Short Book and Scribes

To the point book reviews and other bookish stuff

Home
About
Contact
Reviews
Articles
Blog Tours
Giveaways
Cover Reveals
Extracts
Guest Posts
Q&A
Tales from the Backlist
Seven Day Spotlight Posts
Fame at last!
Review Policy
Privacy Policy

Short Book and Scribes

Blog Tours

Follow Short Book and Scribes

Follow Short Book and Scribes on WordPress.com

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

In doing so you are consenting to this website storing your personal information, none of which will be shared with any third parties.

Email Address

Search for:

Currently Reading

Follow me on Twitter

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

shortbookandscribes

#EverythingIsBeautiful is published today in hardc

#EverythingIsBeautiful is published today in hardcover and I thought it was a very special debut and an absolutely beautiful read.

Happy #PublicationDay @eleanorraybooks 🎉🥳🍾

Meet Ellen, Alexa, Jack and Ben. They’re broke,

Meet Ellen, Alexa, Jack and Ben. They’re broke, they’re lonely, and they’re hungover. And they’re also stuck in the attic of 49 Rokeby Close while the house fills with water. Get to know them a little better before you meet them this summer by their Hinge dating profiles!

#WelcomeToTheLockIn #TheLockIn

#Ad New review: Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkn

Happy Friday 🎉🍹 I was lucky enough to win @

Happy Friday 🎉🍹

I was lucky enough to win @hqstories' giveaway celebrating publication of #TheInvitation by A.M. Castle. Thank you HQ and @tastecocktails for my Long Island Iced Tea cocktail set. Just the thing for a Friday afternoon treat.🍹

#cocktails #cocktailsofinstagram #fridaydrinks

#Ad New Review: On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbo

#Ad New Review: On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold. Published by Arcadia Books on 15th April.
🌄
On Hampstead Heath may be a relatively short read at 248 pages but it’s certainly a mighty one. Thorn Marsh is a journalist, a news editor at a London newspaper when she finds that all of a sudden her face no longer fits with the new managing editor. She’s cast aside to a supplement focusing on cheery stories, not her thing at all. In a fit of pique and in the throes of a drunken haze she writes a piece that has only a vague semblance of truth to it. The repercussions of Thorn’s deception ripple down through the book.
🌄
The plot of this novel is inspired, focusing on how much truth there is in the press (or lack thereof), the advent of the digital age slowly killing off the newspaper, and all that social media has to answer for in the current news climate. It’s the writing and the characterisations that really stood out for me though. Marika Cobbold’s narrative for Thorn is a work of genius, the dialogue sublimely sharp and her inner thoughts so astute and perfectly observed. I found it so darkly funny. There is one scene in particular where Thorn visits her mother whose old friend, Joan Pyke, is there. Thorn’s acerbic thoughts on seeing Joan were thrown at me like knives from a knife-thrower, one after the other, never letting up, and I just couldn’t stop laughing. I kept re-reading certain sections of the book as a whole, marvelling at the way they were written and the pointed scrutiny of everyday situations and human foibles.
🌄
Thorn is a brilliant creation but every character in this book is perfect, slotting into their places in Thorn’s life, however large or small a part. Her relationships with her family, her friends and her colleagues all seem to be rather complicated but also very real, and I found them absolutely compelling.
🌄
I thought this was a fabulous read. It’s wise and perceptive, honest and witty. I think that whenever I need a good laugh I will think about Joan Pyke! This is the sort of book that belongs on prize lists.
🌄
Thank you to Midas PR for the proof copy of the book.

#Ad New review: The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc. P

#Ad New review: The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc. Published by Headline Review and out now.
💷
I’m always wary when a well-known face turns their hand to fiction as I think it can go either way. I’ve read good and bad examples, and the latter tends to occur when all I can hear is that well-known voice coming through stronger than the voices of the characters. Happily, in the Best Things, Mel Giedroyc has managed to write a novel which has her trademark wit, warmth and sassiness without overpowering her own creations.
💷
This is the story of Sally Parker and her family: husband, Frank; children, Cleo, Stephen and Mikey; and niece, Emily. From humble beginnings, Frank has built up a mighty empire with no expense spared. Their mini army of staff means that Sally doesn’t need to lift a finger except when she’s prancing around playing the perfect hostess or shopping for the finest fripperies at the local farm shop or boutique. Life is good, isn’t it? Well, things are about to go really bad for the Parker family and they’re on the verge of losing everything as we are introduced to them.
💷
This is one of those stories that focuses on what we should be grateful for in life and this riches to rags tale certainly brings the Parkers down to earth with a bump. I didn’t always find it easy to like most of them and their materialistic personalities (Mikey perhaps being the exception) but there were moments when I sympathised and plenty of times when they made me smile or laugh. There’s a lot of wit in this book, as you might expect, but underneath it all is a moral to the story and I really enjoyed seeing the way that Sally had to go back to basics and be strong for her family. Go Sally!
💷
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading The Best Things but I ended up loving it. It has a hint of the Jilly Cooper about it with some raucous behaviour and some caricaturistic characters that I couldn’t help but like. They’d drive me mad in real life but between the pages of a book they were great fun. The writing is engaging and I found it to be a very satisfying romp of a read. I hope to read more books by Mel Giedroyc in the future.

