Recently I was privileged to receive a copy of debut novelist David Young’s ‘Stasi Child’. It’s a darkly shocking tale set in East Berlin the 1970s – in the DDR – and is the first in a series featuring People’s Police detective Karin Muller. My full review can be found here, but I thought it […]
A really good friend can make a frightening enemy. ‘The Exclusives’ explores this premise: what happens when best friends betray each other? How far might they go to harm each other and secure their own futures? This is former journalist Rebecca Thornton’s debut novel and today her blog tour visits Buried Under Books, which means […]
Recently I reviewed the beautifully handled debut novel that is G. J. Minett’s The Hidden Legacy. Even more recently, I have had the pleasure of quizzing the author about his work, so if you liked the sound of the book but haven’t yet picked it up, or loved it and can’t wait to read more […]
Jasper Fforde: pioneering fictioneer. I’m not usually a fan of fantasy fiction. In fact, I actively avoid it, moving on as soon as I spot words like ‘magic’, ‘curse’ or ‘dragon’ in book descriptions and reviews. The one exception is Jasper Fforde, whose genuinely distinctive styling of comedy, fantasy, literary mash-up, satire and sci-fi is […]
Today is National Poetry Day and it’s got me thinking about the value of sharing poems. Children instinctively love poems. They enjoy the rhythms, the humour, the sheer nonsense of nursery rhymes and their early introductions to poems. Then, something happens. For most older children poetry becomes academic, boring, uncool. It’s something your teacher might […]
I get very excited about meeting my favourite authors. The trouble is, when I do meet them, I become so tongue-tied I’m barely capable of requesting a signature and giving my name. Anything more – except possibly a simpering, eyes-downcast, barely audible mutter of “I love your books” – is absolutely beyond me. (My husband […]
I freely admit that I am slightly obsessed by in love with ‘Pride and Prejudice’. When I’m feeling ill or grouchy, I instinctively reach for the book or, if I’m feeling really awful, the 1995 BBC adaptation, and it cheers me up to read/ hear the familiar words: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged…’ I […]
It’s actually quite rare for me to buy books new. Honest. New to me from a second hand shop – sure. New as a gift from a friend or family member – definitely. New as a gift for my son or daughter or other lucky friend / family member who loves books – yep yep […]
It’s totally normal to plan your holidays around books, right? My husband fancied going away somewhere this Easter and since he has an actual proper job while I just “look after” our children* and therefore have masses of downtime, (by which I mean that occasionally they have naps At The Same Time, also known in […]
There is never enough time. I wanted to write something about National Poetry Day, but by the time I had put half a blog post put together, it was over for another year. I wanted to write about World Book Day, but I never managed to write more than an opening line. I thought, never […]