This is an exciting book blog hop that book bloggers can take part in once a week to share with their followers, the books that they most recommend reading!
The rules for Friday Recommends are:
Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
Pick a book that you've read, and have enjoyed enough to recommend to other readers. It can be a book you've read recently, or a book you read years ago - it's up to you - but make sure you tell us why you love the book (like a mini review). You make the post as long or as short as you like.
Visit the other blogs and enjoy!
My first Friday Recommend is a book kindly given to me by the publishers Canongate and which I have also read this month as part of a book group read....
The Radleys
by
Matt Haig
The Radleys appear to be a normal happy family, but underneath this veneer of respectability lies a dark secret which is about to come crashing to the surface. Peter and Helen Radley have done all they can to protect their children, Rowan and Clara, from experiencing the dark and daring world of the paranormal, but secrets run deep, and the threat of exposure is never far from the surface.
Covering a whole range of topics, from sibling rivalry and school time bullying, through to marital disharmony and the threat of infidelity, this story just about covers every emotion. There are some genuinely funny moments where I laughed out loud, but equally, there are some truly dark dilemmas which seek not only to question morality, but also to ponder on the principles of goodness and decency. Ultimately, this is a novel about rites of passage, not just within families but within the wider community, and demonstrates how the intricacies of relationships can be flimsy, and yet strengthened by a common purpose.
The author’s skill as a story teller is unmistakable, Matt Haig has the distinct ability to engage, entertain and amuse in equal measure, and yet his true talent lies in making the book just a little bit different. It’s refreshingly diverse to have a paranormal book that doesn’t feature too heavily on the dark and dirty alpha male, and yet should the story ever continue, Rowan certainly has potential.
Read it if you can - the hours spent in the company of The Radleys won’t be wasted.
4****
I read this book when I was on holiday in Norfolk during the summer, and I absolutely adored it! I would recommend it too :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post for this week's recommends!
Dani xxx
Hi Dani - Thanks for introducing me to Friday recommends -it's such a great idea. Glad you are another Radley fan !!
ReplyDelete