The 24-Hour Café by Libby Page - A Well-Written, Captivating Story

I loved The 24-Hour Café by Libby Page; it was so interesting! What a follow-up to The Lido!
It is a feel good, well written, captivating story about twenty-four hours in Stella's all night café near Liverpool Street Station. It focuses on two friends, Hannah and Mona who met at a friend's party, and who share a flat together as well as working together at Stella's. They work separate shifts, twelve hours on and twelve hours off but on this day, things begin to change.
It is 12am and the first twelve hours follow Hannah's shift as she watches and serves the lonely, the alone, the happy and the sad. Her own story is revealed through her thoughts: her dreams of becoming a singer; her anguish about her ex-boyfriend, Jaheim, and her long friendship with Mona.
Libby Page also takes several of the customers and illustrates their stories to form a rich patchwork of human relationships e.g. the homeless student, Dan; the couple in their sixties, Martha and Harry and Monique, the first time mother. Cleverly, each story is memorable in its own right.
But it is at 11am when Hannah gets a text from Mona that things begin to change.
When Mona arrives to take over from Hannah, Libby Page picks up her story as the shift progresses, about her dreams of becoming a professional dancer, her relationship with Hannah and the events that have led up to today.
It is a thoroughly engrossing story, and one that I was sorry to finish. I'm looking forward to the next book by Libby Page very much!

Staying at Home This Year? Why Not Travel by Book? - Part Two

No one is going to be travelling anywhere for time being, so what better than to immerse yourself in one of these wonderful novels that are due out this summer? These are by some of my favourite authors, and I'm looking forward to settling down, indoors or out, and sailing away with them!

From Venice with Love by Rosanna Ley out on June 25th -  Destination Venice
I have travelled all over the world with Rosanna Ley since reading her first book, The Villa, which was set in Sicily. I love her books because she always makes the setting a key part of the story.
I'm looking forward to this one because it starts in Dorset, and goes to Lisbon and Prague before reaching Venice. A wonderful trip indeed!
It is about two sisters: Harriet who is struggling to run the family farm and Joanna who returns home only to set off again to solve the mystery of Emmy, who wrote the bundle of illustrated love letters which she finds.

The 24-Hour Café by Libby Page was due out on June 25th, but now it's been put back to February 18th 2021, but we can still read it on Kindle or in hardback. Personally, I prefer a paperback, but there you go! - Destination, Your local café
I'm looking forward to reading Libby's second book because I enjoyed her worldwide success, The Lido, so much.
If you are missing your local café, because of social distancing, this will one be a treat. Stella's café is open for twenty-four hours each day and everyone is welcome. Hannah and Mona work there and have dreams of their own, but during one twenty-four hours, their friendship will be tested, lives will be changed and the community will come together.

The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble also due out on June 25th - Destination, not sure! Looks like a bit of a magical mystery tour as there is little information available about it online.
Anyway, I've enjoyed all her other Sunday Times best selling novels over the years, so I'm sure this one will be no different. The blurb says it's about 'the joys and heartbreak of a family divided and reunited', so I'll be glad to go wherever it takes me.

Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop by Ali MacNamara due out on July 23rd - Destination, Cornwall!
Earlier this year, I read all Ali's Notting Hill trilogy, and also once again enjoyed Step Back in Time which you must read if you love The Beatles!
However, I have read all her more recent books too because they always have a wonderful touch of magic.
Kate has at last opened her quirky craft shop selling her handmade textile designs. However, some embroidered pictures and mysterious paintings hint about a sixty-year-old love affair, which Jack, who runs the local art shop, helps her to solve, resulting in the discovery of many similarities between them and the 1950s pair.  I can't wait to find out what happens!

Escape to the French Farmhouse by Jo Thomas due out on July 9th - Destination, Provence
Jo is another of my favourite authors, and I have read all her books since her very first, The Oyster Catcher, which came out in 2014. All her books have been about food and love, from oysters to lemons! This one is about baking with lavender.
After a disastrous six weeks in Provence, Del and her husband, Ollie, decide to return home, but as the removal van drives away, she decides that a new life in France without him would bring her the most happiness. She finds a recipe book at the market which Fabian runs and begins to bake, but will this really bring her the joy she desires?

I hope that you will enjoy my selection of novels and try some new authors. Travelling by book is much cheaper than your usual holiday, after all!
If you missed Part One, you can find it here.
Happy travelling!

The Lido by Libby Page - Beautiful and Uplifting

The Lido by Libby Page is the most uplifting and beautiful book that I have read for a long time with beautifully described imagery, beautifully drawn characters and tenderly expressed relationships.
We all think that we know Brixton because we've seen it on the news, but Libby Page describes what is really underneath: how people can get together and fight for a worthwhile cause, in this case The Lido.
She really gets under the skin of Kate too. She's a young journalist from Bristol, trying to make a career in London, but crippled by anxiety and panic attacks which are only relieved by being invited to swim in the pool by eighty-six-year-old Rosemary who has swum there all her life since it opened and wants to prevent Paradise Living from buying it and filling it in with cement to turn it into a leisure centre for its residents.
Libby's description of swimming in The Lido is stunning. Closing my eyes, I can see the cold sparkling water in the sunshine and feel the shivers as Kate slips in for the first time and swims.
Romance is at the forefront of this story, focusing on Rosemary's love affair with George, her late husband, in and around the pool, and giving her another reason to do all she can to prevent it closing, and Kate's own blossoming love affair as well.
This is a refreshingly wonderful book to make you think about the good in people and certainly one of the most uplifting books that I've read.
My friend lent me her copy to read, but now I've bought my own because I'm sure that I'll read it again.