Ms. Ice Sandwich

Title: Ms. Ice Sandwich (original title: ミス・アイスサンドイッチ) Writer: Mieko Kawakami (translated by Louise Heal Kawai) Publishing House: Pushkin Press Date of Publication: May 7th 2020 (first published November 2013) Rating: 5 stars “If video games make you stupid, then what do mobile phones make you?” A young boy buys egg sandwiches every day. The reason? The mysterious young woman behind…

The Foundling

Title: The Foundling Writer: Stacey Halls Publishing House: Manilla Press Date of Publication:  February 18th 2020 (paperback edition published April 7th 2020) Rating: 5 stars ”People tossed all sorts into the river, including themselves.” London, 1754. Bess is one of the unfortunate mothers who have to leave their children in the Foundling Hospital, with the desperate hope that…

The Book of Saints and Heroes

Title: The Book of Saints and Heroes Writer: Leonora Blanche Lang, edited by Andrew Lang Publishing House: St.Augustine Academy Press Date of Publication: June 1st 2012 (first published 1912) Rating: 5 stars ”The men and women who are most interesting to talk to, and who know most about things, are nearly always those who have lived with a library and…

Dear Mrs Bird

Title: Dear Mrs Bird Writer: A.J.Pearce Publishing House: Picador Date of Publication: April 5th 2018 Rating: 4 stars ”Μrs Bird says if people get themselves into a silly pickle, they’ve only themselves to blame.” London is trying to survive in the middle of the Blitz. The Londoners are doing their best to go on with their lives, amidst the…

At Freddie’s

Title: At Freddie’s Writer: Penelope Fitzgerald Publishing House: Fourth Estate Date of Publication: March 7th 2013 (first published 1982) Rating: 5 stars ”Although Freddie usually began by saying something gracious, the caller’s first instinct was that of self-preservation, or even to make sure that the door, now to the rear, could be reached in a hurry. Yet in fact, no…

Lancelot

Title: Lancelot Writer: Giles Kristian Publishing House: Random House UK Date of Publication: May 31st 2018 Rating: 5 stars ”I smell the rising fog of the crowd’s breath. It warms my feathers against the thin dawn air and I watch. I feel, too. More than a bird should feel. The sorrow which lies over the assembly like a shroud….

Bright Dreams: The Brilliant Ideas of Nikola Tesla

Title: Bright Dreams: The Brilliant Ideas of Nikola Tesla Writer: Written and illustrated by Tracy Dockray Publishing House: Capstone Editions Date of Publication: September 2020 Rating: 5 stars ‘’I don’t care that they stole my idea…I care that they don’t have any of their own.’’                              Nikola Tesla The story of the man who invented the future. The man who gave…

If I Had Your Face

Title:If I Had Your Face Writer: Frances Cha Publishing House: Penguin Books (UK) Date of Publication: April 23rd 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”In the original story, the little mermaid endures unspeakable pain to gain her human legs. The Sea Witch warns her that her new feet will feel as if she is walking on whetter blades, but she will…

Devil’s Day

Title:Devil’s Day Writer: Andrew Michael Hurley Publishing House: John Murray Date of Publication: October 19th 2017 Rating: 4 stars ”Oh, the day is done, the honest’s won- The apples and the hay, The leaves will wither on the bough, And all will fall by Devil’s Day.” Decades ago, the Endlands were attacked by the Blizzard. Livestock and residents fell…

Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shapeshifting Women

Title: Foxfire, Wolfskin and Other Stories of Shapeshifting Women Writer: Sharon Blackie Publishing House: September Publishing Date of Publication: September 20th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ”No one wants to work the land, now; they just want to sit and look out of the picture window and stare at the water. A ‘view’, they call is, as if they had nothing…

Gossip From The Forest

Title: Gossip From the Forest Writer: Sara Maitland Publishing House: Granta Books Date of Publication: November 1st 2012 Rating: 1 star I won’t write an elaborate (and boring…) Introduction about how much I longed to read this book. It was one of my most coveted treasures from the moment I bought it and I wanted to savour it and…

Ghost Stories of Louisiana

Title: Ghost Stories of Louisiana Writer: Dan Asfar Publishing House: Lone Pine Publishing Date of Publication: September 1st 2007 Rating: 5 stars ”And yet there are other nights – nights when the wind carries something unsettling through the Vieux Carre’s cramped streets. Nights when the black water of the Mississippi whispers something of the past as it crawls bu the…

Orkney Folk Tales

Title: Orkney Folk Tales (Folk Tales from the British Isles_) Writer: Tom Muir Publishing House: The History Press Date of Publication: May 1st 2014 Rating: 5 stars ”Sometimes, during the summer months, you can see phantom islands floating on the sea where there shouldn’t be land at all. There were said to be the summer abodes of the fin folk,…

Sisters

Title: Sisters Writer: Daisy Johnson Publishing House: Random House UK Date of Publication: July 2nd 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”My sister is a black hole. My sister is a tornado. My sister is the end of the line my sister is the locked door my sister is a shot in the dark. My sister is waiting for me. My…

Portrait of an Artist: Claude Monet

Title: Portrait of an Artist: Claude Monet Writer: Lucy Brownridge, illustrated by Caroline Bonne-Müller Publishing House: Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions Date of Publication: January 7th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ‘’I like to paint as a bird sings.’’ (Claude Monet) A beautiful book that aims to introduce the younger audience to one of the masterminds of Impressionism. Claude…

Misty Circus

Title: Misty Circus Writer:  Written and illustrated by Victoria Francés, translated by Olinda Kordukes Publishing House: Dark Horse Books Date of Publication: June 11th 2013 Rating: 5 stars ”The light faded and the forest became darker and darker. The chill wind blew through the branches, which seemed to bend towards the bay like threatening claws. Every sound…

Death and Other Holidays

Title: Death and Other Holidays Writer:Marci Vogel Publishing House: Melville House Date of Publication: November 13th 2018 Rating: 5 stars ”I know you now, even if it’s only a little bit, and I know it’s strange, but I didn’t before, and I might never have known you unless somebody had written these lines. Who knows how many people are…

Isolde

Title:Isolde Writer: Irina Odoevtseva (translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Irina Steinberg) Publishing House: Pushkin Press Date of Publication: July 4th 2019 (first published 1929) Rating: 5 stars ”So what? What do we care about the future?” Liza, a girl of fourteen, the ”Isolde” of the title, lives the ”good life” in Biarritz, in the shadow of her mother who…