The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 243

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Goodreads Blurb: From Harper Lee comes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—”Scout”—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can be guided only by one’s conscience. Written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman imparts a fuller, richer understanding and appreciation of Harper Lee. Here is an unforgettable novel of wisdom, humanity, passion, humor and effortless precision—a profoundly affecting work of art that is both wonderfully evocative of another era and relevant to our own times. It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context and new meaning to an American classic.

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: You know what’s strange, for something that was written first this book only really works as an addendum to ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’. No, it’s not as good but I knew that going in so that wasn’t a shock. What was was the character that was killed off. I won’t say which one but if you read the book you’ll know and if you haven’t I wouldn’t want to rob you of that innocence.

Amazon Associates: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

If you’ve enjoyed this wee post remember to follow the Wee Blog if you haven’t already. Also check me out on X, Goodreads, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Pinterest, Tumblr, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Kofi. Until next time stay safe, and have a bonnie day.

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 242

The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Goodreads Blurb: Laura Ingalls Wilder is beginning life with her new husband, Almanzo, in their own little house. Laura is a young pioneer wife now, and must work hard with Almanzo, farming the land around their home on the South Dakota prairie. Soon their baby daughter, Rose, is born, and the young family must face the hardships and triumphs encountered by so many American pioneers.

And so Laura Ingalls Wilder’s adventure as a little pioneer girl ends, and her new life as a pioneer wife and mother begins. The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America’s frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story.

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Don’t let the colourful, pleasant cover fool you – this is a miserable book. Someone tries to buy her first baby, her second baby dies, their house burns down, and her husband doesn’t keep the promise he makes to her at the beginning of the book. Which somehow I found the most galling thing out of all of it. Having said that, I did throughly enjoy this book, so there’s that.

Amazon Associates: The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 241

Troy by Stephen Fry

Goodreads Page

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Dam it Heracles! And other stories from mismanagement of Troy.

Amazon Associates: Troy by Stephen Fry

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 240

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

Goodreads Blurb: In the remote Welsh mountain village of Gwytherin lies the grave of Saint Winifred. Now, in 1137, the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the sacred remains for his Benedictine order. Native Welshman Brother Cadfael is sent on the expedition to translate and finds the rustic villagers of Gwytherin passionately divided by the Benedictine’s offer for the saint’s relics. Canny, wise, and all too wordly, he isn’t surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder.

The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself held the bow. Brother Cadfael knows a carnal hand did the killing. But he doesn’t know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice…where the wages of sin may be scandal or Cadfael’s own ruin.

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Yes, I did like the book better than the show but that should probably go without saying. I think there’s something we loose in adaptions when we take out the possibility of the supernatural from them.

Amazon Associates: A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 239

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

Goodreads Blurb: ‘Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married’.

But for four women in particular, the big news about the charismatic politician is especially momentous…

Stylist Lola has every reason to be interested in who Paddy’s marrying – because she’s his girlfriend, yet she definitely isn’t the bride-to-be … Journalist Grace wants the inside story on the de Courcy engagement and thinks Lola holds the key … while Grace’s sister, Marnie, still can’t forget her first love: a certain Paddy de Courcy. And what of the soon-to-be Mrs de Courcy? Alicia will do anything for her fiancé and is determined to be the perfect wife. But does she know the real Paddy?

Four very different women.

One awfully charming man.

And the dark secret that binds them all…

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Just a fantastic book – but I’ll be honest I really hope this isn’t representative of real Irish politicians behaviour 😁

Amazon Associates: This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 238

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves

Goodreads Blurb: When the Flemings–designer Helena and architect Daniel–move into a remote community in the north of Shetland, they think it’s a fresh start for themselves and their children.

But their arrival triggers resentment, and Helena begins to receive small drawings of a gallows and a hanged man. Gossip spreads like wildfire.

A story of dysfunctional families and fractured relationships, Inspector Jimmy Perez’s eighth case will intrigue series fans and Shetland Island newcomers alike.

(Goodreads Pages)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: The perfect ending to a series I never saw coming.

Amazon Associates: Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 237

Inside Out: The Junior Novelization by Suzanne Francis

Goodreads Blurb: Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out will take you to a place that everyone knows but no one has ever seen: inside the mind of an eleven-year-old! Once there, you’ll meet the five Emotions that know Riley best: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust! Also features eight pages of full-color scenes from the movie.

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: A fantastic retelling of Pixar’s Inside Out – doesn’t really add anything extra but when the story’s this good would you really want it to?

Amazon Associates: Inside Out: The Junior Novelization by Suzanne Francis

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 236

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Goodreads Blurb: Three Women Who Share One Fate: The Boleyn Inheritance

Anne of Cleves

She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VIII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family, or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses.

Katherine Howard

She catches the king’s eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love — but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe.

Jane Rochford

She is the Boleyn girl whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.

The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life – the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best.

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Okay it’s official, Anne of Cleves is now my favourite Queen.. And I’m not just speaking of Henry’s wives either – I mean of all time. 😁

Amazon Associates: The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 235

William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher

Goodreads Blurb: Hot on the heels of the New York Times best seller William Shakespeare’s Star Wars comes the next two installments of the original trilogy: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back and William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return. Return to the star-crossed galaxy far, far away as the brooding young hero, a power-mad emperor, and their jesting droids match wits, struggle for power, and soliloquize in elegant and impeccable iambic pentameter. Illustrated with beautiful black-and-white Elizabethan-style artwork, these two plays offer essential reading for all ages. Something Wookiee this way comes!

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: Best one yet.

Amazon Associates: William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back

The Wee Writing Lassie’s 300 Books in a Year – Book 234

Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves

Goodreads Blurb: In the dark days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the road and sweeps down to the sea.

At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and peaty water smash through a croft house in its path. Everyone thinks the croft is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress. In his mind, she shares his Mediterranean ancestry and soon he becomes obsessed with tracing her identity.

Then it emerges that she was already dead before the landslide hit the house. Perez feels bound by duty – and something more powerful – to find out who she was, and how she died. Within the house, the only clue is a wooden box that contains two photos, one of two small children and one of an elderly couple. And a handwritten letter, which begins: “My dearest Alis…”

(Goodreads Page)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads Review: These books are fantastic through out but it’s always the endings that have that just right amount of kick that can make a book great. And my God does Cold Earth deliver 💜

Amazon Associates: Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves