Reading Well for Children

The Reading Agency have launched a new book scheme to help children cope with difficult topics. Our library, like many others all over the UK, is promoting the scheme and has bought sets of the books. I’ve read some of them already and can highly recommend them. For a full list of the books, click here.

2019 – So many books, so little shared…

I hadn’t realised that my last post was over 4 months ago. Oops. I have written many posts in my head during this period but haven’t committed them to paper, so to speak. Time for a catch-up. Some books are old, some are new, but all were read by me for the first time in 2019 (or maybe the end of 2018). I have read much more than this but this blog is only about the books I want to recommend, not the ones I didn’t get much out of.

Adults

YA

Children

This hilarious series has made me laugh out loud:

Bad Nana series by Sophy Henn

This trilogy of wordless picture books invites the reader to create their own story:

The Journey Trilogy by Aaron Becker

Picture Books

Unforgettable

I read this book a week ago, in a couple of sessions, during one day. Yes, I had a book hangover the next day, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep without completing it. I had been hearing a lot of people mention this book and read it for the book group I attend. It is one that will stick with me and I will certainly be reading it again.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Winner of the 2017 Costa Debut Novel Award and the 2018 British Book Awards Debut Book of the Year

Horror

This book was a book group read almost 7 years ago. The library genre sticker proclaimed it as a Horror and I approached it with trepidation. I didn’t read horror, I certainly didn’t watch horror and this was way out of my comfort zone. Plus it was a hardback with almost a 1000 pages.

Yet… the blurb on the inside of the dust jacket grabbed me (I’ve tried to find it since as it was changed for the paperback but with no success. The internet is not able to give us everything).

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Once I started reading I was unable to put the book down. It gripped me from start to end. I had to wait for the third book in the trilogy to be released before I could read the second as I knew the anticipation would be too much. What more can I say? Just read it!

1971

I may not have been born in 1971 (my parents weren’t even teenagers at the time) but as a massive fan of rock I wanted very much to read this book. I was not disappointed. It was fascinating. David Hepworth has written a few other books, all with cover art similar to this one, and I have added them to the reading list I keep in my head.

1971 by David Hepworth

A Gentleman in Moscow

This was one of my favourite books of last year. I read the hardback version with its beautiful gold and black cover hinting at the contents within. The paperback copy I now own has a more disappointing fascade. I present both to you for comparison. Regardless of the cover, the book is wonderful and a delight to read.

Amor Towles has also written The Rules of Civility, another exquisite novel.

The Wicked Boy

True crime isn’t a genre I dip into a huge amount but I read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale a few years ago and, based on the quality of her writing, decided to give this one a go. Despite both being very good books I found that I preferred this one. Not only does it deal with the crime but gives social background that helps to explain the kind of lives being led by many in Britain during the late Victorian period. I am so very glad I live in modern times.

The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale

Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.

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