The Book Mermaids

  Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined. On the surface this looks like such a simple book. I was tricked into  believing  that myself, but the more pages I read the more I realised that this book was anything but simple. I think that the author does this on purpose because it reflects the message that on the surface human beings are all simple, or 'idiots' as he often refers to them! But underneath, we are so so so so complex. Basically this st...

For all of Emory's life she's been told who she is. In town she's the rich one--the great-great-granddaughter of the mill's founder. At school she's hot Maddie Ward's younger sister. And at home, she's the good one, her stoner older brother Joey's babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey's drug habit was. Four months later, Emmy's junior year is starting, Joey is home from rehab, and the entire town of Mill Haven is still reeling from the accident. Everyone's telling Emmy who she is, but so much has changed, how can she be the same person? Or was she ever that person at all? Mill Haven wants everyone to live one story, but Emmy's beginning to see that people are more than they appear. Her brother, who might not be cured, the popular guy who lives next door, and most of all, many ghostie addicts who haunt ...

  1890's Colorado. Desperate following her mother's sudden death, thirteen-year-old Hannah Owens apprentices as domestic help with a wealthy doctor's family in Colorado Springs. When the doctor declares bankruptcy and abandons his family to finance his mistress Pearl DeVere's brothel, however, Hannah is thrown into a vortex of gold mining bonanzas and busts, rampant prostitution, and the economic, political and cultural upheavals of the era. Two of Cripple Creek's most colorful historic characters, Winfield Scott Stratton, eccentric owner of the richest gold mine in Cripple Creek, and Pearl DeVere, the beautiful madam of The Old Homestead, come to life as this old-fashioned, coming-of-age saga unfolds, the first of two historical fiction novels by debut author Mim Eichmann -- a tribute to the women who set the stage for women's rights. I love nothing more than curling up on the couch on a rainy day, and being transported to another time in history, which is exa...

Rose Keller and Tate Russo have been climbing for years, training in harsh weather and traveling all over the world. The goal that kept them going: summiting Mount Everest, the highest point on earth. Everyone on their expedition has something to prove, it seems. And not everyone is making the best decisions while short on oxygen and physically and mentally exhausted. The farther up the mountain they go, the more their climbing plans unravel and the more isolated each team member becomes. Rose and Tate will have to dig deep within themselves to determine what—or who—they value above all else. Above All Else by Dana Alison Levy absolutely blew me away. The story was incredible and unique, and it was such a breath of fresh air as more and more novels in the YA genre are becoming clones of each other. The story was intense, heart breaking, heart warming and so inspiring. I would never climb Everest, I could barely handle a 3-day overnight hike! But after reading this book, I feel like...

January 1901  Sharks circle the stranded ship as Hannah and her family head to a new home in the newly formed nation of Australia. Hannah's father has a new post as the schoolmaster in a larger school in northern NSW, where the school's wealthy patron, a sugar planter called Mr Harris, will give the family a life of comfort and the best society. But secrets lurk in this subtropical paradise. From the moment Hannah's mother rebels against her husband's refusal to let Jamie, the Pacific Islander boy who rescues them from their shipwreck, into his school, the facade crumbles. Mr Harris's fortune is built on slavery and the whip. And the new Federal government's first law demands that all Pacific islanders - even those born in Australia - be deported. If Mr Harris learns of the secret school that Hannah's mother is running, it will mean ruin, violence, and possibly even death. Hannah and Jamie must fight for Jamie's right to stay in the land he loves, and fo...

Australian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside only to find that she is to look after the first intake of girls in its 150-year history. She is to stay with them in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past, where the shadows hide more mysteries than she could ever imagine. In the late 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant. She is thrust into a new and dangerous world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention. In London, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives amid the clatter of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is the domain of men. Arriving in the market town of Oxleigh, she brings with her a length of fabric woven with a pattern of deadly plants that will have far-reaching consequences for all who dwell in the silk house.            The Silk House  was such a gorgeous story, and ...

An exciting announcement has been made and Alice-Miranda and her schoolmates are going on camp. There are sleep outs, treasure hunts and so many other activities to look forward to! However, it's not all fun and games.  Alice-Miranda and Millie will need to keep a close eye on Caprice, the school's newest student, who seems determined to cause trouble.  Next door to the camp is Pelham Park, where Alice-Miranda's father, Hugh, grew up. These days, Hugh's beautiful old house serves as a retirement home but when some startling objects are uncovered in its cellar, the peaceful estate is turned upside down. With help from a much-loved relative, Alice-Miranda sets out to investigate.                      Alice-Miranda and her schoolmates are going on camp, there are sleep outs, treasure hunts and other fun activities..... and of course there is a mystery waiting to be solved! The Alice-Miranda series has been a favourite of mine...

