Kate Atkinson is one of those authors who I have been aware of but avoided for a while. I put my hands up, it was and has been deeply unfair of me. Like that chap in the village I grew up in who always crossed the road when he saw my mother to avoid talking… Continue reading Life After Life, Kate Atkinson
Author: The Book Lover's Sanctuary
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Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan
Again, a gorgeous cover here and a decent read. This is the second in Marie Brennan's Lady Trent trilogy and it continues the adventures of Mrs Isabella Camherst - still to meet Lord Trent or to be named a lady - from the first book, A Natural History Of Dragons. Much of what I praised in… Continue reading Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan
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The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton
It is Sunday night. Today was warm, sunny, a little humid on the south western coast of England. And yet, standing in that sun, warmed by it, with this book open I am transported to a frozen canal sides of Amsterdam over the winter of 1686. And, as I write this, I'd love an olie-koecken.… Continue reading The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton
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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Jay Fowler
Why are so few book covers yellow? This looks gorgeous! Like a literary bumblebee. I have to confess, the only reason I picked this up was the cover - despite the advice parents give their children the world over. That and Waterstone's promotions. But I'm really glad I did because it's a powerful, haunting, human… Continue reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Jay Fowler
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A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan
This was a pleasant enough way to round of my half term: decently written in the engaging and practical voice of Lady Trent, this book conjures up a Regency style world with echoes of Austen. With dragons. The opening sections of the novel are the most Austenesque - if that's even a word. Isabella… Continue reading A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan
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The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North
"Complexity should be your excuse for inaction." I was born in 1973 in a village in Kent. So far as I know, only once. I have to say, when I die, if I were to be reborn as myself in the same village in 1973 again, I'd be a tad surprised! I mean 1973.… Continue reading The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North
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The World of Poo, Terry Pratchett
This tale has its origins in the novel Snuff: it is the bedtime story that Sam Vimes' son requires every night. It is utterly silly, amusing and delightful. How charming can a book about poo be? This is the most charming book about poo I have ever read! Does it have a plot? Of course:… Continue reading The World of Poo, Terry Pratchett
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The Road, Cormac McCarthy
What's the bravest thing you ever did? He spat into the road a bloody phlegm. Getting up this morning, he said. Yup. That is how bleak the world of this book is. Tragically, lyrically and devastatingly bleak, but bleak nonetheless. Nothing grows. Nothing lives. The world contains nothing of beauty or of value and very… Continue reading The Road, Cormac McCarthy
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The Girl With All The Gifts, M. R. Carey
Oh dear. I fear I'm going to be unpopular here because I've heard so much good about this book. People have raved about it. A friend, whose book recommendations I've often been steered well by, re-reads it. Monthly. So I apologise in advance. I found it to be... okay. It was standard zombie post-apocalyptic horror fare… Continue reading The Girl With All The Gifts, M. R. Carey
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The Secret Place, Tana French
I've noticed this book creep into the recommended reads of the local Waterstone's and into the supermarkets. Well... I was reading it first! So, what do we have here? It is a murder set in Dublin, Ireland revolving around the Murder Squad. It's the fifth in French's series which, as I understand from other reviews,… Continue reading The Secret Place, Tana French
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Blood On Snow, Jo Nesbø
This was not what I had expected from Nesbø. And I'm saying that in a good way. Nor is it what the sticker on the front proclaims it to be, "The Brand New Thriller" from the author of The Snowman. Well, it obviously is from the author of The Snowman, which is the only other Nesbø… Continue reading Blood On Snow, Jo Nesbø
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The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, Mark Hodder
Okay. I'm going to 'fess up here. This is no great work of fiction. This is not a literary masterpiece. It is neither lyrical, resonant or thought-provoking - those three adjectives appearing more and more regularly on my blog as praise-words for novels. It does not sparkle with intriguing new metaphors; its prose does… Continue reading The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, Mark Hodder
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All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
I am no historian and my knowledge of World War Two is pretty much skewed by literature as much as my knowledge of World War One is skewed by poetry. But literature of World War Two seems to have waited. Almost as if it were too horrific, too traumatic to digest. Much of the literature… Continue reading All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
