Tsunami Kids

4

Most of the books I read are fiction but every now and then I like to read a factual book and in particular I enjoy memoirs. Celebrity memoirs are (to my slight shame) a favourite but every now and again I come across the story of an “ordinary” person…

Viral

A few weeks ago I read a blogpost by author Helen Fitzgerald on the use of bad language in her latest novel Viral. Specifically the use of the word “cock” and how it spooked her publisher, booksellers and supermarkets, effectively scuppering any large-scale sales…

Death is a Welcome Guest

A while back I read Louise Welsh’s A Lovely Way To Burn, the first book in her Plague Times trilogy. I was in a bit of blogging slump at the time so didn’t review, if I had it would have been a solid 4 ribbon read. The book follows Stevie Flint as she survives an illness…

The Darkest Secret

A couple of weeks ago I read and reviewed Pretty Is and commented on how visceral and terrifying the thought of child abduction is, even to someone like me who doesn’t have children. It’s something that society as a whole is designed to fear and there are a number of newly released novels…

After You Die

I’ve done it again…. I’ve started reading a crime series several books in because I spotted the book on social media and decided that I HAD to read it. This time it’s Eva Dolan’s Zigic and Ferreira series, based in the Peterborough police’s Hate Crimes unit…

Woman in Gold

As you know, one of my particular areas of interest is the Holocaust and Nazi persecution and I think about it a lot this time of year. It’s been a privilege to work with survivors of the Holocaust and hear their stories. One of the striking aspects of the Jewish experience …

The Widow

Whenever I read a crime thriller, no matter how much I enjoy it, there’s a little part of my mind which strays a bit. Of course I’m interested in the victim and the detectives but there’s that bit which wants to know more about the wider set of characters…

Cinderella

It’s not enough for Disney to make huge profits from the Star Wars and Marvel universes, the House of Mouse is now exploring its own back catalogue in the search for more money-making schemes. The latest wheeze is to produce big-budget, live-action versions of the classic animations…

The Reader

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, a time to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and all of the victims of Nazi persecution, subsequent genocides, and discrimination today. I urge everyone to visit the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Holocaust Educational Trust…

2016 Classics Challenge – The Book Thief

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was taking part in the 2016 Classics Challenge and that I would try to ensure that one book a month would be a “classic” – however classic is defined. The first book I’ve chosen is The Book Thief, the Markus Zusak novel…