Despite the fact that March was possibly the longest month in loving history, April the 3rd has come around quickly.

For this month I though I would showcase three books I am hoping to read this month while we are all on out social distancing lockdown. I’m still working from home and fulltime toddler mum to a very energetic four old who is missing his nursery buddies, so haven’t got that much extra reading time.

I’ve picked three books that all have gorgeous covers and are hopefully welcome, warmhearted distractions from the current anxieties of real life.

The Librarian

By Salley Vickers

Published by Penguin Book 2018

What it’s about:

From Goodreads:

Sylvia Blackwell, a young woman in her twenties, moves to East Mole, a quaint market town in middle England, to start a new job as a children’s librarian. But the apparently pleasant town is not all it seems. Sylvia falls in love with an older man – but it’s her connection to his precocious young daughter and her neighbours’ son which will change her life and put them, the library and her job under threat.

How does the library alter the young children’s lives and how do the children fare as a result of the books Sylvia introduces them to?

Why I picked it:

I grabbed this from a charity shop pre-lockdown (remember those days!) The copy is in prefect condition and doesn’t look like it has ever been read. The woman in the charity shop recommended it too. I like post-war mid-century historical fiction and something about the description made me think Dear Mrs Bird and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society both of whichI loved. It also has a lovely cover photo featuring a woman reading and a book with a book on the cover ticks off a Popsugar prompt.

Waterstones: click here

Amazon.co.uk: click here

Messy, Wonderful Us

By Catherine Isaac

Published by Simon and Schuster 2020

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

What if loving someone means keeping a secret that will break your heart?

In late 1983, a letter arrives from Italy, containing secrets so unthinkable that it is hidden away, apparently forever. More than three decades later, it is found . . . by the last person who was ever supposed to see it.

When Allie opens an envelope in her grandmother’s house, it changes everything she knows about her family – and herself.

With the truth liable to hurt those she loves most, she hires a private detective to find out what happened to her late mother in the summer before Allie was born. Taking leave from her job as a research scientist, she is led to the sun-drenched shores of Lake Garda, accompanied by her best friend Ed. But the secrets that emerge go far beyond anything they were expecting. Now, Allie must find the courage to confront her family’s tangled past and reshape her own future.

Messy, Wonderful Us is an enthralling and emotional story of human loss, love, friendship and the mystery that binds them all together from the bestselling author
of You Me Everything.

Why I picked it:

I treated myself to a subscription with My Book Moment. For just £12 a month you get a lovely box of treats and a newly published surprise book. I have a popular fiction subscription and this is March’s choice. The cover feels really summery and the Italian setting will be a nice escape as I can’t physically go anywhere and my Easter holiday has been cancelled.

Waterstones: Click here

Amazon.co.uk: Click here

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant

By Kayte Nunn

Published by Orion 2019

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

A cache of unsent love letters from the 1950s is found in a suitcase on a remote island in this mysterious love story by top ten bestselling author, Kayte Nunn

1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an isolated mental asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther’s prison but soon becomes her refuge.

2018. Free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker embarks on a research posting in the Isles of Scilly, off the Cornish coast. When a violent storm forces her to take shelter on a far-flung island, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel determines to track down the intended recipient.

Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother, a renowned mountaineer, write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years.

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a deeply atmospheric, resonant novel that charts the heart’s wild places, choices and consequences. If you love Elizabeth Gilbert and Kate Morton you will devour this book.

Why I picked it:

Someone shared a picture of this book on the Book Connectors group on Facebook – and the cover just really appealed to me so I ordered it without a second thought. Both this and Messy, Wonderful Us feature letters from the past and secrets so it will be interesting to compare them.

Waterstones: Click here

Amazon.co.uk: Click here