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The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman This is the book that concludes Philip Pullman’s epic trilogy, and it is the most complex of the three. In Northern Lights we are introduced to the recognisable but different Oxford of Lyra Belaqua’s world with a self-contained,…
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Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman I’m going to get pilloried by the Gaimanites out there, but this book falls a little flat for me. Neil Gaiman has an authoritative voice and clearly knows the stories in and out, but this I fear…
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Friend Request by Laura Marshall The book that is, from the title on, all about Facebook this is a psychological thriller for the FriendsReunited generation. It concerns our protagonist, Louise (I am loath to say heroine as Laura Marshall deliberately paints her…
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The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman This is the second book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materialstrilogy and has such it does exist in that slightly awkward middle-book-between-the-beginning-and-the-end way. It starts though, in scenes that is as vivid a beginning as it’s predecessor, Northern…
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The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce Everyone knows the power of music to transform lives don’t they? It’s why music is so important. It’s why it’s so sad that when governments through the ages look for things to cut they cut the…
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The Explorer by Katherine Rundell After Rooftoppers any book by Katherine Rundell was going to face a tall order. Where here last book, The Wolf Wilder, delved into the dark and mysterious world of the Russian forest and a history…
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Northern Lights by Philip Pullman With the publication of book one of the long-awaited The Book of Dust in October, and 22 years after I first read, and was blown away by, this book, I decided it was time for…
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Imaginary Friends by Philip Pullman This is a short volume, published both in celebration of Independent booksellers, and also as a teaser of the Dæmon Voices that is to follow later this year. A collection of essays about writing, this…
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The Forever Ship by Francesca Haig What is there more to say about to this book other than it is the explosive finale to the Fire Sermon trilogy of books. For a world where everyone is born with a fatal…
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The Gifts of Reading by Robert Macfarlane The woodcut cover of this short essay on gifting the pleasure through books hints too at the other theme of the book, that of journeys trodden on foot – a subject that Robert…
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling It is scarcely credible to think that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is 20 years old this year. It is just as incredible to realise that in all that time…
Continue readingOur Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas This is at its heart the book about a writer, Meg, who is (unsuccessfully) writing her novel. She’s a successful ghostwriter for an author who doesn’t exist, and occasional journalist, but she is her…
Continue readingCoot Club by Arthur Ransome If Swallows and Amazons is the childhood classic to remember, Coot Club is its equal. We first encounter Dick and Dot in the book that comes before it when they are with the Swallows and…
Continue readingBest Murder in Show (Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries Book 1) by Debbie Young Debbie Young’s debut novel (she is the author already of various anthologies of short stories and non-fiction) is billed as a cosy-mystery – I would suggest the…
Continue readingThe Fossil Hunters by Betty Salthouse Who didn’t have a fascination for a fossils and dinosaurs as a child? This is a delightfully traditional tale of childhood adventure. Andy and Darren are two boys who dream of making a big…
Continue readingSilent Voices: A Selection of Poems Written by Those Not Always Heard by Jo Allmond (Editor), Joy Thomas (Editor) This is quite simply an outstanding anthology of poetry however you look at it. Every poem had me gripping the page…
Continue readingSpring: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons by Melissa Harrison (Editor) The calendar year may start in January in the depths of winter but for most, the year begins with Spring. This is the first in Melissa Harrison’s stand-out series…
Continue readingGrief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter I confess that when I first found out about this book – struck by the cover in a bookshop window – thought it was a beautiful tale of nature writing. That,…
Continue readingThe Old Ways: A Journey On Foot by Robert Macfarlane This book is not quite what I expected. Not that I really knew much of what I did expect. I imagined that it might be travel writing by a man…
Continue readingThe Book by Jessica Bell Wow! Just wow! This is fast-paced, powerful story that grabs you at the first page and carries you to the very last page. Half pages of a journal (The Book) written by Bonnie’s mother and…
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