March seems to have shot by, mainly as I have been sooooo busy this month. But on the whole, a month of good reading, so that’s something. Love and Saffron – Kim Fay This is a story written in letters between two American women. Joan, younger and living in California is a fan of Imogen,… Continue reading March reading round up
Tag: fiction
February reading round up
February. Like January but shorter and with more people trying so very hard to call it spring and blithely ignoring the Arctic windchill factor. Fools. Bring on March. I’ve read a lot this month! Here’s the rundown: Hotel Milano – Tim Parks I always look at Tim Parks books thinking I like them and then… Continue reading February reading round up
Review: In the Blink of an Eye – Jo Callaghan
“It was great to see a female detective be respected by her peers and superiors, and be allowed to be good at her job.”
Books of the year: 2022 reading round up
How has 2022 been for you? I have read a lot of books, and even starting writing things again, which feels like an exciting step. However, in prepping this post, I did get a suspicion that the reading hasn’t been great this year. Let’s look at the numbers: As ever, they vary depending on which… Continue reading Books of the year: 2022 reading round up
Reading round up: November
The worst month. So dark. Not yet Christmas. No firework display this year. But at least the books are here to help brighten the gloom. Notes to Self – Emilie Pine This is a book of essays that someone somewhere raved about and I bought on idle curiosity. But it’s quite marvellous. I have no… Continue reading Reading round up: November
Review: Starling by Sarah Jane Butler
Some years ago I was on a writing course with what was then the Unthank School and one of my classmates was Sarah Jane Butler who was starting to write a book – that book has become Starling. Starling and her mother Mar are travellers, moving around the country, living off the land, and often… Continue reading Review: Starling by Sarah Jane Butler
September reading round up
Is it just that ‘events’ seem to be happening so fast or did September just fly by? We’re into autumn proper now and the season change is my favourite time of year. It helps being a September baby, I guess. Anyway, here’s my reading round up for the month – a bumper crop. A Thousand… Continue reading September 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