We discuss books, libraries and the wonders of writing.
The murder of a promising footballer and, crucially, the son of the Brighton's Chief Superintendent, means Detective Superintendent Jo Howe has a complicated and sensitive case on her hands. The situation becomes yet more desperate following devastating blackmail threats.
Howe can trust no one as she tracks the brutal killer in a city balanced on a knife edge of vigilante action and a police force riven with corruption.
An in-depth view into the role of a judge during murder proceedings in the UK. Told with compassion and frankness, Wendy Joseph QC guides the audience through the decisions she must make on a daily basis.
Lucy has tried to be perfect; she has spent years cultivating how she appears to the world around her. However, when she discovers she is adopted the façade she has been working so hard to keep in place slowly starts to fracture.
After years of living within an aquarium Marcellus, a giant Pacific Octopus is befriended by elderly cleaner Tova, who is still mourning her son Erik after his disappearance over 30 years ago.
The novel follows content moderator Kayleigh as she reviews offensive content for a social media platform. Featuring mature themes, the author explores the toll this content can take on your humanity.
When two old friends bump into each other for the first time since college, Ava, a rule abiding lawyer who has ticked all of life’s boxes, finds herself sucked into the glamorous world of counterfeit designer handbags and discovers that crime does indeed pay.
The Vanishing Triangle describes a section of Ireland where eight women have disappeared. Some of their bodies are found and some are not. The author discusses each of the cases, giving the readers a view of the complicated social/political/economic factors that may have prevented the solving of such cases.
‘The Butterfly Room’ is not a book I would usually choose for myself, however the point of book club is to try new things.
A round up of what I've been reading since lockdown was put into place.
After reading most of Alexander McCall Smith’s ‘The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency’ series, I was expecting great things from one of the author’s more recent novels. The title of this book had me interested from the beginning and I was excited to learn more about ‘The Second Worst Restaurant in France’.
I am a big fan of mystery novels and when I saw the author’s dedication in this book I fell in love. It was: For anyone who has ever dreamed of finding a body in the library.
This month in book club we are reading Alice Hoffman's 'The Museum of Extraordinary Things'.
In the beginning the generational aspect of the book was hard for me to get my head around. The formatting also struck me as odd at first but I quickly got into it as the book had exceptional pacing.
I picked up ‘My Sister, The Serial Killer’ by chance my local library. I had seen it doing the rounds on several of the book-related Instagram accounts I follow and thought it looked interesting.
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the CSI franchise and Duane Swierczynski, novel and comic book artist, Level 26: Dark Origins is a truly terrifying read.
The story follows a young woman called Angel who basically becomes an angel. The irony is not lost on her and that is the very first thing I came to love about her character. That is just an example of the tone the book sets right from the beginning.
This month in book club we are reading Jojo Moyes 'The Giver of Stars'.
This month in book club we are reading Lucinda Riley's 'The Butterfly Room'.
Recently my husband and I challenged each other to trying to make up a haiku each when we were walking through the country park. It was just a silly little game brought on by an app we had both downloaded called ‘Level up Life’.
This month in book club we are reading Alexander McCall Smith's 'The Second Worst Restaurant in France'
This month in book club we are reading David Nicholls book 'Sweet Sorrow'.
In general I am a big fan of Lindsey Kelk. A few years ago I got her first book ‘I Heart New York’ free with a summer addition of Marie Clare magazine. From the very first chapter I was hooked. I found the character of Angela so personable and I could relate to her in so many ways. Every time a new I Heart book comes out I buy it. I also got into her Girl series.
The podcast ‘Mared & Karen’ was originally recommended to me by a person on a true crime podcast group on Facebook. You can usually find me loitering there for good recommendations to listen to while I am at work. I chose this series because it seemed reasonably short and I found the synopsis for the podcast intriguing.
Maureen Lee has never been the kind of author that I envisioned myself reading. I used to work in the Books department of WH Smith and noticed that there was a certain type of reader affiliated with the author’s books. I’m talking ladies of the fifty plus variety, who were usually Scouse and had a connection to the World War Two era either through their relatives or their own childhoods.
As you’ve probably guessed, I was a bit of a book worm growing up. I was obsessed with stories and storytelling from a very young age, and always had my head in a book. Below are four books that captivated me throughout my childhood.
This month in book club we are reading John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’.
S-Town is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Brian Reed and created by the producers of Serial and This American Life. It is not a work of fiction despite the fact at times it may seem like it.
I have tried to read this book so many times over the past four years and ended up setting it aside. However after downloading the newest version of 'The Gunslinger' on my Kindle, I read a small introduction written by Stephen King that resonated very strongly with me.
We were assigned to read Graham Greene for book club by one of our members. She had never read his books before, but had seen him a lot on her father’s bookshelf whilst growing up and wanted to give him a go.
I picked up 'When The Dogs Don't Bark' in a local independent bookshop when my husband and I popped in. As soon as I saw the cover, I needed to have it due to the fact it stirred my current interest in true crime.
This month in book club we are reading Michelle Obama’s biography ‘Becoming’.
I didn’t think I liked Science Fiction, but I’m glad to report that I’m slowly growing out of sweeping statements like that. It was after falling down a rabbit hole of Philip K. Dick books that the Amazon algorithms suggested I might quite like a book called ‘Extracted’.
True crime has become increasingly popular over the past few years. From podcasts to books, we can’t seem to stop devouring it. Personally, I love listening to podcasts. They manage to keep my brain engaged as I work, and my mind active in the gym. Of course, I do love a good story.
Nobody wants to go out on a weeknight. If you’re like me you will be too paranoid about the amount of alcohol you consume and the time you leave because you have to be in work the next day. Is it any wonder that Silent Reading Parties have become one of the most anticipated events of the year among the antisocial?
As some of you may know I am part of a monthly book club at the library I volunteer at. This month we are reading Maureen Lee’s ‘Violet's Children’
I was a little early to sewing class the other day so decided to pop in to the little local book shop nearby. I was in there five minutes…
I’m trying to branch out from true crime podcasts at the moment and as you know I am a massive reader so thought why not give it a shot? Honestly, I wasn’t sure how a podcast about books would translate, I didn’t have great expectations. Thankfully the episodes for this podcast are in thirty minute instalments, so you can slip them into your daily commute or listen to them in short bursts.
Somebody asked me recently to list five things that make me genuinely happy. I do keep a daily gratitude diary in which I list five things that I am grateful for. Sometimes I see the same things cropping up over and over again. So without further ado here is a list of the top five things that make me happy.
Firstly, let me say, I am a massive fan of Karen Rose’s novels. In the past I have found them diverse and full of intrigue, hosting strong female characters, frightening adversaries, and brilliant plots. I have read every single one. So it is with a heavy heart I say that I have actually been disappointed with her most recent books.
I admit that Philippa Gregory has been an author I have seen many times on bookshelves, but I’ve never been interested enough to actually read one of her books despite their increasing popularity. I’m not a fan of historical novels. You see, I studied History at A Level and that was enough for me.
When I’m feeling in a bit of a mental flap, I sometimes end up buying Psychologies Magazine. I admit, it had been a while since I had picked up an issue so I was behind lagging behind in terms of recent studies and mindfulness techniques. This week has been tough for me, so I decided to cherry pick and highlight some of the books I intend on reading after picking up Psychologies Magazine
Book Biatch 