Note To Self by Anna Bell is the most charming contemporary novel that will swell your heart and make you smile. The premise is a wonderful idea – a thirty five year old character receives emails from her seventeen year old self. They are encouraging her to grab life and step out of her comfort zone. “Real living happens when you step outside it [your comfort zone] Remember, your comfort zone does not have a brick wall built around it.” Too often in life we settle. Routine takes over and we lose sight of who we really are. Life is for living. If we are not careful, it will pass us by and we will be left with regrets. The novel shows what can happen when we decide to live and to have fun. It is also a study in guilt and grief. The past cannot be altered. Guilt will always weigh us down. Grief threatens to drown a character. It never goes away. We just have to learn to live with it. I loved the idea of a memory jar. We are never too old to have a fresh start and to start living our dreams. All the characters are warm and welcoming, absolutely delightful and easy to visualize. They are a group of friends who always have each other’s back no matter how many years have passed or the distance involved. They support each other through life’s ups and downs. I always love Anna Bell’s books. They warm my heart. Note To Self was positively charming and I am sorry it is ended. I received a free copy. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book! Beautiful, sad, and brave. Anna Bell writes beautiful, heartfelt stories that stay with the reader for a long time. Highly recommended

This is a lovely, feel good, summer holiday read, which I really enjoyed. Edie and Joel met seventeen years ago in a holiday park, and they felt a strong connection with one another, although they were only friends. Years later, they are pushed back together when a friend has a reunion. They are both with other partners, so they are not able to do anything about their feelings. As time goes on, their feelings for each other become stronger every time they see each other. Will they be able to move forwards together finally, or will they be stuck in limbo? I really liked this book, especially the parts about the emails that Edie sent to her future self when she was eighteen years old. I thought the narrator of the book was fantastic, and she did a great job. Highly recommended!

Edie thought her life was pretty perfect, thirty-five years old, CEO of her family's business, good flat, nice car, great boyfriend. Then a time-drop email from her eighteen-year old self reminds her of the summer she spent working at a local summer camp, the summer before her mother died and everything changed. The emails from her younger self remind Edie of that summer, her friendships with Sophie, Geoffrey and Joel, her dreams and plans. The emails also serve to show Edie that she is stuck in a rut, her default response is always 'no' and she allowed her grief over her mother to cut herself off from friends. Can reconnecting with her younger self help Edie to live a bit more? After meeting up virtually on LinkedIn, Sophie and Edie meet up and soon the old gang is back together, but Edie can't forgive Joel for the way he shunned her, or the events which are inextricably linked with her mother's death. But as the group reminisce Edie finds herself rediscovering the feelings she had for Joel. Is it too late to change your life at thirty-five? I liked this, it was sweet, funny and felt authentic. I don't know if you can send emails to yourself at some future date, but if you can I think it would be cool to read something from your younger self and remember the hopes and dreams you had. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a thoughtful and heartwarming read about how life and adulthood can change us from the person we once were and how we can become afraid of living. Seventeen years ago Edie sent some emails to her future self whilst having a full on summer working at a holiday park before she started university. That summer ended in heartbreak for Edie and changed the course of her life, now 35 she has a decent steady life but receiving the emails and the encouragement they give her she starts rethinking her life and facing up to her past. Edie was a good character, much like all of us we’ve taken a few knocks in life as well as grown as people and we’re far from who we were when we were in our teens. Her fears over dads new relationship were really well represented and the dynamics of the new old friendship group were great. I loved the concept of the reading scheme and that added a nice dimension. Overall this is a very thought provoking but uplifting and well considered read.