I read his The Tobacconist years ago, which was a wonderful read as well – a moving tale of wartime Vienna seen through the eyes of a young apprentice to…
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
I love a Christmas Christie! This is not a Poirot or a Marple, but it’s a fun detective novel anyways. Published in 1939, this is actually the first edition dust…
The Third Man and The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene
Firstly, Greene is such an incredible writer and I was again reminded of this fact reading these two stories of his! The premise of this book is to present two…
The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman
I love this book series and felt like this one was definitely a highlight. It’s always a bit of a nerve-wracking time to sit down and read the latest book…
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
Reading the Lucy Barton series has been a lot of fun, and this one was the probably my favourite one yet. In this book we examine Lucy’s relationship with her…
Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca) by Gabriel García Márquez
Oh how I enjoy a Márquez! La próxima vez yo lo leeré en español (quizás). It’s a typical short novella by Márquez, with some echoes of Love in the Time…
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
The final instalment of the Living Autobiography series! These books have been super easy for me to read. Not necessarily always wholly relatable, they are beautiful, satisfying, and full of…
A Jealous Ghost by A.N Wilson
This was a fun seasonal horror remake! Massive fan of books inspired by literary classics, just can’t help myself. Retelling/ engaging with The Turn of the Screw by Henry James,…
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Review)
I’d seen a lot of hype around this book, and I was curious to see how the title and the story would play out. I’d seen some promotional material, so…
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
Can you believe this was my first ever audiobook?! What a way to start. When I saw that Fern Brady had written a book about her autism diagnosis and that…
A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
This book and writer has crossed my path before, so I was curious to dive in. There’s a few of these murder mysteries by Tom Hindle, often set in very…
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Wow, what a powerful read. Jeannette, New York journalist, tells us the story of her chaotic childhood with her charismatic alcoholic father and her depressive artist mother. With her three…
Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, And LA by Eve Babitz
I didn’t know I’d love this as much as I did! Eve Babitz is a bit of a legend, a Hollywood muse, and I thought it was really powerful to…
The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North
I’ve read the entire Penelope series by Claire North. Feminist, comic, engaging, and insightful, the retelling of Penelope focuses on her queenhood on Ithaca and female solidarity. This final book…
Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation by Rachel Cusk
Now, I love Rachel Cusk and have hoovered up a lot of her work. This one is more of a memoir than some of the other Rachel Cusk stuff I’ve…
The Safe Keep by Yael van der Wounden
This was good, but it’s hard to say much about it as there’s some essential things that you find out during the story that change things! So I don’t want…
The Immoralist by André Gide
A random pick from the library, this short French novel is about the sexual awakening of a young man on his honeymoon to Tunisia. For its time it was a…
Hardboiled, Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto
Two beautiful stories in one! What a great double bill. These tender stories are about grief, love, and connection. The first one is about a woman’s meditative and supernatural night…
The Hotel Avocado 🥑 by Bob Mortimer
This is the second book in the series, and I definitely loved this as much as previous one, The Satsuma Complex🍊 I’m not even usually a big comic writing fan,…
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
First of all, I need to see this in performance! I can really see how the text would come alive with dialogue and physical drama. This play is a very…
Woman Without Shame: Poems by Sandra Cisneros
Funny, powerful, tragic, visceral, intelligent, lively…. Just some of the words I’d use to describe these poems. Of House on Mango Street fame, Cisneros is a versatile poet and storyteller,…
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
This was actually a bit of fun! A novella/short story by Atwood about the funny yet sinister suburban mum who is documented through her daughter’s eyes. It’s great to see…
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
I can’t believe I hadn’t read this one before! It’s a surreal and though-provoking gem. I really enjoyed this book and the premise: one woman’s journey to her own kind…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This has become a book I recommend on a regular basis! An important piece of investigative journalism led to this book that intersects topics such as race, medical ethics, gynaecology,…
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan
Devastating in the best possible way. I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but that is how the book felt to me. Exquisite and painful. Such unbelievable human and…
Hera by Jennifer Saint
Catching up with my holiday reading reviews! Jennifer Saint is another author I’ve followed for awhile, reading her Ariadne, Atalanta, and Elektra books in this same “series” of revisionist books…
Death Valley by Melissa Broder
I’m a fan of Broder’s writing and have hoovered up her novels as they come out, and this one was no different. It’s a simple premise sprinkled with some funky…
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Another Hercule Poirot mystery from the Queen of crime! This one wasn’t as good as Sad Cypress that I have just recently read, but it’s still pretty good. The premise…
The List by Yomi Adegoke
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…
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…
1606: Shakespeare and the Year of Lear by James Shapiro
This is a relatively academic book with lots of close reading, but the chapters are well-organised and engaging, so it’s also a fun read for anyone who likes Shakespeare and…
The Home by Penelope Mortimer
My second Penelope Mortimer novel in a short time, and I think I enjoyed this more than The Pumpkin Eater. There are similar themes here, but this book is less…
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
A story about a life that starts auspiciously on the 15th of August, 1947, the day of Indian independence; Saleem’s life is wrapped up in his country’s history from day…
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy
Started with #2 of a trilogy and have no regrets: this is part of her “living memoir” series. There are some lovely vignettes here that explore different aspects of divorce…
Sleep No More by P.D James
A great collection of six short stories from a master crime writer! I’m an avid short story reader, but these murderous tales are especially good. There’s just something about a…
Mr Atherstone Leaves the Stage by Richard Whittington-Egan
I finished this book, but honestly I wouldn’t recommend it. I respect the research and I know a lot more about Battersea’s grisly Victorian & Edwardian murders. There’s a few…
Gertrude and Claudius by John Updike
I’m a sucker for a Shakespeare connection, so I loved the idea of exploring Hamlet’s mother’s perspective as she marries Hamlet’s father and then, after his death, quickly marries her…
Ask Me About My Uterus by Abby Norman
I’ve read a few of these medical memoir/survival story/gyno pain narratives. It’s a weird thing to say you enjoy, but I do. It’s a really interesting and informative topic to…
The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
This isn’t written so long ago, but some of it felt “of its time”, especially when it came to describing people’s bodies. I also didn’t like some of the characters….
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura
I read this pretty much in a day! It’s one of those “atmosphere” short novels that leaves a taste in your mouth, or an impression, but without a clear sense…