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by Jo Casebourne

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Death in a Lonely Place

I listened to Death in a Lonely Place by Stig Abell on audiobook in April on various long journeys, having enjoyed the first book in the series, Death Under a Little Sky, last year (see my blog). This latest picks up with amateur detective Jake Jackson, as he fails again to escape from the world
May 5, 2025May 5, 2025

Books of the Year 2024

2024 was a year of reading in bursts when on holiday and a bit sporadically in between when I was focusing on using my spare time to write not read. Nevertheless, I managed an average of nearly a book a week this year and looking at my list of what I read, it is an
December 27, 2024

Shrines of Gaiety

I always look forward to the latest novel by Kate Atkinson (see my previous blogs) and last year was given Shrines of Gaiety for my birthday and finally got a chance to read it in May. It is set in a London reeling from the First World War, one where everyone is keen to forget
October 3, 2024October 3, 2024

The Running Grave

I haven’t read for months and to get going again I treated myself in December to The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith, the latest in the Cormoran Strike detective fiction series (see my previous blogs on the rest of the series so far: The Ink Black Heart, Lethal White, Career of Evil, The Silkworm, The Cuckoo’s Calling and Troubled Blood). The series
April 12, 2024August 15, 2024

Supercharged Teams

I am always on the lookout for books that make work better and so was eager to read Supercharged Teams: The 30 Tools of Great Teamwork by Pam Hamilton. Its premise is that in a working world that is faster, leaner and busier than ever we forget that establishing good teamwork itself needs work. It
October 25, 2023August 15, 2024

Small Pleasures

It’s a while since I read a novel that so throughly captivated me in the way that Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers did. It is the story of Jean Swinney, a 39 year old newspaper reporter on a local Kent paper, consigned in 1957 to writing columns on gardening and recipes. She lives a life
August 1, 2023August 19, 2024

The Paper Palace

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller was recommended to me by a friend as a well-written love triangle that I would enjoy, so I read it on holiday by the pool in April, absolutely captivated by the setting and characters. The setting is a family lake house in Cape Cod, named the Paper Palace
May 19, 2023August 19, 2024

These Are Not Gentle People

I can’t remember how I heard about These Are Not Gentle People by Andrew Harding but having long been interested in the history of South Africa and apartheid I put it on my reading list. This non-fiction book is about what happened when two black men were killed on a white-owned farm in a town
May 7, 2023August 19, 2024

Life in Five Senses

I am a big fan of Gretchen Rubin (see my blogs on Better Then Before, Happier at Home And The Happiness Project) so I pre-ordered her new book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World. As someone who spends too much time in my
April 27, 2023August 19, 2024

Landlines

I was given Landlines by Raynor Winn for Christmas and read it in mid-February, glad to be swept away on a long-distance walk into wild weather and the peace of nature. This is the follow-up to Winn’s previous books The Salt Path and The Wild Silence and this time sees her and her husband Moth walk
March 1, 2023August 19, 2024

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

I have enjoyed reading Ann Patchett’s fiction (see my blogs on The Dutch House and Ann Patchett), so when I heard about her essay on writing, ‘The Getaway Car’, I bought the collection it is in – This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, and enjoyed reading it on the November commute. This non-fiction collection
December 7, 2022August 19, 2024

What Does Jeremy Think?

Anyone who is interested in politics, policy and the inner workings of government in the UK should read What Does Jeremy Think?: Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain by his wife Suzanne Heywood, a biography of the most influential civil servant the country has probably ever seen. It is too soon to know how Heywood’s
July 5, 2021August 19, 2024

Michelle Obama

I couldn’t wait for Christmas to read Becoming by Michelle Obama and delighted in spending every spare minute in the first week of December enjoying it. It is a riveting read, particular if you enjoy a good political autobiography like I do (see my blogs on What Happened, Hard Choices, My Story, and Reading Politics). For
December 16, 2018August 19, 2024

A God in Ruins

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson is one of the best books I have read for years. It is the sequel to Life after Life which was the first Kate Atkinson book that I hadn’t enjoyed (I seem to have been in a minority of one given the overwhelmingly positive reviews), so I wasn’t
July 6, 2015August 19, 2024
Death in a Lonely Place
  • Crime
May 5, 2025May 5, 2025

Death in a Lonely Place

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2 mins
The Nightingale
  • Fiction
April 29, 2025May 5, 2025

The Nightingale

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3 mins
We Were the Lucky Ones
  • Fiction
April 21, 2025April 29, 2025

We Were the Lucky Ones

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2 mins
The Family Upstairs
  • Crime
April 13, 2025April 21, 2025

The Family Upstairs

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3 mins
The Convenience Store by the Sea
  • Fiction
April 1, 2025April 13, 2025

The Convenience Store by the Sea

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2 mins
My Dear, I wanted to tell you
  • Fiction
March 27, 2025April 1, 2025

My Dear, I wanted to tell you

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3 mins
The Map of Bones
  • Fiction
March 18, 2025March 27, 2025

The Map of Bones

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3 mins
Winter reading
  • Colonial
March 13, 2025March 18, 2025

Winter reading

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5 mins
That Night in New York
  • Fiction
March 6, 2025March 13, 2025

That Night in New York

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2 mins
Butter
  • Crime
February 25, 2025March 6, 2025

Butter

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3 mins
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About me

Jo Casebourne

Writer
Jo Casebourne is a historical fiction writer, a reading obsessive and book blogger. She is Chief Executive of research charity Foundations, focused on improving the lives of vulnerable children. Follow Jo on X @jocasebourne

Fiction

Crime
76 posts
Historical
108 posts
Romantic
31 posts

Non-Fiction

Biography
28 posts
Crime
14 posts
Happiness
25 posts
Historical
20 posts
Politics
21 posts
Travel
18 posts
Work
34 posts

Spotlights

Books of the Year
13 posts
Second world war
50 posts

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