What an iconic first line: one of those that often comes up in quizzes. Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 is an absolute classic of spec fiction which I first read in the 1970s. I invested in the lovely Folio Society edition some years ago, but was finally spurred on to reread it due to Read More
Catching up with Book Group reads
With our December zoom last week, another year of our Book Group came to an end – we did manage to have two in person meetings sitting in a pub beer garden, until that got too cold. We’ve retreated back to zoom for now, but fingers crossed for the spring. I’ve been going since 2004, Read More
November Watchlist
Since my last update, I’ve been to the cinema twice. Last Night in Soho First on Halloween weekend was Last Night in Soho, which I thought from the trailer was going to be a thriller all about 1960s vice and conmen. I sort of gathered that there was a modern day strand to the movie Read More
#NovNov – Review round-up – 4 more novellas/short NF
I had a great month (plus a few days at the end of October) fitting in as many novellas as I could alongside other reading for #SciFiMonth and general for Novellas in November hosted by Rebecca at Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books. I’m left with several yet to review – two short NF reads, and Read More
The Moon Almanac by Judith Hurrell – Blog Tour
Given that the Moon is such an everpresent feature in all of our lives, it is no surprise that every culture and many religions have their own Moon mythology. The Moon is often seen as feminine with goddesses like the Greek Selene and Roman equivalent Luna, but we also talk about The Old Man in Read More
Kings of a Dead World by Jamie Mollart
Earlier this year, I was approached by Jamie to see if I’d like to read his Spec SF novel. I’m often slightly wary of direct author approaches in case I have to disappoint, but having fallen in love with the cover, I am relieved to tell you that this is a superb novel. It shows Read More
Our Friends in Beijing by John Simpson
John Simpson is a veteran news reporter for the BBC chalking up fifty years with the corporation. Not surprisingly, he has written many books about his experiences and the life and times of those he reported about. He is also the author of four novels, two in the 1980s, leaving a big gap to 2018’s Read More
#NovNov – some classic novellas from my archives
The final week of Novellas in November (hosted by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books) turns its attention to classics (incl modern classics – pre 1980) and once more I’ve scoured my archives to find a selection to highlight from a few years ago for you. As in previous weeks, I’ve managed to combine with other tags Read More
Two French novellas for #NovNov
Week three of ‘Novellas in November’ hosted by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books is all about books in translation. I’ve talked about a Danish SF one and two German novellas in previous posts. Now it’s time to turn to novellas written in French – which means an excuse to include the next Maigret from my Read More
An evening with Anton Du Beke
Having a great little theatre on my doorstep, the Amey Theatre, part of Abingdon School is super – I go and see the NT and RSC live screenings there, and occasionally our local indie bookshop will manage to get a big author in for an event, which was the case last night. It was a Read More
Two novellas for German Literature Month XI & #NovNov
Yet again, I can combine two reading months into one post. German Literature Month is now into its second decade, hosted by LIzzy and Caroline, and Novellas in November was taken over last year by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books. I chose two very different novellas, one with a true crime feel, and one set Read More
#NovNov – Translated fiction novellas from the archives
Week 3 of Novellas in November month (hosted by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books) turns its attention to translated books. If I get my act together, I’ll have read 2 French, 2 German and 2 Danish novellas and might even get some reviews posted. But until then, here’s a selection of translated novellas from my Read More
Two SF Novellas for #NovNov #SciFiMonth
Another opportunity to tick two boxes with one blog post. This time two superb novellas for Novellas in November and both SF for Sci Fi Month. The Employees: A Workplace novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken This is the most unconventionally structured book I’ve read this Read More
Muriel Barbery’s Cats’ Eye-View #NovNov
The Writer’s Cats by Muriel Barbery, illustrated by Maria Guitart Translated by Alison Anderson For a cat-lover there’s always room for a good cat book at Christmas, and this lovely one from the pen of Muriel Barbery, author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and this year’s A Single Rose (which is in the running Read More
#NovNov – Short Non-fiction from the archives
I’ve read six novellas to write up for Novellas in November month (hosted by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books) – must get a move on! Meanwhile in week 2, we turn our attention to Short Non-Fiction, a better term than novella for NF. Once more, here is a section of posts from my archives of Read More
