More reads from July

I managed to fit in a few more books in July.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

I became hooked on Lisa Jewell when I read Watching You and was happy to find a copy of Then She Was Gone at our library.

From Goodreads:

“THEN
She was fifteen, her mother’s golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

NOW
It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.

And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet.

Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter.

Poppy is precocious and pretty – and meeting her completely takes Laurel’s breath away.

Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What happened to Ellie? Where did she go?

Who still has secrets to hide?”

An exciting thriller with an ending that you wont see coming.  Loved it.

Here the author reads an extract form her book.

I will now be on the lookout for more books by Lisa Jewell.

Best Before: the evolution and future of processed food by Nicola Temple

A bit of non-fiction for a change. This caught my eye when I was browsing the shelf of new acquisitions at our library. The book was an extremely interesting read and made me think a bit more about what goes into our processed food.  I also learnt quite a bit about the history of some of our foods.

“Long before there was the ready meal, humans processed food to preserve it and make it safe. From fire to fermentation, our ancestors survived periods of famine by changing the very nature of their food. This ability to process food has undoubtedly made us one of the most successful species on the planet, but have we gone too far?

Through manipulating chemical reactions and organisms, scientists have unlocked all kinds of methods of to improve food longevity and increase supply, from apples that stay fresh for weeks to cheese that is matured over days rather than months. And more obscure types of food processing, such as growing steaks in a test-tube and 3D-printed pizzas, seem to have come straight from the pages of a science-fiction novel. These developments are keeping up with the changing needs of the demanding consumer, but we only tend notice them when the latest scaremongering headline hits the news.

Best Before puts processed food into perspective. It explores how processing methods have evolved in many of the foods that we love in response to big business, consumer demand, health concerns, innovation, political will, waste and even war. Best Before arms readers with the information they need to be rational consumers, capable of making informed decisions about their food.”

This was certainly a worthwhile read.  I kept reading out aloud snippets of the book to my husband.

The Art Of D’scard’ng :How to get rid of clutter and find joy  by Nagisa Tatsumi

From Goodreads

“The book that inspired Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Nagisa Tatsumi’s international bestseller offers a practical plan to figure out what to keep and what to discard so you can get–and stay–tidy, once and for all.

Practical and inspiring, The Art of Discarding (the book that originally inspired a young Marie Kondo to start cleaning up her closets) offers hands-on advice and easy-to-follow guidelines to help readers learn how to finally let go of stuff that is holding them back–as well as sage advice on acquiring less in the first place. Author Nagisa Tatsumi urges us to reflect on our attitude to possessing things and to have the courage and conviction to get rid of all the stuff we really don’t need, offering advice on how to tackle the things that pile up at home and take back control. By learning the art of discarding you will gain space, free yourself from “accumulation syndrome,” and find new joy and purpose in your clutter-free life.”

 Long story short, this is a quick read full of advice such as acknowledging that you’re never going to use those things that “might be useful someday.” She lost me when she said to get rid of books.  I have tried that over the years and regretted it when I couldn’t find a book that I thought I had kept.  I guess I am just someone who hangs onto too many things.