Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel My rating: 5 of 5 stars I just loved this. It’s been a while since I’ve read Bechdel’s work and I was delighted to come across this in the library and that feeling did not diminish one iota upon reading. Bechdel is wrestling with the world and herContinue reading “Spent by Alison Bechdel”
Tag Archives: book review
British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon by Julie Summers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars A well-written, purposeful biography of a century at British Vogue (or “Brogue” as one character refers to it), this is a real pleasure to read. We trace the beginnings of the magazine at the turn of the century, throughout the wild-horrors of two world wars, and then into theContinue reading “British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon by Julie Summers”
Jean of Storms by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Jean of Storms by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have been thinking about Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s approach to romance, for she was never the most romantic of authors to begin with. She could write romance and beautifully too; that subtle, underplayed need for each other, that quiet recognition that youContinue reading “Jean of Storms by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Battler Britton (volume 2)
Battler Britton, Book 2 by Anon My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was thinking the other day about how to write “funny” (stay with me, this will make sense soon I promise…). For me, funny books have to have a sense of utter conviction about them. You have to believe in every inch ofContinue reading “Battler Britton (volume 2)”
That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce
That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce My rating: 4 of 5 stars There’s something delicious in coming to Dorita Fairlie Bruce so randomly, so irregularly, because it feels like reading her for the first time every time. And as much as I’d like to devour all her work at once, I rather loveContinue reading “That Boarding School Girl by Dorita Fairlie Bruce”
Sergeant Luck’s Secret Mission by Geoffrey Bond
My rating: 3 of 5 stars There’s a point where you think in a book that “that’s enough now, we’ve got there, we’ve hit all the character beats and everything’s pretty much set up now for us to roll on home in style” and sigh contentedly to yourself and think Noble Thoughts about the artContinue reading “Sergeant Luck’s Secret Mission by Geoffrey Bond”
The Children Who Lived In A Barn by Eleanor Graham
The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham My rating: 3 of 5 stars So the basic premise of The Children Who Lived In A Barn, a book that appealed to me precisely because of that outstanding “does exactly what it says on the tin” title and a charming wraparound cover, is “theContinue reading “The Children Who Lived In A Barn by Eleanor Graham”
Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams
Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DEEPLY EMOTIONALLY TRAUMATISED BOY HAVE I GOT THE BOOK FOR YOU. SO! Beforehand: I pick up Gobbolino and I think gosh, what a delightful thing. I have hazy memories of this at best but positive memoriesContinue reading “Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams”
Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin
Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin My rating: 4 of 5 stars A perfect cover, this, delivered by Elisabeth Grant who understands everything, but everything, that a pony book should be and manages to capture it in that still, breathless moment between human and animal. It’s beautiful and I love it and it’s theContinue reading “Ponies in the Attic by Irene Makin”
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have wanted to read this for a long while and finally came across a copy at my local library. I was familiar with Colfer due to his work upon Artemis Fowl and this title, I was familiarContinue reading “Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin”
Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II
Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Hey random other person I’ve just invented for the purposes of this review, can I tell you about these Tom Swift books?”“YES.”“I’d have been bothered if you’d have said no, you know.”“Quite the existential crisis I’d imagine”“ANYWAY. These TomContinue reading “Tom Swift and the Captive Planetoid by Victor Appleton II”
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – an Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was thinking a lot about how to review this and where to even begin with this awful, profoundly upsetting, straightforwardly told thing and then I thought perhaps it is there. I knewContinue reading “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee – an Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown”
1178.
I realised recently that I had hit over a thousand books on Goodreads: to be precise, I’m at 1178 books (another 800+ are on my want to read list but that’s a whole other existential crisis). I had intended to do something to mark the thousandth book I added to Goodreads but I missed itContinue reading “1178.”
