Title: Rónán and the Mermaid: A Tale of Old Ireland Writer: Marianne McShane, illustrated by Jordi Solano Publishing House: Candlewick Press Date of Publication: May 19th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”In the evenings, Brother Declan would sit by the boy’s bed and tell him the old tales while the candle burned low. He told him about selkies, the seal people,…
Month: April 2020
The Silence of the Girls
Title: The Silence of the Girls Writer: Pat Barker Publishing House: Hamish Hamilton Date of Publication:August 30th 2018 Rating:5 stars ” ‘Divine Muse, sing of the ruinous wrath of Achilles…Begin where they first quarrelled, Agamemnon the King of men and great Achilles.’ And what are they quarrelling about, these two violent, mighty souls? It’s as basic as a…
The Voice In My Ear
Title: The Voice In My Ear Writer: Frances Leviston Publishing House: Random House UK Date of Publication: March 19th 2020 Rating: 2 stars ”…asking tough questions of schools and other institutions, but you’re not questioning the institution you represent, which is the family, which is mothers and fathers. What role do parents play in a child’s abuse?” Ten stories centered…
A World Full of Dickens Stories
Title: A World Full of Dickens Stories Writer: Angela McAllister, illustrated by Jannicke Hansen Publishing House: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books Date of Publication: May 19th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”I made my way along the path I knew so well across the marsh. A cold, silvery mist swirled about me and evening stars began to appear. When I got to…
The Animals at Lockwood Manor
Title: The Animals At Lockwood Manor Writer: Jane Healey Publishing House: Mantles Date of Publication: March 10th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”Lockwood had too many empty rooms. They sat there, hushed and gaping, waiting for my mind to fill them with horrors – spectres and shadows and strange creeping creatures. And sometimes what was already there was frightening enough: empty…
The Daughters of Ys
Title: The Daughters of Ys Writer: M.T.Anderson & Jo Rioux Publishing House: First Second Books Date of Publication: August 11th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”For you, I will build walls to push back the sea and will spin you a palace of domes and towers.” Lady Malgrev of the Faerie Folk comes to the rescue of a brave, young…
Little Nothing
Title: Little Nothing Writer: Marisa Silver Publishing House: Oneworld Publications Date of Publication: March 2nd 2017 (first published September 13th 2016) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Love!’’, the woman exclaims. ‘’All anyone wants to know about is love! My God! Is there nothing more important on earth than that? Why don’t you ask the necessary questions: Will I have food in my…
Pew
Title: Pew Writer: Catherine Lacey Publishing House: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Date of Publication: May 14th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ”These people go out into the street, and walk down the street alone. They keep walking, and walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates. They keep walking across the farmlands of Omelas. Each one goes…
The Nix
Title: The Nix Writer: Nathan Hill Publishing House: Vintage Date of Publication: May 2nd 2017 (first published August 30th 2016) Rating: 5 stars ”Αnd he used the ghost stories his mother told him, all those old Norwegian stories that terrified him. He wrote about a white horse that appeared suddenly, offering a ride, and if the reader decided to mount…
They Say Sarah
Title: They Say Sarah (original title: Ça raconte Sarah) Writer: Pauline Delabroy – Allard (translated by Adriana Hunter) Publishing House: Random House Date of Publication: June 2nd 2020 (first published September 2018) Rating: 2 stars ”On clear night day of dark mists My absent love in my arms here No other part of me persists But what you whispered in…
Elmet
Title: Elmet Writer:Fiona Mozley Publishing House: JM Originals Date of Publication: August 10th 2017 Rating: 3 stars ”I spend an evening laid out on a moor, watching the wind, the crows, the distant vehicles caught in memories of this same land, further south; earlier, another time; then likewise caught in memories of home, of family, of the shifts…
The Glass Woman
Title: The Glass Woman Writer: Caroline Lea Publishing House: Michael Joseph (Penguin Books) Date of Publication: February 7th 2019 Rating: 3 stars ”But the knowledge of the body stayed, like the blood-spattered scenes at the end of the Sagas: those age-old, heat-filled stories, which are told to children from birth and fill every Icelander with an understanding of violence.” Ιceland,…
The Mysterious Librarian
Title: The Mysterious Librarian (original title: La mystérieuse bibliothécaire) Writer: Dominique Demers (translated by Sander Berg) Publishing House: Alma Books Date of Publication: June 6th 2017 (first published October 9th 1997) Rating: 5 stars ’’- You should know, miss, money isn’t found in the street. We have two bridges to rebuild, and three roads to fix, and twelve pavements…
The Painted Bird
Title: The Painted Bird Writer:Jerzy Kosiński Publishing House: Grove Press Date of Publication: December 1st 2007 (first published 1965) Rating: 5 stars ”We are here in the company of death.” Jewish concentration camp inmate A young boy finds himself lost, wandering in the countryside of an unnamed Eastern European country during…
The Opinionated Reader 