Sarah Wray Writer

The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer (Audiobook) Narrated by

Sally Phillips, Bob Mortimer – 07.09.25

Famous people often get books published just because they’re famous even though their books are rubbish. I’m happy to say that (in my opinion at least) this is not the case here. I have very much enjoyed listening the the audiobook of this novel read by the author as well as Sally Phillips. Bob Mortimer’s dead pan delivery is the perfect addition to his witty and ironic prose. This is a cosy mystery with likeable characters with whimsy charm, from the lacking-self-confidence Gary, to his irascible but heart of gold neighbour, Grace, and the feisty but damaged love interest, Emily. Throw in some very bad villains and some talking (at least in Gary’s imagination) furry or feathered creatures and the whole experience was as satisfying as a big meat pie with gravy and mashed potatoes and a slice of Battenburg and cup of builder’s tea to follow.

The Glassmaker – Tracy Chevalier (BOOKGROUP) – 04.07.25

This was my book group read for July, and I have copied and pasted the review which I already posted on my book group reads page of this website:

The book group read Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier a few years ago, and loved it, and this one, while still enjoyed was perhaps not so well liked as that. Set in Murano, the artisan glass blower’s island in the island group including Venice, the story centres on one family of glass blowers, particularly the daughter of the family beginning in 1486 and continuing until the present day. The magical realism twist was that the members of this family and their closest friends and contacts barely aged so hundreds of years passed in ‘the real world’ while they continued to carry on the traditional practises. This highlighted the timelessness of their work, as well as allowing them to experience and react to lots of interesting historical events from the plague, visits from Casanova, world wars and modern-day covid and the internet. Personally, I got quite bored in the middle, and I know one other member of the group gave up on it, but I made myself finish it, and did actually quite enjoy the ending. Not my favourite Chevalier though.

The Magician of Tiger Castle – Louis Sachar (Audiobook) Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerin – 30.08.25

Holes by Louis Sachar is one of my favourite books, so I was very excited to learn that the author had written a fantasy novel for adults.

The main character tells the story, beginning in the present day, but looking back to his youth in the 15th century working as magician to the king in a European castle, so we know that he is either a time traveller or an immortal.

The historical story is fun enough, if well trodden – the princess is betrothed to a powerful ally but instead falls in love with a poor servant boy – the magician is charged with making potions for them to forget each other and for the princess to actually fall in love with the prince who turns out to be a proper bad ‘un so the magician tries instead to help the star crossed young lovers, and accidentally makes himself immortal in the process.

It was fine – I didn’t hate it, but I was not blown away which was quite disappointing.

When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi – 30.08.25

The young man who wrote this book was a neurosurgeon who tragically died aged just 36 of lung cancer. (Like my dear friend and book group buddy, Arlene who recently passed away of lung cancer despite never having been a smoker or lived around smokers.) The first half of the book follows his early life and career path, torn between studying literature and medicine, with plans to practice medicine before turning to writing later in life. His illness curtailed these plans and in the second part he wrote about his own journey with illness and moving towards death until the book is finally finished by his bereaved wife after he ultimately succumbed.

He believed in doctors doing the right thing for each individual patient, which sometimes involves stepping back and not intervening just because they can, which I applaud.

It is certainly an interesting, moving and thoughtful book.

The Space Between Worlds – Micaiah Johnson – 28.08.25

This book has an interesting premise – a dystopian future has a two class society and they discover how to jump between parallel dimensions. In order to survive the jump, your counterpart in the new world must not exist (ie to already be dead). Since the people from the poor lower class are much more likely to have died in other similar worlds, they are the most useful to train as jumpers.

I have read other books with similar set ups – The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, and the wonderful Pandominion books by M.R. Carey, both of which I loved, this one, somehow never really grabbed me. It was alright, but I don’t think I’ll bother reading any more in the series.

Tales from the Stranger Times, Volume 1 – C.K. McDonnell (Audiobook) Narrated by: Brendan McDonald – 27.08.25

After being a bit bored by the long Stephen King book I had just listened to, this was such a welcome change! I’m not usually a fan of short stories, but I am a huge fan of C.K. McDonnell’s Stranger Times books and I LOVED this collection. My personal favourites were ‘The Raven’ in which Eddy Poe accidentally/on purpose kills a robin (called Neville Moore!!) and talking birds plague him to seek recompense, and the one about the Troll (can’t remember what it was called). As always Brendan McDonald’s narration was great. I heartily recommend this book.

