November has been a quieter month for me with my book reading. I have read a couple of books over eight hundred pages and my health hasn’t been too good. What I have read though has been brilliant, so here are my top books of November.
The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley. Lucinda Riley is one of my favourite authors and I have been in a state of excited anticipation for a year to read this sixth instalment of the Seven Sister’s series. Electra is the youngest of the sisters a model and party girl, but is also addicted to drink and drugs. After being contacted by her maternal grandmother, Electra learns about her Kenyan heritage and the life of Cecily Huntley-Morgan. Lucinda Riley brings the heat and dust of the Kenyan plains to life and the scandalous society of the Happy Valley set. This series just gets better and better, and this ambitious and stunning novel is the best yet.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. This book went straight to my heart with it’s haunting and compelling plot, and wonderful and inspiring characters. Nuri and Afra see things no one should ever see in the war in Syria. Their beautiful, warm, colourful, and happy lives in Aleppo are destroyed by the war that brings death and destruction to their home. One night they flee in an attempt to get to England where Nuri’s cousin Mustafa has claimed refuge. This is no easy journey, and reminded me in part of Homer’s Odyssey in the challenges they faced along the way. This book really opened my eyes to the perilous journey refugees make for the chance of a better life. Wonderfully descriptive, this is a story of love, war, family and loss, but most of all hope.
The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furvinall. I have been a fan of Kate Furvinall for a long time so jumped at the chance or read this book. Set in France in 1953 during the Cold War, the threat of communism is very real. Elöise follows her brother André to. Paris when he joins the CIA. She longs to be part of his world but after a terrible accident sends André back home to the Camargue, Elöise returns with him and aims to find out just who was responsible. In the Camargue tensions are running high as a USA Air Base is looking to expand to accommodate nuclear weapons. This book has romance, espionage, secrets and plenty of suspense mixed with the historical setting that makes this the perfect read.
I am really looking forward to sharing my reviews of some more wonderful books with you in December, including Lulu Taylor’s A Midwinter Promise, 1066; What Fate Imposes by E.K. Holloway and Danielle Steel’s Beauchamp Hall.