Happy Easter 🐰🐣💛 I hope that however you

Happy Easter
🐰🐣💛
I hope that however you celebrate it you are having a lovely day. It's turned out expectedly sunny.☀️

With all the talk of the Easter bunny today I thought I would celebrate one of the most famous rabbits around, Peter in his little blue coat. 🐇

I'm something of a Beatrix Potter fan and these are a few items from my collection. The Fairy Caravan was a quite expensive addition that I think came from a book shop in the Lake District if I remember rightly. It was one of those take a look, leave the shop, take another look, walk around a bit, sort of purchases but in the end I just couldn't leave it behind.

Do you like the Beatrix Potter tales?
🐰🐣💛

#beatrixpotter #peterrabbit #easter #easterbunny #bookblogger #bookstagrammer #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklove #booklover #childrensbooks #shortbookandscribes

New review: Scent by Isabel Costello. Published by

New review: Scent by Isabel Costello. Published by Muswell Press and out now.
✨
Scent is a classy and intriguing story of a woman in crisis but hiding it well. Clémentine is a perfumer, owning an elegant and exclusive shop in Paris. Her marriage to Édouard is troubled and the story tells us that it was never easy. Her grown up children are causing their own problems and now Clémentine’s former (female) lover, Racha, from years ago has turned up to add to everything else. It feels very strongly, right from the beginning, that Clémentine is a woman teetering on the edge.
✨
What I found quite powerful about this book was the incredible sense of place. It just felt so very French with all the air of sophistication that comes with that. The author has done an excellent job at putting the reader right into the heart of Parisian life and also in Provence in the chapters that look back at Clémentine’s past and how Racha was a part of her life then.
✨
I particularly loved the little details about Clémentine’s scent creation and her day to day life in her shop, with her new assistant, Suzanne. In contrast to that, her life in her apartment with its balcony, her and Édouard only ever really looking at each other from the corners of their eyes felt oppressive and unhappy. I got the sense of two people passing through the rooms independent of each other, yet living together.
✨
Scent is a contemplative read, which made me think of the decisions we make throughout our lives and how the consequences of those decisions ripple down through the years. An unresolved past makes Clémentine unable to commit fully to her future and it’s interesting to see that from Édouard’s point of view. This book has a kind of pared back feel to the narrative, a slow burn to it that coincided with Clémentine’s own slow return to a life more meaningful.
✨
An enjoyable and thoughtful read, Scent is the ideal book for Francophiles and readers who like to delve deep into the relationships that we make throughout our lives.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.

March Reads 📚 Happy April everyone. These ten b

March Reads
📚
Happy April everyone. These ten books are the ones I read in March and they were a lovely selection. Is it me or does the beginning of March feel like ages ago? I had to question whether I actually read some of these during the last month. Time is an illusion as my OH is always telling me. ⏳
📚
Have you read any of these books? What was your favourite read in March? I'd love to know.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#MarchReads #marchreads2021 #bookblogger #bookstagrammer #booksread #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instabooks #instareads #sagafiction #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklove #booklover #shortbookandscribes

New review: Another Life by Jodie Chapman. Publish

New review: Another Life by Jodie Chapman. Published by Michael Joseph on 1st April.
🎟️🎫
Another Life is a beautifully written story of love in all its forms (parental, brotherly, friendship, relationships). The blurb only really skims the surface of the deep emotions contained within the pages of this book. This kind of character-driven read is right up my street.
🎫🎟️
On the surface this is the story of Nick and Anna. Theirs is an intense love story but Anna lives a different kind of life to Nick, one of strong beliefs and strict guidelines. Their love seems almost destined to fail. But it’s not only about Nick and Anna. This is Nick’s story and his family background plays a huge part in his future decisions. I’m not saying anything else about the story though. The blurb is deliberately vague and it’s best to approach reading this book with only the bare minimum of detail to be able to fully immerse yourself in it.
🎟️🎫
I love books with plots like this that jump all over the place in a non-linear fashion, like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I’m in awe of the author’s ability to pull together many different strands of the story so that they unfold organically and yet non-chronologically. The action takes place from the 1980s up to the present day, starting with a shocking incident, the reasons for which become clear only as we learn of past events.
🎫🎟️
I thought the characterisations were superb from the main protagonists to the minor players, with all the roles coming together to create an ensemble piece, just as in life. Another Life really is about all of life and its myriad ups and downs but at the heart is a stunning love story that I was utterly gripped by. I feel that this is a book that is impossible to do justice to in a review. It’s so multi-layered, so thoughtful, so deliciously poignant and it delivers a sucker-punch to the heart. The writing is stunning and intuitive, and the story is one I don’t think I will forget. I loved Another Life.
🎟️🎫
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #bookreviewer #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #AnotherLife #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Imposter by Anna Wharton. Publishe

New review: The Imposter by Anna Wharton. Published by Mantle on 1st April.
📚
There was something about the premise of The Imposter that immediately grabbed my attention. The thought of this woman, Chloe, living a quiet life working in a newspaper archive (a job I imagine to be quite solitary) and living with her Nan, but becoming embroiled in a story she came across at work, that of a 4 year old girl, Angie, who went missing 25 years ago and has never been seen since. Something about this story makes her unable to let go of it.
📚
I feel like this is a book of three parts. The first part is quite calm as we follow Chloe going to and from her desk and see her trying to look after Nan who has dementia. Then the tension really goes up a gear from just before the halfway mark when Chloe, through a series of quite unexpected events, ends up living with the missing girl’s parents, Maureen and Patrick. I found at this point I was whipping the pages by as quickly as I could, desperate to know what was going to happen next. The historical ‘crime’ intermingles in a quite unsettling way with the current day story. And then there’s the finale which held some surprises as it didn’t turn out as I expected (in a good way).
📚
Although there’s a strong plot, I think this is a more character-driven story that looks at loss and loneliness and how those emotions manifest themselves. The characterisations are really effective and I felt like I was right there in the story.
📚
The Imposter is a fabulous debut from Anna Wharton. There’s such a sense of unease about it with oppressive settings that pop off the page and add to that feeling. At times I was thinking to myself, “what on earth are you playing at, Chloe?” as my heart thudded away, but then not everything is as it seems in this story and that’s where its power comes from. I flew through this 400 page book, totally engrossed in the quiet, yet gripping, action. I thought it was excellent.
📚
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #bookreviewer #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instareads #instabooks #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #TheImposter #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Sewing Room Girl by Susanna Bavin.

New review: The Sewing Room Girl by Susanna Bavin. Published by Allison and Busby and out now.
🧵
I’ve spent a few happy days completely absorbed in The Sewing Room Girl and I genuinely didn’t want to put it down as I followed Juliet through some very tough times in her life.
🧵
The book opens in 1892 when Juliet Harper is 15. The death of her father leaves her and her mother, Agnes, in dire straits but luckily Agnes is taken on as seamstress to Lady Drysdale. At first it seems that their luck is holding but a series of tragic and traumatic events leaves Juliet alone in the world. She runs away to seek out the grandmother she has never known but unfortunately that doesn’t make her life any easier. Far from it, in fact.
🧵
Looking back, I can’t believe how much was packed into the 400 or so pages of this story and yet Susanna Bavin never compromised on emotion, characterisation or detail. Poor Juliet has struggle upon struggle thrust upon her but what an amazing character she is. Every time she got knocked down I was thrilled to see her get back up again a little bit stronger than before. In the manner of all the best saga writers, Bavin puts her characters thoroughly through the wringer, only to lead them out again and maybe put them through it again!
🧵
I felt totally drawn into the story, not just of Juliet, but her friends and foes too. Whilst she meets some lovely, lifelong, friends, she also makes some wicked enemies, and all the characters are well-drawn and play an important part in the story which the author weaves together so well. There were quite a few surprises that I never saw coming at all, plenty of heartbreaking moments, and some that made me smile too. I really enjoyed the late 19th century setting, and Juliet’s work as a seamstress. I could put myself right there with her as she designed and made garments, and went from a village setting to the bustling heart of Manchester.
🧵
The Sewing Room Girl is an absolutely brilliant and compelling read that I didn’t want to come to an end. I highly recommend it for all saga lovers.
🧵
Thank you to the author for the review copy of the book.

Load More… Follow on Instagram

Popular
Comments
Latest

Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes #PublicationDay #QandA with Maggie Mason, Author of The Halfpenny Girls
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Notebook by Tom Cox #BlogTour #RandomThingsTours
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Domestic Bliss and Other Disasters by Jane Ions
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Scent by Isabel Costello

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – On Hampstead Heath by Marika Cobbold
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Scent by Isabel Costello
ShortBookandScribes #PublicationDay #QandA with Maggie Mason, Author of The Halfpenny Girls

Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes #PublicationDay #QandA with Maggie Mason, Author of The Halfpenny Girls
ShortBookandScribes #BlogTour #Giveaway of Dangerous Women by Hope Adams
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Imposter by Anna Wharton
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Domestic Bliss and Other Disasters by Jane Ions
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Canary Keeper by Clare Carson

Archives

Archives

© Unauthorised use and/or duplication of material contained on this site without express and written permission from this site’s author and owner is strictly prohibited. Authors and publishers may use excerpts and links, provided that full and clear credit is given to Short Book and Scribes and shortbookandscribes.uk with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Powered by WordPress and Momentous.

Follow

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox: