Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happiness. Show all posts

Thursday 31 August 2023

Book Review: The Summer Place by Janette Paul

 The Summer Place

by

Janette Paul

Three women, lives adrift, and a life-changing beach

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Publication date: 26th April 2023
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 384
RRP: $34.99AU (paperback)
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
 

Review: The Summer Place

The Summer Place is a thoroughly enjoyable, heartwarming story about love, healing and friendship.
 
Told through the perspective of three women, each broken in different ways. I like that Janette Paul portrayed each woman's obstacle with equal importance because for each of them their hurt was equally debilitating.
 
Erin is recovering from a near-fatal accident, holding tight to all her grief and anger. She is constrained by her PTSD and the scars that riddle her body.
Cassie, recently widowed, cannot seem to move on from her grief and regrets. 
Jenna has been secretly in love with Blake for years, and now she has been invited to his wedding.
 
All three women have been invited to a wedding at Hope Head, a place that holds memories, in much happier times, for each of them.
I loved every character in this uplifting story. The three main characters' problems all came across as real and the supporting characters were just that; supportive and honest, edging Erin, Jenna and Cassie to make decisions towards happiness and healing. 
 
The fictitious Australian town of Hope Head on the mid north coast of New South Wales was beautifully described and a fitting location to have an epiphany on life and moving forward.
 
The Summer Place is sentimental and sweet, with HEAs all round, it filled my heart with joy.
 
The Summer Place is the perfect beach read.
 
My rating 5 happy stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
 
About the author
 
Janette Paul is an internationally published author of contemporary women's fiction and romantic comedy, and is the alter ego of award-winning suspense author Jaye Ford. Her first novel won two Davitt Awards for Australian women crime writers and her books have been translated into nine languages. She is a former news and sports journalist, and ran her own public relations consultancy before turning to fiction. She now writes from her home in Newcastle, New South Wales.

Friday 10 February 2023

Book Review: The Journey by James Norbury

The Journey

by

James Norbury

Big Panda and Tiny Dragon 
 
Publisher: Penguin Australia

Imprint: Michael Joseph
 
Publication date: 18th October 2022 
 
Pages: 160
 
RRP: $35.00AU Hardcover
 
Source: Beauty & Lace Book Club
 
The following review appeared first on Beauty & Lace Book Club 
 

My review of The Journey: Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

This is the perfect book if you are having a bit of self doubt or wondering where you are heading in life. James Norbury has used Buddhist philosophies as Big Panda guides Tiny Dragon through some of life's trying moments. Having a friend by your side makes change just that little bit easier.

My granddaughter grabbed this book and read it as soon as it arrived. She loved the enchanting story about Panda and his best friend Dragon.

The Journey is not aimed at one particular age group, its appeal is all-inclusive.

For children it's an exciting adventure story. For adults it is a story of friendship, overcoming adversity, being in the moment, acceptance, gratitude and weathering life's storms.

The Journey is a beautiful book that would make a precious gift for both child and adult. Charmingly presented in hardcover with gold foil features and a ribbon bookmark. The illustrations move from black and white sketches to colour water washes to tie in with the mood of the story.

This is the second book in the Big Panda and Tiny Dragon series and I'm eager to get the first.

My rating 5/5  πŸΌπŸ‰πŸΌπŸ‰πŸΌ

 

 


Monday 14 March 2022

Book Review: The Magical Girl's Guide to Life by Jacque Aye

The Magical Girl's Guide to Life
by
Jacque Aye 
 
Find your inner power, fight everyday evil & save the day with self-care.
 
Publisher: Ulysses Press
 
Publication date: 21st December 2021
 
Genre: Self Help
 
Pages: 192
 
RRP: $17.95US  $24.95CAN
 
Format read: Hardcover
 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Pacific & Court Publicity
 
My review
 
The Magical Girl's Guide to Life is a unique pocket sized book aimed at finding your inner magic and dispelling self-doubt. 

I originally thought this was a middle grade book, just going by the manga style cover, however the book is geared toward a young adult and older readership.
 
Jacque Aye uses scenarios from her favourite anime shows, such as Sailor Moon, Winx Club and cardcaptor Sakura, and explains how these magical girls handled different situations.
 
