Me Before You

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book! As a whole I did enjoy it very much! It is a beautifully written book with a controversial theme. The author crafted well rounded characters that jumped out of the pages and played with the reader's emotions. The book made me cry, incensed me, touched me and delighted me. I do not agree with euphenasia, which is one of the main themes in the book. It is a controversial and sensitive subject. Also, there have been concerns as how the author portrays disabled people. Over all the book is a beautiful piece. Other themes covered in the book are, love, pain, overcoming challenges and sacrifice.

Twenty-seven-year old Louisa Clark, recently made redundant from her job at a cafe has accepted the job of carer to an embittered thirty-five year old quadripplegic with a desire to end his life. Unbeknownst to her behind the real motive of this job, Louisa accepts the job offered by Will's Mum to keep Will company and try to desuade him from ending his life. The pair do not get along at first as Will is an embittered man but over time Louisa and Will become close and fall in love.

When Louisa finds out the real reason behind her post....that of being suicide watch, she is shocked and quits her job. Camilla Traynor, Will's mum, convinces her to return to the post; Louisa accepts under one condition: She will take Will on trips around the world and locally to try to get him to change his Mind about Dignitas, the assisted suicide institiution in Switzerland that Will wishes to go to end his life. The ending is overall sad, but there's an element of hope at the end.

Killer Crust

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Killer Crust by Chris Cavender
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Laughing Luigi invites Elenore Swift and her sister, Maddy to participate in a pizza making contest to win £25,000, Elenore accepted with a bit treperdation at first. After reading the contract over, however, they enter the contest. They could use the money to re-vamp their pizza restaurant, A Slice of Delight. All seems exciting until Luigi is poisoned and the contest turns into a who-dunit and murder mystery. This is book five of the Pizza Lover's series.

The book is a light, humourous read for those who like the mystery gendre. It is written by Chris Cavender, the pseudonym of Tim Meyers, a stay-at-home Dad and Agatha Award winner. I enjoyed this farce and am looking forward to reading his other work.

The Girl on the Train

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat; a page-turner. It is written in the style of S.J. Watson's Before I Go to Sleep . The book tells the story of three women, Rachel, Anna and Megan who are connected in some way. The Story is told in the point of view of all three women.

Rachel Watson is an alchoholic whose marriage disentigrated because of her drinking. She was married to Tom Watson, who left her for another woman, Anna. Rachel finds it hard to accept the disintigration of her marriage and takes a train journey every day into London where she and Tom used to live. On her commute she looks into people's houses through the window of the train. There's a couple that lives not long from where Rachel used to live. Rachel imagines them to be the perfect couple. She called them Jason and Jen; the perfect couple.

Rachel spends her days on the train drinking her favourite drink, a Gin and tonic and daydreaming about her life and fantasising about this perfect couple she sees everyday from the window of her train until she witnesses something so horrifying that destroys her daydream. Soon she is caught in the drama and events involving this perfect couple. A girl goes missing. An investigation ensues and Rachel gets caught in the middle of this mystery.

I enjoyed reading this piece. It is really well-written. Paula Hawkins, the author, worked as a journalist. She was born in Zimbawe. She moved to London in 1998. The Girl on the Train is her first thriller.

The movie, The Girl on the Train comes out on October 2016. I cannot wait to watch it!
The film is directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emily Blunt.

The Little Shop of Happily Ever After

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. The Little Shop of Happily Ever After by Jenny Colgan


Twenty nine year old Nina Redmond thought she had the perfect job. A bibliophile working at the local library, she had a knack of matching people with books. Nina had a massive library collection of her own at home, which, to the horror of her landlady and flatmate, Surrinder, she'd rescued old library books the library ear-marked for selling.
When the Council ordered the library close down, Nina found herself out of a job. With no other marketable skills to fall back on, Nina took her passion of books and to up sticks, leaving behind her flatmate and Birmingham flat and travelled North to pursue her dream.
She bought herself a rickety van, which she named 'The Little Shop of Happily Ever After' with her redundancy money and settled in Scotland, converting the van into her very own Mobile Library.
This is a story of moving on and starting anew.
Along the way, Nina finds that life is not always a fairy-tale, but a series of curve balls along the way towards success leading up towards one's 'almost' Happily-Ever-After.

I indentified with Nina. Like Nina I worked in a library for twenty years and also am a bibliophile with a massive home library.
Praises for Jenny Colgan, the author of this enchanting tale of starting over. She continues to delight her audience with these gems.
Jenny Colgan studied in Edinbrugh and worked for the NHS before writing. She lives between London and France, where her husband works as a Marine Biologist. I am a fan of Jenny's work.

Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Polly and Neil, The puffin are back in this sequel to Jenny Colgan's Little Beach Street Bakery. All is right in the world at Mount Poulbearne. Life is sweet and Polly continues baking her daily bread to sell at the Little Beach Street Bakery....until a few storm clouds settle on the horizon to rain on Polly's parade. Once again Jenny Colgan has given us her best. I truly enjoyed this sequel. I love the character of Polly. She is a woman that isn't afraid of hard work and no stranger to starting over. Jenny Colgan has added a few recipes at the end so you can bake along with Polly.

Room

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. Room by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had a hard time reading this book because of the language used. The book is written in English but it was written in the often primitive language of a precarious six year old boy. The book is narrarated by Jack, the six-year-old boy who is also the main character of the book along with his mother, Twenty-six year old Joy. The story is told in the perspective of Jack, the Six-year-old boy. Since the age of nineteen Joy was kidnapped and placed in a small shed by a man only known as 'Old Nick'. Two years later Joy gave birth to a boy whom she called Jack. Jack was the product of rape. Joy brought up her son in the shed which Jack called 'Room'. His only reality in the world was Room and all the few possessions in it.
The story then goes on to reveal how Joy and Jack survived their ordeal and how they managed to escape. Although I found it difficult to read I find that the story is beautifully written. The story is now a motion picture The book has been nominated for a Man Booker Prize.

Emma Donogohue was born in the Republic of Ireland. She is a playwright, author and screen-writer. She wrote 'Room' in 2010. She lives in Canada.

The Perfume Garden

Welcome to my little Niche within the library. So grab a coffee and let's review some books. The Perfume Garden by Kate Lord Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I trully enjoyed this historical fiction.
The book is beautifully written in the style of Victoria Hislop's The Return.
The characters were believable and well-rounded.
After losing her mother, Liberty Temple to Cancer ,surviving her partner's affair with her best friend, Delilah and heavily pregnant, Emma Temple needed a new start in life.
Liberty Temple was a renkowned perfumsit who ran her own company. Upon her death she does bequeath the company to her Daughter, Emma. She also leaves a beautiful laquered perfume box filled with her letters to her daughter and a key.

To Emma's surprise the key holds the secrets to her family's past. She learns that her mother, Liberty has left her a house in Spain. Determined to start anew with a baby on the way, Emma travels to Spain to start a new life at the house her mother left her. Yet the house holds ages of family secrets that Emma has yet to discover.

This novel is set in the background of the Spanish Civil War. The author writes descriptive and narritive details of one of Europes most horrific wars...the Spanish Civil war which killed half a million Spaniards at the merciless hands of Fascist Franco.
I am intrigued to read the author's other works.