Let's play a game. A Robert Galbraith bingo. A Robert Galbraith drinking game. Take a drink every time one of the following happens: Cormoran Strike is described as being pube-headed; Robin Ellacott is described as beautiful; Robin's breasts are mentioned; Strike doesn't tell Robin how he feels; Robin doesn't tell Strike how she feels; Matthew… Continue reading Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
Author: The Book Lover's Sanctuary
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The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
Disclaimer: I was provided with an ARC / Proof Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. How exciting! My first ARC review! My first ARC review! My first ARC review! This is the third in Arden's Winternight Trilogy which commenced with The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower,… Continue reading The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
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Everything Under, Daisy Johnson
There were many things about this book - shortlisted for the Man Booker this year - which drew my attention: its narrator, Gretel, is a lexicographer and I love words; it is a re-imagining of a myth and I do like me a good mythologising; and it revolves around a childhood that took place upon… Continue reading Everything Under, Daisy Johnson
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Reading Update: 14th October
Oh the books. The piles of books. The new books coming out. The unread books still waiting. So, this week I have found myself with four books on the go, simultaneously: waking and alert, I'm continuing Daisy Johnson's Everything Under and as I drive I'm listening to Esi Edugyan's Washington Black from the Man Booker Shortlist; and… Continue reading Reading Update: 14th October
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The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
So excited that an ARC of The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden has been dispatched today! Book three of the Winternight Trilogy. I love Vasilisa Petrovna - firey, alien and other - the phoenix dominating that cover. I adore Arden's writing, her Russian folklore, the historical authenticity. And Morozko. And Solovey. It is… Continue reading The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
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The Mystery of Three Quarters, Sophie Hannah
Hercule Poirot. Arrogant and dandy and moustache firmly in place. An extended cast of somewhat two-dimensional characters. A convoluted and contrived plot - very contrived in this instance. Very contrived. Let's face is, when the plot of a novel revolves around the construction of a battenburg cake, that novel is - for fear of being… Continue reading The Mystery of Three Quarters, Sophie Hannah
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Weekly Reading Round-Up: 28th September
A new start to the school year, and a new stage of life as my little one heads into school - real school, Reception Year, for the first time. I had no idea how tough that would be for her - or for me. And, one week, she was poorly on top of everything else;… Continue reading Weekly Reading Round-Up: 28th September
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The Mars Room, Rachel Kushner
I am not a fan of prison drama. Orange Is The New Black? No thank you. Shawshank Redemption? I just don't like the prison setting. It may have something to do with an innate suspicion of large numbers of people being together; it may have something to do with having been a criminal barrister and… Continue reading The Mars Room, Rachel Kushner
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The Overstory, Richard Powers
"Let me sing to you, about how creatures become other things" I was brought up - and still live - very much in the countryside. A safe, British countryside. I know my oak from my elm for my yew. I am currently harvesting apples and blackberries from the garden, looking forward to the walnuts being… Continue reading The Overstory, Richard Powers
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Weekly Round-Up: 26th August 2018
Ah the Summer Holidays. Every year I begin it with ambitious plans to catch up on the blog, the housework, the gardening, my TBR list - pile - mountain, planning for next year.... Every year, those six weeks stretch out with the promise of that most elusive thing: time, opportunity, leisure. And every year, it… Continue reading Weekly Round-Up: 26th August 2018
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Snap, Belinda Bauer
It's that time of year again, the Man Booker Longlist has been released and I do try to keep.up to date with them - as I do with the Costa and Women's Prize lists. Sometimes they can be a bit hit-and-miss, sometimes a little pretentious, but generally a good addition to my TBR list and… Continue reading Snap, Belinda Bauer
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Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie
With two stories in the news today - Safir Boular, at 18, being the youngest girl to be convicted of terrorism offences; and Alia Ghanem speaking of her son. Osama bin Laden - about terrorism and the legal system and family, the importance and relevance of a book like Home Fire is painfully apparent. The… Continue reading Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie
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Faithful Place, Tana French
Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series is a delight, but has sometimes only vague connections to the eponymous Murder Squad. In The Woods, the first novel, centred on it; but the follow-up The Likeness, centred on Cassie Madox from the first book who is now in Domestic Violence rather than murder and being supervised by… Continue reading Faithful Place, Tana French
