Reviews Written in 2023

2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020-2019


December 2023:

Good Girls - Leesa Gazi - ★★★★.¼
Kinfolk - Sean Dietrich - ★★★★.½

November 2023:

Linghun - Ai Jiang - ★★★★.¼
Timid - Harry Woodgate -  ★★★.¾

October 2023:


September 2023:

Foxlight - Katya Balen - ★★★.½
Lost Dogs - Lucie Pagé - ★★★★.¼

August 2023:

Scrap - Kathy Biggs - ★★★★.¼

July 2023:

Core Truths - Lisa Fox - ★★★.¾
(The) Forgotten House on the Moor - Jane Lovering - ★★

June 2023:

Annie's Day - Andy Weir - ★★★★.¼
(The) Haunting of Whitehall Manor - L.V. Pires - ★★★★
(The) Illusions - Liz Hyder - ★★★★.½

May 2023:

Fractured Oak - Dannie Boyd - ★★★★.½
Nightjar - Katya Balen - ★★★★.½
Service - Sarah Gilmartin - ★★★★.¼

April 2023:

Dark Cloud - Anna Lazowski - ★★★★.¼

March 2023: 

Budgie - Joseph Coelho - ★★★★.½

February 2023:

Maame - Jessica George - ★★★.½

January 2023:

For Lamb - Lesa Cline-Ransome  - ★★★★.¼
Love Stories - Trent Dalton  - ★★★★.¼
Slow Burner - Laura Lippman  - ★★★★

Comments

Post a Comment

Explore more posts from this blog:

Violent Advents: A Christmas Horror Anthology - Edited by L. Stephenson - ★★★.¼

Image
  EDITOR: L. Stephenson GENRE: Christmas Horror Anthology PUBLICATION DATE:  December 12, 2024 RATING: 3.3 stars. In a Nutshell: A short-fiction anthology filled with Christmassy horror. Some really good stories here, though I wish there had been more variety in the “source of the evil.” A good option for those who are fed up of saccharine seasonal stories. This is the time of the year when readers are torn between spooky season and Christmas season. Here's a book that combines both. 😉 This indie anthology contains twenty-six stories by twenty-six writers. There’s no editor’s note, but the title and the tagline make the theme clear – it is a “Christmas horror” anthology. The stories are mostly fast-paced, which works well in this genre. After the first few stories, I wondered why a majority of them were using the Christmas tree as the horror device-of-choice. It occurred frequently enough for me to start eyeing every Christmas tree in the stories suspiciously. Only after...
Read More»

The Little Christmas Library - David M. Barnett - ★★★★.¼

Image
AUTHOR: David M. Barnett GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 10, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A character-oriented contemporary fiction with a strong Christmas spirit and a dash of Christmas magic. Excellent characters and a well-connected narrative linking them all. True to contemporary times in every way. Might get a bit too sugary, but works well for the genre. A fabulous and heartwarming option for the festive season. Plot Preview: When Molly McGinley moves from London to her Northern hometown of Merry-le-Moors, she feels like an utter failure. Ten years in the big city, and all she has to show is a broken relationship and no job. Her widower dad Jack is more than happy to have his daughter home, especially as he is still missing his wife who passed away a decade back. Jack now whiles away his time driving the town’s mobile library and he insists that Molly accompany him on his rounds instead of moping alone at home. As the two take the library bus t...
Read More»

Shalama: My 96 Seasons in China - Jean Hoffmann Lewanda - ★★

Image
AUTHOR: Jean Hoffmann Lewanda GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 15, 2024 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: Officially, a historical fiction based on the life of the author’s mother. However, the writing is heavily non-fiction in style and not character-focussed. This might work better as a memoir but after some finetuning of the presentation. Plot Preview: 1928. Harbin, China. Born to a Russian Jewish family who emigrated from Europe to Harbin a few years earlier, Shalama is intimately familiar with life in a city filled with European Jewish and Russian immigrants fleeing various pogroms. As Harbin, known as the ‘Paris of the East’ is a thriving village-turned-town thanks to these new citizens, it feels more like a white community than a Chinese town. When the Japanese come to Harbin in the 1930s, Shalama’s family moves to Shanghai, where she becomes a typist after her schooling, and marries an Austrian Jew named Paul. However, there are still some changes to come in ...
Read More»

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife - Anna Johnston - ★★★★.½

Image
AUTHOR: Anna Johnston GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 10, 2024 RATING: 4.5 stars In a Nutshell: A heartwarming contemporary drama with a geriatric lead character. Amazing characters, great storyline, a couple of wow twists along the way. As impactful as Ove, but not at all like Ove. Read with your heart and not with your head to enjoy it better. My heart cooperated, for once. Plot Preview: At eighty-two, Frederick Fife is all alone in the world. Lonely, broke, and on the verge of losing his home, Frederick has nothing to look forward to. But in an unexpected turn of luck, a case of mistaken identity leads him to be taken for Bernard Greer, a grumpy resident at the local nursing home. Now Frederick has all that he wanted: a roof over his head, food in his belly, and most importantly, companionship. But how long will this last? What will happen when Bernard is found? The story comes to us in three third-person perspectives: that of Frederick and of two other k...
Read More»

Somebody I Used to Know - Wendy Mitchell - ★★★★.¼

Image
AUTHOR: Wendy Mitchell GENRE: Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: June 5, 2018 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: The memoir of a woman who unexpectedly became the face of young-onset Alzheimer’s in the UK. Ghost-written with the help of a journalist, this book covers her diagnosis, reaction, coping strategies, everyday experiences, and her plans for the future.. The writing is filled with pain and frustration as well as hope. Much recommended. Do note that it might be triggering for Alzheimer’s patients and also caregivers. A reading challenge I am participating in needed a book penned by a ghost-writer. I was very clear that I didn’t want to opt for any celebrity memoir, most of which are sanitised fake versions of their lives. Nor did I want to try fictional novels that straddled the line between pseudonymous and ghost-written. ( The Nancy Drew series, for instance. ) Google led me to Wendy Mitchell’s memoir. One look at this book’s blurb, and I knew I finally found the right option for the...
Read More»