In February 2023 I read:

• The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker
• Talk to me about when we were perfect by Amanda Huggins (poetry collection)
• The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
• The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
• The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees
• Playing for Love by Jeevani Charika 
• It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (re-read)

I was lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of Amanda Huggins’ new poetry collection.

talk to me about when we were perfect is a stunning collection which transports the reader from Yorkshire, London and further afield to Japan.

I particularly enjoyed the nostalgic poems in which Huggins takes us back to her teenage years, encapsulating the awkwardness of meeting boys, making plans for the future, sporting the latest fashion trends, and the flush of first love.

The Talented Mr Ripley is a classic for crime fiction fans and it’s not hard to see why. Tom Ripley is such an intriguing character. It’s incredible how Highsmith can have your rooting for him all the way through the book, even though he is very much the villain. It also made me really want to go to the Italian Riviera!

My favourite book of the month had to be Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. It’s an incredible book exploring the stories of different women and their experiences of race, gender and sexuality in contemporary Britain. There are no full stops in the book which creates a fluid style that absolutely works for the stories the author is telling. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

I don’t read many love stories, but I make an exception for a few favourite authors, and Jeevani Charika is one of them. I loved the premise of Playing for Love – two people who know each other online and offline but don’t know about each other’s alter egos. The love story is told from both Samadhi and Luke’s perspectives and I enjoyed all the near misses as the relationship between the two protagonists developed. The way the game they were playing brought out their personalities was deftly done and I liked the poignancy of how Samadhi’s business venture was inspired by her mother.