Brutal murder in a Victorian music hall? A feisty heroine? Humour and twists galore? Definitely count me in!
Thanks to Gallic Books for sending me a copy of this book for review – as always, opinions are my own.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Tumbling Girl’ by Bridget WalshHaving read and enjoyed Lucy Foley’s previous books, ‘The Hunting Party’ and ‘The Guest List’, I was pleased to pick up ‘The Paris Apartment’ – another standalone mystery/thriller. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the book in exchange for an honest review.
The story centres on Jess, a young woman visiting Paris to stay with her half brother, Ben (as well as running away from her life in England). He lives in a luxurious apartment block but – when she arrives – Ben is missing. The other residents of the block are not helpful – and some are downright hostile to Jess and about Ben. As Jess struggles to piece together the events surrounding Ben’s disappearance, she also begins to uncover some shady secrets about the residents of 12 Rue des Amants…
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Paris Apartment’ by Lucy FoleyThanks to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Three couples rent an isolated luxury cabin for the weekend. It seems like the perfect opportunity to relax and escape the everyday stresses of high-powered jobs, parenthood and modern life. However, they didn’t bank on quite how remote the cabin is…especially with a violent storm on the way. Sinister elements from the past of the cabin – and its current residents – soon begin to surface. And there is no escape.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six’ by Lisa UngerI’ve followed the DI Nikki Parekh series from the start and was delighted to be invited onto this blog tour – thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and for providing the book.
Opinions are entirely my own.
About the Book:
Four dead bodies. One missing person. Let the game begin.
When an anonymous tip-off leads Detective Nikki Parekh and DS Sajid Malik to the sprawling Salinger estate, Nikki’s senses are on high alert. The brutal murder of all four members of the Salinger family has shocked the sleepy Bradford village to the core.
A mother, father, daughter, and son. . . all killed in exactly the same way – whilst sat around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly.
But Nikki notices that there are five pieces on the board. One of the players is missing… Did they manage to escape the killer, or was the killer part of the game?
Continue reading Blog Tour: ‘End Game’ by Liz MistryThanks to NetGalley for my review copy of ‘All the Dangerous Things’ in exchange for an honest review. I liked Willingham’s first book (‘A Flicker in the Dark’) so was very intrigued to see what would follow…
This book is told from the point of view of Isabelle Drake, a mother trying to make sense of her young son’s disappearance from his bedroom a year before. As she tells her story at true crime conventions, she attracts the attention of many people who all have their own theories about what happened to the toddler – including podcaster Waylon Spencer who convinces Isabelle to collaborate on his show. As Isabelle’s past is raked over, some unexpected and disturbing truths come to light.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘All the Dangerous Things’ by Stacy Willingham‘The Echo Man’ – the first book by Sam Holland – was one of the books I absolutely couldn’t put down in 2022, so I was delighted to be granted a copy of this latest book by NetGalley. As always, opinions are my own.
This story opens with an intriguing crime scene – a body is discovered on waste land with a spray-painted number next to the corpse. When more bodies and numbers appear, DCI Adam Bishop realises that this is only part of a much bigger – and much more horrifying – picture. When Dr Romilly Cole turns up in his office with evidence that links the latest crimes to previous murders, Adam is reluctant to believe her for multiple reasons. However, the numbered corpses keep turning up, leaving both Adam and Romilly facing up to their pasts while trying to change the future. Can the countdown be stopped before the killer hits the magic twenty?
Continue reading Book Review: ‘The Twenty’ by Sam HollandLong-time readers of my blog might remember me raving about a book called ‘Grave Secrets’ a while back – if you missed it, my enthusiastic ramblings can be found here.
I totally fell in love with the sassy, funny, feisty necromancer Lavington Windsor at the heart of that book – so I was delighted to be gifted a copy of the sequel, ‘Grave Danger’, by the author. Regardless of how the book got into my hands, opinions are entirely my own.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘Grave Danger’ by Alice JamesThanks to Random Things Tours for my place on the blog tour and my copy of the book for review. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
From the Publisher:
The Sunday Times bestseller from Booker winner Julian Barnes, this is a thrillingly original novel about truth, history and thinking for ourselves.
The Sunday Times Bestseller from the Winner of the Booker Prize.
She will change the way you see the world . . .
‘I’ll remember Elizabeth Finch when most other characters I’ve met this year have faded’
The Times
Elizabeth Finch was a teacher, a thinker, an inspiration. Neil is just one of many who fell under her spell during his time in her class.
Tasked with unpacking her notebooks after her death, Neil encounters once again Elizabeth’s astonishing ideas on the past and on how to make sense of the present.
