Published by Hodder & Stoughton Publication date – 5 August 2021 Source – review copy Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches? It’s the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV’s impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the…
Month: September 2021
P. D. Elliott – Q&A
P. D. Elliott’s novel, Too Much to Ask was published on 5 February 2021. P.D Elliott kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about Too Much to Ask. Too Much To Ask is an emotional rollercoaster of love, loss and new life. It’s a story told from the perspectives of…
DESIblitz Literature Festival 2021 -18 September to 1 October 2021
The DESIblitz Literature Festival 2021 is the UK’s leading South Asian Literature Festival. Opening in Birmingham City Centre on 18th of September, the festival a mix is a mix of in-person and digital events and runs until 1st October. All tickets are free apart from three headline events at £2.99 per ticket with Sathnam Sanghera, Nikesh Shukla and a…
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – review
Published by Bloomsbury Publication date – 2 September 2021 Source – review copy Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the…
Owen Dwyer – Q&A
The Garfield Conspiracy by Owen Dwyer was published by Liberties Press on 7 September 2021. Owen kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about The Garfield Conspiracy. A writer, writing a book about the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881, leaves his wife and moves in with his young…
Anna Wharton – Q&A
Anna Wharton’s debut novel, The Imposter, was published by Mantle on 1 April 2021. Anna kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about The Imposter. The Imposter is a psychological drama ostensibly about a newspaper archivist, Chloe, who becomes obsessed with the story of a little girl who went missing 25…
20 Books of Summer 2021 – a roundup
So 20 Books of Summer 2021 has come to a close. As a brief recap, the idea, the brainchild of Cathy at 756Books, is to read 20 books between June and September. Now lots of people choose their 20 books and work their way through them. Because I have a rather fickle nature when it comes…
A. B. Kyazze – Q&A
A. B. Kyazze is the author of Into the Mouth of the Lion, which was published by Unbound on 6 May 2021. She kindly answered a few of my questions. 1. Tell us a little about Into the Mouth of the Lion. Into the Mouth of the Lion is the story of a young photographer…
Jackie Fraser – Q&A
Jackie Fraser’s novel, The Bookshop of Second Chances was published by Simon & Schuster on 2 September 2021. 1. Tell us a little about The Bookshop of Second Chances. It’s about Thea, a woman in mid-life whose life has collapsed. She loses her job, and then discovers that her husband’s been sleeping with a friend…
Balancing the Books – August 2021
So that was August. It brought a trip to the seaside, 2p slot machines, fish and chips and buckets and spades. It also didn’t see a lot of reading. Sometimes the mind doesn’t always want to get stuck in a book, no matter how much the body is willing. It started out so well, as…
From First Page to Last 