SusanEBarsby

August reading round up

Happy beginning of autumn! I am an autumnal person and always feel my energy rising at this time of year. Don’t you just love pulling the first cardigan on? And conkers. This month, I’ve had some time off work so tried to adjust my reading to be more holiday suitable where I could. Kololo Hill… Continue reading August reading round up

Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

How do you follow Hamnet? Such an acclaimed book that touched a lot of people, Hamnet was never going to be an easy one to move on from. I love Maggie O’Farrell’s work, she is one of my favourite writers. Her last three books, not just Hamnet, but I Am I Am I Am and… Continue reading Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Review: Instructions for the Working Day by Joanna Campbell

What an interesting book this is. It has a great premise but delivers more, mainly through incredibly evocative writing of place and characters. Instructions is the story of Neil, whose father has died and has left him a village in the former East Germany, built on marshes and left to deteriorate badly. Neil’s relationship with… Continue reading Review: Instructions for the Working Day by Joanna Campbell

Review: The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby

What a beautiful looking book this is. Here is the cover. Isn’t it gorgeous? Luckily, the inside is an intriguing debut that lives up to the cover loveliness. The Hollow Sea is a story about motherhood but not as you expect. Rather it covers non-motherhood, the yearning to have a child that is never fulfilled,… Continue reading Review: The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby

Review: Small Miracles by Anne Booth

There are usually two types of stories about nuns: cheerful tales of wimpled women, slightly clueless and out of touch, trying to deal with the modern world; or harsh Magdalene laundry types, burying babies in the back garden and berating terrified teenage mothers. Small Miracles is the former of these. And thank goodness for that.… Continue reading Review: Small Miracles by Anne Booth

July reading round up

Late posting this month due to actually going places! I was away this weekend so am catching up. So, to July! *insert inane comment about the weather* It’s got to the point where the sheer number of books sitting about the house has become an annoyance. There a fine line for me where the book… Continue reading July reading round up

Under the Same Stars – Alexandra Heminsley

This was a slow starter for me but I am glad I carried on reading as it rewarded continuing. I have enjoyed Alexandra Heminsley’s writing in the past – her running book was really good – and I was interested to see how she managed to turn her hand to fiction. The story concerns Clara… Continue reading Under the Same Stars – Alexandra Heminsley

Review: No Country for Girls by Emma Styles

This has TV adaptation written all over it. A road trip featuring gold bars, murder, chases, dodgy cops and two young girls – it’s ripe for adaptation. The blurb calls this a modern day Thelma and Louise and you can see why but it’s not quite the same. It does have a cracking start. Charlie… Continue reading Review: No Country for Girls by Emma Styles

Mid-year book sum up

I’ve stolen some of these mid-year round up questions from a book tag but I feel weird tagging other blogs without asking as it feels odd. Anyway, halfway though the year: How much have you read? I aimed to read 90 books this year. I’m going to have to revise that figure as I’ve already… Continue reading Mid-year book sum up

Review: The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton

I’m always glad when I read a book that has had a lot of hype and it’s actually worth all the bother. There’s such a lot of hype out there. Anyway, The Miniaturist was such a book – an atmospheric tale of secrets that seeped through the house and family like damp from the Amsterdam… Continue reading Review: The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton