Another Way to Fall - Amanda Brooke - Guest Book Review

Published by Harper

Guest review by Joan Hill

Emma has been very ill, fighting a comprehensive and aggressive battle against a brain tumour that has already destroyed her dreams of rising to the top in a glittering career, travelling all over the world. Her family, mother Meg and younger sister Louise have supported her throughout but, as our story begins, Emma, at twenty nine years old, is once again visiting her consultant Mr Spelling, hoping against all hope for those eagerly awaited words that will give her the ‘All Clear’. Sadly it is not to be and his words only confirm her greatest nightmare. Her fight so far has been pointless and there is nothing more that can be done to ward off her cancer’s virulent and relentless progress. She is going to die.

Regardless of this prognosis her mother Meg is unable to give up. She is determined to fight on, hoping to find a cure in a research programme or to join a trial of some new wonder drug. But Emma knows that if she is to realise her dreams and achieve the goals she had desired so fiercely she must find another way, a way to fit everything in she most desired in her life. She decides to write a book of what she hoped her life would be. She secretly taps it all out on her laptop and as she makes progress with her story, amazingly some of her dreams actually start to come true. With a new love in her life she imagines what she would want in their life together, their holidays and high days, the family they would rear and so the story develops, encapsulating her dreams with a heart-warming clarity. And then it starts to happen; dreams seamlessly merge with reality. She feels the story could be true as she dreams it so vividly.  Could it possibly all come true, right through a lifetime of togetherness? Could she be actually achieving an alternative future?

The ‘story within the story’ is an extremely effective method of moving on Emma’s story to its completion. The characters are strong and empathetic, all with Emma’s best interests and comfort in their hearts. The story is incredibly moving and I particularly loved Beth, the loving mother who would do literally anything for her sick daughter. Amanda Brooke put all of herself and her own experiences and attitudes into building this wonderful portrait of mother-love. She lost her young son to cancer and it must have been so hard to write some aspects of Emma’s story from Beth’s point of view. But she totally nailed it. I also loved the characterisation of her boyfriend Ben. He shone a bright light in her life and enabled her to complete her novel, helping her both emotionally and with the practicalities of writing a novel whilst weakening physically. I really enjoyed this novel and thank Lindsay most sincerely for inviting me to be a guest reviewer.

Many thanks to Joan for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library!

Mental Health Awareness Month - June 2014

Hosted by Leah at Uncorked Thoughts and Ula at Blog Erised - Click here to find out more. 

Please see the detailed information below all about what this is and what's going on, and follow the link above to read more. 

Briefly though, the aim is to spread awareness about Mental Health and without going to details here this is something that is very close to me so when I saw the event I knew I'd love to join in and help spread the word. I'm aiming to read at least one book that discusses or deals with mental health, more if possible. I'll also try posting recommendations of books I've already read and/or am aware of. The one that springs to mind immediately is The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait which I read and reviewed last year, and which I also reviewed for Mind, the mental health charity, recently. 

If any authors are interested in guest blogging on this theme by the way, please do get in touch.


I am going to aim to read:

The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

and also, if possible,

A Note of Madness by Tabitha Suzuma
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks

