Category: Reviews

My Top 5 May 2024 Reads @WorldEdBooks @HeadlineFiction @AllisonandBusby @SceptreBooks

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My Top Five May 2024 ReadsWelcome to my wrap-up of the books I read in May. I read nine books last month, two of which I awarded five stars.

Links from each title will take you to my full review or the book description on Goodreads. Check out the list of all the books I’ve read so far in 2024. If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My thanks to World Editions, Headline, Allison & Busby and Sceptre for providing me with review copies via NetGalley.

Five StarsAfterlight by Jaap Robben, trans. by David Doherty (World Editions) – A beautifully crafted, moving novel that also reveals a shocking hidden story of injustice.

A Plague of Serpents by K.J. Maitland (Headline) – A suspenseful, intricately plotted historical mystery, the final book in the author’s Daniel Pursglove series.

The Small Museum by Jody Cooksley (Allison & Busby) – A chilling and immersive historical mystery generously infused with elements of Gothic fiction.

Five StarsThe Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Sceptre) – An inventive and totally absorbing blend of science fiction and romance, with a dash of historical fiction and an element of mystery added for good measure.

The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis (Vintage) – A hard-hitting, dark and thought-provoking novel about one of the twentieth century’s worst atrocities.

What were the best books you read last month? Have you read any of my picks?

 

My Week in Books – 2nd June 2024

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My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books I Was Excited To Get But Still Haven’t Read. 

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.

Thursday – I published my review of The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis. 

Friday – I made another visit Down The TBR Hole as a result of which my TBR pile is three (yes, a whole three!) books lighter.

Saturday – The first Saturday of the month means it’s time for #6Degrees of Separation. My book chain took me from Butter by Asako Yuzuki to The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.

New arrivals

Two book club picks…

Normal Rules Don't ApplyNormal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson (Penguin)

In this first full collection since Not the End of the World, we meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a man whose luck changes when a horse speaks to him.

With clockwork intricacy, inventiveness and sharp social observation, Kate Atkinson conjures a feast for the imagination, a constantly changing multiverse in which nothing is quite as it seems.

The HousekeepersThe Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Headline)

UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON.

All eyes are on the grandest house in Mayfair as the countdown to their lavish summer ball begins. Everything must be perfect. But with the chandeliers gleaming and the cellars stocked, loyal housekeeper Mrs King is suddenly dismissed.

DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.

As the clock strikes twelve on the night of the ball, Mrs King will return to strip the house of its riches – right under the nose of her former employer. And she knows just who to recruit to pull off the impossible: a bold alliance of women with nothing left to lose and every reason for revenge.

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • My Five Favourite May 2024 Reads
  • Book Review: The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear 
  • Book Review: Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke