Tag: Five Favourite

My Five Favourite February Reads

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Wet and stormy weather in recent weeks here in the UK made for the perfect excuse to curl up in the warm with a book. As a result, I read eleven books in February. Below are my five favourite.

Requiem for a KnaveFirst up is Requiem for a Knave by Laura Carlin. Set in medieval England, the book is part historical mystery, part love story. It combines a wealth of period detail with exploration of issues with more contemporary relevance such as gender identity and sexual equality. You can read my full review here.

SummerlandStaying with historical fiction but moving forward to the 20th century, my next choice is Summerland by Lucy Adlington, published by Hot Key Books . Although aimed at young adults, I loved the fictional story of Brigitta, one of the children who survived the Nazi concentration camps or were orphaned by the War and brought to Britain as refugees. Read more about why I enjoyed the book here.

ImprovementNext is Improvement by Joan Silber, published by Allen & Unwin UK.  The book is a series of interconnected stories that explore the consequences of our actions on others. It was my first introduction to the author’s writing and I admired her acute observational skills and deft touch. You can read my full review here.

516zEuy13+L._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_Back to historical fiction now and Stasi Winter by David Young, published by Zaffre. Set in pre-unification East Germany during the so-called ‘catastrophic winter’ of 1978/9, it’s the fifth in the series featuring Major Karin Müller of the People’s Police. A crime novel with a touch of the spy thriller, I thought it was terrific and it made me wish I’d discovered the series earlier. Read my full review here.

The House by the LochMy final choice is Kirsty Wark’s The House by the Loch, published by Two Roads Books. Set in Galloway and moving between the 1950s and the present day, I described it as ‘an emotional, well-crafted story of a family dealing with change, guilt and loss’. You can read my full review here.

What were your favourite books you read in February? Have you read any of my picks?

You can find details of all the books I’ve read so far in 2020 here with links to my reviews.  If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My 5 Favourite December Reads

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My 5 Favourite December ReadsHere are my five favourite of the eleven books I managed to read in December. Links from the titles will take you to my reviews.

You can find details of all the books I read in 2019 here with links to my reviews.  If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

First up is The Boy With Blue Trousers by Carol Jones. Moving between nineteenth century China and Australia, I really enjoyed its compelling story of love, duty, sacrifice and vengeance, and its wealth of cultural detail.

Cold, Cold HeartNext, we turn to crime with Cold, Cold Heart by Christine Poulson. The setting, an Antarctic research station cut off from the outside world during a time of perpetual darkness and with a killer on the loose, makes for an atmospheric, tense and gripping mystery.

More mystery but this time in America’s Coney Island during the early part of the twentieth century. Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau sees heiress Peggy Batternberg seeking to escape from the constraints of family and social expectations. However, she is seen drawn into the investigation of suspicious deaths.

El HachoFinally, two novellas – Joan Smokes by Angela Meyer and El Hacho by Luis Carrasco – that both demonstrate the art of writing memorable and compelling stories in a limited number of pages.

What were your favourite books you read in December? Have you read any of my picks?