I will ALWAYS Recommend. <3

December 17, 2022 bookclubbetweenthepagesLeave a comment

Good morning. Something a little different from me today. I made a will always recommend list and these are the books and stories I can still remember and love even years later. Everyone’s into different genres so I’ve done a mix, everyone’s favourite books are different. Remember other than Amazon there is World of Books, Books depositry, Books 2 Door, Ebay & Vinted.

1) Sunny Days & Sea Breezes by Carole Matthews (chick-lit/Romance).

2) The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. AMAZING. Can’t Genre this. Makes you think about life.

3) Arias Travelling Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin (chick-lit).

4). The Inheritance Games Series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Young Adult, Mystery).

5) The Flatshare by Beth O’leary (Romance, chick-lit).

6) The Switch by Beth O’leary (Romance, chick-lit).

7) The 24 hour Cafe by Libby Page (chick-lit).

8) The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (mystery/murder).

9) The Castaways by Lucy Clarke (Mystery, survival, deserted island).

10) The Turn of the Key by Ruth ware (thriller).

11) This Can Never Not Be Real by Sera Milano (thriller, young adult, shooting).

12) Hostage by Clare Mackintosh (thriller/suspense).

13) Run Rose Run by James Patterson & Dolly Parton (AMAZING/Iconic).

14) Fairytale by Stephen King (fantasy).

15) Verity by Colleen Hoover (thriller/mystery).

16) The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (AMAZING).

17) H.A.W.K.S series by M.A. Bennet (Young adult, thriller, mystery, boarding school, rich kids).

18) This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech (Emotional)

19) Heartstopper series by Alice Osman (Young adult/gay/graphic novels, romance, CUTE).

20) The Six Stories series by Matt Wesolowski (mystery, Detective, podcast layout).

REVIEWS for all these can be found on my blog if you type in the search bar. Have a lovely day. Any of your favourites on here?

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Little Scratch – Rebecca Watson ★★

March 12, 2022 bookclubbetweenthepagesLeave a comment

Blurb; In the formally experimental tradition of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Ducks, Newburyport comes a dazzlingly original shot-in-the-arm of a novel that reveals one young woman’s every thought over the course of twenty-four hours.

little scratch tells the story of an unnamed woman living in a world of office politics, clock-watching and emoji-texting as she relays what it takes to get through mundanity in the wake of a recent sexual assault.
Formatted in continuously interweaving columns that chart the feedback loop of memory, the senses, and modern distractions with witty precision, our narrator becomes increasingly anxious as the day moves on; and increasingly intent on distracting herself. Must she really drink eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated? Does the word “rape” apply to what happened to her? Why is the etiquette of the women’s bathroom so fraught? Does the colleague who keeps offering to make her tea know something? And why can’t she stop scratching?
Fiercely moving and slyly profound, little scratch is a fearless and defiantly playful look at how our minds function in– and survive–the darkest moments.

My Review; I’m not one to downgrade or give a book a bad rep that’s not me. I just want my say on this one. I got this from the library and saw it was a short read (201 pages) and the format was an easy read, very similar to poet format so I thought I’d give it a go. It was a very quick read for me. But for many readers this writing format would be hard to follow or drive them insane.

From the beginning I just couldn’t figure out the main character at all. She wasn’t what I would consider ‘normal’. Different. She was very repetitive in his routine and words throughout this story and had a problem with scratching herself raw. Now I don’t think I fully understood this book so I apologise if that’s the case. But trigger warning the book does contain rape. So maybe that is why she is the way she is. A very different read for me strange.

But remember everyone’s reading tastes are different I might hate a book and you love it and vice versa. This is not a bad review just wasn’t for me. I can see its been nominated for awards and maybe other readers can relate to this story that spans out over the woman day. Whereas I couldn’t relate.

Amazon Link UK

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