Tag: book review

Finding my bookish self

I’ve been out of the blogging loop lately, focusing on a writing project which is going to keep me busy for the next couple of years.

However, there is lots going on in the world (earthquake, heatwave, violent death and political farce) but I’m choosing not to obsess about these subjects and am trying (not very successfully) to stop doomscrolling on Facebook and Instagram, which is a complete waste of time and just feeds massive egos and conspiracy theories and lines the pockets of the megarich.

And news websites and a constant diet of updates and cliches are leaving me cold.

The reading is going well, but not in terms of me writing reviews. I’ve had some real duds in recent months, which has been incredibly disappointing.

I had high hopes for The Calamity Club (2026), by Kathryn Stockett, the author of The Help (2009), but it wasn’t for me. I gave it two stars out of five.

I didn’t fare much better with Under Story. I devoured an earlier Chloe Benjamin novel, The Immortalists (2018), but really struggled with this new book, which comes out later in the year.

The very science-based science fiction of Under Story is sweeping in its ambition. Set in the hostile, surreal world of Antarctica, it’s essentially a love story with two central protagonists who take their time to reconnect.

It’s beautifully written but moves forward at too slow a pace for me. I gave it three stars.

Having encountered a reader’s block with new novels other people seem to adore, I had a bit of a book break and then started reading narrative nonfiction, if nothing else but to help with the current writing project, to see how it’s done when done well.

The last bit of nonfiction I read was probably The Salt Path (2018), billed as memoir, nature and travel writing and definitely not fiction. I gave up after two chapters because I liked neither the style nor the whining presence of the author, who irritated me from the start. Well, we all know how that book panned out. Maybe I am more discerning than I think.

I’ve done a bit of research and have started giving nonfiction another go. Mixed results but I completely fell in love with the Bruce Chatwin’s groundbreaking travel writing classic, In Patagonia (1977).

Similarly, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2023) by David Grann is unputdownable, telling the true story of what happened when a naval vessel hit rocks off the South American coast in 1740. Piecing together the story through solid historical research and strong primary sources, Grann has produced a knockout of a book. I was hooked by it.

After failing to ‘get’ an award-winning memoir that had been recommended to me (too highbrow and about a wealthy family I didn’t care much about), I was delighted to then plunge into Great Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire (2024) by Michael Palin, a writer who takes a family story and turns it into a search for answers in this compelling biography, travelogue and history book. Palin is such an empathetic and kind sort of a chap and his writing reflects his humanity.

I’m now reading two novels: A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles (my day book) and the beautiful There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak (2024), which I turn to at night because I have a back-lit Kindle so I don’t disturb Mr Grigg when he’s trying to sleep.

So, you can see I haven’t been completely idle in this ennui-inducing heatwave, which is turning us all into gibbering wrecks.

More from me later in the week, I think. In the meantime, if you have any narrative nonfiction recommendations, I’m all ears.

That’s about it.

Love, Maddie x

May book reviews

I’m ploughing my way through another long book, which I’m enjoying but haven’t finished yet.

It’s The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, who wrote The Help. It turns out her latest novel, which has just been published, is longer than I first thought.

I’m also in the final copy edit stage of my own novel, which is being published in the autumn. Can’t say too much about it yet but I will reveal all in due course.

At the same time, I’m doing some in-depth research for a narrative non-fiction story where the ancestor I share with Ernest Hemingway will take centre stage. This is a project involving a half-circumnavigation of the world so will take a few years.

I’ve read three books this month but only one of them is worth telling you about. The other two were thrillers but not very thrilling.

So here goes. And it is a good ‘un.

Whistler by Ann Patchett *****

Contemporary fiction (304 pages). Publication date expected 2 June 2026

A chance meeting in a New York art gallery leads the fifty-something protagonist into a myriad of memories in this quietly reflective novel about family, relationships and love.

English teacher Daphne and her husband realise the elderly man who appears to be stalking them is, in fact, her ex-stepfather, book editor Eddie Triplett, who she hasn’t seen since she was nine. The encounter sends Daphne down unexpected paths, sifting through a painful period in her childhood and a dramatic incident she’s never really talked about with anyone else since.

Her conversations and interactions with Eddie – a lovely, kind man – enable Daphne to think about her past and make sense of everything that happened all those years ago and the complex layers – and people in her life – that underpin it.

It’s an astonishing novel and Patchett is an astonishing writer, who takes something so relatively simple and transforms it into a deep and meaningful story about what it is to be loved and respected. I coldn’t put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of Whistler.

