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Tag: witches

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Widdershins by Helen Steadman

Posted on 24th August 2019 By Nicola

Widdershins is a fabulous read. If you like historical fiction set around witch trials then you have to read this one. I’m delighted to be […]

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Ad/PR product. New review: Keeping a Christmas Pro

Ad/PR product. New review: Keeping a Christmas Promise by Jo Thomas. Published by Transworld and out now in eBook and 13th October in paperback.
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I love my twice-yearly doses of Jo Thomas – her blend of travel and food is like a tonic. Keeping a Christmas Promise was a delight to read, with warmth and community spirit in abundance.
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Freya, Joanna and Meg travel to Iceland to see the Northern Lights in honour of their friend, Laura, who is no longer with them. I imagine that many tourists are like them, turning up to see the lights expecting them to just appear and not taking note of the potential serious weather conditions. An avalanche cuts the friends off and although it wasn’t what they were hoping for, being stranded gives each of the women time to consider what they really want from life.
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Freya is the main character, a dedicated and hard-working chef. I liked her a lot and enjoyed how her priorities changed as time went on. My favourite character though was Pétur whose farmhouse provides welcome shelter. Like all of Thomas’ heroes he’s strong, handsome and kind, the perfect mixture.
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Even writing about the most inhospitable conditions, this is an author who never fails to make me want to visit the places she brings to life and to eat the food so beautifully described in the story. It’s the whole package – that community I mentioned before, the characters who come together and look after each other, and the sheer magic of the breathtaking surroundings that made Keeping a Christmas Promise a true joy to read. It’s never too early for a festive read (it isn’t excessively Christmassy) and I’d definitely recommend putting this one on your reading list this year.
❄️
@jothomasauthor #RandomThingsTours
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#KeepingAChristmasPromise #bookreview #Iceland #northernlights #festivereads #festivebooks #feelgoodfiction #ilovebooks #bookish #travelfiction #foodfiction #christmasreads #christmasbooks #shortbookandscribes

New review: Hope to Die by Cara Hunter. Published

New review: Hope to Die by Cara Hunter. Published by Penguin Viking and out now.
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Hope to Die is the sixth outing for DI Adam Fawley and this series has become a must-read series for me. Initially a clear-cut case of a burglary at a remote property, it soon becomes clear that there’s a lot more to it than first seemed and the case appears to be linked to a previous case in which a woman was convicted for killing a child. It’s a fascinating plot which kept delivering curveball after curveball.
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Plot aside, I always know I’m onto a winner with these books because of the characters. I love Adam Fawley and was pleased to see his home life on more of an even keel this time round. His team are just as important to the story though and I enjoyed the dynamics between them all, old and new. What I also really enjoy is the format with a mixture of news reports, websites, police interviews, and in this case a transcript of a Netflix series, being woven into the narrative. It makes it so much more interesting and fast-paced, offering different ways to view the investigation.
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Cara Hunter has once again produced a brilliant crime thriller/police procedural which kept me glued to the page. I do hope more Fawley is on the way, especially as some possible future developments were hinted at for him. Hope to Die is intelligent and exciting with a complex case at its heart and regular characters that I love to read about. I loved it.
@carahunterauthor @vikingbooksuk
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#HopeToDie #bookreview #crimebooks #crimefiction #thrillerbooks #thrillerreads #thrillerfiction #thrillersofinstagram #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: A Home from Home by Ros

Ad/PR product. New review: A Home from Home by Rosie Hendry. Published by Sphere and out now.
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A Home from Home is a warm-hearted and cosy story about two Land Girls, Phylly and Gracie. Billeted to Catchetts Farm in Norfolk, they work the land along with the farm’s owners. Then there’s Jimmy, a young evacuee sent to the farm and feeling very worried about it, and Edwin, an American airman who quite literally almost runs into Jimmy and who gets to know the residents of the farm.
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I love a wartime saga and A Home from Home is a moving and well-written example of the genre. It’s my first Rosie Hendry book but I’d definitely be happy to read more. I was wondering what felt different about the style of this one and it made sense when I learned it had originally been serialised in eight parts in The People’s Friend. It means the overall story isn’t that long at 230 pages, but each section is perfectly formed as you might expect.
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I haven’t actually read many Land Girl books and so it made a refreshing change to read Phylly’s and Gracie’s stories. The whole thing is very family-orientated and even though the two women are not strictly part of the farm’s family they are certainly made to feel like they are. Strong friendships, new relationships, a couple of rather exciting escapades and some sad wartime events combine to make this a jam-packed read with a delightful ending. I enjoyed A Home from Home very much indeed.
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@rosiehendryauthor
Thank you to the publishers for the review copy of the book.
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#AHomeFromHome #bookreview #sagafiction #sagabooks #warfiction #landgirls #historicalfiction #booksofinsta #readersofinsta #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookishlove #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Girls Who Disappear

