31 Dream Street - Lisa Jewell

During my recent holiday I managed to read all 3 books I had taken with me so was browsing the bookshelf in the holiday cottage to see if there was anything worth reading and "31 Dream Street" caught my eye. The book is by the author Lisa Jewell and I remember reading another one of her books several years ago although I am pretty sure I didn't think it was particularly great! However as I was needing something to read I thought I would give her another try. The story is about two main characters Leah and Toby who have been living across the street from each other for years. Toby lives in big rambling house that was given to him by his father and ...  Read the complete review

Judging this book on its cover and blurb alone, its not something I would usually touch with a bargepole as it screams "chick lit." Not that I have a problem with chick lit but it's just not something I particularly enjoy reading. However this book was given to me along with a load of other paperbacks from a friend so I decided I may aswell give it a go. After a slow start I'm glad I did as it was surprisingly good compared to what I was expecting. ++THE AUTHOR++ I had never heard of Lisa Jewell before. However on reading her website I love the story of how her first book came to fruitition. She had just been made redundant and her friend ...  Read the complete review

I first came across this book whilst browsing on Amazon, and I used the 'look inside' feature whereby you can read the first few pages of the book. I thought it looked quite good, so added it to my wish list and was pleased when I recently got my hands on a copy. ~The Plot~ Toby is a tall, thin man, who is an unpublished poet with a good heart. When he was in his early twenties, he married a girl called Karen. As a wedding present, his father, Reggie, who had always thought Toby was a disappointment and a waste of space, bought him an old house - 31 Silversmith Street - as a wedding present, before upping and leaving to South Africa to enjoy a new ...  Read the complete review

When it comes to buying a new booking I tend to rely on recommendations from friends or Dooyoo, however whilst on honeymoon in the Maldives I found myself without anything to read so I made my way across to the library on the island to swop a book I had read and no longer wanted. I picked up a novel by Lisa Jewell called Vince and Joy and found that I just could not put it down so when I arrived back home I decided to read the other books she has published, hoping they would all be as good and that was when I started 31 Dream Street. *~*Lisa Jewell*~* Lisa was previously a secretary and when she was made redundant in 1996 she received a bet ...  Read the complete review

I had this on my shelf for ages and just thought it would be your average chick-lit so delayed reading it until I felt like reading this. This is so much more though... It is based on a young man who owns a house and advertises his rooms to those with genuine need. This book follows both himself and his housemates and you gradually get to know more about their lives and their secrets. They are all very different and from different walks of life but I ended up caring about them all - very rare in a book like this! The characters are well-rounded and interesting; they do not have the two-dimensional feel that some other chick-lit books have. In ...  Read the complete review