Dreamcatcher – Stephen King, (Audiobook) Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn – 22.08.25

I’m a big fan of Stephen King, and it pains me to say it, but I didn’t love this one! It is quite long and at times confusing and at times a bit gross with endless talking about farts (even thought they were, I guess, relevant to the plot).

Four men who were fast childhood friends meet up regularly in a hunters cabin in the woods (big horror set-up trope!). They all have complicated things going on in their lives as well as complicated reminiscences from their shared childhood, particularly concerning ‘Dudders’ the child with learning difficulties who they befriended after saving him from bullies one day.

They take in a man they found wandering confusedly in the woods, who’s health deteriorates (including lots of farting) and to cut a (very) long story short, it turns out that aliens are invading who have various life cycle/symbiotic forms that implant eggs/larvae in some people, and use mind control on some people and the government is kind of in on it (or at least they know and are trying to manipulate things to their benefit).

Our friends have to try to save themselves/the world and maybe only now forgotten Dudders can help them.

All the Colours of the Dark – Chris Whitaker – 17.08.25

Oh my goodness! I was so enthralled by and engrossed in this book that I had several very late nights when I kept reading instead of going to sleep!

Patch and Saint are best friends from the poor end of town, and although Saint has feelings for Patch, he has a secret crush on rich girl, Misty.

One day when they are all young teens, something happens that will change all of their lives forever. Patch hears Misty screaming in the woods and goes to help her, fighting with the man who was trying to abduct her. She gets away but Patch is taken instead. Months go by, and the police would have given up the search for Patch if Saint hadn’t doggedly followed all possible leads and eventually discovered the pitch dark underground room where Patch had been held and rescued him.

Patch insists there was a girl with him in the room, a girl called Grace who he spoke with but never saw due to the darkness.

No trace of Grace is found and the police and psychiatrists think she was just something he imagined to help him through the ordeal, but he does not give up the belief that she is real and it becomes his life’s work to find and rescue her.

The ripples of this event spread through many lives, and as we follow Saint, Misty and Patch into adulthood we see how it shapes them.

I thought it was brilliant – the suspense never lets up – was Grace real? Will Patch ever find her? Will he destroy his life (and others) by following the quest so single mindedly?

The characters are well rounded and I felt real emotional ties to many of them, almost hiding behind my hands at the turns their lives were taking and willing things to go better for them.

I loved the ending and the bittersweet feel of the whole book – just great!

Elsewhere – Gabrielle Zevin – 13.08.25

This was a sweet readable book offering a novel suggestion for the afterlife – the recently deceased wake on a type of cruise ship headed for Elsewhere where they might meet friends and relatives who predeceased them. In Elsewhere you arrive the age you were when you died, and then age backward – ie. get younger until at seven days old, you are swaddled in slowly dissolving strips and launched into the river of current which takes a week to get back to earth where you are ‘born again’ as a new person.

15 year old Liz died in a hit and run collision and lives in Elsewhere with the grandmother she never met in life because she died when Liz’s mum was expecting her.

In Elsewhere there are things like the viewers they used to have at the seaside where you put in a coin and look at the distance which allow the dead to watch the living. Liz becomes obsessed partly with watching her family and partly with finding out who killed her. She has to go through a kind of grieving process for the life she left behind, and the fact that she will never be older than 15 (in fact she will get younger, so will always be a child) and the book takes us through her stages (anger, denial, acceptance etc) in quite a nice and thoughtful way.

I don’t really get the point of reincarnation as a belief if the person has no knowledge of having lived before – isn’t that just the same as one person ending and a new person beginning? Some people might disagree with me, I know – just my opinion.

A Cast of Falcons – Sarah Yarwood-Lovett – 10.08.25

I liked the first book in this series, about Dr Nell Ward, the expert in bats who stumbled across a crime scene and was implicated in a murder, because it was quirky and I enjoyed the bat ecology facts. This second book is more like murder at Downton Abbey, as Nell (who also happens to be a member of the landed gentry) is hosting a society wedding in her stately home. Too many posh people. Also, the love triangle between Nell, the policeman who arrested and then fell in love with her, and her colleague, Rav, who is also in love with her but feels inadequate to her poshness, gets quite annoying.

Plus there was hardly any ecology, with nesting owls and an aggressive falcon getting barely a mention in spite of the title. I think I have bought at least one more book in the series which was on a 99p kindle deal, otherwise I don’t think I would bother reading any more after this one.