Six recent reads: November 2020

I've managed to get a lot of reading done recently as I've had some spare time on my hands, and I've read some amazing books - so here's the lowdown on everything I've read since my last reading round up post...

First up is Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella, which isn't out yet - I got a copy from the publishers and I was, of course, thrilled. While I don't massively enjoy the Shopaholic series, her standalone books are amazing and this didn't let me down. It's about a woman who goes on a writing retreat to Italy (jealous) and falls in love - but can the relationship survive when they get back home? A sometimes-funny, sometimes-sad romantic adventure, I'd definitely recommend this one!

Next I read Cat Step by Alison Irvine, another pre-release from the publishers - this time from Dead Ink Books in Liverpool. I absolutely loved this book, about a woman who moves to a little town in Scotland and leaves her daughter alone in the car for a couple of minutes. The consequences of this follow her throughout the rest of the novel, combined with ballet references and a look into her past life as a dancer on a cruise ship. A beautiful tale about grief and love and trying to hold yourself together, this is another one I would wholeheartedly recommend.

My next read was The Roommates by Rachel Sargeant, which I picked up at The Works on offer because I can't resist a good thriller. It's not my favourite book I've ever read, but it's alright if you want something you can probably read quite quickly. The story follows four girls who have just moved into halls together, all of whom seem to be keeping secrets - it very quickly goes wrong and there is all sorts of drama throughout the rest of the novel. It mostly just seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but it's an okay plot nonetheless!

I love Jodi Picoult, and I found Nineteen Minutes in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago. I've read so many of her books and loved 99% of them, so I knew I'd like this one - it's about a school shooting which takes place over 19 minutes, and what led to it, and why, and what happens afterwards as the fabric of a whole community is completely frayed. I absolutely loved this and flew through it - would definitely recommend.

I read another Sophie Kinsella novel, another one from a charity shop trip - My Not So Perfect Life. It's about a girl who works in branding in London and tries to portray a perfect life on Instagram, but of course everything comes crashing down and she ends up back at the family farm in Somerset. Can she turn things around? This is such a heartwarming story and I absolutely adored it!

My last recent read was Dirty Little Secrets by Jo Spain. It's the first book of hers that I've read, and I enjoyed it - I love a good mystery/thriller and this one, set in a little gated community in Ireland, ticked a lot of boxes for me. It's a real 'whodunnit' and I absolutely didn't guess the ending, which is always a winner. I have another of her books on my TBR list, so I'm excited to get around to that now too.

Let me know what you've been reading recently - I'm always looking for recommendations and as we plunge into lockdown 2.0 it looks like we'll all have a lot more time for reading too!