This is the fifth post in my occasional series of archive posts in which I look back ten years. (See others here.) I say occasional, but they are tending to be in alternate months. October 2016 was an exceptional month in terms of quantity read – 18 books read and a few more from September reviewed. Read More
Month: October 2026
More Shiny Linkiness: Dodge City by Patrick deWitt
I’m over at Shiny New Books today with my review of the latest novel by Patrick deWitt. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE. In Dodge City, deWitt takes on the wonderful American trope of the road trip, set in 1967 at the time of the Vietnam draft, and running alongside protagonist Lee’s trip across the USA Read More
Watchlist: Summer into Autumn
I realised that I haven’t posted a Watchlist since Feb as it turns out – but since the summer hols began: But back to the telly. Since that Feb watchlist post, I started and finished a rewatch of the entire 15 series of ER on Netflix, and I could remember so many of the episodes Read More
Under Story by Chloe Benjamin
Source: Review copy from Tinder Press. Thanks to Caitln for sending me an ARC I very much enjoyed Benjamin’s debut The Immortalists which had a clever conceit at its heart in that the four protagonists of the Gold family all know the date when they will die. It was well done, so of course I Read More
Shiny Linkiness: World Editions Read the World A-Z: Argentina & Belgium
I’m over at Shiny New Books today with my reviews of the first two books in World Editions Read the World A-Z series, which I wrote about here. Read my reviews HERE. Argentine author Mariana Travacio’s All that Dies in April was a super novella, telling a story of a couple’s separate journeys from their Read More
Reading plans for November
November is another of those months with multiple challenges, and I’m hoping to take part in these three: Naturally I’m hoping I can overlap these three. However, the doorbell has literally just rung and a rather damp postie handed me parcels with these three beauties I ordered which’ll go to the top of my novellas Read More
Seething Lane: A Samuel Pepys Mystery by Jack Jewers
Source: ARC from Moonflower books – thank you. I rather mislaid my reviewing mojo this week. I couldn’t settle down to write anything; I had too many other things going round in my head. It’s also taken me most of the week to read a single book. However, I’m now on half term for the Read More
The #1949Club
This week from today it’s another of the year-reading clubs hosted by Karen and Simon – 1949 this time. Consulting the wiki page for 1949 in literature, I found I’ve read a few – see below. However, despite finding one to read on my shelves, Nelson Algren’s The Man with the Golden Arm, I doubt Read More
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley – book group report
Lately, we’ve not followed any themes for picking our books, instead each of the group pitches one title of something they’d like to read or have read, then we pick one at random. Our October read turned out to be a suitably seasonal folk horror novel, so fulfilling another read for RIP XXI too. Now Read More
Sleuth by Charlotte Langley – blog tour
Source: Review copy from No Exit Press for the Random Things blog tour – thank you. Braeside is one of those small Scottish towns that thrives on tourists who come for the hiking. The residents all know each other- not all of them are liked. The Howard family are incomers from London, who built a Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: The Life of M by Rachel Cusk
It’s 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. The starter book this month is: The Read More
The Boy by Mark Gyves – blogtour
Source: Review copy from No Exit Press for the Random Things blog tour – thank you! I jumped at the opportunity to read this Irish crime debut from Mark Gyves, loving contemporary Irish fiction in general, and being a crime fan too. I will say at the outset that this novel is brutal! It is Read More