Authors to Note: Marian Keyes

Last month I brought you a favourite crime author and this month I've decided to profile an author from an entirely different genre; one of my favourite chick-lit writers. I have to admit my hate for the naming of this genre as it sort of implies airy fairy women's stories about love and shopping and not much else, but I know that you know there are so many absolute gems of this genre to read.

Marian Keyes manages to take a blimmin' whopper of a subject matter - say alcoholism, infidelity, bereavement and not only shape heart warming stories around them, she somehow manages to make these subjects relatable, realistic and completely un-daunting to explore not to mention that her books are ridiculously hilarious and will make you snort with laughter one minute and want to cry the next.

My favourite book from Marian Keyes is Rachel's Holiday. Good-times girl Rachel's hard partying ways catch up with her when she finds herself forcibly checked into a rehab centre after a near overdose. Despite the heavy subject matter, this is both a funny and touching story as Rachel faces her demons.

I would thoroughly recommend checking out the Welsh family series of books which chronicle four Irish sisters (each book is a different sisters story); Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Angel and Anybody Out There. This Charming Man, The Other Side of the Story and Sushi For Beginners are also some of my favourites of hers.

For an author who writes predominantly in the chick-lit genre her books will delight both fans of the genre and (i'm sure) those that wouldn't pick up a pink book cover with a barge pole. Not only do her books have heart and tackle some pretty serious subject matters they are also a lot of fun to read.

Little Details #1

Because sometimes it's the little details in life that can make you smile. Here is what is making my Monday a little bit brighter.

1. Cheap and cheerful flowers to celebrate the beginning of Spring! Also discovering that a tall water glass makes a good vase when no other options are appropriate.

2. New magazines to peruse including a totally inspiring find - Renegade Collective, which also has the swoon-worthy Ryan Gosling on the front cover (I'll admit that it was entirely his face that made me pick this up in the first place). Plus the latest Elle to get me into the mood of Spring fashion and beauty, not that I need any inspiring or convincing to buy things.

3. Lighting my favourite candle on a decidedly un-Springy wet and wild day and filling the air with the scents of apple and mimosa.

4. Duty free makeup purchases which make ridiculously expensive foundations kinda affordable. (If your idea of affordable is living on beans on toast for the next two weeks, don't mind if I do.) Also wearing said purchase (Chanel Vitalumiere foundation) and discovering that beans on toast for the next two weeks is totally worth it.

Happy Monday! What little details are making your day brighter?

The Historical Fiction Bookshelf

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres to read. There's something about being immersed into the past that just captures my imagination like few other genres. I blame my inner history nerd - I love learning about all the little details that made up peoples' lives way back when. . Whether the storylines contain queens and castles, sufferagettes or flapper dresses, there is a place on my bookshelf for all of them. If you are a lover of this genre take a peak at my favourite historical novels and the periods their characters inhabit.

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. Well I do love a good turn of the century historical novel and The Tea Rose does not disappoint. A fast paced and truly epic novel set in East London in the late 1880s. Donnelly captures the lives of working class London, from crowded street markets to the foggy dark and dangerous streets of Whitechaple to the London docks and banks of the river Thames in this rags to riches tale.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Claire Randall and her husband celebrate the post-war months with a trip to Inverness, Scotland to explore the history of the area and, rekindle their ailing relationship. But history has other ideas as Claire's visit to an ancient stone circle sees her transported back in time. Scotland in 1784 is not a welcoming place for an Englishwoman as Claire finds herself in the midst of the Scottish uprising.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory. Mary Boleyn arrives in King Henry VIII's court as a young girl and quickly finds favour with the King. Her place as the future Queen seems certain but over time However, as Henry's interest wanes Mary's ambitious sister Anne overshadows her and is willing to do whatever it takes to make herself Queen.

Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Johanne Vermeer's beautiful painting is brought to life in this tale of the master painter and his humble muse. Chevalier explores the everyday domesticities of Dutch life in the Vermeer household during the 1660s. The arrival of a young servant girl causes domestic tension in the Vermeer household as Johanne becomes increasingly enchanted by her beauty.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Nitta Sayuri is plucked from her humble fishing village and sold to a renown Geisha house. This beautifully written novel brings to life the dying world of the Japanese Geisha where appearances are everything. Though Nitta's life appears to be glamorous it is really a facade, for what she truly wants is to fall in love.

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane. Boston post-world war one is grappling with the Spanish influenza. The local police force haven't enough men to cope with the sick and dying arriving into Port. To top it off workers are unioninsing, threatening to strike and demanding better working conditions. Danny Coughlin the son of the chief of police is sent undercover with the intention of placating the union members but soon finds himself questioning what he was sent in to do.