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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I came to be reading this because both it and the films have been recommended to me by so many people, and to be honest, I think if it hadn’t have been I would…
Continue readingThe Boy In Winter’s Grasp by John D. Scotcher Basing fantasy adventure stories around the Arthurian legends is nothing new, and nor is setting them in wartime. What is different, is mixing them both together, into a Big book with…
Continue readingMr Tumnal has now been out in the real world for a month and and a half, and its already out sold my debut novel by this point in the publishing cycle, and its starting to gather up a number…
Continue readingA Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge This is a big, epic book involving an complex, involving thriller and whodunnit. I came to this book after reading Frances Hardinge’s brilliant, if terrifying, Cuckoo Song, and I was cautious that this…
Continue readingBy the end of 2013 had smashed my personal reading challenge of 20 books by a whopping 195%, and so I vowed in the next year to read as many as that again. In terms of challenges though I erred…
Continue readingThe Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell Not many books can be described as beautiful books, but this is one that is truly stunning. From the partly printed, partly transparent dust jacket revealing further cover art…
Continue readingThe Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame This is a classic book that has, on more than one occasion this year, jumped off the bookshelf again and shouted re-read me! Once, was when a section of it was used…
Continue readingStrandline /C by Tamsin Showbrook My interest in the original Strandline book was in its premise of there being different peoples and races that live unseen from ‘our world’ amongst us but on the edges of our society, on the…
Continue readingThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis I’ve been meaning to re-read the C.S. Lewis classic for a ages, and climbing through the wardrobe into Narnia at The Story Museum a few week’s ago was the final…
Continue readingRooftoppers by Katherine Rundell I first found about this book when I saw a it in a window display from the bus and I added it to my To Read list straight away. However it was not until I visited…
Continue readingCuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge This is a dark and gothic tale, with a brother lost in the war, and a family torn apart through grieving for him. There is sibling rivally and a father with a dark secret. There…
Continue readingAlexandra Fry Private Eye Tutankhamun’s Gift by Angella Graff This is the sequel to Angella Graff’s wonderful adventure-thriller, Alexandra Fry: the Curse of the Lion’s Heart, a story that introduced us to our teenage heroine who can see ghosts, battles…
Continue reading26 Characters: celebrating childhood story heroes by Cambridge Jones (Photographer) Alice Rochester (Editor), Andy Stanton (Forword) The only problem with this book – the accompanying guide to the inspiring exhibition at Oxford’s Story Museum of the same name – is…
Continue readingThe Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory Whilst I enjoy historical fiction, I always approach the genre with a certain amount of trepidation, because of a fear that the characters and the settings are going to confuse me. I therefore was…
Continue readingHow Novels Work by John Mullan Whether you are already and an author, aspire to write books, or just enjoy reading them I would recommend this book to everyone. I would defy you to read this and not think about…
Continue readingThe Princess Bride by William Goldman Ever since I first saw The Princess Bride film I have loved it – loved it as much as a dear old friend. How come then that I have only just discovered that there…
Continue readingLabyrinth by Kate Mosse It is clear that this story was inspired by the fortified medieval Cité of Carcassonne, and its a creative inspiration that I am all too familiar with. I was first told about this book shortly after…
Continue readingCold Comfort by Quentin Bates After the plodding start to the first book in the Officer Gunnhilder series of novels, the series settles down with the second story. Gunna has a new job in the serious crime unit and it…
Continue readingThe Woodcutter by Kate Danley Everyone loves fairytales don’t they? It seems from this debut novel that it is possible to love then too much. I wanted to like this book so much, but in the end I found it…
Continue readingFaceless Killers by Henning Mankell For the first time in possibly a decade I’m reading more than I have in ages; disiplining myself to set aside time to read just as I have set aside writing time, and its working….
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