But Elizabeth was much more than a scholar. Her secrets are waiting to be revealed . . . and will change Neil’s view of the world forever.
‘Enthralling . . . A connoisseur and master of irony himself, [Barnes] fills this book with instances of its exhilarating power’
Sunday Times
Booklist
‘A lyrical, thoughtful and intriguing exploration of love, grief and the collective myths of history’
Sunday Telegraph
‘A new novel from Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes is always a literary event, and Elizabeth Finch…is not different. Wistful, thought-provoking stuff.’
My Review:
Reading Julian Barnes is always a bittersweet experience for me; I was introduced to him the sublime A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters as a teenager by my step-father who is sadly no longer with us. Every new Barnes book is a joy, but one that I won’t get to share with him.
This book is narrated by Neil, a mature student who befriended his university lecturer, Elizabeth Finch. Their relationship became one of letters and occasional lunches before Elizabeth died and Neil is left her papers. As he considers the idea of writing a biography of her, he trawls the notebooks and the memories of those she left behind.
As with all Barnes’ books, it is packed with ideas and philosophical considerations. Elizabeth Finch was a scholar in many ways, but also an original thinker and someone with secrets; one of the things that Neil grapples with in the novel is how much someone can ever be truly known. This is explored further in the middle section of the book, Neil’s extended essay on Julian the Apostate, in which he considers who writes history and how it is revised over the ages.
I absolutely adored the sections that were so very Barnes – Neil’s confessions and ruminations (in a novel where not much actually happens – not that this is a problem!) put Barnes’ fans on familiar ground. Neil is thoughtful, aware of his own shortcomings, slightly awkward in his relationships with others, perhaps obsessive – an echo of other Barnes characters who have gone before. If you enjoy this style of thought-over-action novel (and I do), there’s much to like.
The character of Elizabeth Finch is also fascinating. She is only seen through the lens of Neil’s memories (and those of his fellow students who he speaks to about her or who feature in the memories). It’s clear she is a divisive figure – loved by some (including Neil) and not by others who cannot see her appeal. How true this is of a lot of us! Personally, I liked this independent, feisty and opinionated woman – the snippets of the contents of her notebooks (as included in the narrative by Neil) were intriguing and interesting. I felt like I should be highlighting and making notes, just as if I was in one of her classes!
The middle section of the book is a long essay, purportedly written by Neil in response to an interpretation of Elizabeth Finch’s notebooks. While interesting in a lot of ways – and absolutely fitting for Neil’s character – it didn’t engage me in the same way that the Neil/Elizabeth sections did. Stripped of the quirks of Neil’s narrative and the often-surprising tales of Elizabeth Finch’s life, this section reads like an academic biography. It fits with the novel, yes, and I understand the reasons for its inclusion, but I would have preferred more Elizabeth!
Overall, if you were a Barnes fan before, you still will be after reading Elizabeth Finch. Elizabeth herself is a character who will stay with you – and you’ll know way more about Julian the Apostate than you probably ever thought you’d need! If you’re new to Barnes’ writing, dive in – much like the views of Elizabeth in her students’ eyes, you’ll probably be captivated…and if not, I think philosophical and clear-sighted Elizabeth would recognise that you can’t win them all! Either way, this book will present interesting ideas that you’ll come back to even once you’ve put the book down.
About the Author:
Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times
number one bestseller Levels of Life and Nothing To Be Frightened Of, which won the 2021 Yasnaya Polyana Prize in Russia. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d’honneur.
If you’d like a copy of this book, please use my affiliate link below – thanks for supporting my blog with any purchases.
Thanks to the lovely people at Yellow Kite/Hodder and Stoughton for providing me with a copy of this new poetry book for review.
As always, opinions are entirely my own.
I’ve long been an advocate of literature as a means of wellbeing – for lots of us in the blogging community, books are where we relax, engage, challenge ourselves and zone out of everyday problems and stresses.
With this in mind, I was delighted to be asked to review Rachel Kelly’s ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone: Poems for Life’s Ups and Downs’. Kelly is a Sunday Times bestselling author as well as a mental health campaigner so I was interested in her poetry collection – an anthology of poems that have helped her over the years.
Continue reading Book Review: ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ by Rachel KellyI read a lot of non-fiction – probably something that makes me a bit different from a lot of book bloggers who (quite rightly) focus on the wealth of glorious fiction out there. I love fiction, read fiction and spent my academic life on (classic, modern and feminist) fiction.
But I have insomnia and a night-time non-fiction audiobook habit!
With this in mind, I thought I’d update on some of the brilliant non-fiction books that I’ve listened to or read recently.
Continue reading Fantastic Non-Fiction
