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Latest Reviews By LoveReading
Nobody does it better. This book is one of the all-time great scary stories. Between the book and the movie, The Shining had me checking the wardrobes and looking under the bed more than any ghost story I’ve ever read. Jack Torrance is a washed-up, alcoholic who takes a job as caretaker in a remote hotel for the winter with his family so that he can finish his languishing play – with, of course, the warning that the last caretaker went mad with cabin fever and killed his wife and children. As Jack’s son, Danny, starts ... View Full Review
A collection that’s billed as ‘Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights’ that features eight award-winning authors – all masters of the mysterious and the macabre - was always going to grab my attention! With a stunning cover and top names, this was bound to be an instant bestseller. Stand out stories for me include Laura Purcell’s, The Chillingham Chair, Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd and Thwaites’ Tenant which I was unwise enough to read right before bedtime. Perfect bite-sized pieces of supernatural scariness.
Selected by Carole Matthews, Our Winter 2021 Guest Editor. Click ... View Full Review
A powerful, emotional debut novel told in the unforgettable voice of a young Nigerian girl who is determined to get an education so that she can escape her servitude.
Meet Adunni. I've never met anyone like her. She's smart, funny, determined, and this shines through on every page of her journey. Never before have I read a book where the voice is so strong, as you read the book, you are reading it in Adunni's words, hearing her voice.
Adunni's mother is passionate about Adunni getting a good education: "Your schooling is your voice child. It will be speaking ... View Full Review
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
A young man travels across his home country of Sri Lanka for a funeral, reflecting on his family, romantic relationships and the turbulent national history. Started well but a meandering, plodding plot and style left me unmoved and wondering what he was trying to say. And with a lot of 'telling not showing', it made me think of a person who finds their own inner musings infinitely more interesting than any one else would! I enjoyed learning a bit more about Sri Lanka, which I don't know much about, but even ... View Full Review
Winner of the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
This one felt a bit personal to me, having just moved back from 8 years living in Cape Town. I love Damon Galgut and I've read a few of his books, and he's from Cape Town, so I hope he wins (yay, he won!). It's undeniably well written and the characters buzz, and even amuse, but it's South Africa at its dismal apartheid and post-apartheid bleakness..South Africa as much of the rest of the world see it. Much of which is even, sadly, undeniably accurate, but at the same time not ... View Full Review
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
A wonderful novel, so enjoyable and accessible that quite frankly it's amazing it's on the list at all! An epic tale that crosses generations and continents and weaves together the stories of an early 20th century female aviator and a modern day Hollywood actress. Full of girl power without being try-hard, this author also has a rare ability to write well about sex as real, raw and sensuous. Everybody should read this! - Tanya Carus
Find out more about the 2021 Booker Prize Winner & Shortlist View Full Review
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
This is about a grieving widowed astrobiologist and his autistic young son. I enjoyed bits of the science and psychology but there were so many things I disliked about this book. None of the characters were believable or rounded, including the narrator or his son. I can't claim to know but I'd be surprised if it resonates with many people's experience of parenting kids on the spectrum, embracing too many cliches of talented, fascinating, magical near-savant (who he also massively infantalises by the way: "tiny hand", "tiny" this and that - ... View Full Review
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
Set in 1952 and based on a true story, this features a fabulous cast of vivid characters, painted against a background so atmospheric that it made me want to go walk those very streets around the Cardiff docks. A poignant tale, told with wit and compassion, of race and multiculturalism, love and loss. Highly recommend. - Tanya Carus
Find out more about the 2021 Booker Prize Winner & Shortlist View Full Review
Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize - A Reader's Review
This is a bit bonkers and I'm not sure I really understood it but I *think* it's about the fragmented and disorientating experience of living ones life online in social media spaces, and if it is then it does that quite cleverly! If you're over a certain age you'll find yourself looking up memes and gen-Z stuff you never knew existed in "WTF, was that for real?" moments. - Tanya Carus
Find out more about the 2021 Booker Prize Winner & Shortlist View Full Review
In Follett’s first contemporary thriller for more than a decade, he imagines the unimaginable, a cat and mouse game of brinkmanship between nuclear powers.
Expertly researched and brilliantly crafted, this 800 page epic is unputdownable. It’s a cover-to-cover action-packed mammoth tale of weaving multiple interrelated story lines, with captivating characters and intriguing plots with tension, terror, heartache, love, betrayal.
US President Pauline Green fights at home and abroad to prevent nuclear disaster as the book moves from Defcon 5, the lowest state of readiness, to Defcon 1, the brink of war.
We follow the incredible work of ... View Full Review
Young chefs get an excellent introduction to culinary skills with Annabel Karmel's Fun, Fast & Easy Cookbook. The recipes have been designed for children and grown-ups to cook together and are divided into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks & Treats, with easy-to-follow steps, tempting photos and cooking tips. The recipes are a lovely mix of both healthy dishes, with fresh fruit and vegetables added in creative and appealing ways, and twists on old favourites such as sunshine paella, vroom vroom bolognese and pesto pizzas.
Amongst the recipes there are informative double-spreads on essential food groups and nutrition ... View Full Review
The queen of cosy crime, M.C. Beaton created national treasure Agatha Raisin who went on to feature in 31 books, a BBC Radio 4 series of radio dramas and spawn a hit TV series starring Ashley Jensen.
The books, which are famously the most consistently borrowed UK adult author in British libraries, follow the adventures of Cotswolds-based PR guru turned amateur sleuth Agatha as she attempts to solve a series of murder mysteries.
Books in the Agatha Raisin Series:
1. Agatha Raisin and The Quiche of Death
2. Agatha Raisin and The Vicious Vet
3. Agatha Raisin and The Potted Gardener&... View Full Review
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