Category: Uncategorised
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The Introvert by Michael Paul Michaud – Book Review
PUBLISHERS BLURB A vacuum salesman by day, the introvert lives a quiet life alone with his dog until a work relationship and a dark secret from his past team up to create an uncomfortable imbalance in his otherwise ordered life, one that soon finds him squarely at the center of a murder investigation. With his…
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The Homeless Heart-Throb by Crystal Jeans – Book Review
PUBLISHERS BLURB Alternately hilarious, shocking and sad, Crystal Jeans’ latest novel is set in Cardiff. But perhaps not the Cardiff the urban planners and WAG mavens would use in their shiny advertising campaigns. Each chapter is narrated by different characters linked by the street on which most of them live and the appearance in them…
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Clinic at Leicester Royal Infirmary
Had my surgery follow up appointment today with the lovely Mr Yii, the consultant surgeon who removed the tumours. He informed me they measured 7 x 8 x 4 cm and 4 x 4 x 1.3 cm…..so bigger than I expected but all excised. Obviously I still have others that can’t be removed but…
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A morning walk
Happy New Year to everyone This morning I’ve walked 1.4 miles around Victoria Park, Leicester in 20 minutes, while this may not seem much to the healthy bodies out there, for me, after my recent surgery, it’s a start of trying to get back at least a little fitness to help deal with…
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The Unexpected Genius of Pigs by Matt Whyman – Book Review
And now for something completely different…. PUBLISHERS BLURB We often consider dogs to be our enduring sidekicks but the truth is domestic pigs have played a role in our lives for nearly as long. Pigs are highly social and smart. They like to play. They’re inventive, crafty and belligerent – and incredibly singleminded. Ultimately,…
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The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby-Book Review
Written by Carolyn Kirby, The Conviction of Cora Burns is set in 1880’s Birmingham. Cora has had a difficult start in life after being born in a Gaol, then sent to the workhouse and as she grew up, at sixteen was sent to work as a laundress at the Asylum. Her childhood friend, Alice Salt…
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Emperor Mage by Tamora Pierce – Book Review
PUBLISHERS BLURB Sent to Carthak as part of the Tortallan peace delegation, Daine finds herself in the middle of a sticky political situation. She doesn’t like the Carthaki practice of keeping slaves, but it’s not her place to say anything — she’s just there to heal the emperor’s birds. It’s extremely frustrating! What’s more, her…
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The Taking of Annie Thorne by C J Tudor
I’ve just started reading this ARC from NetGalley and it’s really got me hooked…. some great wrting, as in…. “People say time is a great healer. They’re wrong. Time is simply a great eraser. It rolls on and on regardless, eroding our memories, chipping away at those great big boulders of misery until there’s…
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Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson- Book Review
Snowblind is the first in a series of books by Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson and has been translated into English by Quentin Bates. Snowblind takes us into a small community northern Iceland. One of those small towns where everyone knows everyone and it takes years for a newcomer to be accepted, if ever. We follow…
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Bitter Leaves by Tabatha Stirling- Book Review
I was lucky enough to get to read this on The Pigeonhole for free and this is my honest opinion. MY REVIEW This is a story of the lives of the wealthy and their maids in Singapore. There are different nationalities of the Ma’am’ s and the maids are mainly Filipina. There any similarities end,…
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The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal – Book Review
PUBLISHERS BLURB The Doll Factory, the debut novel by Elizabeth Macneal, is an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession. London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a…
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The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz – Book Review
PUBLISHERS BLURB Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz’s brilliant new murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne. _________________________ ‘You shouldn’t be here. It’s too late… ’ These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful…
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Upcoming books on The Pigeonhole
Two new books about to start on The Pigeonhole, The Flower Girls, by Alice Clark-Platts and My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite….this is a great way to read along with others and share comments and insights into each book. They are issue in staves each day and each stave is usually a…
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Bitter Leaves by Tabatha Stirling
I’m currently reading Bitter Leaves by Tabatha Stirling via The Pigeonhole. Pigeonhole releases books, FREE, stave by stave on a daily basis, so you get a few chapters a day. This is like an online book club, where you can leave comments as you read and interact with other readers, so you can see others…
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Bitter Leaves by Tabatha Stirling
I’m currently reading this via The Pigeonhole, it’s a brutal heartbreaking tale of Indonesian housemaids in Singapore. It’s slavery by any other name and not an easy read. I’m about halfway and it’s making me both angry and upset at the same time, some brilliant writing and I’m intrigued as to how this will end……tough…
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Surgery done
Just a little update. The surgery’s done and the surgeon confirmed two tumours removed. I do have to wait for histology for the results of biopsy etc, but as the mass was black, it’s definitely melanoma. As I have that already elsewhere this is no surprise, just lucky they’ve been able to remove at least…
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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid Book Review
Published by Random House UK PUBLISHERS BLURB Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six. They sold out arenas from coast to coast. Their music defined an era and every girl in America idolised Daisy. But on July 12 1979, on the night of the final concert of the Aurora tour, they split. Nobody…
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The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau – Book Review
OFFICIAL PUBLISHERS BLURB In eighteenth century London, porcelain is the most seductive of commodities; fortunes are made and lost upon it. Kings do battle with knights and knaves for possession of the finest pieces and the secrets of their manufacture. For Genevieve Planché, an English-born descendant of Huguenot refugees, porcelain holds far less allure; she…
White Tulip Resin 