After a slightly disappointing golden age mystery yesterday with When the Wind Blows, I’m back on track today with Still Waters by ECR Lorac. There’s a lot of love for this author in the blogospher…

Book Review for “The Windsor Affair” by Melanie Benjamin. Summary: “Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change. The Men: Edward David Windsor, heir to the Br…

Join Verso on October 22 for the launch of Hundred Flowers, a new book series from Verso offering nuanced debate and analysis of China’s past, present, and future. Teemu Ruskola and Eli Friedman will ...

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Sylvia Townsend Warner's debut novel 'Lolly Willowes' is the main book under discussion in this episode. It's nominated by journalist, author & playwright Samantha Ellis, and she discusses witchcr...

A few weeks ago, Marilyn and I met over coffee during her visit to Vancouver. Somewhere in the conversation, as so often happens when readers gather together, we began talking about books. Marilyn …

The current state of the TBR, and a preview of four books I’ll be reading soon: The Casuarina Tree by W. Somerset Maugham, The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Lessons in Harmony by J…

Forbidding or prohibiting things doesn’t seem to stop people from having or doing those things. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any laws, but it does mean that passing laws doesn’t always chan…

October starts as usual with another set of six degrees of literary separation, as hosted by our lovely Kate. This month’s starting point is Life of M by Rachel Cusk, which I haven’t re…

Today I’m delighted to feature author Samantha York. Her debut novel The Foreshore, was published by Salt Publishing in August 2025 and explores themes of isolation, grief, and clashing belie…

It’s always a good day when a new title in the British Library Crime Classics range pops through the door, and a recent arrival looked to be an enticing read. It’s another one of their …

This week has been Banned Books Week in the US. I don’t think I have to convince you that banning books limits critical thinking, the sharing of ideas, and much more. From early childhood on (perha…

When Kaggsy and Simon announced the 1949 Club I went scurrying off to the TBR to see what I could find: As it turns out, I missed one  – I also have The Far Cry by Emma Smith.  I’ve…

After a mixed bag of reading for my first day of the #1949Club, I thought I would turn to a book that’s been on Mount TBR for a number of years – since 2020, in fact, when I picked it u…

The Caine Prize for African Writing has released a statement following accusations made in the Atlantic that winner Simbarashe Kundizeza may have used AI.

This is my second post for the 1949 Club hosted by Simon and Kaggsy and I’m continuing with a theme of sinister men… Not so long ago I read Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey and now I’m returning …

Writing as Deep Listening: How We Practice, What We Receive

The Connection in Everything is a thought-provoking and compelling coming-of-age story.

I you want to get in the mood for October, look no further that “The Ravenswood Witch”. This gothic historical novel was just the listen for a dreary autumn day. With strong vibes of &#…

Next week: Learn how to hook readers from the very first line—and discover how finding the right opening can transform your entire story.

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A new book provides some helpful—if not always spot-on—answers.

YouTube video by Margot Kinberg

I hope you’re all as excited as I am about our upcoming week of club reading which this time is from 1949! When I first started looking for titles I soon realised it was a bumper year and the…

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 was awarded to Anne Carson “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literatu...