Birthday Bookhaul

Hi everyone

January 24th was my birthday! I had a lovely day celebrating with my husband and our two daughters. The weekend after my birthday, we gathered with my parents, my brother, and his wife to continue the festivities. My husband’s birthday was on the 12th of January, and we celebrated with his family the day after his birthday.

The best part? Everyone (except my husband) gave me money for books! They all know how much I love to read, and honestly, it’s the perfect gift for me.

So, I bought myself some very anticipated new books! I ordered all of them from Bol and they arrived over the last couple of days. 
Here's what I got.

- James S. A. Corey: Memory's Legion

- Eowyn Ivey: Black Woods Blue Sky 

- Rachel Joyce: Miss Benson's Beetle

- Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Before the Coffee gets Cold

- Stephen King: Firestarter

- Stephen King: Needful Things

- H. P. Lovecraft: Cthulhu Mythos Tales

- Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Poetry

- John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley

- Andrea Stewart: The Bone Shard Daughter

- Xiran Jay Zhao: Iron Widow

Have you read any of these? If so, which one should I read first? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Wrap Up: June 2025

Hi everyone

June has flown by. Summer vacation has started for the children, my husband and I are still working but in a couple of weeks we'll be going on holiday and we're all looking forward to that.

Here's the list with links to the books I read in June.

- Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

- Yoko Ogawa: Revenge 

- Stephen Aryan: Of Gods and Men

- Jonathan French: The True Bastards

- Trudi Canavan: Thief's Magic

- Martha Wells: Witch King 

Did you read anything amazing in June? I’d love to hear your recommendations, especially if you’ve got a hidden gem I should add to my list!

Happy reading!
Helena 

 

Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

Hi everyone

Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is the third book in the Harold Fry series by Rachel Joyce. It's not a series where you need to read the books in order but I would recommend doing so just to know the backstory.knowing the backstory adds so much depth to Maureen’s journey
I got my book from Bol.

"Ten years ago, Harold Fry set off on his epic journey on foot to save a friend. But the story doesn't end there.
Now his wife, Maureen, has her own pilgrimage to make.
Maureen Fry has settled into the quiet life she now shares with her husband Harold after his iconic walk across England. Now, ten years later, an unexpected message from the North disturbs her equilibrium again, and this time it is Maureen's turn to make her own journey.
But Maureen is not like Harold. She struggles to bond with strangers, and the landscape she crosses has changed radically. She has little sense of what she'll find at the end of the road. All she knows is that she must get there." 

I really enjoyed this book.

Maureen is not my favorite character in the series; she’s angry, spiteful, impolite, and disrespectful. But because you know her story, because you understand what she’s been through, you excuse her behavior a little more. You sympathize with her, even when she’s at her worst. And I’m glad she changes over the course of the book. She lightens up, starts to see other perspectives, and becomes more open to people and experiences. It’s a quiet but powerful transformation, and it made me care for her in a way I didn’t expect.

Rachel Joyce’s writing is as warm and accessible as ever. The story flows beautifully, never feeling overly dramatic or forced. Instead, it’s gentle, reflective, and deeply human; just like Harold’s journey, but with Maureen’s sharp edges and quiet resilience.

Have you read Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North? Did you connect with Maureen’s journey, or did you find her as challenging as I initially did? I’d love to hear your thoughts!  

Happy reading!
Helena  

Christmas and New Year's Bookhaul

 Hi everyone

The holidays are finally over, and life is slowly getting back to normal; thank goodness! This year, I was spoiled with gifts for Christmas and New Year’s. I received mostly money (which, of course, I’ll be using to buy more books) and three wonderful books.

My parents gifted me with:

- Kristin Hannah: The Great Alone

- Richard Swan: The Justice of Kings

From my husband I received:

- Grant Snider: I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf

And with part of the money I received I bought myself books too:

- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Escapes

- Peter Brown: The Wild Robot Protects

- Rachel Joyce: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North

- Brian McClellan: Promise of Blood

- Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea

I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these books! Did you love them? Should I prioritize one over the others? Or is there another book you think I should read ASAP? Let me know; I’m all ears!

Happy reading!
Helena

Rachel Joyce: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Hi again

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce is a companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimageof Harold Fry (which I loved).
You  can find all my Rachel Joyce reviews here.
My copy has 381 pages and I got it from Bol.

 “When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?
A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, ‘Even though you’ve done your travelling, you’re starting a new journey too.’

Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was the beginning.”

This was a particularly moving book. 

Harold Fry stole my heart, but so did Queenie Hennessy. I was hesitant to read the book, that’s why it took me such a long time to get to it but it’s absolutely beautiful.

Joyce’s writing is great, really elegant and very absorbing, she has an eye for detail and she still manages to keep the tone light, humorous and easy to digest despite the harsh reality of the book. It raises some serious life issues but it never gets dramatic or weepy. It’s emotional and very tragic, but in a nice, beautiful way. It’s definitely thought-provoking.
It’s touching, moving and so much more than a story about illness, regret, loss and death.
It made me cry and it made me smile, and sometimes both at the same time.
I loved it a lot.

As an added bonus we got gorgeous illustrations on some of the pages.

5 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena

Rachel Joyce: Perfect

Hi

Perfect is Rachel Joyce’s second novel and it has 445 pages. I loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry so I bought Perfect the moment it came out.

“In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knew this because James Lowe had told him and James was the cleverest boy at school. But how could time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock was as certain as their golden futures.
Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right?”

This certainly was a very charming novel but I didn’t love it as much as Harold Fry.

Joyce has a simple and silent humor that makes the novel easy to digest and to get through. She builds the tension very subtle, every word or gesture builds to the dramatic ending.
The novel is beautifully written, with great understanding and an eye for detail. 

One negative thing comes to mind though. I feel like Joyce tried a bit too hard. She should have simplified the part about Byron, there’s too much going on in my opinion.

4 stars

Happy reading!
Helena

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