Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle tells the story of the Blackwood family who has sadly been reduced to just three members. Several years prior, four other members of the family died from acute arsenic poisoning. Tried for the deaths of her family, elder sister Constance lives an agoraphobic life now. She and […]
How to Write That Scene! by Rayne Hall is part of her Writer’s Craft series. This book gives brief tips for writing a variety of different scenes from novel openings and ending to travel, fight, and love scenes and everything in between. Each type of scene has its own separate volume within the Writer’s Craft […]
Hornthal’s Body Aware explains how beneficial movement helps the body heal. Movement therapy gets overlooked quite often as a source of mental healing. Through three different sections (How You Move, How Movement Is A Catalyst For Change, and Transforming Your Life Through Movement), Body Aware presents easy to understand concepts of intentionally moving and benefits […]
A supernatural-tinged historical mystery, The Winter People, by Jennifer McMahon jumps between 1908 and present day. In the past, it follows Sarah Harrison Shea, a woman who will end up dead in the field behind her house. The present finds Ruthie, her sister, and her mum living in Sarah’s former home. Read an excerpt When […]
Ware’s In a Dark, Dark Wood follows Nora, who has been invited to a former friend’s hen-do (bachelorette party to Americans). She doesn’t want to go, but another friend, Nina, convinces Nora. Perhaps she should have listened to her instincts to stay away. Especially given that Clare is marrying a man who dumped Nora after […]
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L Sanchez is a perfect coming of age story! Julia Reyes has lost her sister. And herself. Feeling that something is off with Olga’s death, Julia digs into her sister’s past and in doing so learns terrible truths and heart-wrenching secrets from several family members’ pasts. […]
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden Caulfield on a two-day hooky spree after leaving his private school early for holidays. At age 17, Holden spends most of this time drinking, and trying to ‘get sexy’ with various girls. I picked this up as it was a classic I’d not read in high school […]
How To Heal Your Inner Child by Simon Chapple was a blessing to me. I finally felt seen. Chapple himself has gone through all the work he speaks about. In addition, he is a sobriety counselor. The book covers what trauma is, what childhood emotional neglect (CEN), and how they shape adult behaviour. You’ll learn […]
Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living In by Kai Whiting & Leonidas Konstantankos is a short, but enlightening foray into Stoicism. This philosophy is as pertinent today, as it was in the ancient world. Perhaps moreso, given the nonsense going on the world over. What I really enjoyed were the engaging stories of […]
Synopsis What happens when you are forced to survey the ashes of a life lost? When you ask yourself: what the hell has gone wrong? Carolyn Hobdey had a successful career, the sports cars, the big house, the holidays, the friends… but it meant nothing. To be genuinely happy, she faced the stark realisation that […]