Summer of '69

I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction but I do enjoy books that are set around the time I was born or just a few years before like this book.

The author of Summer of '69 Elin Hilderbrand has written 23 books in her 50 years of life and this book is her latest. I was struggling to find a book to read and this book on our new release stand at the library where I work caught my eye.

Hilderbrand writes in an author's note at the end of the book that she wrote this book after her twin brother Eric suggested she should. She dedicates the book to him. Elin and Eric were born in 1969 the day after the first man landed on the moon.

This book centres around the Levin family Kate and David and children - Blair whose married and pregnant with twins, younger sisters Kirby and Jessie and their brother Tiger who is serving in the Vietnam War. There's also their grandmother Exalta who has her own way of doing things.

Kirby is single and trying to make her own way in life while Jessie has just reached her teenage years and all that comes with being a 13-year-old in that era.

The book is mainly set on two islands in the United States - Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. There are references to the Kennedy family, the first moon landing, President Nixon, the Vietnam War, racial inequalities and the Woodstock music festival.

This is the first book by Hilderbrand that I've read and it won't be the last. I loved her writing style.

Four out of five stars for this great piece of fiction.

The Flatshare

Tiffy and Leon share a bed. Tiffy and Leon have never met. 

I was in two minds about whether to review this book The Flatshare but I thought I would because I enjoyed the writing style of British author Beth O'Leary.

Struggling to find something to read, I saw this book and it had some appeal. I don't know why because I could sense it was chick-lit (a genre I'm not a huge fan of) and it is but there's a lot more to this book.

Leon advertises for a flatmate - to help make some extra money to pay the costs of the appeal for his wrongfully imprisoned brother. 

Tiffy needs somewhere to live after finally making a break from her ex-boyfriend. She moves into Leon's home except she doesn't meet Leon. He works nights and is away from home at the weekend. Tiffy works days and is home at the weekend. They share the same bed but obviously not at the same time. They start leaving notes for each other and soon the flat is full of post-it notes. Books on crochet, modelling crochet pieces, Hospice care and promoting books are among some of the other subject matter within the book.

I gobbled up about two thirds of this book and then it started to get too much into the realms of chick-lit and a bit too much romance for my liking. 

But I kept on. It is a light, quirky and funny read and to think O'Leary managed to write the first draft of the book during her daily train commute to and from work. 

Three stars from me.