Six Degrees of Separation: What Are You Going Through
Last month was the first I’ve missed of my favourite monthly tag for ages! Six Degrees of Separation 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. Our Read More
Psychopaths Anonymous by Will Carver – Blog Tour
I only discovered Will Carver earlier this year when I read The Beresford for its blog tour in July. Wow! I loved that smart, funny, horror novel and have since acquired several of his earlier ones. Then, not even six months later comes another Will Carver novel! Psychopaths Anonymous is narrated by Maeve, a successful Read More
#NonFicNov – Week 1: My Year in Non Fiction
I love joining in with Non Fiction November – over the years I have tried to increase the amount of non fiction I read, and this annual feature is a great spur towards doing more of that. Week one of the month is hosted by Rennie at What’s NonFiction and simply asks us to review Read More
#NovNov – Contemporary novellas from the archives…
To celebrate the start of Novellas in November month (hosted by Bookish Beck and Cathy at 746 Books), I am stealing this idea shamelessly from Susan. Here is a selection of novellas I’ve enjoyed in recent years, and to match the theme of the first week of #NovNov, they’re all ‘contemporary’. The Commitments by Roddy Read More
Sept/Oct Watchlist
I didn’t compile a Watchlist for September, as it was a thin month for viewing with back to school tiredness – apart from Strictly that is. However, October has been much more interesting – and I’ve been out to the cinema THREE times! No Time to Die Bond comes out of retirement to save the Read More
RIP XVI – The Spirit Engineer by A J West
I’m not the biggest reader of historical fiction, but a quote on the press release for The Spirit Engineer by Derren Brown (big, big fan) sold me instantly, and of course ’tis the season for spooky reads. What’s more this novel is a fictional account based on real events, in which science meets spiritualism head Read More
Blog Tour – The Rabbit Factor – Antti Tuomainen
Translated by David Hackston I was really excited to add another Finnish author to my Nordic reading list. The Rabbit Factor is my first encounter with Antti Tuomainen’s unique thriller style which reminded me of the Coen brothers with its dark comedy leanings. It won’t be my last, because I loved this novel, and it’s Read More
Weekend Miscellany
GoodReads Challenge I’ve done it! Pressure’s off now, except I’d like to beat my best ever total of 142 in 2018! With a clutch of novellas (see more below) that might be doable too! However, I doubt I’ll reach my best ever total page count of over 41k from 2016, I’m currently in the 31k Read More
RIP XVI- I’m tiring of the zombies!
The Walking Dead – Vols 2, 3, 4 While I am still loving the TV series of TWD (I’m watching the final series 11 on Disney Star), I’ve now tired of reading the original comics. I bought myself the volumes 1-4, first published in 2004-5 and enjoyed the first one (see here). The TV series Read More
I had to treat myself…
To a third copy of Lord of the Rings I’ve already got these… On the left my single volume paperback from the 1970s, on the right one of the 50th anniversary editions – in this case illustrated by Alan Lee, which together with its companion 60th anniversary Hobbit was part of my joining offer to Read More
Conspiracy Theories – thank goodness, this is fiction!
The Counterfeit Candidate by Brian Klein Conspiracy theories are the stuff of many a great thriller; one of the very best I’ve read before is Fever City by Tim Baker which took on JFK, (as did Stephen King in 11.22.63 which I’ve yet to read). There are just as many alien conspiracy thrillers, after Roswell Read More
The 1976 Club – Helen MacInnes
It’s time for another Club reading week hosted by Simon and Karen – and the year chosen this time is 1976. When I examined Wikipedia’s 1976 in Literature page, I saw I’d read quite a few back in the day – most of the SF listed (Delany,Herbert, Niven/Pournelle, Zelazny), plus an assortment of others including Read More
Cheltenham Literature Festival Blog Tour
I was delighted to be asked to take part in the blog tour celebrating this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival. Participants were asked to pick one of the topics from the festival programme to receive a random book from: I chose ‘stage and screen’ and was delighted when Adam Buxton’s memoir Ramble Book came through the Read More
A Catch-up!
Life has been a bit busy this past week, school trips, fireworks to organise – just generally being more active, and then falling asleep in front of the telly, one more week until our two week half term! All this has led to a bit of a blogging slump. But it’s the weekend and it’s Read More
The Mirror Visitor quartet – the final installment
The Storm of Echoes by Christelle Dabos Translated by Hildegarde Serle When I was sent a copy of the first volume in this fantasy quartet of novels by Daniela at Europa Editions in 2018, I fell in love with Christelle Dabos’ world-building in its fractured planet, the wonderfully realised young heroine Ophelia and anti-hero Thorn. Read More
