Category: Fiction

  I’ve read many books that deal with the second world war – it’s usually the only historical time period that I’ll actively seek to read about – but this book is set earlier, before and during the first world war. And yet, it felt familiar in the way that WWII narratives feel familiar, because READ MORE

  I don’t normally jive with romances, as you all know by now, but once in a while I do enjoy picking one up if it has other things that appeal to me about the story. Being an admitted bibliophile, any book that is about readers will automatically pique my interest, and if the story READ MORE

  Another BookTube Prize selection for 2023, this was not a book I even had on my radar, let alone my TBR. And it was not at all what I expected, based on the very little I read before picking it up. Rather than a true novel, this book takes the form of a series READ MORE

  I read this for The BookTube Prize in the summer of 2023, though it wasn’t one I had planned to read otherwise. I read Shuggie Bain in 2021 for the same reason, and while I found it difficult going  – of course – I was also glad I read it. It was dark, being READ MORE

  Is there anyone out there in bookland who hasn’t heard of this book? It feels like it has been taking the reading world by storm over the past year, and being discussed by… well, pretty much everyone. It co-won the Pulitzer Prize and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction – which saw Barbara Kingsolver READ MORE

This was another random library find, one that caught my attention because of the cover and because I vaguely remembered hearing about The Last Romantics when it came out years ago (but never read). It’s an interesting concept. Darcy Clipper is dealing with some personal issues in the form of a cheating ex-husband and career READ MORE

  So apparently I have been living under a rock, because I didn’t really know much about Samantha Irby. I’d heard of her books when they came out, and I had been vaguely interested (I think I have a copy of one of her other titles buried in a pile of books somewhere around here READ MORE

  Do I need to say it? You already know. I’m not a big romance reader. I like to try the genre every once in a while though, particularly when I hear about a particular book over and over, and it’s mostly positive feedback. This book definitely fit that, and on top of that it’s READ MORE

  There has been so much talk of this book series in the online book world for years. Everyone who has read it has loved it, particularly those who read a lot of books from the LGBTQIAP+ community. It’s the story of a Canadian called Mike who shows up on Yaichi’s doorstep in Tokyo and READ MORE

  I’m very into gardening at the moment, thanks to having just moved to a house that has a garden – the first time I’ve had proper earth space to plant in nearly two decades, and the first time I’ve had any sun to grow in. I’ve been looking for good books that centre gardening, READ MORE

  This was a bit of an odd one. I didn’t know anything going in, which can be either a really good thing at times, and I’ve discovered some great surprises that way. This one, though… it just managed to not be at all what I expected while also having had no expectations at all. READ MORE

  I loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I read it when it first came out, and it stuck with me. I’ve now recently re-read it and loved it almost as much, and I’ve even watched the film (twice) and found that mostly successful. And yet, I hadn’t read any of Zevin’s other books. READ MORE

  These days it’s fairly uncommon for me to pick up a YA book. I used to read a ton of them, but lately I’ve been gravitating more towards adult fiction, genre, or non-fiction. With the occasional graphic novel or memoir thrown in. But this has been sitting on my shelves for literally years, and READ MORE

  I went into this with no small amount of hesitancy, but also no expectations or idea what it was about. I decided to read it because I felt like I’d been seeing it everywhere, heard a few people say they enjoyed it, and was curious. Plus it was available at my library. The hesitancy READ MORE

  I have to be honest – the first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover. I loved the shades of blue, the texture, the font of the text. And the title – that was good too. I decided to give it ago because I was at a loose end, reading-wise, and READ MORE

  As you may have guessed, this is the second book in the Scottish Bookshop series that began with The Bookshop on the Corner, which I read right before this one. I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to see where it would go next. This is technically a sequel, and does take place in READ MORE

  I read this a few years (okay, decades) ago, and I remembered loving it and being deeply affected by it… but that’s about it. I’ve been meaning to re-read it for years now, pretty much since Go Set a Watchman came out back in 2015. I recently read a book called The Reading List, READ MORE