This book was hyped, which I always have mixed feelings about. It can be hard to drop the “what’s the hype” lens. Here’s the premise: what if your fiancé ends…
The List by Yomi Adegoke
Rizzio by Denise Mina
A short novel about David Rizzio’s murder? Yes please! Rizzio was a confidante of Mary Queen of Scots and he was assassinated by Darnley (her husband) and a group of…
O’Pioneers by Willa Cather
My family book club read! This is technically part of her plains novel trilogy, but I think most people read her much more famous work My Antonia. (I’m not sure…
My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout
My very bookish friend encouraged me to read Strout, as I hadn’t read any before, and I wasn’t disappointed! I wolfed down this first part of her Lucy Barton book…
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
This is a murder mystery and court room drama a la Poirot, but I was also really taken by the romance of this book. The story of Elinor Carlisle, Roddy,…
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy
The first book in her “living autobiography” series, this is a response to George Orwell’s “Why I Write” which I read so long ago that I don’t really know in…
Flowers for Mrs Harris (also Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris) by Paul Gallico
Now, first of all, Paul Gallico is a great writer. Go and track him down. Secondly, this was a great read. Like I was very entertained, touched, and had a…
Hex by Jenni Fagan
This is an interesting read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in witches, witch-hunt history, and feminism! This is an intimate look at the Jacobean witch paranoia whipped up by…
Foster by Claire Keegan
Happy to have finally read this, it’s always a pleasure to sit down with a book like this. For such a short book I feel like it’s a slow burn?!…
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
I actually really enjoyed this one! I say “actually” as I wasn’t sure about the blurb (another 30-something London breakup story). But, infuriating as he can be, I actually loved…
Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
This little book reimagines what happens to the Macbeths after the end of the play, how Lady (Queen) Macbeth is coping in hiding. (Obviously I’m in some sort of Shakespeare…
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Finally got round to reading this one! I sort of knew I would love it, but maybe also part of me was worried that I wouldn’t?! But I needn’t have…