SUMMER READING | LIANE MORIARTY
July 09, 2017
As we're sure we have told you before, we are both big into reading. But, throughout both of our lives reading has sometimes be a bit of an on and off phase; ranging from reading a whole book in one day, to not reading a single page of a book for 3 months.
In our lives, now filled with screens and wi-fi, there's something even better about picking up a good book and getting lost in that world. That's why whenever we find a good book or an amazing author, we want to share it with you and our friends. Because sometimes you just need that perfect escape.
Liane Moriarty has been one of our favourite authors for around a year now. Her storylines are irresistible and emotional, so you had better be prepared because once you pick up one of these books, there's no putting it down until you've finished!
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| Big Little Lies |
"Pirriwee Public is a beautiful little beachside primary school where children are taught that ‘sharing is caring.’ So how has the annual School Trivia Night ended in full-blown riot? Sirens are wailing. People are screaming. The principal is mortified.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, school-yard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."
And one parent is dead.
Was it a murder, a tragic accident or just good parents gone bad? As the parents at Pirriwee Public are about to discover, sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal…
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, school-yard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."
Big Little Lies, is the first Liane Moriarty book that either of us had read, and what an amazing book it is. Following the lives of several families, you learn their secrets and watch as the lies grow and unravel. You're told right from the get-go that one parent is dead. But, Liane keeps you on your toes and constantly guessing who it was who died, and who or what it was that killed them. And the murder isn't the only scandal in that town. This book is certainly up there in our list of all time faves! And even if you watched the incredible TV series, (honestly it was amazing!) you still need to read the book ~ the books are always better than the films!
"At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read…
My Darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died…
Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home.
But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret."
The Husband's Secret is another addictive book full of emotion and intrigue. It's an absolute page turner that you won't want to put down. But with this cinematic-style plot comes a darker side to the book. I'm sure as you read this you are probably trying to guess what the secret could be. Well... you'll just have to read it and discover for yourselves.
"Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back.
Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk. Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.
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| The Husband's Secret |
My Darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died…
Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret – something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all – she’s an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home.
But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia – or each other – but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret."
The Husband's Secret is another addictive book full of emotion and intrigue. It's an absolute page turner that you won't want to put down. But with this cinematic-style plot comes a darker side to the book. I'm sure as you read this you are probably trying to guess what the secret could be. Well... you'll just have to read it and discover for yourselves.
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| The Hypnotist's Love Story |
Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk. Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.
Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has."
It's been a while since we read this one and to be honest we've forgotten quite a lot of what happened! We do remember enjoying it though! As with all Liane's novels there's an air of mystery as you're trying to work out who the stalker is. It's definitely another page turner and we love the way you read from both Ellen and the stalkers perspective, which gives a completely different view of the reasons behind the stalking and kind of makes you root for both of the characters.  |
| What Alice Forgot |
"Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child.
So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes.
Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over."
This book is one of the funnier ones we've read of Lianes, and as always we loved it.
All of her books are thought-provoking but this one is a little different. Like Alice in the book, it makes you think about what events have happened in your life, that have moulded you into the person you are today. And what would your younger self think if they could see you today? We think we know our answers but maybe that's for a different kind of post (a bit deep for a post on our fave books?!)
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| The Last Anniversary |
"Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since.
Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie’s house on Scribbly Gum Island—home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery. Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret.
Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it’s about time she started making her own decisions. As Sophie’s life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around—and come up with your own fairy-tale ending."
Out of all of the books, this one was the most mysterious! There's one big mystery which the whole book revolves around but around that there are lots more secrets to be discovered. It is a very dynamic book with stories being told from several points of view, all within the same family on the same little island. But the whole way through, it's kept entertaining and endearing, and gives you the NEED to know the answer to the Munro Baby mystery! A definite must-read if you're a lover of a chick-lit with a twist!
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| Truly Madly Guilty |
"What if they just said no?
What if they hadn’t gone? That’s the question Clementine Hart can’t stop asking herself. It was just an ordinary backyard barbeque on a Sunday afternoon. They didn’t know their hosts that well. They were friends of friends. They could so easily have said no.
But she and her husband Sam said yes, and now it’s two months later, it won’t stop raining and they can never change what they did and didn’t do that beautiful winter’s day.
Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One yapping dog. It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon in the suburbs. What could possibly go wrong?
Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on some of the most fundamental relationships in our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how too often we don’t appreciate how extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it’s too late.
It was just an ordinary Sunday afternoon…"
This is the newest book from Liane Moriarty and we were very excited to have a new one to read when it came out! To be honest this wasn't one of our favourites, we found it a little harder to get into and it took a lot longer to finish, which is very unusual for us. But once you get into the main part of the story, it gets going a little faster and you actually start to find out what happened at the barbecue! We liked the characters, and how she put across the premise that not everything is always as it seems, when you're looking in from the outside. We just needed a bit of drama along the way. That being said, we would still definitely still recommend it for a Liane Moriarty book lover!
Thank you so much for reading this post!
Have you have read any of these books? We would love to hear your opinions!
Let us know of any books you would recommend in the comments as we (and we're sure lots of you) could do with some summer reading inspiration!
Have you have read any of these books? We would love to hear your opinions!
Let us know of any books you would recommend in the comments as we (and we're sure lots of you) could do with some summer reading inspiration!
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Lots of love, Antonia and Imogen x
