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The Asylum by John Harwood John Harwood novels are things of beauty that come only every few years and so are things to saviour. I first encountered his gripping, unputdownable, style with his second novel The Seance and quickly devoured…
Continue readingCatching Fire by Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games books are definitley compulsive, if deeply, deeply disturbing reading. I must be virtually alone in only having seen the first movie, and so I have been able to read this as book…
Continue readingMay Queen Killers by Lorna Dounaeva With May Day celebrations and small village life, you might think that this was going to be a Midsummer Murders-esque cozy mystery, but a cozy mystery this is not. The village in question is…
Continue readingA Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon I almost only gave this book four stars down to the physical and audible queaziness that I felt whilst reading four pages exactly halfway through this book (I say reading, but it was…
Continue readingThe Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge This is a book about secrets and lies, and the truths they both can conceal. Set in Victorian England, on a remote island, this is a dark mystery that concerns science, academic research, and…
Continue readingThe Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan This is a book of big, powerful themes told through lilting, poetic language, but at its heart its a family struggle of thwarted ambition and family heritage. The story is set in a world that,…
Continue readingJonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke I like this book, but it is not a page turner. It reads like a Dickensian, Victorian drama, but Dickens it is not. I feel bad for not loving this book from…
Continue readingOnce Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale by Marina Warner This is a must read for anyone and everyone who loves Fairy Tale. Published as one of Oxford University Press’ brilliant and incredible Short Introduction series of…
Continue readingThe Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and The Secret History of Wonderland by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst I don’t read nearly as much non-fiction as I should, and hardly any biographies. Usually when I do read biographies I start off with enthusiasm…
Continue readingThe Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig This is a dark and disturbing, distopian vision of the future. It’s set in a post-apocolyptic world – where The Blast is a thing of history. In this world everybody is born with a…
Continue readingVixen by Rosie Garland The old adage goes that you should never judge a book by its cover. It’s true that I adore the cover of this book, and it’s also true that I decided to read this book because…
Continue readingGone Girl by Gillian Flynn Gillian Flynn probably describes this story best as “dark and nasty” at the end of the author interview that features at the end of the book. At it’s heart this is a really, really simple…
Continue readingThe Collectors by Philip Pullman When the existence of this new short story set in the His Dark Materials universe popped up on my social media feed, I bought it straight away! It’s the most gorgeously perfect little spin off…
Continue readingEqual Rites by Terry Pratchett There are apparently different ‘entry’ points to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and in retrospect, I suspect that year’s ago when I read The Colour of Magic – it being the first – was probably the…
Continue readingTruckers: The First Book of the Nomes by Terry Pratchett When Terry Pratchett sadly died last week I felt terrible guilt that I had not fallen in love with his books in the way that so many people (and most…
Continue readingA Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones is a phenonemon that everyone seems to read and/or watched and have been raving about. I actually ended up reading this pretty…
Continue readingA Song for Ella Grey by David Almond Ever since I first read David Almond’s Skellig I have been a fan of his writing, and loved every one of his books, and this is no exception. A Song for Ella…
Continue readingNolander (Emanations 1) by Becca Mills This is a book with a very interesting premise that somehow fails to deliver. I absolutely loved the use that Beth makes of 35mm photography and developing her own black and white prints, and…
Continue readingGullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge My people knew all this once, but then we made up a story about it and forgot everything but the story. And that is how legends are born. That is, legends, and misunderstandings… Gullstruck Island…
Continue readingThe Miniaturist by Jessie Burton Although I had heard some very good things about this book I was unsure if I was going to take to it; a period novel set in Amsterdam about Nella, newly married to a successful…
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