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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

I read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah on a skiing holiday to France at Easter, which seemed appropriate giving its French setting in World War Two. It is the story of two sisters – Vianne and Isabelle, estranged from their

I picked up one of my Christmas presents, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, in April and couldn’t put it down – gripped from page one of this novel based on the true story of one Polish Jewish

I listened to The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell on Audible at the end of winter, having been recommended it by a friend from my writing group. It was beautifully read and the characters leapt off the audio page as

I treated myself to buying The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida at a bookshop in Petersfield a few weeks ago, having recently enjoyed reading the Japanese novel Butter by Asako Yuzuki (see my blog). This is a

I read My Dear, I wanted to tell you by Louisa Young in February, not long after reading another excellent book about World War One, I’m Memoriam by Alice Winn (see my blog). This one was also truly un-put-downable –

The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse is the final book in the Joubert Family Chronicles quartet (see my blogs on The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears and The Ghost Ship) and having read the penultimate book in the

I love books by Jonathan Coe (see my blogs on Middle England, Bournville and Mr Wilder and Me), so was dying to read The Proof of My Innocence, surely one of the cleverer book titles ever landed on, given it’s

I read That Night in New York by Laura Wilkinson over Christmas and really enjoyed this quirky love story. This is Harry met Steph, on a plane, and then in a magical blackout in New York City. One night that

I was recommended Butter by Asako Yuzuki by my friend Pam and spent November reading it in every spare minute I had. It should come with the health warning that you will eat more when you are reading this book.

I really enjoyed the first instalment of Christian Lewis’ journey around the UK coastline, Finding Hildasay, so got the sequel, Hildasay to Home as soon as it was out in paperback and it didn’t disappoint. On the first leg of

Someone on my MA in Creative Writing recommended The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley and I finally got round to it, fittingly, on my commute last October. It’s not the sort of thing I usually read, but I

I read The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell basking in the January sunshine on holiday in the Canaries. It is about the short life of Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrera, who in this version of events is murdered by her husband

I was recommended The Italian Bookshop Among the Vines by Amanda Weinberg, given it is set in Italy in World War Two, one of the locations I am writing about in my novel. I read it as its original title

David Nicholls is one of my favourite authors (see my blogs on Sweet Sorrow and Us) so I bought his latest novel You Are Here as an airport exclusive paperback on my way to Fuerteventura at the end of August

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is an extraordinary book and unlike anything I’ve ever read. It is set in the world of gaming, a world I knew nothing about and had very little interest in, despite my

The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse is the third book in the Joubert family chronicles, that I have really enjoyed reading (see my blog on The City of Tears and The Burning Chambers), which I bought for myself as a

I took the opportunity of airport paperbacks to buy Kate Atkinson’s latest Jackson Brodie crime novel, Death at the Sign of the Rook, on my way on holiday at the end of August last year (see my blog on Big

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

So it turns out that, unsurprisingly, that Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus really is as good as everyone says it is and there’s a reason that it’s a global bestseller. I have been meaning to read it for a

I saw Stig Abell interviewed at the Hay Festival last year about his debut novel Death Under a Little Sky and it sounded just the sort of crime fiction that I enjoy (see my crime fiction blogs) so I took