The last few weeks have posed a reading challenge, and part of that has been caused by meeting the right book at the wrong time. As you may already know, I live in the lovely coastal town of Santa Cruz, California. About three weeks ago now, we experienced the most spectacular electrical storm. It was […]
If you know me at all, you will understand that I am not one of life’s happy campers. I can appreciate the beauty of the great outdoors without experiencing any desire at all to sleep in it. My back is designed to carry a simple day pack, not a tent or a stove. I value […]
I do love a good ghost story but I’m not one for being scared into an early grave, unable to switch the lights off or get to sleep for fear of what lurks in the closet. As I grow older I definitely enjoy a good fright far more than I used to in my twenties […]
If you enjoyed the ‘feel’ of All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda then The Perfect Stranger will most likely appeal. I read these books roughly a year apart and enjoyed both, perhaps preferring the former, but only marginally so. To me, Miranda has such a clear style that they read very similarly, perhaps a […]
I’ve said it before and will no doubt say it again, but I don’t believe in persevering with books that you are not enjoying. If a book doesn’t grab me in the first sixty or seventy pages, sometimes sooner, I can be pretty damn sure that things aren’t going to change. Why then, did I […]
Years and years and years ago, a book was published called Ralph’s Party. It was chick lit and I just loved it. The writer was Lisa Jewell and in very quick succession I demolished whatever she wrote. I remember my old boss and friend, Mrs N, who always seemed to be invited to the best […]
On a recent trip to Chicago, I arrived at the airport far too early with my son. This is a genetic failing on my part. I always need to be at the airport hours before my plane takes off, ‘just to be safe’. The Husband who feels just the opposite and would leave it until […]
Would you go to a hen night/bachelorette party of a woman that you hadn’t seen since school? Nora does. Would you go even if you knew that you weren’t being invited to the wedding? Nora does. Yes it sounds implausible, but in the masterful hands of Ruth Ware, this horrendous social scenario becomes utterly plausible […]
When I was young I lived in London. All over London. Moving, as young renters do, approximately every twelve or eighteen months. What initially seemed like a fun way to live soon became a drag as flatmates moved in with boyfriends or went travelling. As I read JP Delaney’s novel, The Girl Before, I was […]
I am very fortunate to have a family filled with readers. We may not live in geographical proximity to each other and our preferences may at times be wildly different, but we are able to hit each other up for a good book recommendation from time to time. My sister-in-law, Dr A, often enjoys a […]
Nutshell Book Reviews 