I like to watch TV series in installments: ideally no more than one episode a night so I can savour each one, digesting the ideas and developments before moving on to the next. Gary A. Braunbeck’s collection of short stories requires the same approach. There are 40 stories in total but to gorge yourself on […]
Beginning a trilogy by reading the finale probably isn’t the greatest idea I’ve ever had. Who is Angela Grainger? Why did she try to shoot Carl Logan? Why did Logan’s agency, the JIA (Joint Intelligence Agency) disown him? I had no idea, but hoped I would find out in this ‘action-packed finale’. What’s it about? […]
When you make a decision, what influences you? You might expect that your past experiences would have an impact – and they certainly do – but are you sufficiently aware of the other factors influencing your decision-making process? From who orders first in a round of drinks to which new TV we buy, we’re constantly […]
This is so good that when I picked it up to check if I read it last year, I ended up reading it again. ‘This’ is ‘The Unremarkable Heart’, a short story by well-established crime writer Karin Slaughter, and, yes, that is her birth name. (She has said previously that it’s a good thing she […]
Have you ever considered murder as a form of entertainment? How about murder as an art form? Popular cultural historian Dr Lucy Worsley has. What’s it about? ‘A Very British Murder’ is described in Worsley’s introduction as ‘an exploration of how the British enjoyed and consumed the idea of murder, a phenomenon that dates from […]
‘Can you recommend a book of spells to raise pets from the dead? Just animals you understand – not people. I don’t want my husband coming back.’ Jen Campbell, bookseller at Ripping Yarns and author of ‘Weird Things Customers say in Bookshops’ is back with, well, more weird things customers have said to some poor, […]
It’s a truth widely known that I love Jane Austen. And, as always, when I’m interested in a topic, I enjoy reading about it, so I’ve gradually built up a collection of materials on Austen. This is one of my latest finds (thank you Waterstones!) and it does exactly what it promises to do: celebrates […]
Forgetting what you did on a drunken night out is bad enough. Forgetting what you’ve done for the last ten years must be terrifying. This is the problem facing Alice Love in Liane Moriarty’s intriguing novel, ‘What Alice Forgot’. What’s it about? Alice bumps her head at the gym and is utterly astonished to find […]
Ever wondered why your one year old loves knocking down sandcastles? This is your chance to find out. What’s it about? That incredible year between turning one and two, during which Little People make huge strides in controlling their adults (Smooths and Hairies) using a range of strategies including tactical manoeuvres, such as the fail-safe […]
No one could have killed Polly Carter…but someone did. This is a locked room mystery that takes place in a garden with a cliff top and some extremely convenient shrubbery. Oh, and it takes place in the Carribean. And Polly’s a celebrity (of course: who else would have a cliff top with beach access conveniently […]