Blog Tour: Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom

Last month I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom and recently I was sent a finished hardcover copy which I'm very thankful for as I loved this book. The finished copy cover is so simple but it's so beautiful! You can check out a shorter version of my review in my May Reading Wrapup post.

*Alone Time by Stephanie Rosenbloom (288 pages) ★★★ (3.75) 

Alone Time is categorised as 'travel writing' which it is but I'd also categorise it as a travel memoir, guide book and self help read interspersed with statistics, experiences and travel recommendations focusing on four beautiful cities including Paris, Istanbul, Florence and New York. I visited Florence back in 2014 and adored it but after reading Alone Time, I wanted to book a hotel immediately to re-visit the city!

I haven't visited any of the other cities but I'd love to particularly New York and Paris, especially after reading this book. It follows the authors experiences of solo travelling within each city during a different time of the year which made for a very rich, immersive and informative read, so much so that if I visit any of these cities in the near future then this would be the perfect companion.

To be perfectly honest, I think if it was solely a travel memoir then I wouldn't quite have liked it as much but thankfully it's filled with interesting and new to me facts all about solitude, solo travelling and more which I definitely appreciate. I loved the laid back, relaxed writing style, the leisurely and strolling pace and the recommendations of places to visit.

Sadly I do have a few negatives about this read, the first being the repetition of sentences such as 'slipped my finger into the handle of my coffee cup', 'slid my finger through the tasseled keychain' and 'slipped out of the door', which I did find a little annoying. Additionally, on occasion it felt forcefully wistful which came across as cheesy at times and the tips at the end of the book appeared to be sponsored by the websites and apps mentioned (maybe not?), but to me it felt a little inauthentic.

Despite the negatives mentioned, I did thoroughly enjoy the book and it gave me so much wanderlust, especially to visit the incredibly beautiful and historic city of Florence again as well as New York which is a city I've yet to visit but I need to! I highly recommend this book not only as a general summer read about some of the most visited cities in the world but also as a travel book if you're visiting any of the four citifies mentioned as I think it would be a valuable resource. Thanks for much to Transworld for the early copy, finished copy and for putting together this blog tour! Don't forget to follow me on GoodReads!

What do you think of this read? Have you visited any of the four cities mentioned? Will you be picking up this part travel memoir, part self help guide and part travel guide?