I love Tessa Hadley. Recently, I did a bit of research into what people were saying about her as a writer. It seems others have noticed that while prose is…
Married Love by Tessa Hadley
Pearls Before Swine by Margery Allingham
This was my first Marjorie Allingham and it was a fun Blitz era romp set in a London worn down by the war. Published in 1945, it would have been…
Kudos by Rachel Cusk
I’ve read a lot of Rachel Cusk, and I was really surprised that I had never actually finished the Outline trilogy! It was fun to visit my “lockdown” author and…
After the Funeral by Tessa Hadley
I love the confessional and documentarian style of Hadley. It’s precise, intelligent, and never frivolous. Her style shines through in these short stories where she really gets to the heart…
The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories by Susan Hill (Review)
A collection of five spooky short stories from the master of classic horror with a contemporary twist, I loved the different themes Hill gets into in this collection. You may…
Dracula by Bram Stoker
What a joy to read! I think the legend built around this book sometimes obscure what a great read it really is… Some beautiful plotting in this 1897 bestseller. I…
It Lasts Forever and then It’s Over by Anne De Marcken
So this was a weird one for me! Have you ever read a book you respect and like, but maybe don’t always enjoy so much? I think some of the…
Cover Her Face by P.D James
This great pastel edition celebrates her first 1962 novel, Cover Her Face, and it actually is part of an imprint that celebrates first novels: the Faber Firsts. Caught my eye…
The Professor’s House by Willa Cather
Cather is a great writer. I recently started her Plains trilogy and was pleased to find another “city” novel by her. I liked the idea of a closely followed narrative…
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor
This is a really unique book, set in a Welsh island community in the 1930s, a young woman seeks to reconcile her need for adventure and the love she has…
The Rise by Ian Rankin
Another audiobook. Can you believe I only did my first audiobook read a few months ago? It’s definitely a nice way to mix things up. This is a short novella…
Madonna In a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
A modern Turkish classic, first published in 1943, this is a bittersweet tale of love, identity, intimacy, and friendship. It wasn’t translated into English until 2016! Raif, an “innocent” Turkish…
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Stylesin Tapaus) by Agatha Christie
I’ve read two books in Finnish so far this year, something I rarely do these days, but I’m very pleased I did! Reading Christie in Finnish takes me back to…
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
Dune part two packs a punch! What a way to start off my 2025…. (this was actually the first book I finished this year). We pick up the action quite…
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
One of my early year reads: an easy one to keep up with amongst all the festive and travel shenanigans. Ariadne Oliver and Hercule Poirot join forces in this tale…
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide
Last review of the year! This was a really sweet & short book. Constructed as a series of vignettes, this story maps out how a visiting cat transforms a young…
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
A novella that follows a lonely Friday summer evening during which Cathal leaves his Dublin office, takes the bus home, and wanders around his place, thinking about Sabine. Sabine, the…
Murder at Christmas murder mystery collection ed. Cecily Gayford
Classic crime fiction writers’ stories collected into one festive edition, each story with a slightly different take on the festive murder. The authors featured are the likes of Dorothy L…
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
Despite the subtitle, this did not have much in it that made it seem like “the last Marple case” – she seemed her usual sprightly self! This cover is another…
Dune by Frank Herbert
I’m not the biggest science fiction aficionado but this was a real pleasure to read. Herbert didn’t necessarily make it easy to get into the book, but once it gets…
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
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…
Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
These are just too easy to read! My account is quickly becoming a Lucy Barton series appreciation page and I won’t apologise 😬 This book is the “lockdown” novel of…
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 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…
First Love by Ivan Turgenev
A really satisfying read, this novella tracks the infatuation and disillusionment, yet also the endurance, of youthful first love. In a comic yet sincere way, Turgenev explores how a young…
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…
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,…
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Written in 1927, this felt like it could be written significantly later as well. Somehow it was reminiscent of other books in the “life philosophy“/spiritual genre! The premise is simple:…
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…
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…
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…
Modern Baptists by James Wilcox
This was a bit of a revelation! In the intro they make the point that Wilcox perhaps never attained the same reputation as his contemporaries writing about similar social issues…
Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
I’m on the Lucy Barton bandwagon, better late than never! I’m glad I found this series, and I like how it’s not traditionally chronological. This second book of the Lucy…
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…
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,…
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…