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Liz Robinson - Editorial Expert
Liz has been an Editorial Expert writing reviews for LoveReading since 2014. Reading has always played a huge part in her life and she happily describes herself as a fully fledged bookworm. By day she works for a charity, and at every other free moment devours books of all genres. She video interviews authors for LoveReading and has previously judged the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Gold Dagger and Crime Fiction in Translation Awards, the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award, the Chiddingstone Castle Literary Festival Short Story Competition, and the LoveReading Very Short Story Award. It’s simply all about sharing the book love!
This is such a gorgeous all-encompassing read, from the moment I started I knew this fantasy novel was going to become a favourite. In 1938 Lisavet escapes from the Nazis when her watchmaker father pushes her through a doorway of time into a vast library of memories, when Lisavet sees men coming into the Time Space to destroy certain memories, she starts to save as many as she can. This is such a clever concept, it felt unique and magical, yet utterly believable. This might best be described as a love story, but it sits on a much wider scale than ... View Full Review
Full of energy and gumption, this is a thoroughly entertaining and inspiring historical crime novel. Aspiring journalist Non supports a young woman who wants to clear her name after being wrongly imprisoned by the Vice Chancellor’s Court, and fellow Basil, is asked to investigate after students are found bound and gagged outside their colleges. The Oxford of 1883 as described in the novel, is the University, their courts try the townspeople, and their rules affect everyone. This is the third in the Oxford Mysteries series, yet my first foray into the world of Non and Basil. I felt very ... View Full Review
Well now, this is rather gorgeous, I love a warming Christmas romance, and this one comes with added reading enjoyment. As well as the romance, it pokes gentle and kind fun at festive made-for-TV films (you know the ones, those cheesy movies that are still oh-so watchable and comforting when needed). The novel also covers grief, friendships, family, community spirit, and has a lightness of touch and empathy that ensures it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Author Hayley Dunlop uses Christmas romance films as the base for this tale, Mally loves them (while fully recognising that they all blend into ... View Full Review
This is a blow-your-mind reading experience. I first read Three-Body Problem about ten years ago, it was originally published as a novel in China in 2008, with the English translation arriving in 2014. It forms part of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, and in 2024 was made into a TV series. My second deep dive was just as awe-inspiring as the first. Cixin Liu is such an exciting author to read, his mind really does work in a unique and inspiring way and I find myself pondering life, the world, and universe after spending time immersed in his words. Ken ... View Full Review
Highly entertaining, fast-paced, and rammed full of tension, this is one heck of a read. Come and celebrate 30 years since the publication of author Chris Brookmyre’s Quite Ugly One Morning which our guest editor, the fabulous Mark Billingham, described as having: “all the excitement and suspense you’d expect from a thriller, but with whip-smart dialogue, a charmingly cynical protagonist and jokes that any stand-up would be proud of”. In his latest outing, journalist Jack Parlabane is losing out to younger, more on trend reporters, and finds himself in the middle of an ocean while ... View Full Review
Murder and mayhem is afoot, yet it is handled with gentle wit and quirky charm and so this novel falls into the cosy crime category. The school charity auction gets more than its bargained for when the owner of the local museum is murdered, all fingers and fingerprints point in one direction, and the dinner ladies set out to investigate. It was a first meeting for me, and although this forms part of the Dinner Ladies Detectives series, I was able to step in to the story and feel right at home. The dinner ladies are led by the dauntless ... View Full Review
Well now, that’s me thoroughly and fabulously creeped out, I am quite sure that the frantic buzzing of flies will be pursuing my dreams! Detectives DI Patel and DS Pardoe are called in to investigate a murder that has strange and potentially supernatural overtones. House of Flies sits in the Patel and Pardoe series, which includes LoveReading Star Book The Children God Forgot and while as with all great series you can easily read each one as a standalone, I really do recommend starting at the beginning so you can get to know this fabulous supernatural crime-busting duo. ... View Full Review
A wonderful and inspiring insight into the tawny owls living alongside the author at her home in Grasmere, Cumbria. Slipping from her house and into the surrounding countryside, Polly Atkin locates and then falls in love with her feathered neighbours. I felt as though I learned so much more than I was expecting by walking alongside the author. She is warm and friendly, compassionate and knowledgeable, and due to her willingness to slow down, pay attention, listen and learn, she takes you on the most fascinating journey. She has the ability to write the owls onto the page, so you ... View Full Review
This is such a lovely series of books, together, the Bedside Companions form the most colourful and fascinating of bookshelves. Editor Jane McMorland Hunter has a gift for gathering, stitching, and lovingly presenting collections of words. From extracts to poems, she crosses years and countries, forming these beautiful anthologies. Here, each change of month is introduced with atmospheric illustrations by Elen Winata. I love discovering and exploring the different suggestions. There is more than enough in the extracts (the source is included) to hook and cajole, to encourage a further journey into the literary world. I adore all things folklore ... View Full Review
It feels as though Amanda Barrie has flung open the doors to her life and allowed full unfettered access, from her heady successes through to her emotional traumas. Amanda Barrie is a theatrical legend, since a tot she has starred on the stage and screen, including the West End, sitcoms, films, soaps, pantomimes, and reality TV shows. In her autobiography she comes across as a wonderful mix of contradictions, she can be feisty, bright, funny, and larger than life, yet also reflective and incredibly thoughtful. She was born in 1935 and details her life from her mother ushering her onto the ... View Full Review
A beautiful balance is maintained in this truly thrilling speculative novel, between the believable near future of artificial intelligence and a very human race to investigate a crime. Julia Z has kept her head down since her mid teenage years as a famous hacker, when begged by a lawyer to help find his kidnapped wife she steps into a world of violence and a fight for survival. Author Ken Liu writes with a masterful hand, blending the humanity of personal, social and political decisions with what feels like an all too real artificial intelligence. This is both epic in the ... View Full Review
An unreliable narrator makes for an intriguing lead character and compulsive reading in this historical novel set in the late 19th century. After one year in Strangeways Prison serving time for GBH, Lily is moved to Sunnyside Asylum. After five years Lily agrees to see a psychiatrist with a view to rehabilitation, and looks back over her life from when she was born in 1871. Author Heather Mottershead sets an intense sense of place and encourages you to step back in time to listen to Lily’s tale. The daily life inside the asylum is described with eloquence, the monotony ... View Full Review
