Short Book and Scribes

To the point book reviews and other bookish stuff

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

Short Book and Scribes

Tag: travel fiction

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Hotel Where We Met by Belinda Jones

Posted on 23rd August 2019 By Nicola

I’m super happy today to be sharing my review of The Hotel Where We Met by Belinda Jones. My thanks to the author for sending […]

Continue reading »

4

Reviews

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

Short Book & Scribes Follow

Nicola Smith-book blogger. Reviews and other bookish stuff. Just one person trying to read all the books. No eBooks. IG, FB, TT handle-@shortbookandscribes

Short Book & Scribes @shortbookscribe ·

23 Oct

ICYMI - find out what I thought about I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel

A country house murder mystery and a great debut novel, this book simmers with underlying tension until the mystery is solved.

@bedsqpublishers
#IDiedAtFallowHall

Reply on Twitter 1849085869803860271 Retweet on Twitter 1849085869803860271 Like on Twitter 1849085869803860271 1 Twitter 1849085869803860271

Load More

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

shortbookandscribes

Harper Collins Book Haul 📚 Today I thought I'd

Harper Collins Book Haul
📚
Today I thought I'd show off the books I purchased using the recent 50% off flash sale offer from Harper Collins. If you aren't signed up for their emails then I'd recommend doing so as they have these sorts of sales quite often, if not 50% then 40% or 30%. If you spend £25 (easy done!) then it's free postage too. This is not an ad for Harper Collins, just a book lover's haul.
📚

#AVoyageAroundTheQueen by Craig Brown - this is a hefty book at 672 pages but as a royalist I couldn't resist.

#TheStoryCollector by Evie Woods - this sounds like a book that has a bit of everything that I love and the cover is stunning.

#ScandalousWomen by Gill Paul - I love Gill Paul's writing and this book sounds right up my street with the literary focus.

#TheBookshopByTheLoch by Julie Shackman - a bookshop, in Scotland, enemies to lovers....take my money.
📚
In preparing this post I realise that there's quite a focus on bookish stories here. I love books about books - do you? Which do you recommend? Have you read any of my purchases?
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookhaul #newbooks #TBRpile #TBR #fortheloveofbooks #bookishcontent #bookish #ilovereading #reader #bookblogger #reviewer #booklover #booksofinstagram #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Fortunes of Olivia

Ad/PR product. New review: The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond by @louisedwriter. Published by @moonflower_books and out now.
🔮

The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond is the perfect read for spooky season. Julia Pearlie takes a role as companion to Olivia Richmond at Mistcoate House in Norfolk. This is the fresh start Julia needs after a tragic end to her previous position. She has her work cut out though: Olivia appears to have supernatural powers, her father is sometimes erratic, and the housekeeper, Mrs Hayes, seems to loathe Julia's presence in the house.
🔮
This is such an atmospheric and truly compelling read. It's set towards the end of the Victorian era and the sense of time and place is depicted perfectly. Mistcoate itself has a faded grandeur and felt like a dark and lonely place for Julia. In the nearby village, she makes friends but often feels out of place and her charge's reputation as the Mistcoate witch doesn't help.
🔮
The Yorkshire Times describes this book as being a cross between Jane Eyre and The Woman in Black, with a hefty dose of Mrs Danvers thrown in. I can't do any better than that and what an endorsement! It feels true to the era, particularly the Victorian fervour for fortune telling and séances. Julia narrates her story and there's always a niggling doubt as to whether she's unreliable or not, but ultimately I loved her personality and she, Olivia and Mrs Hayes proved to be vivid characters who jumped off the page.
🔮
I loved this dark, historical fiction story. It's twisty and eerie, with a huge amount of gothic splendour, and I was engrossed from beginning to end in Miss Pearlie's account of her time with the Richmonds. A fantastic debut.
🔮
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #TheFortunesOfOliviaRichmond #historicalfiction #fortheloveofbooks #reviewbooks #booksread #spookyreads #SpookySeason #ilovebooks #histfic #bookreader #reviewer #bookblogger #reader #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: A Christmas W

