The House by Simon Lelic

Book Review

"This thing I've planned for so carefully; it has all gone drastically, horribly wrong."

The House will be released on 17th August. It is published by Penguin and written by Simon Lelic.

In my last post I reviewed The Upstairs Room which has a very similar premise to The House by Simon Lelic. Both focus on a couple who move into a seemingly too good to be true house with unsettling results. While I enjoyed reading The Upstairs Room more, I did like The House too and found it a well-plotted thriller that kept me turning the pages.

The Upstairs Room by Kate Murray-Browne

Book Review

"It was there from the beginning, the day they first saw the house. Eleanor noticed the smell first."

The Upstairs Room will be published on 27th July. It is published by Picador and written by Kate Murray-Browne.

I included The Upstairs Room in my June Favourite Books post and now here's my full review. As I said before, this book is like a subtle version of a classic haunted house story. It unfolds slowly but that's part of its attraction, it's an in depth look at people and the way a building can affect them.

10 Lord of the Rings Tattoos - Literary Tattoos Series

Another in my randomly posted Literary Tattoos series. I chose Lord of the Rings tattoos, not just because I like the books, but because they have such huge potential for tattoos. Elvish language, symbols, quotes, maps, characters, there are so many Lord of the Rings tattoos out there that it was hard narrowing it down to ten of my favourite ones, especially as I'm including The Hobbit tattoos in this post. However, I have whittled it down and here are ten amazing LOTR tattoos.

Soot by Andrew Martin

Book Review

"The murder of Matthew Harvey, painter of shades, had been much discussed in the city."

Soot is released in the UK today (6th July 2017). It is published by Corsair and written by Andrew Martin.

I was really excited to read Soot by Andrew Martin, a Georgian (I think) murder in atmospheric York. It's an original murder mystery, which is refreshing in this genre, which is both atmospheric and funny.

June 2017 Link Love

I know this is such a blogger thing to say but I can't believe June is already over. The first half of 2017 has gone, what happened?!

June 2017: Favourite Books

June was the month I started reading the Chief Inspector Barnaby books, aka the Midsomer Murders books. So nearly all of my favourite books this month are from the series.
I've also been battling through a couple of other long books, namely the complete collection of H.P. Lovecraft and Middlemarch on Audible. I've been reading them for months and it's taking forever, but I don't want to include them as I haven't finished them yet (also I'm not loving Middlemarch).

So a brief and Midsomer full Favourite Books post this month.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Book Review

"I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't  children's stories. They were better than that. They just were."

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is written by Neil Gaiman and published by Headline in the UK and William Morrow in the US and Canada, where I bought my copy.

I can't believe that I hadn't read any Neil Gaiman books until last year. As a big Terry Pratchett fan I started with Good Omens, written by Pratchett and Gaiman. Then I came across this lovely paperback edition of The Ocean at the End of the Lane at Mermaid Tales bookshop when I was in Tofino for my honeymoon and decided to try out my first fully Gaiman novel. I was not disappointed, in fact I was a little surprised; described as a fairytale for adults I thought the book might be a bit cutesy, but it manages to be nostalgic and magical but also terrifying and intensely sad.