The Iliad by Gareth Hinds
The Iliad: A Graphic Novel by Gareth Hinds My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have an enormous amount of time for what Gareth Hinds does and have thoroughly enjoyed his other work (The Odyssey: A Graphic Novel in particular) and rather loved this as well. Adapting anything is hard and the impact of theContinue reading “The Iliad by Gareth Hinds”
The Women Of Troy by Pat Barker
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had often wondered to myself what a gender-flipped Troy story might look like and then I realised that I was not, actually, interested in what I thought I was. The story of Troy, for me, was one of men, at least,Continue reading “The Women Of Troy by Pat Barker”
Singing for Mrs Pettigrew by Michael Morpurgo
Singing for Mrs Pettigrew: A Story Maker’s Journey by Michael Morpurgo My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I was first getting into children’s literature as a field, as a topic, as a thing that I wanted to do properly and seriously and forever if the planets aligned, I began to spend my lunchtimes inContinue reading “Singing for Mrs Pettigrew by Michael Morpurgo”
Supper Club by Lara Williams
Supper Club by Lara Williams My rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked this up at random, knowing very little about it, but intrigued, somehow, by the notion of a novel that centres on people taking up space when space is denied to them. The titular Supper Club is a gathering of women who areContinue reading “Supper Club by Lara Williams”
Power Of Three by Diana Wynne Jones
Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones My rating: 4 of 5 stars I do not remotely have coherent thoughts about this but let’s see what I have and see if, perhaps, some order comes of it. The first thing to say is that I am not particularly familiar with Diana Wynne Jones but IContinue reading “Power Of Three by Diana Wynne Jones”
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce My rating: 5 of 5 stars The last job of the day, then, to sit with this book and to think of it for in a way I have not stopped thinking about it ever since I read it for the very first time. I revisited it recently, promptedContinue reading “Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce”
The Second Mount by Christine Pullein-Thompson
The Second Mount by Christine Pullein-Thompson My rating: 3 of 5 stars There is something so specific about this sort of book, I think, and it comes from their very particular DNA and that is this: martingales, poetry, a hand-gallop (which mystified me for years and possibly still might?), at least one slipped stifle, aContinue reading “The Second Mount by Christine Pullein-Thompson”
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel My rating: 5 of 5 stars So before we get into this, the facts: this is a barnstormer of a book and I enjoyed every inch of it. I came to it after reading Wolf Hall, which I had found a little difficult, and, as a consequence, feltContinue reading “Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel”
The Little Dancer by Lorna Hill
The Little Dancer by Lorna Hill My rating: 3 of 5 stars I don’t think there are many other writers around this period who understand ‘place’ quite like Lorna Hill does. Let me provide a little bit of backstory before we continue: when I was little, I remember an early trip to London and theContinue reading “The Little Dancer by Lorna Hill”
Old Readymoney’s Daughter by L. T. Meade
Old Readymoney’s Daughter by L.T. Meade My rating: 5 of 5 stars “What did she call the lead character?”“John.”“But what are you actually calling him?”“FECKLESS LARRY THE FECKLESS SCOUNDREL OF FECKLESS TOWN.”“I sensed there was some subtext.”“How could there not be? I mean, look at that title.”“It’s a bit … familiar, isn’t it? To callContinue reading “Old Readymoney’s Daughter by L. T. Meade”
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory My rating: 4 of 5 stars God, this is all so desperately sad. It’s difficult to read a book in which you know much of the outcome and know that it is going to be awful for Quite A Lot Of Them and I suspect it’s even harder toContinue reading “The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory”
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I realised the other day that I had not written a review for a while and then I remembered that my current read was Wolf Hall and that kind of explained it . It’s taken me a while to get through this and I don’tContinue reading “Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel”
Tintin in the land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo by Hergé
The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 1: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets / Tintin in the Congo by Hergé My rating: 2 of 5 stars A small, neat bindup edition of the first two Tintin adventures: Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin In The Congo, this is a complex thing toContinue reading “Tintin in the land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo by Hergé”
The Mystery Term by E. E. Cowper
The Mystery Term by E.E. Cowper My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s always interesting to me how many more school story authors there are yet to discover. I read a lot of this genre and yet there are always new names to me and people who I know entirely nothing about. E. E CowperContinue reading “The Mystery Term by E. E. Cowper”
The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton
The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’ve known about this for a while and this week, finally picked up a copy of it. It is, shall we say, a lot? I don’t think I’ve ever read a Blyton dedicated to the chairman of the East London juvenile courtContinue reading “The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton”