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: A Christmas Wish at Woolworths by Elaine Everest. To be published on 24th October by @panmacmillan.
🎄
A Christmas Wish at Woolworths takes us back to Erith, Kent in the run up to Christmas 1953. Once again we meet with the characters that I have come to love. Whilst the men are strong characters in their own right, it's the women who always stand out in Elaine Everest's books, the ones who pull together to work out any problems and save the day.
🎄
Some of the problems in this story are to be faced by Betty Billington, the manager of the town's Woolworths store which faces closure despite still being a popular place for shoppers. Maisie and her family also face opposition from their new neighbours who seem to have taken a real dislike to them. Despite all this, each generation from matriarch Ruby and her husband Bob, to Sarah, Freda and Maisie, and down to the younger members Clemmie, Claudette and Bessie, is determined to join together and get through it.
🎄
I loved this instalment of the popular series. It's easy to read and transported me back to the 1950s. I've always particularly enjoyed the scenes set in Woolworths itself and there's plenty of those, but it was also nice to accompany the characters on a trip to London and to the pantomime, and to see what a thrill it was for them to do something out of the ordinary. As this will sadly now be the last book to carry on the characters' stories (although another Woolworths book will be published next year, it has a different focus) I was pleased that it ended on such a lovely note and I closed the book with a very contented smile on my face.
🎄
This book brings together community spirit and friendship to provide a completely heart-warming and joyful read. I know a book has done its job with me if I wish that I could step into it and spend time with all the characters myself. This book did that for me and I recommend it (and the rest of the series) for all saga lovers.
🎄
Thank you to the publishers for the review copy.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #AChristmasWishAtWoolworths #sagafiction #sagabooks #sagas #booksread #reviewbooks #reader #reviewer #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Miss Beeton's Murder Ag

Ad/PR product. New review: Miss Beeton's Murder Agency by @josielloydwriter. To be published by @hqstories on 24th October.
🔍

Alice Beeton runs the Good Household Management Agency which provides housekeepers, cleaners and other staff to those in need of them, and a jolly good job she does of it too, with her eye for detail and her two trusty colleagues, Jinx and Helly. I must mention her other trusty sidekick, her gorgeous little dog, Agatha (named after Agatha Christie).
🔍
Trouble comes along when Alice finds a position for Enya, a new person on her books, and very soon afterwards Enya is found dead. Alice turns into an unlikely detective, which rather messes up her orderly life but which also gives her a little thrill, which may be aided by the presence of Detective Rigby in her life.
🔍
I thought this was a delightful read. I don't read a lot of cosy crime but this was an excellent example of the genre, firmly rooted in the modern day and yet with a hint of old-fashioned charm, helped along by the references to the main character's ancestor, the famous Mrs Beeton. Recipes are scattered throughout the text too, a feature which I found so appealing.
🔍
The plot itself is rather clever and Miss Beeton turns out to be a very able and cunning detective. I loved all the characters, many of whom were Alice's friends who stepped into the breach to assist her - there's a real sense of camaraderie between them all. I think Agatha might just be the star of the show though!
🔍
I have a feeling this may turn out to be the start of a series and I'd definitely like to read more books featuring Alice, Jinx and Detective Rigby. I foresee many capers ahead. Although Miss Beeton's Murder Agency is set partly at Christmas and New Year, it's not overly Christmassy so would be a brilliant read for any time of the year.
🔍
Thank you @rachelquinmarketing and the publishers for the gorgeous blogger package.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #MissBeetonsMurderAgency #cosycrime #cosycrimebooks #Christmasbooks #booksread #reviewbooks #reader #lovelyreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogger #reviewer #bookreader #booklover #ilovebooks #lovefiction #shortbookandscribes

Huge thanks to @rachelquinmarketing for this fabul

Huge thanks to @rachelquinmarketing for this fabulous #bookpost containing:

📖 #MissBeetonsMurderAgency, the new cosy crime novel from @josielloydwriter, to be published by @hqstories on 24th October.
☕ Earl Grey tea
🧤 A cup sleeve
🧾 Beautiful recipe cards and
🐾 The cutest pair of fluffy socks.

This whole package was such a treat to open and the book sounds absolutely wonderful.

