The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (audiobook)

 Pages: 201 

 Narrator: Hanako Footman 

 Publisher: Mantle 

 Released: 5th of October 2023 

The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by . . .

The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.

From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook, to a first love's beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past – and a way to a more contented future.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.

What I Have to Say 

This book was exactly what I wanted. Cosy Japanese fiction (featuring a cat) with heart-warming stories about food. It was short story format and I think was possibly serialised in a magazine judging from the style of it, so it was a little repetitive in places, but that didn't take away from it at all. 

There is a lot of delicious sounding food in this book so it's definitely not one to read when hungry! It had me drooling over descriptions of food that I wouldn't actually eat, it was so nicely described. The food detective part was interesting and well done, so it really felt like reading an actual detective story at times! 

The main theme of this story though is family. It shows the tight family of the father and daughter doing the detectiving and also highlights family in some of the customer's story. 

I took away from this book, warmth and cheerfulness and it was an absolute joy to listen to. 

 5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Mantle for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

Violet and the Pearl of the Orient by Harriet Whitehorn

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Simon and Schuster for providing me with this copy.

Pages: 208
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Released: 28th of April 2014

When a new family move in next door, Violet is sure there's something strange about them. Then her eccentric, but lovely neighbour, Dee Dee Derota, has a precious jewel stolen. Could the new family be to blame? Violet is on the case to uncover the truth…

What I Have to Say

I think middle grade girl detective is my new favourite genre. I love Violet almost as much as I loved Daisy from Murder Most Unladylike. They both have the same need to stick their nose into everything,  the same determination and the same inability to quit no matter how much trouble they get into. 

Obviously this book is a lot younger than the stuff I normally read as even when I read middle grade I tend to read the older books that take me more than a couple of hours. But for the reasons above, when I was offered this book, I couldn't say no. 

I really really enjoyed reading it. It took me back to my childhood when a lot of the stuff I read was let's just say not on the serious side of things (for comedies sake of course). I loved the characters in their absurdity and the story itself. And the illustrations by Becka Moor just added so much to it and made it beautiful.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 445

Publisher: Pan Macmillon

Released: 30th of January 2014

Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Without Wren Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words ...And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible ...

What I Have To Say 

I fell in love with this book almost instantly and judging by what I've seen from the rest of the blogosphere,  l was far from the only one. On reading the book, it was obvious why everyone has been raving about it. 

The main character, Cath, was so relatable, as was almost everything about the fandom Cath was involved in. By choosing to write so much about something so familiar (and it only takes a glance at the first page to know what fandom it's influenced by), it makes it so that almost everyone of our generation can relate to it.

As far as plot goes, it had all the right elements, twists, emotion and surprises. The characters felt so real that the entire book was absorbing from the start to the end and left me wishing it hadn't ended.

This book left me with a clear idea of two things I absolutely had to do:

1. Go out and buy Rainbow Rowell's other books as soon as I v,can. 

and 2. Tell everyone I come into contact with to read this book. 

So go and read this book!

Kisses for Lula by Samantha Mackintosh

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 360
Publisher: Egmont
Released: 4th of June 2010

Lula Bird is gorgeous, funny and dreading her birthday because you can't turn 16 if you've never been kissed . . . so why does every boy in Hambledon run a mile the second she bats her eyelids? The fact is, they fear for their lives. Rumour has it Lula's been jinxed! And it's not as if that's her only problem: Lula thinks she has a stalker, her dad keeps sneaking out at night with a lady's handbag, and a mysterious theft is threatening to bring the town to its knees. . . . With only 5 days to go till her birthday, can Lula get the guy, solve the crime and jilt the jinx for good?

What I Have To Say

 

This book was so realistic. It captured the mind of a teenage girl perfectly and showed really accurately how small things such as never having kissed can become massive and world-altering when you're 15/16.

It also shows the way that the brain freezes when you like someone. How when you're trying to talk to someone and come across as witty and attractive, your brain refuses to co-operate and all that comes out is a mess of verbal vomit.

It was just such a funny book. The character of Lula was so well written and had such a great personality.

This is another one I recommend for a comfort or holiday read.

