This month I read... March

I have managed to read three books this month on my iPad and phone mainly during night feeds.

The Seven Stars by Simon Leighton-Porter

This book is a Da Vinci Code kind of story centering around an archaeologist who whilst on a dig in Pompeii gets caught up in a conspiracy which dates back to biblical times. The story regularly flashes back to tell the real story behind the rise of Christianity following the revenge of Josephus, whose Father has been falsely represented by the apostles in their biblical writings.

This book was very clunky. The story felt predictable and unoriginal. The archaeologist being an ex-secret agent was a terrible decision and made the plot ridiculous. The flashback chapters worked the best and were more believable and I would rather have read the story from just that perspective.

Overall score: 2/5

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell

This is our current book club read and we are meeting to discuss next week. Set in London, the story revolves around an Irish catholic family (mum and three children) who are searching for their Husband/Father who appears to have left the house one day and disappeared without a trace.

I really enjoyed this book. It is clever because all of the action happens in the past and we are on a journey with the children uncovering pieces of information and pasting them together to form a true picture of who their father is and where he may have disappeared to. Along the way we get pulled into the lives of the three very different siblings and their neurotic mother making for a highly entertaining glimpse into the world of a disfunctional family. The drama which prompts the disappearance unravels slowly keeping your interest but it is the narrative between the remaining family members which is the real subject matter of the book. I would highly recommend.

Overall score: 4/5

A Beautiful Lie by Tara Sivec

I was tricked into reading this book! iBooks said it was a suspense novel and the tag line 'What do you do when you find out your whole life has been a lie?' intrigued me... It turned out that iBooks was the one lying and this novel was a cross between James Bond and Mills & Boon.

The plot had promise: Three friends are as close as friends can be. When one of them dies tragically it is up to the other two to find out what happened - whatever the cost. As they slowly start to uncover the nature of the deception, they begin to question everything, including themselves.

Turns out the two remaining friends have secretly been in love all along and spend most of the time fantasising about sleeping together. Oh and of course they are tall, beautifully perfect anatomical specimens. Oh did I mention that the girl is actually an undercover CIA agent who speaks eight languages and uses her job as a world renowned photographer as her cover story? No? Silly me.

The plot twists were predictable (of course dead friend isn't really dead and that is obvious from page one) but I did want to finish the book to find out how on earth the President of the Dominican Republic was wrapped up in it all. The answer (spoiler alert!) he's the father of course! How original. That has never been done before *cue Darth Vader style heavy breathing* Saying all of this it was easy to read and very fast paced so I didn't really have the chance to get too annoyed with the ridiculously silly story. The writing was a lot better than a most of these Fifty Shades style erotic fiction novels but I got really bored of reading how hard he gets when she stands next to him and found myself skipping past the repetitive sex scenes. If you are looking for some reality free romance to zone out to and give your brain cells a night off this is the book to go for.

Overall score: 2/5

So you may have noticed I haven't finished City of Glass the third book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. It is paperback so I am struggling to find time when I have two hands free!

On the iPad/phone I have started reading The hundred-year-old man who jumped out the window and disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

This post is linked to #ThisMonthIRead with @mutteringmummy