#cosycrime #bookishpost #bookblogger #reader #reviewer #Christmasbooks #murdermysterybooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Commuter by @emmacu

Ad/PR product. New review: The Commuter by @emmacurtisauthor. Published by Corvus and out now.
🚇
Rachel Gordon is married to Anthony, an older, very successful businessman. Whilst travelling to work on the tube, she meets a man who she connects with. She loves her husband but this man gives her journeys a frisson of excitement as she waits to see if he will board the same tube as her. When she has an accident and wakes up from a coma to find Anthony has been killed, she can't remember a thing about the past few months or the mysterious man she had been spending her commute with. The police believe she might have been involved with Anthony's death but surely she couldn't have been…..could she?
🚇
The Commuter is a book with as many layers as an onion. Even with just over 400 pages, I'm still amazed at how much was packed into the pages. Just when I thought I knew where the story was headed another curveball was thrown at me by Emma Curtis. Rachel is such a fascinating character and I wondered all the way through whether she was an unreliable narrator, whether what she thought she remembered was true or not, and generally whether she could be trusted. There's an uncomfortable and awkward stepmother/stepdaughter dynamic between her and Anthony's daughter, Caroline, with Rachel's status as the younger second wife adding an extra layer to the story.
🚇
I raced through this incredibly fast-paced and twisty book. The plot is cleverly executed and kept me guessing all the way through. Recommended for all psychological thriller fans. Just be careful who you make eye contact with on your commute!
🚇
Thank you to the publishers for the review copy of the book.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #TheCommuter #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #booksofinstagram #bookblogger #booklover #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Book of Witching by

Ad/PR product. New review: The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke. Published by Harper Collins and out now.
✨
The Book of Witching is another well-plotted dual timeline story from C.J. Cooke. In the current day in Glasgow, Clem's daughter Erin is found badly burned on a beach on Orkney. When Erin comes round she doesn’t always seem to be herself, personality changes coming and going as her recovery begins. In the other strand of the story, Alison Balfour is imprisoned, awaiting trial for witchcraft at a time when women were pursued, tortured and killed if they were believed to be witches. Linking both timelines is the Book of Witching, a mysterious and magical book.
✨
This book is gripping, alarming and moving. The plight and treatment of women like Alison, those who could heal and use concoctions and spells to do so, is well-documented and yet never fails to shock. I was appalled at the tactics used by cruel and powerful men to ensure a confession to witchcraft and I read with a hand over my mouth at times. The current day storyline is interwoven with Alison's narrative really well, as the reasons for Erin being on Orkney and why she has ended up in hospital gradually become clear.
✨
The author has clearly done a lot of research to make this story authentic. The settings were full of atmosphere and the characters jumped off the page, particularly Alison and her family. I was fascinated by the Book of Witching and the author's notes on where her inspiration had come from. I loved the clever ending too, which brought the story full circle. An excellent read.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #TheBookOfWitching #historicalfiction #dualtimelinenovels #witchtrials #fortheloveofbooks #reader #booksread #reviewbooks #reviewer #bookblogger #bookish #ilovereading #lovefiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Blue Hour by @paula

Ad/PR product. New review: The Blue Hour by @paulahawkins2010. To be published on 10th October by @doubledayukbooks.
🔹
The Blue Hour is Paula Hawkins' much anticipated fourth novel. Having read two of her previous three, in my opinion The Blue Hour absolutely blows them all out of the water.
🔹
Eris Island is now home to Grace and was once home to Vanessa Chapman, a celebrated artist. When Vanessa died she left her collection to be housed at Fairburn House, a country estate and home to other great artworks and sculptures. James Becker is the curator of the collection and a Chapman aficionado, and when an alarming discovery linked to Vanessa is made, he must travel to Eris and seek clarity from Grace, a woman who knew her well.
🔹
There's so much more to this book than first appears. There is such depth to the writing, the emotions and the unfolding of events, and the plot is complex and twisty. It has an almost indefinable something that I love in books: a melting pot of a touch of mystery, a bohemian feel, and an undercurrent of simmering menace and tension. Add in not only a remote Scottish island but a country house too and it makes this book pretty much perfect.
🔹
Eris is an incredibly atmospheric setting. Grace has a lonely existence there, looking across to the houses in the bay, cut off from the mainland for half of every day when the tide rolls in. Becker proves to be both a welcome and unwelcome visitor, with the discovery opening up old wounds. Much of the story is told from the point of view of either Grace or Becker, interspersed with Vanessa's letters and diary entries, and Hawkins brings all the strands together expertly to create an edgy, thrilling and absorbing read.
🔹
I soaked up every bit of this book, savoured every word. I didn't want it to end but when it did, it did so in chilling style. Brilliant!
🔹
Thank you to the publishers for the fab hardback proof with #spredges.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #TheBlueHour #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #Scottishislandbooks #5starreads #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #bookreviewer #reviewer #booksread #reviewbooks #reader #bookblogger #ilovebooks #booklover #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: Ghost Story b