American Prince, a memoir by Tony Curtis
American Prince: A Memoir by Tony Curtis My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s difficult to expect truth from autobiographies because the form, in a sense, demands artfulness. We remember things differently from each other and when we remember ourselves and then place that memory under the spotlight of the public eye, we embrace somethingContinue reading “American Prince, a memoir by Tony Curtis”
Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson
Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson My rating: 5 of 5 stars There is something intensely delightful about a girl called Phoebe and a unicorn called Marigold Heavenly Nostrils and the two of them being best friends. Honestly, this review could just finish there but it won’t because then I would have omitted theContinue reading “Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson”
The Lord of the Flies graphic novel by Aimée de Jongh
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel by Aimée de Jongh My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think sometimes when you are familiar with a story, familiar with it to the extent that the title of it has slipped into common language, it’s easy to lose track of the original thing itself. You hearContinue reading “The Lord of the Flies graphic novel by Aimée de Jongh”
A year in books
Looking back through the year is always interesting to me as patterns begin to make themselves known. I’m conscious, for example, that the end of the year has been a strange one in terms of books. I read a lot of things that did not quite agree with me and that I either put asideContinue reading “A year in books”
Tulku by Peter Dickinson
Tulku by Peter Dickinson My rating: 5 of 5 stars When you are having a time of it, I think you don’t really read what you’re reading. You perform a semblance of reading; you mimic the gestures that you have learned and performed for years now, most likely, because the muscle memory gets you through,Continue reading “Tulku by Peter Dickinson”
The Secret of the Everglades by Bessie Marchant
The Secret of the Everglades: A Story of Adventure in Florida by Bessie Marchant My rating: 2 of 5 stars I was thinking about how to review this book or even if I should because it’s a difficult read on a number of levels. Not only does it feature the n- word on multiple occasionsContinue reading “The Secret of the Everglades by Bessie Marchant”
Worrals Flies Again by W.E Johns
Worrals Flies Again by W.E. Johns My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Okay, so how are we going to go about this review?”“Perhaps by utilising a rhetorical device that asks me provocative questions whilst also providing a knowing counterpoint to the issues I raise?”“That’s a bit wordy for ‘talk it out’ but sure, let’s goContinue reading “Worrals Flies Again by W.E Johns”
Time For Lights Out by Raymond Briggs
Time For Lights Out by Raymond Briggs My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have been thinking about how to begin this review and I have failed, several times, because I’m not quite sure what to say about this. So perhaps we shall begin there and tell you about my doubts and we shall seeContinue reading “Time For Lights Out by Raymond Briggs”
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s an interesting one this because it kind of folds in on itself and creates layers so dense that even the story can’t quite figure out what it means to say. But then, I think, maybe that’s the point: this is theContinue reading “The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer”
Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir and Myisha Haynes
Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really have found this run of reimagined classics in comic form (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Modern Graphic Retelling of Little Women and The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Retelling of the Secret Garden) infinitely charming thingsContinue reading “Anne of West Philly by Ivy Noelle Weir and Myisha Haynes”
The Human Kind by Alexander Baron
The Human Kind by Alexander Baron My rating: 5 of 5 stars I found this by accident, had never heard of the author, and then it turned into one of the most wonderful discoveries I have made in a bookshop for quite some time. The Human Kind is a a collection of short stories “basedContinue reading “The Human Kind by Alexander Baron”
Flappers by Judith Mackrell
Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation by Judith Mackrell My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s difficult to tell one biography let alone six but somehow Judith Mackrell manages to do so, to bring the stories of six different women together and make it into something fabulous. I loved this book. Can I spoilContinue reading “Flappers by Judith Mackrell”
Destiny Ink : Sleepover Surprise by Adeola Sokunbi
Destiny Ink: Sleepover Surprise by Adeola Sokunbi My rating: 5 of 5 stars Destiny is ready for her first ever sleepover but also quite freaked out about the prospect. Not only is she worried about sleeping outside (easier for the monsters to get her), but she’s worried about how dark it’s going to get, whatContinue reading “Destiny Ink : Sleepover Surprise by Adeola Sokunbi”
I Will Repay by Emmuska D’Orczy
I Will Repay by Emmuska Orczy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Well, this was deeply, deeply enjoyable. The third in the Scarlet Pimpernel series, I Will Repay is, perhaps, more constructively understood as a book in which the Scarlet Pimpenel plays something of a guest role. The attention is entirely upon Juliette Marny andContinue reading “I Will Repay by Emmuska D’Orczy”
