Tag: books

My Five Favourite November 2023 Reads

whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

I read eleven books in November, thanks to the #NetGalleyNovember reading challenge which always produces results! Here are the five I liked best. Links from each title will take you to my full review.

You can find a list of all the books I’ve read so far in 2023 here.  If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My thanks to Head of Zeus, Headline, The Borough Press and Canongate for providing me with review copies, including via NetGalley.

The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou (Head of Zeus) – Set in 1950s London, a compelling, authentic and moving story based on a real life murder case

Rebellion by Simon Scarrow (Headline) – First century Roman Britain is the setting for the 22nd outing of Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro – vividly drawn characters, thrilling action scenes and authentic period detail

Mrs Whistler by Matthew Pamplin (The Borough Press) – The story of artist James MacNeill Whistler – a man so convinced of his own genius that he embarks on an ill-advised libel action against art critic, John Ruskin – and Maud, Whistler’s model, muse and lover

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd  (Canongate) – An intriguing historical crime mystery full of eccentricity, imagination and melodrama

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn (Orion) – Emotional dual time story of love and loss set on the Scilly Isles (full review to follow)

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

My Five Favourite Reads (10)

My Week in Books – 3rd December 2023

whatcathyreadnext3 Comments

MyWeekinBooksOn What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of The Diver and the Lover by Jeremy Vine, a book towards the #NetGalleyNovember reading challenge.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books Set in X and I went for Books Set in Eurovision Countries.   

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 Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan, the December pick for BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub.

Friday – I shared my #NetGalleyNovember Wrap-Up.

Saturday – I took part in the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a chain from Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain to The Night Manager by John le Carré. 

New arrivals

At last, some new books! 

A Good Scent from a Strange MountainA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler (No Exit)

The 15 stories collected here, all written in the first person, blend Vietnamese folklore, the terrible, lingering memories of war, American pop culture and family drama.

Butler’s literary ventriloquism, as he mines the experiences of a people with a great literary tradition of their own, is uncanny; but his talents as a writer of universal truths is what makes this a collection for the ages.

A Dry Spell PBA Dry Spell by Clare Chambers (Cornerstone)

In 1976, four students took a trip to the desert. Now the repercussions of that fateful summer are coming back to haunt them.

And repercussions are exactly what Guy doesn’t need. His wife, Jane, is moving swiftly from slightly eccentric to downright peculiar, their three-year-old daughter seems set on destroying Jane’s sanity, and now even God’s gone quiet on him.

As for Nina, she’s having enough trouble with her son, James. He’s got exams looming, a new girlfriend with pneumatic breasts and now, it seems, he is on drugs. Nina certainly won’t welcome any ghosts from the past…

Life isn’t going smoothly for anyone. But when Hugo, long-forgotten agent of misfortune, threatens to pay them all a visit, disaster seems unavoidable.

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: The Binding by Bridget Collins
  • Book Review: The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn
  • My Five Favourite November 2023 Reads