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato. Published by @manilla_press and out now.
✨
I don't think there's any setting more likely to draw me into wanting to pick up a book than a remote island, especially a Scottish island. The combination of the beauty of the landscape and the often bleak sense that comes with being so cut off sparks something in my imagination.
✨
Ghost Story is set mainly on the fictional island of Finish in the Outer Hebrides where writer Seren goes to try and gather enough inspiration to write a new novel. The book begins in Edinburgh where Seren is struggling to cope with a tragedy in her life. She then moves to Finish and settles in there but the island's macabre history proves unsettling, even more so as Seren is the only inhabitant of the island and so she is mostly left alone with her own thoughts.
✨
Seren's time on the island is told in journal entries which I found really upped the pace and made this a book that I found very hard to put down. The writing is full of empathy and feeling, and the history of the island and what occurred there is beautifully woven into Seren's own experiences. There were times when I wondered if she might prove to be an unreliable narrator but in the end I believed her story and the ghostly elements were executed so well that I believed in them too (and I don't always).
✨
I thought Ghost Story was a brilliant book. It's eerie and tense, it has a fascinating historical back story running through it, the setting is perfectly drawn to be both stunning and sinister, and I loved the characterisations of both the good people and the not so good.
✨
Thank you to @thebookdealer for the tour place and the publishers for the review copy.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #GhostStory #Scottishislandbooks #scottishbooks #ghoststories #grippingreads #5starreads #fortheloveofbooks #ilovereading #booklover #readersofinstagram #reviewbooks #reader #reviewer #booksread #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

September 2024 Reads 🔹The Home Front Girls by

September 2024 Reads

🔹The Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin - the start of a new series following Sally and Betty who work in a salvage yard in WWII. Their pluck really jumps off the page.

🔹A Child Far from Home by Lizzie Page - this is the first in a new trilogy from one of my favourite authors. It's about Valerie who is evacuated from London during WWII and her mother, Jean who stays behind. It covers the war that both of them experienced and the trauma of being separated.

🔹The Negotiator by Brooke Robinson - gripping story of a siege in a museum and the fallout from it. Emotive and thought-provoking.

🔹Small Bomb at Dimperley - an ode to the country house and the struggle to keep them going after the wars. It's so humorous one minute and then the next the moving observations are like a punch to the gut. Superb.

🔹The Mischief Makers by Elisabeth Gifford - a fictionalisation of Daphne du Maurier's life with a particular focus on her family's links with J.M. Barrie. This book completely and utterly mesmerised me.

🔹Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato - blog tour review to follow on 3rd October.

🔹I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel - a modern day gothic country house murder mystery. Simmering tension, bones in the cottage garden, and small village mentality, together with interesting characters, made this a great debut.

🔹Isolation Island by Louise Minchin - ten celebrities on a remote Scottish island for a reality TV survival show. What can possibly go wrong? How about a dead body and a terrible storm? A well-plotted and fast-paced debut.

🔹Because She Looked Away by Alison Bruce - a great premise about a detective who ends up being questioned about how a series of unsolved crimes might link to her late sister. A complex and twisty first book in a new series.
📚
What was your favourite September read? Let me know in the comments.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#SeptemberReads #September2024Reads #SeptemberReads2024 #TheHomeFrontGirls
#AChildFarFromHome #IsolationIsland #TheNegotiator #SmallBombAtDimperley #TheMischiefMakers #BecauseSheLookedAway #GhostStory #IDiedAtFallowHall #crimefiction #historicalfiction #warfiction #monthlywrapup
#shortbookandscribes

Two for Tuesday 2️⃣ It's been a while since I'

Two for Tuesday
2️⃣
It's been a while since I've done one of these but it struck me yesterday that both my current read and my next read are set on remote Scottish islands. I can never resist this setting in books.
2️⃣
Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato is my current read and it's beautifully written.

Synopsis:
THE ISLAND IS ABANDONED. BUT SHE IS NOT ALONE . . .

Off the windswept coast of Scotland lies Finish Island, rugged and remote. Once a home, it now stands abandoned, a place of dark history and deep memory, a place that holds its stories close. Unable to write since her daughter's death, it's here that Seren comes to work, hoping that the solitude and silence will inspire her next novel.

