Category: reading

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

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

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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

Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis

My Twitter pal Lia Louis has a new book out and it’s another deftly written rom com. The Key to My Heart opens with Natalie, a young widow, being forced to chat up a bloke in a bar by her friends who all consider her ready to move on from her heartbreak and find a… Continue reading Review: The Key to My Heart by Lia Louis