The Late Bloomers' Club

Does the cover of a book make you want to read it? I saw this book The Late Bloomers Club by Louise Miller on social media and was instantly drawn to it, even before reading the synopsis.  Reviews of Miller's previous book likened it to the TV series Gilmore Girls. I'd go as far as to say this book also has a Gilmore Girls feel about it.

It tells the story in the first person of Nora Huckleberry who is running her family's diner in the town of Guthrie. She has a sister Kit who flitters in and out of Guthrie. The pair inherit a neighbour's property complete with a dog called Freckles who goes missing immediately after his owner's death. The neighbour was known for her cakes including a Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Icing. Throughout this book we also find out lots more about Peggy the neighbour.

The sisters are trying to decide whether to sell the inherited property and if so who to. Nora is also focused on finding Freckles as well as managing the diner while Kit is busy making movies.

This is definitely a feel-good story. I love the sense of community promoted in the book and how the story is written in the first person.

A great summer  (I live in New Zealand so summer is fast approaching) read!

Bookworm - A Memoir of Childhood Reading

Who remembers reading Flat Stanley or about Charlie or Matilda or Danny or Lucy or Aslan or Milly Molly Mandy? I do!

I don't think I was a bookworm growing up but I remember reading many of the books mentioned in this memoir Bookworm by Lucy Mangan.

Mangan, a British journalist who is of a similar age to me, was definitely a bookworm and in this lovely book she goes back over many of the books she has read. It covers her earliest memories of reading The Hungry Caterpillar and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, her love of Milly Molly Mandy and reading about all the adventures in Narnia and the many books in between and beyond.

I learnt a lot I didn't know about Enid Blyton's books - books I couldn't get enough of growing up. Some of the information came as a surprise. 

I could relate to Mangan for her lack of interest in Tolkien, eek like me. I've never picked up any of his books and I think I fell asleep about 30 minutes into a showing of one of the movies of the Lord of Rings trilogy at a friend's house. Sorry no offence Peter Jackson. I still think you have done an incredible job with those movies and we will always be grateful for your efforts in putting New Zealand on the map! Each to their own.

I enjoyed her views on the popular Ladybird books and her discovery of Roald Dahl and revisiting another favourite childhood book of mine E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. 

One of the best parts of this book was how much her father encouraged her reading. As a five-year-old Mangan's father would buy her a book each Friday and Lucy would find it waiting for her when she went down for breakfast each Saturday. What an awesome Dad.

A great feature at the end of the book is a list of books Mangan read throughout her childhood.  

If you're in your late 30s to early 50s, loved reading as a child and feeling nostalgic, you will want to get your hands on this book!