SPLENDID EXPERIENCES

1. This Book Made Me Think Of You – Libby Page

• Moving
  • 4.5 Stars

‘The real magic of books is when turning the final page doesn’t mean an ending but a beginning – a beginning that only you can write’

I honestly didn’t want this book to end, I enjoyed reading it so much. I was hooked from the moment I started reading.

‘The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever.’

The story is about Tilly Nightgale’s journey, as she learns to live again after the devastating loss of her husband, Joe. Before he dies, Joe leaves her a deeply personal gift at a local bookstore, Book Lane, owned by Alfie. The gift is twelve carefully-curated books, one for each month, each intended to guide her through the long, aching first year of grief without him. Each book comes with a personal note from Joe explaining why he chose that particular story for her, as if he’s still speaking to her from beyond the page. It completely melted my heart – Libby Page writes with such warmth and insight that it feels almost like a gift in itself.

For the next twelve months, Tilly goes on an adventure. Even with Joe having passed on, you feel his love and adoration for Lilly through this heartfelt gesture.

‘Bookshops aren’t just book shops. They are places for book lovers to come together, like minded souls meeting among the stacks’

Her monthly visits to the book store lead to a friendship with Alfie. As time passes, feelings develop between Tilly and Alfie.

‘I think, maybe we don’t get just one love of our lives. Maybe we all have room in our hearts for more than one story’

Libby Page did wonders with this book, the book is tender, emotional and pure. I particularly loved the way she tackles grief and the many ways people deal with it. I particular loved the fact that the book had so many book references, some I have read and some that I have added to my reading book list.

This Book Made Me Think Of You is without a shadow of a doubt on my Top 12 favourite book for 2026.

2. Kin – Tayari Jones

• Riveting
  • 4 Stars

There’s a poignant quote by Dr. Maya Angelou that says ‘Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.’ The quote resonated with me as I was reading Kin and the relationship between Vernice and Annie.

Set in the 1950s/60s, in the Jim Crow south, Vernice (Niecy) and Annie story begins in Honeysuckle, Louisiana. Both motherless, Niecy mother was killed by her father who then took his life, she is raised by her aunt. Annie was abandoned at birth by her mother and never knew her father, she is raised by her grandmother. The two are raised as ‘cradle friends’ forming an unbreakable bond that has its own complexities.
As they get older, their paths diverge, Annie escapes Honeysuckle, following an unstable path searching for her mother and Niecy goes to Spelman College where her eyes and her world opens up. The friends maintain their relationship through letters where their different life circumstances and choices are laid bare.

Tayari Jones does a great job of showing the complexities of being a woman in the American South. The story is centered on women – their choices, sacrifices, and connections. The story also explores race, class, culture, gender and sexuality.

Not an easy read but Kin is deeply moving, riveting and the story is told beautifully. It raises profound questions about the true meaning of family; ‘Family is not always Blood’, true ‘family’ bonds are defined by love, loyalty, acceptance, and support.

3. Lost Lambs

• Outrageous
  • 4 Stars

The Flynn family are so dysfunctionally entertaining. I loved each and every family member with their outrageous views and take on life.

A bit about the Flynn family; there’s Catherine and Bud, the parents with marital problems, who are struggling to connect, they decide to have an open marriage. Their three daughters are each dealing with their own personal challenges. The eldest seventeen year old daughter, Abigail is dating an older man nicknamed War Crime Wes; the middle child, Louise has an online friend who influences her into terrorism acts; and then there’s the youngest daughter Harper, smart but a law unto herself. She believes the town is under surveillance and she uncovers her dad’s boss’s shady business dealings.

The story is as chaotic as the characters – there is some conspiracy and criminality involved and the people in the story are navigating life, some with their own weird and outrageous views on life.
The ending was stellar, a reminder that even in the midst of what seems like dysfunction, disarray and turmoil, there is love and unity.

Madeline Cash’s writing is uniquely funny, witty, well-paced and well-written. It had me hooked from the start.

4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin

• Nostalgic
  • 4 Stars

This book was recommended to me by a good friend, there were raving reviews about it and she thought I would enjoy it. She was not wrong. I loved it. Having grown up in the eighties, playing video games, I relished the journey this book took me on – the gaming / arcade era. I was obsessed with playing Double Dragon, Pac Man, Galaxia, Tekken…the list is endless. 

The book opens with an encounter at a train station between childhood friends Sam Masur – now studying maths at Harvard – and Sadie Green, who’s at MIT studying video game design. They reunite and before long, they’re are working on creating a video game together.

‘It’s more than romantic. it’s better than romance. It’s friendship.’ 

At the centre of this book is a rare friendship between Sam and Sadie. The story takes us back to their first meeting in hospital, where Sam had become reclusive, dealing with the aftermath of badly injured foot and quietly carrying the weight of loss. Their love for gaming forms the foundation of their friendship. It becomes the thing that binds them, giving them a shared language when words fail. It’s the kind of friendship that feels unbreakable – until it isn’t, until a misunderstanding build up to the point where one of them shuts the other out completely. In todays terms, the one friend blocked the other.  

Post their reunion, they begin working on the creating the game, this journey brings them together as well as tears them apart. Sam’s roommate, Marx, joins them as a business partner.  The trio experience moments of great success, painful failure, upheaval, heartbreak and loss. I found myself attached to this trio, their journey pulled me in because it shows how complex relationship can get and it also shows how success can bring people closer, but also quietly drive them apart.

Gabrielle has done a stellar job, in my opinion, of gently weaving together Sam’s struggle with his disability and Sadie’s experience of sexism in the video game industry and in life more broadly in the story. What stayed with me most is how the book offers such a thoughtful glimpse into how friendships evolve over time in ways that feel both subtle and painfully real.

A nostalgic read and all characters were intriguing and some memorable.

5. In Her Defence – Phillipa Malicka

• Anticlimatic
  • 3 Stars

I had high expectations for this book, given its many recommendations from Reese Witherspoon’s book club, but I was ultimately underwhelmed – for one thing, it did not feel like a thriller to me. There were moments that left me gasping, but not in a way typical of a thriller – there was little suspense and no major plot twists. Instead, it relied more on coincidences, unpredictable questionable characters, and occasional high-stakes moments.

The book opens at the start of a trial where a beloved TV star and national treasure Anna Finbow has taken her daughter Mary’s therapist, Jean Guest to court. Anna is accusing Jean of brainwashing her daughter for her own financial gain.

The story is told by Gus (Augusta,) a former employee of Anna, who also has a vested interest in the outcome of the case. As the story unfolds the timeline alternates between the trial and Rome, where Gus, Mary and Jean have a connection and the details of their connection comes to light.

The premise of the book seemed interesting and sadly it did not deliver. It was still a good read but not one I would rant and rave about.

TS!