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Wild Atlantic Reads

@wildatlanticreads

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Good books, dogs & coffee. ☕🐾📚
Currently Reading: The Sectets We Hide
Last Read: The Lion Women of Tehran 4.5⭐️
West of Ireland 🇮🇪

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🎧 "Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth 4.5⭐️

This was our October Bookclub read, and I absolutely loved it! In many ways, Mabel strongly reminded me of Ove, one of my favourite characters, books and authors.

Both books centre around a curmudgeonly octogenarian/septuagenarian who have withdrawn from society due to past trauma. Despite their STRONG reluctance and annoyance, their "nosey busybody" neighbours continuously insert themselves into their lives, much to their frustration and despair.

As the books progress, we see both Mabel and Ove, with the help and love of those around them, begin to soften and open their hearts up again.

I loved the character development in this book and found the story a lovely blend of funny, heartbreaking and heartfelt.

Although parts of the story were predictable, this didn't lessen my enjoyment of it as I felt the story was more about the narrative than the "shock reveal".

My first Sally Hepworth book, but it won't be my last! 😊

If you enjoyed this, treat yourself to a read of A Man Called Ove, and vica versa!!

Have you read Mad Mabel or A Man Called Ove? Did you enjoy them as much as me?? 👵🏻👴🏻😃

#MadMabel #SallyHepworth #AManCalledOve #FredrikBackman #OctoberReads by @wildatlanticreads

📚 "The Lion Women of Tehran" by Marjan Kamali 4.5⭐️

This book was on my TBR pile for so long and I'm so glad I FINALLY got around to reading it this month!

The Lion Women of Tehran is an historical fiction novel (One of my favourite genres!) that follows the lifelong friendship between two girls, Ellie and Homa, growing up in 1950s Tehran. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, they form a close bond and dream of becoming strong, independent women who can make a difference in the world. However, as they grow older, their lives take very different paths, and the political unrest and revolution in Iran bring challenges that test their friendship.

Although this book is a work of fiction, it is rooted in the harsh reality that the people of Iran live with every day. The Iran described in the novel pre-revolution is unrecognisable to the regime the Iranian people now live under. I cannot even begin to comprehend how life as you know it could change so drastically under a change of regime, and that there was nothing you could do to prevent it.

It will break your heart to think of the women and girls in Iran who have seen their basic human rights being systematically eroded over the years.

It will make you want to stand alongside these brave individuals and groups who refuse to accept this reality and who continue to fight for the basic rights and equality of women in Iran.

This is a truly inspirational book on courageous and fierce women, friendship, loyalty and heartbreak. A powerful read.

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

#MarjanKamali ##TheLionWomenOfTehran #OctoberReads #WhatImReading #PowerfulBooks by @wildatlanticreads

October Reads 😊

Have you read any of these? Which ones did you enjoy and not enjoy?

My favourites in October were:

1. 📚 "The Lion Women of Tehran" by Marjan Kamali 4.5⭐️
This book was on my TBR pile for so long and I'm so glad I FINALLY got around to reading it! A gorgeous book on courageous and fierce women, friendship, loyalty and heartbreak. A powerful read.

2. 🎧 "Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth 4.5⭐️
This was our October Book Club read and I really really enjoyed it. Mabel reminded me of Ove (One of my favourite books and authors!) and I was thoroughly invested from the very beginning. Highly recommend. 👵🏼❤️

3. 🎧 & 📚 "Land" by Maggie OFarrell 4⭐️
After a difficult and slow start last June, I just couldn't connect with this book and gave up on it. However I'm so glad I gave it another chance this month. I loved the second half and was completely invested in the characters and flew through it!

This month I was most disappointed by:

🎧 & 📚 "The Wedding People" by Alison Espach. 2⭐️

This book just wasn't for me. I really really did not get the hype. I didn't find it funny, didn't enjoy the writing style, didn't care about the characters. 🙈

#OctoberReads #MonthlyWrapUp #BookWrapUp #TheLionWomenOfTehran #MadMabel by @wildatlanticreads

📚 "The Silent Patient" by Alex Michaelides 3⭐️

After all the hype around it, I'm not really sure how I felt about this book after reading it! 😂 Part of me enjoyed it, while another part me was rolling my eyes at how ridiculous it all was!

On the one hand it was a fast paced, enjoyable and easy read that kept me entertained and interested. However I also found there was a LOT of suspending belief and some SERIOUS therapeutic boundary crossing going on throughout!

There are definitely better psychological thrillers out there, but overall I think it was an average book and I did enjoy it so a solid 3⭐️

Have you read this book? Did you think it was worth the hype??

#TheSilentPatient #PsychologicalThrillers #OctoberReads #WhatImReading #AlexMichaelides by @wildatlanticreads

"Land" by Maggie O'Farrell 4⭐️

Switched between 🎧 & 📚 for this read.

I went into this book with such high expectations and honestly I really struggled to get into it. It was our Book Club read last July and I read the first 150 or so pages at the time and found it hard going and I just wasn't engaging with the characters or the story itself.

However after hearing such good reviews about it I gave it another go this month and ended up loving it, especially the second half of the book which I couldn't put down once I became invested in the characters and their lives, both in Ireland and abroad.

A slow, heavy start, but overall a book I'm really glad I revisited!

What are your thoughts on this book?

#Land #MaggieOFarrell #Irish #TheGreatHunger #OctoberReads by @wildatlanticreads

🎧 & 📚 "Beautiful Ugly" by Alice Feeney 3⭐️

This was my second Alice Feeney read, after reading "My Husband's Wife" during the summer. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous read, but found it fast paced, enjoyable and an easy read nonetheless! A solid 3 star read. 😊

#OctoberReads #AliceFeeney #WhatImReading #Ireland #WeekendReads by @wildatlanticreads

As October comes to a close, I'm uploading my September reads! 🙈😂

Have you read any of these? Which ones did you enjoy and not enjoy?

My favourites in September were:

1. 🎧 "Good People" by Patmeena Sabit 4⭐️
I adored this as an audiobook and think it would be a fantastic Book Club read as there such potential for discussion when you finish!

and

2. 🎧 & 📚 "One of Us is Guilty" by Steve Cavanagh 4⭐️
This was our September Book Club read and my 3rd Steve Cavanagh/Eddie Flynn read. I switched between audio and physical book for this and found it a fast, enjoyable and addictive read.

This month I was most disappointed by:

🎧 & 📚 "It Could Have Been Her" by Lisa Jewell 3⭐️
A new Lisa Jewell novel is always an automatic read for me, but I felt this wasn't one of her better books.

I also read and enjoyed two Claire Douglas books this month.

Both 3⭐️ reads and both 🎧 & 📚
1. "The New Neighbours"
2. "The Girls Who Disappeared"

#SeptemberReads #LisaJewell #SteveCavanagh #PatmeenaSabit #ClaireDouglas by @wildatlanticreads

"Then She Vanishes" by Claire Douglas

4 ⭐️

Switched between 🎧 and 📚 for this read 😊

I always enjoy a Claire Douglas book and this one did not disappoint. The twist was a bit predictable but it was an addictive, enjoyable and entertaining read nonetheless. One of my favourite Claire Douglas reads.

Synopsis:

That summer, the three girls had the world at their feet. Now, one is missing.

On a summer's night in 1994, 16-year-old Flora Powell vanished from her sleepy seaside town. She left no trace - only heartache for her mother and her sister, Heather.

And one is a murderer.

Twenty-five years later, Heather walks into a stranger's house. There, the loving wife and doting new mother kills two people in cold blood.

So only one remains...

Jess is sent to report on the case that shocked the hometown she left behind. But it's anything but business to her. She was like a sister to the Powell girls, until the summer that tore them all apart.

Can Jess find the key to both their mysteries?

Or will her search reveal a darker side to the place she grew up - and put her in danger?

#ClaireDouglas #OctoberReads #PsychologicalThriller #WhatImReading #BookLover by @wildatlanticreads

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞" 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐡

2 ⭐️

Switched between 🎧 and 📚

I honestly don't understand how so many people found this book funny. I didn't laugh once, or even find myself vaguely amused. The humour completely missed the mark for me, and I found the writing surprisingly poor. Every second sentence seemed to involve the word "says" – “he says”, “she says”, “he says”, “she says”! I found myself desperately craving a few synonyms for "says" by the end! 🙈😂 Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. A book I struggled to enjoy and certainly didn't find as entertaining as everyone else seems to have.

#TheWeddingPeople #AlisonEspach #OctoberReads #WhatImReading #2026ReadingChallenge

Have you read this book and did you enjoy it?? by @wildatlanticreads

🎧 "𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐞" 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐑𝐨𝐲

3 ⭐️

An enjoyable listen, especially as the audiobook was narrated by Arundhati Roy herself. I did find it a little long-winded in places, but the difficult and unorthodox mother-daughter relationship kept me engaged. I was struck by how, despite her mother’s harshness and abuse, Roy continued to maintain a relationship with her and ultimately grieve her so deeply. A complicated, thought-provoking and very personal read.

#MotherMaryComesToMe #ArundhatiRoy #OctoberReads #WhatImReading #Memoir by @wildatlanticreads