Title: Murder By The Book: Mysteries For Bibliophiles Writer: Various, edited by Martin Edwards Publishing House: British Library Crimes Classics Date of Publication: August 10th 2021 Rating: 5 stars ‘’That’s our daily job, inventing stories; making a definite pattern of a number of incidents. Dammit, I could contrive some sort of story out of any…
Month: July 2022
Tales of the Mist
Title: Tales of the Mist (original title: Los Cuentos de la Niebla) Writer: Laura Suárez Publishing House: Europe Comics Date of Publication: May 20th 2020 (first published April 5th 2019) Rating: 5 stars ”When I looked through the window the wind blew through the trees, their shadows spreading far. Souls would appear, trembling and searching,…
First Person Singular
Title: First Person Singular Writer: Haruki Murakami (translated by Philip Gabriel) Publishing House: Harvill Secker Date of Publication: April 6th 2021 (first published July 2020) Rating: 2 stars ‘’But the whole neighbourhood was still and silent, as if the dense clouds above had swallowed up all sound.’’ Cream: A young man is invited to a…
Escape Routes
Title: Escape Routes Writer: Naomi Ishiguro Publishing House: Tinder Press Date of Publication: February 6th 2020 Rating: 5 stars ‘’I can climb out on to the roof from the windows and see the whole metropolis stretched out before me, those hundreds of buildings – white, or grey, or black, depending on how filthy they are…
How to Make Paper When the World is Ending
Title: How to Make Paper When the World Is Ending Writer: Dallas Woodburn Publishing House: Koehler Books Date of Publication: June 28th 2022 Rating: 5 stars ‘’But sometimes stories are all we have.’’ Story to Tell Around a Campfire: The narrator instructs us how to tell the tale of Hannah and Mark, a couple who…
O Caledonia
Title: O Caledonia Writer: Elspeth Barker Publishing House: Weidenfeld Nicolson Date of Publication: March 29th 2022 (first published August 19th 1991) Rating: 5 stars ‘’At night, when the moon is high it beams through the dying cockatoo and casts his blood drops in a chain of rubies on to the flagstones of the hall. Here…
How to Gut a Fish
Title: How to Gut a Fish Writer: Sheila Armstrong Publishing House: Bloomsbury Date of Publication: February 17th 2022 Rating: 5 stars ‘’The weakness in the soil first appears at dusk in the centre of a ring of stones in a field. A small copse of trees weave around banks of raised earth, and the exposed…
The Mapmakers (Cordelia Hatmaker#2)
Title: The Mapmakers (Cordelia Hatmaker#2) Writer: Tamzin Merchant Publishing House: Puffin Date of Publication: February 17th 2022 Rating: 5 stars ‘’Our hats are a bit like books,’’ Cordelia began. ‘’They contain magic, but it’s up to the person reading the book to bring the magic to life. Without the reader, the magic just sits there….
Black Narcissus
Title: Black Narcissus Writer: Rumer Godden Publishing House: Virago Press (UK) Date of Publication: February 1st 2013 (first published 1939) Ratings: 5 stars ‘’Look at the eagles,’ he said. In the gulf eagles were flying, circling round one small spot in the air. Higher and higher they flew, but still they could not reach the…
The Opinionated Reader 