Delightful! A sweet little romance, a lovely happy family and some beautiful clothes. Just what I've come to expect from Susan Scarlett. #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

#BookReport for April. No romances on the list this month - I DNF‘d a few that were so uninspiring I can‘t even remember what they were. Geraldine, Normal Rules Don‘t Apply and Signs of Damage are all excellent. Geraldine is my pick for favourite of the month.

It's Democracy Sausage Day!

From her early days as Gerald in the Midlands, Zambia & an English boarding school, establishing her identity as Geraldine as a teenager in the prog & punk music scenes of the 1970s, finding herself transplanted to far away Perth & its underwhelming (to her) music scene in the early ‘80s to throwing herself into the battle for LGBT law reform in the 90s & 00s Geraldine insists on her right to be unashamedly herself. And she is excellent company ⬇️

After that last book I wanted something straightforward & simple & that‘s what I got here. A modern murder mystery with some entertaining dynamics between believable characters & quite a nice twist at the end. There are similarities with Big Little Lies, if that had been set around a boys school in Cornwall. Good fun.

Well that was really weird… but kind of interesting, even though I‘ve got no idea what it was trying to tell me. A fictional amalgam of Melbourne & Geelong begins twisting & changing, moving streets & buildings around apparently at random. An artist who has recently returned to the city becomes the target of vitriol when her former European collective gets into trouble. Her sister & nephew live almost exclusively online. There are some unusual⬇️

Like her most recent Jackson Brodie, this collection of short stories felt to me like Kate Atkinson having fun. I love her sense of humour and the apparently effortless way she nails her characters to recognisable types without reducing them to cliche. Very enjoyable.

Although this has a thriller-like structure & is a variation on the “trauma plot”, it is not a major departure from Diana Reid‘s previous novels. It is most interesting for its exploration of friendships & sibling relationships, the interplay of power, sexual politics & societal norms & of the cancer of secrets & lies. I think she‘s a really interesting writer, she always leaves me with plenty to think about. #ozfiction

What a wonderfully juicy bit of gothic fiction this is - it really has it all! Poor wilting Rosy, bravely battling Ughtred (that name😵‍💫), plucky, capable Betty, honourable Mount Dunston, all-American G Seldon & best of all the irredeemably villainous Sir Nigel - I envisioned him twirling his moustaches while he tormented his victims. Thoroughly enjoyable. Also, it‘s interesting that idioms we take for granted needed explanations #PersephoneClub

Here‘s my suggestions for #CampLitsy25

Although it‘s a variation on the old chestnut of empty-nester running away to exotic location (in this case Brittany) on discovering husband‘s infidelity, there is a lot to like about the way the story is told here. There is more to Audrey than first appears & the cast of supporting characters are original & entertaining. I could have done without the romantic subplot, but at least it wasn‘t presented as her ultimate fulfilment. #ozfiction

Former not quite pop star & single mother Florence throws herself into the investigation when one of her son‘s classmates goes missing. I confess I was mostly drawn to it because of the title (school gate trauma much?) & didn‘t have any real expectations, which was probably a good thing. The story rockets along at a furious pace & it‘s quite a fun read, although Florence is such a mess she is more annoying than amusing. Another low pick.

I‘m at almost exactly the same stage in my life as Rocky, the narrator of this story but I just can‘t relate to her at all. She was so appallingly needy. Her constantly overflowing emotions were tiresome & her suggestion that her calm & steady husband & son didn‘t have feelings seemed just plain cruel. But I enjoyed the bright & breezy writing that brilliantly evoked the atmosphere a summer beach holiday. A low pick.

Number 3 in the Sandhamn Murders series is a clever interweaving of past and present to create a plausible motive and opportunity for murder. I really enjoyed the descriptions of winter on the island. Looking forward to number 4 to see how things turn out for the main characters. #SeriesLove2025

I could keep hate-listening, but, honestly, life's too short.

#BookReport for March

Not a great reading month. Not at Home was my favourite for the month.

Two sweet m/m hockey romances from Catherine Cloud. I love the world she has created - I‘ve been immersed in her Same Old Streets AO3 collection lately. I enjoyed the tagged book last year, it seems to be the only title of hers in the Litsy database.

