mymindspeaksbooks | Pagebound

6d

Isaac and the Egg

Bobby Palmer

Heartbreaking and heart-stealing, this bestselling modern-day fable is an unforgettable novel about sorrow, joy, friendship and love. When Isaac Addy walks into the woods on the worst day of his life and finds something extraordinary there, he already knows he's going to take it home. A grieving Isaac and his curious new friend are unlikely companions. They don't even speak the same language. But their chance encounter will transform Isaac's life in ways he cannot yet imagine. And maybe he will finally be able to tell the truth.

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mymindspeaksbooks DNF'd a book

6d

brother. do. you. love. me.

Manni Coe

brother. do. you. love. me. is the story of two brothers and their extraordinary journey of resilience and repair. Reuben, aged 38, had been living in a home providing specialised care for adults with learning disabilities. For months he had been non-verbal, cut off from everyone he loved. In despair, he sent his older brother a text message: ‘brother. do. you. love. me.’ Immediately, Manni left his home in Spain and took Reuben out of care and moved them to a cottage in the countryside. In the stillness of winter, they began a simple routine of walking, inching a little further each day, from the front drive to the village then into the woods and fields. In the evening, Reuben would take out his felt-tip pens and draw, pouring colourful images of his favourite characters from films and books onto the page. And as the slow months turned towards spring, on a journey full of frustration and pain, joy and revelation, Reuben and Manni discovered that it is never too late to rebuild the bonds of brotherhood. brother. do. you. love. me. is a dazzling story of hope, resilience and repair for our troubled times. It explores just how far we’re capable of going to help the ones we love, and asks how – as individuals and a community – we can all take better care of each other.

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6d

DNF

mymindspeaksbooks

Aug 22, 2026

How to Kill Your Family

DNF

1.0

Enjoyment: 0.5Quality: 0.5Characters: 2.0Plot: 0.5

I’m going to have to agree with some of the other bad reviews… the narrator really does love to go off on a tangent 👀

really intriguing premise and I wanted it to be good so badly, but the jokes felt a bit try-hard. I lost interest very quickly in all her stories about characters that weren’t ever given meaning and so whom I didn’t really care about.

sooo… DNF it is. 100 pages was enough to know

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mymindspeaksbooks DNF'd a book

6d

How to Kill Your Family

Bella Mackie

I have killed several people (some brutally, others calmly) and yet I currently languish in jail for a murder I did not commit. When I think about what I actually did, I feel somewhat sad that nobody will ever know about the complex operation that I undertook. Getting away with it is highly preferable, of course, but perhaps when I’m long gone, someone will open an old safe and find this confession. The public would reel. After all, almost nobody else in the world can possibly understand how someone, by the tender age of 28, can have calmly killed six members of her family. And then happily got on with the rest of her life, never to regret a thing. When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge, and sets about to kill every member of his family. Readers have a front row seat as Grace picks off the family one by one – and the result is as and gruesome as it is entertaining in this wickedly dark romp about class, family, love… and murder. But then Grace is imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit. Outrageously funny, compulsive and subversive, perfect for fans of Killing Eve and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

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1w

How to Kill Your Family

Bella Mackie

I have killed several people (some brutally, others calmly) and yet I currently languish in jail for a murder I did not commit. When I think about what I actually did, I feel somewhat sad that nobody will ever know about the complex operation that I undertook. Getting away with it is highly preferable, of course, but perhaps when I’m long gone, someone will open an old safe and find this confession. The public would reel. After all, almost nobody else in the world can possibly understand how someone, by the tender age of 28, can have calmly killed six members of her family. And then happily got on with the rest of her life, never to regret a thing. When Grace Bernard discovers her absentee millionaire father has rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, she vows revenge, and sets about to kill every member of his family. Readers have a front row seat as Grace picks off the family one by one – and the result is as and gruesome as it is entertaining in this wickedly dark romp about class, family, love… and murder. But then Grace is imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit. Outrageously funny, compulsive and subversive, perfect for fans of Killing Eve and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

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1w

mymindspeaksbooks

Aug 16, 2026

Days of Light

2.5

Enjoyment: 2.0Quality: 4.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 1.0

this book is like the love child of ‘the artist’ and ‘the safekeep’ 📖 the same beautifully written prose interspersed with acute observations on family life within a home

first third of the book? I was so engrossed and intrigued at what would happen.

second two thirds of the book? I got kind of bored…

I typically enjoy books that span across multiple decades as you see the characters evolve, but I didn’t feel like the momentum continued into the future. everything that happened felt a bit… random 🤨

it’s a shame because the start was so promising I really thought it would be a magnificent book, but it fell short in the end unfortunately

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1w

Days of Light

Megan Hunter

A sweeping, sensual historical novel about one woman’s unconventional life lived in search of an answer by the award-winning author of The End We Start From and The Harpy, Megan Hunter. She marvels at the way a single day can unravel everything, like ribbon pulled from a present. In 2017, Megan Hunter burst onto the literary scene with her debut novel, The End We Start From, a startlingly beautiful story of climate change and motherhood that is now a feature film starring Jodi Comer. Her second book, The Harpy, fiercely explored marriage and power through a dark, imaginative tale of revenge. A writer of remarkable range, Hunter now delivers her first historical novel, a gorgeous story of art, desire, and faith set against the backdrop of a changing England. Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. Her sprawling, bohemian family and their friends gather in the idyllic English countryside for lunch, arranging themselves around well-worn roles. They trade political views and artistic arguments as they impatiently await the arrival and first sight of Frances, the new beau of Ivy’s beloved older brother, Joseph. In this auspicious atmosphere of springtime, Ivy’s world feels on the cusp of something grand–but neither she nor those closest to her predicts how a single, enchanted evening will alter the rest of their lives. A radiant, philosophical, and intimate journey through time, Days of Light chronicles six pivotal days across six decades to tell the story of Ivy’s pursuit of answers—to the events of this fateful Easter Sunday and to the shifting desires of her own heart. Moving through the Second World War up to the close of the 20th century, Hunter captures the galvanic beauty to be found in loss and love and the transformative days, hours, and moments that define a winding, beautiful life.

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3w

Days of Light

Megan Hunter

A sweeping, sensual historical novel about one woman’s unconventional life lived in search of an answer by the award-winning author of The End We Start From and The Harpy, Megan Hunter. She marvels at the way a single day can unravel everything, like ribbon pulled from a present. In 2017, Megan Hunter burst onto the literary scene with her debut novel, The End We Start From, a startlingly beautiful story of climate change and motherhood that is now a feature film starring Jodi Comer. Her second book, The Harpy, fiercely explored marriage and power through a dark, imaginative tale of revenge. A writer of remarkable range, Hunter now delivers her first historical novel, a gorgeous story of art, desire, and faith set against the backdrop of a changing England. Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. Her sprawling, bohemian family and their friends gather in the idyllic English countryside for lunch, arranging themselves around well-worn roles. They trade political views and artistic arguments as they impatiently await the arrival and first sight of Frances, the new beau of Ivy’s beloved older brother, Joseph. In this auspicious atmosphere of springtime, Ivy’s world feels on the cusp of something grand–but neither she nor those closest to her predicts how a single, enchanted evening will alter the rest of their lives. A radiant, philosophical, and intimate journey through time, Days of Light chronicles six pivotal days across six decades to tell the story of Ivy’s pursuit of answers—to the events of this fateful Easter Sunday and to the shifting desires of her own heart. Moving through the Second World War up to the close of the 20th century, Hunter captures the galvanic beauty to be found in loss and love and the transformative days, hours, and moments that define a winding, beautiful life.

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3w

mymindspeaksbooks

Aug 07, 2026

brother. do. you. love. me.

2.0

Enjoyment: 2.0Quality: 1.0Characters: 4.0Plot: 1.0

okay so this book has been on my list to read for AGES and I had such high hopes because its a beautiful story but why did it end up feeling sooo long 😭😭

I had to DNF at ~80 pages because it was structured really poorly and it wasn’t pulling me emotionally into their lives enough.

I hate to say it because I love a good true story, and I’m sure hearing the story from Manni and Reuben themselves would be heartfelt and sincere, but it just didn’t translate well to the page for me 💔

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3w

brother. do. you. love. me.

Manni Coe

brother. do. you. love. me. is the story of two brothers and their extraordinary journey of resilience and repair. Reuben, aged 38, had been living in a home providing specialised care for adults with learning disabilities. For months he had been non-verbal, cut off from everyone he loved. In despair, he sent his older brother a text message: ‘brother. do. you. love. me.’ Immediately, Manni left his home in Spain and took Reuben out of care and moved them to a cottage in the countryside. In the stillness of winter, they began a simple routine of walking, inching a little further each day, from the front drive to the village then into the woods and fields. In the evening, Reuben would take out his felt-tip pens and draw, pouring colourful images of his favourite characters from films and books onto the page. And as the slow months turned towards spring, on a journey full of frustration and pain, joy and revelation, Reuben and Manni discovered that it is never too late to rebuild the bonds of brotherhood. brother. do. you. love. me. is a dazzling story of hope, resilience and repair for our troubled times. It explores just how far we’re capable of going to help the ones we love, and asks how – as individuals and a community – we can all take better care of each other.

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3w

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

mymindspeaksbooks

Aug 07, 2026

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

3.0

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 3.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

🙏

💚

🤝

I didn’t enjoy the book as much as her previous book “when things fall apart” - I felt this one was more repetitive, with less of a structure to it, and so I found it difficult to grasp onto the key points.

I did like the section on the loving-kindness practice - it’s something I’ve tried before (feeling kindness for someone you love, someone you’re neutral towards, someone you have difficult feelings for, and then for the world), but it’s always nice to read a reminder.

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3w

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

Pema Chödrön

We always have a choice, Pema Chodron teaches: We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This book teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.

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4w

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

Pema Chödrön

We always have a choice, Pema Chodron teaches: We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This book teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.

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5w

brother. do. you. love. me.

Manni Coe

brother. do. you. love. me. is the story of two brothers and their extraordinary journey of resilience and repair. Reuben, aged 38, had been living in a home providing specialised care for adults with learning disabilities. For months he had been non-verbal, cut off from everyone he loved. In despair, he sent his older brother a text message: ‘brother. do. you. love. me.’ Immediately, Manni left his home in Spain and took Reuben out of care and moved them to a cottage in the countryside. In the stillness of winter, they began a simple routine of walking, inching a little further each day, from the front drive to the village then into the woods and fields. In the evening, Reuben would take out his felt-tip pens and draw, pouring colourful images of his favourite characters from films and books onto the page. And as the slow months turned towards spring, on a journey full of frustration and pain, joy and revelation, Reuben and Manni discovered that it is never too late to rebuild the bonds of brotherhood. brother. do. you. love. me. is a dazzling story of hope, resilience and repair for our troubled times. It explores just how far we’re capable of going to help the ones we love, and asks how – as individuals and a community – we can all take better care of each other.

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5w

mymindspeaksbooks

Jul 24, 2026

Diary of a Void

4.0

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 4.5Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.5

🤰

🏙️

💻️

a unique japanese translated book about a lady who pretends she is pregnant

I loved the writing style of this book - it was quiet and reflective and immersive. made me think about the societal expectations on women and how that pressure manifests in the desire to be someone totally different.

I can’t say this is a book that will stay with me, but it’s like a magical moment in time that is magical only in its temporary-ness.

worth a read for something a bit different 😌

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5w

Diary of a Void

Emi Yagi

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she's pregnant When thirty-four-year-old Ms. Shibata gets a new job in Tokyo to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that, as the only woman at her new workplace--a company that manufactures cardboard tubes--she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her colleagues' dirty cups--because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms. Shibata is not pregnant. Pregnant Ms. Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms. Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms. Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But pregnant Ms. Shibata also has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Helped along by towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app on which she can log every stage of her "pregnancy," she feels prepared to play the game for the long haul. Before long, though, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve. A surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique, Diary of a Void is bound to become a landmark in feminist world literature.

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6w

Diary of a Void

Emi Yagi

A prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about a woman in Japan who avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she's pregnant When thirty-four-year-old Ms. Shibata gets a new job in Tokyo to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that, as the only woman at her new workplace--a company that manufactures cardboard tubes--she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can't clear away her colleagues' dirty cups--because she's pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms. Shibata is not pregnant. Pregnant Ms. Shibata doesn't have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms. Shibata isn't forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms. Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. But pregnant Ms. Shibata also has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Helped along by towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app on which she can log every stage of her "pregnancy," she feels prepared to play the game for the long haul. Before long, though, the hoax becomes all-absorbing, and the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve. A surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique, Diary of a Void is bound to become a landmark in feminist world literature.

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6w

mymindspeaksbooks

Jul 14, 2026

The Last Letter

4.0

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 2.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 4.0

😭

👧

💔

heard this book was sad. can confirm it 😭

it was actually weird reading this book compared to fourth wing - it’s almost like a different author entirely!

to be honest, I wasn’t drawn in by the writing style - I think overall it’s not a very well written book and a lot of sentences made me want to hide in a hole. BUT it was a beautiful storyline and I loved how everything unfolded in the most devastating way that it did 💔

not as good as fourth wing (and that’s from someone who usually prefers realism over fantasy), but I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who loves romance and tragedy and a book wrapped in sadness but also hope.

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