There are lots of fun exercises, journal prompts and personality tests throughout the book and sections on making friends, expelling self-doubt, caring for yourself, finding love and how to survive a broken heart. I found the book helpful to read a bit at a time, having fun with the quizzes, and learning more about my inner power.
 
Author Jacque Aye is an advocate and vocal supporter of mental health awareness and self-care. The Magical Girl's Guide to Life is a fun little book that will be especially loved by followers of anime and manga readers but will also find a special place on the shelf of any girl who wants their life to be a little less boring and a whole lot more magical.
 
My rating 3 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐
 
About the author
 
Jacque Aye is a therapist-in-training and “Head Magical Girl” of the Adorned by Chi lifestyle brand, Since launching Adorned by Chi in 2015 Jacque has grown her business tremendously, racking in 6-figure sales within the first two years of operation and a development deal within the first five. Adorned by Chi has also worked with the likes of Sanrio, collaborating on a collection for their Small Business, Big Smile initiative. As a leader in the manga and anime space, Jacque has grown her small tight knit community into one that boasts over 100,000 magical beings across social media. She is a vocal supporter of mental health awareness and self care amongst Black women, and advocates for those suffering from social anxiety. In 2020, Adorned by Chi was able to donate $10,000 to the Loveland Foundation. 
 

 
 
 

Wednesday 6 October 2021

Book Review: How to Mend a Broken Heart by Rachael Johns

 How to Mend a Broken Heart
by
Rachael Johns

There are a million ways to break a heart.....
but is there only one way to mend it?
 
Publisher: Harlequin Australia
 
Imprint: HQ Fiction
 
Publication date: 5th May 2021
 
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
 
Pages: 448
 
RRP: $32.99 AUD
 
Format read: Paperback
 
Source: Courtesy of the publisher
 
About the book
 
Felicity Bell has struggled to move on after her marriage broke down. Her ex has found love again, her children have their own lives, and it’s beginning to feel like her only comfort comes from her dog and her job as a taxidermist. So when Flick gets an offer to work in New Orleans for a few months, she’s drawn to the chance to make a fresh start.

Zoe is ready to start a family with her husband, but when he betrays her, she’s left shattered and desperate for a change of scenery. Joining her mother on the other side of the world to drown her sorrows seems the perfect solution.

Although both mother and daughter are wary of risking their hearts to love again, Theo, a jazz bar owner, and Jack, a local ghost hunter, offer fun, friendship and distraction. But all is not as it seems in New Orleans…

A chance meeting with Aurelia, a reclusive artist who surprises them with lessons from her life, prompts Flick and Zoe to reassess what they want too. Can all three women learn from the past in order to embrace their future?
 
My review
 
I'm so glad I read The Art of Keeping Secrets first. I now have a real feel for Felicity and her reason for fleeing to New Orleans grabbing at a chance to move away from the trauma of her marriage breakdown.
You know when you finish a book and you want more....well this is the more!
 
Whereas the first book The Art of Keeping Secrets is all about the three friends Felicity, Emma and Neve, this book is Felicity and her daughter Zoe's story.
 
How to Mend a Broken Heart is, as the title suggests, about healing, moving on and opening up to new relationships.
As much as I loved Flick and Zoe's stories and growth the real hero of this book is New Orleans. I absolutely loved all the descriptions of the buildings, the music, the people and the food that makes New Orleans so fabulous and unique. Rachael Johns brought it all to life on the page. Now overseas travel has been closed for what feels like forever this is the perfect novel to armchair travel across the ocean and experience the delights of New Orleans.
 
The sights are introduced through bar owner Theo, who also adds a little romance to the story, and ghost hunter/tour guide Jack. I particularly liked Jack's morals and good humour. Zoe was a broken woman when he met her and he didn't take advantage of that. An element of mystery was added by the elderly and eccentric Miss H who befriends Zoe and I enjoyed their cross-generational friendship.
 
With How to Mend a Broken Heart Rachael Johns takes her readers on a heartwarming story from Australia to the streets of New Orleans with its jazz bars, street parades and ghostly happenings. It's a story of letting go of the past and embracing new beginnings.
 
