My Top 5 April 2024 Reads

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My Top Five April 2024 ReadsWelcome to my wrap-up of the books I read in April. I read twelve books last month including two I awarded five stars.  In fact, it was quite tough to whittle it down to only five.

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 Head of Zeus, Corvus, Mantle, Allison & Busby and Moonflower Books for providing me with review copies, including via NetGalley.

Sword of the War God by Tim Hodkinson (Head of Zeus) – Set in the 5th century AD, a thrilling historical adventure peopled with memorable characters and woven through with myth and legend.

Bonjour, Sophie by Elizabeth Buchan (Corvus) – Set in 1959, an absorbing, emotional and nuanced coming-of-age story that captures a world on the cusp of social change.

James by Percival Everett (Mantle) – A masterful and subversive reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.

The Paris Peacemakers by Flora Johnston (Allison & Busby) – A powerful, emotional and poignant novel set against the backdrop of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

The Coming Storm by Greg Mosse (Moonflower Books) – The sequel to The Coming Darkness, an action-packed and compelling futuristic thriller.

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

 

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 Shortlist @waltscottprize

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WalterScottPrizeThe shortlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2024 was announced this morning, 1st May 2024. Congratulations to the authors and publishers of the shortlisted books. Some fantastic books have made it through to this final stage.

I ventured to predict the books that would make the shortlist but only got two right. On a brighter note, there are only two of the six I haven’t read – Absolutely & Forever and In the Upper Country – which makes it much more likely I’ll have read the entire shortlist before the winner is announced at the Borders Book Festival on Thursday 13th June 2024. I might even chance another prediction…

So without further ado, here are the books on the shortlist. Links from the titles will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

The New Life by Tom Crewe
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor
In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas
Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng

Have you read any of the books on the list? Are there any you’re planning to read? Is there a book you’d like to see win?