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The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
When I was an impressionable teenager, which feels a long time ago now, I imbibed a lot of Arthurian legends. Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Gawaine, Bedivere, Ector, Cai, Pelias, The Fisher King, Tristran, Iseult, Mordred, Morgana La Fey. And from there, at University, a unit on Medieval Literature reunited me with Gawain in Sir Gawain and The… Continue reading The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
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Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge
This is a remarkable novel. Of the three CILIP Carnegie nominees I've read, this is my clear front runner. And I'm saying that having read Patrick Ness! Before I review it, however, I'm going to play a game with my sixteen year-old stepson, whose birthday it is today. Despite his protestations, he is going… Continue reading Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge
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Tinder, Sally Gardner
This is the first of my reviews of this year's CILIP Carnegie Medal nominees. Well, my second. Patrick Ness' More Than This I read back in August - see here for my review - six months before the shortlist was announced. And to be honest, it will take some beating!Anyway, this is my first knowing CILIP Carnegie read. And… Continue reading Tinder, Sally Gardner
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Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson
I've been considering reading this for a while. I do like Sanderson's world building, especially in the Mistborn series; I also have a penchant for superheroes, dating back to a misspent youth. Sanderson's take on superheroes was appealing and tempting, especially as the sequel to Steelheart, entitled Firefight, came out in January this year. And yet... For… Continue reading Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson
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My Swordhand is Singing, Marcus Sedgwick
Sedgwick has been on my radar for a few years now, creeping into the shortlists for the Carnegie Medal regularly. I'd previously read his White Crow, and Midwinterblood. The first of those I had thoroughly enjoyed, bouncing between time zones; the second was breathtaking, tracing echoes of a story back through generations and encompassing wartime escapes,… Continue reading My Swordhand is Singing, Marcus Sedgwick
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The House Of Silk, Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz, for me as an English teacher is almost synonymous with his teenage spy Alex Rider. Although probably with fewer helicopters, assassins and explosions. And more writing. The series is a very boy friendly, speedily paced series of novels which are one out go-to series for reluctant boy-readers. So it was with some surprise… Continue reading The House Of Silk, Anthony Horowitz
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How To Be Both, Ali Smith
I find with this blog that some books can be reviewed almost from the moment you finish them. Others, I need time to ... ruminate. To cogitate. To digest. To reflect on. This book, Ali Smith's Man Booker Shortlisted How To Be Both, definitely falls into that latter category. It is beautiful. It is thoughtful.… Continue reading How To Be Both, Ali Smith
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Death Bringer, Derek Landy
Death Bringer. An apt title to read this week as I have struggled with another vile bug. Or possibly the same vile bug that I've had since Christmas and never really shifted. The Death Bringer virus. Or perhaps just book six in the Skulduggery Pleasant series. I lost faith a little with Mortal Coil and… Continue reading Death Bringer, Derek Landy
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The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell
Ahhhhh David Mitchell. This, for me, is probably your crowning glory. I loved the realism and naturalistic voice of Black Swan Green; I also loved the mysticism and scope of Cloud Atlas. The Bone Clocks incorporates both those elements whilst ramping up the fantastical into a breathtaking and deft novel. The novel most closely resembles… Continue reading The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell
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Lamentation, C. J. Sansom
I do love a book with a map in its cover! I must confess I'm not entirely sure what this map adds to the book, but at a personal level, I used to live pretty much where Shardlake's house is! Inside Lincoln's Inn. Abutting Chancery Lane. And that, pretty much, sums up the appeal of… Continue reading Lamentation, C. J. Sansom
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Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones
Many things about being a teacher vex me: longer hours than the public realise, pay, governmental meddling. Paperwork. Ofsted. As a teacher of English though, the lack of imagination in exam boards' choices for set texts is pretty high on the vexing-list. Really, Of Mice And Men, again? An Inspector Calls as modern drama? Don't… Continue reading Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones
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Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
Woohoo my first finished novel of 2015 and a start to my Reading Challenge! This book was not what I expected. There was something very evocative and intriguing about both the title and cover - as well as the photographs inside. Almost all of which, according to the note appended to the novel, are genuine… Continue reading Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
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