Stella may only be seventeen, but having read every self-help book she can find means she knows a thing or two about helping people. She sure wasn't expecting to be the one in need of help, though. Thanks to her father's gambling addiction, Stella and her family now find themselves living at Fairyland Caravan Park. And hiding this truth from her friends is hard enough without dealing with another secret. Stella's birth mother has sent her a letter.  As Stella deals with the chaos of her family, she must also confront the secrets and past of her 'other' family. But Stella is stronger than she realises. This book was absolutely brilliant. It is possibly one of my favourite YA novels ever!! I absolutely adored the characters, and I LOVED the story. The book has so many beautiful messages, and everyone would benefit from reading this book. The book shows that sometimes things that are covered in gold, are crumbling on the inside, and that sometimes you can find be...

It's senior year, and Paige Hancock is finally living her best life. She has a fun summer job, great friends, and a super charming boyfriend who totally gets her. But senior year also means big decisions.  Feeling the weight of 'the rest of her life' Paige starts to panic. Everything is exactly how she always wanted it to be - how can she leave it all behind next year? In her head, she knows there is so much more to life after high school. But in her heart, is it so terrible to want everything to stay the same forever?  Gahhh... I wanted to love this book, I really really did. I am a huge fan of Emery Lord's other novels;  The Names They Gave Us and When We Collided, so I went into this book with super high expectations, which possibly could have been why I didn't love this book as much as I think I should have. I did enjoy it, but its just not my favourite YA novel.  Paige was a really great main character, and the friendships in the story were crafted perfec...

Lissa is home on her own after school one afternoon when a stranger turns up on the doorstep carrying a baby. Reed is on the run - surely people are looking for him? He's trying to find out who he really is and thinks Lissa's mum might have some answers. But how could he be connected to Lissa's family - and why has he been left in charge of a baby? A baby who is sick, and getting sicker ... Reed's appearance stirs up untold histories in Lissa's family, and suddenly she is having to make sense of her past in a way she would never have imagined.  It is so difficult to review a book when you have such mixed feelings about it! I was a bit disappointed to be honest. This book was an easy read as it only took me a few hours to finish. The storyline was inventive and had the potential to be interesting, however I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. I found the dialogue a bit forced, and in my opinion, at times the narration was 'trying way ...

So I have never been one to follow trends... Especially when it comes to reading! I guess part of the problem is that I have probably got 100s of books on my To-Be-Read list, and it is almost impossible to get through them all. Lately, a few people have said to me "How can you read almost 100 books a year, and never have read (insert title)?' so I thought that I would make a post about the books I am embarrassed to say I have NEVER read and why I haven't! Tell me about the books you are ashamed that you have never read in the comments! 1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling Ugh I am so sorry! Just writing this makes me feel ashamed! To make things even better - I have never seen the movies either! Please forgive me. I honestly don't really know why I haven't read them. They are so hyped, so I know that I have  to, and I promise that I will read them one day. I guess they just have never appealed to me. People have told me that I am the living and breathing ...

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now. Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is  not  a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read. This is a book I had been wanting to get my hands on for a very long time! So when I saw it on display in the library I was beyond happy. This is such a beautiful story; beautifully written, with beautiful characters. There were so many gorgeous quotes throughout the book which pulled at my he...

In 1978 the Northern Territory has begun to self-govern. Life is hard and people are isolated. But they find ways to connect. Sybil is the matriarch of Fairvale Station, run by her husband, Joe. Their eldest son, Lachlan, was Joe's designated successor but he has left the Territory - for good. It is up to their second son, Ben, to take his brother's place. But that doesn't stop Sybil grieving the absence of her child. With her oldest friend, Rita, now living in Alice Springs and working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and Ben's English wife, Kate, finding it difficult to adjust to life at Fairvale, Sybil comes up with a way to give them all companionship and purpose: they all love to read, and she forms a book club. Mother-of-three Sallyanne is invited to join them. Sallyanne dreams of a life far removed from the dusty town of Katherine where she lives with her difficult husband, Mick. Completing the group is Della, who left Texas for Australia looking for advent...

Rev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay...until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back. Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage. She can solve any problem with the right code, but when an online troll’s harassment escalates, she’s truly afraid. When Rev and Emma meet, they both long to lift the burden of their secrets and bond instantly over their shared turmoil. But when their situations turn dangerous, their trust in each other will be tested in ways they never expected. This must-read story will once again have readers falling for Brigid Kemmerer’s emotional storytelling. Wow. This book gave me all the feels, and took me on a real emotional journey. But if a book makes you feel how I’m feeling **(I don’t know how to describe it)** it must be a pretty ...