Nicely written and I enjoyed the story, but the romance was a bit weak. A low pick. Read with the #LittensLoveRomance group. Thank you @StayCurious

This has been my handbag book over the last few weeks. It is a lot of fun, particularly the antics of Frederica's younger brothers, & I enjoyed the romance too. I can see why it's a lot of people's favourite Heyer, but it hasn't replaced The Grand Sophy in my affections.

In 1966 Robert Simon opens a market cafe in Vienna. The stories of its staff and customers over the next ten years are small and often sad but always very real.

Hazel has a new job as a tea lady for the Waterside Workers Union and gets caught up in the mystery surrounding the disappearance of some valuable cargo. I flew through this one, but I have to admit to being more invested in the activities of Irene, Betty and especially Pixie than in the main mystery.
#SeriesLove2025

Sydney #BookHaul

@TrishB I was just about to ask who I had to thank for the lovely surprise I collected from the post office this morning! Thank you, my friend, it is most kind of you 😘 It looks great. Have you read it?

What to do when someone tramples all over your clearly set boundaries, breaks every promise they‘ve ever made and flagrantly lies whenever convenient, all with a smile on their face? No, not a politician, a thoroughly unsatisfactory tenant! Miss MacFarren‘s response, supremely well supported by the remarkable Maxine, is a delicious revenge. I felt a little sorry for Joss, but he was so easy to manipulate! And Jimjams😢
#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

How to be a Regency influencer 🤣

Once I started I could not stop reading. I found the story compulsive and kind of suffocating. The husband was so appalling - so self righteous, so unreliable, so unappreciative - I kept thinking “how dare he?”. I was beyond anger and into claustrophobia. While her relationship was outside my experience (and I recognise more than ever how lucky I am in mine) the description of caring for a small child was very relatable. #ToB2025 👇

Second book in the Sandhamn Murders series was another great mystery set in the beautiful Stockholm Archipelago. The captain of a sailboat set to take part in the Round Gotland Race is fatally shot just as the starting gun is fired and the committee of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club find themselves suspects. It kept me turning the pages for the mystery, the ongoing personal stories and the backdrop of summertime on Sandhamn.
#SeriesLove2025

#BookReport for February

My favourite this month was Indian Horse.

The story and the characters were entertaining and held my attention, but what really struck me about this book was the way it dealt with identity and the need to belong. Jane‘s identity as a mulatto, and how she felt that positioned her in society, is well beyond my experience and I feel I‘ve done some learning in trying to understand her. Read for#ToB25

Wharton‘s last, unfinished novel explores the experience of wealthy American girls, shunned by New York society, who go on to marry into the British aristocracy. While the toffs like the money and the girls like the feeling that they have beaten NY, the culture clash prohibits marital harmony. Wharton‘s writing is as glittering as ever & it is a great shame that we will never know how she would have developed her intended story. #WhartonBuddyRead

More M/M hockey romance 😊 I enjoyed both of them.

What an extraordinary book! The outrage of the treatment meted out to indigenous people in the mid C20th is all the more affecting because it is depicted in such a matter-of-fact way. There are direct parallels with Australia. In contrast, the hockey scenes are sublime. I can‘t imagine such transporting writing about Aussie Rules 🤣 I‘m glad I‘m sufficiently hockey literate to be able to appreciate it. Looking forward to the discussion. #OhCanada

Thank you, Leah, for this delightful package. I am particularly pleased with Bath Tangle because I have a couple of other Heyer‘s in this format. And, yes, the Kloester is an essential resource for a Heyer fan 😊. I love the teacup card too. It is so kind of you to think of me 😘. And I did follow your instruction 😆

Thank you, Helen, for these lovely gifts. I‘ve been super busy this last week with celebrations of various kinds, so my thanks are a bit delayed, sorry about that. Anyway, it was extremely kind of you to think of me😘

Thank you, Paula, for these books. It‘s very kind and thoughtful of you. I need to read Coloured Television for #ToB25 and Love Medicine because you recommended it 😊 Look out for an email soon 😘

I liked the story & there are a lot of interesting ideas & observations. Unfortunately, a lot of it is repetitive & overly detailed. The central point about the position & perception of women in Japan is a good & important one, but it was made over & over with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer & the regular doses of food porn left me cold. A light pick read for my IRL book group.

#PersephoneClub

I feel a bit guilty for enjoying this story so much since pretty much all the characters were unhappy one way or another. All those unhappy marriages! Did no one ever marry someone they actually liked? Widowed Mrs Fowler was the only one who seemed mostly contented, but even she was tinged with sadness about absent sons. Belle was quite a character - I thought she could be a grown up Violet Elizabeth from the Just William books 😆

It took me a while to realise what the author was doing here(I‘m a bit thick sometimes 🙄) but once I did it made a lot more sense. While I was moved by both strands of the story, the final coming together left me unsatisfied. For me, the 2 strands were uneven in their treatment of the inner emotional lives of the 2 central characters so it didn‘t quite add up. Nonetheless, Little Dave & their friends will stay with me for a while.
#ozfiction TW👇

I‘m bailing just past the halfway point because I‘m just not interested and I‘m annoyed by the tone of the writing. I feel like the author thinks it‘s funny and it‘s really not.

I‘m not at all sure that I understood this book at all. My take away is that African immigrants to the USA (and their children) have a strong sense of dislocation and not belonging and they are always on edge, waiting to be arrested. I kept waiting for a story beyond this. If it existed, I lost it in the constantly shifting timelines.

#BookReport for January. Not a bad start to the year. 3 great reads from @TheKidUpstairs ‘s #AuldLangSpine list (thank you again Megan and Alyisha) including my pick for book of the month, Ordinary Human Failings.

More hockey romance @LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I know, I know…

This one is a trilogy about a hockey player who is clearly on the autism spectrum (this is very well done and only addressed directly in the Afterword) and his rival. I liked that playing, travelling, training and interaction between teammates were a big part of the story.

Sweet romance between a widowed, single father hockey player & a woman recovering from the physical & emotional ravages of trying to make it as a professional ballet dancer. It dealt with some heavy topics while being both realistic & positive about them. I loved that the hero was explicit about coming to understand the burden of the family‘s emotional labour that his wife had borne for him. While sex happens & is talked about it‘s not graphic.

Entertaining slow burn romance featuring a strong and (very) silent man and the woman who got him to talk (a bit). My only complaint is that the 🌶, when it finally happened, was disappointing. But maybe that‘s just me. Thanks to @TheSpineView for putting this one on my radar.

My copy of this book includes an interview with the author in which she says “The part of inequality, economic and otherwise, that I find most tragic is that second chances are not doled out the same to everyone who makes a mistake.” That, and the title, really says it all. Heartbreaking. A great book I wouldn‘t have read without the excellent matchmaking of @monalyisha and the excellent taste of @TheKidUpstairs
#AuldLangSpine

A soft pick for me too. The Bastard of Pinsk certainly had its moments - I enjoyed the way she threw just about every Victorian romantic cliche in existence into it & all the misunderstanding of language, not to mention the “facts of life” - but it I thought its length meant the comedy became laboured. But overall it was quit a fun take on period romance.
#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

Dolores is 43 & deputy principal in a secondary school. When she discovers her husband‘s AI sex doll they split up & she becomes obsessed with the doll while raking over her memories & dealing with students‘ problems. This is an IRL book group choice, otherwise I think I would have bailed. There are an awful lot of important topics in it but I didn‘t feel like it really got to grips with any of them. At least there should be plenty to talk about.

Oh, the joys of families in enforced proximity for a celebration! All the ways they can provoke, irritate and misunderstand each other without being bad people, just people with different outlooks and personalities. I enjoyed the story. I would have enjoyed it even more if it had taken a less obvious direction towards the end. But at least it wasn‘t tied up in too neat a bow.

I would never have guessed that a platonic relationship between an overtly gay man and an aromatic, pansexual woman could provide the basis for a totally satisfying regency romance. But this is Alexis Hall, so I should have known. It‘s a somewhat chaotic story, full of humour, smut, kink, queerness, wisdom & a lot of heart. I‘ve enjoyed all 3 “Something Something” books but this is my favourite. A great beach read.

Who can resist a story about the joys of reading? Clara finds such pleasure in the beauty of Proust‘s writing that it literally changes her life, taking her in a direction she would never have imagined. I liked the other people in the salon too. It reminded me why I enjoyed reading Proust, but also why I didn‘t make in beyond the 5th volume. Another pick from @TheKidUpstairs ‘s #AuldLangSpine list!