Several books got away without a proper review last year – and not just ones crammed in at the end to try to scale my Mount TBR. I try to keep up my reviews here and on Goodreads as I
Book Review catch-up | ones that got away
Book of the Year 2019 – the long list!
My Book of the Year for 2019 is… one of the following. Book of the Year 2019 long list I long list nearly all of those I’ve given five stars on Goodreads during the year. So those are (links to
Book Review | Record of a Spaceborn Few
Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series. Like the second, it is more set in the same universe than a series, although clever folk may recognise characters linked with the first book. I’m not
Book Review | Dragon’s Gate by Laurence Yep
Dragon’s Gate was picked by the Great Middle Grade Reads members as a book of the month some time ago. I added it to my list, and bought a cheap second hand copy on Amazon. It took a while to
Book Review | Spotted Lily by Anna Tambour
Spotted Lily arrived on my Kindle in a Storybundle group in July 2015. I think I should group the Storybundles for that date on my To Read list to see what it has in common with the others. Possibly ‘weird’.
Blog Tour and Review | Death by Library
I’m delighted to feature Death By Library today, the 4th in the Pismawallops PTA Mysteries by Rebecca M. Douglass. This is part of the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours running between December 2 – 13, so I reckon I made it
Book Review | My Sister’s Bones by Nuala Ellwood
My Sister’s Bones has been on my shelf for ages. I received a courtesy copy at Noirwich in 2016, when it was still in pre-publication mode. In a somewhat unusual reading pattern for me, I started it in September, got
Book Review | A Difficult Mirror by Benjamin X Wretlind
A Difficult Mirror is not an easy read. It is fascinating, though. I have had this book on my TBR for ages, and can’t remember how I came across it. It may have been on offer, it may have been
Book Review | The Earthkeepers by Shawn Underhill
The Earthkeepers: I thought it might have survived a few passes of Down the TBR Hole, as I knew I had the cover in my system here. It turns out I uploaded it in 2014 for a blog tour. I
Book Review and Tour | Secrets of the Great Fire Tree by Justine Laismith
Today is a book review on Justine Laismith’s blog tour for Secrets of the Great Fire Tree. I ‘meet’ Justine on the GMGR Goodreads group, and I’m delighted to host her today. The tour organiser is Aurelia Leo. Secrets
Review | Conor Kelly’s Guide to Ireland’s Ancient Places
Conor Kelly’s Guide to Ireland’s Ancient Places has been lurking in my iPad for several years, waiting to get onto my official TBR on Goodreads. This is not the usual way my book lists work. Consequently this is not the
Book Review | The Long Flight Home
The Long Flight Home appealed to me because it featured the British Pigeon Service during World War II. Thank you, Net-galley and the publisher for the opportunity of a pre-release copy. The book was launched on Thursday. The Long Flight
Book Review | Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
Deeplight was offered to me by the publisher (via Netgalley) because I’d previously reviewed The Lie Tree by the same author. So I clicked ‘yes’ because the blurb was so enticing and the author attracts me. It was only afterwards
Book Review | Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister sounded intriguing. I’d read the Wild Swans by Jung Chang several years ago, and was enthralled by it. Jung Chang has written several biographies and historical books about China. This is the first I’ve
Audiobook Review | Master and God by Lindsey Davis
Master and God is not a Falco novel. It’s not a Flavia Alba novel either (although there is a new Flavia Alba out, and I’m getting seriously behind with that series). It is set in Ancient Rome, and it is
Book Review | Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline ed. Rhonda Parrish
Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline was one of Rhonda Parrish’s anthologies that I didn’t try to enter, because I didn’t understand what she was looking for. So I read it to find out. I also managed to snag a pre-publication copy
Book Review | Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor
Ashes of London went on my To Read list almost as soon as it came out, but it lingered there until I had the opportunity to get a copy through Net-galley last year. Thank you to them and the publishers
Book Review | The Czar’s Spy by William Le Queux
The Czar’s Spy came in a kindle volume called ‘British Mystery Multipacks Vol. 6 – British Spy Mysteries.’ It contains two of my all-time favourite stories, The Riddle of the Sands and the 39 Steps, which is why I got
Book Review | Datura by Leena Krohn
Datura is a weird book. I mean that in a good way – it fits into the subgenre of Fantasy/scifi of ‘weird’. Leena Krohn is an award-winning Finnish author, but much of the time this story could be set in
Book Review | The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
The Essex Serpent first lodged in my mind when Sarah Perry was a guest at either Norfolk & Norwich Festival or Noirwich. I think it was in NNF on a session on noir, because I’m sure Sarah Waters read her
Double Book Review | Scifi Anthology special
Two anthologies for you today, to help me catch up on my reviews. I like reading anthologies when I’m busy, because of the easy put-down, pick-up nature of the book. The downside is I find it almost impossible to remember
Cosmic Colin, and The Witches | Double MG Book Review
Cosmic Colin: Hairy Hamster Horror and The Witches both came from my library. MG means middle grade, a period of schooling in the US that translates into the roughly 8-12 age group in the UK. I regularly peruse the childrens
Book Review | Witchbone Book One ~ The Goblin’s Winter
Witchbone Book One ~ The Goblin’s Winter: a paranormal fairy tale is a very long title for a book. Several other things make me wonder whether the author took heed of editorial advice for MG tales [also demonstrated by the
Book Review | The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Scorpio Races – spotted as I was leaving the library, always looking for Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys, which has been on my TBR forever. The Scorpio Races has nothing to do with that book, but, boy, what a gem.
Book Review | The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
My reaction to The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die almost made me do a mini-review and give you another today to catch up on my reading. But the more I try to explain how I felt about said Aunt, the longer