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Cuckoo 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 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 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 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….
Continue readingThe Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris I loved what Joanne Harris has done with the character of the Norse God Loki in her earlier books, Runemarks, and Runelight, and so the prospect of the story of the Norse world…
Continue readingElizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey This is a quite remarkable story from a debut novelist to watch in the future. Emma Healey’s story is told by Maude – an old lady living with the onset of dementia – as…
Continue readingThe Voice That Thunders by Alan Garner I began to read this book of essays and lectures with some trepidation. Since before my teenage years I have loved Alan Garner’s books and have grown up with them at my side,…
Continue readingTales of the Norse Gods by Barbara Leonie Picard, Rosamund Fowler (Illustrator) This is a charming little book that takes you through the stories of the Norse Gods. There is an over-arching story that runs through the series of shorter tales…
Continue readingFrozen Out by Quentin Bates I’ve not really read much detective fiction/thrillers so I am unused to the conventions of the genre but I enjoyed this book – the first in the Officer Gunnhildur series. It’s a story set at…
Continue readingOne Wish by Michelle Harrison Some people might think that stories about fairies are childish and silly and possibly inconsequential. Not so, the fey of Michelle Harrisons 13 Treasures books. They are dark and scary, tricksy and all too real….
Continue readingAlphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story by Michael Rosen I have enjoyed dipping in an out of this book a chapter – or should I say a letter – at a time since Christmas. The history of, and the…
Continue readingThe Crowfield Demon by Pat Walsh This is the second in the Crowfield trilogy by Pat Walsh – a series of books that pitches religious beliefs with beliefs of magic and the fae world. Our hero is Will an orphan…
Continue readingThe River at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston, illustrated Peter Boston Lucy Boston’s first and original book, The Children of Green Knowe has long been a favourite of mine – a ghost story with a hint of fantasy set in the quietly mysterious Fens. Six…
Continue readingAsh Wednesday by Ethan Hawke This is a fantastic, thoughtful, and insightful read about some not so likeable characters. That is not to say that it is impossible to like Jimmy, Chrissy, or their love story of a road trip…
Continue readingViking! by Kevin Crossley-Holland Vikings have had a resurgence of popularity in the last few years, as have the interest in the old Norse legends – just witness the new exhibition about the Vikings at the British Museum. This book…
Continue readingThe Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones, Ursula Jones The appearance of this book has been an unexpected pleasure for any Diana Wynne Jones fan, being the book that she was working on when she died, and for that you can forgive…
Continue readingStrandline by Tamsin Showbrook By the author’s own admission she wrote this story because she had “a bee in my bonnet for ages about feeling I had the right to criticise the novels of other people when I’d never tried…
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