MSB Book Club – January/February
Happy New Year from the MSB Book Club! The Book Club give their thoughts on the November/December reads and share their newly selected books for January/February 2025.
November/December Books
The Book Club had 4 choices for their November/December reads. All the reads were chosen by members of the book club.
The Comfort Food Café by Debbie Johnson
About the book: Welcome to The Comfort Food Café!
It’s been a tough year for Maxine Connolly – so tough she’s almost given up on finding her happy ending. But then she discovers The Comfort Food Café, shining like the star on top of the Christmas tree and welcoming her into its cosy, cake-filled embrace for hot chocolates dripping with whipped cream, melty grilled cheese toasties and the funniest bunch of regulars she soon calls friends.
Then there’s gorgeous local Gabriel Moran, who looks at Max like she’s a present he can’t wait to unwrap – and she can’t help but think that, maybe, he’s just what she wants for Christmas too…
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
About the book: ‘Tis the Season to be Wary….
When Ashley Smith – a bright-eyed but lonely American studying in London – is invited to spend Christmas with her classmate’s family at their Cotswolds manor house, it seems like a perfect country idyll.
And for Ashley – who records it all in her diary – there’s the added romantic potential of her friend’s twin brother, Adam, who she thinks could be her wildest dream come true.
But is there something strange about the old house, both stately and rundown? What could the motives of the mysterious Chapman family be? And what holiday horrors might be lying in wait?
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
About the Book: In equal parts hilarious, poignant, suspenseful and thrilling, The Christmas Train by David Baldacci is a delightful journey filled with memorable characters who have packed their bags with as much wisdom as mischief . . .
Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington to LA in time for Christmas. Forced to take the train across the country because of a slight ‘misunderstanding’ at airport security, he begins a journey of self-discovery and rude awakenings, mysterious goings-on and thrilling adventures, screwball escapades and holiday magic.
He has no idea that the locomotives pulling him across America will actually take him into the rugged terrain of his own heart, where he will rediscover people’s essential goodness and someone very special he believed he had lost.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
About the Book: This is the bestselling novel behind the iconic movie Christmas with the Kranks.
Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes and no unwanted presents.
That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether.
Theirs will be the only house on the street without decorations, a Christmas Eve bash or even a tree. Because come December 25th, they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise.
But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences – and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined . . .
Staff Reviews
“I read the Comfort Food Café by Debbie Johnson and I would rate it 4 stars. It was a nice easy and cosy read for Christmas time. I enjoyed the story, which was about second chances and finding something you’re passionate about later in life, as we don’t always have it figured out when we are young. The romance element was cute too”. Rachael Payne, Solicitor ****
“I also read the Comfort Food Café and I would give it 4 stars. This is a warm, delightful and delicious book, with a heartwarming romantic story. The book was filled with charm and extremely easy to read. It follows the life of Maxine and her move to the countryside to work at the ‘Comfort Food Café’ and the love story which follows”. Louise Murphy, Partner and Head of Social Housing and Regeneration ****
“I read the Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson and my rating is 2 stars. The book was OK but there were no believable characters”. Susan Alexander, Mediator, Collaborative Lawyer and Senior Associate **
“I also read the Christmas Guest and I would give it 3 stars. This was an addictive novella which I read in one sitting! I liked the twisty nature of the book and the gothic atmosphere which the author was able to bring to the story. I do agree that I lacked investment in the characters”. Michelle Summers, Solicitor ***
January/February Books
Our members found some books in their Christmas stockings, and the Book Club now have four choices for their January/February reads…
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
About the Book: Life on our planet as you’ve never seen it before…
A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.
The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part – or protective – of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?
The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley
About the Book: The Olive Tree is a sun-soaked story of family secrets and an unforgettable summer in Cyprus from Lucinda Riley, international bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series.
As a young woman, Helena spent a magical holiday at Pandora, a beautiful house in Cyprus – and fell in love for the first time. Now, twenty-four years later and following the loss of her godfather, she has inherited Pandora. And, though it is a crumbling shadow of its former self, Helena returns with her family to spend the summer there.
When, by chance, Helena meets her childhood sweetheart, her past threatens to collide with her present. She knows that the idyllic beauty of Pandora masks a web of secrets that she has kept from her husband and thirteen-year-old son. And that, once its secrets have been revealed, their lives will never be the same . . .
Hot Not Bothered by Harper Ford
About the Book: Hot Not Bothered is the new hilarious, no-holds-barred and heartfelt novel about the rollercoaster of menopause, from hot flushes to HRT and everything in-between.
Heidi is tired. Tired, grumpy and hot as hell.
Juggling the stresses of her job whilst parenting two children is proving chaotic. When her menopause symptoms skyrocket, Heidi dives headfirst into a sea of comically contradictory advice, absurd doctors’ appointments, and the wild world of online support forums that range from cult-like to totally bloody bats***.
But the last straw comes when she receives a patronising company-wide email from HR supporting ‘women of a certain age’. Heidi accidentally hits ‘reply all’ when calling out the bulls***, only to suddenly find herself the inadvertent new face of the menopause in her office…
Shadows of the Past by Antony Coyne
About the Book: When Ray Gordon was kicked off the force for taking the law into his own hands one too many times, he lost everything: the power and authority he craved…. and worse, his family.
Since then, Ray has spent his days drowning in whiskey, consumed by regret and self-pity. He’s a man who has given up…. until a chilling message shatters his downward spiral: MEGAN IS MISSING.
Everything changes in an instant. As Ray begins the desperate search for his daughter, he’s forced to confront the shadows of his past…. the mistakes that cost him everything. But standing in his way is a cunning adversary who knows every one of Ray’s sins and is determined to exploit them.
Now, with everything on the line, Ray must ask himself: Does he still have what it takes to save the one person who matters most?
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