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@madslikestoread

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📚 I love words and enjoy reading for pleasure. Just here for the books. 📚

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📚 Hello 👋🏻 I’m Madeleine and I enjoy reading for pleasure. After years of reading for academic and professional reasons I finally have the time to read what I want when I want to.📚

📚Don’t expect anything deep or worthy. I’ll share the books that I have enjoyed over the years. Hopefully someone somewhere will discover a new book that they will come to love and enjoy as much as I have. 📚

#reading #ilovebooks #booklover #meetthebookstagrammer #bookstagramuk by @madslikestoread

📚 Way Back by @djsaracox 📚

I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s beautifully written and very funny. All I can say is: I will never look at a bottle of jojoba handwash in quite the same way ever again!!

On the outside it looks like Josie, our central character, has a perfect life: a beautiful home in London, great friends, a successful husband and a wonderful daughter. However, something is missing.

Josie’s roots are in Lancashire where she spent her childhood years: happy and contented on the family farm until a tragedy robs her of her Dad. Her Mum struggles to cope and they have to leave the farm. University and a fabulous job in New York are her roads to freedom and a stable future. Yet, the yearning for the farm has always lain dormant within her. Can a trip back there really lay the ghosts of the past to rest and give her the fulfilling life she craves?

Sara’s brilliant sense of humour shines throughout the book. The names she gives to the animals and her friend’s businesses are absolute classics 🤣

The book rekindled memories of my own early years surrounded by farmer’s fields in Lancashire: bonfire nights with sticky toffee apples, black peas and parkin, hay baling time and having to buy firelighters for our open fire before the days of central heating. A testament to Sara’s great writing.

A brilliant read with plenty of laughs and a good dollop of romance thrown in for good measure. A big thumbs up from me 👍🏼

#wayback #saracox #saracoxwayback #fiction #contemporaryfiction by @madslikestoread

📚 Bamburgh by @ljross_author 📚

Bamburgh provides the backdrop to this, the 19th instalment of the DCI Ryan Mystery series. The owner of a local guesthouse is found dead but could a ghost really be the culprit? Elsewhere, DC Melanie Yates takes centre stage as she becomes increasingly obsessed with finding her twin sister’s murderer. This is the real meat of this book and explores how such an horrific event can upend someone’s life and their psyche, leading them to consider taking actions that would normally be unimaginable.

LJ Ross takes us on a dark and tense journey into Melanie’s psychology as we learn more about the circumstances surrounding her sister, Gemma’s, death. Her obsession threatens her relationships with the rest of the team, not least, Jack. Will she see the light or will darkness envelop her? There’s a real ‘will she won’t she’ element at play throughout the story which certainly kept me on tenterhooks.

As always, LJ Ross strikes the perfect balance between a respectful acknowledgement of the seriousness of a harrowing crime and counterpoints it with the hilarious banter of her team of detectives. I also loved the nod to @barterbooksuk and the local author whose hero is a handsome police detective 😉

As Bamburgh is one of my favourite places, I couldn’t resist sharing a couple of video clips of its breathtaking beach. If ever you have the opportunity to visit, just go!!

🎥 @mads_pixs

#bamburgh #ljross #ljrossbamburgh #fiction #murdermystery by @madslikestoread

📚 The Rock by @ljross_author 📚

This is a hard hitting instalment in the DCI Ryan Mystery series. It centres around human trafficking and the exploitation of the desperate and vulnerable. In this, the 18th book of the series, the wreck of a fishing boat is discovered by Marsden Rock on the North East coast of England. It quickly becomes apparent that it has been used to transport human cargo.

DCI Ryan and his close knit team of detectives are called in to identify a body, find the missing captives and bring their heartless tormentors to justice.

As usual, LJ Ross strikes a perfect balance between dark and light. Bleak and upsetting descriptions of sexual exploitation are punctuated with moments of well timed humorous exchanges between the characters of DCI Ryan’s team.

I am really enjoying the behind the scenes insights into Ryan’s team and the lives they live away from the station. DC Melanie Yates slowly comes into greater focus during this story and provides the springboard into the next instalment. Thankfully I already had a copy of book 19, ‘Bamburgh’, so I was able to dive head first into the continuing story.

That’s another brilliant DCI Ryan mystery ticked off the list. Definitely one that provides the reader with a lot to reflect on.

#ljrosstherock #ljross #therock #dciryan #murdermysterybooks by @madslikestoread

📚 Happy Bookshop Day to all the fantastic independent bookshops here in the UK including my local independent bookshop @ebbandflobookshopchorley where I recently purchased this gorgeous @picadorbooks reissue series of The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. 📚

I read The Light Years earlier this year but it just didn’t seem right not to buy the entire set especially as the new covers by @__anna__morrison__ are beautiful. At least the introduction to book 1 by @elizabday is new to me so I’m looking forward to reading it especially as it was her recommendation on ‘Between the Covers’ that first tempted me to read this series.

As I’m not the quickest reader 🐌 it’s more than likely that these will remain on my rather large TBR pile for a little while but I will definitely be making time for them at some point in the coming months 😊

#bookshopday #bookshopday2026 #independentbookshop #chorley #lancashirebookshop by @madslikestoread

📚 There’s a new bookshop in town and I couldn’t resist going in for a mooch! Located in Horwich on the @middlebrookrlp the new @waterstonesmiddlebrook is absolutely gorgeous! 📚

I’ve been in a reading rut of late and have failed to finish several books that were either disappointing or just not my cup of tea. So, what do I do? Buy more books of course 😄 Plus, I couldn’t leave without buying a book by at least one local author. You might have heard of her: she’s on the radio, writes books and presented the best TV book show, ever, IMHO! Yes, of course, it is the absolutely brilliant Boltonian @djsaracox 🥰

#waterstones #waterstonesmiddlebrook #bookshop #bookhaul #ukbookstagram by @madslikestoread

📚 The Shrine (Book 16) and Cuthbert’s Way (Book 17) by @ljross_author 📚

Monks, murder and mystery!

