I picked up the House at Riverton by Kate Morton and flipped to the back cover. The very bottom line stated ‘one of the most successful debuts of all time’ – now that’s a way to get my attention. Coming in at almost six hundred pages, this was going to be a significant investment of […]
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There’s a wonderful world of book awards out there. For authors they are a stamp of approval. A way of shouting – hey my book is brilliant because it’s recognised above all the others. And who doesn’t love an accolade. I can’t imagine for one minute; any winner is going to turn around and say
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A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be at the New Writing North Newcastle Writing Conference and attend a fascinating panel event, featuring authors Karen Powell and Tawseef Khan. For both, the settings of their novels are intrinsically bound to the landscape. In Fifteen Wild Decembers, the bond between the wild Yorkshire
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I love writing. I love the art of storytelling, where you can conjure worlds and characters from your imagination. Where readers are gripped by the adventures of entertaining and intriguing characters. Through words I can go anywhere, do anything and be anyone. Isn’t imagination a fantastic thing? But is writing good for you? I took
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In this The Memory Garden by Rachel Hore review, I’m going to say straightaway that I had very high expectations. I loved A Week in Paris and hoped for more of the same. I wasn’t disappointed. Rachel delivers another knockout book. Again, it goes between two time periods. This time modern day and a hundred
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Bothy Tales by John D. Burns is a short collection of stories based on his adventures in the Scottish hills and made the TGO magazine shortlist for Outdoor Book of the Year. If you’re looking for inspiration to get out and about then this book is definitely worth a read with its engaging, down-to-earth and
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The days are lengthening, it’s not dark on the morning dog-walk and life is pushing up through the grass. Snowdrops are swaying in the breeze, along with cyclamen and hellebores and I’ve even sees some early flowering daffodils. Yes, winter is slowly loosening its grip – hooray we all cheer. However, I did have to
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Daylight by David Baldacci is my first book review of 2024. I wanted to kick the year off to a great start with an author guaranteed to deliver a fast-paced, rollercoaster action read. David Baldacci is not touted as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world for nothing. I do love the crime
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This week I had the great privilege of chatting to the Let’s Talk Stories group at Gateshead Libraries Blaydon branch. The group meets once a month to discuss all things book related and there are similar groups at their other branches. I arrived bright and early, armed with my book (as I hadn’t expected anyone
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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katrina Bivald was my final read of 2023. And by that, I mean I finished the last page with less than an hour before the bells rang in 2024. For me, winter is a time for bracing walks and then with glowing cheeks, retreat indoors to snuggle up
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