Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
I got Lost Solace from Karl Drinkwater when he was giving freebies out on his website. I apologised at the time for probably not reading it straight away. But then the Goodreads Space Opera group picked it for November. I
Crow Country was the first Mark Cocker book I came across, and realised it was a Norfolk book. Years ago I ran a ‘Local Hero’ reading challenge, where participants could add books about their own local patch – the size
The Seagull is the 8th in the Vera novels, and my first. This is thanks to my bookclub reading them out of order. If you’ve seen an episode of Vera on TV, you won’t mind a bit, at least, I
Sassinak was listed for one of the Space Opera Group’s books of the month for April, and unusually I got it read within the timescale. It’s another for my SpaceTime Reading Challenge – which seems to be going rather well
Castle Hangnail is the GMGR Book of the Month selection for October, Halloween month. I’m very grateful to the Amazon resellers for getting a copy to me in time. It arrived around 12, I started it at 3.30, and finished
Saffron grows in exotic eastern countries, or so I thought. Our bookclub read for the month suggested it grows perfectly well in Cornwall. This sounds like an excuse to link my usual Saturday Book Review post with a random act
Three Men in a Boat was suggested by one of our bookclub members. We wanted a classic read, and I welcomed this one rather than Jane Eyre or Charles Dickens. (Although I do want to reread A Tale of Two
The Narrow Bed was our bookclub’s pick for November. I felt under pressure from all the other books I had to read—but then I realised it would supply the N in my Alphabet Challenge! I wasn’t disappointed—and it was a
Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832 has quotes on the paperback to promote it: “lively, witty, and above all, a cracking good read. I found it impossible to put down.” The Spectator “A political thriller –
Bad reads. Two books I don’t recommend, that the librarian inflicted on our bookclub recently. I think she hasn’t read either of them. Bear in mind that I’m one of the younger members of our bookclub, even if I am, officially, retired!
This was the Great Middle Grade Reads group’s Book of the Month for March, and I read it in two sittings over Easter, with a paperback from my library. The Blurb (from Goodreads) “She’s the most powerful steam engine in
Happy Easter! Today is book review day as usual, and I’m doing one that is a far cry from Easter celebration, being set in 17th century Amsterdam, mainly in the winter, where it’s cold and damp. In fact, the cold
This was a bookclub read, introduced by our leader as ‘a light, fun read, to counteract the ones we haven’t enjoyed recently.’ It lived up to its summary, and I enjoyed it. Whether it helped that I went to Venice
We picked this as our bookclub read because we wanted to have something more on the ‘classic’ line. I have always thought I’d read it in my teens or early twenties, and vaguely remembered Mary Yellan arriving at Jamaica Inn
This was a book club read, and coincidentally I was about four chapters in when I attended a talk on the Gothic genre with Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival earlier this month. I