FRANCE, 1939 In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and refuses to sit and do nothing... I am lost for words. This book was incredible and soul crushing, it broke my heart one-thousand times. This book tells the forgotten story of The Women's War.  During WWII the women fought and did unimaginable things to protect ...

Apple has one memory from her childhood, her mother leaving without a second glance. For eleven years, she lives with her Nana, dreaming about the day her mother will come back. When her mum arrives home unexpectedly, Apple expects everything to fall into place, but ends up feeling more lost and confused than ever before. When Apple goes to live with her mum, Apple realised she is not the doting mother she had hoped her to be. To make things even better, she walks into her new bedroom to find a 10 year old girl named ‘Rain’ who is her sister. Rain is even more lost than Apple, and things start to spiral out of control.  Not wanting to lose her mothers love and trust, Apple goes along with her shenanigans until it is too late... Wow! This novel was beautiful, heart breaking and thought provoking. It is a really great example of the idea that ‘love is blind’ and how much children need to be loved and nurtured. Although the protagonist is 13, this is not a children’s book! Sarah ...

Six girls, six boys. Each in the two separate bays of a single spaceship. They have six minutes each week to seduce and to make their choices, under the unblinking eye of the on-board cameras. They are the contenders in the Genesis programme, the world's craziest speed-dating show ever, aimed at creating the first human colony on Mars. Leonor, an 18 year old orphan, is one of the chosen ones.  She has signed up for glory. She has signed up for love. She has signed up for a one-way ticket. Even if the dream turns to a nightmare, it is too late for regrets. The Phobos trilogy by Victor Dixen is so amazing, that I read all three books in the space of a week. I love novels set in space, and I am a Bachelor fanatic so as soon as I read the blurb, I knew that this series would be INCREDIBLE! The characters were all very loveable, and I adored the story which is so much more than a YA romance. The story changes POV throughout, to people on Earth who are following the programme, the cr...

Paris, 1899. Emma Lacasse has been estranged from her older sister for nearly twenty years, since Caroline married a wealthy American and left France. So when Emma receives a request from Caroline to meet her, she is intrigued. Caroline invites Emma to visit her in New York, on one condition: Emma must tutor her shy, young niece, Isadora, and help her prepare for her society debut. Caroline lives a life of unimaginable excess and opulence as one of New York's Gilded Age millionaires and Emma is soon immersed in a world of luxury beyond her wildest dreams - a far cry from her bohemian lifestyle as a harpist and writer with her lover, Claude, in Montmartre. Emma hopes for an emotional reunion with her only family, but instead she finds herself in the vice-like grip of her charismatic and manipulative sister, who revels in the machinations of the ultra rich. As Emma begins to question her sister's true motives, a disaster strikes, and New York society is stripped bare - beneath th...

It’s 1900, and sixteen-year-old Helen comes alone in steerage across the Atlantic from a small village in Lithuania, fleeing terrible anti-Semitism and persecution. She arrives at Ellis Island, and finds a place to live in the colorful Lower East Side of New York. She quickly finds a job and, like millions of others who are coming to America during this time, devotes herself to bringing the rest of her family to join her in the New World, refusing to rest until her family is safe in New York. A few at a time, Helen’s family members arrive. Each goes to work with the same fervor, and contributes everything to bringing over their remaining beloved family members in a chain of migration. Helen meanwhile, makes friends and—once the whole family is safe in New York—falls in love with a man who introduces her to a different New York—a New York of wonder, beauty, and possibility. Stitching A Life was a truly delightful read. The story is about the author's grandmother, and I couldn...

Taylor and Isolde used to be best friends - before THAT FIGHT, 18 months ago. It's been radio silence ever since - until Taylor contacts Isolde to sympathise with her breakup: the breakup that she never saw coming, which ended her dreams of joining the National Ballet School. Taylor's had his own share of challenges, including a life-altering accident that has brought his hopes of competing at the Winter Olympics to a halt. Isolde responds to Taylor, to be polite. But what starts out as heartbreak-themed Spotify playlists and shared stories of exes quickly becomes something more. And as Taylor and Isolde start to lean on each other, the distance between them begins to feel not so distant after all ... Lately I have found myself getting more and more disappointed with YA novels and a lot of the time reading them feels like a waste of time. That is what I was expecting to feel when reading The Long Distance Playlist but I loved it. The story takes you to the stunning glacier...