My rating  4 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
About the author
 
Photo credit: Goodreads
  Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a diet Coke addict, a cat lover and chronic arachnophobe. She is also the bestselling, ABIA-winning author of The Patterson Girls and a number of other romance and women's fiction books including The Art of Keeping Secrets.
Rachael rarely sleeps, never irons and loves nothing more than sitting in bed with her laptop and imagining her own stories. She is currently Australia's leading writer of contemporary relationship stories around women's issues, a genre she has coined 'life-lit'.
Rachael lives in the Swan Valley with her hyperactive husband, three mostly gorgeous heroes-in-training, two ravenous cats, a cantankerous bird and a badly behaved dog.
Rachael loves to hear from her readers.
 
 

 
 Challenges Entered: Australian Women Writers Challenge AWW2021
 
                                   Aussie Author Challenge #Aussieauthor21


Tuesday 4 June 2019

Book Review: Gravity is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty

Gravity is the Thing
by
Jaclyn Moriarty

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Aust 
Publication date: 26th March 2019 
Pages: 480
RRP: $29.99AUD 
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

Abigail Sorensen has spent her life trying to unwrap the events of 1990.

It was the year she started receiving random chapters from a self-help book called The Guidebook in the post.

It was also the year Robert, her brother, disappeared on the eve of her sixteenth birthday.

She believes the absurdity of The Guidebook and the mystery of her brother's disappearance must be connected.

Now thirty-five, owner of The Happiness CafΓ© and mother of four-year-old Oscar, Abigail has been invited to learn the truth behind The Guidebook at an all-expenses-paid retreat.

What she finds will be unexpected, life-affirming, and heartbreaking.

A story with extraordinary heart, warmth and wisdom.




Abigail is a single mum trying to get on with her life and recognise her desire for love whilst bringing up her child, as best she can. Always doubting herself. Everyone she had loved had left her.

Abi’s mind was always running around in circles and it always came back to Robert’s disappearance.

The mystery of Robert’s disappearance compelled me on until I discovered the relevance of the Guidebook and then this became another part of the story I was intrigued by and eager to find out where and if the two plots would join.

Moriarty’s writing is clever, witty, calm, erratic, whimsical and chaotic changing as the writing reflects Abi’s moods. She breaks all the rules of writing and pulls it off beautifully.

Gravity is the Thing is a story that explores grief and loss and just trying to do your best. It’s about human connection, coincidences and fate. Moriarty is a keen observer of people and their foibles.
This is a thought provoking read that will definitely open up more contemplation on a second reading.

I liked the double meaning in the title, which becomes apparent as the story progresses.
Gravity is the thing that prevents us from flying, literally.
Gravity is the thing that prevents our spirit from flying and attaining happiness.

Moriarty has written a story that is tender and uniquely original.


                           🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating   4/5



*this review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge
and book #21 in the Australian Women Writers challenge


 




Jaclyn Moriarty is an Australian writer of young adult literature.

She studied English at the University of Sydney, and law at Yale University and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD.

She currently lives in Sydney.


 


 

Monday 1 April 2019

Author Interview: Jaclyn Moriarty




Today I would like to welcome author Jaclyn Moriarty to The Burgeoning Bookshelf.

About the author: 
  


Jaclyn Moriarty is an Australian writer of young adult literature.

She studied English at the University of Sydney, and law at Yale University and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a PhD.

She currently lives in Sydney.

So let's get started and find out a little more about Jaci and her writing. 

Hello Jaclyn, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us a little about yourself and how many books you have had published?

Hello! Thanks for having me. I’m a former media and entertainment lawyer, and have published twelve books. Mostly, my books have been young adult fiction (both realistic/comedy fiction (the Ashbury series) and fantasy (the Colours of Madeleine trilogy). However, recently I have started a series of stand-alone ‘Kingdom and Empire’ books for 9 to 12-year-olds (the Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, and the Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars), and I have just published a novel for adults, Gravity is the Thing. So I am not very consistent...

What inspires you to write? 

