Translated by Joseph Farrell Back in 2010 I read and reviewed Almost Blue, one of Carlo Lucarelli’s contemporary Italian police procedurals, which was highly original with a blind witness who ‘sees’ voices in colour. I always meant to read more by this author, who has written loads – and now I finally have. His newly Read More
Month: May 2025
An evening with Joe Dunthorne at Mostly Books
Joe Dunthorne is probably best known for his debut novel Submarine, published in 2008, which I read -pre-blog, and the 2010 film adapted from it by Richard Ayoade. Two more novels followed, Wild Abandon which won the RSA Encore award for a second novel, followed by the brilliant The Adulterants and then a poetry collection Read More
Heatwave, The Summer of 1976, Britain at Boiling Point by John L Williams – blog tour
The 1970s was the decade during which I was a teenager, from start to finish – encompassing the whole of my time at senior school and my first years at university. Regardless of all the politics and scandals which largely passed me by, my life outside school was coloured by pop music, some classic sitcoms, Read More
Hattie Steals the Show by Patrick Gleeson – blog tour
Last May I had the pleasure of reading Gleeson’s first Theatreland Mystery, Hattie Brings the House Down, It introduced us to Harriet ‘Hattie’ Cocker, a theatre stage manager with decades of experience, who works primarily as a tutor on a stage management course at a minor acting college these days, whilst hoping to find theatre Read More
The Wolves of Staro Selo by Zdravka Evtimova
Translated by Yana Ellis Having read and enjoyed Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro earlier this year, I’ve been keen to read more titles from Héloïse Press, an indie based in Canterbury that specialises in female narratives from around the world. This is the first novel by a Bulgarian author that I’ve read, but Evtimova has been Read More
Watchlist: March into May
Titus Andronicus at the RSC Swan, Stratford I went to the theatre last week to see the latest production of Shakespeare’s bloodiest play – and it lived up to its name! Starring Simon Russell Beale in the title role, with Emma Fielding as Marcia, his sister, (gender-swapped from Marcellus). We had seats in the front Read More
Update and Book Group report
Firstly a quick update on the knee situation: I had a guided steroid injection last week, but first the doctor took nearly 100ml of murky liquid out of the joint which relieved all the pressure on the tendons at the back of my knee. Now the steroids are kicking in, my knee is back to Read More
#20BooksofSummer2025 – how I pick my 20 books…
Any challenge requiring reading a particular stack of books is a no-no for me. I have enough reading commitments in review copies and blog tours, without adding more. So I use a different way to pick my 20 books – it’s the ‘Bookcase plus’ scenario. Next to my bed is a small bookcase absolutely crammed Read More
20 Books of Summer is back! With new hosts
When Cathy of 746 books announced last year that she would not host 20 Books of Summer this year after ten successful years, Emma of Words and Peace and I both volunteered to take it on. Summer reading IS the 20, 15 or 10 Books challenge to us! We couldn’t let Cathy’s wonderful challenge fall Read More
