Janet Gordon is married, retired, obsessed with her Westlake Terrier, Rollo – and books are her passion. She reads multiple books a week across all genres and reviews them for Rest Less.
This month’s round-up features BEE: A story that celebrates our differences, Two Inches of Ivory, The Official Bridgerton Cookbook, Memorial Park, and The Women.
Note: Prices can change often, so you may notice some variations on the providers’ websites. Prices and availability are accurate as of the 7th of February, 2025.
BEE: A story that celebrates our differences by Rachel Fuller (Author) and Emilia Wharfe (Illustrator) (Kindle £7.99, Amazon £11.24, Whitefox Publishing Ltd £12.99)
Published in time for Children’s Mental Health Week, BEE is the most beautifully illustrated tale for every child who feels different, thinks they don’t fit in, or simply struggles in today’s world.
Bee is a child with a beautiful mind who feels misunderstood and struggles to concentrate and connect with people around her. She has Sprout – a magical fairy friend who guides her through a unique journey to show how everybody has special talents and how it’s the differences that make you extraordinary.
Author Rachel Fuller, with her extraordinary musical talents, has composed a special piece of music, which can be heard by scanning the QR codes that pop up throughout the book. Inspired by the ballet, BEE is a co-production with the Royal Ballet and Opera. The music is glorious – I’ve listened to it several times and the illustrations are just sublime.
Two Inches of Ivory by Malcolm Day (Kindle £5.99, Amazon £12.97, Troubador Publishing £12.99)
2025 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. And no matter how many modern novels I read, I always make time to read Pride & Prejudice or watch Colin Firth with his wet shirt emerging from the lake – at least once a year, just as I do with Love Actually.
Although I’ve been to Bath and taken the waters, wandered around the Pump Room, and imagined myself dancing at the Assembly Rooms, I’ve never been to either Chewton in Hampshire where Jane spent the last eight years of her life or Steventon – just 23 miles away – where she was born.
Somebody who’s done all of this – and researched letters, biographies, and memoirs – is author Malcolm Day who’s written a family story of life as he imagined it.
It’s such a fascinating glimpse into their world and the Regency way of life.
The Official Bridgerton Cookbook by Regula Ysewijn (Kindle 17.99, Amazon £22.88, Piatkus £30)
This is the most beautiful of cookbooks and I’ve always wanted to be a Regency lady. I have an entire collection of Georgette Heyer Regency novels – all with their original 60s covers and, of course, I’ve been glued to Bridgerton.
And this has the most sumptuous photographs taken from the show along with even more sumptuous recipes – most of which I’m going to have a go at making.
This would be a glorious Valentine’s Day gift for a loved one.
Memorial Park by Louisa Scarr (Kindle £1.99, Amazon £9.33, Canelo £9.99)
This is the second in a new series featuring Iggy, a police dog German Shepherd – oh, and his handler PC Lucy Halliday.
I’m such a softie – I hate, in fact, won’t even watch films or read books if there’s the slightest chance that one of the animals dies. In fact, I still haven’t seen Bambi! Luckily PC Lucy Halliday takes good care of Iggy.
This outing centres on the search for a missing three-year-old who vanishes in a split second in the park. It’s a terrific police procedural and an insight into PC Lucy’s life. Oh and Iggy and his doggy friend Moss – a victim recovery dog.
I don’t know how I missed the first in the series, Gallows Wood, and I’m about to download it right now.
Louisa Scarr also writes the scariest of chiller serial killer thrillers under the name, Sam Holland.
The Women by Kristen Hannah (Kindle £5.99, Amazon £4.99, Pan £9.99)
Since The Women was published in February 2024, over three and a half million English-speaking copies have been sold and it spent 43 weeks on the NY Best Sellers list – and I reviewed this then. The paperback is out on 13th February and courtesy of Pan Macmillan, we have three copies to be won.
The story centres on Frankie McGrath, whose family tradition is that of the military – but only for the men. And so when Frankie’s darling brother is killed flying a helicopter mission during the Vietnam War, she’s determined that the family military tradition won’t be forgotten and is going to include her. Frankie enlists as a nurse, much to her family’s distress and horror – but she remains determined.
Frankie, too, is sent to Vietnam where she’s plunged into the thick of surgical chaos. And the pages of this novel bring to life the horrors, trauma and all-around mayhem of a surgical unit on the front line.
Kristen Hannah also details how returning service personnel who have been diagnosed with PTSD can obtain help – but once again, only if you’re male. Time after time, Frankie is told “There were no women in Vietnam”.
I urge you to read this book – it’s an absolute masterpiece. I read it laughing, crying and so completely choked up over some passages that I needed a glass – or to calm myself down. It’s been the best book of 2024 on so many bestseller lists and Warner Bros are developing it into a film. I can’t praise this novel highly enough – it’s magnificent.
Win!
To win one of three paperback copies of The Women, please answer the following question…
The Women was published in hardback in what month?
a) January 2024
b) February 2024
c) March 2024
Terms and conditions
The giveaway will close at 11.59pm on 20th February 2025 and the winners will be chosen at random in a prize draw on 21st February 2025. Winners will be connected with Janet via email for the fulfilment of their prize.
For more reading inspiration, head over to the books, literature, and writing section of our website. Or, for further book and literature discussions, you might be interested in joining the thriving book club or short story club over on Rest Less Events.
Have you read any of these books? Or are you planning to? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!