Two Quick Reads

It's very rare I read novella's but two came to my attention recently and I love the fact that I could read them in the space of a day. A novel takes me at least a week but I do love the continuous joy of them.

Here's the two novella's you might enjoy too.

Millennium Girl 

by Claire Bullimore

Go back in time....

This hooks you into the teenage years of needing someone of the opposite sex to love you. 

Jessica falls for Liam and you wish she hadn't; he's not right for her. But naively is deaf to reason and well meaning friends advice. That inner voice we all have, is stronger and louder than anything outside of Jessica's head.

Her holiday with 'the girls' will ring bells with lots of younger readers than I. There were no foam parties for me and my two pals in the Isle of Wight on our first holiday away from parents. They hadn't been invented then!

To think that it's only in the last 20 years that phones could take photos and you can send them to friends; that payphones have gone out of fashion and now we use a high factor sunscreen whilst abroad or even in our own back gardens, thanks to global warming. It was good to read that Jessica wanted to be treated with respect - being taken for a meal out and to have someone show you that you are special to them.

That first boyfriend though, that first kiss, that first heartbreak - you never forget it, it lasts a lifetime. 

The author is a brain tumour survivor and I applaud her self-published work. If you are a Bridget Jones's Diary or Friends fan or was a 'Naughties' teenager you will have a blast reading Millennium Girl.

Available from Amazon on kindle or in paperback.

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WHERE IT ENDS

by Heather Walker

The cover tells its own story. This novella links life with death through short stories. People, atmosphere and trees all view the cemetery setting from a different angle. My favourite was Mary who visited her husband's grave every day. She had spent a life-time not been listened to, now she could speak freely about opinions and her life as it was now. You get a sense of this lovely, patient, loyal wife that comes over so very real. I laughed and said 'Yay' out loud; it was brilliant. 

The chapters are subjects many of us may shy away from but Heather tackles them with sensitivity, humour and gentle nuggets of reality and seriousness. 

Recommended to those not in the early stages of grief but who are familiar with their local churchyard as a place of peaceful rest, nature and human activity.

Available from Amazon on kindle or in paperback.