Thank you to Peggy @ The Pegster - Reads for blogging about this, I first read about it on her blog.

~~~~~

Information below from Leah's blog:

Hey guys! Mental Health Awareness Month is something I've been tweeting about quite a lot lately and I'm really excited to share with you guys what I've got planned. MHAM is a month in which myself and Ula @ Blog of Erised  want to spread awareness about mental health issues and how they affect people. We're really excited to be hosting this MH month; it's something which is close to both of us and I hope you guys want to take part! Here's some information about the month on the blog:

What is Mental Health Awareness Month?

It's an idea that me and Ula came up with to draw attention to all things MH. It doesn't get enough attention and there's still far too much stigma attached to it! I thought the best way for us book bloggers to do this was to dedicate June to reading and reviewing/discussing books that discuss Mental Health. There's going to be a variety of things going on on mine and Ula's blogs, as well as others. There will be guest posts, interviews, giveaways, challenges and all sorts of events going on as well as reading books that explore issues of MH!

When is MHAM happening?

It starts June 1st and runs through until the 30th of June.

What are the rules?

There aren't any rules really! Whether you're a blogger, vlogger, on Goodreads, an author or anything feel free to take part! The more the merrier. The aim is to spread awareness about Mental Health!

What books are there on MH that I can read?

I've been preparing a shelf on my Goodreads profile especially for this month! Here's a little list to get you guys started. Just follow the link for more :)

Playing Tyler - T. L. Costa

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock - Matthew Quick

Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen 

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher

Amy & Matthew (Say What You Will) - Cammie McGovern

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini 

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

We're going to be using the hashtag #MHAMJune on Twitter when talking all things MH! 

A Room Full of Chocolate - Jane Elson

'I've realised that sometimes family isn't the one you are born into but the people and pigs you collect along the way.'

Ten-year-old Grace Wilson lives with her mum and dad in London, but after her mum discovers a lump, and her dad proves to be unreliable and uncaring, she is sent to live with her Grandad on his farm in Yorkshire. Grace’s mum and Grandad have been estranged for many years; Grace has never even met him before. She is desperate to stay at home and look after her mum after her surgery. Arriving reluctantly at her Grandad’s place, she meets a girl dressed in many colours, who she immediately thinks of as the ‘rainbow-girl’. This is Megan, and the little friend who precedes her into the yard is Claude the pig! Megan makes Grace feel 'a tiny ray of curious sunshine push through my grey lonely fog.' They immediately become firm friends. When Grace meets Megan’s kind mum, Allie, she discovers more about her own mum and the past too.

Grace has lots to cope with, as well as trying to understand what her mum is going through – though her family has tried to shield her from this with good intentions but perhaps misguidedly, she has done her own bit of research on the Internet and found out worrying things – she also has to adjust to a new school. Megan is there, although she is in Year six and Grace in Year five, so they are not together all the time, and there are some very unkind pupils who start to bully Grace in person as well as via nasty text messages. Grace misses her mum terribly, and finds it difficult at first living with her Grandad, who himself has to reconsider if he has been a good judge of character or not, and decide whether he can  overcome his fears and change his ways. Grace writes in her 'Special Blue Book', recording her innermost thoughts, sections of which are shared with the reader throughout the story

This is a wonderful story written with warmth and humour, with sensitive and honest handling of difficult, serious topics, namely bullying and serious illness. Grace is a great central character, innocent and kind, curious and fun, as she tries to cope with a lot of change in her life. The character development is really good with Grace seeing that there is more than one side to her Grandad, and the strong bonds of friendship between Megan and Grace are beautifully written. There is friendship and adventure, illness and sadness, humour and love, plus a couple of magical moments. There are some delightful animal characters included in the story; as well as Claude the simply fabulous, hilarious pig with his starring role, there is affectionate Lara the Golden Retriever and Martha the cat. 

I read this quickly and enjoyed it very much, the story had my attention throughout and I was keen to see how it ended. I think young readers will find much to enjoy and ponder in this lovely children's fiction debut.

Thank you to amazon vine for a review copy of this novel. 

Author links - twitter @JJELSON35 |

Published by Hodder

Lost and Found - Tom Winter

‘It often appears as if some people spend their entire lives trapped, going round and round in circles but never arriving.’

Carol is deeply unhappy. She doesn’t love her husband Bob anymore and she struggles to understand her teenaged daughter at all. She feels her life is just passing by, that she has wasted it and that she has to do something about it. Matters are complicated when Bob discovers he is ill. Her friend Helen suggests writing it all down in a letter to at least express all she is feeling and get it out. Unsure about the idea at first, eventually she decides to do just that, and then sends the letter out into the world. She writes of the guilt, despair, frustration and sadness at her life and relationships.

Meanwhile, Albert works at the post sorting office. He is a widower and is very close to retirement. His only real company is his cat Gloria. He is assigned to spend his remaining days at work in the room where the undeliverable mail ends up. One day whilst he is sorting through this mass of post without a home, he finds an envelope with a smiley face drawn on it, and he can’t help himself, he opens it and starts reading, and so the lives of our two lonely protagonists are linked. Carol’s letters, which are incorporated into the novel, become a reason for Albert to go on; he is intrigued by the person who could have written these words.

I felt very sad for Albert’s loss of his wife and the way it has dominated his life from then onwards, rendering him lonely. Carol seems equally lonely, despite having family around her, she doesn’t connect strongly with any of them and longs to escape. Through her honesty in the letters she writes, her true feelings are revealed. The complicated feelings she has for her husband are well expressed in a great passage where she likens her emotions to being on a plane: ‘I know I’ve said I don’t love my husband and I’m leaving him…but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him in broader, more general terms. It’s sort of like…like being on a plane. …Let’s just say our marriage was a very, very long flight and now the plane has crashed. The fact that I regretted getting on the plane, hated most of the journey, and now find myself in a place I don’t want to be doesn’t seem to matter any more. The point is, we survived. It’s hard not to feel a bond with someone when you’ve been through an experience like that.’

This is a story of guilt, regret and longing, of love and great loss, and loneliness that will make you ponder, but injected with a wit that will make you smile too. The author has written a moving, realistic and bittersweet tale detailing the highs and lows that befall people and the sadness that can blight our lives, yet the sense that there is always a connection to be made with someone, somewhere. I liked the little illustrations heading up each chapter too, each being related to the story.

I enjoyed reading this debut, I found it honest and stark at times, and at other times poignant, and I also find it amusing and sweet in parts. I felt that there were many aspects of the story and the characters that people might identify with. 

Published by Corsair

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending me a copy of this novel to read and review. 

You can follow the author on twitter @wintrybits

Left Neglected - Lisa Genova

Sarah Nickerson is an extremely successful businesswoman living in an affluent suburb of Boston with her equally successful husband, and two children. They have a holiday home in Vermont and escape there to ski. Sarah never has enough hours in the day to fit everything in, has mastered the art of doing several things at once most of the day, but thrives on the adrenalin of it all. Then one day, an incident in her car will cause her to develop a condition which forces her to live a different day to day life in the immediate aftermath, and which makes her stop and think in the longer term about how she lives and if her future is really going to be spent going back to how her life was before the accident. 

On the inside cover of my UK paperback copy of this novel, novelist Jodi Picoult states 'Remember how you couldn't put down Still Alice? Well, clear your schedule - because you're going to feel the same way. I thought back to reading Still Alice earlier this year - and I clearly remember how it made me feel, and how quickly I read it - I really couldn't put it down. A lot to live up to for Lisa Genova's second offering. But I think it does live up to it. It's another very moving, beautifully written novel about a sudden, huge change in a woman's life. I couldn't put this one down either! I am excited about future novels from this writer because both this novel and Still Alice are genuinely moving, realistic and yet also humorous works.