Starting this one tonight.

Current read. Great cover.

This is the book where "show, don't tell" went to die. We are told everything several times. Then we are told it again in various different ways and also in exactly the same way. Then we are told it again. And again just in case we didn't understand the first 42 times. And then again. And again. And again. And again.

AND THEN...we are told it again, at which point I'm questioning my life choices and, possibly, my sanity.

Very, very, VERY poor.

So-So, verging on the Pan. Plot hole - lots of. Credibility - wobbly, due to chronology/timing issues. Writing - OK. Style - YA, could be I'm officially too old for it now as the endless self-absorbed whining really grates on me! Plot - decent idea, but both under AND over cooked in places! MC - found it hard to care about her trauma as she was whiny, self-obsessed, over-dramatic & immature. A little tedious...these kids and their "issues" ?

Despite the grim subject matter - imagine spending 30 years of your one & only life on Death Row for crimes you didn't commit - this biography has a tenacious positivity, due to the remarkable personality of Ray Hinton. The flagrant racism & prejudice he faced in the Alabama justice system was absolutely staggering, but he never lost sight of his own innocence & worth. His strength of character is nothing short of humbling. Eye opening for sure!

I enjoyed this...kinda, I think...but I'm not sure I can entirely say why. It has a wry wit rather than being LOL funny. The MC is despicable - racist, sexist, homophobic & misogynistic - and seemingly unaware of his loathsomeness. The premise is intriguing and, embarrassingly, I read the first few pages thinking it was non-fiction! It's all rather ridiculous & a little pointless but entertaining, I guess.

Starting this one tonight. A self-pub from 2017 that I got from NetGalley. I think in this case the phrase "late to the party" is entirely appropriate ?

New one for tonight.

Disliked this a lot. The writing is terrible - the author tries so hard to be "hip", quirky, hilarious, whatever it is she's trying to be, that it is at times bordering on gobbledegook, such is the profusion of slang & "in" terms. Her problems just aren't interesting or unique enough to make me care & her insights seem shallow & self-absorbed. Personal gripes passed off as life advice.

Came away from this feeling a little grubby - a sordid little scenario with fairly loathsome & irredeemable characters. Which was exactly how I was supposed to feel. Nicely written, a little slow, but with a strong & evocative sense of place - the end of season resort, the last of summer seguing into autumn & the attendant melancholia. The final summary of Henry & Effie's life was just too depressing - not entirely sure I enjoyed this.

Never really been that into the Dark Academia sub-genre - the oh-so-familiar tropes (locations, characters & plots) put me off a little. But this one was actually a lot of fun - decent characters and intriguing plot. We had body swapping, demons, sundered souls, evil school masters & mistresses, an ancient pig, and even a resurrected goddess. So despite a slightly stodgy middle, post set-up/pre dramatic ending, I was thoroughly entertained!

Current read. Nice cover.

Starting this one tonight. Lots of different cover variations, I really like this one - it has a very nonchalant glamour!

This one annoyed me - it's not bad (the writing was engaging) so much as underwhelming. I was expecting a juicy thriller with twists, turns & double crosses with a gobsmack of an ending - Dan Brown but well-written, if you will - and I didn't get one. Not really sure what the point of it all exactly is - it builds intrigue nicely, but doesn't do anything with it. I was left frustrated & feeling a little cheated.

Starting this one tonight. Description sounds like a million other things & reviews are mixed, but I will give it a go.

Yes! I have finally made it to 300 reviews on NetGalley and, seen as you don't get a badge for 300 and it might be a looooong old while before I get to 500, I will have to blow my own trumpet 🎺🎺🎺

Please disregard the fact that my feedback ratio is a disgrace ... disgraceful 😳

I loved the diary sections of this one - the ghosts stories & myths as well as the story of its writer in pre and wartime Japan. I didn't enjoy the modern day sections as much - the character of Adam seemed inauthentic, the teen drama was tedious & shallow, the dialogue awkward & cheesy. It is YA though & I'm several decades past the target audience! Still, the ghosts were the best bit 👻👻👻

This was actually a little belter of a book & I'm surprised it isn't more widely known/loved. It features a jaded female Death holidaying on Earth in human form. She investigates some shady business, learns about human nature, falls in love, rescues a dog & averts the Apocalypse...and it's all rather whimsical/hilarious/poignant! Death is a great character, but I also love Jesus (yes, THAT Jesus - don't ask, just read it!)

Wendy was, without a doubt, an extraordinary individual with many outstanding qualities. Her strength of personality coupled with her incredible drive, determination, and positivity in the face of what for lesser mortals would've been a devastating diagnosis is inspiring and humbling.

However, I was not in the right place for this...perhaps no more medical memoirs for me for a while...

I'm sure others would find this a source of hope.

This turned out to be so much more than I expected. Caveat: I've never seen the film. Yes, there is a romance, but that's not the whole story. The writing is beautiful, but fairly dense - this is not an easy beach read. Nor is the subject matter feel-good fluff. Perseverance is rewarded, this was, for me, an incredible reading experience. I learnt so much, I FELT so much...just wonderful!
🇬🇷♥️🇬🇷

Phew, this one is a short, sharp kick in the emotionals! It took a while to ensnare me, the understated style of writing bored me a little...until I cottoned on to its power - skimming the surface of complex emotions, concealing the slowly peeled back layers, hiding the truth in plain sight - narrative & style perfectly in harmony. And the reveal - the whole thing becomes something else altogether. It is still under my skin weeks later. Fabulous.

Starting today - dredged this one up from the foothills of my towering and everso slightly terrifying Mount ToBeRead. Great cover, love the green with the splash of pink.

Sat in a beach bar, trying to read, but I keep getting distracted...🇬🇷♥️🇬🇷

FB is one of my very few auto-buy authors. He just always delivers. And while I would rate this one just below Anxious People, it is still very enjoyable indeed. His style, all breezy banter, witty turns of phrase & jaw-busting emotional punches dropped oh so casually, is so readable, so engrossing, so SATISFYING that the plot is sometimes beside the point. But then the plot is actually 🔥 as well! This guy plays my emotions like a fiddle!

A generous So-So from me as this really isn't my thing & was never gonna satisfy my reading needs, but I can appreciate its quality. The ideas are amazing, I hate the presentation. The disjointed structure & unknown chronology/time scales just frustrate me. It's annoying to just get into a story/engage with characters only to have it end & never followed up. The narrative is just confusing, though,admittedly, gorgeously written.

A few treats this weekend from Waterstones. My daughter and I adore Legami pens and stationery.

Very excited to start this one.

Caveat: I am NOT a literary snob.

Okay, I am a tincy-wincy bit of a literary snob. But Dan Brown is a hill I'm willing to die on. Yes, this is utter tosh at the final analysis. And yes, Brown's writing style can be screamingly irritating at times.

But oh boy, is this ever a fun read! You kinda know what you're gonna get, but I devoured this in 2 or 3 breathless gulps & knew for an instance pure entertainment. Utter tosh still, but whatever!

This one doesn't quite work for me. The writing is great & there are some really interesting ideas here, but the plot lets it down - at times it is just too ... 'out there'. The pace is inconsistent, the characters don't engage & the twists aren't very exciting. The ending is cheesy AND ridiculous. However, the premise IS actually very thought provoking- the extinction of humanity/the role of AI/off world colonisation/advanced human evolution.

It's not easy being a Ferrari fan. There's been a lot of highs (looking at you, Schumi ♥️) and, sadly, a lot of lows. And then, frustratingly, a lot of almosts. This book examines the Scuderia's recent history of successes & analyses the specifics - personnel, psychology, strategies - then looks at how this compares to the win-drought periods. Winning is a complex equation, it seems. For me, Leclerc is our real hope, Hamilton has lost it.

Starting this one today. Not really sure I'm feeling emotionally secure enough for "sad, but beautiful" in my current perimenopausal state, but hey-ho...

6 days out of 7, I eat healthily. Then, on the 7th, I treat myself to a dirty takeaway, full of fat & MSG, and I try to feel guilty, but I can't because it tasted SO good. This is similar to how I feel about ditching Literature (with a big L) and having me a little Dan Brown time. Sorry, not sorry.

PAN INCOMING!

I've always maintained the best YA transcends the genre. This does not. It's histrionic teen drama at its most self-centered & emotionally stunted. The characters are clichés, the responses predictable, the action minimal, the development virtually non-existent. Does the FMC fall for the bad boy with a tragic backstory & a heart of gold? Why, yes, she does - how DID you know?! Intriguing premise wasted, this was shallow & boring.

Just getting into this one. I don't read a great deal of Sci-fi, the last probably being Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series - which I absolutely loved.

This one was a lot of fun! It's kinda a cross between 'Things In Jars' & Ambrose Parry's 'Raven & Fisher' series. It's a fast-paced murder mystery with a trans MC, and while the plot is a tad 'holey' & the narrative focus gets a little 'sprawly' from time to time, the non-stop action & intrigue do not let you get distracted by minor niggles in the slightest. There is a bittersweet quality to the MC's life that is really nicely done.

I was a little disappointed by this one. Experiencing maternal ambivalence was, for me, the first time I'd ever felt true ambivalence & I was staggered that my brain was capable of such mental gymnastics! I couldn't fully relate to the version of ambivalence Lowy discusses here & I found her work highly repetitive & lacking in bite & depth. Really interesting & important concept, though, it's good that it's being addressed more.

A treat to myself today. Given that neither Ferrari made it to Quali 3 just now, maybe this subtitle should read "CAN F1's most famous team win again?" On today's performance, I'd have to say "probably not" ???

Starting this one tonight. Do NOT like this cover.

A generous So-So as this really isn't my thing at all. The intricately described hacking was meaningless to this technophobe & the plot hung limply together on the very flimsiest of threads. The pace was off & the flow was disjointed. Worst of all, the bad guy was poorly written - no nuance, no understanding of her motives, no depth.

Plucked this title from the murky depths of my NetGalley requests pile. Sounds right up my street & with a trans MC to boot!

Well, this is just about the most exciting thing ever!!! I have been waiting for a long time....

This quietly powerful novel,written in verse form, works incredibly well - the form amplifies & intensifies the message. It features a young girl dealing with grief through an intense interest in dead animals, which eventually leads to her passion for taxidermy & the start of her healing. While it might sound a bit morbid, it really isn't. The language & imagery are evocative, making this a lovely read of hope, resilience & a tentative joy.

A fairly solid pick. Entertaining and engrossing without being outstanding in terms of originality (plot, structure) or thrills generated (twist was satisfying rather than genuinely surprising). Had a slight problem with FMC, in a moment of trauma and seemingly out of character, launching herself into bed with the most unsuitable partner - a trope I'm seeing annoyingly often. Is this REALLY how women cope with upset/stress?! Sex with losers??!!

Starting this very old NetGalley request today. I have no idea why I might have requested this as it is really not "my bag" but I'll give it a go!

Starting this one today.

A strong So-So for this one because I did enjoy it, but I'm not a huge fan of this kind of sentimental novel. I found it a little twee and predictable. The premise is intriguing & the writing is nice enough, but... I just didn't buy it. It was all just too unlikely. And the love interest being the nurse's sister AND the kid's coach - oh, c'mon! Slushy nonsense really, but fairly enjoyable nonsense. Caveat: I have a cold & cynical heart of stone

A weak So-So rating for this insubstantial pool-side fodder. The plot is meh, characters are meh, twists are meh - it resides quite comfortably in Meh City. It isn't thrilling in the slightest & the pace is sloooow. Ending is, quite frankly, infuriatingly rubbish. If you like a read that requires zero intellectual engagement, this is the book for you - in that regard, I enjoyed the ease of reading.

Fresh & punchy YA novel about a troubled teenage white girl placed with a black foster family. Naomi is so well written, such an authentic representation of a young girl in the care system, her thoughts, reactions & language are just so realistic. Not sure I've ever read such believable teenage dialogue as features here. Great mix of tragedy/hope, vulnerability/resilience, sadness/humour, the heart-warming/the genuinely shocking.

Highly recommended for the enthusiastic armchair linguist like myself. This is an absolutely fascinating read. And the bibliography is huge!!! The in depth, impeccably referenced research is presented as coming together pieces of a jigsaw, each area of discovery added to the bigger picture. Complex ideas are explained in an accessible & entertaining manner & the whole thing is just so mind-blowingly interesting/intriguing/staggering 🤯🤯🤯

It's nearly midnight. Should I:

a) Go to sleep!
b) Start new book, one that, by all accounts, is virtually unputdownable.
c) (Some other option I can't even conceive of.)

It's not a hard quiz, is it?! 😁