Book Review: ‘Into the Water’ by Paula Hawkins

Having read and enjoyed Paula's successful first novel: 'The Girl on the Train' (I've only read the book, I haven't bothered to watch the film!), I was intrigued to see if her follow-up novel would live up to expectations. As with her previous novel, the book is divided into very short, readable chapters which always appeals …

Book Review: ‘The Little Paris Bookshop’ by Nina George

The concept of this book really appealed to me... a bookshop on board a barge, moored on the River Seine, in the heart of Paris - how idyllic!  The story is about Jean Perdu who owns the bookshop, a man who can recommend exactly the right books to his customers to soothe their soul and to …

Book Review: ‘I Found You’ by Lisa Jewell

I chose to read this book because the blurb suggested that it would be a good mystery/thriller.  Lisa's style is very easy to read and the story hooked me in fairly quickly. The plot itself is quite gripping and has many twists and turns, but sadly it becomes a little bit predictable as you approach the …

Book Review: ‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz

I love the work of Anthony Horowitz, he has written some great books for adults and children alike.  I decided to read 'Magpie Murders' some time ago but initially didn't get very far with it as I was finding it a bit of a slow-burner.  However, with the long Easter weekend upon us, I decided to try …

Book Review: ‘The Death of an Owl’ by Paul Torday

I've just finished reading this book which took me about 2 weeks to get through. It's by the author of 'Salmon fishing in the Yemen' which was made into a film starring Ewan McGregor. This was Paul Torday's last book - he actually died before finishing the book and his son Piers Torday (children's author …

Indie Bookshop Love: Mr B’s — Claire Fuller

Today I’m continuing my series of posts about independent bookshops around the UK, and this month we visit Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath. It’s a beautiful shop with lots of small rooms leading one from the other, which include a bath, displays of books suggested by the staff, armchairs for reading in […] …

Hurrah for Indie Bookshops!

Independent bookshops have been slowly disappearing from our high streets for the past 15 years now as they struggle to compete with the likes of Amazon and Waterstones. Those indie bookshops that have managed to survive need our support more than ever if we are going to avoid losing them forever - and therefore losing …

Starter for 10

Well...5 actually!  To kick things off, here are 5 books I have enjoyed recently and all of which I found hard to put down.  Each one led me to another book by the same author - so of course I was eternally grateful as I didn't have to worry about being indecisive when I next visited …

A book a week!

Hi there, I thought I should start as I mean to go on and make a few suggestions for books you might like to read that I have enjoyed recently.  I have decided I am going to try to suggest a book every week for the next year and see what sort of response I get - …

What shall I read?

So, this is how it started... there I was again, a typical middle-aged man, standing in a well-known high street bookshop, staring in bewilderment at the rows upon rows of books in front of me, wondering what on earth I was going to choose to read next?  I'd been here many times before, and rarely had much …