Walking up steep hills or flights of stairs (although that could just be because I want an excuse to stop walking up the steep hill or stairs), looking at the ocean or harbour, listening into other people’s conversations, music, and chocolate.
What is a typical writing day for you?
After I’ve driven my 12-year-old to the bus stop (or said goodbye to him at the door—he is supposed to walk to the bus stop, but I’m sympathetic because he has a very heavy schoolbag and it’s a steep hill…), I usually walk into Kirribilli, cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge, stare at the harbour for a while, come back, and go to a cafΓ© where I write for a couple of hours. Then I come home, have lunch and write at the dining room table until my son comes home from school (he seems fine walking down the hill from the bus stop). When I say I ‘write at the dining room table,’ I mean I write for a few minutes then I get up to get more chocolate and tea, or to wander around the apartment in an aimless, restless way, and then I write for a few more minutes, and so on.
Where is your favourite place to write?
Coco Chocolate, a chocolate shop in Kirribilli which has one big table where you can sit and drink hot chocolate beneath a chandelier made of teacups, surrounded by shelves and shelves of chocolate.
This sounds like my perfect place to be. I might just pay it a visit myself!
Do you have any writing rituals or good luck charms?
I have a blue ceramic bowl that was given to me by my sister for my birthday years ago, and I always have it beside me, filled with fruit and chocolate, when I’m writing at home.  I also have to drink peppermint tea when I’m writing (although hot chocolate is permissible if I’m at Coco Chocolate).
What are you currently reading?
Cocaine Blues, the first Phryne Fisher mystery, by Kerry Greenwood. I am loving it.
You are well known for your Young Adult novels. What inspired your move to the Contemporary Fiction genre?
I am usually writing a novel for grownups at the same time as I’m writing books for younger people.  Sometimes it’s because I want to explore an adult character more closely than I can in younger fiction, and sometimes it’s because I want to express thoughts and ideas about life in the grownup world that would be of no particular interest to younger readers…
Your latest book, Gravity is the Thing was released on 26th March, how did you come up with the idea for Gravity is the Thing?
I often feel like I’m not very good at being a person.  I am very absent-minded and seem to miss rules about life that other people have figured out—such as how often you should go to the dentist and when you should start moisturising your face and how long you should stay in a relationship with somebody who is very pleasant but a bit of a bore.  So for a long time I had this fantasy that there should be an external committee providing everyone with regular, tailored updates, explaining exactly how their life should be lived.  This led me to the idea of the character named Abigail, who starts receiving chapters from The Guidebook, a self-help book, in the mail when she is fifteen years old, and continues to receive them until she is 35.  At that point, she is invited to an all-expenses paid retreat on an island to learn the ‘truth’ about The Guidebook.
Also, my young adult book, A Corner of White, had a teenage character whose father had gone missing, and I researched the field of missing persons for that book, so that I could try to understand how my character would feel.  I felt deeply moved by the suffering of people who have to live with the ambiguous loss of a missing family member or friend.  Abigail’s brother, Robert, went missing in the same year that she started receiving chapters from the Guidebook, and her search for the truth about what happened to him becomes entangled with her search for the truth about life, and how it should be led.
What would you like readers to get out of Gravity is the Thing?
I hope it makes them happy!  
Judging by the glowing reviews already coming through you have achieved your goal.
What's next for Jaclyn Moriarty? Do you have a new WIP? 
I am in the middle of a new middle grade fiction (with the working title, The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst) and am researching and writing notes for a new novel for grownups about time travel. 
I'm a recent convert to Time Travel novels so I'm excited to read your novel when it's finished.
Thank you for stopping by and spending some time with us on The Burgeoning Bookshelf.
Thanks for having me!  


Gravity is the thing is out now and should be hitting bookshops shelves all over the country.

 
  Blurb
Abigail Sorensen has spent her life trying to unwrap the events of 1990.

It was the year she started receiving random chapters from a self-help book called The Guidebook in the post.

It was also the year Robert, her brother, disappeared on the eve of her sixteenth birthday.

She believes the absurdity of The Guidebook and the mystery of her brother's disappearance must be connected.

Now thirty-five, owner of The Happiness CafΓ© and mother of four-year-old Oscar, Abigail has been invited to learn the truth behind The Guidebook at an all-expenses-paid retreat.

What she finds will be unexpected, life-affirming, and heartbreaking.

A story with extraordinary heart, warmth and wisdom.