Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

"How could he have betrayed his beautiful wife like that?" This was one of my January listens for another one of @hook.me.a.book challenges. This time it's the #LetsEarItAudiobookChallenge. I'm pretty sure this is my first Susan Lewis book, and I really enjoyed it. 😊 Of course, I spent most of the story trying to second-guess what was actually happening, but apart from a few inklings, I didn’t see the twist coming at all until it was fully explained. 😲 No One Saw It Coming is told from multiple points of view, but I never felt confused. It was easy to move between perspectives, and I very quickly became invested in each character and desperate to know what would happen next. 📖💭 A great deal of research has clearly gone into the mental health aspects of this novel, and they’re portrayed both sensitively and realistically. It’s quite frightening, really, how sometimes we just can’t understand how someone else’s brain is wired. 🧠 Now that I’ve read one, I’ll definit...

“An autistic psychopath is the human being who is most fundamentally himself. He cannot be anything but original and spontaneous. He is uninhibited by the collective social will.” The Matchbox Girl is a story based on true events in Austria 🇦🇹 during the Second World War. Our protagonist, Adelheid, has been placed in a specialist paediatric clinic 🏥 for children with a range of mental illnesses. Adelheid tells her story as she lives it 📝. At times it feels chaotic and random, yet she makes meticulous notes about everything that happens around her—sometimes to the detriment of those sharing her world 😬. She follows the rules carefully and does exactly as she’s instructed, until she begins to realise 🤔 that maybe she needs to follow her own rules instead. I initially found The Matchbox Girl difficult to read—not because of the subject matter, but because of the haphazard use of capital letters 😕. This felt like a deliberate stylistic choice, intended to reflect Adelheid’s fragment...

“No, my friend. We are lunatics from the hospital up the highway, psycho-ceramics, the cracked pots of mankind." One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was November’s read for #classiclitbookclub, and I opted for the audiobook. I found a great copy on Libby narrated by Tom Parker, who absolutely nailed it 🎧. I went in with zero expectations — classic me, never reading the synopsis 😜 — and it’s not a book I ever came across in school. So I was genuinely surprised when the opening chapters gave me The Green Mile vibes (I know it’s a book too, but I’ve only seen the movie!) 🎬. The story was incredibly eye-opening. From what I understand, treatments like electric shock therapy, lobotomies, and simply locking people away for having mental health issues were all considered normal at the time ⚡🧠. Horrifying, honestly. And the wildest part is that it really wasn’t that long ago. We’ve come such a long way since then. Nurse Ratched, though… wow. She should’ve been running a prison, not a ward...

“Panic … isn’t a disease of death. It’s a disease of life.” I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. It’s very different to anything I’ve read—or listened to—before. The fact it’s still on my mind probably means it struck a chord. I keep turning it over, wondering what the author wanted us to take from it. It was definitely unique, throwing us right into Nicholas’s mind and showing us how his panic attacks take hold, and how much they weigh on him. Nicholas doesn’t have the easiest family life. His mum passes him on to his dad, and when he goes to live with his dad, he’s left alone because work takes priority. That pretty much leaves Nicholas to his own devices. His friends, too, don’t feel like real friends—they seem to use him more than support him. I’ve noticed that other reviews of Pan highlight the philosophical nature of the story, the beautiful prose, and the intensity of teenage thought. That’s not really my style. If you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know I focus more...

'I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's  why.' I first read Of Mice and Men for GCSE English, 36 years ago! I remember the basics of it, but I definitely enjoyed it more this time around, when I read it for #classiclitbookclub last year. It's funny how a book is more fun to read, if you don't have to dissect it to death in order to get a good grade! The friendship between George and Lenny is second to none. They fell into each other's company by accident, and now, they have each other's back, no matter what. Fight one and you'll fight the other! Their comradeship is unbreakable in a difficult and cruel world. I didn't remember the ending from 36 years ago, and I'm going to try to forget it all over again.  Reading this, you need to be aware that it was first published in 1937 and so it isn't politically correct by any means, but it's of its time, as are many classics. About the Book Drifters in search of...

'Love is the brightest color in a gray world'. My first Abby Jimenez book was Say You'll Remember Me for June's choice for #thatindiebookclub, and I loved it. I was expecting contemporary romance, but what I actually got was a whole lot more. Yes, there was the love interest, Xavier, the grumpy man and Samantha who was the light within the relationship, but for me, the main story was the devastation that Alzheimer's Disease can bring to a family.  Abby had obviously researched the incurable disease thoroughly, and she wrote with compassion and empathy. I had nothing but admiration for Samantha, for becoming the primary caregiver for her Mum, as well as juggling, living with so many other people. This book was so much about the tightly-knit family unit, and when needed, they all come together with a common goal. Helping each other.  Of course long-distance relationships can work, although not for everyone, and Xavier and Samantha proved how strong their love was for...

“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.” The Bell Jar was the book we chose to read for #classiclitbookclub in August 2024, and I have finally managed to find the time to write a review. I listened to this one, narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal and I loved it. It's semi-autobiographical and so, so sad, as Esther takes the reader (or listener) through her inner turmoil, whilst her friends and family, are seemingly living a happy and perfect life. As it becomes apparent that she suffers severely with mental health issues, I found myself wondering if she had been born into today's society. Would she have perhaps been diagnosed with ADHD and received the help she needed, earlier than she did.  This is another book that I would be happy to revisit at another time, to see if I take anything more away from it, now I know the story.  Sadly, Sylvia took her own life, aged just thirty, but her writings live on and have been translated into many languages throughout ...

Told through the words of someone with severe OCD, anxiety and depression. This is an eye-opener. First, my sincere apologies to the author who kindly gifted me a copy of her book back in 2023, and I'm ashamed to say it's taken me two years to read it. Over commitment is my only excuse, but I am trying to do better this year! A short read, I found The Existence of Amy to be so informative, yet entertaining. None of us are fully aware of how another person is feeling, and if you are good at hiding the real you, quite often, no one will find out. This is how Amy has been living, but at some point, it's all going to get too much, and she won't be able to hide it any longer.  I think we all have an element of OCD, but thankfully, the majority of us can go about our daily lives without it affecting us too much. I am pretty sure that this is based on the author's own experiences, and I loved how raw and honest this book was. All the way through I was rooting for Amy, her...

'We're all sprinkled with crazy. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' You know those books that stay with you for a long time after you've read it? Well, I think this is going to be one of those. The Drowners was incredible, from start to finish. I never know what to expect from a new author, and I often open that first page with a certain amount of trepidation. I needn't have worried about this one though, I was hooked.  Set in the early 1990s, Aaron is just beginning to understand his sexuality, and it's difficult, the stigma, the apprehension and the judgment of being queer in 1990s Ireland. Aaron is funny, so funny, and when he and Robbie get together the puns are never-ending. I highlighted just a couple of the lines, which had me spitting my coffee out! 'All those years without draining your nuts is enough to send you loopy.' 'That miserable old bollix isn't knocking on Heaven's door, he's booting it off its hinges.' It was...

I wasn’t really what I’d call a Spice Girls fan, not like some people were. I was probably a bit too old at twenty-something when they were at the height of their fame, but I enjoyed some of their music and, well; they are more or less the same age as me so of course I’m nosey and interested in how lives pan out. Melanie Chisholm - Mel C - Sporty Spice, one of five girls who responded to an advertisement in the paper to form what was to become one of the most famous girl groups of all time. Listening to Melanie narrate her own story was at times fun, at other times a hard listen, but amazingly entertaining and interesting. She is open and honest about the good and bad times. The difficult times she had with her fellow band members but also, and what stood out for me, was the amount of fun and friendship that was evident for much of the time. Throughout the book, Melanie’s fighting spirit shone through, and I’m so glad she decided to share her story. I would recommend the audiobook to a...

Continuing with my Carmel Harrington binge, I grabbed myself an audiobook copy of The Things I Should Have Told You from Libby, popped my AirPods in and set about tidying the garden. Another story of Carmel’s which blew me away, with lovely characters, gorgeous settings and lots and lots of sentimental moments. The storyline was delightful, if a little sad at times, and I was blown away with the whole ‘road trip in a camper van’ idea, even if camping isn’t my idea of a fun holiday! Pops, even after death, manages to travel along with the Guinness family as they wend their way through Europe, on the trip of a lifetime, not knowing which country they’ll be visiting next, let alone what surprises Pops had arranged for them once they arrived. As with the previous Carmel Harrington books I’ve listened to, this also has underlying themes. This time we see a destructive case of school bullying, marriage difficulties and family illness. Carmel writes about all the issues sensitively and with e...

I’m not a massive Britney Spears fan. In fact, I can’t say I’m a fan at all, but I was intrigued to listen to her story after hearing so much about it from other readers. I was also a little curious as to why she had cancelled her Las Vegas residency so quickly when it was evident she had a huge amount of fans out there. Honestly, it was heartbreaking that someone who was so talented and wanted to live the dream they had had as a little girl could be squashed flat and controlled so heartlessly by her family, but predominantly by her father.  Her conservatorship battle in court goes to show that hopefully, in the majority of cases, right will win and evil will be punished. Yes, Britney is a little bat-shit crazy, but no one deserves to be treated like that. I’m pleased she got the right outcome in the end. Britney opens the audiobook by stating that she cannot bear to read her story herself without getting upset which is the reason Michelle Williams narrates it. Although her voice d...

I finished this book yesterday afternoon, and I’m still unsure what to make of it - in a good way. Was it a romance, cosy mystery, thriller? I think I’ll plump for all three, probably in equal measure! Whatever it is, I enjoyed it immensely. Character-wise, I found it slow to begin with, whereas the plot moved forward pretty quickly.  Once I realised that Ivo had ADHD, everything about him made a lot more sense, and I found him quirky and loveable. Our female protagonist, Cressida, was slightly slower on the uptake, but she got there in the end! The author explained Ivo’s ADHD in great detail, and I love understanding how brains are wired differently to give them the diagnosis they receive. I find any book containing an element of neurodivergence fascinating and educational.  If you want a summer read, then go and grab yourself a copy of this book. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Oh, and Fred is the best character of all - I think perhaps he’s wired a little differently ...