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A very merry Christmas for this booklover
It’s that time between Christmas and New Year when no-one knows what day of the week it is and I start itching to take the decorations down and get everything back to normal. I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and was well and truly spoilt – well as much as the fiscal climate allows.…
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REVIEW: Snap
Oops, I’ve got my thumb over the author’s name in the photo. This rip-rollicking read is Snap by Belinda Bauer. It was a recommendation picked up from the BBC 2 television programme Between the Covers. And it is great. You might be able to see in that hideous yellow circle on the cover (I really…
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REVIEW: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Shall we have a look at something cosy and heart-warming for a change? The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce is a lovely, touching, feel good book. Published in 2012 and a Sunday Times best seller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Award, longlisted for the Man…
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REVIEW: Pine
Fancy a juicy gothic thriller to curl up with on a dark winter’s night? Well I have just the thing for you here. Pine, published in 2020, is the first novel from Scottish author, poet and editor Francine Toon and is a great spine-tingler for a December evening. Set in a small village surrounded by…
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REVIEW: The Honjin Murders
I love a good crime novel. I am also rather partial to Japanese literature. So when I found this, on Amazon I believe, I could not resist. Seishi Yokomizo is one of Japan’s most revered crime novelists and also one of the most prolific. The Honjin Murders introduces Yokomizo’s much-loved amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi. There…
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REVIEW: The Trees
If Sweet Bean Paste is one of the most beautiful books I have read this year, then The Trees is one of the most surprising. You know what it’s like. You’re in Waterstones bookshop, you have one ‘buy-one-get-one-half-price’ book in your hand and you are struggling to decide on the second book. A customer assistant…
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REVIEW: A Man Called Ove
The titular hero of A Man Called Ove, a grumpy, 59-year-old Swede who believes nearly all other humans are imbecilic, spends the vast majority of this book trying to commit suicide only to find himself thwarted at every turn. Now you’d think that doesn’t make for much cheerfulness, but this novel by Fredrik Backman is…
Raynor Reads Stuff 