 

Ask Amy Green: Boy Trouble by Sarah Webb

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

Pages: 234
Publisher: Walker Books
Released: 2nd of February 2009

 Thirteen-year-old Amy Green has a lot to juggle: handling her divorced parents, minding her messy baby siblings, and navigating the snobby popular cliques at school. So when her cool but crazy seventeen-year old aunt, Clover lands a job giving advice for the teen mag The Goss, Amy jumps at the chance to help out as her sidekick. Of course Clover, being Clover, doesn’t just want to answer readers’ letters, she wants to solve their problems . . . personally. From stamping out malicious rumors to giving a cad his comeuppance to creating the perfect web page, the two come up with some clever hands-on  schemes that bring happiness to many unhappy girls. But when Amy falls for the cute but aloof boy in her art class — and her own friends start snubbing her big-time — can she find a way out of her own dilemma?

What I Have to Say

This didn't really seem like my sort of book, but I really enjoyed it! The character voices were really fun and interesting. Especially Clover. Clover was really funny and insane and I just fell in love with her character so quickly.

Amy was also a really good character. It was so easy to feel sympathy for her. I've never had experience with the problems she's going through, but I was still right there with her, feeling her pain.

I also liked how the author highlighted the fact that little things can become really, really important sometimes. In one scene, Amy's dad gets a puppy and it really affects Amy. And it was just so easy to see that Amy is getting upset about that because of the underlying issue of there becoming too much space between her and her dad.

In all, the book was a really funny and entertaining look into exploring identity in early high school and whether or not it's important to have a sense of social identity at that age.

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 288
Publisher: Harper Collins
Released: 7th of June 2012

What would you give to be popular?

 Ally and Jane may not be that popular but they're good friends...that is until they each get allocated a freshman, a 'little' to show the ropes to at school. Cracks begin to show as Ally changes into a whole different person, literally overnight. She's dressed better, making new friends, and ditching Jane more and more. But Ally's transformation has its price. And it's up to Jane to save her former BF from a ponytail-wearing, cupcake-nibbling devil in disguise!

 What I Have to Say

I think the best thing about this book was how real it felt. Even though it's a book about demons, for the most of it, it's not obviously a fantasy book. I think it's very easy to relate to, especially for teenagers. It could very easily just be a story about a girl whose friend is changing and drifting away from her. 

The other thing that was really done well was the depiction of shock. The way that Johnson describes the numbness of shock is so detailed and at the same time so realistic, especially considering that the entire nature of shock is that the body shuts down to avoid processing things. Using a first person narrator to describe a detailed and accurate experience of shock  is pretty interesting. 

This book really is a great book to comfort read, but make sure you have food handy as it will make you crave cup cakes!! 

Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

Pages: 368
Publisher: Chicken House
Released: 1st of March 2011

Jody loves Jackson Gatlin. At his only UK rock concert, she’s right at the front. But when she's caught in the crush and carried back stage she has more than concussion to contend with. Throw in a menacing manager, a super-wired super-star, and a curly-wurly, and she finds herself taking home more than just a poster. It’s the accidental kidnapping of the decade. But what happens if you’ve a rock-god in your garage who doesn’t want to leave? Jody’s stuck between a rock-idol and a hard place! 
  

What I Have to Say

A really good, lighthearted, non-serious read. If you're looking for something quite lighthearted to read then this is the perfect book for you! 


While, for me, Jodie started out as incredibly dislikeable, she grew on me. The way she speaks is really realistic too. And all the pop culture references were great, because real people will just talk about things like that. I especially liked the way she described one of the places as looking like Knocturn Alley, because Harry Potter is a very big part of most of our generations' childhood, so it's really realistic to have someone reference it so casually. 


I loved Cree so much! She was absolutely adorable! I really think she added a lot to the book, because it showed a side of Jodie that wasn't just a rock-star obsessed, immature girl. 


In the end, this is a story about a girl growing up. It's a really interesting read and very funny.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 236
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
Published: the 1st of January 2012

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. She’s stuck at JFK, late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s in seat 18C. Hadley’s in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

What I Have to Say

I really loved this book. It was such a lighthearted read. Especially since so many of the books I read leave me crying, which is why I like them, this one was a welcome change. I could just read it and not have my emotions toyed with by a sadistic author.

I loved the characters and the humour. It made me smile.

There's not really much more I can say about it though! Just that it's really sweet and nice to read >< I would recommend it if you're looking for a comfort read. Maybe something to read on holiday (especially for the plane ride!!!) especially since it's so short, so easy to read in one sitting.

It's perfect for comfort reading!