The beautiful walled city of York, with it’s towering Gothic cathedral, York Minster is the perfect setting for this coming of age/coming out, young adult ghost story urban fantasy. I have read quite a lot of books in the urban fantasy genre, and this was a very enjoyable one, up there with my favourites suchContinue reading “Sixteen Souls – Rosie Talbot – 10.02.23”
Author Archives: sarahrwray
Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata – 30.02.23
I really enjoyed this short novel set in Japan (I’m reading some Japanese fiction because I’m visiting my son in Tokyo in May). Keiko, the main character is 36 and has worked in a convenience store since she was a student. She is clearly quite firmly on the autism spectrum and her whole life sheContinue reading “Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata – 30.02.23”
The House of Sorrowing Stars – Beth Cartwright – 27.02.23
There was a lot that I liked about this magical realism gothic fantasy horror love story (yeah, lots of genres!). It’s a sort of period drama with marzipan, vengeful ghosts and a mystical being (who is sometimes a cat?) that has the ability to help ease the sadness of people by recording their stories onContinue reading “The House of Sorrowing Stars – Beth Cartwright – 27.02.23”
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee (AUDIOBOOK) – 22.02.23
This is an epic tale of four generations of a Korean family trying to survive in Japan. I wanted to read a book set in Japan, as I’m visiting Tokyo and Kyoto in May to visit my son who now lives and works in Japan, and I was a little disappointed because although this bookContinue reading “Pachinko – Min Jin Lee (AUDIOBOOK) – 22.02.23”
Scharlette Doesn’t Matter and Goes Time Travelling, Scharlette Kills 99% of Germs – Sam Bowring – 21.02.23
So, I read Scharlette Doesn’t Matter and Goes Time Travelling ages ago, and it turns out my daughter had also read it and we waxed lyrical about how much we both loved it and couldn’t wait for the sequel, and then I forgot all about it. I was thinking about my daughter and our sharedContinue reading “Scharlette Doesn’t Matter and Goes Time Travelling, Scharlette Kills 99% of Germs – Sam Bowring – 21.02.23”
Love Will Tear Us Apart – C. K. McDonnell (AUDIOBOOK) – 15.02.23
This is book three in the Stranger Times series, my favourite of all the Ciamh McDonnell books and I was super excited for this audiobook coming out. I need to give a huge shout out to the narrator, Brendan McDonald who is FABULOUS! He does so many accents, and puts so much character and meaningContinue reading “Love Will Tear Us Apart – C. K. McDonnell (AUDIOBOOK) – 15.02.23”
The Midnight Mayor: A Matthew Swift Novel – Kate Griffin – 12.02.23
This is the second book in the Matthew Swift series about the man who comes back from a near death (or maybe actual death) experience sharing his consciousness with an electric blue angel. It’s an urban fantasy series set in London and like Ben Aaronovitch’s’ Rivers of London series it very much pays homage toContinue reading “The Midnight Mayor: A Matthew Swift Novel – Kate Griffin – 12.02.23”
Billy Summers – Stephen King (AUDIOBOOK) – 06.02.23
One of my favourite audiobooks last year was Stephen King’s Fairytale, so I was excited to listen to this book. Of course the subject matter is very different. This novel follows Billy (one of his many aliases) who is a killer for hire with a conscience, in that he will only kill ‘really bad guys’.Continue reading “Billy Summers – Stephen King (AUDIOBOOK) – 06.02.23”
Exactly What You Mean – Ben Hinshaw (AUDIOBOOK) -BOOKGROUP – 27.01.23
This was my book group read for February, and I have reviewed it on the ‘My Book group Reads’ page. Here’s a copy and paste of what I wrote: Exactly What You Mean wasn’t universally loved by the book group members. I personally really didn’t like it at all, and the others were at bestContinue reading “Exactly What You Mean – Ben Hinshaw (AUDIOBOOK) -BOOKGROUP – 27.01.23”
The Day Chuck Berry Died – Ian Inglis – 28.01.23
My daughter, Becca got married in September (it was a lovely wedding!) and I met her in-laws for the first time the day before. We got on very well, and I didn’t know that Chris’s Dad had written fiction until they sent us a flyer for a book launch event for his published collection ofContinue reading “The Day Chuck Berry Died – Ian Inglis – 28.01.23”
Sarah Wray Writer 