Ad/PR product. New review: The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas. Published by Michael Joseph and out now.
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How can three young women have disappeared at the same time, from the same car crash on the spooky-sounding Devil’s Corridor? The driver, Olivia, survived the accident but her three friends were never heard of again. Now, twenty years on, Jenna is in the small village of Stafferbury to interview people for a podcast about what happened. Was it foul play or some kind of paranormal event on a road that seems to be shrouded in mystery?
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I was kept guessing throughout the whole novel and it was only towards the end that it all slotted into place. The story is told from Jenna’s and Olivia’s points of view, with another strand, which seemed unconnected, also forming part of the overall tale. I thought the plot was all pulled together brilliantly by Claire Douglas and in the second half particularly I found myself racing through the pages as the tension rose.
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The three disappearing women felt like an inspired storyline to me. One missing woman could be fairly easily explained but three together seemed truly bizarre and had caused much speculation over the years, hence Jenna coming in to record her podcast. I really enjoyed this engaging psychological thriller. I think there would be scope for a follow-up, with Jenna perhaps investigating another cold case for her podcast and I’d also love to see how things might develop for her with one of the other characters. The Girls Who Disappeared really kept me engrossed.
🎙️
@clairedouglasauthor @michaeljbooks
Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
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#TheGirlsWhoDisappeared #bookreview #bookblogger #crimebooks #crimefiction #psychologicalfiction #psychologicalthriller #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instabooks #instareads #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: All the Broken Places b

Ad/PR product. New review: All the Broken Places by John Boyne. Published by Doubleday on 15th September.
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All the Broken Places is a sequel to John Boyne’s classic book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. However, where that book was aimed primarily at children, All the Broken Places is an adult book focusing on Gretel, the older sister of Bruno, the boy who nobody who has read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas can forget. This is a book that John Boyne had been thinking of writing since The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was published and it truly is a triumph.
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Gretel is 91 and living in a flat in London when a family, including a 9 year old boy named Henry, move into the flat below her. She’s kept herself to herself over the years, not wanting to draw attention to herself or her shocking past, but the arrival of Henry leads her to make decisions that threaten to shake her life to its very core.
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Gretel’s story is told in the present day but also with sections going back to Paris just after the war, Sydney a little later, and then London in the 1950s, giving a real sense of the direction Gretel’s long life has taken. Whilst not always the most sympathetic character, I absolutely loved Gretel, a quite feisty yet secretive woman whose bold voice stands out. My favourite sections were set in the present day as she meets with her neighbour and her son, and gets to know Henry. But there’s such darkness to the story too, with Henry having an unsettled home life which impacts on Gretel’s hard-won privacy, and of course there is the legacy of the evil she encountered in her childhood in Berlin and ‘that other place’.
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This is another wonderful book from Boyne who never fails to delight me with his extremely varied yet consistently brilliant stories. All the Broken Places most notably asks the questions: are we responsible for the sins of our fathers and are we culpable if we know of atrocities but choose self-preservation? Incredibly thought-provoking and moving, I thought this was a sweeping and magnificent read.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
@johnboyneauthor @doubledayukbooks
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#AllTheBrokenPlaces #bookreview

New review: The Lighthouse Bookshop by Sharon Gosl

New review: The Lighthouse Bookshop by Sharon Gosling. Published by Simon and Schuster and out now.
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A lighthouse and a bookshop? In the same book? What a perfect combination. Somewhat strangely, the lighthouse in this story does not serve to provide help to those at sea as it stands inland. The mystery of why it’s there is a huge part of the story and I thought it was a rather wonderful tale that I could never have guessed at and which unfolds throughout the whole book.
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Rachel runs the bookshop in the lighthouse. An incomer to the village of Newton Dunbar, she’s made her home there and some excellent friends too. The characters in this book are all beautifully drawn and make up a delightful (with one notable exception), and somewhat eclectic, community. However, the sudden death of the owner of the bookshop means that Rachel might have to find herself a new job and a new home. But before that, she has to unravel the secrets of the tower.
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Having loved Sharon Gosling’s first book, The House Beneath the Cliffs, The Lighthouse Bookshop was high on my list of books I was looking forward to. I wasn’t disappointed and found myself enjoying another gorgeous story of a tight-knit community, a small and remote location, and a challenge to be overcome. I was also pleased to read a nod to that first book in this one, with the Crovie Inn making a cameo appearance.
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Gosling is a fantastic writer, creating characters and locations that I really cared about, and weaving them into a story that I enjoyed very much. Whilst a fairly easy read, The Lighthouse Bookshop refers to some difficult subjects and a historical thread that is very moving. I thought it was a perceptive book full of warmth, friendship and discoveries.
@sharongoslingauthor
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#TheLighthouseBookshop
#bookreview #booksaboutbooks #lighthouse #booksofinsta #readersofinsta #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookish #scottishbooks #scottishfiction #shortbookandscribes

New review: The Hermit by Louise Walters. Publishe

New review: The Hermit by Louise Walters. Published by Louise Walters Books and out now.
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fiction, this one being a novella at 146 pages. Despite its brevity, it is not lacking in content or depth, far from it. The hermit of the title is Theo, an old man living in a hut by the side of a row of three cottages, two of which are used as holiday lets. Sylvia and her daughter, Antonia, come to stay in one of them, with Sylvia’s estranged mother living in one of the others and managing the lets. Set over the course of seven days, it is Sylvia’s attempt to see if the relationship is worth rescuing, and her daughter’s first meeting with her grandmother.
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I thought the setting of the holiday cottages was inspired, the impermanence of it for Sylvia against the constancy of it for her mother immediately puts her on a back foot. Dealing with a teenage daughter’s moods and the other slightly peculiar guests in the cottages doesn’t help an already fraught situation. I didn’t really take to the characters but some of the reasons for their behaviour unfolded as the week went on and it highlighted the complexity of family relationships and the generational impact they can have.
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The writing put me very much in mind of the writing of Sarah Moss: an observational manner, damaged and unlikeable characters, and set over the course of a few days, giving an intensity to the story which doesn’t let up. It kept my attention, and had I not had to sleep I could have read it easily in one session. The threads of this story that go back years are pulled taut in The Hermit which showcases Walters’ unique style and writing ability. This work of accessible literary fiction comes recommended by me.
@louisewalterswriter
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#TheHermit #bookreview #bookblogger #booksofinstagram #novellas #novella #literaryfiction #novellasofinstagram #novellas2022 #readersofinstagram #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookworm #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: The Skeleton Key by Eri

Ad/PR product. New review: The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly. Published by Hodder and out now.
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Where to begin to describe The Skeleton Key….a multi-faceted trip through the lives of two families and a book that seems always to threaten to tear them apart seems about right and yet there is so much more to discover between the pages of this book.
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The Churcher family and the Lally family: inextricably linked, Frank Churcher and Gerald ‘Lal’ Lally being the head of each. Best friends, but somehow always that edge of rivalry. Fifty years ago Frank wrote The Golden Bones, a book with a mystery and a search for a missing golden bone at its heart. Now, the anniversary is being celebrated and Nell has returned home, but events are about to come to a head.
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The Skeleton Key is absolutely brilliant and most definitely my kind of read. It’s been described as a slow burner and the gradual unfolding of events past and present fits that description. However, don’t mistake that for a slow read. This is a book that had me completely and utterly gripped, held in its thrall from first page to last.
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Whilst primarily told by Nell in the present day, the story does go back into the past to drip-feed key moments. It’s so intricately and expertly plotted and I found myself frantically turning back through the pages to see where the latest plot twist originated, knowing that it was there and that the detail that seemed so benign at first is in fact so very important. The hand over the mouth moments just kept coming right up until the end. There are many tangled family relationships and friendships tied up with a treasure hunt over the years and this leads to numerous revelations and shocking twists and turns which completely delighted me.
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A book about a book – bliss! A book about a dysfunctional family dealing with the skeletons in their closet – perfection! A dark and intense story that had my eyes glued to the page – magnificent! The Skeleton Key is outstanding and glorious in every way.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
@erinjelly @hodderbooks
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#TheSkeletonKey #bookreview #gothicfiction #booksaboutbooks #shortbookandscribes

