Writing and reviews with an environmental, science fiction, and fantasy touch
Goodnight Mister Tom was originally published when I had grown out of childish things, but was too young to have younger people around to read it to them. Puffin release a special edition for its 40th anniversary this week. They
The Rose Code is a story involving the code breakers at Bletchley Park, during World War 2. I have always been enthralled by the wartime history of Bletchley Park. It’s now due for publication on March 18th. This book came
Dangerous Women came to me from the publishers via Netgalley, after I fell for the blurb. I’m so glad I did! Dangerous Women by Hope Adams Nearly two hundred condemned women on board a sailing ship bound for Australia. One
As usual, I’m trying to pick a Book of the Year, as in, books I read in 2020. Last year I gave up asking for your help, as you reply you haven’t read them. That never stops me voting for
The Stranger Times, my first review of the year, is my last book read in 2020. It got me to my Goodreads target at about 10 p.m. This was an advance copy from the publishers via Netgalley, for which I
Living Simply is a style recommended by Sir David Attenborough if we are to save the planet so we can live on it. Kate Humble, well known to UK wildlife viewers and bird enthusiasts, must have clicked that idea as
A Life on Our Planet makes the third book published on 1st October I’ve reviewed this month. The publishers offered a small number of copies through NetGalley just before p-day, and I’m very grateful to them for including me. It’s
Stephen Hawking was a phenomenon. A Brief History of Time sold 10 million copies worldwide. The author said yes, but hardly anyone read it. It took me thirty years to read my copy, so he may well be right! Leonard
Vesper Flights is the new book by the author of H is for Hawk, which has been on my list for ages. I’m very grateful to Net-Galley and the publishers, Random House Jonathan Cape, for the opportunity of a pre-release
Moonflower Murders is the second Susan Ryeland Murder Mystery from Anthony Horowitz. I’ve tried not to get too involved with Mr Horowitz’s many series, although I will read the MG one sometimes. There are also James Bond novels and other
Anyone is an intriguing look at the progress of a new technological breakthrough several years into the future. I was fascinated by the NetGalley description and am very grateful to be provided with an advance review copy. Anyone by Charles
Humankind came along on Net-galley just as I was feeling particularly down over the state of politics and society. It promised a reassessment of our outlook on why people are what they are. I can best say it gave me
Swashbuckling Cats… is a new anthology from Rhonda Parrish. I hate to say latest, as she’s so prolific, but since it is out this coming week, surely it must be! Already the calls for the next are out, tantalising me
What Stars Are Made Of came from Penguin Random House Childrens UK, via Netgalley. I absolutely loved the blurb and was delighted to be granted a review copy. It’ll be published on Thursday next week. This is the NetGalley blurb:
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
Pan’s Labyrinth came out on July 2nd. Wait a minute, I hear you say, surely that’s been out for ages? Well, not the book, apparently. Guillermo del Toro directed the film and Cornelia Funke has helped him get it into
Needlemouse is out this week, or at least, so it says in my Netgalley list. Goodreads says it’s been out since April. Since the publishers were kind enough to send me an ARC via NetGalley I’m sticking to what it
Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer. The surname rang a bell, so I requested the ARC from Netgalley – I wasn’t disappointed! Lara’s famous aunt is Lucinda Green, champion three-day eventer. Like Lara, I grew up on Lucinda’s books of her
‘Kill the Black One First’ was a phrase shouted by rioters at Brixton as the police officers formed a barrier. This memoir from Michael Fuller is a powerful and thought-provoking book. I’m very grateful to the publishers and Net-galley for the
Doggerland relates to the land under the North Sea, off the coast of East Anglia, where the Dogger Bank forms a great sand spit of relatively shallow water, sometimes exposed at low tide. Once there was a vast tract of