20 Books of Summer – final review part 2 – books #23-24, Smythe & Sterling

Here are my final reviews of the extra books from my TBR piles that I managed to squeeze in for 20 Books of Summer in August. As they were extras to the 20, I don’t feel guilty at all for the reviews being later. You may have read that Cathy will step down from hosting Read More

Watchlist: July to the start of September

Bingeworthy TV Slow Horses (AppleTV+) is back for series 4 – what more can I say – it’s the best thing on any TV platform! Initially centring around River’s father played by a wonderful Jonathan Pryce, with all our favourite disgraced spies back led by Jackson Lamb, the action is never far away. Gary Oldman Read More

The Torments by Michael J Malone – blogtour

I’m delighted to be one of those leading off the blogtour for The Torments – Michael J Malone’s sequel to The Murmurs which introduced us to Annie Jackson and her twin brother Lewis. I’ll say straight off that you don’t necessarily need to have read the prior instalment, you could jump straight in with The Read More

20 Books of Summer – final reviews part 1 – Orwell + books #21-22 by Barrett & deWitt

Now the first week of being back at School is over, I shall revert to some shorter reviews for the remaining books I read which, Orwell excepted, were extras to my twenty! So I don’t feel guilty about reviewing them late. Animal Farm by George Orwell This was a book group choice – we’re on Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: After Story

First Saturday of the month, time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. This month Read More

#20booksofsummer24 – Round-up!

I’ve signed up to Cathy’s annual ‘20 Books of Summer‘ challenge every year since 2016. Although you can pick your level of 10, 15 or 20 books – I’ve always aimed for the full 20, but only achieved it three times – in 2022, 2021 and this year. This year I even reached twenty books Read More

Shiny Linkiness – Walsh and Towles for 20 Books of Summer

I’ve had two recent reviews published at Shiny New Books recently, both read as part of my #20booksofsummer24 reading. Kala by Colin Walsh A superb slowburn literary dual time-lined thriller, Irish author Walsh’s debut was a huge hit last year in hardback. I was sent a proof, but didn’t get the time to read it Read More

Two Fab Thrillers – Jordan Harper & Steve Cavanagh

Two superb thrillers for you today, one from last year and in my #20booksofsummer and one brand new out. Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper I love the tag line of this novel, ‘In Hollywood, nobody talks, but everybody whispers.’ It immediately drew me in, and simultaneously got me humming Leonard Cohen’s wonderful song that shares Read More

The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable

Historical novels have long taken characters from real life as their inspiration, whether it be for an imagined narrative or a retelling of a life, which can be well-known, or little-known. The Instrumentalist does the latter. Anna Maria della Pietà was abandoned as a baby and grew up in the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice Read More

Two contemporary French novels – De Vigan and Mehdi – for #WITMonth #20booksofsummer24

From my pile of unread novels by French women authors from Europa Editions for both WIT Month and 20 Books of Summer – two reviews for you. Both contemporary stories with dark themes (you have been warned) – I found both of this pair to be provocative, thought-provoking, intense and moving. Kids Run the Show Read More

#20booksofsummer24 – Dinerstein Knight, Osman and El-Mohar & Gladstone

A three-fer for you today of my #20booksofsummer24 hosted by Cathy, I’m now up to 17 read, 3 to go. Here are the three reviews: one OK, one great fun and one very very different and wonderful – in that order. Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight Naturally, I was attracted to this book by the Read More

Prey by Vanda Symon #SamShephard6, blogtour

This is the first novel I’ve read by New Zealander Symons. It’s the sixth in a series, and whilst I like, where possible, to start a series from the beginning, this sixth volume is like a new start as Detective Sam Shephard returns to work in the Dunedin police after maternity leave. In the Prologue, Read More

#20booksofsummer24, No. 10, A Luminous Republic by Andrés Barba

Translated by Lisa Dillman I read this book in July, intending to review it sooner for Stu’s Spanish & Portuguese Reading Month, so I’m a bit late – but had good intentions. Back in 2017, I read Such Small Hands by Barba, a dark and disquieting portrait of childhood bullying among young girls in which Read More