Ad/PR product. New review: Maureen Fry and the Ang

Ad/PR product. New review: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce. Published on 20th October by Doubleday.
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When I heard that Rachel Joyce had a new book coming out and it was a book that would turn the Harold Fry and Queenie Hennessey books into a trilogy, I knew it was a must-read for me. You could read it as a standalone but honestly, why would you? The back story is so important and the stories are superb. Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North is a slim volume, a novella rather than a full-length novel, but it’s absolutely perfect and is just enough to round off the journeys, both physical and emotional, that the characters have been on.
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It’s ten years since Harold did his pilgrimage and now his wife Maureen hears something that compels her to make her own journey, but this time it’s a road trip to the north of England. A determined woman, Maureen sets off on a long drive across the country.
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Although Maureen is often prickly and awkward with people, Rachel Joyce manages to make the reader like her and empathise with her, showing Maureen’s personality through her actions and illustrating the complexities of the human psyche, especially in the way Maureen deals with other people. She writes her with warmth and understanding, particularly when considering the reason behind her journey (you’ll have to read the book to find that out!). I thought it was wonderful to be reunited with Harold and Maureen and to read again about Queenie. The stories of the previous two books are intertwined perfectly with this one to bring the whole thing full circle. It’s a moving and poignant story, beautifully observed, charmingly written and a true delight.
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Thank you @alison_is_reading for sending me a proof copy for review.
@rachelcjoyce
@doubledayukbooks
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#MaureenFry #MaureenFryAndTheAngelOfTheNorth #bookreview #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #novella #instabooks #instareads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookishlove #bookish #bookworm #shortbookandscribes

Thin Books...... Do you like a thin book? It can

Thin Books......

Do you like a thin book? It can be so nice to read something which has depth but which doesn't require the time commitment of a full- length novel.

Of these I've read #TheHauntingOfStrawberryWater and #MaureenFryAndTheAngelOfTheNorth and liked both very much. The others are awaiting their turn in the spotlight but these are books that can easily be slotted into the reading month.

Swipe 👈 to see the covers.

#ASaintInSwindon
#Magda
#TheHermit
#Foster

#novella #novellas #shortreads #shortbooks #smallbooksseptember #shortbookandscribes

August Reads 📚 Oh my! I've had the best month f

August Reads
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Oh my! I've had the best month for reading that I've had in a while. I know it will all go to pot now September is here but for now I will just revel in having read 12 full-length books and a novella!
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Not only that but I enjoyed them all. I can't ask for better than that. Reviews for all except Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North are on my grid. Review to follow very soon for lovely Maureen.
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How was your August Reading? What was your favourite August read?
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#booksread #AugustReads #August2022Reads #AugustReads2022

Ad/PR product. New review: Your Word or Mine by Li

Ad/PR product. New review: Your Word or Mine by Lia Middleton. Published by Michael Joseph today! Congratulations Lia 🍾🎉🥳
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Your Word or Mine drew me to it initially because of the courtroom aspects. I love a courtroom drama. Ava Knight is a prosecuting barrister who, in the course of her work, is required to defend a young girl accused of stabbing a man. It all seems quite cut and dried until Ava realises the victim is the man who attacked her 18 years previously. This is what leads Ava to risk everything, to act out of character, to pursue the truth.
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This is a book that I found gripping from beginning to end. Lia Middleton’s plotting is impeccable and I particularly liked the fact that the twists in the story were totally plausible and it never felt as though the story was being manipulated just to create shock value. However, I have to say that shock value was very much created. The end of the first half drew a gasp from me and there were at least two other moments when I said “oh no” to myself out loud and had to turn away from the book for a moment. It’s such a tense ride; indeed all emotions came into play: anger, sympathy, nail-biting anxiety and even a tear in my eye.
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This is one fast-paced and gripping ‘edge of the seat’ kind of story. As Ava looks for answers, both to what happened to her all those years ago, and what is happening now, she puts herself in some rather stressful situations and it makes for an extremely taut and exciting experience. An intelligent crime thriller that comes highly recommended by me. I couldn’t put it down.
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Thank you to the publishers for the proof copy of the book.
@liamiddletonauthor @michaeljbooks
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#YourWordOrMine #bookreview #crimebooks #crimefiction #crimethriller #thrillerbooks #legalfiction #instathrillers #instabooks #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #instareads #grippingreads #ilovebooks #lovereading #lovebooks #booklover #booklove #bookish #shortbookandscribes

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Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Hermit by Louise Walters
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - All the Broken Places by John Boyne
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Keeping a Christmas Promise by Jo Thomas
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Hope to Die by Cara Hunter
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – A Home from Home by Rosie Hendry
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – All the Broken Places by John Boyne

Today Week Month All

ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - All the Broken Places by John Boyne
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North by Rachel Joyce
ShortBookandScribes #BookReview - Keeping a Christmas Promise by Jo Thomas

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