February book reviews

I’ve not done very well with books this month. This is a shame because the weather outside is frightful and there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book when the rain is lashing against the windows.

There were two novels I abandoned after a couple of chapters and then a three-star which was all right, but not that enjoyable.

However, there is one stand-out book for me and I’m still reading it. It’s A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia, due to be published in April. I didn’t expect it to be my thing at all, but it’s captivating. I’ll reveal more in next month’s reviews.

Being a reviewer for NetGalley is a real privilege. Especially when I go into a book shop and see all these titles I’ve already read, such as The Wardrobe Department *** by Elaine Garvey, Three Days in June **** by Anne Tyler, The Boy From The Sea **** by Garrett Carr and The Book of Doors **** by Gareth Brown.

One of my next reads will be the new novel by Elizabeth Strout, the author of Olive Kitteridge. But I have a few more to get through first, including my first purchase in a long time, Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, published in 1939 and set around these parts, yet I’ve never read it.

In 1976, it was made into a television film starring Peter O’Toole.

And there has been talk that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has his eye on the lead role in another film adaptation, although it’s all been a bit quiet of late.

Anyway, here’s my one and only book review for February.

Where The Truth Lies by Katherine Greene ***

Publication date: 24 March 2026

A murder rocks a small community in southern USA and threatents to blow apart the impending marraige of Rhett and Lucinda and their future happiness together. We think we know who did it and what and why it happened, but do we?

There are twists and turns galore in this thriller/whodunnit/domestic drama and I did not see the end coming. The story is told from various viewpoints, including the voice of the murdered woman, a device I always find difficult to take on board because how can she tell a story in the first person, past tense, when she’s dead?

I also didn’t much like any of the characters through which the tale unfolded.

Anyway, that aside, this was a tense and generally fast-paced novel which would be an ideal basis for a Netflix adaptation in the Harlan Coben mould.

December book reviews

I’ve had some cracking books this month from NetGalley.

Here are three to look out for in early 2026:

How To Get Away With Murder by Rebecca Philipson ****

(Expected publication date 24 February 2026)

Detective Sam Hansen comes back to work after a period of extended leave when she stumbles across a murder scene. A teenager has been killed in a London park and a copy of a book, How To Get Away With Murder, has been left next to the body.

This is a tense and witty crime thriller, with alternating chapters from Sam’s point of view and then chapters of the book written by a person called Denver Brady, who describes himself as a serial killer.

It’s a really clever premise, tautly written, well-plotted and with a self-deprecating lead character, who is easy to like. I was very suprised this is a debut novel. I hope it will be the start of a series.

An easy, page-turning and satisfying read. Recommended.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke ****

(Expected publication date 9 April 2026)

Natalie is a God-fearing, clever woman who is married into a patriarchal political family in the USA.

She’s an egotistical bitch who devises a plan to become an ‘influencer’ when the money runs dry. She sets up home with her handsome but stupid husband as a ‘trad wife’ on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere, raising her many children and working the farm in a wholesome, simple way remiscent of the pioneer men and women who ‘made America great’.

But it’s all a sham – no-one sees the nannies, the pesticides and the immigrant workers whose labour keeps the facade from falling down.

And then Natalie finds herself in the actual past, where the reality of her life on Yesteryear Farm is far, far different from the picture she has painted her adoring public.

Will she be able to get back into her present? And what’s behind her terrifying time travelling journey?

I romped through this book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Razor sharp, a very unlikeable heroine and dystopian in the mould of Margaret Atwood.

Big Nobody by Alex Kadis *****

(Expected publication date 5 March 2026)

Constantina Costa is an angry teenager living with her Greek Cypriot father in 1970s UK. She plots to kill him, referring to him as The Fat Murderer because she holds him responsible for the death of her British mother and two younger brothers.

Connie finds solace in her love for Marc Bolan and David Bowie, whose posters she frequently consults in her bedroom about her miserable life, which has been so touched by tragedy and darkness. She develops a loving relationship with Vas, a Greek Cypriot boy who ‘gets’ her and is a ray of sunshine in a world where Greekness threatens to suffocate her.

I absolutely adored this sweary and nostalgic coming-of-age novel (which is totally from my era) and was cheering Connie on from the sidelines.

The scenes in which Connie is enveloped by her Greek heritage and ‘aunties’ were incredibly warm and funny, and I loved the music, food and pop culture references.

This would make such a great television series. The sassy Connie deserves her moment on the small screen.

