It’s the last day of the blogtour for this thought-provoking book and I’m delighted to be closing the tour. Anna Jones is a journalist specialising in country affairs, working out of Bristol. She’s also a farmer’s daughter, and her book is her analysis of the relationship between town and country as its sub-title says. On Read More
Month: September 2023
Shiny Linkiness: Mat Osman’s The Ghost Theatre
I often wait before linking here to my Shiny reviews: why? I don’t know. But I’m on the ball today to direct you over there to my review of The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman. His second novel is superb. It’s a late Elizabethan era adventure with two wonderful teenaged protagonists, featuring the child theatre, Read More
Watchlist: Summer into Autumn
I haven’t done a watchlist for a good while – this one covers from mid-July to now. Sadly I haven’t been to the theatre all summer, nor the cinema, managing to miss Asteroid City, but I’ll stream that as soon as the rental price comes down. But I have watched loads on the small screen… Read More
The Murmurs by Michael J Malone – blogtour
Last year I read my first book by Malone who is a mainstay of Tartan Noir. Quicksand of Memory led me up the garden path and back again with its twists and turns, so I wasn’t going to turn down his latest, The Murmurs, was I? It begins with Annie Jackson waking from a nightmare Read More
The Traitor by Ava Glass – blogtour
Emma Makepeace is back! Last autumn, I absolutely devoured The Chase – Glass’s first book in the ‘Alias Emma’ series, and I was delighted to join the blogtour for the second book in the series, The Traitor. It begins with a body in a suitcase, Emma is called to join her boss Charles Ripley at Read More
A quick one for Czech Lit Month – A little bit of Hašek
I’m delighted that back in July, our Book Group made a serendipitous choice of book for September allowing me to participate in the first Czech Lit Month hosted by Stu. The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek Translated by Cecil Parrott (1973), with original illustrations by Josef Lada We’ve been playing ‘word association’ to pick Read More
The Nigerian Mafia: Mumbai by Onyeka Nwelue
I really should read more novels by African authors, this one by prollific Nigerian author Nwelue was only the second I’ve read this year. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect of a novel that is titled Nigerian Mafia: Mumbai with mentions of Nollywood and Bollywood, the end of the blurb stresses the former concerns Read More
My first Booker longlist read…
Of the four books from the 2023 Booker Prize longlist that I already had or treated myself to, I picked the shortest one to read first. (The others I have are In Ascension, The Bee Sting, and Prophet Song by the way.) Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein Bernstein, a Canadian living in Scotland is Read More
Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist – blog tour
Translated by Quentin Bates The identity of Stella Blómkvist is a secret – she/he/they are the Icelandic equivalent of Elena Ferrante – and has been publishing crime novels in Iceland since 1997 featuring the maverick lawyer Stella Blómkvist in a long-running series of Icelandic bestsellers. Two seasons of TV adaptations have appeared in Iceland too. Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: Wifedom
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
