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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle in Books
Jul 5, 2021
Characters (1 more)
Plot
This book had me tearing up so many times while reading it both with sadness and happiness. We follow Albert, a postman, who keeps himself to himself and likes to keep his private life private… from everyone. He’s happy with his routine and doesn’t envision anything changing. That’s until 3 months before his 65th birthday he is given his notice of retirement. What follows is the opposite of everything that Alfred wished for.
He decides that he needs to track down the love of his life, George, who he’s not seen for 50 years. The only problem? He doesn’t know where to start! Along the way he asks for help from the unlikeliest people who go on to become his friends.
One of these is struggling single mum Nicole, who is bringing up her daughter Reenie in a new town away from any family and friends while struggling with her brand new relationship and the doubts of why someone would want to take her and her daughter on. Nicole helps Albert with technology and on his journey to find George whilst also listening to the advice from Albert to fight for what she wants in life.
Every single character in this book it extremely lovable. And while I wanted it to end, at the same time I didn’t because it meant I would have to leave Albert and Nicole’s world. Being a northerner and currently living in Lancashire, I have loved the accent coming through in the pages and the references to so many places that I have frequented. It has been so beautifully written, that you can’t help but want the best for Albert and hope that he finds his George. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding their last meeting and it’s not until near to the end that you find out what actually happened to them for them to lose touch.
With echoes of Saving Missy, this showed just how lonely people can become when they get stuck in their own routines and live alone but with the right people around us, the world can become a whole lot less lonely.
Thank you to Matt Cain and Pigeonhole for letting me read this beautiful and “terrific” love story, I didn’t want to have to leave Albert by the end of it but at the same time was so glad of all the changes that he had been through. 100% a 5 star book for me!
He decides that he needs to track down the love of his life, George, who he’s not seen for 50 years. The only problem? He doesn’t know where to start! Along the way he asks for help from the unlikeliest people who go on to become his friends.
One of these is struggling single mum Nicole, who is bringing up her daughter Reenie in a new town away from any family and friends while struggling with her brand new relationship and the doubts of why someone would want to take her and her daughter on. Nicole helps Albert with technology and on his journey to find George whilst also listening to the advice from Albert to fight for what she wants in life.
Every single character in this book it extremely lovable. And while I wanted it to end, at the same time I didn’t because it meant I would have to leave Albert and Nicole’s world. Being a northerner and currently living in Lancashire, I have loved the accent coming through in the pages and the references to so many places that I have frequented. It has been so beautifully written, that you can’t help but want the best for Albert and hope that he finds his George. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding their last meeting and it’s not until near to the end that you find out what actually happened to them for them to lose touch.
With echoes of Saving Missy, this showed just how lonely people can become when they get stuck in their own routines and live alone but with the right people around us, the world can become a whole lot less lonely.
Thank you to Matt Cain and Pigeonhole for letting me read this beautiful and “terrific” love story, I didn’t want to have to leave Albert by the end of it but at the same time was so glad of all the changes that he had been through. 100% a 5 star book for me!
Laugh or Cry: A Jewish Childhood in Nazi Germany, Including the Factual Historic Background: 2015
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Sylvia Hurst (nee Fleischer) was fortunate enough to be on one of the last Children's Transports by...
Fifty Years of Hurt: The Story of England Football and Why We Never Stop Believing
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'England invented football, codified it, became champions of the world in 1966 but humiliatingly...
Albert Camus
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One of France's most high-profile writers, Albert Camus experienced both public adulation and...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Crewel (Crewel World, #1) in Books
Jan 12, 2021
I haven't read and enjoyed a dystopian book in years but as this was a bargain £1, I decided to buy it.
It didn't immediately grab me but I kept reading hoping that something would pull me in. I started reading this towards the end of March and it's taken me until now to finish it..
The storyline was original with talented females - Spinsters - being able to weave the world around them with the best of them, the Creweler, getting raw materials that the Spinsters then use. We hear how Adelice, one of those talented females, was supposed to purposely fail her spinster test but instead aced it and now knows that the Guild will come to take her to the Coventry where she will begin training on how to weave.
The romance in this didn't grab me at all. I wasn't that bothered which guy she ended up with out of Erik and Jost. Neither really did it for me, though there was a surprising little twist at the end.
I just wanted to know what was happening in the higher up areas of the Guild and what everything was leading up to with Adelice. I wasn't all that surprised by how this book ended and I won't be reading the other two books in this series.
It didn't immediately grab me but I kept reading hoping that something would pull me in. I started reading this towards the end of March and it's taken me until now to finish it..
The storyline was original with talented females - Spinsters - being able to weave the world around them with the best of them, the Creweler, getting raw materials that the Spinsters then use. We hear how Adelice, one of those talented females, was supposed to purposely fail her spinster test but instead aced it and now knows that the Guild will come to take her to the Coventry where she will begin training on how to weave.
The romance in this didn't grab me at all. I wasn't that bothered which guy she ended up with out of Erik and Jost. Neither really did it for me, though there was a surprising little twist at the end.
I just wanted to know what was happening in the higher up areas of the Guild and what everything was leading up to with Adelice. I wasn't all that surprised by how this book ended and I won't be reading the other two books in this series.
Gobi Cashmere
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Enjoy the world's finest cashmere products for women, men and kids. Find online Gobi new arrivals,...
Book Divas (227 KP) rated The Mermaid Trials in Books
Mar 5, 2018
Beautiful Aquatic Creation
Let me just say that I did not like this book at all... I LOVED IT!! Tri is definitely my type of mergal; she knows what she wants and doesn't let her circumstances get in the way. She's strong and loyal and simply an outstanding female lead in this beautiful aquatic creation. Cameron Drake's version of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella is beautifully written with stunning characters and world building that kept me completely under water until the end. I seriously did not want to come up for air. I wish this book could have gone on forever and the release of the next book in this series can't come soon enough.
{I requested a copy for review purposes and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinions expressed herein are unbiased and my own.}
{I requested a copy for review purposes and made no guarantee of a favorable review. The opinions expressed herein are unbiased and my own.}
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Summer's End in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a> in October).
As a fan of horror, I thought I'd end up loving this book. However, that wasn't the case. It was an okay read, and I use that term loosely.
Lisa Morton is a horror author who knows a vast amount about Halloween, as in she knows where the tradition started and all the variations. When she gets an email from a university professor saying they found a 1,500 year old Celtic manuscript, she's a bit skeptical. However, she decides to visit the professor and see what he has to say. After translating the manuscript, the professor is found dead. Could this be the work of the manuscript that spoke of the Sidh? It's up to Lisa and Conor ó Cuinn, an Irish archaeologist who found the manuscript, to save the world. But will they be in time?
I'm not a fan of the cover at all. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a Sidh or not. I have no idea. All I know is that the cover never really pulled me in.
As for the title, it makes me think more of a love story than a horror story. Saying that, one of the translations of Samhain is summer's end according to the book, so the title does fit in with the book.
I thought the world building was alright. I really didn't find any flaws with it. The setting is a university office and an apartment, so nothing too exciting. I though the author did a fantastic job of making the Sidh feel real and like this could actually happen. However, the ending lets the world building down. (This next sentence may be slightly spoilerish). We're led to believe that the world will be destroyed if Bal-sab (the god of death) isn't destroyed. Well, I don't want to give it away too much, but yeah, it's very anti-climatic.
The pacing is extremely slow at the beginning. I was considering adding this title to my DNF (did not finish) pile. For whatever reason, I decided to carry on. Luckily, the story did improve and picked up quickly which meant I was able to finish this book.
The plot was interesting enough. It's told from the author's point of view (although this book is a work of fiction), and she even throws in titles of her other books along the way. I did like the whole Celtic/Pagan mythology throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the little footnotes throughout the book. Anyway, the protagonist of the story needs to translate a Celtic manuscript and save the world. While, it was an interesting premise, I felt that it was poorly executed due to too much info dumping, and what I felt was too much self-promotion for the author's other works.
I felt that the characters were just too run of the mill. They weren't written poorly, but they weren't written well either. I felt that maybe some back story for the characters, especially the main character, would've helped me relate to each character, but I just found myself not really caring what happened to them. I just couldn't relate at all, and believe me, I did try, but all the characters felt too monotonous for my liking. I would've liked it if at least one character had some sort of personality instead of feeling like a cardboard cutout.
The dialogue never seemed forced, but it did feel a bit stale. As I've said before, there was way too much info dumping for my liking especially towards the beginning of the book. The info dumping isn't quite so bad once the story progresses though. As for swear words, there are a few, but it's not too bad.
Overall, Summer's End by Lisa Morton is an okay (again, I use this word loosely) story. It was a fantastic idea but poorly executed, I think.
I'm on the fence with whether or not I'd recommend this book. I'd just say to read it yourself and come to a decision especially if you're into Celtic/Pagan mythology. I'd say the age group it would best fit would be those aged 16+.
