Five Feat… 1952

The week after this one, from 21-27 April, it’s the next year reading club hosted by Kaggsy and Simon: The 1952 Club. As I was going through lists of possible books to read, it struck me there must be five I’ve already reviewed on this blog – so time for a new ‘Five Feat…’ post, Read More

The Cure by Eve Smith – blog tour

My first encounter with Eve Smith was with her second novel, Off Target, in which genetic engineering of children is normal. I very much enjoyed it – spec fiction being my favourite type of genre fiction these days. Two years later and her fourth novel The Cure is here, and this time she’s tackling the Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Knife

First Saturday of the month and 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 Read More

Mrs Jekyll by Emma Glass – Dylan Thomas Prize Longlist Celebration

One of my favourite prizes of the year is the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, which is open to writers in English under the age of 39 (Thomas’ age at his death). It always throws up an eclectic mix of books covering all the bases. Once again, I am delighted to take part in the Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Prophet Song

First Saturday of the month and 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 Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Les Liaisons Dangereuses

First Saturday of the month and 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 Read More

One Billion Years to the End of the World by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Translated by Antonina W. Bouis I managed to fit in a post for #VintageSciFiMonth this January in my third encounter with the Strugatsky brothers, after the completely lovable and madcap Monday starts on Saturday from 1964, and philosophical questing of Roadside Picnic from 1972. Also known as Definitely Maybe in the USA, thei novella One Read More

Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench

With Brendan O’Hea What a treat this book was from first page to last. I finished reading it on Boxing Day, and it went straight into my 2024 Books of the Year list. It is written with Brendan O’Hea, who is an actor/director friend of Dench, and is Associate Artistic Director at the Globe Theatre Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Orbital

First Saturday of the month and 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 Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Sandwich by Catherine Newman

First Saturday of the month and 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 Read More

Five Feat . . . Duos

In my irregular themed look at old posts (previous posts here), this time I’ve picked Duos as the link. Like the musical duos Simon & Garfunkel and Althea & Donna, all the titles in this list feature two names in the title. However, they aren’t all couples, there are friends and colleagues too in this Read More

2 more novellas for #NovNov24: A ‘Maigret’ by Simenon and a ‘Parker’ by Stark

The Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon (No 15) Translated by Ros Schwartz Inspector Maigret is embarking on a holiday, going to the Dordogne to see an old friend and colleague, with a small job to do in Bordeaux on the side, while Madame Maigret is visiting her sister in Alsace. In his sleeper compartment, Read More

Nonfiction November Week 4 – Mind Openers

Week 4 is hosted by Rebekah at She Seeks Nonfiction blog. The topic is mind openers, and she asks: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you—no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the Read More

#NovNov24 – an assortment of Novellas – Morpurgo, Magariel, Schenkel

Book Group Report – War Horse by Michael Morpurgo Just occasionally in our book group, we’ll read a children’s book – usually a classic – and War Horse will surely become a modern one. It begins: My earliest memories are a confusion of hilly fields and dark, damp stables, and rats that scampered along the Read More

Black Storms by Teresa Solana – blog tour

Translated from Catalan by Peter Bush I’m delighted to be today’s stop on the blog tour for another new to me crime author, now published by Corylus books in translation. It’s the third crime novel by Teresa Solana, and the first to feature her detective Norma Forester. Now I know you’re thinking that doesn’t sound Read More

Dark as Night by Lilja Sigurðardóttir – blog tour

Translated by Lorenza Garcia This was the first novel by Lilja Sigurðardóttir that I’ve read, and it won’t be the last. Dark as Night is actually the fourth in her ‘Áróra Investigation’ series, but having encountered Áróra, boyfriend Daníel and the other supporting characters I need to know more. Áróra isn’t a police officer, which Read More

Simenon & a Maigret for the #1970club

It’s time for another reading week hosted by Simon and Kaggsy – this time books published in 1970. Looking at the Wikipedia page for 1970 in Literature I’ve read loads through the years, including classic SF&F from Larry Niven and Roger Zelazny, schmalz from Erich Segal with Love Story, inexplicably Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, and I Read More

Short reviews catch-up – Susie Dent, Fred Sirieix, Barbara Pym, Michael Findlay

Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent Popular broadcaster and lexcographer Susie Dent has written her first novel, after writing a handful of books all about words, and jolly good fun it was too. (I went to see her talk about it back in August.) And where else would a lexicographer choose to set their murder Read More

Six Degrees of Separation: Long Island

I’m a day late to the first Saturday of the month, but there’s still 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 Read More

Red Dwarf: Discovering the TV Series by Tom Salinsky

Volume 1: 1988-1993 – Review with Guest Fun Facts by the author Having been a fan of Red Dwarf since the very beginning, I had to read this book. Of course it brought all the memories flooding back – well most of them! Back in the day, we struck lucky getting tickets for one of Read More

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hera by Jennifer Saint

I am delighted to be one of those leading off the blogtour for Jennifer Saint’s fourth novel, another feminist retelling of the stories of Ancient Greek Godesses and Heroines, with a dose of Gods and Heroes and other mortals on the side. Before Hera, first came Ariadne, telling the story of her escape from the Read More

Hattie Brings the House Down by Patrick Gleeson

It was a true delight to read this debut novel for the blogtour. A cosy crime mystery set in the world of the theatre, the story is led by Hattie Cocker, who has been hired to be Stage Manager (SM) of a company who will perform Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Tavistock, a theatre attached Read More

Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh – blogtour

When Hotel Arcadia was first published by Quartet in 2015, I found it unputdownable, reading it in one session (which is perfectly doable given its length of 224 pages). Now it has finally got a paperback release through Magpie/Point Blank Books, and I was delighted to revisit it for the new blogtour. Think of hotel Read More