Highly recommended.

November book reviews

I’ve read quite a few books in the last month, thanks to NetGalley, and some were better than others.

Endeavouring to be more organised and helpful to my readers, I’m just going to include on my blog books which have just been or are about to be published, rather than those not due to be released for months hence.

And, following in the footsteps of my old friend from the lifestyle and fashion blog, Is This Mutton, I’m only going to include reviews of three stars and over. (Sadly, I’ve had a few two-star ones in recent months. You can read my reviews of these and others on the Goodreads website.)

I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read a book if a reviewer thinks it’s duff. And it’s a bit soul destroying for authors to get a pasting online – writing is a tough enough world as it is.

However, saying that, I’m going to include my review of the latest John Grisham novel, because I was expecting such great things from this esteemed and prolific author. And, besides, his career is not going to nosedive just because a nobody from Dorset said she didn’t like his book.

No Friend To This House by Natalie Haynes ****

Published September 2025.

In her latest retelling of the Greek myths, Natalie Haynes turns to Jason & the Argonauts and the Medea story. The tale of the handsome hero who seizes the golden fleece, with help from the witch, Medea, is well-known, particularly to those of us brought up with the 1960s classic movie.

The Medea story, as told by Greek playwright Euripides and first performed in 431 BC, is a staple of the stage even to this day, with various adaptations and audiences trying to make sense of why the protagonist murders her two sons.

Tying the two halves of the story together in the one novel was always going to be a challenge. The first half is a swashbuckling quest and the second is a dark tragedy. But who better to meld the two together than Haynes, a writer, broadcaster, classicist and comedian whose novels include Stone Blind (about Medusa) and A Thousand Ships, which sees the Trojan War from the perspective of the women involved.

No Friend to This House centres on the roles played by Jason and Medea – and the Greek gods as puppeteers – in seizing the golden fleece from the far eastern edge of the Black Sea and taking it to Colchis, encountering dreadful obstacles along the way. Medea’s magic enables them to get through their ordeals.

They end up in Corinth, married with children, and then Jason announces he is in love with Glauke, the princess, and is getting wed. Medea enacts a terrible revenge, but is it any wonder? She’s been deceived by her conniving husband. But killing her sons? How on earth can this be explained?

Haynes does so with aplomb – no spoilers here, but there is a final plot twist – in a nuanced and layered story, with multiple narrators and viewpoints. Highly recommended.

(I first reviewed this book for the Historical Novel Society.)

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ***

Published March 2025.

I came to this wanting to love it as I’d heard so much about it. I thought it might be a sort of British version of To Be Sung Underwater (2011) by Tom McNeal. I adored that novel.

Set in rural Dorset in the 1950s and 1960s, Broken Country sees Beth’s world turned upside down when her first love comes back into her life.

Grieving for Bobby, the young son she lost, Beth makes a momentous – and reckless – choice. It can only lead to heartache and pain.

Spoiler alert: it does.

Broken Country is a story of loss, love and betrayal. Part thriller, part courtroom drama, the reader will be on the edge of their seat when this is made into a film by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company, which also made Where The Crawdads Sing.

Readers raved about that book, as they are raving about this one. I was not a fan of the former – but if we all liked the same fiction, it would be a very dull world indeed.

Broken Country is a good yarn. The ‘heroine’ is not very likeable but this cracking story will become a book club favourite and convert well to the big screen.

I could see the denouement a mile off but, even so, it was a satisfying ending which tied up loose ends, although I felt cheated by Beth, as a first person narrator, telling me only half a story and leaving the juicy bit until last.

The Widow by John Grisham **

Published October 2025.

A down-at-heel lawyer with gambling debts and a failing marriage takes on a new client. She is seemingly a wealthy widow who wants him to take a look at the will prepared by another lawyer in town. Our protagonist soon realises the other lawyer has carved out a sizeable chunk of her fortune for himself – can he help her out while, at the same time, solve some of his own financial worries by being a little dishonest himself?

I’ve read some cracking John Grisham books in the past but, sorry, this isn’t one of them. It was a huge disappoinment and lacking the urgency and intrigue of Grisham’s earlier work.

The relationship between the main character and the widow drags on, as does his family story, with lots of telling and not much showing. Then a court case ensues, followed by a wrongful imprisonment and then another character who comes into the frame only in the third part. And then it ends very abruptly to the point that I thought I was missing some pages from the Kindle. Apparently not.

I skim read in the end, wanting to know what had happened and why, but it was quite a few nights’ reading I will never get back.