These are the next two gems in the DCI Ryan Mystery series that I am working my way through. The Shrine starts with a bang and the drama kept me turning the pages and continuing following the storyline straight on to Cuthbert’s Way.

I was riveted throughout both books. As I have previously stated, I love the characters of DCI Ryan, his loyal team and family. LJ Ross’s use of dialogue is absolutely brilliant and brings these wonderful characters to life so vividly. At the dramatic ending of Cuthbert’s Way I was literally holding my breath as a central character’s life is on the line.

I absolutely love this series!

#ljross #theshrine #cuthbertsway #murdermystery #crimefiction by @madslikestoread

😎 This is my reward for completing today’s gardening chores 🪴👩‍🌾🪏 A cuppa in the sunshine with a DCI Ryan mystery by @ljross_author 😊 Bliss 📚

#reading #readingforpleasure #relaxing #books #alfrescoreading by @madslikestoread

📚 Broken Country by @clarelesliehall 📚

If ever there was a book begging to be made into a film this is it!

This is a book full of drama, passion and nostalgia that will provoke strong emotions.

Set in Dorset the story oscillates between the mid 1950s and late 60s/early 70s. So, as a child of that era the nostalgia hooked me in immediately. At its heart is a love triangle. Beth and Frank’s loving marriage is threatened when Beth’s first love, Gabriel, returns to the village with his son, Leo. The emotional turmoil that ensues impacts the wider family, particularly Frank’s brother, Jimmy and his fabulous girlfriend, Nina.

We learn at the outset that a farmer has been shot but it’s not immediately clear who it is or who pulled the trigger. Having worked out the plot twist it lost its shock value and I thought at that point that I wouldn’t succumb to the tears I had been told to expect. Then I read the final chapter and I was overwhelmed by emotion 😭

It’s intense, tempestuous and gripping. Make sure you have a box of tissues to hand!

#brokencountry #clarelesliehall #lovestory #contemporaryfiction #firstlove by @madslikestoread

📚 The Light a Candle Society by @ruthmariehoganauthor 📚

I absolutely loved this story. It’s heartwarming and uplifting. There were times I was on the verge of tears and others when I was howling with laughter 😂

This is a book about ordinary, compassionate people who come together to honour and recognise the lives of those who have no-one to bury them. It’s a sad fact that some people die alone and have no living family or no-one willing to organise a funeral for them. This is where, in the UK, the local authority (aka the Council) step in to provide a Public Health Funeral. The central character of this book, George McGlory, is visiting his wife’s grave when he witnesses one of these funerals. Saddened to think that someone has no-one to mourn them he enlists the help of his friends to start the Light a Candle Society. The aim: to ensure someone attends each local PHF, celebrates a life and lights a candle 🕯️

I must stress that this is not a gloomy book! Yes, it has its sad moments. The case studies of those who die will pull at your heartstrings. Kathleen is a case in point. Happily married for many years, no children or living relatives. It is Kathleen’s PHF that prompts George into action.

There is a wonderful cast of characters. Ordinary folk from an English suburb who work, spend time with friends and family, all the while dealing with the ups and downs of life with a pragmatic humour and kindness. These are the kinds of people I love to read about.

This is for Ruth. I did read the Author’s Note and your acknowledgments. I too was brought up to always say thank you and to this day I still send thank you notes. It’s good to know that I am not alone. Thank you for this wonderful book which prompted me to look at the PHF page of my local council’s website. It was reassuring to see that at least some basic details are posted as way of marking a life. As someone who may possibly be the recipient of a PHF one day, it is good to know that at least my name will live on and I like to think someone will be kind enough to light a candle for me.

#thelightacandlesociety #ruthhogan #wonderfulbooks #upliftingreads #fictionbooks by @madslikestoread

📚 Not my usual kind of book post but I couldn’t help but share this find. During a recent visit to York I came across a shop on Goodramgate that was new to me called @thegotheliestation 📚 It’s not a bookshop per se but it has lots of gorgeous things that will make a book lover’s heart do a merry little dance (well mine did anyway 😄) 📚

There’s a particular focus on gothic and Victorian themed books, gifts and it’s even got its own train carriage!! It’s a gorgeous gem of a shop that is a must visit if you’re ever in the city. And as for Gothelie… she’s got her own book coming soon, apparently!

This is not an ad by the way. Just a gorgeous shop I fell I love with and I just wanted to show it a bit of bookstagram love ❤️

#gothicliterature #victoriana #gothicshop #victorianstyle #gothicstyle by @madslikestoread

📚 Ryan’s Christmas by @ljross_author 📚

It’s Christmas in July!! 🎄

DCI Ryan, his wife, Anna and their detective friends, Phillips and MacKenzie, are on their way home from a Christmas trip to Edinburgh when they get stuck in a snowstorm ❄️🌨️ Diverted off the A1 they find themselves taking shelter at Chillingham Castle where they meet a cast of characters who are assembled for a candlelit ghost hunt. Unfortunately they get more than they bargained for when murder victims start to show up.

Despite there being Christmas in the title this is a book that can be enjoyed at any time of year - even a July heatwave 🥵

Disclaimer: I’m afraid that, for photographic purposes, I couldn’t be bothered to climb into the attic for the Christmas decorations 😄 so the closest thing I could find was a snowy photo of the house to add that festive chilly feel ❄️🥶

#ljross #ryanschristmas #murdermysterybooks #crimefiction #detectivefiction by @madslikestoread