How to be Nowhere by Tim MacGabhann #20booksofsummer24 No 9

I might make my 20 Books of Summer (hosted by Cathy as always) with days to spare this year – I expect to finish reading my 15th book tomorrow, and then will get into my #WITMonth TBR reads which all qualify. I’ve just read two books for it which I’ll be reviewing for Shiny (Kala Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: The Museum of Modern Love

First Saturday of the month, time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. This month Read More

It’s Women in Translation Month, #WITMonth

At the start of #WITMonth, I usually go back over my reading from the last one to see how many other books by women in translation I’ve read over the past year. Here’s my list from September 2023 through the end of July 2024. It’s dominated by Nordic authors but that’s to be expected really! Read More

The Trap by Ava Glass – blog tour

I’m going to start my thoughts with saying, that although the first of Ava Glass’s ‘Alias Emma’ books, The Chase kept me up all night to finish it, the new one – the third in the series – was the most satisfying yet plotwise. All three with their distinctive ‘running woman’ covers are pageturners. The Read More

Rememberings by Sinéad O’Connor

Yesterday, it was a year since Sinéad O’Connor was found dead in her South London home. I hadn’t realised that when I picked her memoir out of the TBR piles a couple of weeks ago, but realised once I heard the trails for an Archive on 4 programme hosted by Jo Whiley to celebrate her Read More

Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox, blog tour

The moment I read Knox’s first book, Sirens, the first in his excellent Manc-noir Aidan Waits trilogy, I knew I’d want to keep on reading this author. After the three Aidan Waits books, he did something else with his fourth novel True Crime Story (I have the hardback with shocking pink spredges!), and now three Read More

Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain by Joachim B Schmidt – blog tour

Translated from the German by Jamie Lee Searle I’m delighted to be leading off the blog tour for this novel by Swiss author Schmidt, who has lived in Iceland since 2007. I hadn’t realised that this novel is a sequel to his first book, just titled Kalmann, which one reviewer has likened to an ‘Icelandic Read More

Shiny Linkiness

I’ve had a run of non-fiction reviews posted at Shiny New Books, so for those who’ve not seen them, here’s a capsule paragraph on each with links to my full reviews. The Future of Energy by Richard Black One of the latest additions to Melville House’s ‘Futures’ series is Richard Black’s book on The Future Read More

The Winter War by Philip Teir and Joe Country by Mick Herron, #20booksofsummer24 7 & 8

Two reviews for you today from the TBR, continuing my 20 books of summer… The Winter War by Philip Teir Translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally I remember acquiring this novel shortly after Victoria reviewed it for Shiny New Books here, back in 2015 when it was published in English translation. Teir is Finnish, Read More

NY Times 100 best books of the 21st C

Don’t you love checking off your reading against various best of lists. The New York Times has published its list of the best 100 books of the 21st Century so far, having consulted 503 novelists, poets, critics etc. Amazingly it’s not behind their paywall. Anyway, I had to check… These are the ones I’ve ‘read’ Read More

The Divorce by Moa Herngren – blogtour

Translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies If you’re going to write a novel about a long marriage and its demise specifically, wouldn’t you want to hear both sides of the story? I say this with caution, speaking as a divorcee after a long marriage who now tries not to think about her ex’s story! Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

First Saturday of the month, time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. I’ve missed Read More

Book Group Report: Black Dogs by Ian McEwan #20booksofsummer24

Do you remember the pre-internet days of ‘Book of the Month’ type clubs (including the Folio Society back then) where you signed up to buy so many books a year etc. There was one called ‘TSP’ The Softback Preview – which specialised in producing softback versions of new hardback books soon after hardback publication, so Read More

Watchlist: May & June

Mostly binge-worthy TV Now I can watch Netflix whenever I want again. The basic package has recently gone down in price, but now contains a few ads which aren’t too obtrusive. However, the big plus in a bonus second screen so my daughter and I can both watch now. I’ll be able to catch-up with Read More

The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly, #20booksofsummer24

Being so busy these last couple of weeks at school, I’ve not been blogging much, being tired in the evenings, not sleeping well due to the heat – but perversely getting lots of reading done in the small hours! As a result, I’m doing unseasonably well with my 20 Books of Summer so far this Read More