But the island holds memories of its own, restless and unwilling to stay buried. As unsettling occurrences become even more bizarre and frightening, Seren starts seeing uncanny resonances between her past and the island's history. There is something on this island, something ancient and unforgiving. Will Seren discover its secrets, before it's too late?
2️⃣
Then I'll be picking up The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins.

Synopsis:
WELCOME TO ERIS - A SCOTTISH TIDAL ISLAND WITH ONLY ONE HOUSE, ONE INHABITANT,
ONE WAY OUT. . .

A place that is unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day. Once the hideaway of Vanessa, a famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.

Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.

But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, Grace receives an unexpected visitor.

And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge . . .
2️⃣
What's your favourite setting in books?
*
*
*
*
*
*
#TwoForTuesday #GhostStory #TheBlueHour #Scottishislandbooks #Scottishfiction #booksofinstagram #bookish #bookishcontent #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Because She Looked Away

Ad/PR product. New review: A Child Far from Home b

Ad/PR product. New review: A Child Far from Home by @lizziepagewriter. Published by @bookouture and out now.
✨
Lizzie Page is one of my favourite authors and A Child Far from Home is a gorgeous start to a new trilogy of linked stories about evacuees in WWII. At the beginning of the book there is a paragraph about a study undertaken in 1941 which concluded that separation from their parents was a worse shock for children than a bombing. It must have been a terrible decision to make, especially for those living in large cities like London.
✨
It is London that houses the two main characters in this book, Jean and Valerie, mother and daughter. Jean makes the decision to send Valerie, aged 10, away to the Somerset countryside. Some children had a wonderful evacuation and others didn't fare so well. The book is told in chapters from both characters' points of view and so we see the highs and lows from both sides. I loved Jean and Valerie, and how this book follows them through the war and out the other side. This is a chunky book but I'd have been happy to carry on reading for longer. I suppose you'd call it a slice of life story, with the main focus being on the dramatic and long-lasting effects of the evacuation on both Jean and Valerie.
✨
My heart broke for them but there are good times. Valerie finds solace in radio and I particularly enjoyed how it ended up being prominent in her life. Jean has a war that many women had, being needed and stepping into the breach, only to be cast aside when the men came home. It's hard to put myself in the place of either of them but with the help of Lizzie Page's empathetic writing I can at least understand it a lot better.
✨
I really loved A Child Far from Home. Even the most minor characters stand out and are perfectly described, and the role of a woman in a man's world is explored to great effect. It's ideal for anyone who likes books about life on the home front. I'm very much looking forward to book two now.
✨
Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy 💙
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #AChildFarFromHome #warfiction #sagafiction #historicalfiction #worldwar2 #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #ilovefiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: I Died at Fallow Hall b

Ad/PR product. New review: I Died at Fallow Hall by @bonnieburkepatel. Published by @bedfordsq.publishers and out now.
✨
I Died at Fallow Hall is a modern day country house murder mystery and I am always here for one of those. I love a country house book and the blurb for this one had me hooked pretty much immediately.
✨
Fallow Hall is clinging on to its heyday. Like many others, it now opens to the public although I definitely got the sense it's one of the smaller houses of its kind. Anna Deerin lives in an attached cottage, working as a gardener. As a former ballerina she's used to being in control and so when she digs up the bones of a woman in the garden it brings an element of chaos to her life and makes her quiet existence more open to invasion.
✨
The story is told in the present day from the points of view of Anna and Hitesh, the local DI tasked to the case, interspersed with sections from 1967 following the then daughter of Fallow Hall. There are no chapters, but there are plenty of section breaks, and the narrative flows really well. It sometimes took me a moment to work out whose perspective I was reading in the present day but I very quickly gelled with it.
✨
It's an engaging read. I particularly enjoyed learning more about the hall and gardens, and Anna's quiet life tending to the land and selling her wares at the local market. It offers an enticing look at country life whilst also providing a mystery to be solved. The author does a really good job at keeping the solution just out of reach, with a sense of knowing the answer but not how to get to it. Also depicted well is the small village mentality and how it copes with an isolated young woman and an Asian detective, both portrayed as something of a novelty to the local residents.
✨
Interesting characters and a fascinating setting meant I very much enjoyed this contemplative novel from Bonnie Burke-Patel, with its underlying tension simmering away until the identity of the woman was revealed. A great debut!
✨
Thank you to the author for the review copy.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #IDiedAtFallowHall #murdermystery #countryhousebooks #gothicnovels #crimefiction #literaryfiction #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. Happy All Creatures Great and Smal

