A novel of dolls, dwarves, doppelgängers, and stories-within-stories.

When dollmaker Andrew falls in love with penpal Bramber, he travels across England to rescue her from the remote asylum in which she dwindles. On the way he reads five dark fairy-tales which not only unsettle him, but start to influence his actions.

With elements of fantasy, folklore, and metafiction, this is essentially a novel about influence.

#newrelease #dolls

This novel drip-drip-drips with cold, slimy gothic delight.

Teenage Marina and Oscar spy on a woman in a graveyard one Sunday. They follow her...and from that moment on they are hunted by a nightmare from the depths of Barcelona‘s old quarter.

There are eyeless puppets, masked women, severed hands, tunnels, lashing storms, spooky houses, flasks of elixir, creatures from nightmares...

#CarlosRuizZafon #Marina #gothic #Barcelona #ya #flatlay

At times a psychological thriller, a tale of wilderness survival, and a love story: Kristin Hannah‘s The Great Alone portrays a family living at the edge of civilization in the Alaskan wilds. The narrative gripped my heart and I had to cover the upcoming page with my hand so not to inadvertently peek ahead during the drama.

Wildly recommended.

#kristinhannah @StMartinsPress #goodreads

Teenage thief Lila Bard is the engine powering the pace in the first of V.E. Schwab‘s trilogy - a fantasy set across four parallel worlds. Lila has the quips, is plucky and courageous, and has the raw hunger to make her a heroine to cheer for.

#veschwab #titanbooks #lilabard #fantasybooks #yalit #adsom

After a chance encounter at a police station, naïve protagonist Jean becomes smitten with a mysterious woman living under a false name and giving vague answers.

Published in 1992, Un Cirque Passe (After the Circus) is notable for its noir-like ambience of Paris in the sixties and the concision of its sentences. A short, intriguing read.

French author Patrick Modiano won the Nobel prize for literature in 2014.

#patrickmodiano #yalepress #french

What starts as a comedy of manners accelerates at the midpoint into a gripping psychological-noir.

Written in 1921 Elizabeth Von Arnim‘s marital-chiller Vera predates Daphne Du Maurier‘s Rebecca by 16 years and makes for a fascinating comparison.

#vera #elizabethvonarnim #vintageclassics @penguinrandomhouse

Celeste Ng‘s second novel Little Fires Everywhere must make for rowdy, riveting bookclub discussions!

Here‘s what I wished I‘d known before I read it: not only is Shaker Heights a real place, author Celeste Ng grew up there!

Have you read this? What did you think?

#celesteng #littlefireseverywhere #shakerheights #bookworm #familydrama #penguinpress #america #bookphotography

Packed with adventure and intrigue, this is the fastest-paced Poldark novel so far.

It also has some disquieting scenes which force the reader to re-evaluate their sympathies towards or away from the main characters. Utterly engrossing. 🖤

#poldark #poldarkbooks #poldarkseries #warleggan #winstongraham #panmacmillan

Puzzles ‘til the end!

When a body is found in Clara Morrow‘s flowerbeds, Chief Inspector Gamache, Inspector Beauvoir, and ascending star Agent Lacoste return to the idyllic village of Three Pines.

Though less structurally daring than its predecessor - Bury Your Dead - this is Penny‘s most confident village-located mystery so far.

#louisepenny #minotaurbooks #atrickofthelight #murdermystery #booklover #bookworm #canada #meetmeinthreepines

A book to read with a highlighter.

Mary Oliver‘s sentences have been refined and polished to high gloss - each rich in thought and image. This gives Upstream a heartiness, despite being a slender volume.

For me the two exceptional essays were Swoon and Bird. The first, a riveting account of a stairwell spider, and the second a joyous adoption of an injured seabird.

#maryoliver #upstream #poetry #essays #penguinpress #penguinrandomhouse

Hoffman‘s writing is smooth as cherry pie.

Practical Magic bursts with whimsy and weather, beauty and nature, lemons and love - love at first sight especially. The women are hotties, the men are dreamboats, the hyperbole lyrical. It‘s all so fluffy and charming that the fairly frequent use of the word f•ck seems not only crude, but belonging to a different book entirely.

Honey-sweet escapism.

#bookphoto #practicalmagic #alicehoffman

Best yet!

Bury Your Dead, the sixth from Canadian author Louise Penny, is her most accomplished novel so far. Structurally it‘s more sophisticated - teasing, in fact, with several interweaving plots. With less comedy, the overall tone is more even, and Penny is getting to the murders much quicker now.

What are you reading today?

#louisepenny #murdermystery #bookphotography

In 2005, Canadian writer Louise Penny hit the literary scene with her debut mystery Still Life. She has since written 13 novels centering on Chief Inspector Gamache and the charming village of Three Pines.

Still Life has some wobbly moments, but as soon as the murder occurs and Gamache arrives, the story runs smooth. The intrigue among the detectives is just as engrossing as the solving of the murder.

#louisepenny #murdermystery #stilllife

In Louise Penny‘s fourth book the action leaves Three Pines for a secluded lakeshore hotel and its rich and rotten guests.

The mystery is craftily plotted, the humour quick, and the dialogues between Chief Inspector Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie warm and witty. But I missed the intrigue within the police force and the Three Pines setting.

Who‘s your favourite Three Pines character?

#louisepenny

William Trevor‘s 1994 Whitbread Award-winning novel Felicia‘s Journey smoulders with suspense. At its simplest, it‘s a cat-and-mouse story, but it considers a number of prickly social issues as well: homelessness, abortion, forgiveness, family duty, and the afterlife among them.

I found it riveting, and Mr Hildritch is one of the creepiest characters I‘ve recently read.

#williamtrevor