The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley
The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley My rating: 2 of 5 stars One of the things I like about wandering in second hand bookshops is that sometimes you get the things popping up that you know about but haven’t read and think “oh, maybe now, let’s give it a go.” Normally that works out wellContinue reading “The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley”
The Great Farm Rescue by Helen Peters
The Great Farm Rescue by Helen Peters My rating: 5 of 5 stars I always associate Helen Peters with a librarian friend of mine who told me that Helen Peters was her daughter’s favourite author (librarian daughters, the wisest of the wise) and so when I received a review copy of The Great Farm Rescue,Continue reading “The Great Farm Rescue by Helen Peters”
A Drop Of Golden Sun by Kate Saunders
A Drop of Golden Sun by Kate Saunders My rating: 5 of 5 stars There’s a point in one of my books where one character asks another if they’ve read any Kate Saunders and that’s because of two things: Beswitched, and also that everything in story is connected. At least, it is to me. IContinue reading “A Drop Of Golden Sun by Kate Saunders”
Debbie by Debbie Reynolds
Debbie: My Life by Debbie Reynolds My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I tell you that I’m not the sort of person who underlines things in books and yet there’s basically 99.99% of this book that I wanted to underline, I hope that conveys at least a little of what it means to readContinue reading “Debbie by Debbie Reynolds”
Ava Gardner “Love Is Nothing” by Lee Server
Ava Gardner: “Love is Nothing” by Lee Server My rating: 5 of 5 stars There was a point when I was reading this that I thought about that moment in Liberty Valance: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend”. That’s not to cast any aspersions upon Server’s fact-checking because this is a rigorously putContinue reading “Ava Gardner “Love Is Nothing” by Lee Server”
Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton
Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really appreciated what Bruton did in No Ballet Shoes in Syria so was delighted when the publisher sent me a copy of her new title, Bird Boy. The first thing to note is that this is a breathtakingly beautiful cover and one thatContinue reading “Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton”
The Abbey Girls by Elsie J. Oxenham
The Abbey Girls by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 4 of 5 stars I actually enjoyed this? I feel the question mark in the above is pivotal, so let’s start this review there, in that little seam of bafflement. I have read a fair few of Elsie J. Oxenham’s books now and found them aContinue reading “The Abbey Girls by Elsie J. Oxenham”
They Called Her Patience by Lorna Hill
They Called Her Patience by Lorna Hill My rating: 5 of 5 stars I sometimes think that the nearest thing to literary Arcadia is Lorna Hill and the Northumberland countryside. It’s just so perfect to me, the way she pauses on a beat and suddenly you realise everything here is so endless and perfect andContinue reading “They Called Her Patience by Lorna Hill”
The Kingdom By The Sea by Paul Theroux
The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finished this and I thought: isn’t it weird that the more things change, the more things stay the same. There are parts of The Kingdom By The Sea that feel like something from another world: people who were born beforeContinue reading “The Kingdom By The Sea by Paul Theroux”
A Kind Of Spark by Elle McNicoll
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Kind of Spark centres on neurodivergent Addie and her campaign for a historical memorial in her hometown. The memorial is for the women who were killed in the witch trials, centuries ago, by the townfolk. Addie learns about these women duringContinue reading “A Kind Of Spark by Elle McNicoll”
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II My rating: 5 of 5 stars The tall, dark-haired reviewer sat down to write her review on the book and considered how to begin. It was interesting, she thought, how everything in her busy, vivid life had suddenly required two adjectives. She wasn’t sureContinue reading “Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober by Victor Appleton II”
Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s an interesting one this because I did like it and I did enjoy it but also I found some strange stickiness about certain parts of it. Let’s start with the good stuff. Elizabeth Zott persists despite everything the world has to throwContinue reading “Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus”
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m very fond of what E. Nesbit does because she does it very well. She has a deep understanding of the messy, vibrant rhythm of family life and inter-personal relationships and it’s this, really, that makes her work still immeasurably readable and interestingContinue reading “The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit”
Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am slowly working my way through the last few Chalet School books I’m yet to review and picked up Excitements, prompted by the discovery of a nicer paperback in the shop. I like this slow and steady collection making,Continue reading “Excitements at the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer”
Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day
Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day My rating: 5 of 5 stars A while ago, I had a very particular need to read some Susie Day. I have adored her work for a long time and I think that in many ways, it demonstrates everything that is good in present-day children’s literature. SheContinue reading “Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It by Susie Day”
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, artwork by Emily Carroll
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I found this remarkable and have been taking some time to quite figure out how to review it and what to say about it. I am unfamiliar with Laurie Halse Anderson’s original text so was coming to this fresh. I hadContinue reading “Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, artwork by Emily Carroll”
Donut Feed The Squirrels by Mika Song
Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song My rating: 5 of 5 stars (Please note that I was offered a copy of this to review from my publisher. This hasn’t impacted my feelings about the book nor the content of this review). This is infinitely, infinitely, infinitely charming stuff. I loved every inch of it.Continue reading “Donut Feed The Squirrels by Mika Song”
Manga Shakespeare Romeo And Juliet
Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet by Richard Appignanesi, artwork by Sonia Leong My rating: 4 of 5 stars Adapting Shakespeare and then adapting Romeo and Juliet is not the easiest of tasks to set yourself. Not only do you have to wrestle with an incredibly familiar text that everybody knows (and even if they don’t,Continue reading “Manga Shakespeare Romeo And Juliet”
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Normal People by Sally Rooney My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this, my first Sally Rooney over Christmas and the New Year. I was quite determinedly ill at the time, hurtling from one virus to another and then another in that breathless, desperate way that people can do when there’s nothing on theContinue reading “Normal People by Sally Rooney”
Linda In Lucerne by Winifred Donald
Linda in Lucerne by Winifred Donald My rating: 5 of 5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed every inch of Linda In Lucerne though I must caution you that it is not, perhaps, the highest of literature nor is it perhaps the most believable. It is not the best writing I have ever come across nor isContinue reading “Linda In Lucerne by Winifred Donald”
H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald My rating: 5 of 5 stars And so, the end of the year and the start of a new one. Christmas and then the bit beyond. A time when the world gets a little bit thin and unsure of itself. December slides from all purpose and helter-skelter intentContinue reading “H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald”
The Nicest Girl In The School by Angela Brazil
The Nicest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s unsurprising that certain themes reoccur in Brazil’s work. She was immensely prolific and an author who, for the most, stuck to a particular age group and genre. She knew what she could do and she did it very well.Continue reading “The Nicest Girl In The School by Angela Brazil”
The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler
The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler My rating: 5 of 5 stars There was a point in reading this where I thought about how disappointed the average schoolgirl in the 1930s or 1940s might have been when her school didn’t burn down, nobody fell down a pit and needed rescuing, the school’s honourContinue reading “The Madcap of the School by Christine Chaundler”
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson My rating: 5 of 5 stars When the sky is blue and the air is sharp, the world calls for Moominland Midwinter. I read it outside until the light began to fade andI was too cold to read. And as I walked home, I thought about all of the differentContinue reading “Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson”
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAlnuty
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have just tried to start this review several times but I’ve never been quite able to figure it out. So let’s start with the facts: Diary of a Young Naturalist has had a lot of buzz about it. It’s writtenContinue reading “Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAlnuty”
The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett
The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I began this, I had two problems. The first was that I kept confusing it with The Silver Brumby, a series I adore with a fierce and heartfelt passion, and it took a while for me to disentangle The Brumby from that.Continue reading “The Brumby by Mary Elwyn Patchett”
An introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt
An Introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt My rating: 4 of 5 stars I recently picked up a fair few of the older children’s literature theory books, the ones that I’ve always known as points of reference to be read in extracts and photocopied chapters whilst also taking them with a slight pinch ofContinue reading “An introduction to Children’s Literature by Peter Hunt”
Point of Departure by James Cameron
Point of Departure: Experiment in Biography by James Cameron My rating: 4 of 5 stars There was a table in the bookshop, right at the back of the room, with several piles of books on it. The sign, recycled from a piece of packaging, said that these titles were all £1 and many of themContinue reading “Point of Departure by James Cameron”
Pollyanna & Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter
Pollyanna / Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have been aware of Pollyanna for a long while, mainly because “Pollyanna” has been used as a kind of insult in some of the books I read. It’s normally attached to a Slightly Over-Dramatic Child who might have beenContinue reading “Pollyanna & Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter”
The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee
The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee My rating: 5 of 5 stars (A few preliminary notes. It’s important for me to tell you that I share a publisher with Foxlee and received this from them as a free copy. This has not impacted upon my thoughts). I really liked Miss Mary-Kate Martin’sContinue reading “The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee”
The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter
Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’m always interested in those moments when you pick up a book without knowing anything about it at all. For me, The Children Who Stayed Behind caught my eye because of the cover but also because it’s a post-war Puffin. These areContinue reading “The Children Who Stayed Behind by Bruce Carter”
The Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo
Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think what is really interesting in books is where they start to get away from you. I know that makes no sense so let’s work it through a little and see where we end up. Every book has an edge, I think,Continue reading “The Snow Spider Trilogy by Jenny Nimmo”
Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka
Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have had Jummy At The River School on my radar for a while; it’s the first of a series of school stories detailing the adventures of Jummy at her new boarding school set by the beautiful Shine-Shine River. The RiverContinue reading “Jummy at the River School by Sabine Adeyinka”
The Viking Saga by Henry Treece
The Viking Saga: Viking’s Dawn / The Road to Miklagard / Viking’s Sunset by Henry Treece My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wasn’t surprised to discover that this trilogy was first published in the fifties. Some periods in British children’s literature wear their heart very much on the sleeve. If you cut them, theyContinue reading “The Viking Saga by Henry Treece”
Biggles Defends The Desert by Captain W E Johns
Biggles Defends The Desert by W.E. Johns My rating: 3 of 5 stars Biggles Defends The Desert is the story of a shindig in the desert. We go attack them, they attack us, people are trapped, people are rescued, Biggles has his head basically blown off but then recovers in spectacularly swift fashion, and thereContinue reading “Biggles Defends The Desert by Captain W E Johns”
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
[A brief content warning prior to this book. I am always in favour of content warnings because I am always in favour of making deliberate, conscious decisions about the books you read and engage with. You are in control of literature and not the other way around. Hence this note. The following review mentions abuseContinue reading “My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell”
Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen
Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You by Sofie Hagen My rating: 4 of 5 stars Being fat is a process of daily reclamation of your body from a world that wants to claim it as their own. Hagen’s book examines what that means on an infinite number ofContinue reading “Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen”
Educated by Tara Westover
Educated by Tara Westover My rating: 5 of 5 stars Genuinely remarkable and reading smooth as silk, there’s nothing about this book that doesn’t take your breath away. I have had Educated on my radar for a while but picked it up only recently and then when I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.Continue reading “Educated by Tara Westover”
Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce My rating: 4 of 5 stars When I mentioned that I was reading this online, I got nothing but positive responses. And they were not wrong: Dear Mrs Bird is charming and lovely and deeply, utterly refreshing. It’s funny and heartbreaking and very, very funny. Pearce has a delightfulContinue reading “Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce”
Worrals Carries On by W. E. Johns
Worrals Carries On by W.E. Johns My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have been thinking a lot about the idea of “outlandishness” in literature, that is to say the notion of people doing things that you would not normally do or believe or countenance and yet somehow you, as the reader, buy into themContinue reading “Worrals Carries On by W. E. Johns”
The King Who Had To Go by Adrian Phillips
The King Who Had To Go: Edward VIII, Mrs Simpson and the Hidden Politics of the Abdication Crisis by Adrian Phillips My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really found this fascinating but it is a book of a very particular angle. Phillips is interested in the politics; specifically, the political machinations that occurred withinContinue reading “The King Who Had To Go by Adrian Phillips”
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cogheart is a punky, sparky adventure with hints of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and I enjoyed it very much. Lily and her friends have to figure out what’s happened to her father. Along the way, she’s helped by a cast of mechanicals – automatonsContinue reading “Cogheart by Peter Bunzl”
Game on, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham
Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this. It’s the first of a series of highly illustrated early readers which centre on the playing of a computer game. We follow the lead character – Super Rabbit Boy – as he heads through the levels. ThingsContinue reading “Game on, Super Rabbit Boy! by Thomas Flintham”
Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson
Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Jill series is responsible for many things in my childhood, not in the least the solid belief that ponies should just sort of be given to Earnestly Deserving People like myself. They were everywhere in the countryside. Every family hadContinue reading “Jill and the Perfect Pony by Ruby Ferguson”
My Life On Fire by Cath Howe
My Life on Fire by Cath Howe My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am always interested in what Nosy Crow do and even more so when it involves an author that I have a lot of time for. My Life On Fire by the sensitive and gentle writer Cath Howe is due out atContinue reading “My Life On Fire by Cath Howe”
Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson
Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen by Rebecca May Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wasn’t sure for a while about Small Fires but then, all of a sudden, I realised that I got it. I was not looking for the next chapter end, but rather reading because I was lost toContinue reading “Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson”
Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin
Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have always had a lot of time for Jamila Gavin. Her writing is always very classy stuff and I admire it intently. She has this skill of restraint and clarity that makes you understand something, whatever that something is, very deeply beforeContinue reading “Never Forget You by Jamila Gavin”
The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had been wanting to reread the Borrowers for a while and then, all of a sudden, started to find it in every bookshop I went into. This happens sometimes. Bookshops, particularly those of the second hand kind that I tend to frequent,Continue reading “The Complete Borrowers by Mary Norton”
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald My rating: 2 of 5 stars Sometimes it’s interesting to come in at the end. This is the first book I’ve read by Fitzgerald and the last novel he completed. I’m aware of his others but I’ve never read them. I wonder if I should write somethingContinue reading “Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald”
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was thinking about how to review this and indeed, if reviewing was even going to be a productive act for the book, myself, and for the slightly perplexed and slightly confused and often quite intrusive experience of readingContinue reading “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry”
The Lost City of Z by David Grann
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann My rating: 4 of 5 stars I first came to this story through the film of the same name which was something I watched almost by mistake and then enjoyed intensely. I spend a lot of time in theContinue reading “The Lost City of Z by David Grann”
2022 : a year in books
One of the things I like about Goodreads is that, at the end of the year, you get a fairly nifty round up of your reading. Admittedly you do have to remember to put the ‘read date’ in and admittedly that took me quite some time to remember to do (!), but it does allContinue reading “2022 : a year in books”
Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill
Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think that when you were a pony girl, there will always be a little part of you that will remain a pony girl. She’ll make herself known in strange, subtle ways throughout the rest of your life. Like when you see a pictureContinue reading “Eventing Trilogy by Caroline Akrill”
Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans
Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans My rating: 4 of 5 stars Perhaps best known for the eternally joyful Madeline, Hotel Splendide allows Ludwig Bemelmans to showcase another side of his personality. This strange, slender and occasionally deeply melancholic book is the story of his time at the Hotel Splendide in the 1920s. Bemelmans moves upContinue reading “Hotel Splendide by Ludwig Bemelmans”
Putin’s Russia, the rise of a dictator by Darryl Cunningham
Putin’s Russia: The Rise of a Dictator by Darryl Cunningham My rating: 4 of 5 stars My goodness, this is a heck of a book. I finished it and had to make a mixture of ‘wait, what’ faces at the wall to calm down. Putin’s Russia has been on my wavelength for a while (IContinue reading “Putin’s Russia, the rise of a dictator by Darryl Cunningham”
Rereading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
I have a list of the books I want to reread and one of the constants on it for the last few months has been a reread of the Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins. If you don’t know of these books, then they kind of marked a point where young adult literature spilt veryContinue reading “Rereading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins”
The complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrations by E. H. Shepard
The Complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne My rating: 5 of 5 stars I had a sort of sudden realisation the other day (driven, might I add, by the discovery of an excellent boxed set in the charity bookshop) that I had never really sat and read the Winnie-the-Pooh stories all the way through from theContinue reading “The complete Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, illustrations by E. H. Shepard”
Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant
Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant My rating: 3 of 5 stars A very late stage Bessie Marchant novel, Felicity’s Fortune is also a rather interesting thing. It begins with Felicity who (over)works in an office and lives a relatively impoverished life with her widowed mother and the rest of her family. It is, as everContinue reading “Felicity’s Fortune by Bessie Marchant”
Daisy May Johnson 