Challenge Criteria: A Book You Own But Have Never Read
Before I moved to where I currently live, Ealing, with my parents, I was in Lewisham for about a year and a half. There’s not a whole lot in Lewisham, and I can’t say I retained any affection for the place, except for one thing.
There’s a phone box in Lewisham which was converted into a tiny library/book exchange, which is fantastic. It’s curated/looked after by a local, and operates on a take one, leave one scheme.
One of the last things I did before I left Lewisham was visit this tiny phone box library, leave a book, and take a new one. That book was Step Back in Time, by Ali McNamara.
That was more than two years ago, and while I slotted it into position in the correct space in my bookcase (organised alphabetically by author’s surname), I never actually did get around to reading it.
Trying to put off reading Catch-22, which I have to admit, even though it’s the perfect book to check off multiple categories, I was not looking forward to, I decided to fulfil another challenge criteria, which was a book you own but have never read. This was one of a few books that fitted that segment, so I dived right in.
There is a chance that I might also use this book to fulfil another category – a book from a library – but I’m not entirely sold on that yet, so watch this space.
How many lifetimes would you travel to find a love that lasts for ever?
When single career girl Jo-Jo steps onto a zebra crossing and gets hit by a car, she awakes to find herself in 1964. The fashion, the music, her job, even her romantic life: everything is different. And then it happens three more times, and Jo-Jo finds herself living a completely new life in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The only people she can rely on are Harry and Ellie, two companions from 2013, and George, the owner of a second-hand record store.
If she’s ever to return from her travels, Jo-Jo must work out why she’s jumping through time like this. And if she does make it back, will her old life ever be the same again?
Step back in time with this fabulously fun and feed-good comedy of time travel and romance, from the author of From Notting Hill with Love . . . Actually
I really enjoyed this book. It was packed with references to The Beatles, throwbacks to eras that I never lived through, and a light and fluffy story of a main character who learned a lot about herself and about love, and helped as many people as she could along the way.
This book wasn’t particularly deep, it wasn’t hard to read, and it wasn’t thought-provoking in any real way, but it was exactly what I was looking for. It was light, it was sweet, it was fluffy, and it had some really nice moments along the way as Jo-Jo reflected on what her life meant to her and why she was travelling between decades in this way.
A few emotional moments rounded out this book as a really solid and enjoyable read that I would happily pass on to someone else.
Four Stars
****
AislinnOC 
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