Ad/PR product.
Happy All Creatures Great and Small day to all those who celebrate. Yes, one of my favourite series is back on the television this evening and I’m so looking forward to getting back to Darrowby, to James and Helen, Mrs Hall, Tristan and my favourite loveable curmudgeon, Siegfried Farnon.
🐾
Celebrating All Creatures Great & Small – For the Love of the Yorkshire Dales will be published by @omarabooks on 26th September. Thank you Alison Menzies and the publishers for sending it.
🐾
This companion book to the popular television series is a joy to behold. What’s really nice about it is that it looks in depth at the show and the characters, and it also celebrates the splendour of the Yorkshire Dales setting. There are some beautiful photos of the area (photo 2).
🐾
The book has lots of background information, not just about the show but about the settings and the people the characters are based on. There are also details about the cast and snippets from episodes. It’s the sort of book that works well if you dip into it, but the way it’s constructed makes it just as good, if not better, to read from front to back.
🐾
It’s a delightful book that reminded me of everything I love about All Creatures Great and Small: the camaraderie, the support, the laughter, the love, the friendship, and let’s not forget the all-important animals. Highly recommended for fans of the series.
🐾
The pages shown on photo 3 remind me of my favourite episode of all, the one where James leaves to take up his post in the Royal Air Force during WWII. He gets on the bus, gets out a photo of himself and Helen on their wedding day and we hear him recite My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose. Well, I mostly heard him over the sound of my sobbing😭. It was such a beautiful scene that I watched it more than once.
🐾
Are you looking forward to the new series of #ACGAS?
*
*
*
*
*
*
#AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall #companionbook #YorkshireDales #nonfiction #nonfictionbooks #tvtiein #fortheloveofbooks #booklover #reviewbooks #reviewer #reader #ilovereading #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Home Front Girls by

Ad/PR product. New review: Isolation Island by @lo

Ad/PR product. New review: Isolation Island by @louiseminchin. Published by @headlinebooks and out now.
✨
I think most of us will have watched a reality TV show at some point. They're everywhere these days. Imagine a survival show, ten celebrities on a remote Scottish island that houses a derelict monastery. It's going to be gripping viewing isn't it? Isolation Island takes it a bit further with a storm and a dead body making this a very dangerous reality show.
✨
Lauren is the main character, the story being told from her perspective as she joins the other contestants. She has her journalist's eye mainly on Hollywood superstar, Nate Stirling, and makes friends with some of the others, including ex-sportsmen and Olympians, a former reality show runner-up, a business woman, and two up and coming social media darlings.
✨
This is a very good debut novel from Louise Minchin. I enjoyed the build-up most of all as the contestants reach the island and find out just how difficult the next two weeks are going to be for them. It felt like I was watching them myself and the dynamics between all the strong personalities came across so well. Lauren never knows who she can trust and it was a surprise to me when all was revealed.
✨
I really enjoyed Isolation Island. It's fast-paced and well-plotted. The characters were a mixed bag of the unlikeable, the big-headed and the annoying…very similar to most reality shows. I particularly liked the inhospitable setting of the island in the middle of a storm which added an extra unsettling element. Recommended for thriller fans.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #IsolationIsland #crimethriller #islandbooks #grippingthrillerbook #fortheloveofbooks #ilovebooks #ilovethrillers #booklover #reviewbooks #booksread #bookish #reviewer #reader #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

Showing off some new books! I don't buy a huge a

Showing off some new books!

I don't buy a huge amount of hardbacks. I often find them quite cumbersome and awkward, unless it's one of the more compact kind. However, sometimes I just can't resist the delights of a pretty hardback, usually if it's a favourite author or a book I particularly like the sound of (I'm not a complete magpie!).

These three new releases proved rather irresistible to me. I'm sure many people have already seen them on social media but I thought I'd show them off anyway (swipe 👈 to reveal the titles).

I'd class all of these authors as favorites, ones whose books I always want to read. The Glassmaker and Shy Creatures also have lovely endpapers 👈.

So what about you? Do you get seduced by pretty books? Let me know in the comments.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#spredges #sprayededges #historicalfiction #crimeseries #crimebooks #ShyCreatures #DeathAtTheSignOfTheRook #TheGlassmaker #ClareChambers #KateAtkinson #TracyChevalier #prettybooks #hardbacks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: The Negotiato

Ad/PR product. New #blogtour review: The Negotiator by @brooke_robinson_author. Published by @harvillsecker and out now.
📢
I've been looking forward to reading The Negotiator since I read Brooke Robinson's first novel, The Interpreter, and I really enjoyed it. The Negotiator is the story of then and now - then, when Tia was caught in the middle of a siege in a museum that Asher was involved with, and now, when Asher has just been released from prison and Tia is asked to look into threats against some of the hostages.
📢
The day of the siege was particularly hard for Tia because she really wanted to become a police negotiator and had failed her exams, and this underpins the entire story with a focus on what went wrong that day and everything that led up to it.
📢
I liked how this novel unfolded quite gradually across the two timelines. The plotting is executed particularly well, giving just enough to move the story on without giving too much away. The characters are sympathetic and I felt I got to know them really well. Tia's reasons for wanting to become a negotiator and Asher's motivation behind his part in the siege, plus his difficulties on release and trying to integrate back into a society that he doesn't feel aligned with, make for an absorbing storyline. Whilst not a massively fast-paced thriller, it is such a gripping read, one which I really got stuck into every time I picked it up. I loved the ending too - hopeful and heartbreaking all at the same time, with a brilliant last line.
📢
The Negotiator is another excellent book from Robinson. I hope she will write more of this sort of emotive and thought-provoking read.
📢
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy and to @thebookdealer for the place on the tour.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #TheNegotiator #crimethriller #grippingreads #fortheloveofbooks #ilovefiction #crimebooksofinstagram #bookish #reader #reviewer #reviewbooks #booksread #bookblogger #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Small Bomb at Dimperley

Ad/PR product. New review: Small Bomb at Dimperley by @lissakevans and out now from @doubledayukbooks.
✨
Small Bomb at Dimperley is set in 1945 as the war ends and Valentine Vere-Thissett is returning home to Dimperley Manor. Like other aristocratic returning war heroes, he didn't expect to be the one taking up the title but the loss of his older brother means that he must now step up to the mark. Unfortunately, Dimperley is rather dilapidated and death duties might mean the loss of the estate.
✨
This book is simply superb. First of all there's Dimperley itself, its faded grandeur and bizarre taxidermy providing the perfect backdrop to Valentine's return. Whilst it's clearly rundown, the reader is invited to see it through the eyes of both those who genuinely love it and those who love the importance that the title and estate give them. The book is populated by characters who just leap right off the page. I thought Valentine was a dream, down to earth and new to such responsibility, but determined to do his best. I loved Zena Baxter too, a young woman who came to Dimperley when it was a maternity home and stayed on as secretary to Valentine's uncle. Valentine's mother, Irene (Lady Vere-Thissett if you please), is a little harder to like, but a wonderfully drawn character nevertheless. I had the softest spot for Miss Hersey too, a lady's maid who now finds herself doing everything.
✨
Ultimately, Small Bomb at Dimperley is an ode to the country house, to the loss of so many of them, and to the resourceful cohort who found new ways to live and ensure that some of the estates could endure (one of my local country estates at Chatsworth has achieved this so well). What I love about Evans' writing is that the humour makes me laugh out loud one minute and the next minute the moving observations are like a punch to the gut. I thought this was a magnificent book with a fascinating setting, wonderful characters, and a lovely story with a charming ending.
✨
Thank you to the publishers for the proof.
*
*
*
*
*
*
#bookreview #SmallBombAtDimperley #countryhousebooks #fortheloveofbooks #5starreads #ilovereading #fictionlover #reader #reviewbooks #booksread #shortbookandscribes

Load More Follow on Instagram

Popular
Comments
Latest

Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Before the Swallows Come Back by Fiona Curnow #BlogTour
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Message Deleted by K.L. Slater
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
ShortBookandScribes September 2024 Reads
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato #BlogTour

ShortBookandScribes Harper Collins Book Haul
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond by Louise Davidson
ShortBookandScribes #BlogTour #BookReview – A Christmas Wish at Woolworths by Elaine Everest
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency by Josie Lloyd
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Commuter by Emma Curtis

Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes September 2024 Reads
ShortBookandScribes Harper Collins Book Haul
ShortBookandScribes #BlogTour #BookReview - A Christmas Wish at Woolworths by Elaine Everest
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Fortunes of Olivia Richmond by Louise Davidson

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:

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

Powered by GDPR Cookie Compliance

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

Enable or Disable Cookies

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.