An absolute mic-drop of a book. Immaculately written by a woman of obvious intellect, compassion, tact & wit. Impeccably researched and referenced (always a turn-on!) Fascinating, illuminating, terrifying, at times completely jaw-dropping, Klein's work here is level-headed, perceptive & accessible. Her revelations & conclusions are sometimes despair inducing, but make absolute, irrefutable sense. Her grace is just a class act. Boom 🎤💥

Starting this one today. Hate this cover though - I can literally hear it in my teeth! If you know what I mean....!

This one was surprisingly compelling. The author has got Quint's voice absolutely spot on - gritty, no-nonsense & unmitigated, but with a grizzled poetry all of its own. Quint's WW2 experiences explain much of his established character, but his stark and uncompromising philosophy of life and of fishing gives him an unexpected depth & vulnerability. I have to say I loved every gnarly page of this!

I am 37 (and have been for several years now) and Saturday was my 37th birthday (again). Imagine my confusion when all my cards, balloons, banners etc had the number 50 on!!! I didn't point out people's mistake as I didn't want to cause a fuss, but really!!! 50! Me! How rude! 😉

Birthday books! I have to wait a while for my new Kindle as I desperately wanted the pink one & it's out of stock. But I can wait because apparently I'm a grown-up now 😂

An absolutely delightful little volume! Reading this over the solstice period was a perfect treat & I'd highly recommend this to anyone who loves winter or words .... and if you love both, well, you'll love this book! It's a treasure trove of unusual, forgotten, obscure, weird words, with etymology & examples of usage, written with warmth, wit & a wry sense of humour. Just a really simple but thoroughly enjoyable book - would make a lovely gift.

Help needed!

I currently have my Kindle in the 'book' style case - it's held in place & the cover, which is stiff, opens like a book. However, I am soon upgrading to a gorgeous pink Paperwhite & would prefer a sleeve type case. But a lot of this style don't seem to offer the screen as much protection as they're too soft/thin.

Any recommendations for a sleeve with good protection qualities?

This one was a nicely soothing seasonal read with some really lovely pieces included. Because, as much as I hate the cold and gloom of winter - do not even mention snow to me because NO - I do love reading about it, especially when I'm warm and cozy and, specifically, inside. It comes from 2 books I read as a child: The Wind in the Willows (an excerpt included here) and The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Gah! How annoying! Just about to start this NetGalley title when I realise I've actually bought a physical copy subsequent to receiving this free version! There is, perhaps, a moral in this story & it could possibly be STOP BUYING BOOKS UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE ONES YOU'VE GOT, YOU PLONKER but obviously I'm going to totally ignore it like this whole incident never even happened!

This was pretty weird. Now, don't get me wrong - I love a bit of weird, me. But this went on way too long & became a little incoherent. I loved the fairy tale parallels, but again, the metaphors & references got a little repetitive & lost some of their impact. It had things to say about mother/daughter relationships, society's beauty ideals, vanity/self-image, grief - all heavyweight issues - but drew vague conclusions.

This memoir is a treat. Really nicely written, interesting subject matter, lots to relate to & an author who seems like a genuinely decent person (apart from his opinion on LoTR - no-one's perfect, I guess 🤣) This memoir covers his youth & early adulthood but is also interwoven with the story of his grandfather, an influential figure in his life. Funny, perceptive, poignant & engaging, who doesn't love the origin story of a fellow book-lover?

Christmas is never complete without a new Paperblanks notebook for my book journaling. I love the midi size with the clasp, and this design is divine - it sparkles beautifully in the light.

Also a Christmas book - this is the book I wish I could've written! Oh well, I can still emulate the research!

Another Christmas book - an absolute brick of a book, also totally gorgeous 😍

Another Christmas book - another multiple box ticker!

I was very fortunate to receive some lovely books from my family this Christmas!

Love Greece, love greek food, love cookery books - perfect! 🇬🇷♥️🇬🇷

I am now in my fourth week of some nasty virus that is showing absolutely no sign of buzzing off & leaving me be. Started this one last night - what I need is an early night & a few chapters snug in bed ... what I'm getting is a family get-together!

Happy New Year! May your 2025 be book filled and virus free!

Starting this one tonight! 🎅❄️⛄️🎄🎁

Intriguing premise, patchy execution - the writing veered wildly from the darkly poetic to the just plain bad. Similarly, the plot - at times engaging & sinister, at others a fuzziness of focus diluting the power of the story. I was never fully convinced BUT the characters & lacked any true connection with, or empathy for, any one of them. Pace was uneven, ending lacked punch. Liked the ideas around female revenge & retribution.

Starting this one tonight.

Cannot remember when I requested this one from NetGalley, but it sounds pretty fab! Getting stuck in ASAP!

This was almost entirely awesome. Great writing, good plot, memorable characters, all with a generous dash of quirkiness, dark humour & a little bit of (not sure what the word is for living/ghost relations!) romance! Loved the charismatic Bridie and her maid, Cora. Loved villain Gideon - so awful! I loved Bad Dorcas, boo! Hiss! And how could I not loved Ruby Doyle?! Fun, engaging read - I'd LOVE a sequel! Only negative was violent attack on MC.

This scrapes a So-So ONLY because it's Friday & I'm marginally less grumpy than normal. I didn't warm to it as it really wasn't what I was expecting - lots of the author's previous life (not interested) combined with a series of vague unconnected vignettes & the author's slightly tortured navel gazing. Worthy, but tedious when what I really wanted to know was .... HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE WITHOUT AMAZON PRIME AND WORDLE??!! HOW???!!!

Starting this gloriously titled book today.

Half-term mini-haul: Part 2

Half-term mini-haul: Part 1.

Starting this one today. Vaguely appropriate for the season, which is most unlike me!

If you're not careful you could get whiplash from how this book goes from seeming like some fluffy, chick lit kinda thing, albeit with some seriously grim WTF moments, to being a full-on re-do of the Bell Jar! What a journey! So cleverly written, Queenie is the ultimate unreliable narrator, breaking our hearts as she slides inexorably into a breakdown. Particularly love the inclusion of talking therapy as well as Queenie's realistic recovery.

This is beautifully written. Segal captures the unique agonies and ecstasies of having twin babies in neonatal intensive care so poetically, it really is heart rending. She explores this particular and peculiar mode of motherhood - one of separation & helplessness - with some touching & intriguing insights into what it means to be a mother, negotiating her own fears & inadequacies with grace, wit & intelligence.

Starting this one today. Am wondering...how long could I go without technology - I can't imagine how I'd get through a single day! It would be so ridiculously difficult!

I absolutely loved the whole Bagthorpe Saga as a 10 year old and still quote Daisy to this day. My 10 year old isn't quite as enamoured. Oh well, sometimes the apple falls a very, very long way away from the tree! 🍎 🌳

Had this one around for a while, today I start it!

My record for 'longest time a book is on the shelf before being read' is 20 years with Infinite Jest. A couple of years is nothing 🤣🤣🤣

The writing here is fabulous - SO readable, SO engaging. It's lively, warm, witty, incisive, kinda enveloping. The plot builds with tremendous force. And how can it all end? All these threads, all the subtle foreshadowing? As a casual reader, I was cross & dissatisfied with the ending - once I'd put my English Lit. graduate head on & cogitated further, I was left stunned. No spoilers, but it is devastating & inevitable & unexpectedly perfect.

Starting this one tonight... or maybe in the morning (it's late & it's been a loooong week!)

Another medical memoir about early motherhood/having a baby in neonatal care. This was not my personal experience, but I find myself utterly humbled by the strength of these mothers & wonder could I have coped with similar.

The start is heavy going & I thought "I hate this", but then I started thinking "No, actually, this is rather good" and by the end I loved it. The MC lives a dismal life - being exploited for a freak medical condition, making awful decisions, being horribly naive, trusting the worst people & enduring more physical violence than any living thing deserves. But this is an incredibly engaging read. There is something Hardy-esque about - cont. below ⬇️

Nope. Weak in many aspects. Plot was scant, but dragged out to within an inch of its life. Certain scenes are laughably unbelievable. Dialogue is ... weird - characters reacting and responding in illogical ways. Author seems obsessed with certain odours, but these repetitive descriptions don't set the scene as well as she seems to think. There is an overwrought cheesiness that is off-putting. Ending is pants.🩲🩲🩲

Currently devouring this one. It's a proper door-stop of a book, my hand aches holding it! But sometimes I like to ditch the Kindle for the feel of a tree-book (as apposed to an e-book!)

Starting this one tonight. Really striking cover.

Written with warmth & an understated passion, this is a thoroughly fascinating & engaging read. It's incredibly well researched - the author speaks of not only walking the same routes but trying to evoke & replicate the exact emotions as the original walker! The sections on each woman/walker/writer are given depth by the author's analysis of their purpose for walking - as an act of creation, defiance, escapism, self-affirmation, or ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Really nicely written with a decent plot, this is sadly a bit boring.

And is it just me or is anyone else getting fed up of the literary device of 'frames'? Especially when they're irrelevant to the actual story! To me, it just unnecessary padding - get on with the proper story and stop faffing about!

Yes, I DO seem very grouchy today, don't I?! 😠😠😠

Didn't like this. It was, well, a bit rubbish really. There's no plot, just this single very good idea that is kinda cute & fun, I guess, but it goes nowhere & does nothing. A few predictable vignettes but nothing of substance. No conflict, no progression, no point. Just overly twee padding. Nicely written but, for me, it's empty, tedious & unsatisfying. Premise promises much but delivers a novel length blurb. I need a story!!!!

Had this one for a while, and now it's finally time to read it! Love this cover!

Wobbly start, hits its stride, finishes strong - this really is a great read. The premise is solid, the writing engaging, the characters make a compelling ensemble - surely the recipe for sequels?! Please?!

This has the same indescribable quality as some of my favourite stories from my childhood - that blend of magic, danger, suspense, and adventure that is just exciting, compelling, escapist, and FUN!

It's won awards & everyone is raving about it - so it was fairly obvious I wouldn't rate it! (Seriously, why IS it always me?!) The Irish voice is irritating, a gratuitous gimmick for the sake of novelty, a cheap "unique selling point". Lampo is initially such an unpleasant character it's hard to warm to him during his redemption. I found the writing stodgy & the pace draggy. It wasn't as witty as it thought it was. It gets better at the end.

Tonight's read. Need to wind down as today has been a very exciting day (as any Ferrari fans will know!)

Reading this one right now. Picked purely for the gorgeous bright cover! Currently unsure about the contents but it's early day.

Wyl Menmuir's writing is just so gorgeously restful, it lulls me into a state of contemplative calm. So thoughtful & expressive, if he wrote a history of paint drying, I'd read it. His style is so perfectly aligned with his subject, they enrich one another in a glorious exchange of loveliness. And what a fascinating, enchanting subject it is. Trees and humans and our relationships. Oh, it really is just a joy to read this. It is utterly soothing.

Started this one last night. Initial thoughts - intriguing but writing is patchy, veering into cheesy YA-ishness at times. But I'll stick with it.

Getting stuck into this one. First few pages didn't hook me immediately, but I'm warming to it

A mid-level Pick, this is beautifully written & has some really nice Magical Realism elements - a sentient house, a shape-shifting djinn & the ghost of the MC's sister. It has a busy, sometimes a little messy, plot, but the dual time line is engaging & the characters are vivid & amusing. There is a poignancy that is really lovely, some quite gorgeous passages, and the ending is Just Right (a rare thing) An enjoyable summer read.

So this guy had it kinda rough - in fact, his was an absolute stinker of a childhood, no wonder he was going off the rails! But he survived & thrived when some of his peers crashed and burned. I found it fascinating to learn just how profound the effects of a suboptimal childhood can be - and what a privilege having a 'normal', happy upbringing actually is. Upsetting at times, but also inspiring.