Book Reviews - more!

Well I'm still catching up on posting the reviews for all the books I've read recently but here are a few more!

No Place for a Woman by Val Wood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Lucy’s parents are killed in a train crash, her kindly uncle steps in to look after the little girl – to the initial apprehension of his wife and her son. However, Lucy’s sweet, spirited charm slowly wins over her new family, and as she overcomes the trauma of her childhood, she grows up inspired to become a doctor, just like her father.

But studying medicine in London takes Lucy far from her home in Hull and the people she loves, and she has to battle to be accepted in a man’s world.

With the dark clouds of the First World War gathering on the horizon, an even greater challenge approaches. Can a woman find her place on the front line of battle? Will Lucy be able to follow her dreams – and find love – in a world shattered by war?

This isn't a genre of book I'd usually read but a book club challenge was to read a book set during WW1. This starts before that but it does cover the period during the war too.

It's an easy read and although I'm sure some of the facts are correct, the blurb suggests it's about the battle for a woman to become a doctor during those times and I felt the training period was glossed over. There was a great deal written about the interview process but very little about the actual training. And then she was off to France in the thick of things.

If you like historical novels with a medical theme and a bit of romance thrown in you'll probably enjoy this but for me it was a case of ticking a box.

 

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Suicide bombers are easy to spot.
They give out all kinds of tell-tale signs.There are twelve things to look for.No one who has worked in law enforcement will ever forget them.

New York City.The subway, two o'clock in the morning.
Jack Reacher studies his fellow passengers.Four are OK.The fifth isn't.
The train brakes for Grand Central Station.

Will Reacher intervene, and save lives?
Or is he wrong?Will his intervention cost lives - including his own?

And another bit of escapism! Just the thing for lockdown reading. Yes the books are a bit formulaic, yes it's a bit far fetched, yes the fight scenes are unlikely and yes I still can't get the image of Tom Cruise in the Reacher role out of my head. (However did he get that part? Oh yes he has lots of money and influence!) But for a thrilling read that keeps you turning the pages (or swiping left) you can't go far wrong.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fixie Farr can’t help herself. Straightening a crooked object, removing a barely-there stain, helping out a friend . . . she just has to put things right. It’s how she got her nickname, after all.

So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, Fixie not only agrees, she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank her, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, scribbles her an IOU – but of course Fixie never intends to call in the favour.

That is, until her teenage crush, Ryan, comes back into her life and needs her help – and Fixie turns to Seb. But things don’t go according to plan, and now Fixie owes Seb: big time.

Soon the pair are caught up in a series of IOUs – from small favours to life-changing debts – and Fixie is torn between the past she’s used to and the future she deserves.

Does she have the courage to fix things for herself and fight for the life, and love, she really wants? 

Classic chick lit but a great read. I really enjoyed following Fixie's ups and downs trying to hold everything together, overcoming her insecurities, sorting out her family members, keeping the family business running and finding the man of her dreams. Just the thing when the world is going mad around us.

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