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Weekly Round Up: 30th July 2018
It is here at long last! The summer holidays! We - and all other teachers - survived! And golly it has been a heck of a year! So, the upside: more time to read! Insofar as a five year old will let me! Less issues for reading past my bedtime! The downside, and it's a… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 30th July 2018
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Touch, Claire North
Poor Claire North. She brought out The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August as I read Kate Atkinson's Life After Life; I pick up Touch just after reading A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge. And both times, she comes a slight second in similar and comparable fantasy scenarios. Imagine being able to switch your… Continue reading Touch, Claire North
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Weekly Round Up: 17th July 2018
One more week until the Summer holidays and a real chance to get stuck into my TBR pile - and my To Be Reviewed list too! I'm sure I've missed some things off somewhere! Wasn't there a Dresden File I read and haven't reviewed yet? Blood Rites? I have this week posted my first Netgalley… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 17th July 2018
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The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau, Graeme Macrae Burnet
Graeme Macrae Burnet came to my attention through the Booker Prize: I loved his His Bloody Project novel with its multiple voices and setting, evocatively recreating the brutality of life in Scottish crofting communities. It was on the strength of that that I picked up this, the first of his Detective Gorski novels and -… Continue reading The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau, Graeme Macrae Burnet
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Weekly Round Up: 10th July 2018
This week sees a coupe of books finished and taken from my TBR pile! Jessie Burton's The Muse grew on me as I reached the final sections and anticipated some of the revelations. I did find her language to be beautiful and sensual but her more contemplative moments a little awkward. I was, though, sad to… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 10th July 2018
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The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
There are times when I love my job. Some. On rare occasions. One of those times came today when I spotted a copy of The Sleeper and the Spindle on the side in the library and I was asked to have a read of it over night and see whether I thought it was suitable.… Continue reading The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
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The Muse, Jessie Burton
I adored The Miniaturist! It was one of those books which had stayed with me: the cold of her repressed Amsterdam, the sweetness of marzipan, the claustrophobic house. The hint of the supernatural. The difficult, prickly bond between the women. So it was with pleasure and anticipation that I began The Muse and it took… Continue reading The Muse, Jessie Burton
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Weekly Round Up: 2nd July 2018
Exciting news this week! New blog features have arrived! Well, been made. By me. I'm not sure they quite work right, but as I'm seeking access to ARCs and am signed up to NetGalley and other blogging lists, I learn that a Review Policy is required. It sounds terribly formal and... binding. But if these… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 2nd July 2018
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The Betrayal of Trust and A Question of Identity, Susan Hill
Ahhhh Lafferton. Possibly even more dangerous than Midsomer or a dinner party with Jessica Fletcher and Jane Marple! The serial killer centre of England. I've lost track of the numbers of serial killers in the Simon Serrailler series: they've targetted women for medical reasons, abducted young children; they've targetted weddings and, now, the elderly in… Continue reading The Betrayal of Trust and A Question of Identity, Susan Hill
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Weekly Round Up: 26th June 2018
As we continue to slog through exam marking, the time available for reading has alas dropped and the wakefulness and attention span when the time arrives is also limited! I am continuing to listen to Jessie Burton's The Muse on the journeys into and out of work and enjoying the characters of Odelle and Olive. It isn't… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 26th June 2018
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The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz
Sometimes you want to like a book just so damn much that it feels like you're the failure when you end up not liking it. So it was for me with this novel. Now there is no doubt that Horowitz can plot a cracking crime story: Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, Magpie Murders are all testimony… Continue reading The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz
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Weekly Round Up: 19th June 2018
Oh dear. Weekly Round Up. Weekly Round Up. After only two weekly round ups on the blog, I missed one already! *le sigh! Still, my blog, my rules... I'm not fretting about it! My reading over the last couple of weeks has primarily been focused on the unseen original genius manuscripts of teenagers, produced in a paltry… Continue reading Weekly Round Up: 19th June 2018
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