sarahrwray

Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Zevin – 14.09.24

I have loved all the books by Gavrielle Zevin that I have read, especially Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and my son-in-law said this one was even better than that so I was excited when it came up as a kindle 99p deal. Well, I did very much enjoy reading this book, but I don’tContinue reading “Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Zevin – 14.09.24”

The Tainted Cup – Robert Jackson Bennett – (gave up at 35%) – 11.09.24

You may have noticed from the title that I gave up on this book at 35%. It’s not that I thought it was terrible, I’m sure it’s very well written if you like that sort of thing, and obviously many people do from all the good reviews, but I just found I wasn’t looking forwardContinue reading “The Tainted Cup – Robert Jackson Bennett – (gave up at 35%) – 11.09.24”

The Mirror World of Melody Black – Gavin Extence – 08.09.24

I read a lot of magical realism/urban fantasy/modern fairy tale type books, so when flicking through my kindle unread books, and seeing this title (having forgotten buying it) I assumed it was something like that. It is not. This book is very much set in the ‘real world’ albeit in the slightly unusual reality ofContinue reading “The Mirror World of Melody Black – Gavin Extence – 08.09.24”

The Life Impossible – Matt Haig (Audiobook) – 03.09.24

I love Matt Haig’s books so I was super excited for this to come out – I find with new books like this it’s actually cheaper to use my audible credit and get it as an audiobook than to buy a new kindle book, but in this case I loved the audible narrations so that’sContinue reading “The Life Impossible – Matt Haig (Audiobook) – 03.09.24”

What Abigail Did That Summer: A Rivers of London Novella – Ben Aaronovitch – 02.09.24

I’ve read a few quite heavy books recently, and this lovely novella by Ben Aaronovitch was just what I needed to re-orientate myself to a happier reading place. Abigale is a teenaged black girl in London who is learning about magic from Nightingale and The Folly, but strikes out on her own to solve aContinue reading “What Abigail Did That Summer: A Rivers of London Novella – Ben Aaronovitch – 02.09.24”

The Mars House (Audiobook) – Natasha Pulley – 01.09.24

There were lots of things which I loved about this book – I loved how the title character was called January because his mum messed up filling in his birth certificate and wrote his birth month where his name was supposed to go! I loved the little factoids about language and word origins from theContinue reading “The Mars House (Audiobook) – Natasha Pulley – 01.09.24”

The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks – 28.08.24

Wow. This book is like the burst you get in your brain from eating too much wasabi. It is riveting, compelling, fascinating, beautiful, horrible, disturbing… I could go on but that would be boring, which is one thing this book isn’t. Like peeking through fingers at some horrific news story or road traffic accident, youContinue reading “The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks – 28.08.24”

The Memory of Animals – Claire Fuller – 25.08.24

I was totally engrossed by this book, and had a couple of very late nights reading it on my kindle in bed! The opening is similar to 28 days later (or indeed, The Day of The Triffids) in that the main character, Neffy, is one of the few survivors of a terrible pandemic. She hadContinue reading “The Memory of Animals – Claire Fuller – 25.08.24”

The Coast Road (Audiobook) BOOKGROUP – Alan Murrin (Author), Jessica Regan (Narrator) – 24.8.24

This was my book group read for September 2024 and I have to say, wow, what a great book. We had a book group outing to No Alibis bookshop in Belfast and the staff were very helpful in suggesting several books for our next read, and this was one of them. A incredibly well-written debutContinue reading “The Coast Road (Audiobook) BOOKGROUP – Alan Murrin (Author), Jessica Regan (Narrator) – 24.8.24”

The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency (Spencer & Bart Book 1) – Peter Oxley – 23.4.24

This book has hundreds of five star reviews on Amazon, and I find myself wondering if they were all written by Peter Oxley’s mates, because I did not find the book to be great at all. Set in the squalid streets of 18 hundred’s London, two low level criminals decide to go straight by settingContinue reading “The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency (Spencer & Bart Book 1) – Peter Oxley – 23.4.24”