Month: August 2020

Recent Reads: Houseplant Party by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Houseplant Party by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf has some tips for what kind of plants to get as someone new to plants in their house, and then it has some projects for how you can elevate your plants, and make them more of a feature.

It has lots of information about looking after plants, such as certain plants only liking certain windows in the house, depending on which direction it faces, and which how to water plants.

It’s a good first guide to plants, and will help you think about the way you care for them.  I found there were more projects than tips, but now that you’ve been forewarned, you can enjoy the book for what it is.

Houseplant Party was published on 4th August 2020, and is available to buy on Amazon and Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Lisa Eldred Steinkopf on Facebook and Instagram.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley, and to Quatro Publishing Group (the publishers) for this book. 

Read with me – September 2020

Posted on by Pam

Hello!  Yes, a different post to all of the book reviews I do!

I was having a think this morning, and maybe it’s early morning brain, but I thought it might be fun for me to tell you some of the books I’m going to read in the next month, and maybe you can read along at the same time, or wait for my review to come out at the end of the month.

Currently, I am reading a lot of books before they are published, thanks to NetGalley, so I’m not going to bother telling you about those, unless you want to know….(tell me in the comments!).  But, what I am going to tell you about are the books I’m going to read because they’re either sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read them, or they are the book for the month from Sword and Laser book club!

I’ve been a follower of Sword and Laser for ages, and I often forget to read the book in the month they set it for (see above re lots of books), but I’m going to add their books to my to read list on Trello, and regularly read those!

I have the Harry Dresden books to re-read, so those are going to appear over the next few months.

And I’ll pick something I already have in my office, sitting waiting for me to read!  Here’s my book trolley from July last year.  It’s not looking anywhere near as organised today!

So, for September, I’m going to read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow (Sword and Laser pick)

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (I might read more in the series, this is at least what I’ll read)

Skincare by Caroline Hirons

I’ll publish the reviews at the end of the month, and we’ll see how this works out!

 

Recent Reads: Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins by J Paul Getty Museum

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Mesopotamia: Civilisation Begins by J Paul Getty Museum was produced to accompany an exhibition at the J Paul Getty museum in March to July 2020. 

It’s a beautiful book, with essays at the beginning that give you the context of Mesopotamia, and the objects you are looking at.

There are lots of photos throughout the book from the exhibition, and photos of Iraq, for context.

I enjoyed reading the essays, and having the photos made the essays more enjoyable, such as examples of cuneiform writing, how it evolved, and how it looks on pottery.

Mesopotamia: Civilisation Begins was published on 7th April 2020.  You can buy it on Amazon, Waterstones and from your local independent bookshop.

You can follow J Paul Getty museum on Twitter and on their website.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Getty Publications.

Recent Reads: Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko – extract

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko is set in a world where people can be born with Hallows, a special skill, where the ruler has a council of eleven, and where ehru, djinn exist.

I’ve read the first 105 pages, and it was a really enjoyable YA fantasy.  Tarisai is a young girl, whose mother is called The Lady, and who only appears occasionally, and then will leave again without explanation.  Tarisiai is brought up in a palace, with none of the servants touching her as they don’t want her to steal their memories. This is her Hallow.

When she turns 11, her mother comes to her with 2 guardians, and also shows her a picture of a boy that she wants her to kill.

I really enjoyed the part of the book that I’ve read, and I look forward to reading the rest of it in the future!

If you’ve enjoyed Children of Blood and Bone, then you should get a copy of this! 

Raybearer was published on 17th August 2020, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones, and from your local bookshop.

You can follow Jordan Ifueko on her website, Twitter and Instagram.

I was given this extract in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bonnier Books UK.

 

Recent Reads: The Innocents by Michael Crummey

Posted on by Pam

My review: ???

The Innocents by Michael Crummey is the story of  Ada and her brother Evered, who are orphaned at 10 and 12 respectively, miles from anyone, on the north coast of of Newfoundland.

This is the story of their battle to survive through the years, as they grow up.  It is very evocatively described, so you see the seasons as they come and go, and pick the berries or salt the fish.  You also see the children become teenagers, and the urges that come with that.

I found this a harrowing and heartbreaking read.  It is well written, but I found it a hard read as the siblings discover sexual urges and they are the only ones there.

The Innocents was published on 20th August, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and from your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Michael Cummey on Twitter.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to No Exit Press.

Recent Reads: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz is the second in the Susan Ryeland series, the first of which is Magpie Murders.

Susan is a former editor, and now joint hotel owner in Crete, and she’s feeling fed up with life.  She’s offered £10,000 to look into a murder and disappearance which are linked to a book that she edited, and so she’s off to the UK!

I know of Anthony Horowitz from things like Foyle’s War, and heard that he had written a couple of James Bond books, and a couple of books with Sherlock Holmes as the lead, but I didn’t know what to expect.

I really enjoyed this book!  The characters were enjoyable, and you can see where they are in the book that Susan edited.  There are twists and turns that I didn’t see coming at all.

I would describe this as a crime book, with sections of cosy crime.  You’ll understand more when you read it.  I don’t know if there’s a similar section in the first book in the series!  That’s as spoilery as I’ll get!

Moonflower Murders was published on 20th August 2020, and is available to buy on Amazon, Waterstones (signed editions!) and from your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Anthony Horowitz on his website, Twitter or Facebook.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to Random House UK Cornerstone.

Recent Reads: Knife Edge by Simon Mayo

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Knife Edge by Simon Mayo (yes, that Simon Mayo off the radio) is a thriller.  There are a number of attacks on people, which are taken to be random, until the police identify where they work – for the investigations team at a news agency.

Famie Madden is a journalist who had tried and failed to get on the investigations team, and when the deaths start piling up, she starts looking in to it when an envelope is left on her car after a funeral for one of the victims.

This is a fast paced thrilled, that will keep you turning pages to find out what happened and why, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Knife Edge is coming out on 20th August, and you can order it from Amazon, Waterstones and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Simon Mayo on Twitter.  

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Transworld Books.

Recent Reads: New Horizons edited by Tarun K Saint

Posted on by Pam


My review: ????

New Horizons edited by Tarun K Saint is a collection of short science fiction stories from South Asia.  There are alien encounters, people going into outer space, and scientific discoveries.

I found the stories to be quite different to western stories.  The end often comes much sooner in these than in many of the stories I read.  You are left to wonder what is going to happen next.  There are a lot of stories about the interplay of people, and how this affects the thing that is going on.

I enjoyed seeing the different views on science fiction, the different journeys I was taken on, and that people will be people, even on the moon.

New Horizons will be published on 20th August 2020, and is available to buy on Amazon and on  Waterstones. I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

If you’re interested in science fiction books, then here’s some others I’ve reviewed, and in particular, if you’re interested in Asian science fiction, try Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Gollancz and the Orion Publishing Group.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews.

Recent Reads: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Beach Read by Emily Henry is a book that has had me laughing, and also had me crying.  

It’s the story of two writers.   January, who has found that everything that she thought she knew has been wrong, barring her best friend.  She’s flat broke, her father died the year before, her boyfriend dumped her, and she learnt a horrible truth about her father.  And now can’t write.

Augustus is the other, and he lives next door to the house January is staying in.  Whilst January writes romance, Augustus writes literary fiction, which January thinks means he looks down on her.  They could both do with finishing a book and selling it.

This is a romance, but it’s not light and fluffy throughout, there are hard issues, and real life that gets in the way. It was a very enjoyable read, and one that made me want to keep turning the pages, to see what would happen.

Beach Read is being published on 20th August, and you can buy it from Amazon, Waterstones or your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Emily Henry on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin.

Recent Reads: The Search Party by Simon Lelic

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Search Party by Simon Lelic is a thriller of a missing girl, and her friends who go to look for her.

It’s written from the point of view of DI Fleet, who specialises in finding people and her friends in their interviews with the police.  It makes for a really interesting way of the story coming out.

This is a well paced book from the beginning, moving fast as you’d expect from a thriller, and you are gradually told what has happened in the woods.

I didn’t guess what had happened until we were getting to the end of the book, as it was unfolding for us.

If you’ve enjoyed books like The Chalk Man, The Hunting Party or The Guest List, then you’ll enjoy this!

The Search Party is due to be published on 20th August, and you can pre-order it from Amazon, Waterstones, or your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Simon Lelic on Twitter.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Books (UK).