I'd give Summer's End by Lisa Morton a 2.5 out of 5.
(I received a free ARC print copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers for a fair and honest review).
As a fan of horror, I thought I'd end up loving this book. However, that wasn't the case. It was an okay read, and I use that term loosely.
Lisa Morton is a horror author who knows a vast amount about Halloween, as in she knows where the tradition started and all the variations. When she gets an email from a university professor saying they found a 1,500 year old Celtic manuscript, she's a bit skeptical. However, she decides to visit the professor and see what he has to say. After translating the manuscript, the professor is found dead. Could this be the work of the manuscript that spoke of the Sidh? It's up to Lisa and Conor ó Cuinn, an Irish archaeologist who found the manuscript, to save the world. But will they be in time?
I'm not a fan of the cover at all. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a Sidh or not. I have no idea. All I know is that the cover never really pulled me in.
As for the title, it makes me think more of a love story than a horror story. Saying that, one of the translations of Samhain is summer's end according to the book, so the title does fit in with the book.
I thought the world building was alright. I really didn't find any flaws with it. The setting is a university office and an apartment, so nothing too exciting. I though the author did a fantastic job of making the Sidh feel real and like this could actually happen. However, the ending lets the world building down. (This next sentence may be slightly spoilerish). We're led to believe that the world will be destroyed if Bal-sab (the god of death) isn't destroyed. Well, I don't want to give it away too much, but yeah, it's very anti-climatic.
The pacing is extremely slow at the beginning. I was considering adding this title to my DNF (did not finish) pile. For whatever reason, I decided to carry on. Luckily, the story did improve and picked up quickly which meant I was able to finish this book.
The plot was interesting enough. It's told from the author's point of view (although this book is a work of fiction), and she even throws in titles of her other books along the way. I did like the whole Celtic/Pagan mythology throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the little footnotes throughout the book. Anyway, the protagonist of the story needs to translate a Celtic manuscript and save the world. While, it was an interesting premise, I felt that it was poorly executed due to too much info dumping, and what I felt was too much self-promotion for the author's other works.
I felt that the characters were just too run of the mill. They weren't written poorly, but they weren't written well either. I felt that maybe some back story for the characters, especially the main character, would've helped me relate to each character, but I just found myself not really caring what happened to them. I just couldn't relate at all, and believe me, I did try, but all the characters felt too monotonous for my liking. I would've liked it if at least one character had some sort of personality instead of feeling like a cardboard cutout.
The dialogue never seemed forced, but it did feel a bit stale. As I've said before, there was way too much info dumping for my liking especially towards the beginning of the book. The info dumping isn't quite so bad once the story progresses though. As for swear words, there are a few, but it's not too bad.
Overall, Summer's End by Lisa Morton is an okay (again, I use this word loosely) story. It was a fantastic idea but poorly executed, I think.
I'm on the fence with whether or not I'd recommend this book. I'd just say to read it yourself and come to a decision especially if you're into Celtic/Pagan mythology. I'd say the age group it would best fit would be those aged 16+.
I'd give Summer's End by Lisa Morton a 2.5 out of 5.
(I received a free ARC print copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers for a fair and honest review).
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2109 KP) rated Hellbent (Orphan X, #3) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
The phone call that Evan Smoak receives on his special phone comes from a voice he knows – Jack Johns, the main who trained him and the closest thing Evan has ever had to a father. The phone call changes Evan’s world, and Evan find himself setting out to pick up a package for Jack in addition to working on a very personal mission. Will Evan succeed?
This third book featuring Evan is fantastic. The pace is fast with plenty of twists and setbacks, yet I love how things came together at the end. You really have to read this series in order, not only to appreciate the background on the story told here but also to appreciate the character growth in Evan. He’s a complex character, and I love watching him change. The rest of the cast is fantastic, too, and the writing paints his world without slowing down the story. Truly a wonderful book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/03/book-review-hellbent-by-gregg-hurwitz.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
This third book featuring Evan is fantastic. The pace is fast with plenty of twists and setbacks, yet I love how things came together at the end. You really have to read this series in order, not only to appreciate the background on the story told here but also to appreciate the character growth in Evan. He’s a complex character, and I love watching him change. The rest of the cast is fantastic, too, and the writing paints his world without slowing down the story. Truly a wonderful book.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/03/book-review-hellbent-by-gregg-hurwitz.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
The New Hunger
8.7
Rate It
Book
The end of the world didn’t happen overnight. After years of societal breakdowns, wars and...